Little surfer little one
Made my heart come all undone
---
I have watched you on the shore
Standing by the ocean's roar
---
Girl surfer girl my little surfer girl
- Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys
Twenty years is a long time. It's a long time to have lived in a place, and it's a long time to be gone from a place. Over the last 20+ years, I've been gone more than I stayed.
I left Canada in 1990. Since then, I have lived in 6 different countries, and within the U.S., 6 different states. In each of those places, I was fortunate to meet amazing people, many of whom became close friends. As time continues its inexorable march onward, and we are separated by both time and distance, I have inevitably lost touch with many of them. Every once in a while, our paths cross again and we have a chance to reconnect.
I moved to Hawaii when I was 19, and to say that youth is wasted on the young is a vast understatement. I lived there for only two years but it was the launch point for my future. I took advantage of so many opportunities, and in retrospect I was blind to so many others. When I first moved there, I met a bunch of surfers. They offered to take me with them on a surf day. I failed miserably, ending up in the rocks and almost breaking one of their boards. Deflated and embarrassed, thinking they saw me for the Barney that I obviously was, I never really hung out with them again. I became a Sponger (body-boarder) and was perfectly happy to spend the next two years on the water mostly on my own. It was a couple of years later that I found out the surfers were pissed at me not because I almost destroyed their board, but that afterward I never hung out with them again. In their eyes, they had taken me out, shared their day, and I had snubbed them.
Hawaii: My Dad and me, my Hawaiian wheels, and a bad 90's boy-band album cover
Facebook has been an incredible source for reconnections, most of them unsolicited and unwanted. Hidden in the dark coal of memories that should remain buried, there has been the occasional gem. When Kari and I first started talking about moving to New Zealand, a friend of mine from Hawaii (blond mullet in photo above, now living in Japan) mentioned that other friends from those years were living in NZ. During our NZ holiday 3 years ago, we made a point to spend a couple of days with them in Gisborne. Alyssa is a doctor and works as a hospitalist. She introduced us to the ED and to a group of local physicians. The introductions were made at the local Farmer's Market, and later at the Wine Centre. I suspect there might have been an ulterior recruiting motive!
Gizzy is a small city on the northeast coast of the North Island. It's the first major city in the world to see the sun rising on the new day and it's the first place in NZ Captain Cook landed in 1769. Sheltered by the high country behind it to the west, and with a sunny climate, Gizzy is a summer vacation destination. Our NZ landlord told us stories about visiting her eccentric grandfather in Gizzy and living in a caravan at the beach when she was a little girl.
The first time we were in Gizzy, we thought it was a little too small for what we wanted. Still, when looking for jobs, we were willing to consider it. A job did actually come up here, but they wanted a 2-3 year commitment. Having friends close by was a huge plus, but in the end I was unwilling to promise anyone 3 years sight unseen, especially when it involved moving my family across a continent and an ocean. We stayed in contact with our friends, picked their brains before we moved, and planned to spend our first NZ Christmas with them.
The thing about great people is that they tend to attract and surround themselves with other great people. Christmas Eve dinner found us in a warm house with a group of funny, intelligent, friendly ex-pats sharing in the joy and camaraderie of the holiday. To their Christmas traditions we blended our own and on Christmas Day even our Elf On The Shelf managed to make an appearance. One tradition that didn't mix in so well was the Highstead sleep-in. Our hosts and their teen-aged kids still can't sleep on Christmas Eve and they are early risers. We tend to sleep late on Christmas Day and take a more lazy approach, but we managed to crawl out of bed so as not to disrupt their rhythm too much.
Christmas Day is a beach day for them, but we added a little twist. The Wharekopae River boasts the Rere Falls. The falls themselves aren't very high (5m/15-20ft) but they are nestled in a bowl of greenery, and the day we were there the light was perfect. The other neat feature of the falls is that you can actually get in behind them and walk on the ledge.
Just up the river a bit is a secret / not-so-secret playground ... Rere Slide. Sixty metres (120ft) long and probably about 10-15 metres wide, the rock surface has been smoothed by the river and has a thin algae cover that makes it slick. In the summer, the river typically doesn't run much because of the lack of rain and the pool at the bottom becomes stagnant and gross. Luck was once again on our side. In the week leading up to Christmas they had a lot of rain, so the slide was running wet and fast, and the pool was swimmable. We started out sliding on our butts, then with a little courage we hopped on the body boards. I have never had more fun getting wet.
Christmas Day at the falls ended with a grass-nap. I can't imagine it could have been much better.
Boxing Day was a beach day. We had a slightly more lazy beginning to the day, then loaded up surfboards, bodyboards, towels, togs, and sunscreen. I really thought the beach would be crowded but we had a lot of space to ourselves. Little H wanted to learn to surf. She started out playing in the waves and getting used to wearing a wetsuit for the first time. I learned a long time ago not to try to teach my wife or child how to do something ... it never ends well. Add to that my last time on a board was also my first time on a board, and I figured she was in better hands with someone else ... anyone else.
Ryan stepped up and took her in hand. The smile on his face, and the obvious joy he felt with her every success says more about the kind of man, the kind of father, and the kind of person he is than I can ever express. Little H walked away from that experience a little taller, a lot more confident, and hooked. Looks like I better learn to surf so I can try to keep up.
