Yes.

Wednesday 3/11

Here is what I love. Figs, cheese, and bread for dinner. More specifically, figs fresh from the orchard, homemade cheese using milk from the house cow, and homemade bread baked in a wood oven.

We're at Otamatea, a 250-acre ecovillage in Kaiwaka that sits on a peninsula in the Kaipara Harbour, north of Auckland. There are about 15 households here, each with a 5-acre lot. The remaining acreage is held in common, with some being restored to native bush and some in grazing land for stock. It's a pretty diverse community - about half Kiwis and half international. A German couple, Sabine and Wolfgang, are hosting us and they're completely lovely - they know how to balance work and rest and do both joyfully.

Thursday 3/12

Last night we went to a community potluck at the house of another member of Otamatea. The four of us walked there, the bike basket filled with food and Wolfgang's homebrew. Hours later, after feasting and drinking and talking (some recurring themes: the American economy, the frightening role of religion in the States, and Why Don't Republicans Travel?) we walked home pleasantly drunk, the full moon softening the way.