Both Beaches

When your head is heavy with ideas, it’s good to give them a way out. Thus, I decided to give it a chance. After breakfast (self arrangened … makes sense with a kitchenet in the apartment), a decently slow start into the day, I took the bus to Takapuna. Not sure if it is a kind of township of Auckland or a town of its own, it lies on the north end of the city, just across the harbour bridge. Lake Pupuke in Takapuna is a former vulcanic crater, which is filled now with fresh water. A nice place to enjoy, to swim, take a snorkel tour (thats definitely not for me! 😉 On the east bench of the lake, you’ll find a little park with a cute little restaurant next to the Pumphouse Theatre. Perfect place for my first digital braindump. And some necesaary emails. Watching a dive team to perform some exercises. Black swans tried to ignore them a much as possible. 

In the early afternoon, I switched to the next beach … less than a kilometer and you are at a bay of the South Pacific. Perfect for a walk, just on the waterline. In Maori: wānaga, the space where land (whenua) and sea (moana) meet each other. A space, with a lot of power, that also needs kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Strong and fragile. As space, and also both in their strength and weakness. None of both is just one of these. 

This reflects on people, too, of course. The powerful have their weakness, the fragile have their strength. Too often, we forget the one or the other. Isn’t it?

At the edge of the beach, on the grass, under a tree, I found the space for some reflection. And a beach doodle. 

Time to catch the bus back home, to prepare for the trip to Rotorua tomorrow.