Kiwi Chinese New Year

Last weekend Auckland's Chinese community threw a big lantern festival in celebration of Chinese New Year. It was great fun. There was music, food, lanterns, performances, and LOTS of people. I had a great time and really enjoyed taking pictures at the event. You can see the lantern festival pictures and more comments here.

I Had to Go on Holiday

A glimpse of the Sounds, from the Sounds! This is what I came to New Zealand to see!

So, since my last blog I have taken up residence with a Kiwi family of 4 in Parnell, a “leafy” central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city (1.5 million or so). I am the Au pair for the next 3 months. Everyone is pretty great, and while any job has its ups and downs, this one has its peaks and valleys. The first two weeks the girls (5 and 3, 5 and 4 as of last week) were out of school for the summer holiday, which is only about a month long in New Zealand. I joined them about midway through, and spent my first two weeks on the job having hit the ground sprinting. But, to my great relief, it was indeed a sprint, as they all went to Christshurch for the last 10 days of the holiday. That meant that I too had to go on vacation. Darn.
I chose to try to see some part of the South Island in my 10 days. Because we’re in the southern hemisphere, the south experiences cooler temperatures in the winter and with my job in Auckland lasting through April, this, I realized, would be my only chance to see any part of it in the summer, as it is too difficult to go there for a weekend.

Traveling in New Zealand is very different from traveling at home because of the combination of the terrain and the roadways. The terrain is very diverse and extremely hilly, making most of the rural (most of the country’s) roadways very twisty and rolling. Thank God I have a strong stomach! Kidding, of course. I’ve luckily been able to fend off motion sickness so far but I don’t think it’s a matter of if but when I’ll get sick along New Zealand’s motorways. Anyway, the curving, hilly nature of the roadways means it takes FOREVER to get anywhere. To put it into perspective, the length of the country tip to toe is about the length of a trip from Ohio (or south/central Michigan) to central or southern Florida. You could comfortably make this trip in two days, and drive through the night to make it in one day if you had to. In New Zealand, to drive the same distance (as the crow flies) would take at least a week. Ugh.

So you can see why going to the south island by bus is more ambitious than it sounds. Also consider the fact that it involves a three hour ferry ride between the Wellington and Picton. I chose to make this journey by bus because there is a cheap overnight bus from Auckland to Wellington. Let’s just say I won’t be doing this again anytime soon. But the ferry was pretty enjoyable, especially when we made our entrance into the Sounds. The boat slows, and things become much quieter around the boat. Long, sharp, green peaks lurch dramatically from the water, forming narrow passage ways.

As the boat is swallowed by the Sounds, I am awestruck by the landscape and it dawns on me that that I’ve finally seen some of what I came to New Zealand to see. Just as I think it can’t get any better, and I look to the water and notice a dark shape liltingly approach the surface near the boat. A little face peeks out of the water. It’s a seal. She inspects the ferryboat passengers peering down curiously. Her eyes are exquisitely beautiful and give her a simultaneously heartbroken and cheerful expression that makes her look eerily human. I am reminded of mariners’ tales of seals that shed their skin and take human form on land. Before I can even think about my camera the seal disappears into the blue. Welcome to the south island. I am brimming with excitement and already glad I’ve made the trip.

I arrived in Picton pretty tired from the overnight bus ride, but felt eager to see some scenery, so I went for a “walk”. Again, because of the terrain and the lifestyle around here, a “walk” can mean a quiet stroll or a sweaty, altitudinous jaunt that carves anywhere from 2 to 6 hours out of your day. This walk that I took that first day was much more in line with the latter. The Sounds make jagged V shapes in the water, and Picton sits in the bottom of one of the Vs. I walked from there out to the end of the sound and back.

The next day I headed for Nelson. Not far away, but timely, as you must navigate around the Sounds to get there. I had heard that Nelson had a lively arts community, boasts bountiful Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and makes a good hub for day excursions in the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. Art, wine, and outdoor adventures. Me, me, and me. This sounded perfect.

And it was. The first day I went on a kayaking/hiking/sailing trip along the coast and in Abel Tasman National Park, which is the smallest national park, but one of the most beautiful. Our kayak took us from open seas, to turquoise lagoons, to narrow caves along the coast, and finally to a small island colony of New Zealand fur seals. We then had lunch and I hiked over to the next bay, enjoying stunning views along the way. From Anchorage Bay I sailed back to the starting point, Kaiteretere. All in all I was gone all day and it was a great start to the trip.

