Walking down Broadway into a strong head wind, the kind of head wind that you have to lean in to. Suddenly the wind drops and am I sucked into the space behind it. Inside my favorite coffee shop nothing has changed. I have been gone six weeks and still the same people are behind the counter. I like this consistency and I order a cappuccino and a carrot, walnut and ginger muffin.
Author Archives: The Mark
Back on the bus
Back on the bus after so many weeks spent on a bike in the middle of nowhere. Glassy eyed commuters gripping the hand rail and swaying. But I like the crisp cold, the snow capped mountains in the distance and this feeling that isn’t quite home.
Family I never knew I had I miss you already
We wander around this capital city that’s also a village and we run into aunties and friends. Family I never I knew I had, I’m going to miss you.
Take the train
Take the train it’s nicer. Mist rising in a field as the sun rises, a perfect cup of tea, a pod of dolphins over there by that outcropping, and here, look, fur seals lying lazily in the sun. I’m sorry if this sounds like an ad, but I’m really enjoying this train ride.
Christchurch
Such devastation that you can’t even find a good place to eat. The skies open up and the rains starts pouring down and you are saved by the unmistakeable noise of a pub. You lose your shy vegetarianism and order the hamburger with bacon washing it all down with a tower of beer.
About the number
One thousand, four hundred, seventy-six. That’s the number, give or take. The original mission, forgotten in the day to day.
Hiding from the rain in Methven
Eat food, drink beer, read my book. Stare out the window and discover it’s still raining.
Elevation Charts
The afternoon comes hard. There’s more hills to climb than you thought and the road just seems to go on forever.
Canal Road
Sneak past the gate, slight worry about getting caught: what will I say? Plead the ignorant tourist? What if they take these things seriously? But then: bliss. An empty road beside the canal all mine, birds that haven’t seen people all day suddenly scared into flight by my passing bicycle.
The Weather
The cold blew in: clouds, all day a headwind.