Airline Lounges

Left: The duty free shoppes in the International Terminal, as seen from the Air New Zealand Frequent Flyers Lounge, at Auckland International Airport.


Since I generally fly peasant class, usually on Southwest Airlines, the existence of these posh airline lounges came as something of a surprise. Free food, comfy chairs (no hard plastic for these tushes), free reading material, even free massages if you have enough mileage - what's not to like?

Well, the good life is not available to all. I don't live in this special world, but A. was able to show me a thing or two....

Left: Is this The Eye Of Sauron? No, it's an art work, located at the door to the Air New Zealand Frequent Flyers Lounge, at Auckland International Airport.

Kea Lore

Andrew located this Eric Hoffman story about New Zealand's famed parrot, the kea:

The birds belong to a species called the kea (Nestor notabilis), a maverick member of the parrot family, described as everything from a fun-loving prankster to a heartless mountain mobster that knows no bounds when it comes to procuring a meal. Indigenous to the high country of South Island, the bird is loved by many and hated by some, and its antics frequently solicit moralistic comparisons to human misbehavior.

...'Keas like to have fun, and they express play in many different ways. When it comes to behavior, there is no other bird like them. They are cunning, calculating, and highly intelligent,' says Wayne Schulenburg, animal-care manager for the bird collection at the San Diego Zoo. Schulenburg has firsthand knowledge of keas both in captive settings and in the alpine wilds of New Zealand.

In New Zealand, just when you've heard the most unbelievable kea story, there is always another one. Keas demolishing automobiles is a recurring topic. Hikers leaving cars in ski resorts or trailheads sometimes return to find their windshield wipers shredded and a couple of keas dragging the remains around the parking lot. Or a mischievous pair of keas may leave the windshield wipers alone and instead make a day of prying off chrome strips.

...Sometimes they display an almost humanlike ability to avoid culpability. Schulenburg likes to tell the story of Lucy, a particularly clever kea who lived for years at the San Diego Zoo. 'She figured out how to break open the lock to her cage. One night she got loose and entered the keeper's quarters and the kitchen. She ate everything edible, totally destroyed a down sleeping bag, and carried coffee mugs to the edge of the counter and dropped them to the floor, reducing the mugs to a pile of pottery shards. Another night she escaped and methodically opened 20 other cages containing dozens of other species of birds that were part of special breeding programs. In the morning, when we came to work, we couldn't believe our eyes. Most of the birds were gleefully zooming around in areas that had been taboo. Lucy played it innocent. She and her mate had gone back to their cage and shut the door behind them, but the telltale broken lock gave away who was behind the breakout.'

...Allison Archambault, a U.S. veterinarian specializing in parrot medicine, has had a few encounters with the opportunistic and predatory nature of keas while visiting her family in New Zealand. When a fierce storm from the Subantarctic overtook Archambault and her friends, they faced a grueling hike over a precipitous icy trail to reach safety. 'I fell several times, became disoriented, and actually feared I might not survive. When I glanced behind, I found it sobering to find five keas quietly walking along behind me only a few feet away. They recognized I was in trouble and saw me as a potential meal, just as they do sheep that wander into their highland haunts during the harsh winter months.' She lived to tell her tale and the keas were out a meal, but such brazenness and ability to size up a situation and capitalize on it have put the parrots in direct conflict with sheep farmers.

...The obvious question is, Why is this parrot species so smart? Olsen hazards a theory: 'The kea represents a link with the ancient evolutionary past and is an omnivorous parrot--not a specialized feeder as is the case with most parrots living today. Its brain is a distinguishing attribute that gives it the edge in a harsh world.'

Tall Jan Is Malicious



Some of the memes used on TV go around and around, and end up sticking in the brain, because 'that's what she said'.

Here is an ad (widespread on New Zealand TV) for All Bran Honey Almond cereal.

"When In Rome, Do As The Romans" - Marc's Bungy Jump At The Kawarau Bridge

Original photos courtesy of AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand: I reduced them in size for the Weblog. [Update: video link here]


I previously described this New Zealand adventure....

In foreign travel, it's important to observe, and, if possible, follow local customs.