The next day I was schooled in the art of bonecarving. I learned that traditional Maori bonecarving was typically done with mountain goat or even human bones, but today it’s a means of recycling beef byproducts. Starting with a bovine femur, I whittled and carved and sanded a ring for myself, complete with paua and fern embellishments. There were two couples and another single traveler who made carvings along with me, and we all made something different. Mostly, people made the traditional pendants worn around the neck on a leather string. They have symbolic meaning and are meant to be given as gifts. I didn’t quite feel ready for this leap into tapu (sacred tradition), so I made my ring, which I love. The instructor is a German man named Stefan who has been in New Zealand for over a decade doing bonecarving, and began with Maori mentorship. He is perfect for the job, combining the perfect amounts of know-how with open-minded willingness to let people experiment and be creative with what is usually a new art form to them. It was totally great.

The next day I decided I’d rent a bike and check out Nelson’s (very) unique WoW Wearable Art and Classic Car Museum. The museum was mind blowing. If you know me even a little (which, you probably do if you’re reading my blog…or at least I hope you do if you’re reading my blog), then you know that I wasn’t there to see the cars. I cannot express how inspiring or inventive or creative or ingenious the art was. It was by far the most exciting art museum I’ve ever visited. I should probably back up and explain what the art actually comes from. Back in 1986 (I believe it was ’86) a small group of designers had a show and design contest called The Wonderful World of Wearable Art. It attracted an audience of 200, and was held at a farmhouse in rural Nelson. Fast forward 25 years and the event has moved to the political and cultural capitol, Wellington, attracts designers from all over the world and entertains 35,000 people a year. It is the most highly anticipated arts event of the year in New Zealand, and now it’s the most highly anticipated event in my datebook as well. I am going to do my best to go see the show in September and I can’t wait! The museum is a vivacious archive of winning and contributing designs over the years. ‘Stunning’ is a major understatement.

After my amazing experience at WoW, I biked over to the beach and enjoyed a nice laze about in the sun before returning to town for a small summer arts fest going on down Trafalgar St., the main drag in downtown Nelson. I was surprised at how small it was and how far fewer people were checking out the stands than were milling about and otherwise observing from the bars surrounding the stands. There was live music, and it was a nice atmosphere. But it took about 5 minutes to get through, so I decided to stop into a knitting co-op that I had strolled into the day before. Out of curiosity, I had popped in, I tried on a sweater, and then made a beeline for the wall of scrumptious looking yarn opposite the sweaters (I have a thing for fabrics, a tactile fixation when you get right down to it). I had told the woman working there that I’d love to knit a scarf and she encouraged me to get it started. We picked out yarn together and she told me where I could go to get some knitting needles. By the time I had gone up the street for the needles and come back she had gathered up a few left over threads that she offered to me for my scarf. When I went back during the art fest the next day she had a whole bag full of beautiful yarns to offer me in addition. I ended up sitting and knitting and chatting with her for over an hour. This young-grandma aged lady named Betty had the spirit of a twenty year old, the heart of a saint and the soul of a sage. She was really so nice, and talking to her and knitting with her was the major highlight of my trip. She was so generous, kind, and loving toward me and I only spent a little over an hour with her but she made a big impression on me. People like her are the reason why I travel. I am now almost finished with my beautiful scarf that wouldn’t have been possible without Betty.

The last day of my trip started off fantastically—I swear, every time I thought that it couldn’t get any better it did. Betty had told be to make sure that I made it to the Nelson farmer’s and artisan’s market, which is held Saturday mornings in a square off Trafalgar St. It was by the far the best weekend morning market I have ever been to. Everything was delicious, there was music, there were beautiful handcrafted foods, gifs, clothing, soaps, you name it. I was in absolute heaven. I spent brunch milling around there and then headed back to my hostel where I was to be picked up for an afternoon tour of five vineyards around Nelson. I tasted a staggering 30 different crus. I love wine…but this was, dare I say it, too much wine! In all honesty, I enjoyed the last glass just as much as the first. Perhaps it would have been better had it not been about 80 degrees or so that day. I did do an excellent job hydrating and only threw in the towel and let myself go a bit (not drinking water in between tastes) at the last vineyard, where there was no spittoon. Apparently people don’t spit out wine on Kiwi tastings anyway, so that’s ok. You either discretely pour out what you don’t want, or you just drink it. And that’s that. It was absolutely breathtaking scenery, even considering the heat, and I really enjoyed myself. At the end I felt that I had fully indulged myself.

Indulgence was the theme of the vacation, really. I told myself that I was just going to do all of the things that I wanted to do and not look back or think twice about it and I’m so happy I did. I was completely refreshed and replenished by the trip and I was able to put a lot of things into perspective—like how I can’t wait to come back to the south island once my post in Auckland comes to an end. I had gotten to the point where I was past the initial excitement of being in New Zealand to the point where I was just dealing with the frustrations of being in a different country, away from home. Nelson got me excited again. I can’t wait to go back.

