Detour

A glassy Nelson Bay with snow-capped peaks beyond

Here we are in mid-September, and I've only just mustered the energy to begin to think about the blog again. In my last installment the end of August, I jetted off eastward into the darkness from Brisbane and I was coming down with something. Arriving in Auckland, I spent about half my nine days there gently sightseeing, and the other half trying to recover from a bad cold and avoid rain. It follows my life's patterns that I would catch something at a transition from Australia to New Zealand, similar to the flu I caught at college graduation, or the flu at the end of my summer abroad program, or many other instances I could name. A fallible human body is still vulnerable to random pathogens, wind and rain, or a twisted ankle, whether at home or abroad. A trip to New Zealand this may be once in a lifetime, but the weather, illness or, god forbid, injury still offer up surprises and impediments to meeting that ideal expectation in the travelers' mind.

After nine days I left Auckland for Rotorua, and the cool, damp raininess there delivered me a setback, so that by the time I reached Taupo I was feverish; for two days I couldn't get out of bed for more than a short walk. Luckily, the kindness of my hosts was invaluable to my second chance at healing. By the time I reached Napier I was well on my way to feeling like my healthy self again, as evidenced by resumption of double-digit -mile walking days. It felt so good to have unconstrained physical energy again.

Now, I've dashed through Wellington to catch the ferry to South Island, I've run through Nelson to Greymouth, and tomorrow will arrive in Christchurch. 95% of my travel plans are made, which offers some mental relief. I'm listening to howling wind and driving rain outside, perhaps like Hurricane Lee was in Massachusetts, and I'm taking advantage of some time to type. I'll follow up with catch-up posts as best I can.