Ryan and Alyssa opened their arms and their home to us, making our first Kiwi Christmas an unforgettable one. We met an amazing group of people from all over the world who have made Gizzy their home. I don't know if the city has grown or we have grown, but Gizzy no longer seems so small as the impression we formed three years ago.
We had one more sleep and were up early for the road back home. The east side of the island is drier, more brown, and more rugged then the west. The weather in Gizzy was warm and sunny. Summer is in full swing at the beach. As we left the coast and turned to the west, we could see the windmills on the mountains indicating that we were getting close to home. The skies were grey and the weather was drizzly through the gorge into Palmy. I miss the summer already ...
Facebook has been an incredible source for reconnections, most of them unsolicited and unwanted. Hidden in the dark coal of memories that should remain buried, there has been the occasional gem. When Kari and I first started talking about moving to New Zealand, a friend of mine from Hawaii (blond mullet in photo above, now living in Japan) mentioned that other friends from those years were living in NZ. During our NZ holiday 3 years ago, we made a point to spend a couple of days with them in Gisborne. Alyssa is a doctor and works as a hospitalist. She introduced us to the ED and to a group of local physicians. The introductions were made at the local Farmer's Market, and later at the Wine Centre. I suspect there might have been an ulterior recruiting motive!
Gizzy is a small city on the northeast coast of the North Island. It's the first major city in the world to see the sun rising on the new day and it's the first place in NZ Captain Cook landed in 1769. Sheltered by the high country behind it to the west, and with a sunny climate, Gizzy is a summer vacation destination. Our NZ landlord told us stories about visiting her eccentric grandfather in Gizzy and living in a caravan at the beach when she was a little girl.
Makorori Beach, Gisborne
The first time we were in Gizzy, we thought it was a little too small for what we wanted. Still, when looking for jobs, we were willing to consider it. A job did actually come up here, but they wanted a 2-3 year commitment. Having friends close by was a huge plus, but in the end I was unwilling to promise anyone 3 years sight unseen, especially when it involved moving my family across a continent and an ocean. We stayed in contact with our friends, picked their brains before we moved, and planned to spend our first NZ Christmas with them.
The thing about great people is that they tend to attract and surround themselves with other great people. Christmas Eve dinner found us in a warm house with a group of funny, intelligent, friendly ex-pats sharing in the joy and camaraderie of the holiday. To their Christmas traditions we blended our own and on Christmas Day even our Elf On The Shelf managed to make an appearance. One tradition that didn't mix in so well was the Highstead sleep-in. Our hosts and their teen-aged kids still can't sleep on Christmas Eve and they are early risers. We tend to sleep late on Christmas Day and take a more lazy approach, but we managed to crawl out of bed so as not to disrupt their rhythm too much.
Christmas Day is a beach day for them, but we added a little twist. The Wharekopae River boasts the Rere Falls. The falls themselves aren't very high (5m/15-20ft) but they are nestled in a bowl of greenery, and the day we were there the light was perfect. The other neat feature of the falls is that you can actually get in behind them and walk on the ledge.
Rere Falls
Just up the river a bit is a secret / not-so-secret playground ... Rere Slide. Sixty metres (120ft) long and probably about 10-15 metres wide, the rock surface has been smoothed by the river and has a thin algae cover that makes it slick. In the summer, the river typically doesn't run much because of the lack of rain and the pool at the bottom becomes stagnant and gross. Luck was once again on our side. In the week leading up to Christmas they had a lot of rain, so the slide was running wet and fast, and the pool was swimmable. We started out sliding on our butts, then with a little courage we hopped on the body boards. I have never had more fun getting wet.
Rere Slide
Christmas Day at the falls ended with a grass-nap. I can't imagine it could have been much better.
Boxing Day was a beach day. We had a slightly more lazy beginning to the day, then loaded up surfboards, bodyboards, towels, togs, and sunscreen. I really thought the beach would be crowded but we had a lot of space to ourselves. Little H wanted to learn to surf. She started out playing in the waves and getting used to wearing a wetsuit for the first time. I learned a long time ago not to try to teach my wife or child how to do something ... it never ends well. Add to that my last time on a board was also my first time on a board, and I figured she was in better hands with someone else ... anyone else.
Ryan stepped up and took her in hand. The smile on his face, and the obvious joy he felt with her every success says more about the kind of man, the kind of father, and the kind of person he is than I can ever express. Little H walked away from that experience a little taller, a lot more confident, and hooked. Looks like I better learn to surf so I can try to keep up.
Makorori Beach, Gisborne
Ryan and Alyssa opened their arms and their home to us, making our first Kiwi Christmas an unforgettable one. We met an amazing group of people from all over the world who have made Gizzy their home. I don't know if the city has grown or we have grown, but Gizzy no longer seems so small as the impression we formed three years ago.
We had one more sleep and were up early for the road back home. The east side of the island is drier, more brown, and more rugged then the west. The weather in Gizzy was warm and sunny. Summer is in full swing at the beach. As we left the coast and turned to the west, we could see the windmills on the mountains indicating that we were getting close to home. The skies were grey and the weather was drizzly through the gorge into Palmy. I miss the summer already ...
Not even, Bro ...