For pictures from my foray into the South Island, click here.

Volcanoes, Astronomers, and Bedbugs, Oh My!

Warning: This is a long one, so I included subtitles. Feel free to skim!

I left Auckland eager to discover the iconic green, bleating countryside of New Zealand, and find it I did. In the bus all the way to Taupo I feasted my eyes on green pastures, sheep and golfers. Then I arrived at my hostel and the romance was lost; I immediately missed my friends that I’d made at Oaklands Lodge in Mt Eden. However, it turned out to be a fantastic Christmas with some fun new friends, and I went skydiving for the first time. But in truth, I stayed in Taupo too long.

TongarirNo Crossing
I had wanted to stay in Taupo long enough to get one nice day for skydiving and one nice day for the Tongariro Crossing, the highly lauded “best day-hike in New Zealand” featuring blue crater lakes and Mount Ngauruhoe (the “Mt. Doom” volcano of Lord of the Rings fame), among other natural wonders. On the 10th day in Taupo I eagerly boarded the bus to the Crossing's trail head, happy to leave, and excited for the hike, but more than a little nervous about the looming clouds. The bus pulled into the car park (Kiwi for “parking lot”—still elicits visions of an amusement park for or with cars) from whence I was to start the tramp, and our driver promptly announced over the loud speaker, “Folks, you’re not going to like what I have to tell you now. We’ve just now received word that all walks for the day must be cancelled due to heavy rain and strong winds on the mountain.” BUMMER! I had had it with Taupo and was very much ready to move on from there, so I decided without reservation that Tongariro Crossing was just not meant to happen for me this time and I’ll just have to wait until next time. I did have a fantastic time skydiving at least!

Whakatane
Next on my agenda: Whakatane. Pronounced FAH-kuh-taun-ee, the small town at the mouth of the Whakatane River appealed to me from the moment I first heard of it. The word “Whakatane” means “to act like a man” in Maori. As legend has it, the first Maori men to arrive in what’s now Whakatane eagerly hopped out of the waka (canoe) soon after it was pulled up on the beach, leaving the first Maori women and children to arrive there sitting in the waka. The tide came in quickly, and began pulling the waka back out into the ocean. It is strictly forbidden for women to paddle the canoes, which are sacred (go figure), thus causing quite the conundrum. Wairaka, the daughter of the chief who captained the waka (canoe) declared “Kia whakatane ake au i ahau” (“Let me act as a man”), and paddled everyone and everything safely back to shore. There is a very beautiful statue of Wairake perched on a boulder at the mouth of the river. Though, I must say that there is nothing ‘whakatane’ about it, and I don’t quite see how it’s meant to represent “girl power” as it were. I reckon it might even offend the odd feminist, or seem a bit ironic at best. Perhaps I'm just missing the point.

Statue of Lady Wairaka

Anyway, I had actually never read anything about the town of Whakatane in my travel books and am happy to report that, for now, it is a well-kept secret! Christina (from Christmas in Taupo) showed me her pictures of Whakatane’s key feature, White Island, which is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano and lies about 50 km off the east coast from Whakatane. The brilliant sulfur color overwhelming present in Christina’s photos was more than enough to attract this chromophile to the charms of the island. I booked the tour for noon the day after I arrived and woke up that morning to the first cloudless day of my whole vacation. Yay!
White Island was extraordinary. It’s an extremely active rock, but is not the kind of volcano that spews molten lava. Instead it steams and bubbles, glowing yellow with hot sulfur. At its center is the crater lake which scientists estimate to be 90 meters deep. They can’t verify the guess very easily, as they are certain that the lake’s pH is a staggeringly acidic -1. It was like being on Mars walking across White Island, and apparently recent studies have shown that Mars and White Island are composed a lot of the same chemical or rock, the name of which I of course cannot remember! But it was just stunningly surreal, impressively interesting, and hauntingly memorable. I thoroughly loved it. We also saw some dolphins on the way there and they played in the wake of the boat.

Me, standing on White Island. For more pictures of White Island, click here.

