It was a hot and humid January afternoon in the little town of Burringbar. If you were to turn your gaze to the left front window of the old church, you would be able to watch a cricket match taking place on the sports field close by. However, if you were concentrating on the events transpiring within, you would know that wedding vows and serious commitments had just been made. Bronwyn Barrett was now Mrs. Jim Hoyle. If you had asked me whether I was nervous I would have said that I was most definitely not. An aunt pointed out to me that my frangipani flowers from my bouquet had fallen out as I walked down the aisle due to my hands shaking so much. I still don’t believe her. I was confident in Jim. I still am. Perhaps I was just uncomfortable being the center of attention. Frangipanis are still my favorite flower. I love the scent. I discovered later when we lived in the U.S. that the same flower is called plumeria, after the French botanist Charles Plumier. Our later travels took us to Nicaragua where we discovered the famed frangipani is known there as Sacuanjoche, and is the national flower. I gave my beautiful bouquet to my grandmother on my father’s side, as she was too ill to make it to the wedding.
Our wedding reception was held in a club, and with me still being seventeen years old, I had to leave at 8 o’clock when the bar opened! You can drink in Australia at eighteen years of age. We pitched our tent that evening on the terrace of one of our favorite beaches. The mosquitoes were out and there was a little rain. Awaking the next morning we walked down to the ocean to surf, and turning around saw the most amazing rainbow half encircling our tent. There are people who see miracles all around them, and those that don’t see any at all. I try to believe in the miraculous at every opportunity. I don’t always succeed, but this is how I desire to live, trusting that, in retaining our wonder in the beauty of the natural world, and living with gratefulness in the present, we are then more inclined to acknowledge the miraculous in our lives. Our new life as a married couple began with a rainbow, a promise.
Instead of taking an immediate honeymoon vacation we decided to work for three months and then take off to New Zealand for a while. The logic in this was simple. We had no money. The reason for New Zealand as a destination, again, quite simple, Jim was born in the South Island of New Zealand and had spent his first four years there. He had never re-visited the land of his birth, so we decided to do it together. It would be exciting! We would fly in to Auckland in the North Island, buy an inexpensive vehicle and just set off in whatever direction we wanted to. We did just that. We headed north through beautiful countryside that became increasingly tropical the more miles we covered. One of the places we spent the night was at the Wellsford Inn. We took the room with the single bed at $4 a night instead of the full bed at $8.That left us the $4 for a great breakfast served overlooking a picturesque rural vista. We dined as if we were royalty. Not being accustomed to eating out heightened the appreciation.
As this was a trip without a working budget, even our frugality could not stave off the inevitable necessity of having to find some employment to cover the most basic needs of food and shelter. This was part of the experience though. It was also to become a part of our lifestyle that we would continually demonstrate. Money, or should I say, the lack thereof, would not be the determining factor in our decision making process. We found work at Kerikeri where we spent two weeks picking kiwi fruit together on a dear old ladies farm. She had lost her husband, and together with a good friend, she was managing the business. We had many times of great conversation over cups of tea, and left feeling as if we had touched the heart of the country through these two kindly women. During our time in this area we had spent our weekends discovering the Bay of Islands by boat, hiking in the bush and enjoying the beaches. We were also getting to know each other more and forming a philosophy of life that was neither burdened with provision or precaution. (George MacDonald.)
Driving around this wonderful country was such a privilege. We were to cover 7,000 miles by the time we sold our car back to the exact same dealership we had bought it from. The only repair necessary was to replace the water pump when we were over half way through the journey. Every new day found us in awe of the incredible beauty that is New Zealand. We headed south and saw majestic mountains, hot springs, geysers, lakes, glassy ocean expanses, perfectly manicured pastures with untold numbers of sheep, and absolutely no litter. Often stopping at the little roadside fruit stands with their honesty boxes, we lunched on tamarillos, kiwi fruit, apples and feijoas. We spent time at Mount Manganui and Rotorua, and then continued on to Lake Taupo to polish fiberglass boats for a week .The weather was starting to hint at the approaching winter, so we raided some Thrift stores for coats and wound our way down to Wellington and across the Cook Strait to Picton. I didn’t realize before crossing from one island to the other on the ferry that we would be out in the open ocean. I was terribly sea sick.
We slept that first night in the South Island under the towering shadow of a mountain in one of the many motor parks dotted across the country. It was incredibly cold, but the views more than compensated for it. If I had thought the North Island was beyond belief, the South Island was even more so. Driving on roads that had incredibly steep drops and no safety rails, hanging out over sheer precipices with the ocean wild and forceful right below us, taking in the mighty glaciers, and now with the ever present silent snow clothing the landscape, we were on sensory overload. We drove at dusk into the small town of Naseby. The snow was softly falling on the pine trees and the homes, bringing to mind my favorite Christmas cards as a child. It was surreal. It was captivating. When we awoke the following morning in our cabin we had icicles on the inside of our windows! After donning our warmest clothing we drove on to Ranfurly and past the hospital where Jim was born. We were living fully in each moment and loving it.
Jim found another job for a week. I couldn’t help him this time as the work necessitated experience with fiberglass. It was a fortunate situation though, as he was able to fashion a sled for each of us with remnants from the workplace. We had boundless fun with them on the slopes. They were fast and light, and free! The rest of the time in the South Island was spent exploring the Queenstown area, sledding any hill or accessible mountain we came across, and being transfixed by the iconic snow capped Remarkables, the mountain range that has captured our imagination ever since, and now many others since it has been featured in the movie” The Lord of the Rings.” It is still one of my favorite places on the planet. The Land of the Long White Cloud is a land of abundant splendors and enchantments and it has fueled our imagination and wonder in reflection continually to this day.
