Today is the beginning of our second week in NZ. Monday was a national holiday here which also signifies the end of summer, as kids start school on Tuesday. After our kayak and hike adventure yesterday, we relaxed, and took a leisurely drive up the old coast highway, poked into tourist stores, and had lunch in Mapua.
This area near Nelson, also has a wine region, so we headed over to the Upper Moutere Valley to enjoy one wine tasting. On the way, we were suddenly stopped by a fallen tree that blocked the narrow country road, and saw a woman trying to break off branches to clear some visibility to oncoming traffic. It was the woman who owned that land, and her husband was going to get a chainsaw. So, being good neighbors, we stopped and helped. Her husband arrived, and soon, Sue and I were pulling a dozen large sawed-off branches to the side of the roadway.
Thirty minutes later, and a bit sweaty, we went on to really enjoy a glass of wine! We stopped at Neuford Winery, toasted our doing a good deed, and declared that they had delightful Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs!
From there we headed toward the nearby Kahurangi National Park. While not highlighted in brochures, locals told us about a place where water comes out of a rock from deep inside the mountain. This very large spring is called The Riwaka Resurgence.
Of course, if there is a swimming hole, Ted usually has to get in the water! The water was so cold!
For the Maori natives, this is called Te Puna o Riuwaka. From a signpost, I learned:
It is acknowledged as a wahi tapu or sacred site. For the Maori, every river has its own mauri, or life force. Rivers are the veins of Papatuanuku, Earth Mother, and the water in them is her lifeblood. Rivers nourish all living beings, and link us with ancestors. It is by our rivers that we know who we are.
So, Ted followed the path of ancestors, and New Zealanders today (made more accessible now by the Department of the Interior) and stepped into the life-giving, spiritual, crystal clear, cold, water.
Life is all around us.
The spirit of life is in different cultures and far away places, as much as it is in our own church, synagogue, mosque, prayer-time, or meditation. The world is big, and we are gratefully exploring it.