First Glimpse of the Waitui Reserve

                                    

Traffic is just getting busy. It's half-past seven in the morning. It's a cold winter morning with a visible layer of frost over the lawn surfaces, quite like a layer of white cream frosting on a green tea cake! Who makes green tea cakes? Well am not sure about cakes, but I have definitely come across green tea ice cream and that was it, let it be a one-time experience. ETA is looking good, let's just say that the destination is somewhere in Te Puna.

After we got the business done at Te Puna, we came across a place that was quite magical. As I was looking out at random in google maps for any areas of interest, like how some iconic flagship landmarks show up as you zoom in or zoom out in the maps app, a striking layout of the water body got our attention, spread out all around our location of interest. There is a reserve!!

The place is Waitui Reserve, a beautiful waterfront area with an outstanding specimen Eucalyptus tree which is an art of its own, and boat ramp access. The estuary was teeming with native birds, we spotted plenty of Tui, local kingfishers and Pied Stilt's to name a few. It's quite easy to get this Waitui Reserve mixed up with the Waituna Wetland Scientific Reserve, the natural habitat of Awarua Waituna of Southland with lagoons, ponds, lakes, and peatland. 

The area has a line of houses and hence a small community living with the benefits of having one of the most impressive views you could get in the eastern Bay of Plenty region. A perfect waterfront paradise, to sitback, relax and bask in the sun. Against the backdrop of the iconic tree specimen, there is the Mount Maunganui aka Mauao (meaning ''caught by the morning light''). The story of the Mauao, with the genesis chapter where three mountains living together in the Hautere forest is a legendary story of its own and never fails to astonish me. 

The reserve has allowance from the council and the community to occupy campers with ample space available. The site comes equipped with the ncessary facilities for the freedom campers in campervans and motorvans. There are maximum stay restrictions of 3 nights for such campers over a period of 4 consecutive weeks. This comes free of cost and hence be kind with the community and the nature itself. I like it best when the reserve is on a high tide with water body teeming with life and other species of life chasing after it!  

It was quite handy to have my backpack with all the basic camera gears. The views and the bird songs were so magical and didn't want to miss capturing this. Took out the tripods and shot a couple of videos, relaxing ourselves while the camera does the job. There were some children playing on the streets, however there wan't much noise to disrupt the nature sounds. The one with the beach waves came out to be nice as the wind wasn't too bad. The bird songs too came out well other than the visulas being a bit cloudy making it hard to notice a Tui or other natives making those lovely songs. 

There were couple of campervans stalled at the place and as it was morning quite a few local people from the community was found having their daily walks and bike rides. The scene was so calm and refreshing with friendly community and serene nature vibes. More visits are definetly planned to this place as there are some walks that still need to be explored. From the maps, there seems to have quite a few tracks that spreads out along the waterbody and the place is close to some nearby parks as well. 

 

The Golden Eye

........and to everyone's shock, Kattappa kills Baahubali. And that's how the French revolution ended!!

I somehow managed to conclude the 10 marks history exam essay.

You just can't contain the excitement and immense joy of starting the two months long school holidays. Wooohoooo!!

Who bothers to have lunch when you are hyper-packed with energy, after all, it's just the starting hours of the holiday and you just want to live those moments. It's more relatable to that Friday afternoon feeling.

As the school holidays kicks off in our part of the world in South India, its the jack fruit and mangoes season. Yum.........what a treat it is. Jackfruit is too much work, the easy target is mangoes. 

It doesn't matter whose mango tree it is. We have the right to grab a stone or a stick and claim it. If the stone breaks someone's window; well, we could be in trouble - just run for your life.

Mangoes especially those during this season always have a special taste, don't know if its the mango or if its the sense of freedom adding that special flavour. It was such a great treat as always.

At flight speed, we dropped our bags at home, grabbed the cricket ball (the rubber version) and the bat (its not the MRF version as one might imagine, its rather the handcrafted ''Olamdal'' specially derived from the good old fallen coconut tree leaf!!).

