symbolic kayak

Our first trip to New Zealand had its fair share of great moments. A holiday so different to any other we'd been on up to that point, it really was supremely special.

One of our fondest memories was staying it a retreat near Pancake Rocks in South Island called Te Nikau. Cosy huts built in the bush with lights in the trees that led you back to your cabin after dark. Minutes from a beach which we visited with our friends Rick and Stacy as it was drenched in evening light and freshly baked bread and muffins every morning.

At the time Te Nikau wasnt in any of our guidebooks or on a website, it was a travellers tip passed on by some of Stacy's friends who'd visited NZ previously. She clutched its location - a rough sketch on a scrap of paper, like a treasure map or the map of The Beach.

Our time there was only a few days but it was a slice of paradise we'll never forget. On the day we left we went a few kms down the road to a kayak place and T and I took a 2 hr paddle up the Punakaiki river.

After an hour examining the wildlife close up from our virtually silent kayaks we turned them around and let the tide take us all the way down to a beach lagoon. The sun was shining and the scenery of the west coast was epic. It was a real moment.

Later on, I thought I spotted Rick and Stacey walking on the beach, so although Tracey said it wasn't them, I was sure it was - I beached the kayak and ran off into the distance to catch them up. After running about 2 kms after them, I caught up only to find that Tracey was right, it wasnt them. The long walk back was the biggest walk of shame ever. To this day Tracey remembers this fondly, when I say fondly I mean she laughs hysterically and cant help taking the piss out of me even though it was 4 years ago. However, I digress.

Since that time, the kayak represented a lifestyle we longed for in a country that amazed us. A dream we held in our heads for as long as we could when we returned to the madness of our life in London.

Today we own a house by the beach in this country we fell in love with. We have kayaked in some great places: Abel Tasman national park, Milford Sound and the Puhoi river.

We went up to Puhoi earlier this year and during a conversation with the kind folk at Puhoi River Canoes they offered to call us for first refusal on their stock when it came up for replacement.

That was 6 or 7 months ago, so it was a bit a surprise when the call came. Nevertheless Cody offered us a fine single Acadia 370 kayak with a paddle for half the retail price - and he delivered it. The time between the phonecall and the purchase was so swift that its only now I'm beginning to realise the positive implications of owning such a craft, its like the final piece in the jigsaw.

unshakeable visibility

We are fortunate to be the first generation to never lose touch - with anyone, EVER.

From our earliest childhood friends to our latest work pals, even if connections have been severed by time or by circumstance, the internet can pretty much locate them by one way or another.

For me, first to emerge was Friends Reunited, the website to locate mates from primary school, secondary school or college (for a small fee). I stayed off it for a long time - enjoying my invisibility - but inevitably joined up for a year to see who was around.

The disadvantage, I discovered, was that those who registered in previous years but had let their membership lapse, would never receive your messages. Besides, all the hot chics kept to themselves! note to wife: this is a joke ;p

The power of Google also delivers some decent results - however, worldwide there are so many people with the same name you have to trawl hundreds of non-entities

I googled the name of a bass player in my band from 10 years ago and up came his name, job and phone numbers. We'd lost touch but luckily he happenend to have a job where his contact details were posted. After a tentative email we resumed communication like the decade between chats was just yesterday.

The biggest phenomena for "re-connecting" has to be Facebook, it has the advantage of being free while also allowing the "piggy-backing" of friends to other friends. For me, a person on the other side of the world to most of my friends, it has the feel of a life-line and my friends can know what I'm up to without expensive phone calls or impersonal group emails.

Facebook, Bebo, myspace, et al. There are many benefits from this social networking. But what are the implications of this sort of permanent visibility?

In the UK, divorce rates and marriage breakdowns increased when old flames brought together by Friends Reunited rekindled their relationships.

We are warned that identity thieves can net information like your DOB by hacking Facebook, (which is not on a secure connection) and lifting it from your profile details.

And what about those people who you used to know but weren't really mates. What category to they go in, do you "add to friends" or not?

Or the place that you worked but left because it sucked, or perhaps you got fired and don't want to see any of them ever again. Is that even possible: to never see or hear from certain people again?

Not replying to messaging and emails is one option, being computer-less is an unlikely second, but really in this age of permanent connectedness, people know people who know you.

So friends of friends who may be enemies to you will always be able to find out what you're doing. That might bother you.