Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The Flying Tortoise Freedom Camping At Tolaga Bay...

My lifestyle of choice would have been to be married, living in a mortgage free home in a retirement village, having drinkies with others at five a clock every day prior to eating some unidentifiable greens, mashed potatoes and some four day old fresh fish.
Then ice cream and and jelly prior to falling to sleep in front of the soaps.
But no that sort of idyllic lifestyle wasn't the hand that the cards dealt to me.
Oh no, I got none of a kind in my hand.
My losing hand has me going around in a little house on wheels ridiculously called The Flying Whatever and visiting dreadfully horrible places like Tolaga Bay on New Zealand's East Cape.
I do what they call 'freedom camp' which means
I don't go to those nice motor camps.
Well I would, but they prefer white tupperware containers on wheels to my funny old Bedford and when I light the fire, well, the looks on their faces! And they get their inhalers out and shake them at me.
So here I am cast out of society, just like a gypsy, an itinerant with no fixed abode, catching fish, enduring boring beaches and occasionally meeting a like minded soul.
As you can imagine, hating every moment of it.
But that's the way the ball bounces, the cards shuffle, the fish flops, the sun sets...









34 comments:

  1. I bet - you don't even dream of making an exchange with the happy people in the retirement village. That's perhaps your followers luck. What should we do without your wonderful fotos from Tolaga Bay and other fine places in your beautiful country, when we don't have opportunity to be there right now?

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  2. You pore, pore thing.

    Looks like you've got plenty of firewood on that beach. I wonder if the driftwood burns blue, or green?

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  3. ...forced to endure perfect sunsets. . .

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  4. You are much better where you are, you would be to much trouble in a retirement village, lots of fire wood there cheers keith.

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  5. Long live freedom camping! Long live free spirits!

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  6. Looks great. Could be wild and windswept though? Lots of wood to climb over to catch your fish for dinner.

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  7. I feel so sorry for you. . . not!!

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  8. now you find out how many friends you have .I bet you had fun writing that one ,be carefull we may all come and park with you ,and some of us are living in white tupper ware containers and freedom camping.Yes the supply of fire wood would be fun to serch through for our fires but imagine all those smoking chimneys all around you

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  9. What georgous surroundings you have around you. The amount of driftwood on the beach seems to be huge. Is that a common occurrence?

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    1. There seem to be thousands, no, make that millions of tons of driftwood on every beach of this magnificent East Coast. It's a bit of a nuisance but it's there because it's got nowhere else to go. I know how it feels he said smiling...

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  10. Great photos.... Wonderful spot.

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  11. Congrats on your woes...signed, The envious!!

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  12. Oh you poor thing. I'm just in a little wee Tupperware though, newbies to the freedom paradise. Good to have met you Keith. You can teach us alot about how to do it. We are very privileged. Pip.

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  13. You are ONE Lucky Duck,,Or should I say Flying Tortoise..Old Guy

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  14. After drying my tears from reading this, I immediately sprang into action and applied for a non-profit status to bring you back to the 'real world'. There will be therapy in a fitting setting of a suburban neighborhood, where your door will be painted green so you can tell which house is yours. Many women will bring you tuna cassaroles and old cake. One man has offered a free used lawn mower and snowblower and you already have three invites to co-ed Tupperware parties. It's the least I could do.

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  15. Hi keith I know exactly how you feel ,..well me I am about to do the Kiwi fruit season and after that maybe see you on some beach up north for the winter .,happy travels ,../

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  16. Replies
    1. Thankyou Michele.
      That's a wonderful proposition...

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    2. I've already proposed....it' s in a message in a bottle caught up among the driftwood out there

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    3. Well PB... Michele did get her proposition in first...

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    4. Drats - I never should have trusted that bottle post....if Michele has second thoughts let me know...

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    5. No you can't I saw him first!!!

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    6. We might have pistols at dawn on this.....

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  17. Request...someday somewhere, we'll meet on a beach like that catch fish, cook them and watch the sunset and tell stories into the night.... s it a deal?

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  18. Do I detect a bit of Irony? Would love to be there but I'm stuck in a RV Parl this month. I'll be Boondocking soon.

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  19. Gorgeous!
    28 comments on this post. It is an everyday fascination reading your intriguing blog and admiring your breathtaking photos.

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    1. You're wonderful Erika, thankyou. I don't know if you visited the east cape when you were here, I feel sure you must have but.
      I'm glad you're there, enjoying...

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  20. wow...those images of perfect peace sure did kick up a storm

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  21. Thanks for your answer, but I have no chance to answer you on this way. There is something incompatible with gmx or so, I just don't understand.
    Another attempt to submit our NZ-route on Google map:

    http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
    208080704934672742348.0004995a20cccfc9c935f

    I love to read about your solar energy. We are always suffering from Vitamin D lack, but spring is in the air.

    Hugs
    Erika

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  22. The tradigies that lifes hand deals us are sometimes almost overwhelming, though you seem to be bearing up well under the strain of it all!
    I've always thought NZ South Island to one of the worlds most beautiful places long may it endure(so stop telling everyone) . Hopefully next year will see us returning for good.

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