When leaving my 'sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains' and moving across the Tasman, I never imagined that the word 'drought' would be used to describe New Zealand.I understood New Zealand to be the land of green grandeur, rolling hills of lush grass, substantial rainforests, lakes, glacial streams and waterfalls.Water, water, everywhere. Our first two summers here were described to us as ‘dry’ and drought ridden, which we couldn't balance with our Aussie appreciation of the terms.The fields remained green the creeks still flowed and it continued to rain enough to maintain these elements of the New Zealand environment.This summer has changed all of that.By the end of autumn, the rolling hills had already begun to look unfamiliar to the impression I had acquired up to this point of time.The local landscape has begun to appear more like our Aussie farm in autumn as the rain dries up and the greases all die – not yet brown, but no longer green either – a painful moment between seasons when I would realise the cool and comfortable winter has passed and the harshness of summer is about to strike.So, the desire for more rain which played out its annual cycle in Australia has followed us to New Zealand.You can guess what I will be hoping for Christmas this year……..
It has been over two years since leaving Australia in the search for new horizons and the time is just passing without any real awareness of how quickly everything is going from being plans to becoming memories. As we go along day by day enjoying each challenge that a new sunrise brings, things start to accumulate in my mind in regards to how much we have seen and done in such a short time. This reminds me of a great piece of insightful writing by a fellow called Leunig
In my life I had accumulated many things in my head……too many things.
Memories, tunes, fears, facts, visions, love, etc. etc….as many as possible.
In a fertile mind, such things will interbreed.Mongrel visions ar e born……hybrid memories….inbred…idiot love…..it gets very confusing.
I decided it was time for a good clean up, so I emptied it all out of my head and pushed it up in a big heap to sort it all out.
There it was…..everything that was me, all in a big jumbled heap.I walked around it.What a mess!
Then suddenly I saw it in silhouette and realised what it was….It was a heap….a simple heap!You don’t sort it out….you climb it….You climb it because it’s there…..
Excitedly I clambered to the summit and raised a flag.I was now looking beyond everything that I knew.
The view was simply MAGNIFICENT!
This piece of writing was originally published as part of one of his many illustrated books, but still carries the simple message when just reading the text. To me it means that is we can get past everything we think and feel about our lives and ourselves, no matter how good or bad we think it all is - then what we will see is a clear future of opportunity and splendour. I like that.
If only I could be better. Better at everything. Better at being a good person to others, better at living a healthier lifestyle, a better son, a better partner, a better employee, just better. It’s not enough to be who I am, and it never was. I remember as a teenager sitting alone on a river back near the house I grew up in. I would compile lists of the things I wanted to do with my life and qualities I wanted to exemplify, all in order to make myself more popular and better. There’s that word again. This river bank memory was lost in the far recesses of my mind until recently, when again I started my journey to make myself better. Even with many years between these two points in my life, the feeling is exactly the same now as it was then. So as I revisit this seemingly insatiable need to be better, memories come tumbling forward in to life once more. I get the feeling that the chance has been long-lost to do all of those things that were on the young childs river bank list.
But then maybe the chance wasn’t lost? If I take a really good honest look at what I have done with my life, it is evident that I have done some of those things. They were merely dreams considered beyond difficult to achieve, yet I did achieve them - traveled, learned languages, worked with animals - along the way I have also acquired a reputation which displays some of the qualities I wanted to be as well – honest, reliable, creative, .......hmmmm. Let’s analyse this a bit longer. So I made some lists of things that I hoped would make me a better person. I compared it to the reality of my current situation……………………………..there’s not much difference between the two actually.
Sometimes when I sit down to write, I get carried away on a philosophical tangent and I don't really know where that drive comes from. I don't sit down with that intention, it's just that sometimes I like to enliven my thoughts through words and bring them in to the real world. It makes me feel a little bit creative and most importantly, it makes me feel good. The intention of this blog originally though was to be a means of keeping everyone up to date with the goings on in life here in New Zealand. So back to basics and I will try to write more about what we are doing as opposed to the deep and sometimes dark bursts of philosophy. Afer all, I also wanted this blog to become a personal record of this adventure as well as a means of keeping everyone informed of my life. So, whats new.......?
Life continues to roll along and sometimes I have to double check dates for it really to make sense just how fast time is passing. When I think of things I did a year ago, it seems like a few months ago, and so my entire sense of time and order are constantly being challenged. In a few days it will be two years since we drove away from our farm, and that moment indeed does seem like a lifetime ago. Everything since then thought is all as recent as yesterday in my mind and my emotions.
Work continues to grow and evolve in to a constant learning experience. There is no monotony or routines at Hamilton Zoo. I am always being offered opportunities to grow and to challenge myself, and I am always taking them. I don't just go to work and to the basic zoo keepers role, albeit this is the most important and enjoyable aspect of my job. I have been given opportunities to get involved in policies and procedures, education services and leadership and do not tire of these new inclusions.
Our mini-farm here has grown by two this past week, with the birth of two calves and another two expected sometime soon. This is a much better outcome from last year where we only had two calves born, both still born. I am selling the three geese however as they make a hell of a lot of noise and chase the chooks around the place.
A for travel, summer is here and so we have begun going camping again for the season. In December we are going to be climbing Mt Taranaki, a volcano on the North Island. In Februaury we booked flights to Vanuatu and in April we booked time to go on a week long road trip to the north of the North Island.
So that's us in a nutshell!
Sometimes we want so much that we lose sight of what we actually have.I am a classic example of this and recognised this trait in myself a long time ago.Some would have you believe that it is a negative trait to possess, one that needs to be exorcised from the demon within thus leading to pure and happy thoughts about life.Taken to the extreme, I can see some truth in that belief.Taken to the extreme, it could be seen as greed and pure over exasperated self indulgence.But kept at a balance, wanting for things, whether it is a new jacket, a holiday in Rome or to find true love, can be a mode of emotional transport through life.We know we will not get one tiny ounce of the things that we want, but this doesn’t stop us compiling those imaginary fantasies in our minds.Some of these things, with time, become our goals or they start to shape our thoughts, our emotions and our attitudes. Sometimes they even help us get by, even though we know they are unattainable. The wants become part of the life plan and before we know it, we have gone from just wanting stuff to fill our lives, to having something to aim for in the future.So next time you feel guilty for wanting something, stop and think about it and just enjoy the thought.Maybe you will end up finding yourself buying a new jacket, while on a holiday in Rome with your true love.Doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?
Raglan is only 45 kilometres from Hamilton, yet it feels like you are in a far flung corner of the country, forgotten by the masses but enjoyed by a few. There is a low but significant range of hills which stretches along the edge of the flat Waikato farmland. This range separates the coastal communities of this area from the interior of the North Island. The road which crosses this range at its highest point is known and The Deviation, locally called the ‘divvy’. At this point it is not only the crossing of a physical barrier that you sense, but also that of a psychological one. Leaving Hamilton, it is a relatively flat to low undulating urbanised terrain, which gives way to ‘lifestyle blocks’, known in other countries as ‘hobby farms’, all compressed in to an uncomfortable example of urban sprawl. Crossing the divvy travelling towards Raglan sees an increase in native forests and streams, with larger agricultural areas lush with green pastures year round. Finally, this all falls in to the Tasman Sea with some extravagantly contrasting dramatic and serene scenery. Arriving in Raglan brings a deep breath, and respite from the rest of the world is inevitable as the overwhelming sense of arriving in a nurturing and welcoming place takes hold. Wooden cottages are strewn around the harbour and in to the hinterland. Friendly locals, an eclectic mix of hippies, surfers, fishermen and travellers all nod and wave as if you are lifelong friends and neighbours. It is a perfect match of scenery, lifestyle and serenity and one which I feel fortunate to have landed in.
- Gorse: the noxious weed is everywhere and scars the vistas all too frequently
- Hamner Springs; marketed as tiny mountain village with quaint attitude and a destination in itself, horribly good marketing for a dull, crowded and souless urban settlement.
- Recreational hunters and hunting everywhere. A mentality I just don’t understand and a practice I abhor.
-Picton: The first landfall for the ferry from the North Island is encircleed by scarred hills from forestry. What isn’t covered in rubble or pines is covered by gorse.
In hindsight, if this is the worst on offer then the best can surely be noted as being brilliant!
- The West Coast: aggressively rugged coastline, being comforted by a lush smooth blanket of wind sculpted rainforest, a true juxtaposition of beauty.
- Oamaru: architecturally gracious city reflecting the perseverance and strength of the early European settlers.
-Coronet Peak: Queenstown ski field with the most impressive facilities and efficient operations I have ever seen at a ski field.
-McKenzie Basin: endless, sweeping, snow covered pastures, surrounded by protecting ranges, a white wonderland.
