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March 99. Malaysia - Northwards from far South It has been almost two weeks since I left Japan. I am eventually leaving for New Zealand tomorrow. I am now back in Singapore and am preparing for the departure at my friend's place. I have quite a bit of laundry to get done and all my belongings are mixed up. I cannot start packing until I get them all sorted out. I made some changes to my original plan. I cancelled my trip to Indonesia. The state of affairs in Indonesia can be termed to be more or less as unhealthy at the moment and definitely not the right place for travellers. Malaysia seems to be a better place to travel now. Malaysia was a really fascinating country. I had a great time there. I met so many nice people. I was always eager to learn more about their culture. It was the Chinese New Year and everyone was on a vacation, so I was actually stuck in the city for a few days. No transportation to get out. I was hoping to visit Thailand but that’s out of my plan too. Malaysia was an interesting place and I should have extended my stay! 16th
March, 1999
I was WWOOFing for 2 weeks in Kaikoura which is one of the beautiful beach town in NZ. I swam with around 400 wild dolphins. Never imagined that I would do that. It was such a beautiful experience. I am trying to get a job here. So, if I get something, I would like to stay in this city for a while. June & July '99
I came back and started practicing Yoga with Swami Mukthi. Swami Mukthi is originally from Latin America but had spent over 16 years practicing Yoga in India. Mukthi says that I would be able to increase my healing power through Yoga, I'm not sure about that but I find Yoga very refreshing for my Body and Soul. Mukthi has gone to Hawaii and I'm now on a fast. I'm on a liquid diet and it is very refreshing. Ever since, I have started this journey, I have not had good control over my diet and this fast is having a cleansing effect on me. It is now seven days and I will go on as long as possible. I'am physically weak at the moment but I have this wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility that I have not experienced before. Also, it is winter her and I'am feeling very cold. I will resume practicing yoga once Mukthi is back. March & April
'99 and we stopped at few places...Kaikoura -> Nelson
-> Punakaiki -> Karamea -> Hokitika ( Near Fox - Glacier ) -> Haasse ->
Wanaka -> Queen's Town -> Mt.Cook ->
Kaikoura -> Christchurch.
1 st stop, Nelson which is a small city with artistic essence all over. We stopped at a Saturday Market in Nelson. There were many colourful shops with handicrafts and food all over. On the road to Te NiKau Retreat,
we swam in streams even though the water was really cold. It was a nice
refreshing break while driving. Like in the Garden of eden, we swam
naked, feeling the gentle touch of nature.
We pitched at an awesome backpackers joint called Te Nikau Retreat. The place has three log house having some rooms, dorm-style beds, with a kitchen and bathroom each. They are located apart in deep bush and I often lost my way. I stayed there for a week. WWOOFer! Cooking, baking, cleaning & chatting away with the other backpackers. We had around 25 people coming and going every day...
We eventually got to Queen's Town through Wanaka. There we were staying at a nice house which had nice looking down of beautiful lake surroundedby divine mountains. I did not spend much time in the city. I was not interested. Well, I enjoyed having nice coffee at one of the beautiful cafes though. Mt. Cook
We headed back to Sandie's place in Kaikoura and then I headed for Christchurch. |
Travel Malgudi (Agumbe) Food Other Stories |
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Masami is currently in Christchurch, NZ where she lives with her husband David who she met on this journey at Sandie's place. They were married on Sept.23, 2000. She hopes to come back to Bangalore and India in a couple of years ona visit.
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At
Anahata, people
live together close to nature .It is a 30 minutes tough drive from a little
town, quite isolated from others. A 20 minute walk from
Anahata takes you to a spot where we can a beautiful
view of the whole Golden Bay. I walked there everyday for the divine sunrise
and sunset. I stayed here for 10 days
working and cooking for 10 people, real interesting people with strong
beliefs and hopes . Then I took a break and visited
Sandie in Kaikoura.
Punakaiki
& Karmea - Then
I travelled for a while , partly camping. The next place
I stayed was Punakaiki and then to Karamea and spent
couple of nights camping. We had anice
walk in the bush through to the outstanding beach which had no access by roadThe
West Coast has wonderful sights with powerful waves smashing into rocks. It
seems really alive in the deep green native bush!
And we did camping at
Hokitika
and near Fox Glacier. Then at Haasse I stayed
for the first time in a paid for my accomodation in NZ. I had been WOOFFing
or staying with friends all this while.
We drove up to Mt. Cook.
The highest mountain in NZ. As it is too cold to camp over
there, we stayed at Youth Hostel for a night. The next day, we walked
up the hill to have nice view of Mt.Cook. As we had a little boy travelling
with us, we did not do anything tough on this trip.