Can't remember how many wickets we had just because the ball was smashed over the boundary lines. The boundary line here is very defined, the rules have its own complexities.

If the ball goes to Satheeshan's house, its an OUT. If it goes to the nearby paddy field, well it's a tough one - legend has it that someone have scored a half-century just with one such long shot!!

Hours went by as the evening sun showed up as a spectator to watch our home tournament match. Migrant Bengali workers returned home after a long day's work. First show was about to begin at the nearby movie talkies at 6:30pm. 

The brand new rubber ball was slowly starting to show wear and tear, losing its signature rubber fragrance and gradually shifting to a grassy one. Boundaries could no longer be identified. 

A couple of our players got into 50 and 100 meters race beating Usain Bolts 9.58 seconds and some even into marathons as they got chased up by their parents with that shining stick (sadly not the Olympic medal!!). 

And there goes that one last shot way beyond the defined boundaries. What's behind Satheeshan's house? A cemetery !! OMG

Who have the guts to get into a cemetery at this time of the day. Hmm, that ball is worth a lot of savings - who would understand the sacrifice we made by not buying sip-ups, so that we could get this ball.

We slowly walked to the front of the open cemetery, somewhere in a far corner of our minds the BGM of 'The Conjuring' started to play. Come-ondra Maheshe, this is Nisssssssaaaaaaaaaaram!

We recited Maheeeeeeeeeendra Baaaaaaaaaaahubali and ran fast into the cemetery. Wait, it is dark!

Can't see a trace of anything except for the shiny silver crosses everywhere. 

And as we were trembling with fear as the ambiance grew cold and spooky; there comes a strange golden light! Not one, but a few golden torch lights. 

All at once the church bell rang at 7pm, what a nice touch of BGM to an already horror scene. 

At Mach 3 speed, we ran the hell out of the cemetery, one of my mates went on a different trajectory at this speed and landed in Dubai with no passport and started some hypermarkets in memory of his Tulu language! 

Frightened by this extra-ordinary takeoff scene, the cemetery cats who have been mute since evolution, cried like never before MeeeeeeooooW and from then own a new cat language was born. 

*** THE END ***

താറാവും ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടിയും കൊച്ചി ലുലു മാളത്തിൽ

രാവിലെ തന്നെ കൊക്കരക്കോ സൈറൺ അടിച്ചു കൊഴിച്ചേട്ടൻ സീനിൽ എൻട്രി ചെയ്തു.

പാവം താറാവ് കുട്ടൻ ഉറക്കം എഴുന്നേറ്റു വരുന്നേ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നുള്ളൂ.

ഒരു ഐസ് ക്രീം കഴിച്ചു സ്വപ്നത്തിൽ എന്ജോയ് ചെയ്തു വന്നതായിരുന്നു.

കൊഴിച്ചേട്ടൻ വീണ്ടും സൈറൺ ഇട്ടു……….കൊക്കരക്കോ …………………..കൊക്കരക്കോ …………….

താറാവു കുട്ടൻ പല്ലു തേച്ചിട്ടു തൻ്റെ കൂട്ടുകാരൻ ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടിയെ കാണാൻ രാവിലെ തന്നെ Quack Quack എന്നും പാടി പുറപ്പെട്ടു.

ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടി രാവിലെ പുട്ടും ചെറുപയർ കറിയും കഴിച്ചു ഒരു ചായ കുടിച്ചു ബാലരമ വായിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു.

അപ്പോഴാണ് ചിങ്കാരി ആടെ പഞ്ചാര ആടെ എന്നും പാടി താറാവ് കുട്ടൻ അവിടെ എത്തിയത്.

എടാ ഞാൻ ഇന്ന് രാവിലെ ഒരു ഐസ് ക്രീം കഴിക്കുന്ന സ്വപ്നം കണ്ടു.

