hiatus

Travel and work have consumed most of the last few months and I’ve struggled to find the headspace to set aside any time in my life for more writing as there’s been a lot of demands on my creative juices at work of late. But, I did finally tick one big project off my to-do list and spent two weeks in the quiet rural area of Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of New Zealand to do my Permaculture Design Course with a lovely group of people from around the world.

It actually worked out a little cheaper than doing it through other Australia-based courses I was looking at, plus I got to catch up with a few old friends along the way. Early spring weather meant it was on the cold and drizzly side and while coffee and the odd tipple were sorely missed during our all natural/zero stimulants/high nutrient dense diet, the raw milk with black barley and apple stewed in butter breakfast did somewhat make up for the loss. Two weeks of traditional European peasant food and I felt like I’d returned to source. I’ve now got myself a permaculture design certificate and am looking forward to getting on with trying out some of the principles.

Once I could get my hands on some coffee again, I made a beeline for some of the many wonderful cafes that the land of the long flat white has to offer, including Auckland’s Kokako Cafe and Coffee Roastery in Grey Lynn and Atomic Coffee Roasters in Kingsland, the East End Cafe in Wairoa and Floriditas in Wellington.