0:03

There is a delight, isn't she?

0:06

She's an incredible cook. Right?

0:08

Did she make a pavlova for you?

0:10

She always made those for

0:12

guests. It's quite a long

0:14

haul for Amarillo, but A

0:16

pavlova is worth

0:18

it.

0:45

Or

0:46

I don't know. Maybe I should have saved Teckepot

0:48

until the end. It's a long

0:50

way to ask you to come this early on,

0:53

the middle of nowhere, a

0:55

tiny town on an island at the bottom

0:57

of the world,

0:59

And

0:59

it really would have been a beautiful place to cap

1:02

off my story, Rosa's

1:05

story, I

1:06

could have sent you Gallavanting off on an

1:08

adventure and then brought you here

1:11

at the end to rest because

1:13

it is a restful place,

1:15

isn't it? Can't

1:17

you feel it?

1:19

Even the drive there from Otoitahi

1:22

is restful. The

1:24

roads are so quiet, and

1:26

the scenery is so beautiful.

1:29

Tecopo would have been the perfect place

1:31

to spend a few days Cooperating after

1:34

the excitement of some of the other places

1:36

I'm going to send you. But

1:38

I don't know. I didn't wanna wait to

1:40

show you this place. and

1:42

I was never one to plan a perfectly

1:44

organized itinerary. What are you

1:46

gonna do about it?

1:48

Enjoy yourself. That's

1:50

what you're gonna do.

1:51

Tekipa was one of the first

1:54

places your mother brought me. She'd

1:56

been asking to write about Aotaro from

1:59

the moment

1:59

She started travel riding,

2:02

but

2:02

it's not a place to go for a quick

2:04

jaunt and we didn't.

2:06

We spent three months there in nineteen seventy

2:08

four traveling around. Mostly

2:10

Teoeponimo though, all of it

2:12

is gorgeous.

2:14

I've sent you to a specific place

2:16

rather than the whole

2:17

country. but I hope you explore

2:20

more. I mean, you will have

2:22

had to explore more just to get there,

2:25

of course. But if you can, spend

2:28

some time. For such a small

2:30

place, it's remarkable how much

2:32

variety there is. tei

2:35

Waiponemu is more rugged

2:37

and changeable. Teiik Amaui

2:40

is lush and green. Did

2:44

you know that before the reckoning, they

2:46

were just called the North and South Islands?

2:49

Honestly, there are a lot

2:51

of reasons to be glad about the end of colonization

2:54

but the lack of imagination in

2:56

naming the land is definitely

2:58

one of them. Anyway,

3:00

it's a nice place to wander around for a

3:02

bit. peaceful.

3:03

When

3:05

we were there, we flew into Tomakimakaru,

3:08

though we only stayed for a few days. We

3:11

hired a camper van and

3:13

drove up to the top of the island.

3:16

We stood on the beach by the Terre Renga

3:18

Wyrua lighthouse, and looked

3:21

across the Pacific knowing

3:23

there were hundreds of miles of ocean

3:25

between us and the next

3:27

patch of land. And

3:30

then we drove back down meandering across

3:32

the island until we reach the bottom

3:35

and took the ferry across the TeiWai Panama.

3:39

We explored it all until

3:41

we were right at the bottom. We

3:44

took a boat to Rock Yura, where

3:46

you can look across the ocean and

3:49

know that if you kept going, the

3:51

next spot of land you'd find would

3:54

be Antarctica. I

3:58

think Rose would have gone to Antarctica

3:59

if she'd had the chance.

4:02

But Rakira,

4:04

is as close as I wanted to get.

4:07

I don't do well in

4:08

the cold. We

4:09

did a lot of exciting things in Altoona.

4:12

We went sailing and surfing. We

4:15

hyped up mountains to see glaciers.

4:17

We went white water rafting and

4:19

horseback riding. Oh, I

4:21

don't wanna sound like a travel brochure. Wait.

4:25

Yes. I do. I love this

4:27

place. I was married to a travel

4:29

writer. Of course, I

4:32

want you to see every part of Outota.

4:35

I hope you do too.

4:38

But for some

4:38

reason, I wanted you to come here,

4:41

to take a poll more than anywhere else.

4:44

I wanted you to come to this tiny

4:46

lakeside town and just exists there

4:48

for a while. It's

4:49

a far cry from the lights and humidity

4:52

of Miami. Rose

4:54

had taken me on a handful of trips in

4:56

the months since we met in Miami. It

4:59

seemed natural. We just We

5:01

just always wanted to talk to each other.

