The Ferry to the Mainland

Unfortunately, my Dutch parishioners must be sad about their loss in the World Cup. They had a good run and had quite a good defense.

I am now in Wellington, New Zealand at the Archbishop’s house. I drove down last night and hadn’t realized how huge this country really is. I was in Palmerston North the other day and it wasn’t a bad drive from Opunake – about 2.5 hours. It was very pleasant landscapes.

The drive to Wellington is four hours. It is the travel distance between New York and Washington, DC. Even though I had a map, I had no idea where I was really going. It is quite odd driving for hours to a land that is at the edge of the world, and Wellington is at the lower end of the North Island. It felt like I would drive off the edge of the world. Good thing the world is round. The drive was so scenic. During the daylight, I could see the snow-capped mountains at the eastern mountain ranges. It was exciting so see. Even though I have some fear traveling up winding mountain roads without guardrails, I still find I must do it. What is in the human spirit that causes this? It is exhilarating.

Wellington is a most beautiful city. It has only about 300,000 people, but it is nestled between the foothills and the harbor creating a great juxtaposition of geographical terrain. It is a hilly city and I am here on a bright sunny winter’s day. It is not so cold and the sun makes me feel so happy. I can’t believe where I am. In some sense, I am totally a lost foreigner and have no frame of reference, but it is all so manageable. I’m half a world away from home at its southern tip of countries and very isolated and I feel somehow rooted.

This morning I decided to take the ferry from the North Island to the Mainland. I will arrive at Picton, which is still part of the Wellington archdiocese. It is near Nelson and the Marlborough region. The day is so sunny and clear. It takes a hour to leave the Wellington Harbour, an hour to cross the channel, and an hour to arrive at Picton harbor. The ferry is huge with ample space for cars and thousands of people. It is amazing to look in one direction to see the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Tasman Sea to the west. The views are stunning with so many mountains and hills that abruptly descend into the ocean. We are at the continental edge. The Pacific Ocean has warmer water than the Tasman. The east coast has white sands while the west has black sand. This is quite an amazing tour that I never even thought I would be on. I am merely taking the ferry to Picton and then returning. I want to see it in daylight. If I stayed later, I would get the first rays of sunset but mostly the night sky.

I am stunned by the beauty of this part of the world. The sky is so immense. The ocean is so immense. The mountains are so immense. It reminds me of how small I am. I wrote a poem about it that I will post.

We saw a school of dolphins on our way to Picton. Other than that, you hardly see any other boats, birds or fish on this journey. This is remote.
Picton is a charming village. There are some nice tourist shops and the merchandise is not very expensive. It is a picturesque entry into the southern island. It reminds me of photos that I’ve seen of the Fjords in Norway. The southern part of the island is filled with fjords. This northern part is rather green. You can find little villages and houses right at the water’s edge here, but there doesn’t seem to be any connecting road from their houses to any other place. I wonder if they travel to the villages by boat.

Many people would flock here for vacation or to live if it were not so far away. This would be prime real estate in any other part of the world. I do like the simple goodness of the people. It feels like it gets marred when you see a KFC, McDonalds or a Subway, but those are few and far between here.

I reread “The Road from Coorain” by Jill Ker Conway. Gosh, I have a different memory of the book. I’m glad to have refreshed myself. I recall being very sympathetic to her the first time around; this second time I felt less so. She has very hard on her mother and it didn’t seem like she looked at the ways she contributed to a strained relationship. Her mother did well for her. I recall the mother being poor in my first reading of the book, but now I realize that she was affluent. I recognize many of the places and names in the book, but I have a less flattering image of Jill than I did before. She seems so unresolved. It is still a compelling story. Perhaps I’ll have to reread “True North” now.

I just want to say that I had such a pleasant day. This lifestyle suits me fine.