When I arrived back at my hostel it was around 7pm and I wasn’t ready for the beautiful day to be over. I made dinner and consulted my Lonely Planet and Let’s Go books. I had read about an Astronomical Society in Whakatane with an observatory open to the public several nights a week. A German girl named Raissa who was also staying in my hostel decided that she wanted to come too, so I called and found out that it wasn’t open. But it was such a clear, lovely night that Norman, the “president” (?) of the astronomical society said he would be happy to show us some stars. Norman was probably hovering right around 70, and his astronomical knowledge of stars was proportionate. His enthusiasm for astronomy, though, was gleefully adolescent. Pretty much the most adorable man ever. In the end, we came home from the observatory around 12:30am a lot more knowledgeable about the universe. Norm showed us the moon and its craters, the Tarantula and Orion nebulae, and Venus in the telescope. It was the first time I ever looked through a telescope. It was very, very cool.
Norm, Raissa, and I were joined about two hours in by two more Germans staying at a different hostel. Norm was very happy to tell us everything he knew about the universe and would have kept us there until the sun came up if it hadn’t clouded over. He even showed us his “wishlist” which all donations from tours go toward fulfilling. It was very, very kind of him and he was just delightful. I forgot to mention that he picked us up from the hostel so we didn’t have to walk all the way up the bluff to the observatory and back to the hostel in the dark. He was one of those people that I’d like to shrink, put and my pocket and take out when I need to smile. The man was as sweet as a Kiwifruit.

A gorgeous sunset as seen from the front porch of my hostel in Whakatane.

"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" - seriously, you'll most certainly regret it if you do.

There's a reason why this saying exists. And it manifested itself all over approximately 50% of my upper body in the form of itchy, blisterlike welts. The first night I was in my hostel in Whakatane I was the last of the entire house (of maybe 10?) to go to sleep. As I crept into bed, the beam of my flashlight managed to spot 3-4 reddish brown mini-roachlike creatures apparently doing the same. Disgusted, I brushed them off my sheet, telling myself that there was nothing I could do about it right that second as everyone else was asleep, and that it was probably some weird New Zealand cockroach anyway. Bed bugs had crossed my mind, but, as I have the tendency to catastrophize, I told myself that they were far too big to be bed bugs, which must be as invisible as lice or fleas (cringe), right? Wrong. Two mornings later, this is what my arm looked like:

(And what my other arm, chest, and neck looked like too). Figuring that I'd been feasted upon by mosquitoes at the observatory (I have caramel blood, so hefty numbers of bug bites are not unusual to me), I went to town in search of some anti-itch cream. I was greeted by pharmacists and information center volunteers with cautious stares and the suggestion that I had fleas "or worse, bed bugs," respectively. Frantic, I returned home and logged onto the internet (blessedly pirated and therefore free, and therefore not leaching the bank account, as internet does in NZ) in order to Google Image 'bed bugs'. As I was very stressed about this, I had gotten myself a snack while I waited for the photo to load. As I saw the image of exactly what I'd brushed out of my sheets two nights prior appear in front of me, I nearly vomited up my snack.

After telling the hostel staff about what I'd seen, I set to washing all my clothes in the hottest water I could come by. The hostel manager set off a "bug bomb" in the bedroom, much to my relief which crumbled the minute she told me "It's for fleas". The closer bedtime came, the more panicked I became. I decided to scour the bed for any evidence of live bedbugs so that I could show the hostel staff and ask for a new bed. That evidence came in the form of a smaller bug about the size of a poppy seed whose coloring seemed suspiciously close to that of my own blood. I ziplocked the little guy and ran once again to my computer to find yet another image of bed bugs, this one showing the bed bug in all 6 of its wretched life cycles (the second of which resembled my ziplocked specimen, and the sixth of which looked like those who had escaped me two nights prior). I was given a new room.

Nearly a week later, the bites have almost healed completely. They still itch occasionally, but the swelling and redness have gone down to the point where people can look me in the eye again while conversing with me, which is good.

All in all, it was a wild trip stocked to the brim with high highs and low lows. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad it's over!

My Newest Love: Skydiving

For more skydiving photos, click here.

I went skydiving today. And I can't wait to go again. It was the most surreal and amazing experience of my life. Perhaps the greatest rush I've ever felt. I was told it would feel like you're falling, and I was told my ears would hurt, and I was told many, many things. But I think everyone's experience is unique. I can say that my very sensitive ears did not become apparent to me until my parachute opened. And I never felt like I was falling, but as close to flying as I've ever come. I cannot describe how thoroughly I enjoyed myself.

I jumped from 15,000 feet, strapped to the tummy of a man who has been skydiving longer than I've been alive--17,000 jumps; highest jump: 48,000 feet, highest jump without oxygen: 35,000 feet. The man was a professional.

