Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The word of the day is awe

Day 3: Whangarei Heads

Anyone who has been around children will know that they live every moment of their life in awe. Every single thing they encounter is amazing, and they can't get enough of each amazing thing - wanting to engage in it over and over again. Somewhere along the way as we grow up, we start learning that not everything is awe-inspiring, and we get used to the world as it is. We stop being wowed by the enormity of everything we encounter. It is one of the greatest tragedies: to not be amazed by all the things this world and universe has to offer. Because if we stop and look around, there can be no way not to see that we are surrounded by inspiration.

Today, we went to Whangarei Heads for a (very long) tramp up to the peak of a mountain (and then climbed up a rock to a very very high pinnacle surrounded by a cliff), down the ridge of it to a grass clearing, and then further down to a beach (Ocean Beach) - close to a five-hour hike! Now, we aren't the fittest in the lot, but we didn't want our limitations to drive our experience here or anywhere we are travelling, so we started up the mountain, and when we looked to our right, there it was: the awe.

The scenery all around the North Island looks like the rolling hills of Ireland. Being constantly surrounded by such large mountains both grounded us and lifted us up. Walking up to the top of that mountain felt so enlivening, and climbing up the rock at its zenith gave us a view we actually couldn't believe we were seeing! Nothing seemed real - it felt like we had to be on some sort of fake movie set, but we weren't! We couldn't believe how high up we were, and how utterly beautiful nature really was. The awe was overwhelming.

We had lunch at one of the top points on the mountain, overlooking everything around us. Or lunches have been so tasty despite being so simple. We get so caught up in fancy food, we don't realize how yummy bread, avocado, tomato, and a little sauce can be! We're really learning to appreciate simplicity.


The walk down was tougher, with barely a path to follow through the dense forest down the ridge. Our toes were killing us from being squished against the front of our shoes for hours on end! But we made it to a grass clearing halfway down the mountain, and walked downhill through that for some time, until we reached a beautiful, seemingly private beach at the bottom. More awe.

The hike took all our energy, but we still managed to make a nice dinner (gobi manchurian, thai coconut curry soup, and cosmopolitans!) and talk for some time before calling it a night.

The awe is still here. We cannot believe where we reached today, and those images will never fade from our memory. The pictures will certainly not do the experience or the view justice, but we'll post them anyways!

Try to find some awe today. I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll see it in everything you encounter. We sure did. Hopefully we keep this feeling for a long time to come.

The View from Whangarei Heads

Monique and Myles at the mountain's tip

Us in the grass field halfway down the mountain

2 comments:

  1. Your pictures and word almost take us there. Keep it up !.. Sanjiv

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  2. I'm telling mom you are making my brother drink cosmos....

    That pic is so beautiful....stop posting those kinda pix ur goning to make me want to fly n meet up with u guyz...hehe

    Ps tell gaurav to get rid of his pee-herman haircut style....lol

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