Time is slipping through your fingers

Autumn is gradually making its presence felt in New Zealand, with cooler temperatures. It’s the first morning with a single-digit temperature. 9°C feels pretty fresh. At least, after days of gloom, the sun is finally shining again. Its rays are beating down on my back as I sit in Cockle Bay sipping my cappuccino. Coffee and ice cream are being sold from a small stall.

Cafe Cockle Bay, New Zealand

Cockle Bay, New Zealand

We’ve been in New Zealand for five months now. The final month is beginning before our visa expires. I look out at the ocean and think about the Googol gear system. The machine consists of 100 gears, with each pair of gears having a 1:10 ratio. For the last gear to complete one revolution, the first gear must have turned 10¹⁰⁰ times. Even if the gears were moving at the speed of light, the last gear would take longer to complete that single revolution than our universe has existed. If this were converted into energy, the energy of the entire universe would not be sufficient to move the hundredth gear. If the first gear (2 cm in size) were to rotate at the speed of light, that would amount to 2.39 billion revolutions per second. The 10th pair of gears would then take 2 minutes and 13 seconds. The 18th gear would take 1 year, 3 months, and 18 days. The 20th gear would take 133 years, and the 21st gear would take 1,330 years for a single rotation. Starting with the 29th gear, we would have a cosmic, i.e., infinite, span of time beyond the existence of the universe. Time practically stands still. For Walle, the 20th gear is currently at a standstill. That’s about half a revolution. Take care, dude.

Walle Fidschi 2025

The area around Whitford, a small town located just east of Auckland, is characterized by horses. Numerous paddocks dot the rolling farmland here. Ayrlies Garden and Wetlands is a great spot for a short hike. As mentioned earlier, it has been raining for days in the region, so the wetlands truly live up to their name. The water stands several inches deep on the paths through the reed beds. 

Hike through the wetlands, New Zealand

Wetlands, New Zealand

Anyway, we test how water-resistant our shoes are and actually make it through with dry feet. Numerous bird species are native to this area. Two parrots also fly overhead, flitting from treetop to treetop. At Whitford Beach – Turanga Creek Conservation Reserve, we look out over the Pacific Ocean. The bay is very shallow. At low tide, the water recedes almost all the way to Pine Harbour. This is all the more surprising because the Turanga River pushes enough water into the bay that a few boats are moored at the mouth of the river. However, you can’t set out during low tide, as there’s no water under the keel just 50 meters further on. 

Turanga Creek, New Zealand

The receding tide will be a problem in Whangarei next week as well. We have a slip appointment on May 1. That’s when our Katinka-Enjoy will come out of the water. Unfortunately, the tide starts to go out very early in the day. That means I’ll have to be in Norsand very early. We’ll see how we manage that. Until then, fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.