A Place to Call Home: A tent life is for me!

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So I was thinking and realized that this whole catch up business is just taking me too damn long and I have so much to say about the current time! So…I’ll continue to catch up, but for now why don’t I sneak in some current news. Just as long as you promise to check back for the old stuff that is. Who am I kidding…I think I’m only talking to my parents…and they’re on here anxiously clicking for new news every day (hi mum!). So here it is. ..new (relatively), fresh, and luke-warm into the public sphere of the weird-world-web. And really it’s only the readers who’ll take it anywhere…so I hope you enjoy.

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Settled in, but nowhere near settled down, I’ve currently found my home back in Te Anau for a while. What a beautifully peaceful place. And no, that’s not some generous label for a boring little town in the middle of nowhere…really it’s not like that at all. Some people I meet outside of the town when I’m off on some touristy endeavour, comment, “te anau…not much there! you really like living there??” They just don’t know my little home properly (i.e. a toilet/ice cream stop on the way to milford sound doesn’t count). Yes, te anau is a bit quiet, but it has just enough going on to keep you interested, entertained, awed, and thankfully for me, employed. I’ve been here for 3 months already…can’t believe that much time has passed already…and I’m still loving it. Everyday the sky, the clouds, the sun, the lake and mountains has something new to offer. I can’t get over my surroundings. I’m still waiting for the day when I see tourists snapping pictures, all a glee, and I pass by thinking…eh…ya…it’s home. Thankfully this hasn’t happened. I’m hoping it won’t. and really it shouldn’t. everyday I’m still skipping around the hostel singing “it’s a beautiful day! Wow…look at those mountains!” and then insisting to my fellow locals “I hope you appreciate this place you live in!” Whenever I head up to Helen’s (my manager) home I try to remember to bring my camera and the last time I was babysitting her son, Isaac, I said to him as we battled around their house with beach wood light-sabres, “Isaac, you do realize you live in paradise right?” pause inbetween another class of our light-sabres. “ya…I know.” I ove baby-sitting that kid. We play lego for hours (once I think there was complete silence for at least an hour because we were both so concentrated on our own little constructions) and because he has two guitars, one’s electric (only child) and we pretty much rock out. Seriously though, I looked after helen’s adorable pup, Sage, for a few days…and taking her on walks down to the lake felt like a privilege. The scenery really puts you in your place….you can’t help but contemplate the meanings of life when you’re in it’s midst. Whenever you’re feeling a bit stifled or pent up just walk outside, along the lakeside and breathe in the fresh air. It’s a cure I wish I could prescribe to the rest of the world and know it would be possible to obtain.

