I have never lived here

I have never lived here, but getting to Punakaiki always feels a bit like coming home. We’re in and around Punakaiki for almost four weeks now and upon reflection there’ve been new insights.

Today I thought about all those people passing through this most amazing of all places, staying for a night, glimpsing its beauty, and taking off again. It struck me that I, too, even after four weeks, am still barely scratching the surface of Punakaiki’s secret layers of history and people.

Only in the last few days have we finally made some connections, met people on separate occasions who (of course) know each other, giving me the feeling of knowing this place on a deeper level than just loving its beauty.

Now we’re about to move on though, slowly making our way back over to the east coast. It’s a bit tiring to always be on the move, imagining a home, but this may be a topic for another post. Just this much: being in one place and missing another has been with me for a long time, and even in this special place, I’m seeing a lot of familiar faces from the past. Last week I saw Felice Jaguar and Matze, and just today Svenja, Jonas and Fabian. Must mean I miss Hamburg (or that they all have come here without telling me). Is it home though? A product of people, familiarity, chance and time. I’m longing to find a place again where all this is coming together.

Back to this place though: I feel I can come back here a thousand times and always discover a new mood, a new light, new weather. The sea, the beach, even the rocks, are always changing, while the place will remain a constant.

I know I’ll be back for more, in other circumstances, for different reasons, and maybe some time I will be able to call this place home.