myrainasia

Okay, everybody had complaints that I wasn’t updating my blog. Now that I’ve updated it, nobody has anything to say. Hey folks, drop me a line!

I’m writing this from Wellington after a few days in Auckland and Rotorua (kept wanting to call it Rotor Rooter and thinking “away go troubles down the drain”. Probably too dated for many of you.)

Wellington was a pretty city but waaaay too hilly. Unfortunately the maps show you the streets but don’t say uphill or downhill. Needless to say I inevitably picked the uphill route. Good for the calves if you want to think optimistically.

Problem for the moment is that it’s the Christmas season and many things are closed. Can’t blame this on NZ because I would have to have hit the Christmas season somewhere. Last hurdle will be New Year’s and then things should go back to normal.

Rotorua is midway down the North Island of NZ. It is famous for the hot springs and the Maori culture. Why would anybody choose to live in a city that smells of sulphur? Went to a Maori cultural performance and “hangi” (banquet where dinner is cooked underground). Liked the Maori performances better than the Tahitian ones. The Tahitian dancing seems to consist of a lot of hip wiggling (females) and knee shaking (males) whereas the Maori dancing was more varied. We learned about had fluttering (which signifies life) and watched them manipulate and toss sticks (done to increase agility). We also watched the women do a dance with something that I think was called a “pa”. It’s a long string with little bitsy pompom-like things at each end. Also learned for agility. And of course we saw the war-like dances where the men make their eyes really wide and stick out their tongues. (Didn’t seem that frightening to me, but it scared the shit out of the 3 year olds in the audience.)

Question about the Maori culture in NZ. Everybody seems so proud of being Maori or part Maori, which I think is cool, but there’s no discussion of any problems (e.g. racism, discrimination, etc.) I saw “Once Were Warriors” and it didn’t sound to me like everything was perfect. On the other hand, it seemed impolite of me to ask this. I would note that most of NZ has Maori names for the towns, parks, etc. and I can’t pronounce 90% of them.

For those envying my “summer” vacation, I would like to mention that Wellington was rainy and about 50 degrees when I arrived yesterday. But today was better.

More from South Island next week and Happy New Year to all if I don’t write sooner.

OK, OK, I promised to keep everybody posted and I have not done a very good job of it, but internet time in French Polynesia is a budget buster and the French keyboard resulted in some very weird looking words ... [Continue reading this entry]

Take off coming closer. Plans now to leave the week after Thanksgiving. Ticket to be purchased tomorrow. Actual blog entries can be expected in December. Stay tuned!