Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
I only stayed at home one night last week. I'm in the thick of an editorial deadline that has me visiting far flung places around New Zealand – many of them a long, long way from the sea. Luckily we bought a big slow motorhome a few years back – the Salty Slug – so travel and working on the road is made so much easier.
My trip saw me driving to my next assignment each afternoon, finding a cool spot to park up and then exploring that local region as best I can before my work starts – which was usually in the middle of the day – leaving me mornings and evenings to log my work and explore. To replace the gap where time in the ocean would revive me I adopted a rigorous cold water immersion practise each morning. Lakes, rivers – anywhere with biting cold water and that was me. To my surprise it actually really works. You emerge fresh and feeling sharp with a tingling sensation across your skin. It's a good way to start the day if you can't reach the brine.
Then each evening I'd log my work in the Salty Slug's office space and do a first edit and prep for the following day. Once I had the daily ritual worked out it actually made for a very smooth week of working on the road. Editing in the middle of nowhere under a bright and sparkling night's sky was pretty amazing.
On my last assignment of the week I even ended up in the Catlins and managed to surf a couple of times with just one or two others – unheard of in the middle of summer. But I'll take it. This gypsy life ... it's actually okay.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS I met up with a sea lion at Katiki Beach last week and it turns out that "she" was actually a "he". P470 was born at Rakiura back in 2022 and was mistakenly sexed when he was tagged (that's quite easy to do with a chunky, wriggling sea lion pup). Now two, he's already a very big animal, but still has his puppy ways – roling around in the shorebreak and letting the waves wash his limp body up the beach amongst the seaweed. It was no surprise that so many tourists thought he was dead. He's now officially recorded as a male.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: