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| Kiwi's are generally friendly - but customs tend to be a bit tough |
We have arrived in Middle Earth.
It is a bit of a disappointment in
that we have not, so far, seen any Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, Dragons or
Wizards. On the other hand I am just as
glad to have not seen any Goblins, Orcs or Trolls. I think we saw a few fairies though.
Everyone we have met on our journey
has loved New Zealand. Our Swedish
friends, who we met in Cairns, loved New Zealand because, they said, there was
nothing here that wanted to kill you. It
was an interesting perspective – but obviously they have not read their
Tolkien.
But that does bring up an
interesting thing about New Zealand. Up
until the arrival of humans here in about 1200 AD there were no mammals other
than one little species of bat. Every
other animal was a bird, an insect or an occasional reptile. They had huge birds called the Moa that was
like a Costco sized Ostrich all the way down to the famous Kiwi bird that looks
like a large Kiwi fruit with legs. (An American tourist we met thought Kiwi
birds ate Kiwi fruit…) Basically the birds owned New Zealand.
Humans arrived and brought with us
our best friend and companion - the rat.
Life changed for the birds.
Humans hunted them and the rats ate their food. Then the white man showed up and brought all
our other mammalian buddies like the cat, dog, rabbit, sheep, goat, cow, pig
and a few groupie animals like the possum, weasel, and stoat. The Moa is extinct and the Kiwi bird is close
to it. There are almost 4 times as many
sheep in New Zealand as there are people and the forests here are filled with
trees imported from California. The Moa,
if he ever returned, would not recognize his old home.
I think Kerstin, our Swedish friend,
got it wrong. There are lots of things
here that want to kill us, they just don’t know how.
Kiwis practice an interesting
version of forestry. I think of it as
invasive forestry. Prior to the arrival
of Maori New Zealand was covered in forest.
When the white man arrived about 400 years later there was more open
space but still a lot of bush. After the
Second World War New Zealand had an excess of able-bodied, if somewhat
traumatized, men. What to do with
them? Get them to plant trees! They imported Monterey Pines from California
and sent these poor blokes off into the hinterland to plant them. The pine loved New Zealand’s soil and
constant temperatures and grew like mad.
The forest industry was born! There
are huge forests of these Monterey Pines everywhere all laid out in concentric
lines crowding out the native plants and the native species that depend on
them.
Then they clear-cut them.
Another thing they imported to New
Zealand was deer from Canada. However,
these deer are not wild - they are farmed. I cannot imagine the destruction
those deer would have on the forests if they got loose. It would be like releasing thousands of
Canadians into a pub after the owner has left.
Auckland is a nice city. I am not exactly sure what it is about
Auckland that makes it feel nice – it looks pretty much like any other
city. It is more expensive than
most. Not as pricey as Australia – but
certainly more expensive than home. To
ameliorate that, the Kiwi dollar is worth about 82 cents Canadian. There is a laid-back atmosphere in Auckland –
you don’t have Suits rushing around with their teeth clenched or car-drivers
waving their fists as they curse the drivers in front of them who are doing the
same. People move at a more sedate pace
(not as sedate as Bali!) with smiles on their faces and a sense of friendliness
about them.
You cannot talk about New Zealand
without mentioning volcanoes. Auckland is surrounded by 13 volcanic cones. Tau Po is on the shores of Great Lake Tau Po
that is actually a lake that has formed in the mouth of an extinct
volcano. Rotorua, which is built in the crater
of a volcano, is still smoking. Napier is a town that was devastated by a major
earthquake in 1932 and rebuilt and we all know about the earthquake that
leveled Christchurch. Yet they say New
Zealand is one of the most stable countries in the world… New Zealand has it’s
own “ring of fire” and not the type that you put the toilet paper into the
freezer for.
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| We did get into hot water in Rotorua |
After Auckland we took the bus to
Rotorua. Rotorua is known for two main
things: geothermal activity and Maoris. Rotorua is situated in the mouth of a volcano
and just beneath the city is a huge mass of hot rocks that heats up the water
that runs over it. Essentially it is
sitting on a massive hot spring. This
gives the city a certain air. It is like
living in Nanaimo when the wind is blowing from Harmac. Except, there is no pulp mill. They have a
park where there are holes in the ground with steam billowing out. One area of town is a huge mud hole with
super-heated steam bubbling out and a geyser next door. The nice thing about this hot spring is that
people use it to heat their homes and their water. It makes me nervous to think that beneath the
supposedly solid ground I am walking on is a river of super-heated steam. The fact that the ground could collapse under
me and I could end up in really hot water is a little too much like being back
at work.
