I’m re-emerging in the digital world after an attempt at an offline holiday for three weeks. It’s been good for the soul not to be continually thinking about writing for an online audience or consulting the voices of the internet through the day.

The break was helped by spending a fair bit of time on the road, driving from the Gold Coast to Melbourne and back in Australia, and then from Auckland to Wellington in New Zealand.

To Melbourne and Back

We did the journey to Melbourne via the Newell Highway on the way down. First day we covered 1000 kilometres, driving inland to Goondiwindi and down through Dubbo to Forbes. Driving through Shepparton on the way to Melbourne (670 km on the second day) was somewhat disturbing, seeing what should have been a fertile valley affected so badly by drought.

Spent a week in Melbourne on a working holiday. I did the work at the Uniting Church’s National Christian Youth Convention while my wife and daughter had the holiday. Most of my time was focused on helping Craig Mitchell prepare and run a series of interactive, contemplative Bible studies. See his notes on the series for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. We also started on a video project gathering stories for the Next Gen project we’re working on for the Uniting Church in Australia.

The journey back up the coast was nowhere near as quiet and peaceful as the inland route. However, we were able to make the most of a night in both Canberra and Port MacQuarrie.

In New Zealand

Arriving back on the Gold Coast I discovered that my NZ passport had expired. No panic. Just some quick calls to change flights, and an urgent renewal process meant that I was able to fly down to Sydney later in the week, pick up my passport and fly over to Auckland to meet the rest of the family. It was good to catch up with Steve and Rick from The Inspiration Room in Sydney.

The slightly scary part of the story was being pulled aside at customs because I was a dual citizen using a New Zealand passport. Customs officials are required to check with Immigration to ensure that we’re bona fide citizens without any criminal background I assume. I’ve been warned that my leaving and entering Australia will be a lot easier with an Australian passport.

The journey from Auckland to Wellington we did in two days. We called in at Waihi Beach to see family and have an ocean swim, looked around our old haunts in Katikati (1986 to 1988), staying in Te Puna across the road from the Speed Shearing championships. We stopped in Tokoroa to visit our daughter’s grave, walked around Taupo’s Craters of the Moon, and had a meal in gumboot town Taihape. It was great to be back in Wellington again, where we lived from 1995 to 2000. Not a lot has changed, apart from the urban motorway system and the growing inner city apartment life.

Living Offline

I deliberately chose the offline experience, for two reasons. I needed a break from looking at a screen and interacting online. Every day I spend between two and four hours researching and writing online. It wouldn’t be fair on the family to use up valuable holiday time glued to a computer. And so I’ve spent many evenings relaxing with games of Estimation Whist, Hearts and 500, along with The second reason was it would be cheaper and easier not to have to access the internet.

Photos

Here’s a few photos from The Craters of the Moon near Taupo, and the Botanic Gardens in Wellington.