Days of ducks and roses

It's been kind of quiet the last ten days, so here's one more pic of Patti and the ducklings at Taupo.  After Patti left, we had to get ourselves together--cleaning house and doing a little cooking.  Most Kiwis wouldn't know it was Thanksgiving, but we would.

  Last weekend we helped a new friend from meeting with a gardening project and renewed connections with meeting folk and a few other friends.  This week's highlights included meeting with my writer friends and visiting Roxy Theatre in Miramar, home of Sir Peter Jackson's studio and the Weta workshop,  Sir Peter's been kind of busy this week.  In addition to working on filming the Hobbit,  he has bought the Bats Theatre downtown, saving those playmakers from financial ruin.  The Roxy is an old movie theatre he had also bought in Miramar.  He kept the original facade but re-did the inside art deco, with a beautiful wooden bar and lovely lighting.  The large rocking chair seats are leather; it smells good in there as a result.  The only slightly odd touch is a statue of Gollum in the lobby, just like the one at Weta.  Here's a picture of John with that one.

We were missing family and friends a lot this week, so it was helpful to make our gratitude list, which included many of you.  We invited our neighbor, Vanaja, a pathologist who ethnically Malaysian and who is getting ready to move back to Australia, and our friend Mary, who is a Kiwi but has spent the last 45 years in the States, over for our approximation of the Thanksgiving feast:  no turkey, but chicken, John's curried sweet potatoes, some sort-of-similar-to-the-usual stuffing, broccoli, cranberry apple stuff (frozen cranberries located at Wellington's parallel to Whole Foods, Moore-Wilson), and pumpkin pie, which required buying and roasting a whole pumpkin from the market.

Mary had lent me a book about the painter, Rita Angus, which I had read as a part of my quest to know more about Kiwi artists and writers.  If any of you are interested, I also recommend stories by Maori author Whiti Ihimaera, especially, "A Game of Cards," as well as the work of Katherine Mansfield.  Don't think she would have been an easy person to be friends with, but she certainly had a gift for description.  I would also recommend the movies "Boy," about a boy living on a Maori marae and "The Orator," NZ's foreign language entry (in Samoan) about a dwarf descendant of a Samoan chief.

Today is election day in NZ, and the newspapers and TV have been abuzz with the contest.  Their system is a bit different from ours, which they call "first past the post."  They currently have something called MMP, which seems a lot more complex, by which they try to represent a spectrum of interests.  Whether or not to keep it is one of the matters being decided too.  As I understand it (imperfectly), people can vote for the system, for a candidate in each race, and for a party.  There are seven parties I know of:  National (currently in power--rather mainstream conservative), Labour, NZ First, the Maori party, the Mana party, the Greens, and ACT.  If a party gets over 5% of the vote, they will have seats in Parliament, and coalitions will be formed.  Elections are held every three years (which people complain is a short cycle), but their campaign season is limited to five weeks before the election (enviable).

Since we are not voting, we've just been enjoying the sun.  So today we visited the rose garden, which was all in bloom.   Tonight we plan to see a British movie, and tomorrow we will have one more Thanksgiving celebration with the other American docs out in Paraparaumu.  Then it will be time to get ready for our next set of company.  Tom and Janine are coming December 4.  We are really looking forward to it!

Honey and Hangi: Waitomo and Rotorua

Wow.  It's been a busy two weeks.  Our friend, Patti Hughes, has been visiting from the U.S., and we have had a grand time showing her all of our haunts and introducing her to our friends here in NZ.  Since her arrival, she has eaten whitebait fritters, has learned how to order a flat white (coffee) and has ordered Malaysian food at the right degree of heat from Monsoon Poon.  We have walked through the Botanic Gardens and past the Beehive (Parliament) in nearly gale force winds and spent days in which, as the weather forecast had predicted, "rain, sun, and wind have all thrown their hats into the ring."  We've visited the Weta Cave, the Quaker meeting and markets, nature preserves, and museums and have shopped in all kinds of weather.  One of the highlights was a seal coast safari where we visited the wind turbines atop the ridge, then rode in a four-wheel drive down a winding path through a game farm where two ostriches protected an egg,  then finally down to a wild part of the coast, complete with a leaning lighthouse and a few seals hanging out, while most of their compadres were on the South Island for breeding season.  But probably the most exciting part of our time with Patti was our trip to Rotorua and the Waitomo Glow-worm Caves.

