Omarama with Love

By Siosifa Pole in All Sorts

holiday experiences heighten awareness of love, community and the natural world

OMARAMA WITH LOVE
Our family holiday in Omarama was truly an experience of love. Our holiday connected well with the meaning of the name 'Omarama', which is 'Place of light'. Love is really enlightening and empowering as is light. We experienced love ourselves and from others during our time in Omarama. These experiences renewed our love for each other, for other people, and for the natural world. We arrived in Omarama on the 12th of January, which was a Sunday. It was very quiet and the weather was overcast. We arrived safely at the Omarama Holiday Park and we went straight to pick up the key of our cabin. The girls were excited with our cabin, especially having there a bunk bed. However, that excitement was only short lived when they started to quarrel and argue about who is going to sleep on the top of the bunk bed. I immediately intervened trying to resolve this conflict situation but with no success. At the end we thought that to satisfy them, they would both have to sleep on the top of the bunk. Although, it might be a risky option it became a successful one! As the nights were in progress the girls started to learn slowly how to share and allow the other person to take that space. This is the kind of experience that our girls learned. They learned to love each other in the midst of their disagreement. Perhaps, they started to realize that love has a cost.
We arrived in Omarama in the evening and I could see everyone in the Holiday Park was ready for dinner. The facilities in the Holiday Park are for everyone to share. There is only one kitchen, one bathroom and toilet for everyone to share. Families and individuals are obligated to share these facilities and it was really an amazing experience. I was quickly to learn how to work together in a community of different people. The dynamics were wonderful. Fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, friends, boys and girls were all worked together. There was no conflict or dispute among families or individuals in the sharing of the facilities. Everyone was willing to share and to give space. Although, we did not know each other there was still a common concern in this community for the wellbeing of each other. Both mothers and fathers were cooking for their families and children were helping in washing their dishes. Families shared their food with other families. Our family started to adapt quickly to the life of this community. It required us to reinterpret and restructure the way we understand roles and responsibilities in the Tongan culture. This attempt to
learn new way of doing things fits in well with our family's situation. When we arrived at Omarama, my wife, Naomi Sr had a stomach bug, which caused her to vomit and felt nausea. It means that I would be the only one in our family was fit to do the cooking and dish washing. This responsibility lasted for four days of our one week holiday. I did the cooking and also the dish washing, which gave Naomi time to enjoy the holiday fully. Certainly, it meant I did not get such a good holiday. However, this experience prompted me to realise the importance of sharing responsibilities, which affirm our mutual love and respect for each other. Omarama gave us that realisation and the significance of it for our relationship. Perhaps, that was a fulfillment of the advice that I had from one of the women of our church who told me that Naomi deserves to have a rest and for me to do the cooking during the holiday!! It was a dream come true for that person!!
The purpose of our holiday was not only to relax and renew strength so that when we come back to work we feel renewed and afresh. For me the purpose of our family holiday was more than that. One of the purposes of our holiday was to explore the natural world. Because of my wife's sickness we were not able straight away to fulfill that wish. We had to wait until Naomi recovered. It was a long wait and I thought that we couldn't fulfill our original plan. However, after three days of waiting Naomi was recovered and was then able to travel to distance places. On the fourth day our dream came true. We woke up in the morning and had breakfast and then prepared our lunch and drink for our adventure. It was truly a fine day. The sun was shining and the sky was clear. Our plan for this day of adventure was certainly enjoyable and exciting because of the wonderful weather. We planned to drive to Mt Cook to view and experience the beauty of those mountain ranges but we did not make it to Mt Cook. There were some health issues of our passengers and we couldn't travel that far.
However, no one was moaning about the fact that we couldn't visit all the sites we would have loved to visit. Wherever we visited on this one day, we took great pleasure in the natural beauty of our surroundings. On our way to Lake Ohau we started to realise our lack of experience in that region. We thought that we are so lucky to live in this land that is peaceful and to have the chance to explore its environment. It was really opened our eyes to see the splendor and wonder of God's creation. When we left Omarama, driving to Lake Ohau we immediately encountered the magnificence of the Waitaki Valley. The route we
travelled, the desert we drove pass, the hills that surrounded us, the valleys, the mountains, the rivers, the lakes and the native birds opened our eyes to new ways of understanding the creation. These marvelous dynamics gave us the impression that if we love and care to this natural world, its beauty will continue to be maintained. When we arrived at Lake Ohau, our destination, we stopped and had picnic there. The girls courageously bathed in the shallow part of the lake, while Naomi and I took pleasure in the peaceful environment. It was really a day of great adventure for our family. We came home after our family holiday with renewed love in our family, in our diverse community, and also in our natural world. We also returned home with a deeper love for God who guided and protected us throughout this marvelous voyage. It is through these experiences that we will always remember Omarama with love.
Siosifa Pole