For my dive, we jumped at 15,000 ft, the max for a tandem dive. We reached 200k/h and fell over 10,000 feet before the parachute opened, for a total of around 1 minute free falling. It was absolutely incredible. I would recommend skydiving to anybody. I think I'm going to try Queenstown next for a snow-capped peak backdrop. CANNOT wait!

I'm going to try to upload my DVD from the jump, so check back for that in a bit!

Happy Kiwi Christmas!

Christina, Abi, and me at Huka Falls, Chrsitmas Day. To see more pictures from the day, click here

I had an absolutely lovely Christmas day. I arrived in Taupo on Christmas Eve and was told that there would be a potluck dinner the next day. I hurried to the Pak n’ Save (a New Zealand grocery store not unlike Meijer, but yellow and black instead of red and blue, not to mention somehow more dismal…and you thought it was impossible to top the dismalness of Meijer, hah!) and got some grocery to stock up for Christmas and Boxing Days, which both close down a lot of NZ civilization. I was all excited because I decided I’d make a red and green Christmas fruit salad, complete with pomegranate seeds! I got strawberries, kiwifruit (of course), cherries, a green pear and the pomegranit and went back to the hostel. Shortly thereafter, I met my roommates, Abi (British transplanted to NZ’s capitol, Wellington) and Christina (German). They were both a bit older than me but probably by only 10 years at the very most.

Christmas morning I got up and had breakfast, then began assembling my fruit salad. There were very few serving dishes available, so I decided to use a bunt cake tin, which ended up looking interesting and different. Anyway, afterwards I went on a little run along Lake Taupo, which is just lovely. I then showered and headed up to the kitchen for the potluck. There was a very interesting variety of foods present, as our chefs hail from far flung corners of the globe. There were several varieties of German potato salad (surprise, surprise!) and some French potatoes too. I walked up to this ADORABLE Frenchman standing at the stove over a steaming pan of partiflette (not sure if that’s the right spelling…) He smiled and asked if I wanted to try some and I was like “Sure!”, of course, and he proceeded to heap a mound of it onto my plate, which was ok because it was delicious. Apparently it’s from around les Alps. Anyway, some people just used whatever was on hand to come up with some interesting pasta salads…some of these pasta adventures turned out better than others. I was beyond delighted to see my fruit salad not only disappear rather quickly, but also being photographed by one of the guests! It melted my heart, this girl was just taking great care to get a good shot of it. And then a Yugoslavian woman told me that she thought it was really nice. It made my day!

Abi, Christina, and I had decided the day before that we’d try to hike to the Huka Falls on Christmas Day if the weather cooperated. We set out around 4 and returned around 8. It was a perfectly beautiful day and we passed everything from Silver Ferns (New Zealand’s native national tree and a proud symbol of NZ’s spirit of beauty and uniqueness) to hot spring rivers. We saw lots of families out and about enjoying the day; lots of people were bathing in the hot rivers. There was this crazed Rottweiler that we spotted wresting something in the water, and I was bracing myself for the trauma of watching it haul out a wriggling, bloody, 50 pound trout up to the shore (yes, my mind was just running wild). I was even more shocked to watch it finally dig out a rock the size of a soccer ball and gingerly muzzle it up to the shore at least 15 feet away. It could barely keep its head upright the thing was so heavy—it made my teeth just ache, watching. Anyway, then it just went to town on the thing before it’s dad managed to get its attention away from the rock, which the dog seemed to be convinced was alive but really needed to be dead. It was hilarious. Anyway, can you tell I miss Miss Rosie Pose heaps?

Anyway, it was a lovely hike and I really enjoyed Christina and Abi’s company. When we arrived home we pooled our resources and managed to produce a beyond satiating steak and salad dinner—perfect for a cool summer night. A few glasses of wine and some chocolate, and the day was complete and perfect, as Christmas Days thousands of miles away from friends and family go. If New Years is even half as good I’ll be thrilled.

In case I never wished you Merry Christmas, and even if I did, I hope it was wonderful for you.

Fotos!

Me, at the Wintergarden in the Auckland Domain.

Actually, this is me, at Wintergarden in the Auckland Domain. Such a beautiful place. The picture above is of a statue at the Wintergarden.

View of Mt Eden Village from the bus stop to Auckland City. You can see Mt Eden in the background.

Steffi, Me, and Nicola walking in a "winter wonderland" at Christmas In The Park.

Not sure why uploading photos worked today but didn't work yesterday or the day before that. I did nothing differently today except expect less. Hmm.

I'd really like to make my regalings complete with photos...

Does anyone out there (who ideally has more experience blogging than me) know anything about getting pictures onto the thing? Why isn't it working? It worked last week. What happened between then and now? I am quite irritated with this situation. Anyone have any advice?