Take the PLUNGE!
My grandfather first introduced me to the sea when I was a toddler. I remember him holding me steady as we braced against the surf’s edge on Hokitika Beach, foam-flecked water swirling around our feet. It was all good fun until the ebb of the Tasman Sea gouged the sand from under our soles, leaving me petrified and my grandfather having to deal with the tears.
This childhood memory periodically returns when I’m swimming in the sea or inland in lakes and rivers. The mercurial temperaments of these environments demand our vigilance and respect. Even so, Aotearoa’s raw nature abounds in swimming spots ideal for an invigorating dip on fair weather days. As well as the exhilarating thrill, swimming in cold wild water is of great benefit to our wellbeing.
Relief for migraines
Migraines have plagued me since adulthood. In the first years when the pain would begin I’d hunker under the bed covers in