It was a long drive, but the scenery was spectacular.  Patti said the green hills reminded her of wrinkly Shar-peis, with a snow-capped volcano in the background.   We saw a prawn farm and watched blue-green water cascading down Huka Falls, and bought various honey-related products at the Honey Hive. We stopped on the way to take pictures of Lake Taupo, and were greeted by a peeping flock of seven black-striped ducklings, who followed us everywhere, finally distracting them to keep them from stowing away in our car.  Maybe they wanted to visit Rotorua.

Rotorua is home to a couple of Maori tribes and is a hotbed (literally) of geothermal activity.  It is famous for hot springs and geysers.  Steam rises from the lake, and hot pools bubble.  There is a pervasive scent of sulfur.  After dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Abracadabra and a walk through the bubbling landscape, we went to bed, then headed out the next morning for the Waitomo Glow-worm Caves (wai=water, tomo=hole), arriving in time for our 10 o'clock tour of the Ruakuri Cave, named after a Maori chief's encounter with two dogs there.  We spiraled down and marveled at the beautiful rock formations, listening to the drip of water.  Others were tubing in the freezing black water below, and we occasionally got a chance to wave down at them or at least at their head lamps shining in the dark.  No doubt about it though, the glow-worms on the walls and ceiling of the innermost dark passages were the most spectacular part. Our guide explained that they are really larvae who suspend themselves by something like spider web and glow to attract food.  But, even so, the sight of them as we walked through Ruakuri, then glided silently through Waitomo in a boat, was like a starry sky.  Amazing.  Unfortunately, my picture-taking skills do not extend to recording glow-worms, so those of you who want to see them will have to check with Patti.

The next day we decided to check out the Thermal Village Tour, where representatives of two tribes of Maori still live and work.  Our guide, one in a long tradition of women who are charged with passing on the history of the people, walked us past bubbling pools,  answered questions about the community's meetinghouse and history, then waited patiently as we took pictures of erupting geysers before ushering us to a cultural performance with singing, dancing, and the teaching of a few Maori words.  Only after we returned to the Visitor Center did we begin to appreciate the honor and tradition of these women, who have guided such illustrious visitors as Eleanor Roosevelt and Queen Elizabeth.  Two tribes merged to live in Waka Village after a disastrous volcanic eruption in 1886 destroyed one of the communities, along with the legendary Pink and White Terraces which once adorned the mountainside near Rotorua, now submerged in  water below.  The terraces were made of silica and shone pink and white in the light.  They held pools of blue mountain water, where people, both Maori and pakeha, came to bathe in healing waters.

In keeping with that theme, we decided to visit the Rotorua Museum and Government Gardens, where many pakeha came in earlier times to "take the cure" offered by hot springs.  Some of the museum exhibits featured the baths and rugby (of course), but the most interesting were those about how the Maori came to NZ, traveling by canoes with sails woven of reeds, from somewhere called Hawai'ki.  All Pacific Islanders trace their roots to this story.  No one knows the literal location of Hawai'ki.  Sometimes it sounds as if it's a mythical place, since it is also where souls return after death.

In addition to this exhibit, there were beautiful paintings by a painter named Charles Blomfield, who was the most famous painter of the pink and white terraces on the mountainsides.  There was a film, with surprising special effects-- loud noise, seats shaking as if one might actually be experiencing the destruction wreaked by the volcanic eruption which sent the terraces tumbling into the sea and caused many deaths, destroying the home of the Maori who lived there.

