Marahu - a little piece of paradise

I had arrived at Abel Tasman a day late due to my own stupidity in staying at a different hostel than I originally booked and the bus went to that one.  It only took me 30 minutes to realize my mistake (yeah, I’m not always that quick). So I booked a bus the next day to take me out to Abel Tasman to catch up with the group and once I got there, I wished I had that additional day there.  Abel Tasman is stunning!  An absolute heaven for me.  It sort of reminded me of Oregon with it’s beautiful rugged coastline and walking trails.  However, one of the many things that sets it apart are the crystal blue waters and the fact that you can possibly catch sight of the little blue penguins.

One of the beautiful things about travel is all of the people you meet along the way and travel with, sharing in typically many drinks and even more laughter.  So thus began my journey with my south island Stray friends starting with a travel guide named Horse, a nickname supposedly from killing a horse that had gone loco.  But nce I met the group, it was non-stop sarcasm and all sorts of crazy, fun, shenanigans.

So back to Abel Tasman… I spent my day looking for green lipped mussels at the beach during low tide and instead found the creepiest tide coming in.  I can’t say that I’ve ever watched a tide come in, but I imagine the waves slowly come up to the shore.  This one, came in very steadily and quickly.  It was like the water wanted to grab me and drag me back into the sea.  Unfortunately, for me underestimating this, managed to get my shoes completely soaked – just in time for my hike!  There is a hike there that takes you along the coastline and what a gorgeous hike!  I only did 3.5 hours of it, but there is so much more including locations to camp through the mountains there.  If only I had gotten there sooner (and it wasn’t winter), I hear the kayaking is amazing there.  One day, I will go back and stay there for several days to soak up all Abel Tasman has to offer.  I can’t say enough about this place, it is a must see!

Resolutions

I'm not your typical New Year's resolution kind of gal, especially the kind that involves me losing weight.  Not that I would be opposed to having my 20 year old body back, but let's face it, it's just not a reality and I'm not that insecure with myself.  The fact is, I don't really like setting up goals for  myself as the one thing I've learned about myself over my last 35 years is that I like to fly by the seat of my pants.  However, the other thing I've learned about myself more recently is that there have always been things that I've always wanted to do but I never got around to doing them nor made any plans to get to them so I just continued on with life and whatever it threw at me.  Those of you that are closer to me know that once I make a decision, no matter how crazy or unconventional it might be, I follow through as shown by my decision to leave my career and life behind in America to travel and be a part of the rest of the world.  So here I am, having just moved to Thailand and realizing there are things I want to do and I know I have every power to change my life as I see fit.  So I've come up with my own list of things I'd like to "get around to" this year and I know I'll follow through with them... eventually.

1. Learn to play acoustic guitar.
2. Teach.
3. Inspire at least one person to have the courage to change their life even in the most subtle way.
4. Try one thing every month that scares me - be it try a new food, try a new kind of adventure... just try something that stretches my boundaries of comfort.
5. Travel to India.
6. Learn to speak Thai.
7. Develop my photography skills.
8. Take my vitamins.  I just gotta buckle down and do it.  I ain't gettin' no younger!
9. Be a better friend.  Just because I'm on the other side of the world doesn't mean I can't call up my friends more often.
10.  Learn more about Buddhism and Taoism.  I am living in a Buddhist country after all and I kinda dig what I see.
11. Um, keep up on my blog more often.

Next year this time, I'll be able to say, "Yeah, this is what I did last year and I rocked it."