So it's so long to New Zealand, this land of extraordinary physical beauty whose people have such great charm and warmth. I'm very sad to go! But as you see, I'm about to catch a plane and few of them have wifi so I'll probably be out of touch for almost a day.
New Zealand
Go Big or Go Bust: Day 130 (on being an official "security threat")
Leaving Dunedin with one of our grown kids for a long weekend (The Queen's Birthday) we were heading to the famously beautiful (and warmer) Coromandel Peninsula in the North. We crossed the tarmac to board a plane the way we had arrived, by one of those portable stairways. The sun was shining and I felt happy and carefree climbing the stairway to the rear of the plane, the way we used to in the 1950's.
Airports excite me with their smell of the gasoline, the deafening noise of plane engines revving, taking off and landing all around. I pulled out my phone to snap a selfie with, I hoped, our plane in the background. There was raucus shouting and I turned to see airline personnel in orange vests on the tarmac waving - at me? As they continued to call out, I burst out laughing (see below), embarrassed and grateful that they were cheering me on in this still uncomfortable campaign of shameless self-promotion.
Only when one of them charged the portable airplane stairs could I see that instead of cheering me on, the guy was displeased to the point of threatening. The phrases "$50,000 fine", "security risk" and "no photography allowed" cut through the noise, I winced, shouting "SORRY" and ducked into the plane, feeling lucky that he hadn't confiscated my phone.
Cheered on by airline personnel, I felt so well-loved ... until.
The Coromandel Peninsula is a few hours from Auckland.
I know it looks like a postcard but I took this picture with my phone. That's the South Pacific in the distance.
To get to some of the beauty spots, we had to take off our shoes as the tide was coming in. I was nervous that we'd be swimming in our clothes if we didn't hurry and rushed everyone through this morning in paradise.
Sights on the route-of-hairpin-turns that took us through farmland to the beaches.
These palm trees soared twenty or thirty feet above my head.
Ready for bed at 7PM here on New Zealand Standard Time, I held out til 8:30. More tomorrow when the forced march continues. #20somethingsInCharge
Go Big or Go Bust: Day 129 (postcard from Edinburgh... uhh I mean Dunedin)
Time for some postcards! We've been in this extremely charming small city, in the south on the South Island of New Zealand for a week. There's a chill in the air, it's winter after all, which smells of a mixture of coal and wood smoke and a feeling of sophistication and creativity. Some of the cafés would give the best of Greenwich Village a run for their money. Dunedin seemed destined to be the big city of New Zealand in the 1800's when gold was found around here which explains the grand architecture of most of the public buildings. And, fun fact, Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh! I've heard that the plan of the city of Edinburgh was duplicated and laid out over the hills and valleys here, regardless of the topography. One of the streets, Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world! It's near and similar to one shown below but I missed it. Rushing today as the children have us on a forced march. More tomorrow!
We took a walk up George Street to North East Valley.
Schoolgirls fill North Street in plaid skirts after school, some of them only in stocking feet. Barefoot in New Zealand is a whole other blog post.
This is just down (or up) North Road from the 'steepest street in the world'. It looks very much like this one, promise.
Sheep graze on these hills within the city limits.
HEDGE.
New Zealanders plant trees in the most gorgeous arrangements, all over the cities and countryside.
The train station in Dunedin
The Everyday Gourmet, a haven with wonderful food and a most welcoming staff.
The Everyday Gourmet on George Street, our favorite café. The name of their internet is 'Everday Whoremet'.
On the Octagon in the center of downtown.
Go Big or Go Bust: Day 128 (Why Kris Kardashian and I are 'Like that')
Things have gone rapidly downhill here. Remember that line in the New York, New York song … ‘If you can make it there, you’ll make it ANY where!’ Well sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This ‘cosmopolitan’ New Yorker would likely end up panhandling if abandoned here in Dunedin.
I (jokingly) thought the big issue in the Southern Hemisphere would be the rush of blood to the head, standing upside down just off to the right of Australia on the South Island of New Zealand. (next stop Antartica)
Not. A much bigger issue is the time change. From this picture, things don't look all that
desperate - late morning here, early evening in New York. What's the big deal? Well with my competitive nature, it's no fun to jump out of bed at 6:30 AM only to realize that everybody from Montreal to Miami has long finished with lunch. And then things get very bleak when I'm ready to get on social media and almost everyone I know is getting into their pajamas. I only know about four people in this whole time zone and they apparently have real lives, not looking to twitter and facebook to give them a sense of their worthiness like some people. The big wet silence from 5PM until bedtime is just incredibly lonely. Sort of like I'm on Mars.
And then, there's the ongoing problem with not being able to figure out how to cross a street without getting run down. As Mr. Green put it: "You never know where these cars are going to be coming from!"
And let's not forget the language problem. I thought, with my grasp of English, I'd at least be able to order a pizza, a regular ingredient of which is 'capsicum'. When asked, the young woman behind the counter at the pizza place obliged by translating: "Oh, that's peepers!" Peepers, I thought, pushing away the thought of tiny dead frogs sprinkled over my slice of pizza. "Peepers." I repeated. "RED peepers!" she filled in the picture. Grimacing, I recalled the tiny vermillion frogs seen in pictures of tropical rain forests. I guess they eat all kinds of different things down here below the equator. And then she returned from the kitchen with a cuttting board covered with slices of red pepper. Oh. Got it.
But the real deal breaker is, of course, the internet. Everybody knows you have to turn off cellular data or you end up like we did that time pleading with Verizon to forgive a $500 bill cause we'd asked for Siri's help in getting around Québec. Here in New Zealand, my snazzy iphone is sporadically downgraded to a camera. Connecting with our grown child this morning turned into something close to an epic failure.
Though my problem isn't with 'Bruce', Kris' eloquent three worder gives you a clear picture of my present state.
Go Big or Go Bust: Day 125 (on food and mood)
A loud clap and sustained crashing of thunder woke me at 5 AM but I managed to put off the inevitable til daybreak. Then Mr. Green and I set off on foot through a wintry mix of snow, hail and icy rain to find some breakfast. Even though New Zealand is literally one stop from Antartica, snow at sea level here in the south is surprisingly newsworthy. Don't know if I'll ever get used to 'south' meaning 'colder than north'.
We dashed into a little place which serves oatmeal, Mr. Green's favorite (the locals call it porridge) and we proceeded to the counter and to the solidly built man standing behind it. Wearing a t-shirt, tatoos and an apron, from his manner I'd say that he may have been a pirate in another life. Visibly irritated with us for no good reason, it seems likely that he and his bad mood had a hand in baking this scone.
Big as my head, don't be fooled by the lovely golden color or what appear to be raisins or candied fruit peel, this scone was was full of sauteed onion, scallion and maybe flecks of carrot. Maaayybe I'd go for it at afternoon tea. Part of it. At 7AM, it was a deal breaker. But I'm not one to admit mistakes or to throw in the towel and dutifully put away most of it. Five hours later, I still feel as though I'll never know hunger again.
Meanwhile the weather continues to cycle through the worst of what winter has to offer. I'm thinking about a nap and maybe getting back to that long-discussed 'highlights reel'. Pretty sure I can edit video from under the covers.
Pelting icy rain and snow NOT SHOWING UP in photo.
Here either.