5:04

When she went away without me, it

5:06

wasn't like I pined for

5:09

her. I didn't stride about in

5:11

despair over missing her.

5:13

It was more prosaic,

5:15

more

5:16

annoying. I

5:18

would make a joke or tell a story to a friend

5:20

and be frustrated that they didn't get it,

5:23

as well as Rose would have got it.

5:26

It was like going to take

5:28

a sip of your coffee and realizing

5:30

the cup is empty and you have to make another

5:32

one. That is a

5:34

terrible analogy for love, but

5:38

it's the closest I can get.

5:42

We'd only been going out for a few months

5:44

when she got the commission to write about Altoona.

5:47

Too early in relationship for such a long

5:50

trip. Too much to ask to leave my

5:52

shop to Anna and Sahara to take care

5:54

of alone. A

5:55

trip this far is a commitment.

5:58

Too much of a commitment.

6:02

but

6:02

I came with her anyway. Not

6:04

going would have been a commitment too. That

6:07

was the only one I really didn't wanna

6:09

make. So Rose

6:11

and I came for the entire summer

6:14

from right before Christmas

6:15

into early April. It

6:18

was the longest stretch of time we had spent

6:20

around each other, and it was

6:22

a strange way to spend that much

6:25

time, that early. driving

6:27

through mountains and long beaches, camping

6:30

in a tiny tin van if we couldn't

6:32

find anywhere better to stay. exploring

6:35

and adventuring. And

6:37

for the last week or so, we came

6:40

to Techapow and

6:41

just existed

6:42

quietly.

6:45

There are only a few things I think you absolutely

6:48

have to do while you're here.

6:50

on

6:51

a clear night, walk up the

6:53

hill to the observatory.

6:54

This

6:55

is true anywhere you go, really, if

6:58

there's an observant tory, you should go

7:00

there and look

7:00

at the stars.

7:02

Maybe they're different down here, you

7:04

know. It's one of those things

7:06

that make sense when you think about it.

7:08

Each little bit of the world gets a

7:10

slightly different view of the sky, but

7:13

I don't know. I like

7:15

to be reminded

7:16

The sky is so certain, so

7:18

familiar. You take your

7:20

stars for granted. I

7:22

like looking at someone else's for a while.

7:25

thinking about how the world we live in

7:27

is

7:27

infinitely different

7:29

for everyone who lives in it. The

7:32

world is round. and everyone

7:35

is right side up.

7:38

Another thing to do. On a quiet

7:41

day, go to the church of the

7:43

good shepherd and just sit for

7:45

a while. The

7:47

church was built toward the end of the great reckoning,

7:50

to commemorate those who had died in the wars

7:52

and celebrate those who had come home.

7:55

Fighting in Altaira didn't

7:57

last very long, of course. Initially,

7:59

they sent soldiers overseas. When the first

8:02

wars broke out, they were part of the British

8:04

empire. But has often

8:06

happened in colonized countries This

8:08

led to protests at home, which spiraled

8:10

for a time into small pitched battles. But

8:13

most of these happened on the northern island,

8:16

Teika Amaui. and they only

8:18

lasted for a few years in the twenties. It

8:21

was too small a country, I think,

8:23

to easily bear the loss of life.

8:25

so the people stopped participating. Soldiers

8:28

stationed overseas began deserting, and

8:30

at some point, I'm not sure when.

8:32

I never was one for dates and details.

8:35

The country of Aoteará, formerly

8:38

New Zealand, declared itself a republic,

8:42

owing no allegiance to Britain. They

8:44

were one of the last countries to join the global

8:46

societal council, I believe, not

8:48

wanting to simply rejoin another empire.

8:51

which is all to say, this little

8:53

stone church was built while war still

8:55

raged around the globe. But

8:57

after the people of this land had walked

9:00

away from it.

9:02

Easier to do when you're a

9:03

tiny nation in the middle of the ocean.

9:06

I'm not saying you need to think about his when

9:08

you visit this church, I think you

9:10

shouldn't, in fact,

9:12

just walk in and

9:14

sit Most

9:16

little stone churches, most big

9:19

stone churches as well, have stained

9:21

glass windows, thin ones,

9:24

stretching up the walls and curving into

9:26

a point. They're beautiful,

9:28

of course. But you can

9:30

see why they chose to do something different here.

9:33

can't do.