- Kaikoura: coastal village managing to retain its small village atmosphere amidst a multimillion dollar whale watching tourism industry, jagged mountain peaks plummeting down to the shoreline.
For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. -- (Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894)
The governing feature of the South Island is the magnificent Southern Alps. They run for 450 kilometres stretching the entire length of the island . Their highest point is Aoraki/Mt Cook at 3,754 metres compared to Mt Kosciusko 2,228m, Mt St Helens 2,549m, Kilimanjaro 5,893, Mt Fuji 3,776m, Mount Blanc 4,810m and Mt Everest 8,848m. They are one of the most southern ranges in the world and as such they have a permanent snowline above 1600-2700 metres and over 3000 glaciers. Associated with the Alps are raging mountain rivers, wild fjords and expansive glacial lakes. For anyone who has seen Lord of the Rings, you would have seen some of the Alps without realising as the scenery featured significantly in the movie trilogy. My enthusiasm for snow was set free and wild amongst this scenery as the mid winter climate cloaked these glorious vistas in gentle white. It evoked memories of when I studied in the USA and worked in Norway. It cleansed me and fed my soul with nourishing magic.
When did I become a camera carrying, rubber necking tourist? Was it when I turned 40? Was this the point at which I leapt at being an independent traveller to a crusty crazy snapshot tourist? Maybe I am over exaggerating, but it was thoughts like this which burst in to my head during our recent holiday on the South Island. Buying a new multi lens camera kit, with carry bag, on the first day of the road trip, probably aided in me seeing myself in a different sense. I couldn’t take enough photos from enough angles without feeling like I was viewing everything through a lens, and not the reality. A bit like watching someone else holiday unfold on a television travel show, a hazy insight in to the experience but not doing it yourself. Now that I am back to base, I have hundreds of photos of the trip. What I didn’t realise at the time that I do now though, is that these hundreds of photos will immortalise the many memories I also have of the trip. So the crusty crazy snapshot tourist may not be a comfortable coat to wear, but the physical evidence of memories which evoke emotions of enjoyment and adventure outweigh any fleeting negative self image I may have stumbled upon. So if you will all excuse me for now, I have some more photos I need to go and take…..
We have just returned last night, from a two week road trip around the South Island of New Zealand. After 3954 kms, my eyes are full of the visions of snow, soaring mountains and panoramic landscapes that evoke feelings of strength, wonder and spectacle. Being my second visit to the South Island, this recent trip rekindled the magical impression I already had of that astonishing fragment of the world. Historic modest seaside villages nestled in picturesque coves, appearing diminutive against the backdrop of the Southern Alps. These Alps are the spine of the island and viewable from almost all corners. As a size comparison, the South Island is 151,251 km², roughly the equivalent of the size of the US state of Illinois and twice the size of Scotland, Austria or the Australian state of Tasmania. Here are a few photos to begin the picture I want to paint for you. In upcoming entries I hope to share more about the journey, what I discovered and to relive the experiences which have already begun to be converted into past memories.
Here is a short promotional video about the city of Hamilton.
Winter is officially here. The days seem shorter, everything is always wet either from rain or from dew, and the mornings will soon be getting frosty and even colder. YIPPEE! I have been waiting for this for a long time it seems; looking forward to the winter rains, the snowy peaks and the moods Mother Nature goes through to produce this fine landscape all around me. In less than 2 weeks, we are heading south to the South Island for a few weeks of camping and adventure. Camping in winter I hear you shriek with surprise? We have all the right equipment and look forward to the company of nature and weather along our journey. We will be fine…..hmmm. My next journey beyond that will be back to Australia in September for the second of my residential schools for University. This time I will be spending a week out at Mt Lawson Nature Park, between Albury and Corryong, where I will be trapping and monitoring all types of flora and fauna. Much better than sitting in a classroom. My family recently came for a visit which was great. My sister, brother in law and two nieces hired a motor home and trekked off around the North Island, while Mum came to stay with us for a week. Everyone spent the last few days here at our house before flying back to Australia again. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. Other than that, all is well on the home range. Work continues to take up much of my time, so lucky I have a pretty good job. We try to get out and do walks or go camping or other interesting things on our days off. This helps keep that ‘holiday’ feeling I experienced when we first arrived in New Zealand. As they say, all work and no play………..