Queenstown, New Zealand, is one of the world's Xtreme Sports capitals. Local customs there require more nerve and daring than elsewhere.

Here, I attempt to conform to local expectations.....

Under My Skin - Gin Wigmore



Air New Zealand (ANZ) was promoting a few pop music artists on their in-flight airborne entertainment system.

I suspect the person doing the music selection for the airline was probably female (because almost all the artists are male), but there was one female Kiwi artist: Gin Wigmore, doing "Under My Skin".

Gin Wigmore looks like a fun artist to follow!

New Zealand Special Topics

Now I'll blog about New Zealand special topics that I wanted to blog about previously, but didn't have time for during the trip....

And also add a few photos, and make a few corrections and minor additions, to trip posts previously made....

Farewell To Aotearoa

Left: Dec. 24th was cloudy and rainy in many places in New Zealand, particularly on the North Island, from where we took off (at the Auckland International Airport), but as I looked back into the sunset, I caught a last glimpse through a rare hole in the clouds.

I believe the eastern end of Waiheke Island is in the foreground. As one goes up, from foreground to background, Pakatoa and Rotorua Islands are successively visible, with Ponui Island at top.

That Waiheke Island is a one nice island! On Dec. 11th, I spent the afternoon collecting seashells on Waiheke's west end, at Oneroa Bay.

Left: An endless Christmas Eve. We left Auckland at 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, and arrived at San Francisco at 10:30 a.m. on the same day - time travel!

Here is San Francisco, as seen from Air New Zealand's Boeing 747 jumbo jet, looking northwest.

Left: San Francisco International Airport.

I rented a car to return to Sacramento with my heavy bags. After getting on Highway 101 at about noon, after enduring the Interstate 80 parking lot for nearly forever, I stopped, exhausted, for some lunch in Fairfield.

Fortunately the parking lot ended at Fairfield (after that, the parking lot was from the other way). I arrived in Sacramento about 4:30 p.m. With Steve's help, I left the rent-a-car at SMF at about 10 p.m.

With that, journey's end!

Last Day

It's 6:30 a.m.! Rise and shine!

(just shoot me....)

Andrew and I are doing a few errands today. I'm doodling away lunchtime in Christ Church Square.

Later this afternoon, first comes the trip to Auckland, then this evening, the much-longer trip to San Francisco, with some kind of trip to Sacramento, one way or the other.

Looking forward to some rest, after the vacation - if not in Sacramento, then at least on the plane!

Au revoir, till later!

The Void Of The Open Road

Time to return to Christchurch!

The drive from Dunedin got off to a very late start (7:30 p.m.). At one point, I stopped at McDonald's, tried to make three right hand turns to get back on the one-way street out of town, and ended up squarely in a police breathalyzer roadblock. The foot patrolman stuck something right in my face:

Police: Sir, please count from one to five...Sir, please don't stop the car, but please count from one to .... PLEASE! SIR! Do not put your mouth on the device! Please count from one to five...one to five sir, please count from one to ....
Marc: Oh, now I get it! One...two...
Police: Please count from one to five...THERE! The readout shows "no alcohol". That's what we like to see!

So, it was about 8:45 p.m. by the time I actually got on Highway 1 and started traveling up the east coast.

Bleak. Dark. Reminded me of the bleak roads of the western Nevada desert between Yerington and Minden, where you end up behind pokey trucks, where speed limits drop to near-zero in every little town, and where trucks outnumber cars. Remarkably few people on the road. I guess it's true what they say about New Zealand....more sheep than people, especially at night.

After a few wrong turns in Diamond Harbour, I finally snuck into Andrew's house at 1:30 a.m., and collapsed into sleep.

Visiting The Yellow-Eyed Penguin (aka Hoiho)

Left: The Hoiho, at home.


The Otago Peninsula is one of the few places in the world that one of the rarest penguins (and third largest penguin), the Yellow-Eyed Penguin (aka Hoiho), calls home. There are apparently several places to see it, but I ended up at the Penguin Place, a privately-run sheep ranch and conservation effort (see video).

Left: Chick, and mother.

