That evening we had another cultural experience, called People of the Land, Beauty of the Night.  We stood on the banks of a stream, while Maori warriors came paddling down in their waka.  Then we enjoyed the hangi, a feast of foods cooked by the geothermal pits in the ground--delicious roasted meats, potatoes and sweet potatoes, with NZ wine and a few other dishes added in (like pavlova).  We were seated in language groups, so we chatted with other Americans and a lone Frenchman at our table and were later led
 in song by a Dane.  After dinner, we went on a night walk through the Rainbow Springs nature preserve, where they incubate and protect hatching kiwi.  In addition to the kiwi, there were a number of other birds, along with tuatara and a few fish.

The next morning, it was back to Wellington.  But first, we made one more stop to see the redwoods near Rotorua.  We returned, tired but happy.

Computers, Quakers, and Rhododendrons

Apologies to all of you blog-followers wondering about the whereabouts of your NZ blogpost of the week.  We had a computer meltdown and lost all of our files and are just now back up and running.

That did not stop us from pursuing our travels last weekend though, and an amazing weekend it was.  We traveled first to Whanganui, where we stayed at the Quaker settlement and then to the Taranaki Garden Festival in New Plymouth, a couple more hours away.

Whanganui (the "wh" sound pronounced as an "f" by the Maori) or Wanganui (just like it looks) is a lovely river town on the west coast,  and is also the name of the river which runs through it.  It was a site of violent clashes between the Maori and pakeha in earlier times. Now it has a charming downtown bordering the river, with art deco touches and an art-y feel.  There are riverboat cruises, an extremely interesting and evocative small museum and the Sarjeant Art Gallery.  We visited the museum and admired its collection of Maori wakas (large elaborately carved canoes), beautiful greenstone and bone ornaments, musical instruments and artifacts of Maori life from earlier times.  Also, an impressive array of taxidermy birds, animals and mounted insects (including many colorful butterflies) and lovingly displayed items from life in earlier times.  Downtown, we sampled Thai and Indian food, watched glassblowers at work, and considered (but resisted) buying beautiful glass items we might break in transit.

We experienced warm and wonderful hospitality at the Quaker  settlement.  Originally the site of a Quaker boarding school, the 20-acre settlement is now a community owned by NZ Yearly Meeting.  Settlers lease their homes and participate in the community in various ways. The settlers have a weekly business meeting where they deal with the logistics of living together Quaker-style and have a weekly shared meal, which they re-scheduled so that we could join in.  They raise gardens, sheep, chickens, bunnies and ducks.  There is a beautiful free-standing quiet room in the round with a central skylight where the light pours in where there is meeting for worship every morning.  They also host groups and seminars, most related to Quaker social concerns.  We felt very fortunate to spend time with Michael and Merilyn Payne.  Michael is the architect who designed the settlement in its current incarnation.  They showed us around, gave us tea, lent us books, encouraged us to harvest lemons and grapefruit from their trees, and offered stimulating conversation.  They are dedicated to eco-sound living and have been lifelong activists in the Quaker world.  Current projects include encouraging purchase of solar cells Michael has made as carbon offsets for travel and the harvesting of a grove of mature pine trees he is making into extremely beautiful simple coffins which can double as standing bookshelves till they are needed :-).

On Saturday after meeting for worship, we headed to the Taranaki region around New Plymouth for the rhododendron festival and garden tour.  There were 60 or so gardens, and we only had time to visit a few.  This is a picture of Tupare, an English style garden with an arts and crafts style house, where I could have easily spent the day exploring.  Next we went to Pukehara Park, which had many lovely spaces, including waterfalls, numerous ferns and other native plants, and red bridges spanning waterways.  Our next garden was a tiny Japanese one at a little house in the suburbs, where an older Japanese man explained the tea ceremony and showed us a picture of Mt. Fuji, comparing it to the view out the window of the majestic NZ volcano, Mt. Taranaki (or Mt. Egmont among the pakeha).  Next we had tea and cake under the trees at the simple and lovely Hirst Cottage, home of one of NZ's prime ministers in the early 1800's.  The guide there encouraged us to visit Putekei, partway up the mountain in the rainforest.  There the rhododendrons were on full display, gigantic, colorful, and fragrant. I finally had to take the camera away from John.  Rushing back to make it in time for the shared meal at the settlement, we stopped for just a few moments at Chriesi Wald, a very quirky home garden in Patea.  Created by its tiny, elderly resident, Rudi Milesi, it was a series of 12 garden rooms filled with sculpture, strange artifacts, and live birds.

