And then there a places like Karekare beach - a wide beach with black sand just an hour away from Auckland, where you can stand and watch the endless-seeming sea hitting the shore and just let your thoughts come and go. The sand is sparkling, covered with little shells and there seem to be patterns in the sand from the waves rolling in from the sea going back and forth before the pattern gets fixed by the sun or the wind.
It's a place you like to go back and I hope we will.