Apparently this has been a terrible breeding season for them. (They are vulnerable to:

• habitat loss;
• to predation by stoats, possums, cats, and dogs;
• to disease;
• and to algal blooms,
• but this year, a heat wave at a critical time in the chick-raising season led to lots of chick deaths).
  

Left: Friends on the beach, at evening.
Left: Friends, become less friendly, as one penguin (on the right) makes a perplexing territorial claim on the open beach that the other penguin (center) thinks is just rubbish.

Left: They've built a series of camouflaged trenches, so one can run up and down the sloping beach without being seen by the penguins.

The folks at the Penguin Place stated at the start of the tour that we would be likely to see anywhere from five to ten penguins. I believe we saw nine....

The Otago Peninsula

What a place! Very scenic! Art colonies, and no end of ocean stuff!

Trouble is, I turned right at the fork in the road, on some Highcliff Road, or whatever they call it, and wasted precious time in the hills on the windingest road I think I've ever seen. Left, right, left, right, up and down, in and out. Then it reduced to one lane, and got worse. Finally ended up in Portobello, which you can reach on the flat curvy road instead in half the time if you take the other branch of the fork.

Stopped briefly at the Royal Albatross Reserve. Magnificent birds. No time for those!

Rolled in too late at the Penguin Place for the 5:15 p.m. tour, so caught the 5:45 p.m. tour instead.

Quick Visit To Dunedin (draft)

Quick, quick, quick! No time to lose! Behind schedule!

Called my sister Marra to wish her a Happy Birthday (Dec. 23rd, here, but B-Day Dec. 22nd back in the States).

Looks like a nice place, a place that deserves more than a minute.....

Now, off to the Otago Peninsula (New Zealand's answer to Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur).....

Drive Through Central Otago (draft)

Left: The strange and puzzling (the 'Lonely Planet' guide to New Zealand says heinous) Cromwell Fruit Salad.


Spent the night in low-key, rather non-descript Alexandra, on the mighty Clutha River, in beautiful Central Otago.

The folks here tend to think of the area as arid, but it's a lot wetter here than in northern New Mexico, and a positive Garden of Eden compared to most of Australia.

Currently I'm in Roxburgh, and falling behind on my schedule to visit Dunedin today, and work my way back to Christchurch for tomorrow's trip back to the States.


Left: Clutha River Bridge at Beaumont.

Marc Does A Bungy Jump

(Pictures here) [Update: video link here]


After getting weighed (83 kg), filling out a 'toe tag' (love that gallows humor), paying, and stashing the stuff in my pockets into a locker (and taking off my glasses), I walked out on the bridge. Far below, the green water of the river swirled.

A French family was in front of me. A 16-year-old girl waited to jump. The folks working the bridge encouraged her to scream with abandon. She did, all the way down! The fellows were pleased - that was their emotional satisfaction!

The fellow helping me started placing my harness on. I asked, "Is that the Shotover River down there?" He sighed (Americans, and their dim geographical knowledge), and said "No, that is the Kawarau River. The Shotover River drains into Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown, and then Lake Wakatipu spills down the Kawarau River. Farther down, it runs into a hydroelectric dam, and gathers in a reservoir." But actually, I didn't care what he said. I just wanted to take my mind off what was just ahead.

A 14-year-old French boy prepared to jump. They took me to the alternate jumping point (for the more-rotund jumpers). I elected to just touch the water, and they said they could adjust the rope to be just long enough.

The French boy was choking with fear. He gripped the bridge and froze. I could see his legs shaking. They gently tried to persuade him to jump.

The fellow helping me wrapped my legs with a bath towel and carefully strapped my legs with belts. "Now, unlike that boy, we are more mature," he said, referring to himself and me, "and we can be more brave." Yeah, right....

It took some time to persuade the boy to jump, and when he did, he didn't dive off, but went down, standing straight. I could see the staff have small qualms (because at the bottom, the boy would pitch upside-down, given the harness' location below the boy's center of gravity, and that might not be that fun....)

The 12-year-old French girl was next, but since it took so long with her brother, they decided I should go next (second-to-last plunger of the day).

So, shuffling my bound feet, I edged out on the plank extending from the bridge, releasing the bridge only slowly and stood directly over the swirling Kawarau River. I didn't like this, being footbound in such a vulnerable place. Dangerous! One could fall!