9:35

Most stone churches have art in

9:37

the form of colored glass behind

9:39

their pulpit. And however beautiful

9:42

they are, you get

9:44

used to them. But

9:46

the people who built this

9:47

church

9:48

chose to let you look out on

9:51

the real wonder

9:51

of creation,

9:53

a vast panel of

9:56

clear glass that

9:58

surely gives more of a spiritual connection

10:01

than any work of art. I

10:04

don't think you'd ever get used to that.

10:08

I don't know what you

10:10

believe if you follow a

10:12

god or not. I'm

10:15

not even sure what I believe half the time,

10:17

but it's easy to feel the presence

10:20

of something greater when

10:22

you sit in this little stone church with

10:24

its wide wide window

10:27

looking

10:27

out on that incredible

10:29

lake, With an

10:31

altar set before that view, it's hard

10:34

not to worship. Even if

10:36

you're not sure what it is you're worshiping.

10:40

So sit there for a time.

10:44

Let your soul

10:45

rejoice for a time.

10:55

Tired of walking around shirtless

10:57

because you don't have single upper body article

10:59

of clothing that expresses your intense love

11:01

of the immersive fiction podcast within the wires?

11:03

Are you having to scrawl the words within

11:06

the wires on your chest with a faded sharp

11:08

you found at the bottom of your backpack one day,

11:10

but it's hard to ride upside down so the letters

11:12

are mostly eligible and you misspelled wires

11:14

as rises? Do you find that damsel

11:16

fly logo hard to draw especially on

11:18

skin? We'll stop that. Actually,

11:21

don't stop that. I

11:23

think it's pretty cool you went through so much trouble

11:25

to show your love of our show. Thank you.

11:27

But

11:27

I personally,

11:29

just me,

11:30

Find t shirts much more convenient for

11:32

that sort of thing. And

11:33

we have brand new within

11:35

the wires shirts in our store The

11:37

incomparable Emily Tat designed a

11:39

damsel fly shirt that glows in the damned

11:41

dark and the impeccable Dave Watt created

11:44

a season three Dick a phone recording device

11:46

shirt that looks like a cool retro

11:48

film poster. Plus, we have Rob Wilson's

11:50

classic within the wire's logo shirt and

11:53

his season two museum shirts which are

11:55

already as hell. Maybe

11:57

you're also tired of the walls in your home

11:59

or dorm or office being shirtless as well,

12:01

and you wanna cover them up. Come on, walls.

12:03

I have friends coming over. Try to look

12:05

decent. Well, you can buy your walls

12:08

and posters. like the within the wire's

12:10

logo or Jessica Hayward's

12:12

stunning rendition of Claudia Adriano's

12:15

child with damsel fly as featured

12:17

in season two It's a real art print.

12:19

It's classier than all get out.

12:22

You can get shirts and posters at within

12:24

the wires dot com and then click on shirts and

12:26

posters. That's

12:27

a lot of complicated steps, so

12:29

I recommend writing them down on your arm using

12:31

that old Sharpie. Again, within

12:33

the wires dot com, click on

12:35

shirts and posters.

12:40

I forgot to tell you the other thing you should

12:42

do here. It's a simple one, really.

12:45

Get some fishing chips and sit outside

12:47

and eat them. Go

12:49

to the place with the yellow sign, not the

12:51

red one. I've already forgotten the

12:54

names, but take

12:56

the parcel of newsprint and

12:58

hold it against your body letting

13:00

it warm you as you walk away,

13:03

then sit on the ground as dusk

13:05

falls, and open

13:07

it in front of you.

13:09

It's such a simple thing, salty,

13:12

deep fried snapper, and potato, but

13:15

something about the grease about

13:18

the flaky fish, about the soft chips

13:20

eaten outside on a warm summer night.

13:24

Something about it just seeps

13:26

into your bones. It

13:29

was here that I learned that rose

13:31

didn't use napkins. We

13:33

sat on the grass and she laughed at me

13:35

as I wiped my hands constantly on

13:37

a big wad of napkins. What

13:40

a waste she said? What

13:42

did that bit of paper do to deserve all

13:44

that flavor?

13:45

She licked her fingers sucking every

13:48

bit of salt and grease she could get,

13:50

like she was relishing eating with her hands

13:52

instead of with cutlery. It

13:55

would be easy to say that that was the moment

13:57

I fell in love with her, then it wouldn't be a lie,

13:59

but it wouldn't be true either.

14:03

I had fallen in love on the dance floor in

14:06

Miami.

14:07

I fell in love the first time she told

14:08

me about a book she adored.

14:10

She got so carried away, she

14:12

dragged me back to her place, dug it off the

14:14

shelf, and started reading it to me. She

14:16

pushed it on me to read. The margins

14:19

were full of notes she'd made.

