On the road again

Kia ora, friends!

I write to you from Auckland, where I arrived a few days ago after a one-night stopover in Tahiti. My time there felt like more than just 20 hours, since it was filled with new experiences and new friends. I couchsurfed with my new friend Mehdi, who invited me back to the airport early the next morning (5am, after getting to bed after midnight!) to welcome some of his friends back home to French Polynesia. It is a local tradition for families to have big welcoming parties meet arrivers at the airport with music, song, and flowers. So that's what we did, early in the morning, to welcome back the mother and uncle of one of Mehdi's friends. After, we headed to their home up in the hills of Papeete for a traditional Tahitian breakfast: dishes of raw fish, jams made with local fruits, and of course, instant coffee! That afternoon, I spent a few hours on the beach before I had to catch an evening flight on to New Zealnd.

Here in Auckland, I've been staying with my good friend Louise, enjoying the sunny (but cool!) weather, and preparing for the next leg of my journey. I've mastered the art of driving on the "wrong" side of the road, which wasn't as difficult as I anticipated! :-) I'll travel to Melbourne for a few days, then move on to Perth, the main city in Western Australia.

Since I have no photos to share, I thought I'd include a couple pertinent excerpts from Whitman's "Song of the Open Road" for inspiration...


(3) You air that serves me with breath to speak!
You objects that call from diffusion my meanings and give them shape!
You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers!
You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the roadsides!
I believe you are latent with unseen existences, you are so dear to me.

You flagg'd walks of the cities! you strong curbs at the edges!
You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves! you timber-lined
side! you distant ships!
You rows of houses! you window-pierc'd facades! you roofs!
You porches and entrances! you copings and iron guards!
You windows whose transparent shells might expose so much!
You doors and ascending steps! you arches!
You gray stones of interminable pavements! you trodden crossings!
From all that has touch'd you I believe you have imparted to
yourselves, and now would impart the same secretly to me,
From the living and the dead you have peopled your impassive surfaces,
and the spirits thereof would be evident and amicable with me.

(15)Allons! the road is before us!
It is safe--I have tried it--my own feet have tried it well--be not
detain'd!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the
shelf unopen'd!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn'd!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the
court, and the judge expound the law.