Computer traumas aside, it was a great weekend.

Mt. Bruce

This is a picture of koru, or fern fiddles, one of the Maori symbols for rebirth or new life.  I took this picture after we drove up into the Wairarapa (twisty turn-y mountain roads, like W. Va. pre-turnpike, then hills, sheep--see picture #2) at the Mt. Bruce Wildlife Center where we went on Saturday.  There were numerous rare and protected birds, like the hihi, but probably the most sociable was the kaka, who let us come pretty close to the front of the center to take this picture.

 Also on tap at the wildlife center was (ugh) eel-feeding.  Kids helped with this, and I listened to the lecture about how crucial eels are, when it comes to cleaning rivers and about their amazing life cycle (Their heads become bullet-shaped and their eyes huge when, at age 35-100, they travel long distances through a deep sea-trench to spawn and their offspring, eaten here as whitebait and becoming glass eels, then elvers, come back up into rivers to do their work), but I have to admit, I still thought they were kind of scary and gross.  These were six-feet long and had been biting each other and the large trout who also live in the river.

When we left Mt. Bruce, we drove back through wine country, and stopped in a quaint little town called Martinborough, known for its sauvignon blanc.

The next day was meeting and a movie before the All-Blacks finally succeeded in holding on to beat the French in the Rugby World Cup.  Joy abounds in the land, and there will be a victory parade here in Wellington tomorrow, which will shut down the town for most of the afternoon.  The sunny weather which had been promised for the holiday weekend (this was their Labour Day) never materialized.  Yesterday we drove up the Kapiti coast for a walk along the coastline at Queen Elizabeth Park, where we saw a pair of tuis in a tree.  Later we had brunch at a cafe in Paekakariki,then home in time for me to swim.

Have been spending some time hopeful that we can work out a visit from Paul and Emily.  Also really looking forward to Patti's visit, beginning next Tuesday.  

Musings

This is a picture of some sand art from the Diwali festival on the waterfront on Sunday.  We really didn't partake that much of the festival, unfortunately, because we were hungry and tired and the lines were too long, but we did get to see this sand sculpture which was part of the celebration, so I thought I'd share.

For me, this was not so much a week about seeing new things; it was more about listening and reflecting.  We went to hear two of the concerts of the NZ Symphony Orchestra which were part of their Brahmissimo series (all four Brahms symphonies and some other works on four consecutive nights).  My long-suffering husband also accompanied me to a lecture by a woman Australian process theologian entitled, "Seeking the Sacred in a Multi-faith World."  Nothing too new there, but a good synthesis.  Probably the most memorable quote for me was one from Ravi Shankar in which he intimated that in interfaith conversation we are seeking to create "harmony" by listening for common values and "playing our own instruments" as well as we can.

Actually, the highlight of my week was meeting with two other women who are also trying to write short stories and reading a little of our work to each other.  The mutual encouragement is great;  plus, we reflect about our perspectives on life here and in the U.S.  Partly in response to the lecture, I have been thinking about NZ spirituality.  These new friends kindly let me offer up my theories, without taking offense, and gave some feedback.  Though I have sometimes heard Kiwis say they feel they are a secular society, I do find that they have a deep spirituality in their feeling of connection to the earth:  to the land and the sea.  Though the roots of this among the Maori seem very clear, as with other indigenous peoples, the sense of connection and the need to care for the earth and all of its creatures seems widespread among those of European descent (pakeha) also.  At least more so than in the U.S.

Perhaps that is one reason why people in general seem so distressed in the past week's environmental disaster.  The Rena, a cargo ship carrying hazardous material in addition to its own fuel, struck the Astrolabe reef in the Bay of Plenty and is leaking oil.  Local people are frustrated that assistance from the government seems slow and are taking it upon themselves to begin clean-up of the beaches and are attempting to rescue and clean the birds and seals who are now covered in oil. Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it?  Sad to think that this kind of disaster seems to be becoming more and more common.