ഐസ് ക്രീം ……………….. ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടി ചാടി എഴുന്നേറ്റു.

എവിടെ ഐസ് ക്രീം, എനിക്കും വേണം ഐസ് ക്രീം………………………..

ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടി താറാവ് കുട്ടനെ ചുറ്റും കറങ്ങി പോക്കറ്റ് ഒക്കെ തപ്പി നോക്കി.

എവിടെ ഐസ് ക്രീം, എനിക്കും വേണം ഐസ് ക്രീം………………………..

എടാ ഞാൻ സ്വപ്നത്തിലാണ് ഐസ് ക്രീം കഴിച്ചത്, അത് മുഴുവൻ കഴിക്കാനും പറ്റിയില്ല. എനിക്ക് ഐസ് ക്രീം കഴിക്കാൻ കൊതിയാവുന്നു.

ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടിക്ക് ഒരു ഐഡിയ തോന്നി, നമ്മൾക്ക് ലുലു മാളിൽ പോയാൽ ഐസ് ക്രീമും കഴിക്കാം, ഒരു സിനിമയും കാണാം എങ്ങനെ ഉണ്ട് ഐഡിയ.

സൂപ്പർ ഐഡിയ ഇപ്പോൾ തന്നെ പോയേക്കാം……………….

താറാവ് കുട്ടൻ വേഗം ഒരു ഇടപ്പള്ളി ബസ് പിടിച്ചു. ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടി വേഗം ബസ്സിൽ ചാടി കയറി.

ടിക്കറ്റ് ഒക്കെ എടുത്തു, കച്ചേരിപ്പടിയും, കലൂരും, ഒക്കെ കഴിഞ്ഞു.

ആട്ടിൻ കുട്ടിയും താറാവ് കുട്ടനും ബസ്സിൽ കാഴ്‌ചകൾ കണ്ടിരുന്നു, ആന കുട്ടൻ റോഡിൽ കൂടി ഓല സാൻഡ്‌വിച്ചും കഴിച്ചു നടക്കുന്നത് അവർ കണ്ടു.

ഞങ്ങൾ ലുലു മാളിൽ പോകുകയാണ്……….ആട്ടിൻ കുട്ടിയും താറാവ് കുട്ടനും വിളിച്ചു പറഞ്ഞു, ടാറ്റാ …..

മുകളിൽ കൂടി മെട്രോ ട്രെയിൻ പോവുന്നത് ഒക്കെ കണ്ടു.

ലുലു മാള് എത്തിയെ……………… ബസ് കണ്ടക്ടർ വിളിച്ചു പറഞ്ഞു.

ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടിയും താറാവ് കുട്ടനും ചാടിയിറങ്ങി.

ഹായ് ഹായ് ലുലു മാൾ …………………

രണ്ടു പേർക്കും സന്തോഷം കൊണ്ട് നിൽക്കാനും ഇരിക്കാനും വയ്യാതായി. ആട്ടിൻകുട്ടിയും താറാവ് കുട്ടനും ലുലു മാളിലോട്ടു ഓടി കയറി.

വയറു നിറയും വരെ ഐസ് ക്രീം കഴിച്ചു…………………..

പിന്നെ ഒരു സിനിമയും കണ്ടു……………..

അപ്പോഴാണ് ജയസൂര്യയും കൂട്ടരും ആട്ടിൻ കുട്ടിയെ പിടിക്കാൻ വന്നത്.

താറാവ് കുട്ടൻ വേഗം തന്നെ ആട്ടിൻ കുട്ടിയുടെ കൂട്ടുകാരെ വിളിച്ചു പറഞ്ഞു.

അവർ വേഗം ഒരു ബസ് പിടിച്ചു ലുലു മാളിലേക്കു പുറപ്പെട്ടു…………………….