14:21

I fell in love with her again and again

14:23

and again, atop mountains and museums

14:25

and tiny boats on rushing waters,

14:28

And

14:28

I fell in love with her over and over in

14:31

common silences during

14:33

breakfast and rainy afternoons doing

14:36

chores while listening to the radio.

14:39

This is what no one tells you when you're

14:41

young.

14:42

Love isn't just about excitement. It's

14:45

about quotidian dullness too.

14:50

And

14:50

here we're two weeks in Teckepot.

14:53

napkins and fish and chips and

14:55

ease

14:56

steady embers, not white hot

14:58

flame.

15:00

The prosaic turned new and thrilling

15:03

in infinite tiny ways.

15:06

I

15:06

had been in love before a couple of times,

15:09

but It

15:09

was always passion and possessiveness. Every

15:12

relationship I'd had ended either because

15:14

of jealousy or exhaustion, a

15:17

giant fireball that used up all of

15:19

fuel in a short burst or

15:21

because after a few months when the early

15:23

passions had faded, there

15:26

was nothing there in the boredom.

15:29

It was quite something to find that

15:32

with rose, there was

15:34

still passion even

15:36

in the stillness. Not

15:39

every night needs a dance party, not every

15:42

dinner needs a drink. It's like

15:44

seeing an incredible sunrise

15:46

and not being afraid to look away from

15:48

it, However beautiful it is.

15:51

You don't have to watch it every

15:53

second. You don't have to absorb

15:56

all of its majesty. You

15:58

don't have to judge it

15:59

for being too cloudy or too

16:02

bright. You simply

16:04

sit in its light. and

16:07

let it be.

16:10

Here we were our first time

16:12

spending every day together without having

16:14

anything really planned. At

16:16

home, we weren't living together yet,

16:19

so anytime we saw each other, our

16:21

time was built around activity. Even

16:23

if it was just watching a movie or something,

16:25

and

16:26

when we traveled, we

16:28

did a lot from museums to

16:30

hikes to carnivals to whatever.

16:34

She had to, of course, she had to write

16:36

about it all, and we both

16:38

wanted to get the most we could out of each trip.

16:42

But this, in

16:44

Tecopow,

16:46

we woke up with nothing planned. Nothing

16:49

laid out before us. We

16:51

woke up

16:52

each day and just existed

16:56

side by side. seeing

16:58

where the day would take us.

17:01

Sometimes

17:03

sometimes it took us

17:05

nowhere. Sometimes we just stayed

17:07

in floating gently around the

17:09

batch. I wish I knew

17:11

why they called them batches instead of cabins

17:13

or lodges.

17:15

reading in the shade,

17:18

lying idle in the hammock.

17:21

As soon as we got back home, we

17:23

moved in together.

17:27

We

17:27

always talked about going back to Tecopo,

17:30

but we never did. It's a long way

17:32

to go there and there were so many other

17:34

places see.

17:35

It's easy to have regular haunts that are only

17:37

a few hours on a plane, places you can

17:40

pop to for a long weekend.

17:42

It's harder to go back when things are far

17:44

away. That kind of trip is a commitment.

17:47

And committing to one thing means giving up

17:49

on others. We

17:51

used to talk about how we'd move there when

17:53

we were old, retire there,

17:56

such a small town and

17:58

such kind people.

18:01

But I don't think we would have, really.

18:04

We wouldn't have wanted to live so far away from

18:06

our friends. We had met

18:08

some great people when we were here,

18:11

but

18:11

Leia was the only one we kept in

18:14

touch with over the years and even that was just

18:16

the occasional letter or birthday card.

18:20

To be honest,

18:21

Tecopo has been little lonely for me

18:24

this time. A

18:26

quiet town gives less to distract me

18:28

from the fact that I was once

18:31

here with her. This

18:33

feels haunted Probably

18:36

everywhere is haunted, but ghosts

18:39

get drowned out more easily in the big

18:40

cities.

18:44

Oh, I wonder now if I've set you up

18:46

against this place. Coming

18:48

somewhere this quiet is not the same when

18:50

you're on your own.

18:52

Maybe it will be different for you.

18:55

Maybe maybe you'll be able to appreciate

18:57

it all the more for not having

18:59

a divided focus. and

19:02

you're a quieter

19:02

person than me. You're comfortable in

19:04

your own company, I think. I hope.

19:07

I

19:08

would hate to think of you spending so much time

19:10

alone when you'd rather be with people.

19:13

I always like to have a crowd around, so

19:16

did rose.

