Take it all, with my love.

Two months in eh? How on earth did that happen?? My last mental recollection is a mad packing, constant moving, frenzy of emails, driving, boxing and tagging. And now here I sit in a fantastic little house sit tucked away on the back roads of Rarotonga singing along to music and wondering what on earth has happened to my life.

My heart in is New Zealand. I wondered for a while if my heart would follow me when I left the country. Nope. It’s still there, faffing around waiting for me to come back.

It’s very odd living without your heart.

I like to imagine that this is what it’s like to be an amoeba. My soul stretched into some jelly like substance holding important pieces of me pinned to a map.

My brain is just fried. I’ve lost the ability to handle questions, requests or opinions. Monotonous numbness is a nice fog at the forefront of my daily routine.

Wake up, eat toast, clinic chores, perhaps a gin, perhaps something social, sleep. Day in and day out.

Except for days off.

Bliss.

We are rostered two days off a week - one week day and one weekend day. Generally, I try to make my way to a cafe called LBV’s in Muri Beach to enjoy a stellar plate of poached eggs, plus a coffee. Ideally, following that, I make a short move to the Muri Beach Club to occupy a sun lounger. (The beach club allows clinic volunteers to use their beach loungers and water equipment - whoop!)

Thats it. Two days a week - Breakfast. Sun. Lunch. Cocktail. Home. Dinner thrown in there somewhere.

Except for this one time…

It was raining. Suck.

I was rostered off with two other volunteers who were both keen to leave the building regardless of the weather, so we hopped aboard bikes and cycled our way to the other end of the island.

Parking at the beach club, we stroll (already soaked) to the beach to assess the situation. Coming around the corner of the building, the lagoon comes into view. It’s completely still, like some giant freakishly blue sapphire that been polished within an inch of its life a plopped next to the beach.

Being already soggy, we opt for water sports. Hopping aboard some kayaks, we paddle left further into an inlet then back out towards the sea. Enjoying the view for a bit, we turn and head back towards the shore, cruising softly between two tiny islands.

As we paddle along through a gentle rain, we see a bobbing head in the water, upon closer inspection it appears to be an island dog that’s gone for swim while fishing the reef.

She ended up climbing aboard our kayaks and riding along until we were back in shallow waters, where she jumped off and continued her fishing.

Once we were back at shore, we switched to paddle boards and cruised around the lagoon some more. The water was fantastic. Still super smooth, and semi warm. It starting raining a bit harder at one point and I just remember stretching out on my back looking up at the sky.

I can’t write enough to do those few hours of my life justice. It was truly unbelievable. Something that I will remember to the end of my days. Just the peace, the water, that amazing dog and a feeling of solidity that I find escapes me now-a-days.

There have been heaps of amazing things that I’ve seen and done here. Absolutely wonderful people who I’ve met, great music, excellent gin and tonics, PLUS added life skills of driving a manual car.

It’s been phenomenal and exactly what I needed, but lately…

An itch is twitching. I need to move.

I’ve got some funds saved up from working in NZ, and South East Asia is soooo close…and high on my list. Why not?

Game on.