"Now, focus on that highway bridge over there," they said, "put your arms over your head, and dive." It was hard to see the highway bridge in the distance, without my glasses (just as well, under the circumstances, not being able to see perfectly). I waved for the cameras and the crowd. The fellow then said, "Now, 3, 2, 1, jump." I leaned forwards, sprung my legs gently, and......

Nothing

Nothing

(guess I'd better open my eyes)

A spinning green watery canvas filled the entire universe some indeterminate distance in front of my face.

OWWW! My right side hurt! Like a swimming cramp! My liver must have been hurled against my diaphragm with utmost prejudice!

Didn't touch the water. Shouldn't have taken that stuff out of my pockets after they weighed me! Didn't really feel the spring back.

(oh, I should shout something)

"Yaarrghh! Yoo-hoo!"

Ack! I'm way in the air again! The rope snagged my heel, and now I'm really spinning!

Now I'm going down again! The blood is rushing into my fingers!

....

Eventually, once I stopped bouncing, they lowered me towards the lifeboat below. I grabbed their long metal hook so hard I dragged the boat through the water, and they said "Whoa! Whoa!" I relented my grip, to their relief, and they worked me into the bottom of the raft. They then set me ashore, and I walked back up to the visitor's center, stopping to watch the 12-year-old French girl come screaming downwards.

....

The day's remaining drive down the Kawarau Gorge was gorgeous, but somehow I had trouble focusing on the scenery....

AJ Hackett's Bungy Jump Center At The Kawarau Bridge

Left: The Kawarau River Bridge, with the bungy jumping station.


It was late afternoon, and I wanted to get some distance between Queenstown and myself. That is a very touristy place! So, I headed back towards Cromwell in the Daihatsu Sirion rent-a-car.

But just a couple of k's down the road from the Wanaka turnoff, there was a sign for a historical site - the Kawarau Bridge. And more signs for AJ Hackett's Bungy Jumping at the bridge. Oh, so here is where they put it! I thought it was on the other side of Queenstown! (As it turns out, they have bungy jumping at several locations, but this is the oldest - according to QT Magazine, AJ Hackett just celebrated their 20th anniversary at this prime location.

Well, it looks fun. Not that far to the water (I thought it was about 100 feet, but they say it's 43 meters, or 142 feet).

The jumpers wave feebly to the watchers just before they jump. Some plunge briefly into the water before springing back on the rope. The crowd cheers - one Pacific Islander next to me praised one fellow's bravery and said "he did good!"


Left: This woman dived backwards, and her arc and swing were thus more interesting than usual.

Left: Looks fun!

Left: Grabbing onto the metal hook and getting pulled into the raft.


Left: The young Chinese woman jumps.


The Chinese folks next to me cheered two of their own with abandon. Looks fun! Maybe I should do it. Yes!

But Marc, these Chinese people are in their 20's.

But one of them is a girl! I'm braver than these Chinese folks. Or I should be!

But Marc, people love you back in the States. They will be sad if there is an accident.

But I'm braver than these Chinese folks!

No.

Yes!

No!

YES!

(But I've got to take a pee first....)

Queenstown Kiwi & Bird Life Center

Spent a lot of time here.

Unlike the Willow Bank reserve near Christchurch, this has less water - it is a Douglas Fir covered slope, and converted from a Queenstown refuse area. They give you self-guided headphones and it seems a bit impersonal at first.

But they have a fellow give a talk, and that was very nice.

Plus, watched the 2 kiwis, one in each house. As big as turkeys, they are.

Queenstown Shopping

Shop, shop, shop, shop!

This place reminds of Santa Fe in the tourist season, or, better yet, a hopelessly choked Colorado mountain town in full summer - Telluride, Leadville, Aspen, Vail.

Paragliders, or whatever they call them, fill the sky.

Queenstown

It's Monday, so we got up early and drove from Wanaka to Queenstown so Andrew could catch a plane back to Christchurch, for work.

