January 28, 2013
Next, it was time to visit the mysterious Te Paki Sand Stream, always mentioned as a feature of any given bus tour, yet never described. I didn’t know exactly what it was or if we could even see it since the consensus was you must see it by tour bus or 4-wheel-drive vehicle. Apparently whatever it was, you drive over it.
I asked the owner of our bed-and-no-breakfast about the Sand Stream, and I was thrilled when he told me you don’t need a car: it’s about a mile long and you can just walk it all the way to Ninety Mile Beach. The sand stream is simply the riverbed that goes from the Te Paki dunes to the beach, with varying amounts of water streaming through depending on the season and rains.
We were still dazed after seeing the sand dunes when we started our walk down the riverbed. It’s about 100 Feet wide and mostly packed sand, with a stream that alternately divides and comes back together as it meanders along the riverbed. White sand dunes rose above us to our right, and thick vegetation grew on over the hills to the left. The sand dunes here were smaller, but beautiful: perfect white sand hills dotted with patches of pampas grass and the shadows they made.
The afternoon sunlight was bright, but in a way that was soft and warm, not harsh or glaring at all. Clouds dotted the blue sky above us, and there remained that odd effect of blowing wind in the general area vs calm air around us. The sun was shining off the leaves of the long grasses swaying in the breeze. This scene was truly one of the most beautiful things we’ve ever seen.
So often in New Zealand, every element in a scene will be familiar, but the way they are put together is totally unusual. The effect is that many landscapes feel familiar and exotic at the same time. This was definitely the case here. We know all of these elements, but have never seen, nor would we have imagined, them combined this way.
The soft light, the warm air, the incredible beauty and the unusual landscape gave this whole scene a surreal effect. We responded the same way: we felt incredibly joyful to be here. It was then that we looked at each other and first asked, “When did we die? How do you suppose it happened?” This felt amazing, but it no longer felt like Earth; it felt like how we imagine the afterlife. This place is not merely something you go and see; it is an experience, almost an altered state.
In the weeks and months to come traveling around New Zealand, the question, “How did we die?” came up regularly. Aside from being incredibly beautiful, New Zealand has a strange magic to it.
Our German/American friend, Sabine, noted one of her favorite things about New Zealand is the beauty of the clouds. She’s right: the clouds here could inspire a thousand landscape paintings. They are ever-present in the blue sky, and they give a unique effect to the quality of light here. Even the sunniest days have softened light, changing gently as the clouds move across the sky, and near the ocean it can take on a misty, otherworldly feeling. All I can say is if we did die, don’t feel bad for us–we’re very happy here. –Cyndi
