We drove on remote, small, winding roads passing no one except locals Maoris, through more mountainous, very steep, inaccessible, rugged terrain and their ancient rainforests. Waterfalls were everywhere. The local Maori people still live here, keeping their culture alive. Horses were running free as well as cattle, and people tried to make a living from the forest in these very deserted territories where they live in river valleys on small plots of land. After several hours of driving in mist, clouds, fog, through rugged bushes and tall rainforest trees, we reached our destination, Lake Waikaremoana, meaning the “bathing waters of the ancestors.” I can see why these people relied on the forests for food, clothing, and shelter. …
After our walk, before supper, I plunged into the cold water lake sending an alarm among the ducklings, and after our supper in the hut, I slept outside under a large canvas listening to the songs of the distant kiwi birds nesting in the quiet immense forest. The hut was full of trekkers and trampers from around the world, especially hiking groups from Australia, and single travelers from the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Marie-Laure Valandro’s inspiring tramp through New Zealand, like all her travel memoirs, guides her readers on a journey that traverses the extraordinary offerings of this spectacular county and overlays the journey with “The New Genius” as Rudolph Steiner presents it: …. “Anything resembling genius in the future will arise because the individuals concerned, whom we may call geniuses, see more deeply into the spiritual world which is all around them….The changing nature of genius has occurred between evolution as it was in the past and evolution as it will be in the future. We might say that in the past genius arose from the body, but in the future, this will be replaced by something which comes from insight into the realm of the spirit. ~The Fall of Spirit of Darkness
About the Author
Marie-Laure Valandro was born in 1948 and spent her childhood in Bourgogne, Morocco, Algeria, and Bretagne. At fifteen, she moved with her family to Boston, where she received a B.A. in modern literature, romance languages, and education and taught in the Boston public school system. Later, she moved to Vermont, and obtained an M.A. in literature. At twenty-three, Marie-Laure returned to Paris to study at The Sorbonne, to teach and to travel around Europe to various Christian Holy sites. She later moved to Tehran to teach technical English and to tour throughout the Eastern world, studying Sufism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism as seen through the eyes of its believers and through visits to holy sites. Marie-Laure returned to the United States to care for her son. She lived in the community of Wilton, New Hampshire, where she first encountered Anthroposophy. She ended her school teaching to care for her daughter, son, and husband, a medical doctor. Meanwhile, she continued to travel and trek in South America, both alone and with her children. Later, she moved to Wisconsin and began the Liane Collot d’Herbois training in painting. On her family farm in Wisconsin, Marie-Laure uses biodynamic methods and has developed master gardens, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, and an orchard. She has also established a painting studio, where she creates large veil paintings. Recently, she moved from Wisconsin to a post-and-beam house built by her son in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia. Her goal is to continue walking across this beautiful Earth, meeting people with love and sharing her journeys in meditative books, sprinkled with insights from Rudolf Steiner’s works and the many talented students of his teachings. She continues to make large veil paintings to “heal people and spaces.”
Reviews
There are no reviews yet