So, starting today, I'm here in Queenstown, one of the world's great adventure capitals. White water rafting, bungy jumping, jet skis, four-wheeling, whatever you want, it's right here. (the label on the PC here at Global Gossip says " $10 free credit - just book your 15,000 ft skydive from the counter). The hills are full of condos and timeshares and traffic and people from every corner of the globe (except New Zealanders, who are spooked by all the tourists).

Nevertheless, after yesterday's hike and sunburn, and restless sleep last night (caffeine, plus almost no nighttime) I'm pretty dang tired. I'll prop my eyelid open and watch the daredevils instead of join them....The plan is to be in Dunedin tonight (but plans can change....)

Left: The Remarkables mountain range, as we approached the airport.

Hike To Peak Of Mount Rob Roy

Left: Is that Mt. Aspiring in the distance?


Happy summer solstice day! Longest day of the year (and it's really long at this high latitude (sunset about 9:30 p.m.; darkness around 10:30 p.m.)

Sunday dawned rather dubious weatherwise, but as the day got longer, the weather improved.

The unseasonable rainfall had brought snow to the peaks, and as we climbed the 1,342 or so meters from the valley floor to the top (roughly 4,000 feet), we entered a winter wonderland (but in summer!)

Left: Humans! Run away!
Left: Wanaka.
Left: Lake Wanaka, at the Glendhu area.
Left: Complicated geography featuring water, snow, ice, and glacial moraines.
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Pumpkin

Evening TV in New Zealand seems to feature a lot of dreadful American movies - crime movies full of violence, generally - but since I don't watch American TV, it's hard to say whether these are movies that have made the rounds of American TV already, or whether New Zealand TV people are just remarkably bad judges of what to choose from the American menu of entertainment.

On a rainy Saturday night, I watched a 2002 American movie with Christina Ricci called "Pumpkin",where she plays a sorority sister who falls in love in with a mentally and physically impaired boy. Actually a pretty good movie!

Perky, perfect Carolyn and her Alpha Omega Pi sisters plan to win Sorority of the Year by impressing the Greek Council with a killer charity: coaching mentally challenged athletes for the regional Challenged Games. When Carolyn's assigned to coach Pumpkin she's terrified at first, but soon sees in him something she's never seen before: a gentle humanity and honest clarity that touches her soul. To the horror of her friends and Pumpkin's overprotective mother, Carolyn falls in love, becoming an outcast in the process. As Carolyn's "perfect life" falls apart, Pumpkin teaches her that perfect isn't always perfect after all.

One strange movie, but interesting....

I liked this imdb comment:

As I watched the film "Pumpkin" recklessly and fearlessly go from somewhat absurd situation to complete and utter silliness, I got the sense that it was made with a sense of joy that few movies are made with these days. The fact that the film refuses to wink at the audience or play funny music during all the absurdity, makes it all the more impressive. Everything in this movie subverts itself - - in the big satiric moments, this is obvious (the car crash after which Kent's face is unscratched), but one must look closely at what seem to be serious or sentimental moments to realize that these are indeed hilarious and subversive moments as well (the romantic dialogue between Carolyn and Pumpkin is completely absurdist if you keep in mind Pumpkin's "problem.")

Indeed, most Americans are used to films cueing them as to when they are being serious and when they are being funny and audiences are trained to watch for this. Because "Pumpkin" doesn't do this, a lot of its humor probably goes over the heads of people not used to anything this "poker-faced" - - especially when done with such sweetness.

The reviews I've read try to condemn "Pumpkin" by pigeonholing it into one genre or another - - either the mean-spirited sharp satire of Todd Solondz or the over-the-top buffoonery of the Farrelly Brothers - - but "Pumpkin" is neither. Indeed, when you realize that "Pumpkin" fits in no box and, in effect, challenges our notion what a movie should be, you're set free and you begin to laugh at what is the funniest film I've seen in a long time.

Oh No, The Ceiling Has Collapsed!

Growing up in New Mexico, our adobe house had a flat roof. No matter how much tar paper we put on the roof, or how much tar, we risked leaks whenever heavy rains fell.

These days, in Sacramento, I worry when heavy rains fall, because it means water will enter the basement and cause trouble.

