Kawai Purapura

So for around two months I lived in a commune. It was situated in the far north of Auckland, a piece of wild bush amidst the sprawl of suburbia that has been plaguing the area like cultural kudzu. It is the former site of a cult known as Centrepoint. It is now known as Kawai Purapura.

There were around ninety residents and twenty WWOOFers; a combination of burned out hippies, artists, travelers, and the incurably weird. I lived in a small room that I shared with a friend, cramped conditions full of dirty laundry and empty jars of peanut butter. The bathrooms were communal outdoor affairs, and (as with most things there) highly reminiscent of summer camp. There was a large kitchen with four cooking areas, including one for cooking meat and one “elite” kitchen (which I was initially invited to and then later kicked out of for the heinous crime of ‘hanging out). The whole affair was surround with thick bush, bits of forest quite easy to get lost in. There was an area full of glowworms near a small stream. There was an open lot known as the Glade, which I was informed was the home to a number of fairies and the site of three different alien landings. I was supposed to mow the grass there at one point.

There were people from all over the world living there, all bringing interesting stories and personalities. Tucker, a cheerful Japanese man who competes in Air Guitar championships; Marie, an Irish folk singer who was one of my favorite people there (and one the only people I’ve met that can do justice to a Janis Joplin song); Kyang (no clue to spell his name), from China, who taught me both yoga and how to make Chai from scratch. He loved American “black” movies and food, and asked several times for me to teach him to make biscuits.

One of the downsides to communal living is that it tends to attract people who can’t normally find community on their own, and seek out places where people are obligated to be friendly to them. This leaded to some seriously annoying people sharing space, and the personalities clash. Borderline Personality Disorder is much in effect. The commune itself is run as a profit venture from Wellpark (seriously, a fucking profit driven eco village is a terrible idea). Note- never put hippies in charge of a business; they are karmically destined to fuck up the finances. I was charged four different amounts of rent at various instances, and then given a bill for the difference upon my departure. The personalities of some management combined with those of certain residents lent themselves to some interesting prejudices, particularly ageism. The residents were hidden from the people coming there on retreats, and the WWOOFers are essentially instructed to stay hidden from everyone. Little care is actually given to make it the community that so many people there are looking for; there is only a façade of sharing and openness from most (I found that the louder people talked about “community,” the less they actually did to create such an atmosphere).

There is a fair bit of controversy surrounding the place’s existence due to the Centrepoint cult that flourished there previously. There are a handful of people that have been living there since that time, and a few (such as my neighbor from one side) that seem to want to start a cult of their own. Having lived there, I can definitely say that there is a strange energy to the place, be it from the tragedies of the past or the weirdness of the present., I can’t say.

So I still like the idea of communal living, although that is a place I’d never recommend to try it. The world outside has no bearing in Kawai Purapura; it can be fun to escape for a time, but I don’t think anything there lends itself to any sort of personal development. More it is a place to go for arrested development; the high school antics are perfect for anyone who enjoyed the drama they generally grew out of at age fourteen.

No one likes a fake hippie. It has all of the opinions and stink, with none of the love or compassion.

So now I am back in the city, surrounded by something like the real world. Jobs (generally unheard of out there), rent, and meeting new people. A harsh adjustment, but quite a good. I am the sort of person that like progression. I'm looking forward to whatever the hell I end up doing next. Traveling is strange. The best thing I've learned so far is just to relax and enjoy the weirdness.