Click here for rest of the story ……………

The Wise Turtle of Busan

Siu slipped into a deja vu, as he sensed an unusual connection to the turtle that washed up at the Gwangalli Beach. This was not a casual beach walk for Siu. There were many stocks at stake, the pandemic crawled in like a stranger to the party. Throwing waves of uncertainty like a dice the size of a Rubik’s cube evolving as it rolls.

He was never a fan of the urban signature views of the Gwangan Bridge, the calm of the Buddhist shrine would rather appeal. Neon lights kept flashing throughout the beach streets, with large red and yellow umbrella stalls attracting beach-goers attention, to lure them to have a snack or more. These flashing lights stacked flash images of stock market updates, every cent matters.

Yet this was one of Siu’s favourite spot in Busan; atleast the beach is real, the waves, the sand, the occasional breeze, there is a connection to nature. Being a major port city in Asia with a very fast paced cosmopolitan population, it still holds the essence of South Korea in all its traditional glory.

Deep within the misty Geumjeong mountains, there lied wisdom, untouched by the devotees of the Beomeosa Temple. The legend has it that the wise turtle have played an integral role in shaping the much needed chaos of today’s world.

Siu never bothered to pay a visit to the Geumjeong mountains. He would rather be hooked up with the play station. Hiking mountains was never in his books. Who knew the shrine was indeed a tool to connect with the ultimate source of wisdom ? The Dragon Kings would never have survived their dreams otherwise.

Ones beliefs have the power to influence one’s life decisions in the strangest of ways. The idea of a wise turtle was somewhere in Siu’s mind. Thanks to the Kungfu Panda and some bedtime stories. The turtle that washed up on the shores somehow transfigured into the wise one at least in Siu’s sub-conscious mind. Things were more clear, infact never been clearer.

The answer lies in us, the key to unlock wisdom is in our mind. Somehow we need to search and accept a tool to validate the source, it could be prayer, a walk in the beach or even an apple on your head.

Borborygmos: The Call for Idiyappam

It hasn't been that long since Sunny started waking up early in the mornings. Early in the sense, ''Sunny's perspective of being early'' which is well after the sunrise. It was a relatively fine sunny Saturday morning compared to the past few cloudy and windy days. Absolutely no trace of dark clouds. Lisa was already in the kitchen busy reviewing YouTube recipes for breakfast. 

Chaaya....first call for tea.

  

Saturday mornings always come with fond memories of 'Duck Tales', 'Tales Pin' and 'Shakthi Man' in Doordharshan with delicious breakfast usually 'Puttum Kadalayum' and Chaaya. Wait, not sure if Shakthi Man was on Saturdays or Sunday, anyways doesn't matter.  

The intro song from 'Duck Tales', where uncle scrooge and his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie swim through the shiny golden treasures still stays fresh in memories. 

Same goes with the 'Tales Pin' where the other cousin of Baloo, the bear from 'The Jungle Book' with his flight cap and yellow shirt accompanied by his younger counterpart navigator, maneuvers in their cargo plane, 'Sea Duck'. 

The weekend newspaper was waiting to spend quality time with his soulmate (tea), Sunny is the broker of-course.

Chaaaaya.....second call for tea.

News seems to be less interesting as the colourful ads stands out catching your eye with fake sales offers and what not. As the curtain blinds were pulled open, bright Saturday morning sun showed up filling the house with immense sense of ''its a Saturday Morning'' vibe.

Chaaaaaaya.......third and last call for tea.

The elixir of communist Kerala, Chaaya and the local newspaper transfigured to immortality. 

Idiyappam is a rare item to find its place for breakfast when compared with its competitors. Possibly due to the much-needed muscle madness to squeeze out the noodle like strings. Its also called 'Noolappam' aka the string hopper. As Sunny and Lisa took roles to twist the ‘Idiyappa Thattu’, Kadala curry was setting in well with the spices in the hot pot.

Nissaaram……….enough, let’s cut this off and use the rest of the dough to make Idiyappa Pidi.

