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This photo courtesy of Wayne, aka Kiwiwayne
Me, downtown Auckland
A very small 'edited highlights' selection of my NZ photos is now viewable at:- http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1165340
You can also find my extended photo galleries of Maori artifacts etc., New Zealand Flora, New Zealand Fauna, Timaru, Christchurch, The Auckland Sky Tower,, Xena locations, On the road, Auckland General and Assorted Pix by clicking the links.
Long, long flights - managed some dozing on #1. We stopped briefly at Langkowi island (north of Penang if you have your atlas handy) to let some people off and those of us carrying on were allowed to disembark for about an hour. Wet heat - I'm in the tropics alright! Kuala Lumpur airport is white, grey and glass in about equal amounts. Particularly impressed by the VERY shiny mottled grey marble floor tiles. You could almost eat your food off it! I took an aerotrain [sic] between the terminals - it most resembles the Dockland Light railway, but with a single rail down the middle. I'm assuming it floats on air by the name. I took a mixture of Melatonin and Piriton during flight #2 and managed some real honest to goodness sleep.
Auckland so far reminds me of a strange and wonderful mixture of England with bits of Lanzarote and Tenerife thrown in for good measure. Lots of wooden housing, especially bungalows and small houses in their own plots. Downtown is pretty much built up, with stone/brick and concrete, but sometimes using interesting and striking colour schemes! There are quite a number of blocks of shops with a continuous 'verandah' overead outside so that you can go from shop to shop without getting wet. I still feel like I have a head full of cotton wool but I'm really pleasantly surprised by the lack of jet lag - it feels more like tiredness from travelling than anything. Weather quite warm, around 22C and it rained recently but the rain was warm. I'm typing this report in thanks to the computer of a friend in Downtown Auckland - we're planning to see in the New Year here.
Quite a packed 24 hours! Sampled 'Yum Char' at downton Chinese restaurant in Auckland courtesy of Wayne and family. Lots of bamboo containers, dumplings, Chinese greens (delicous) and plates of rather dubious looking things with too many legs or not enough [G -squid bits]. Did some shopping in the centre and got a DVD of a NZ comedy cartoon called 'Bro town' and one episode features a guest appearance of Lucy Lawless in cartoon Xena mode a la the Simpsons, but without the rather vibrant yellow skin, I trust!
After church on Sunday, I had a trip to Bethels beach courtesy of 2nd cousin Matt & his wife Kate. Recognised many familiar Xena landmarks! I met B&B owner Kate's dad who did a lot of 'backgroud artist' work in Herc and Xena [Lawrence Prebble]. He's pretty much retired now, but he's really nice man. Went to the zoo this morning and successfully saw my first kiwi and several other exotic species. Had a great time meeting more Kiwi rellies, including Debbie Bowdler who seems to be a 4th cousin.
Trying to put it simply and clearly, and Archibald McClean went to NZ in about 1841; he had three kids but sadly died before child #3 was born. This child was William. William's grandson married my father's aunt. Hope you're with me so far! Archibald's sister married my great, great grandfather John Henderson; so William's grandson Geoff and my great aunt were second cousins. Deep breath! Archibald had two older children, one also called Archibald and Debbie is descended from this second Archibald. Debbie has three young children (8, 5 and 3) - her eldest girl is as sharp as a tack and still has pretty much the characteristic dark brows and blue eyes as seen quite often in the Henderson-Maclean side of the family. Her brother Jacob is dark haired and dark eyed (and with olive skin from his largely 'Black Scot' dad) but he strongly resembles my son James' physionomy at that age: general shape of head (no double crown though ), size and proportions of torso and especially the ears, which are close to an exact match. With little Emma I couldn't see any matches, but since she's just three, she's still growing into her skin a bit. Matt's daughter Frances, who also turned up could easily pass for Rachel's sister blue eyes and all, although with dyed black hair.