19:20

I can see her, you know.

19:24

I can see Rose walking along

19:26

the shore, heading up the hills,

19:29

always faster than me, always stronger,

19:32

looking back and laughing at me whenever I found

19:34

myself had a breath trying to keep up with her.

19:37

I was often

19:38

out of breath trying to keep up with her.

19:43

I

19:43

want you to be able to see her here too.

19:46

the bright sun glinting off her tumbling

19:49

hair, I wish you could hear her.

19:51

Her left so bright so

19:53

high. The photos

19:56

I included in the package with this tape

19:58

were all taken

19:58

here. There

19:59

are directions on the back of each of them,

20:01

so you can visit the places we took them.

20:04

Most of these spots you can get to on

20:06

foot, but it's worth getting out of horse

20:08

for some of them. Can

20:10

you ride? Oh, I don't know if you can

20:12

ride. I think you'd be good at

20:14

it. Your mother was, she did show

20:17

jumping for a while when she

20:18

was a teenager.

20:21

Well, I guess I I shouldn't assume

20:23

you'll like everything she liked. I'm

20:25

sure doesn't work like that. but

20:28

it's worth trying.

20:31

I hope you got some rest here in any

20:34

case. The next tape

20:36

will be waiting for you in Jakarta.

20:39

I'll bury it in the park along the Cali

20:41

Center River on the far east

20:43

part of town. The address

20:45

is on the back of the photo of me and rose

20:48

at the ruins at Enrest Island. I'll

20:51

mark the spot with bunch of malachi flowers.

20:56

I've been recording this outside the batch

20:58

I'm staying in. It's not the

21:00

same when I stayed in with rows, but it's

21:02

near and it's pretty similar.

21:05

I've been looking out at the street that leads

21:08

down to the lake

21:08

in all week.

21:11

I can almost see her walking along

21:13

it. You

21:15

know when you see something out of the corner of

21:18

your eye, but when you turn to look properly,

21:20

it vanishes.

21:23

Just now, I would have sworn

21:25

there was someone there, but this

21:27

time it wasn't rose.

21:30

I thought it was you, Anita.

21:34

But when I turned to look properly,

21:37

no one was there.

21:45

Within the wire is written by Janina

21:47

Matheusen and me, Jeffrey Kramer, with

21:50

original music by Mary Eppworth.

21:52

Find more of Mary's music at mary eppworth

21:55

dot com. This show was produced by

21:57

me and directed this season by Janina.

21:59

The voice of Elena Jimenez is April

22:02

Ortiz. Support our Patreon

22:04

and GidiX use of episodes and video chats

22:06

with me and Janina at patreon dot

22:08

com slash within the wires. Also,

22:11

read our novels set in the within the wires universe,

22:13

it's called, you feel it just below

22:15

the ribs. It is available wherever

22:18

you get your books. Within the wires

22:20

as part of Night Vale presents, listen

22:22

to other amazing shows at night vail

22:24

presents dot com. Okay.

22:27

Our time is done. It's

22:29

you time now. Time

22:31

to take a trip, hitch a ride

22:33

on a recumbent bike

22:36

to the city of Tokyo. commonly

22:39

referred to by locals as the Big

22:41

EZ, and go see their

22:43

famous landmark, The Neosporin

22:46

Museum.

22:48

Hello, iPod broadcast listeners.

22:50

My name is Meg, and I am one of the esteemed

22:53

try hosts of the beloved Ibrod

22:55

Good Morning Night Vale. I along

22:58

with my hilarious friends, fellow

23:00

Night Vale actors, passionate eaters,

23:02

and soft hitting journalists. Symphony

23:04

Sanders, and Hal Loveland, are

23:07

now over one hundred episodes into

23:09

our deep dive recap show

23:11

of Welcome Tonight fail. We've tackled

23:13

topics like soft meat crown head

23:15

cannons, sea salt's fashion, and

23:17

whether Steve Scones were really all that

23:19

terrible. plus behind the scenes

23:22

stories

23:22

from the Night Vale creative family.

23:24

And we've heard from listeners like you

23:26

about queer representation, Night Vale

23:29

named Pet. major theories, minor

23:31

questions, and of course, best

23:33

and worst practices for alternative

23:37

spa therapy services. if

23:39

you know you know.

23:40

Check out Good Morning Night Vale every other

23:42

Thursday wherever you get your eyebrows,

23:45

eyecasts, pod Broads and

23:47

podcasts. I think I like

23:49

pod Broads the best. I'm

23:51

a real pod Broad myself.

23:55

from PRX.