These go well with chicken curry if further processed a bit differently, not today though. Breakfast got baked and its hot in the pot ready to eat now.

Twist………..Twist……………Twist

Sunnychaaya, we’ll have breakfast after coming back from church.

(PS: Sunny Chaaya is not a special tea, although it might sound so when ‘ichaaya’ is used. ‘ichaaya’ is a traditional usage for calling husbands in Kerala Christian families along with their name)

Oh well, let’s run to the church then. They both left to church having a 4K snapshot of Idiyappam and Kadala Curry in mind.

Lucky that its not a Syro-Malabar Qurbana, else it would have taken one round of ‘Titanic’ or ‘Sholay’ prior to breakfast.

As the priest raised the holy bread in the name of Christ, followed by wine; Sunny’s bowels felt happy and sang songs aloud.

Brrrrrrrr……(low pitch)

Brrrrrrr…………………(high pitch)

The followers got side tracked for a moment there to hear the new ringtone as opposed to the usual bell tone. The rumbling, growling, gurgling ringtone was from Sunny’s bowel Mov(i)e-ment called Borborygmus. It was indeed the long calling for the Idiyappam.

NB: The scientific name borborygmus (meaning  - a rumbling or gurgling noise made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines) is related to the 16th-century French word borborygme, itself from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek βορβορυγμός (borborygmós).

Building our first home in New Zealand

Its been almost a year since we have built our first home in New Zealand. It all started unexpectedly following a casual Sunday afternoon visit to one of the show homes in Palmerston North. The show home was a G J Gardner property located at one of the fastest growing premium locales in the city, Summerhill. This house was pretty flash with brand new flavor throughout the place inside out. Although it was the first time, we were visiting show homes, there was no significant anxieties or worry as we were not serious about building a new home.

Being to numerous other open homes in the city, this was a whole new experience being brand new. And that feeling caught us as we moved around awestruck, 'I wish this was our home'. Nothing to lose, we did catch up with one of the friendly consultants and asked what's the smallest budget house we could have. It has to be noted, this was the first time, we ever had a conversation or tried to have a conversation with a consultant; the case with any other open homes, we would be running away unnoticed. We were  quite surprised with the options and affordable budgets presented as shockingly some of those were much lesser than established homes in the city.

We happily returned home with our thought process being completely aligned into a new dimension, 'It is practical to have an affordable brand new home without much hassle'. There were a few brochures handy and quite a lot of testimonial videos in YouTube to refer to. Those videos were really inspirational and gave us more confidence to head the way to owing a land and building a brand new home.

Being exposed to only one builder this time, we expanded our research into other potential builders but all others blew up our budget and watching those G J Gardner testimonials further, there were no second thoughts. Palmerston North is one of the fasted growing housing markets within the country with the tagline ''most affordable''. And have to say with G J Gardner, its even better and you could skip the worry part.

Our first step as advised was to find the section. Being the foundation and the money spinner, it took a while for us to get through this stage. We searches mostly outside of the city, to have an affordable section. With basic searches from Trademe and QV, we passed through the then available sections in Ashhurst, Fielding, Bulls, and Highbury. Lots of travel, google searches, property videos and articles were reviewed in the meantime. With helpful advise from our consultants and feedback from friends, we bought a section in Ashhurst from RE/MAX.

Oh wait, I missed to mention the significant role played by our mortgage broker from Mortgage Link. Without his help and support none of this would have materialized. There were timely and meaningful advise as to when we were ready to start the ball rolling. This was key in making those big decisions. Plus leave all the stress part with selecting the right bank, interest rates , term payments etc.

There is more to the process involved from start to finish, with building consents from the council, title arrangements with solicitor, complying with land covenants etc. More or less this is one exciting experience with heaps of joy and happiness. At the end of the day, this is your home and you are proud of the decisions you made, from the design to choosing the color. Enjoy the journey of creating your signature home where memories are awaiting to sprout, to be cherished forever.