This morning was spent packing and getting ready got an internal flight with NZ air to Christchurch. Matt turned up about 10 am and we went to the airport via Mount Eden & One Tree Hill. Despite being volcanoes rather than terminal moraine, there is a resemblance to the Tor in Glastonbury. Also reminded somewhat of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. A short flight later, I touched down in Ch-ch which is several degrees warmer than Auckland, despite being further south. For those of you in the northern hemisphere who may be saying 'Well, yes; obviously' we are NEARER the Antarctic!
Ch-ch is VERY English. Lots of architecture which would not look out of place in Oxford especially (stone buildings too dark for most Cambridge colleges). Lovely Cathedral (stone) and a shallow river with trees hanging over - very reminiscent of both Oxford AND Cambridge. The arts centre and University campus could have been dropped here from Britain as well. They even do punting!! And for the partisan amongst you, from what I'm pretty certain is the Cambridge end! A substantial park locally, very like London parks and Cardiff's main park by the Taff in particular. And for Rachel - TRAMS! So Amsterdam echoes too. The topography as seen from the air is very like the flat stuff around Glastonbury in the Canterbury plain; little green handkerchief fields with hedges, very green; but then you have to paste something at least as high as the Brecon beacons at the south end and a mix of the Lake District mountains and the higher stuff in Scotland at the north.
Really good production of Rocky Horror last night. Court Theatre quite small and intimate - maybe 150 seats ranging up from stage. Particularly impressed by Riff-raff's performance, Brad & Janet hit their marks very well, Magenta dressed as trashy usherette at start. George Henare pretty good as Frank N Furter, but could have been more camp and outrageous, IMO. Good singing all around. Great cozzies and make-up. Several cast members mingled with audience in a mock menacing manner before show!
Drove to gondola without much incident; 4 person cable cars on very comfortable & non-scary ride to summit. The views of Ch-ch absolutely spectacular. Went around nearby heritage park with old buildings,etc. Did the circuit on the Ch-ch vintage trams; v. good value for money. Had a snack lunch and beer, then picked up tickets for Rocky Horror as mentioned above. Stoll around botanical gardens very close to the Backpackers; got quite a few snaps of exotic NZ flora of various sorts.
Good drive to Timaru - took just over 2 hours with a petrol stop on what I would describe as standard A road. Scenery flat, green with woods and trees at fairly regular intervals and long, low grey concrete bridges over rivers. V like Somerset levels without the willow trees and rheens. Timaru is a bit more undulating and so stands out from previous scenery. Smallish town, nice high street; still looking for a supermarket ono! There's a festival in town (small fun fair, stalls, carnival games, live music) - when I walked through before and had my first whitebait patty (said fish in batter, rather like an omelette and then served in a sandwich - most acceptable). Sponge Bob fans may smile now! Tried Guinness Down Here finally - a little thinner in texture than home with some subtle nutty overtones, but it'll do!! Charming seaside town with substantial port. Reminded most strongly of similar places in Devon especially (pop 27,000 approx). The architecture is a bit different with a 'coloured marshallow' paint job on the buildings. It even smells mostly like Devon - green and warm. Before brekky I ventured out and took a brief dip in the local bay. Luckily at that time the air temperature was only marginally warmer than the sea which was a bit parky! After breakfast I found the local brewery but sadly no tours until 10th Jan [grrr]. A very short drive to West Timaru found the breathtakingly lovely Centennial park - sculptured 'bush' + lake in a tiny gorge,about 2 miles top to bottom with trails, etc. Tried to find the rugby ground without success, but the botanical gardens made up for that. Very like Victoria Park in Bath and seaside parks, with a bandstand, another man-made lake and collections of flowers. After dropping off the car, made my way back into town for lunch and a quick half or two of something interesting, before writing to all of you.
Safe flight into Chch and subsequent rather hairy drive over high mountain (550 metres at road pass height!). Corners largely guarded by little more than a couple of bits of string and wood! Met with various assorted rellies and then driven on to Hastings/Napier. Drive to Lake Taupo (21 miles across and long, so definitely biggest lake I'd ever seen, v pretty despite rain). Further drive to Rotorua, lunch and feeding a semi-tame tui (slightly smaller than a pigeon, has distinctive white fluffy feathers about bow tie level!). Went to traditional Maori meal in a hotel with displays of the haka, poi dance and songs. Perhaps somewhat sanitized for tourists, but felt warmly welcomed. Got inveigled on to stage to join in one dance!! Went to the Polynesian spa late in the evening and had a relaxing & also invigorating soak in the geothermal baths. Lucky I packed my red bikini! (although one can go naked in private pools there if you wish). Went to beautiful Redwood forest at Taupo, then on to view mud pools, geysers and the like at nearby 'park'.
