Chez Zeigler

I was glad to get out of the grubby Hotel Jucy in Auckland (see my review on Trip Advisor) on the Friday morning, although I would've liked another day in the city to go round the museum. I had arranged a hire car to drive an hour north to Matakana to stay with me good friends Patrick & Natalie. I had seen some photos of the views from their home but even these had not prepared me for the Wow wow wow factor. The house is perched on the end of a promontory with 3 or 4 terraced lawns of maybe an ¼ acre each going down to the river. The living rooms are on the first floor to make the most of the views and the bedrooms on the ground floor. I was housed in an adjacent cottage with its own garden of peach, apple and apricot trees. Natalie grows most of the veg they eat, and with 4 kids to home school and a business to run, that's no mean feat. Dinner was always delicious (with the possible exception of the Durian Fruit). Often there would be snapper on the menu caught within the past 24 hrs by Patrick and one or two of his boys.

It was good to be in a relaxed family atmosphere again, and just relax. The views across the river were very reminiscent of The River Dart with its width, steep wooded banks, and large expanse of mud flats when the tide went out.

On Saturday, Patrick took me to the market in Matkana with Zen and Zahn. I was amazed at how safe they were, and that they, and other kids were allowed to go off on their own. (Ages almost 6 and almost 8). I knew this would be a great day as we walked past a busker playing 'Mr Tambourine Man', a very special song for me about freedoms and living young. The market was full of good things to eat and drink. I had samples of anything going - honey wine that tasted like good mead and olives freshly taken from the trees. Some one had a stall selling spices and dukkahs that reminded me of Red in the Adelaide area. Was I biased that Red's was far better? I decided to buy an abalone patty, however, both Patrick and myself agreed that it only tasted of the lemon pepper that it had been seasoned with. Organic food seemed to be the norm. No wonder everything I had eaten in NZ tasted so good. We then went for look round Warkworth. First stop the river where there was a small rally of steam boats. I wanted a ride on one - I always do head for water and boats when given free reign. The 45 min trip was for free - great! To Patrick's surprise the boys also enjoyed the ride. These boats run on the waste oil from fish and chip shops. There are almost as many fish and chip shops in NZ as in UK! It was then back home via the ice cream parlour for a dip in the pool.

On Sunday I took myself off for a drive exploring the amazing coastline, and experiencing some 'interesting' roads - unmade ones down mountain sides!! This wasn't a matter of me going 'off piste', this was the only road if you wanted to go from one place to the next! NZ roads are nothing like the UK ones and I was surprised how long it took to go relatively small distances due to the speed limits, which to be honest are generally right for the road conditions. However if I manage not to get a speeding ticket it will be a miracle!

Natalie had invited some friends over for dinner that evening with their kids, so when I returned, the house was full and we sat down to a good feast, with excellent local wines and conversation. It must've been just what I needed as I slept long and late that night and felt really relaxed.

Our plans for the next day were that we would do our own thing until 3 ish and then meet up half an hour down the road at Waiwera thermal pools for the rest of the day.
 http://www.waiwera.co.nz/resort/history

The experience was awesome and to me the total relaxation while floating in warm water was very similar to a Ket (which is a self initiation experienced during SKHM healing), I later reflected on this and wondered if the fact that the only symbol in SKHM is the infinity and the symbol of Waiwera was also infinity had anything to do with this, not withstanding who my host was. Floating in water heated geothermally in the open air seemed to connect all elements and I felt the nature of the pentagram completely. To me the pentagram's 5 points represent the 4 elements and self. Here I was floating in water that issued from earth as did the fire to heat the water, as I looked skyward to the air, which cooled the water to an acceptable temperature. Everything seemed in balance.

Having fed spirit and soul, it was then time to feed body, and we sat in the cafe there eating and discussing various subjects. The Zeiglers went home but I stay for another hour before heading back to a welcome bed.

Tuesday was another water day. We all went up to Goat Island, a marine conservation area, to watch the fish, using snorkels. I did a bit, and felt I wanted to know more about what I was looking at, so paid my money to go in the glass bottomed boat, which was incredible, even if, before the end of the 45 min trip, I was feeling a tad green around the gills. Head down while bobbing around on the ocean is a bit like reading on a car journey – not for everyone! It was a great beach day for me.

We went back via Warkworth and had dinner in The Bridge House, which was lovely. Back home we watched Les Miz before turning in for the night.

The next morning, I took my leave for Rotorua to learn of more delights of this enchanting country.