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But back to the beginning…which is where I suppose I should start…it has been over 3 months now since I arrived…and whattya know…first blog. Ah well. As I’m sure you all already know by now…but my first little adventure in te anau was finding meeself a home! Yes yse…te anau was my home…but I’m talking shelter, a bed and such. Helen had originally offered a place in her office (ha) but we quickly realized this wouldn’t work for the long term, so after a week sleeping on a bunk mattress in her office we upgraded ideas to my own private space I could call my own . she hesitated as the words started coming out of her mouth but I soon completed them and was stoked on the idea. Her hesitance was completely overcome by my excitement: a tent??! Ya…I was actually thinking that…that’d be awesome!!” and so it was set, and I was off to pick out my own little plot of land for my soon to be, home of wood and canvas. Sam, another worker here (who’s now gone home : ( ), from Vermont…just taking off a year between high school and college (shouldn’t we all do this!)….and I were playing tennis at the time…as we often did when he was still here. and it got pretty serious as well…we went from bare-feet and sandals rallying…to proper shoes and score-keeping matches! Haha…everyday after work “sooo…tennis?” we’d sometimes play for hours. I decided I really liked sam when we were cleaning the bathrooms together and he broke into song. Make that songs. And all from Aladdin…I joined in of course. knew we’d get along just fine…plus the fact that he’s just a fun, friendly, humorous guy. But anyway…back to the tent! Helen came and retrieved us for the task. It was harder to set up than you’d think! If you can imagine laurel and hardy you’re getting close. But in the end, it went from a pile of sticks and material to my brand new home. it was better than I could have possibly imagined…sam was pretty jealous.. It was an old school camping tent that reminded me more of M*A*S*H* than the wilderness. Of course this is how I came to describe my new abode, but many others found it reminded them of a variety of different things. Over the time I spent in that tent I had heard so many times “you live in the tent??! You live out there? doesn’t it get cold? What happens when it rains?” and then this next line always varied a bit “it reminds me of: (insert word)” I heard circus tent, army tent, Laurence of Arabia, refugee, mountain man camping, and I’m sure there were others I unfortunately don’t recall now. But it was my little m*a*s*h* tent and I loved it. And I suppose I should answer those previous questions for ya…as I’m sure you’re all curious yourselves. Yes. I lived in a tent. For a little over 2 months. But I cheated. I wasn’t hardcore. I cooked my meals in the hostel… although, I would often make my food and go and sit in my tent to eat…just looking out. I realized that it’s quite lovely…the amount of time we could spend outside but just don’t think to do it. The tent really made me get out and enjoy the daylight and use that daylight to read until I was bending the pages seeking any glimmer of the fading sun. when the natural light was gone I would sometimes read or write by flash-light lamp until all moths of te anau had come to join me. and for the most part, i used the toilet inside (way too far to go in the middle of the night)…I had my own little “ensuite” or “pee alley” as Helen so crassly termed it…ensuite…much better ( I give Leith the credit for that title). There may or may not be a dead spot in the grass now…haha. Cold? Yes. Plain and simple…It did get cold. Frickin’ cold, as a matter of fact. A few nights I checked my little thermometer and through the visible breath I was exhaling, made out a chilly 3-5C. mmmm…frosty. Getting ready for bed involves long underwear, socks, another top layer, and a beanie hat that reminds me more of a wetsuit cap than snow hat…so basically I feel like I’m preparing for a deep sea dive in the arctic before I hop under the covers to begin generating enough body-heat to get comfy and cozy. I did revel in sleeping “outdoors”. So fresh when you breathe in…and it was a great feeling…the cold on the outside…but it’s 98.7 in my warm bed. Of course in the morning putting on damp, freezing clothes was not so appealing. I think I wore the same clothes for a few days at one point because I was too cold to change. One night I stupidly thought I would be warm enough to not wear socks or my fleece. Bad move. I woke up several times huddled in the tightest foetal position you can imagine…my body just desperate to maintain heat. And not to mention that my joints were so stiff by morning because not even one toe would dare move out of the circle of warmth into the frozen depths of…gasp….ice-cold sheets! anything but that!! The next morning fellow workers inquired if I was frozen in my tent yet. Not yet…but last night it was close. The cold I can prepare for…no problem really. the rain and wind are mightily annoying. Combined they are a killer. in an unfortunate-for-the-canvas-tent-goer demonstration of nature’s power, the wind billows the flimsy “walls” with angry vigor and the rain peppers down. And as most have responded like you might have just done “ooh…but I love the sound of rain when I’m sleeping”…you my friend, have not slept in one of these canvas abodes. I might as well be in a tin can. a light sprinkle sounds like a downpour, and anymore than that and I feel like I’m under attack. I’ve tried to describe it…like someone’s throwing rice?? I often wake up to the persistent tap-tap-tapping, grab my ear plugs and nod back off to sleep in hopes I’ll hear the alarm in the morning. And when the wind really releases some angst, I feel as if I’m being digested. Wshhhhooo…shwaaaah it violently pulses IN and OUT…whapping my head and then pulling back to gear up for another swiish. And of course when a good rain is helping along the canvas gets soaking wet. There are no leaks…none at all…this is not the problem. It’s the wet canvas shwooshing against my bed that will arouse even the deepest sleeper. One stormy night I crawled into bed and upon rolling over…yeeeep…that’s not just damp…nope! That’s wet! It’s officially wet! So…naturally I rolled back over to the dry side of the bed and went to sleep.

Tent life was incredible. I loved all the different moments I had in there. from chilling in the afternoon warmth, looking out, reading in my little camper chair, eating with only the sounds of birds chirping, and leaves rustling. I loved feeling more in tune with nature instead of shutting out its powers and beauties with walls and regulated temperatures. I loved bundling up for bed, and sewing up the door flap when the weather got bad. I loved even having a little unexpected visitor, a wee hedgehog, come hopping in one night. I loved the realization of the simple basics we need. (of course I was astounded that even with so little I could still somehow achieve a mess akin to the aftermath of a tornado). Tent life was certainly for me…mum, dad? Tent space in the backyard doesn’t cost rent does it?