Billy Connolly was right - the bubbling mud does look a lot like cooking porridge - but does NOT smell nearly as appetizing! [Bad egg smell all around Rotorua, but nostrils tuned it out most of the time]. Now in Tauranga about 2 hours south east of Auckland on the Pacific coast.
Wellington - Masterton involved going up over a 'saddle' in the Rimataka mountains. These are pretty high (4 to 6 thousand feet) and are wooded with native bush pretty much right to the top. The road goes winding up to 550 metres and then winds right back down. Used to roads in Britain doing this, but not the slight absence of any serious protection on bends. Most corners are protected with a couple of bits of string and some upright wood bits flapping in the breeze. This does not inspire confidence in the passenger (i.e. me!).
The drive from Masterton to Hastings/Napier started off like a weird mix of north Wales and Austria (but with everything dragged down to at least an Austrian Summer), but the rippled yellowy hills at the end (due to absence of rain on some hills) reminded me mostly of really big sand dunes.
The ride to Taupo was equally wild - lots of forest, both natural and farmed. I made the mistake of thinking the first plume of smoke I saw near Rotorua was someone having a bonfire (!), but no, it was steam coming from the ground (a new phenomenon for me!). I've already tried to describe the bubbling mud pools and the geysers at Rotorua. I hope you may have at least seen film of things like 'Old Faithful' in the US, so you've got some idea. With plumes of steam rising from all over the place around the large town of Rotorua.
The drive to Tauranga was pretty forested too. We stopped at Te Puke (tey pookuh; but you can imagine how they pronounce it for fun (!) for lunch. I'm struggling with superlatives for the beaches/sea from Tauranga onwards - if you've ever seen largely unspoilt bits of the Mediterranean, you may have an idea. However, the gulf of Thames (that's a place, not a river!) is this amazing pale turquoise green colour. I hope the photos I took do it justice. At one point the very distinctive rippled hills of New Zealand made me think of a really wild giant's golf course!
Since I got back to Auckers, I've been to Piha beach (more developed than Bethels, but that's not saying much!). It's another Xena location site; the waves were pretty boisterous and I *think* I found bits of a tree they used as a 'prop' in some episodes.
Today I'm doing some touristy stuff - I went to Victoria Park market (very like a mini Camden market), the museum (artifacts, natural history, Maori culture). They've got an old Marae there (sacred meeting house) with the original flax roof intact. I readily took my shoes off to go inside and definitely felt a Presence there. Actually, I got the impression it was a 'they' rather than a single entity; gentle and welcoming.
I'll be heading up to K road soon (that's a shortening of its longer Maori name!) which has all sorts of eclectic shopping on it, then off to a nearby cafe to meet a local contact for a cuppa [or maybe something stronger] at about 4 p.m. Visited K road in Auckland which has a really eclectic mix of ethnic shops, boutiques and [ahem] sex shops. Nothing much 'worse' than Anne Summers in Britain, really. Picked up takeaway snapper with kumara chips for supper. Snapper came in a pattie and covere in batter and I liked it. Most like haddock with maybe a hint of mackerel about it.
Bought some beautiful Tongan art at a church hall sale, then the link bus to the centre which costs 1.30 NZ every time you board it. Stocked up on some touristy hings, then got the free shuttle bus to Kelly Tarlton's underwater adventure. They have a painstakingly accurate mock up of Scott's base in the Antarctic, (photos were taken!) then on to the fish and penguins. An included penguin ride took us on snowcats (adapted) through the Antarctic-condition penguin enclosure. I'm glad to say that the snowcat was full insulated! Still, I've been a sheet of glass away from Antarctic conditions!
