Leaving the fridge behind.

4pm friday 24th, I stood on the edge of the sand dune and looked out to sea while thinking about how this would go. Those clouds looked menacing. I had a feeling of exictement but also one of reservation as to how the 2am winds would take their toll on me. The 1st thing to do was to find a place to sleep for the night. I felt awfully naked not only due to the fact that I had only had a pair shorts on, but also because i couldnt rely on a warm bed and a roof over my head anymore, or a fridge full of food. Instead, my bed was a hole in the sand dune, covered by a leaning pohutukawa tree, making a kind of cave. I gathered toitoi and put them on the ground for a bed. Now that the bed was ready, the next thing I had to think about was food...

As I use this part of the coast for my training grounds regularly, i knew where to look for food, which stopped me from exerting precious energy looking for food and instead use it to keep warm for the night ahead.

Mussels were on the menu, small but sweet which was good as they were eaten raw, the big ones get a bit rubbery and monotinous.

Then the rain came. along with darkness and winds that whipped sand up and threw it in my face and up my nose.

"im in for a long, cold and sleepless night" I thought to myself. And I was right.

I wont go into detail of how the night went but it was like trying to sleep in a hole of wet compost.

The next morning was no different. I decided that it wouldnt be wise to carry on as the weather was only getting worse and safety comes 1st in my point of view. And also my water supply had been turned from a clear trickle to a muddy torrent which would of no doubt have some sort of negative affect on my zoo human ammune system. see, if I had been brought up in a hunter/gatherer type of setting, i would have a more resilient immune sytem to cope with that water. perhaps I need to "train" and "strengthen" my ammune system?

I guess it just gradual progression. This glimpse was everything I had hoped for even though it was cut short. I will no doubt go out "wild" again and for alot longer next time.