 The above photo was taken at Alofaaga Blowholes, Taga Salega, on Savai'i, Samoa. 𝘓𝘰𝘸𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘭s. 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵." 𝘔𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴: "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺~! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!" 𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 "𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺" 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 4 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 4 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪'𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 4 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 4 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦... 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 7 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 10~13 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺/𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵?
Right about now (as i write this at 9:00am)
The gate of the plane would have closed, Every passenger would have been buckled up, the flight attendants would have finished preparing the cabin for take off
But here I am,
home... typing on the laptop, doing normal Sunday things, eating normal at-home breakfast, instead of fresh bananas off the trees, fresh papayas, fresh starfruit, in the Garden of Eden's tropical heat, facing a calm and gorgeous ocean, sitting in bright sunlight, talking with locals on the island, contributing to the festival preparation, feeling alive and living a true life as it's intended for human beings. I've been sighing all morning. My chest has been feeling more and more depressed as I realised that "Now I would have been checking in..." "Now I would have been waiting in the Auckland International Airport lounge"... "Now I would have been queueing to board the flight..." I couldn't help but have feelings of sadness rising up in me, before I knew it, tears are forming in my eyes. I had to hold them back. This is not a life-and-death problem, even though this is a global problem. The difficult thing for those of us who are victims of cancelled travel due to government planning around COVID is there is no one specific that we can blame it all on. Is it the departing country's government? Is it the arriving country's government? Is it the airline? Or is it the U.N., World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, or John Hopkins Uni? All I know is, this is the 3rd time I had to suffer for unintended cancellation. This one completely outside of one's control, too. Traveling is beyond important to me. It means everything to me. But it is not a kind of life-and-death or terminal illness or losing employment problem. While every cancellation brings me significant distress and despair no medication can help comfort the feeling of loss and sadness. One just has to bear through it, accept it, and move on with daily life. I have to pretend that it's not a big deal. When it very much IS a VERY big deal to Me.
Whether you are for COVID-control or against COVID altogether,
The fact that Event 201 took place in Oct 2019 just before everything happened is fascinating in terms of timing... If you want a brain tickle, check out Agenda 21 - sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21 And read Klaus Schwab's COVID-19: The Great Reset for further detailed information on all that had been planned out for the next 10+ years.
I love Hawkes Bay.
Staying with my friend's 'aiga at my lowest point in life became a turning point for me. I came back twice after that to visit them. The lockdown of the country certainly encouraged me to come back 3 more times
This would be my 3rd time staying at my favorite cottage on Endsleigh drive.
It is such an ideal home set-up. I am happy to share it with my loved ones
I love the long boulevard by Napier beach,
​with palm trees lined up on both sides of the road.
I love the beach, it feels expansive
as an open ocean to the great beyond. Right now, orange and yellow flowers bloom throughout the beach. ​ I love the Chantal store. ​It is like OmoteSanto of Hawkes Bay to me.
I love visiting my first Couchsurfing host at his place in Moteo.
He said I'd become part of the furnitures now.
It is officially spring right now.
So flowers are blooming everywhere you go. ​ ​I loved exploring Havelock North in the summer ​and had enjoyed the golden view in autumn. Coming here in Spring, it was simply a blessing to the eyes. The light just glows amidst the blossom petals. Blossoming trees everywhere... And it's so calm and warm, unlike Wellington.
Can the capital city please move here?
 All cancelled. Again.
This is the 3rd time it had had to happen to me. Due to COVID, so much cancellations and, all the anticipation and excitement about things to look forward to, it cannot happen. STA closed down. My tickets were never paid to the airline, so i can't get a refund from the airline and i can't get a refund from STA Travel. And a trip I so looked forward to could not happen. Who knew if the plane was even leaving NZ at that point. This time, Air New Zealand cancelled the flights on me. Without a notice, nor was a reason provided. I was just emailed with a "credit" to use till next year this time. I doubt this even makes me want to go back to the Cook Islands in the short term. The only reason TO go back is if the border still doesn't open by June 2022, and that my domestic flight in the Cook Islands is non-refundable also, so I'd better get back there to use the credit for That. It's all just so sad. Not sad for me really, it's sad for all the people whose livelihood depend on visitors from elsewhere. |