We went to a presentation given by
the local Maori tribe. Granted, it was
meant for tourists but it still gave us some information about the Maoris. As far as indigenous people go the Maori are
doing a whole lot better than the Australian Aborigines and the North American
First Nations. That is not to say that
there are no conflicts but I think there is considerably less suppression and
resentment. The presentation showed us a
typical Maori village, Maori weapons, Maori dances and fed us traditional Maori
food such as lamb, chicken, scalloped potatoes and trifle. OK, I think they may have modified the food
slightly to fit with northern appetites.
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| Telen and her friend giving a "Welcome" face.. |
They ended the show with a Haka. I had to go have a little lay-down after
that.
The Haka is a Maori war dance. Personally, if I was going to war against
some Maoris, and they did a Haka at me -
I would quickly become very keen on
negotiation. When the men make the scary
faces with the bulging eyes and the tongue sticking out it is frightening but
when the women do it – it is bowel loosening.
After Rotorua we went to Tau Po,
which is on the shores of Lake Tau Po.
Lake Tau Po is actually a volcanic crater filled with water. It reminds me a great deal of the Okanogan
minus the mountains plus a volcano. So
far most of New Zealand reminds me of the Okanogan – rolling hills, warm
weather, fertile land and sheep. Except
the Okanogan does not have sheep.
Everywhere you look in New Zealand there are sheep. It’s like New Zealand has a flaky skin
disorder.
After Tau Po we arrived in
Napier. Napier has three claims to fame:
the Art Deco buildings, the consistent mild climate and the wineries. The Art Deco buildings were built after the
earthquake of 1932 when they reconstructed the city. A lot of the area of Napier that were under
water in 1932 suddenly became above water after the earthquake. The land lifted up almost three meters. Islands became hills and sea bottom became
neighbourhoods. They rebuilt in fashion
of the times – which means Art Deco.
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| On the Art-Deco streets of Napier |
The consistent mild climate and the
volcanic soil make the area ideal for growing grapes. Grapes means wine. So we went on a wine tour. Odd choice for two people who don’t
drink. It was interesting to taste the
different wines but after a few wineries they all start to blend together and we
could not remember which was which. Ok,
you wine snobs are probably sneering at this affront to the divine art of wine
tasting but I don’t care. I never
claimed to be cultured and I cannot tell all the different smells in a glass of
wine – they all smell like rotten grapes to me. I know, I know – not only do I look
like a Neanderthal but I act like one too. You are not saying anything that has not been
said to me before.
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| Wine Tasting in Napier |
After six hours on the bus we
arrived in Wellington. Wellington is the
capital of New Zealand and looks a bit like the love child of San Francisco and
Victoria. It too seems to be built on
new land that was conveniently thrown up by an earthquake in the late 1800s. It
is built on lots of hills and looks very clean and shiny. In spite of the hills we have seen many
cyclists and runners here. It does my
heart good (metaphorically) to see all these people out exercising. Kiwis generally seem to be in good
shape. Their lifestyle seems to help
that. They work at their own pace and
don’t seem to be as stressed as us Canadians.
We noticed that at lunchtime people were out for a jog or a bike
ride. Nice to have that amount of time
available mid-day. Personally I think it
is a great idea.
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| Above the streets of Wellington |
So, we have arrived at the south end
of the North Island and tomorrow we arrive at the north end of the South
Island.
And they call this Middle Earth?
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| Arriving at the North End of the South Island |
Telen Writes:
We have been in the North Island of
New Zealand for almost 2 weeks now. I
have learnt to distinguish different kinds of “Kiwis”. A kiwi can be referred to a person born and
bred in New Zealand, or, a hairy roundish nocturnal flightless bird with a long
narrow beak native to New Zealand or the brown hairy fruit with the green
interior.
The kiwis that we have met are
generally friendly, low key and with a quirky sense of humor. We have been travelling by coaches and
buses. We really enjoy “people watching”
along with the beautiful scenery along the way.
The landscape in North Island resembles the Okanagan/Kamloops with
rolling hills. The difference is the
evidence of volcanic activities from long ago, the hot springs and the boiling
mud.
Everywhere we have been is tidy and
clean. When we arrived yesterday in
Nelson in the South Island, our bus shuttle driver, Brian, gave us an impromptu
tour of the area enroute to our motel.
Nelson is a town of 45,000 with a touch of Salt Springs Island. It seems to attract artists and craftsmen
along with outdoors enthusiasts. He said
apologetically that graffiti vandalism is a bit of a problem here as he pointed
to a door of a wooden house. Someone had
painted a heart shaped graffiti on the door.
That was their big crime!
People’s lives here seem stable,
tranquil. May be that is why there are bungee
jumping, parasailing, paragliding, sky diving, zip lining and jet skiing
offered everywhere we go. The kiwis seem
to like the adrenalin rush from engaging in the act of jumping from great
heights or flying through air at high speed.
Lives can become boring otherwise.
My take home message: do something outside of one’s comfort zone once in
a while and enjoy the experience.