So, in the vacation home in Wanaka, when heavy rains started falling on Friday evening, I went to bed taking solace that New Zealanders didn't have to face these same worries, because they design for rain, as witnessed by the pitched roof of the vacation home, since it rains a lot more here than in the American Southwest.

Ha! Little did I know!

Saturday afternoon, we were dallying around, when we heard a big thud. "Did someone come in the downstairs door?" Andrew asked. So I went downstairs and saw a fearsome sight. In the downstairs bedroom, the ceiling had caved in, spilling water all over a bed, and waterlogging the carpet. "There's trouble down here!" I shouted.

Turned out, the downstairs bedroom had been converted from a garage space just a month previous, so it was brand new. Behind the kitchen, and unbeknownst to us, a gutter had broken, spilling large amounts of water on a small flat roof segment just above the bedroom. A weakness in the new roof channeled water right into the house.

We hurriedly tried to do what we could with bailing buckets, and a call to the owner, who was shopping in Dunedin. The builder came over in an hour and rigged a protective tarp.

On Sunday evening, the embarrassed owner came over and said something surprising: "Oh, it hardly ever rains in Wanaka!" Well, it certainly rains more in Wanaka than in New Mexico, but it's true, Wanaka sits in the rain shadow of the Southern Alps, and for New Zealand, Wanaka is relatively dry.

Beware the destructive power of water!

"Children of the Silk Road" (draft)

aka "Children of the Huang Shi".

Fine movie!:

Inspired by true events, THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI is a portrayal both sweeping and intimate of people who, thrown into an unexpected and desperate situation, discover their capacity for love and responsibility. It tells how a young Englishman, George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) came to lead sixty orphaned boys on an extraordinary journey of almost a thousand perilous miles across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains to safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert. And of how, in doing so, he came to understand the true meaning of courage. During his journey, Hogg learns to rely on the support of Chen (Chow Yun Fat), the leader of a Chinese partisan group who becomes his closest friend. He soon finds himself falling in love with Lee (Radha Mitchell), a recklessly brave Australian adventurer whom war has turned into an unsentimental nurse on horseback. Along the way Hogg befriends Madame Wang (Michelle Yeoh), an aristocratic survivor who has also been displaced by war, who helps the young Englishman, his friends and their sixty war orphans make their way across awesome (and rarely filmed) mountain and desert regions to a place of safety near the western end of the Great Wall of China.

(Comments regarding movie)

Cinema Paradiso

After getting soaked on the (short) Eely Point Trail, what could we do to while away the Saturday afternoon? Let's go see a movie!

Cinema Paradiso is a unique little cinema in Wanaka. Every sits on sofas and comfy chair (beanbag chairs are available to those who wish to sit in front. The woman in front of me brought a blanket: others bring meals, or drinks, or whatever they wish.

We saw the excellent movie, I believe entitled "Children of the Silk Road".

Left: There is a little car inside the cinema that seats three

Rainy Saturday


Left: Uh Oh! A deep low moves across New Zealand from the Tasman Sea. That means rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

This happens a lot in the mid-latitudes where New Zealand sits, even in summer!



Left: A sculpture at the shore of Lake Wanaka.

Left: A catamaran at Lake Wanaka.

Left: Runoff jetting across the Eely Point foot trail.

Vacation Home In Wanaka

Surprisingly large!

The Road To Wanaka

Left: Rain clouds close in, and the clouds descend, as we enter Otago.

M: This place sort of reminds me of Colorado.

A: This place reminds me of Wales.

M: Wales? Really?

A.: Yes.

M: Now it's dried out a bit. I swear we are on the road to Phoenix, from Payson, AZ. In fact, in one or two k's, there will be saguaro cactus on the roadsides.

A: That brilliant green in the meadows reminds me of Hilo, Hawaii.

Left: Pretty flowers near the shore of Lake Tekapo.

Left: Statue of the sheep herder's favorite dog, a collie, near the Church of the Good Shepherd, on the shore of Lake Tekapo.

Left: Statue in the town of Fairlie of James MacKenzie, noted sheep thief.

Christmas Shopping Time In Christchurch

Left: "Real People" at the Bus X-Change

Left: Ballantyne's Department Store.