I returned to Aotearoa in 2012 after an absence of over 26 years, and now live looking out over the Tamaki estuary, Te Wai Mokoia, on the opposite shore from that where I grew up (Bucklands Beach – Musick Point, Te Naupata). Over there our home was just a 3 – 4 minute stroll from the beach. This estuary, its tides, the light on its water are still everywhere through whatever I write, seeping through me to this day, like a tide under the night jetty. No matter how far I have left this sea astern, it has always come back to me in dream or memory. Now I am beside it again.
