travel stories
Patagonia in Four Seasons- by Mary Heebner January 2025
Cerro Benítez, 10 minutes north of Puerto Natales, is a geologic formation in the transition zone from plain to steppe. We scramble through brush and tufted grasses to a plateau with goblinlike nodules of conglomerate rock, dappled with lichen. The wind bears down on us, making it hard to stand, let alone move. Above Last Hope Sound, clouds draw up like huge manes of thick hair. They tower over the mountains and then pound the land in dark streaks of rain. In moments, the sky shifts from muted gray as a cold, white sun burns a hole through the cloud bank. The downpour at last dwindles to a hiss. Clouds race across the sky, and we dart about like blown rubbish. The wind howls at us to fall to our bellies, and we obey, slinking like lizards, inching to the edge of a cliff.
Published by Santa Barbara Independent in January 2025, Vol. 39 No. 990.
On the Road Again: Japan Stories
We arrive in a sweltering Tokyo ten days before meeting the National Geographic Resolution in Kobe. Our plans include five nights in Tokyo, a few days re-visiting the enchanting island of Miyajima, and allowance for possible sidetracking, and for train travel to and fro. In slams Shanshan, the fourth and fiercest typhoon of the season, with 157 mph gusts of wind and torrents of rain to Kyushu, then, downgraded to a tropical storm, it stalls, soaking Shikoku, the Inland Sea, and Osaka. We cancel our plans and wait out the storm, checking each day on the bullet train, and each day service remains suspended.
Published by Santa Barbara Independent in October 2024.
Exploring Aotearoa, Māori for The Land of the Long White Cloud: We Explore the South and North Islands of Aotearea/New Zealand on Land and by Sea, in the Wake of Cyclone Gabrielle
The intricate patterns of carved wood and ocean current, the glint of abalone paua shell, fetched from jade-colored waters, the spume of a surfacing whale, swirl in my mind and pull on me, and lure me back to this land of the long white cloud. We set out on a journey, with certain expectations, yet the challenge of any journey is in embracing what is, not what might have been. We follow the contours of three islands; The demigod Maui’s canoe, its anchor, and the fish he pulled from the sea. We skirt the edges of islands that were born, and continue to be reshaped by earthshaking quakes, volcanoes, winds, waves, and rain. Now, when I look through the lens of the stories, myths, and wayfaring tales, I can better grasp that the beautiful swirls of carved wood, the translucent green stone, and glinting shell eyes are born from a fierce and resilient spirit of the Māori. It is experience and imagination woven into a fabric of sea and land and stars, that create a map that charts unique and powerful ways of being in this world.
Published by the Santa Barbara Independent in May 2023.
Beneath the Surface: Exploring the Fjords of Patagonia
Patagonia is a land of the Unseen— so much of it lies beneath the surface. From the tip of an iceberg to the craggy top of a fjord, their underwater presence expands far and wide. It is not an easy place to get to, the ends of the Earth. Patagonia is an area shared by Chile and Argentina, a place where boundaries matter greatly to the human inhabitants, not so much the rest of biological life. Aboard the National Geographic Resolution, a photographer and an artist navigate this complex landscape.
Published by Santa Barbara Independent in January 2023.
Visiting Japan’s Island of Art: Art and Nature Meet in the Seto Inland Sea
The Seto Inland Sea serves as a major waterway, connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Sea of Japan. As my husband Macduff Everton and myself explore the region, we immerse ourselves in its rich history, and growing contemporary art scene. Navigating Japan’s Art Islands revealed to us the rich diversity of Japanese culture, art, and gastronomy. Our travels are portrayed through my writing and Macduff Everton’s photography. Included with the images is the series Screen for a 4 1/2 Mat Room, handmade Japanese paper collages by Mary Heebner.
Published by the Santa Barbara Independent in January 2022.
Tahiti: Gauguins’ Palette Comes To Life / An Artist Looks to the Land and Gauguin for Inspiration
I was in the midst of Tahiti’s rainforest, submerged in a sea-green universe. My eye began to discern the black-greens from the blue, lemon or viridian greens, and the landscape shimmered. This was a mixing room of colors, Paul Gauguin’s palette come alive. Everything was oxygen and green, raw energy. I could feel it through my pores. Quite suddenly, it answered one of the nattering questions I had asked myself, as a painter, before coming here: Why, if French Polynesia is known for its azure waters, turquoise lagoons, and blue skies, did Gauguin compose his paintings with eye-popping reds, greens and yellows set against infinitely dark shadows?
Published by Santa Barbara Independent in December 2021.