On a lighter note:  the All-Blacks prevailed over their arch-rivals the Wallabies in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup.  (Some say rugby is the true religion of NZ.)  So the AB's will play France in the final match next weekend, and there is great joy in the land :-).

I did do a little exploring between showers this week.  Took a long walk and ducked back into Te Papa for a dry respite.  Talked with John about the NZ history exhibit, and we went back to view it this weekend in more depth with special interest in the section devoted to Maori history.  We were able to take off our shoes and go into the Maori meetinghouse that is part of the exhibit, and it was quietly powerful and awe-inspiring.

  Another day I was on my way back from the library and had the camera, so I took this picture of the boatsheds at Oriental Bay.

Got drenched multiple times and caught cold during the week, so we took things a little easy over the weekend.  We did visit the Weta cave, home of Lord of the Rings, in Miramar, just down the road.  Sadly, I had left the camera at home, so I did not get a picture of John with Gollum, but I plan to remedy that in the future, when Tom and Janine visit.  Stopped at Maranui, the surf club in Kilbirnie (where John works) for lunch.  I had a fab sandwich of roast pumpkin, feta and rocket (arugula) with pesto on spelt (yum).  Walked away from town to Karaka Bay Sunday afternoon to enjoy a period of sun and enjoyed ice cream on the waterfront. Was cheered by talking with Anna and Claire about their birthday celebrations and by good emails from a number of you.  Feeling better now and ready for the week ahead.

Rain and sun

It was a rainy week in Wellington till yesterday, which meant I stayed in a lot, baking cookies, playing the guitar, working on my writing assignment and attempting to read the collected stories of Katherine Mansfield (who was born in Wellington and could hardly wait to get to London where she wrote, mostly about life in Wellington, throughout her short and colorful life).  I did try to slip out between major storms to swim, volunteer at the hospital, eat lunch with friend Ronis in Island Bay on a particularly stormy afternoon, and to spend a day with Cynthia, a woman from the meeting, who tried to help me understand how the arms of the coastline relate to parts of town by driving me out along the coast where we stopped for some amazing chowder, then into town to poke around a second-hand shop (I'm missing the New Garden bazaar) and up to a wind farm atop one of the hills.  (If they can make wind power anywhere, it should be here.)  The first picture is a view from atop a hill near a windmill, while this one is from above the rose garden at the Wellington Botanic Garden during the sunny part of the week.

We were invited over for curry on Friday by our neighbor, Vanaja, a pathologist at Wellington Hospital and cooked for guests at our little apt. on Saturday evening.  Since Saturday was rainy, we spent a chunk of the afternoon indoors at the Maori art market in Porirua where we saw beautiful wood-carving, interesting paintings and beautiful jewelry made out of bone, paua, and NZ greenstone.  Here is a picture of John and friends from outside the market.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, so, while we had planned to go to a movie, we had to stop by the Botanic Garden for lunch and to take in the tulips pictured here.  The other picture is of the rose garden from above.  The movie was "The Orator" and is the NZ foreign language nominee for an Oscar this year, because it is in Samoan and stars a Samoan dwarf. Beautiful scenery, interesting culture and story.

This weekend was the quarter final for the Rugby World Cup, and downtown Wellington was turned into an expanded fanzone.  Australia beat the Springboks (S. Africa), and the All-Blacks of NZ triumphed over a plucky Argentinian team here in Wellington, while France beat England and Wales beat Ireland in Auckland.  In spite of ourselves, we're getting into it, and watching games live on the Maori TV network.

New foods:  tamarillo (also called tree tomato, but different) and feijoa (tropical fruit originally from S. America but grown here and made into juice, jam, muffins, etc.)

New phrases:  "have a think"= ponder
"good as gold" = enthusiastically yes
""headless chook"= chicken with its head cut off, also used to describe Sarah Palin
"stonky chimney"= unstable after earthquake
"gobsmacked"= shocked and appalled
"gutted"= totally gobsmacked
"Yip" or "yis, yis"= yes
"flash"= fancy

So that's where we are on learning to eat and speak Kiwi.  Still enjoying ourselves for the most part, though I am struggling a little with not being home for Anna and Claire's birthday this week.  Really looking forward to some visits from home.  Keep that email coming y'all.

