Dolphins & Koalas

Bay of Islands

Four hours north of Auckland is the famous Bay of Islands, with the warmest weather and water you’ll find in New Zealand.
Many of the residents of New Zealand’s Northland, both historically and present day, are of Maori descent. In the evening we went to a cultural presentation on the history of the Maori people presented by Maori youth and young adults in story, dance and song.

Amongst the 144 islands dotting this bay there are dolphins, whales, penguins, and other varieties of sea life. Wanting to swim with the dolphins, we went out on a half day excursion around the bay. There are many eco guidelines in place to protect the dolphins, so we didn’t end up getting to swim with them, but we did enjoy some wonderful exchanges off the bow of the boat. All the dolphin pods we came upon had young calfs, so to protect them, no swimmers are allowed.

Gaura took these dolphin photos from the boat
(not easy to get!)

We were invited to lead an evening program about one hour south of the Bay of Islands.
Vidyapati’s parents, Marleen and Bill, live near Whangarei, and host programs at their home from time to time. The bramacharis from Auckland stay with them sometimes to distribute books in the area, and invite the people they meet to these programs. It’s an informal get-together: teaching people how to sing kirtan, explaining why to chant and touching upon our basic philosophy, and of course, serving a wonderful dinner. Many of the guests stayed around for casual conversation and to ask questions ‘till after 10 pm. Can this simple format, with brand new people, be duplicated anywhere?

Fast Forward

We’ve got about 3 weeks of blogging to catch up on, so we’re going to fast forward so we’re current, and fill in the missing weeks’ photos here and there.

Melbourne, Australia
On the 2nd day of the retreat at Nandagram, 2 hours from Melbourne, Kaushal prabhu took us out to see the coast on Great Ocean Road and wild koala bears.

Gaura climbed high in the Eucalyuptus trees to take these photos

He even shot this one while balancing in the tree

I got these two shots from below, as Gaura bonded with his new friend

Anniversary of Deity installation at New Varshana

Back to Auckland for the 3 day festival at New Varshana


The presiding deities, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Sri Radha Giridhari, and Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, were all personally installed by Srila Prabhupada thirty-five years ago.


Each day the festivities, abhisekha, bhajans, and class, center on one of the sets of Deities. Friday the festival is centered on Gaura Nitai, Saturday; Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, and Sunday; Sri Sri Radha Giridhari


Thousands of flowers are strung into beautiful garlands to decorate the altar and to make flower dresses for the Deities. Plates are filled with sweets and savories. Hundreds of devotees gather to sing and dance for the Lord. The main program begins at 4 pm and continues until 10 pm each day.





Devamrita Swami offers Sri Sri Radha Giridhari ghee lamps







Flower Abhisheka for Sri Sri Radha Giridhari

Otaki Retreat

What happens when eighty young, enthusiastic Hare Krishnas gather together with their spiritual master for an entire week of festivities? Fantastic kirtans, serious dancing, enlivening classes, new realizations, and delicious prasadam. The Otaki retreat center is on the Otaki River so there was swimming and rafting too, beautiful nature walks, rain and sunshine. In New Zealand, expect it all! On Saturday Devamrita Maharaja held initiations for 19 disciples. These devotees practice Krishna consciousness for close to two years (or more) before taking their vows for hari- nama initiation, and at least two more years before taking brahman initiation. The personal training and guidance they receive from both their spiritual master and their mentors is impressive, and it shows up in the retention rate amongst his disciples.

The prasadam at the retreat was exceptionally wonderful. I found out there was a bit of a competition going on between the cooks from each center, each endeavoring to out-do the others.
Bada Hari and I took breakfast and lunch prasadam with Devamrita Maharaja every day, giving us the opportunity to ask dozens of questions and get a glimpse into the strategy of Maharaja’s preaching.
When I mentioned how much I appreciated the enthusiasm and expertise all these devotees have in cooking prasadam. Maharaja explained how in the early days of ISKCON many devotees learned to cook, and cooking for Krishna was wonderful service. Over the years it became a chore, to the point where many temples have no cooks, and have to “hire” cooks.
He desired to reintroduce the enthusiasm and blissfulness of cooking for Krishna. Well it’s working. Most of his disciples are wonderful cooks, and they consistently make new devotees with the delicious prasadam they serve at their centers.

Women’s Retreat

The next three days the retreat split into two: one for the ladies and one for the men. The schedule was adjusted to give more time for reading and resting (and socializing).

Each evening I facilitated a workshop on "Skills and tools for the Grihasta Asrama". It turned out to be a wonderful forum for discussion and heart-felt sharing. I appreciated having the time to get to know these Vaishnavis.




Gaura Haven


Recently acquired to serve as a mini-retreat facility, this lovely home and surrounding property of about 25 acres accommodates up to 18 persons.



Gaura Yoga, in Wellington, is less than an hour away. We stayed at Gaura Haven for the ten days of the retreats.

Kayak Trip

The only kayaking I’ve done has been on the Ichatuckhee River in Florida. There you have the favorable river current the whole way (you can sleep in your kayak and end up at your destination). When we set out on our Kayak course we didn’t know we would be seriously paddling for 3 to 4 hours, and against strong currents for more than an hour. Life is an adventure and so was our kayak trip. We traveled through a winding river that led us to Lake Taupo, crossed over the stunning lake to the canal, ducked under bridges, hiked up a hill and over a bridge (with our kayaks on foot), then slid our kayaks down a steep riverbank to re-enter the river that would return us to our starting point. It was a good workout. Unfortunately the sunscreen was insufficient for the duration of our exposure and we got intense burns on our legs that we sorely wore for the week to come.