Chapter 16

As part of scoping out his new town, he wanted to find a great beach. New Zealand had a luxury of riches when it came to beaches, and he wanted to find one to make his own.

 On a sunny Friday afternoon he therefore headed towards Piha, the famous beach on the west coast known for it’s rugged waves and great surfing. He had rented a little bungalow for the night, and was in the mood to mix with the locals, taste a few NZ beers and wines, and get in the water again. 

After checking in, he wandered down to the main beach, which had a massive structure called Lion Rock in the center of it. He made the 10 minute trek up to the top of the rock and took stock of the endless coastline sprawled down below. It was stunning, and reminded him a lot of a place he used to go in Oregon called Cannon Beach, which had been a sanctuary for him as a lonely kid.

  He wandered into the Piha surf club overlooking the beach and saw everyone gathered around a man playing guitar out on the little deck overlooking the sea. It all seemed kind of perfect, and soon John had joined the party. 

He stayed late into the evening singing songs and talking with people from all over the world who had gathered on the patio to have a drink and enjoy the beautiful view. 

After closing the little bar down, he wandered out to the beach and laid there for a while. It was a full moon and the stars were out and his mind was buzzing.

 And then, just over the horizon, he heard something coming from further down the beach. It was a guitar. And more than that, it was someone playing the Grateful Dead. He followed his ears and walked until he found the sound. There was a bunch of people in tie-dyes and assorted hippie garb sitting around the fire singing along. 

  He thought back to his early twenties when he used to own an old Volkswagen bus and travel around the country. He lived for those moments signing around a campfire, and finding this again in this time and in this place was a wonderful surprise.

  He wandered in to the loosely assembled group, singing the words to “Sugar Magnolia” as he did. He smelled the campfire and the marijuana wafting through the air and felt like he had traveled back in time. 

  He quickly found some people to talk to, and one particularly inspired man in dreadlocks was delivering a monologue.

“What if man, like this was the edge of the universe, and we’re just, like right now, pushing against it, making it bigger and more spiritual all the time?”

 He sat and listened to music and had some great laughs until the sun came up. Thinking that maybe he WAS pushing the outer edge of his universe a little bit. 

 As the last of the fire began to die down, he did get the guy with the guitar to play an old favorite for him. It was “Tripping Billies” by Dave Mathews, and it reminded him of some wonder times and places in his life. 

It went-

So why would you care
to get out of this place?
You and me and all our friends
such a happy human race

Cause we're tripping billies...

Right at that moment, he couldn’t have said it any better.