Ups and Downs

This is a picture of Kapiti Island, a bird sanctuary off the coast.  You have to get a permit to go there by ferry, and in spite of its proximity, bird-watching there is an all-day trip.  We plan to visit with Paul and Ann when they come to NZ at the end of December.  But for now, we are just admiring the island from afar.

  Last week had its ups and downs.

 Ups:  beautiful sunny weather, good emails from a number of you, skyping with Patti and with Tom and Nancy Lassiter, spending time with new friends talking about reading and writing, a jaunt along the Kapiti Coast,  and getting some side trips planned with the help of the i-site staff in Wellington's civic square. ( Plus, everyone was in a good mood because the All-Blacks are winning!)

  Downs:  breaking my tooth by biting enthusiastically into a hunk of chocolate-covered hokey-pokey (toffee) and having to go to the dentist, and spending a day with no internet after it went out just as I was skyping with my good friend, Lynne.  I know that some of you will be disappointed that there are no pictures of me looking like one of the Beverly Hillbillies, but I hid out a bit during that phase and had no intention of recording those moments in pictures.  Tim, a nurse who works with John, hooked me up with his dentist, a woman who was kind and gentle (They take turns working till 9 pm here--how's that for being service-oriented?) and restored my smile.

A social worker I met through one of John's work dinners had revealed that she had recently returned from a creative writing course in Scotland.  We talked some about reading and writing at the dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised when she called to offer to take me up the Kapiti coast to Paraparaumu (just like it looks: para-para-oomoo) to talk about writing.  So we spent a sun-drenched afternoon on her (Maori) friend's veranda, reading a little of our writing to each other and talking about New Zealand and America.

On Friday my Australian friend, who is probably my "best mate" here asked if I wanted to "go for a wander" up the Kapiti coast again with her and her sister-in-law, so we drove on narrow, twisty roads through green hills dotted with sheep and along a beautiful coastline and stopped for coffee in Parakaekariki.  Ronis has an instinct for finding the best coffee places, and this one was charming, with an apt. overhead, a sleeping yellow lab, and a talented barista. We walked out on the black sand and waded a little in the freezing cold water, then stopped in the village to dawdle in a couple of tiny shops where artisans made beautiful things out of pouanamou (NZ greenstone, much harder than jade) and paua shells.  Considered the menus of the local establishments for future reference too.

Probably my big accomplishment of the week was planning a few trips for our much-anticipated time with visitors Nov.-Jan. with the hardy staff of the Wellington i-site.  You go in with your list of what you want to do and roughly when and take a number. They make calls to transportation hubs (ferries, trains, etc.), hotels and attractions.  They know things like when places are closed for maintenance and what is a reasonable rate.  When you're done, you hand them your credit card and they hand you an envelope with all of your trip reservations and details. All of this at no charge.  Pretty awesome.  They are young people with perfect equanimity too.  While Khy was working on my details, I watched with admiration as Nick, in the station next door handled an indignant French family, incensed there was no place in Wellington to park their camper (on a weekend with three rugby games and a Navy exhibition), and an octogenarian in a three-piece wool suit and fedora who began the conversation about making a mistake in reserving his accommodation by saying, "I was in WW2 you know,..." with equal aplomb.  I think Nick may have called almost every B&B in Wellington before finding a one-night stand for this gentleman and giving him his card and saying, "Come back and see me tomorrow.  I'll be working on this."  These people could easily be chaplains!

This weekend we took a short trip to Days Bay  and walked along the beach as a sailboats raced out in the bay, then broke for lunch at a cafe auspiciously called Chocolate Days.  We hosted a couple who came briefly in a position like John's and have now returned to stay and our new friend, Mary (she of last week's pavlova).

Now the rain has returned and is settling in for the week, with winds "freshening" (translation:  wet with wind chill).  Oh well.  I guess it can't be sunny all the time.