Entries for May 2006
Abel Tasman is my buddy, Thu May 25
Back to topI am north, but not North (as in North Island.) Nelson today, Motueka yesterday. I feel better, like I'm starting to surface after holding my breath underwater for too long--the further up the world I go... I ventured up to Abel Tasman National Park and spent 6 hours on the famous coastal track. I decided against a multi-day hike--rain, cloud, and cold made beach-walking seem silly--but I took a water taxi out to Bark Bay and walked south back to my car. It was nice, but I wasn't moved to tears. The scenery is probably better appreciated from a kayak, which would account for the popularity of kayak companies here (at least 5.) I think I'll try the Queen Charlotte, too, if the weather ever clears up.
Nick and Nicola--very nice English from England, Reading (I think) to be precise. We walked together on the track and I stayed at another hostel at their recommendation. I forgot my camera, so they took pictures for me. Maybe there will be new pics to look at! The first ones in weeks. Had a great time at the smaller hostel, flirting with a Japanese girl named Mami. Small, cute, typically Japanese expressions and interjections ("US A OK")... Will you marry me? I ask her. Not on the first date, she says. What about tomorrow? I think I'm going to learn Japanese.
Continue reading "Abel Tasman is my buddy"
The Art of Travel, Mon May 22
Back to topI am struggling with a problem. I feel stuck, in a slump, somewhat isolated, adrift amid a flotsam of 'friends', bored yet overwhelmed by too many options for adventure, strapped for cash with too much time left, but not enough time to find work even if I wanted it. Should an overseas holiday, the so-called trip of a lifetime, be plagued with such nagging worries as this?
There are two issues: dislocated from everything I know, I no longer am sure who I am--and with such a constant uncertainty as my own identity, how am I to connect with others to form a meaningful experience out of such transient relationships? And thirdly, why am I using such a complicated sentence structure? I think the stress has gotten to me...
Continue reading "The Art of Travel"
My First Farmstay, Tue May 16
Back to topI spent the last week very far from civilization on an elderly couple's retirement bloc of 20 acres. I set up fences, chopped firewood, pulled weeds, cleaned tack (horse-riding equipment) and anything else that needed done. I learned a fair amount about life in NZ, and also about my host Georgie.
She and her husband emigrated from the UK over 40 years ago and are naturalized citizens of NZ. Her father was a career soldier and her family travelled all over the world to live with him at his different posts. She told me about living in Ghana, recalling some of her favorite memories of visiting local chieftans. Her father was the last British military officer in charge of the country's defences while the country's shift to independence was established.
I ride horses now, but not very well (at least according to the high standards I set for myself.) English riding is very, very complicated. Good riders can make a horse do almost anything, including jumping huge fences, ditches, and puddles, then doing a pirouette, walking backwards, and then trotting sideways. But I'm really into it. I rode a good-looking chestnut TB gelding named Toby every day the sun was shining and read about four different books on technique. I can do the 3 basic paces--walk, rising trot, canter--and I can of course turn and stop. Stanford has a stables and I'm surely riding as much as possible when I get there.
Current hobbies to date: sailing, rock climbing, horseback riding, aikido, tramping, snowboarding (though I'm hardly any good at any of them)
Still need to try kiteboarding :) Now in Christchurch again, hopefully getting my car inspected early tomorrow. Then I'm off for some rejuvinating hot spring baths up in the mountains, and then swimming with dolphins before coming back to Christchurch for Super 14 rugby semi-final game on Saturday.
Continue reading "My First Farmstay"
NZ Tsunami Survivor, Fri May 5
Back to topSo there was a huge earthquake in Tonga in the Pacific Ocean that could have sent a tsunami smashing into New Zealand. Luckly, the Civil Defence was there to blatantly disregard warnings from the BBC and wisely kept quiet about the 50m wave of certain death approaching from the north. Some citizens were woken in the middle of the night by calls overseas from worried friends; many evacuated their homes on their own. To the great relief of the NZ government, there was no tsunami, but now that the ridiculous ineptitude of those employed in civil service has been exposed, we are the laughing stock of the South Pacific. The situation could only get worse if the prime minister accidentally shot someone in the butt on a hunting trip this weekend--the start of duck hunting season. In that case, we would finally be humiliated worse than the Americans.