Life is so good

October 21, 2003 General Comments Off on Life is so good

I’ve been travelling for the best part of 5 weeks, and now, with a little bit of reluctance it is time to settle down again. But the best part of that has to be settling down in an entirely new place. New Zealand has been a pretty awesome experience so far, starting with a flight over the snow covered peaks of the south island alps down to Christchurch. The people seem friendly and outgoing here. They seem to want to ‘live life’, something that for me was lacking back at home. There is so many new things to see, so many new experiences to feel. I just hope that I can cram them all into the one year that I am here.

I’ve been reading a lot more since I left, and it has felt refreshing to have the free time to do this. Whether this is because I alone here or because I have moved away from the repetitiveness of every day life, I do not know. But it feels good. I started with ‘The Art of Travel’ by Alain De Botton, a rather philosophical look at travelling, and why we really go travelling in the first place. It seemed to conclude that, more often than not, we travel just so that we have a good feeling when we return to that place of comfort, home. I found it a hard book to read though, in huge contrast to the next book, ‘Life is so good’, an account of the life of George Dawson, a black man from Texas who started to read at the age of 98. A pretty remarkable story, full of hope. And now I’m part of the way through ‘Sophie’s World’. What makes it all so wonderful, is being able to sit out in the clean, fresh air and feel alive.

I went climbing last night and met up with 2 Kiwis, Nick and Doug. It was the first time I got a chance to climb on the routes at the YMCA, and was pretty impressed by the standard of the route setting. I think I’m going to enjoy climbing here. Monday is Labour Day, which means a long weekend here. Hopefully I can get out and get to see around the place some more, which a small chance of a trip to Castle Hill, about an hours drive away. By all accounts it has some of the best bouldering in the world.

Finally got around to putting together some camera footage of my time in Sweden, for Mikael’s wedding, and EOL’ing my photojournal. It is so good to have time.

Next Entries »