There’s nothing more discombobulating than a 24-hour journey to the opposite side of the planet. We landed in Auckland on 1st November 2024, collected a campervan, and wound up through the hills above the city to our first campsite, Piha Campground, next to Piha Beach. Having wanted to visit New Zealand since I can remember, emerging exhausted onto that beach was a moment I will never forget. I wrote this poem to commemorate it.

And all of a sudden
I’m on glittering black sands.
Topsy-turvy stars pierce a yawning sky.
She lifts her hands, a day of day-casting done,
and droops in orange peel beyond the surf.
Birds bleep in robot tongue
songs I have never heard sung.
‘Kia ora’, your deep-felt greeting,
the sweet salt on my skin,
the toffee fumes.
Hello, at last. I’ve been lacking you.