Kate (B&B hostess) and her son Toby gave me a lift to near the showgrounds to see Cirque de Soleil. Wow is about the first thought which comes to mind. Balletic gymnastics, clowns (well, more like mimes really), diabalos, a guy in a human sized hamster wheel thing who did things with it I didn't think could be physically possible... A lady descending acrobatically suspended in red strips of cloth (like the ones on BBC 1 if you've seen them), skipping ropes and a nearly nude couple who were 'birthed' out of a jumble of other performers who performed the most amazing feats of balance and muscle control wihout any physical or mechanical aids. To give a prominent example, the man stood slowly upright and raised his arms in a T formation while the lady was in a similar position UPSIDE DOWN with her toes pointing to the ceiling across his shoulders. Basically, she was balanced and kept in place by that very minimal contact (and maybe a little light arm contact). And that's just the hightlights that I can remember off the top of my head. A DVD has been purchased (filmed in Amsterdam), so the folks back home can share the experience.
On the way home I bought a rugby tee in the all Blacks store and whilst walking from the Link bus stop came across the Tongans at the same chuch as before having choir practice, so I stayed and listened. Beautiful; I could only understand words like 'allelujah' and 'Amen', but it didn't matter. I could feel that they were singing fom their hearts and souls and it touched me. Home for a late take away pizza (Envy - the shop does the seven deadly sins!) and Lion beer (not impressed - sorry Aucklanders; it was alcoholic and it was beer, but there was no body or real taste to it - I had the same reaction to DB beer, with apologies to Timaru). And another taste sensation to add to the above: Spirulina. This is a mix of banana, orange, apple, kiwi fruit and spirulina. The first three flavours dominate pretty well, so it's difficult to tell what adding the spirulina does exactly. Nice though.
This will probably be my last mail before Tuesday (or more likely Wednesday!) when I get home. I'm just waiting for a local firm to put my collected pix so far onto a CD (costs 20 NZD). Anyway, I've had a great time and I *really* hope I make it back one day. New Zealand is truly a beautiful country with friendly, relaxed people.
And finally... After getting my photos on CD from a shop in downtown Auckland, I mooched down to the harbour and decided on the spur of the moment to do the harbour cruise. Went and had a beer whilst I waited for the time the ship sailed. The trip did a fairly big figure 8 around the harbour area taking one and a half hours, getting really quite close to some of the nearby offshore islands and then sailing back to go twice under the harbour bridge, which is a fine piece of construction. I then went back to the B&B, crashed for an hour and had a swim in their small pool before packing up ready to go home. I had an evening meal in and Matt (second cousin) kindly offered to take me to the airport.
The flight to KL was pretty uneventful; watched a couple of movies and read my papers. Because the ongoing flight to Heathrow wasn't till the next day, I'd been prebooked to the Pan Pacific hotel attached to KL airport. After a couple of false starts, I finally got there. Really, really swanky - liveried footmen and all! The reception hall is enormous, with Egyptian-style fluted marble columns and vast pot plants all over the place. My bed could have slept three quite comfortably and I had ensuite as well. All for £37 including breakfast!!
After a couple of beers and a good night's sleep, breakfast was a revelation - fairly standard western stuff, a cheese platter table, fruit table, a whole table of miso soup and the assorted bits to put in it, then tables of steaming bamboo containers of oriental food & noodles. In amongst these was a plate of little red things which looked a bit like pasta, so I took one out of sheer curiosity. It wasn't till I got it back to my table and prodded it a bit that I noticed the tiny suckers...it was a baby squid/octopus. Needless to say, I did *not* eat it - I don't do tentacles [G] (or shellfish - but that's because I'm allergic).
The 13 hour flight home was a tad interminable despite the films and other entertainment, more rounds of food (including ice cream) and a fairly chatty, friendly neighbour. But I got home eventually.
A very small 'edited highlights' selection of my NZ photos is now viewable at:- http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1165340
You can also find my extended photo galleries of Maori artifacts etc., New Zealand Flora, New Zealand Fauna, Timaru, Christchurch, The Auckland Sky Tower,, Xena locations, On the road, Auckland General and Assorted Pix by clicking the links.
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