Friday 11 June 2010
I have fond memories from my childhood, waking to the drumming of rain on the tin roof of our house. It’s constant yet calming sound soothed me immensely and I found it more enchanting and nurturing than anything else in life. Growing up in one of the driest regions of Australia, the sound of rain was a rare experience but rain is present in so many of my earliest and fondest memories. From modest beginnings, I found myself yearning for this enchanting and nurturing energy. Moving to New Zealand it could easily be assumed I would be getting more than I could tap in to, almost becoming blasé about the sound of rain. But even in the middle of winter when it can be wet for days, a small part of me dries up when that magic sound stops. I look to the skies, searching for the musician to begin the orchestra again. Nature is the composer and the conductor. Nature is the provider of this magic and enchantment, and each time it plays I am a boy again in my childhood bed, being soothed and nurtured into the person I am today.
Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. (Dalai Lama)
Here are the cows getting a morning feed in front of our house. Saves Phil from doing the mowing. Phil is loitering around on the verandah.
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Each time I leave New Zealand seems to increase my sense of belonging to my recently adopted country. Upon my return, the sight of rugged coastlines and ancient volcanic peaks stirs feelings of familiarity and comfort. Flying in to Auckland, the rolling green hills smile up towards me as I glow with pride for what is now my new home. The oceans waters flow through the estuaries and bays like the life giving blood in my veins and I realise this land is now part of me. But it is my love for Australia which will stop these feelings becoming all encompassing. My admiration and bond with New Zealand will continue to grow, but can never replace the years of witnessing the stunning beauty of the Australian landscape. The rugged ranges, endless beaches, lush rainforests and immense deserts are all ingrained in to my psyche. It is what I grew up amongst, it is what I have travelled through extensively, and it is what has shaped me. So as I move between the two countries I find a gentle balance. There is the homeland which has given me so much and so many memories and will provide so many future opportunities yet to be revealed. Then there is the place of my present, providing me with nourishing and formative experiences, building on what Australia has already provided. As for the future, we can never really know what lies ahead. One thing I do know though is that I have been blessed to have had such rich opportunities to live in either of these amazing places. “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
There is a terribly old cliche "Time flies when you are having fun". Not very eloquent or original, but I can;t think of a more suitable way to explain my absence from my updates here. For the first time, I have skipped a month without posting anything, not even a picture! So, to make up for this I am going post a video each month for the rest of my time here. A recent birthday saw an new ipod with amazing video abilities appear in my bag of technological gadgets. While I am still figuring out how to use it like an expert, it does take decent videos without to much intervention from me. The 'cow' video a few postings ago was an example. So, stay tuned for more snippets of life here..... Apart from being slack with the updates, life is good. I have been trained on the bird section here, which everyone knows is my passion, so I get to do one weekend a month. Not a lot, but enough to feel like I am still maintaining all I learnt about birds while at Adelaide Zoo. The rest of my time is still divided between the chimp sections and all the other primates. At home, we have been out hiking a few times but looking forward to winter snow so we can go snowboarding again. Today is the end of daylight saving so it will be darker earlier, another milestone towards the changes of season. OK, a quick update, but more to come soon. I need to keep my audience happy don't I............
Friday 19 February 2010
Not a great deal has been going on lately. It is nearing the end of February, the second month of the year....almost one sixth of our way through 2010! As a teenager I heard a lot of older people keep talking about how time flies as you get older, as well as the classic ‘Where has the year gone?’ comment, but I never really understood these points of view, so I never really believed them. After all, time can go no faster now that I am 40 than it did when I was 20, right? But somehow, with the magic of experience and wisdom in hand, it does. So when I say ‘Not a great deal has been going on lately", it makes me wonder where has the time gone and why don't I have anything to report? Time does really does fly.... If I break it down though, of course I have been busy and not wasting precious time. The daily routines of life in New Zealand have been circling me and creating a whirlpool of energy and events which remain important yet unremarkable at the same time. One big event that was remarkable was a recent visit from my mother and my oldest niece, Chelsea. They came over to NZ for a week and we went sightseeing and exploring and just spending time together. Another interesting addition to my weekly routine is I have taken up Spanish again, as part of an advanced group for conversation practice. I have been talking to myself in Spanish for years, hoping to retain some of the years of University study sweat, but it is nice to be able to speak to others again. What does the future hold? In less than two weeks time we will be submitting ourselves to yet another tranquil tropical isle. This time we are off to Niue for a week. Niue is a tiny island with one flight a week, relatively undeveloped and ignored as far as tourism goes - no plush resorts, noisy scenic flights, roaring jet boats, big markets or the western crowds which blight most of the other marketed pacific islands. After our time in Niue, we have a few weeks back at work and then I am heading back to Australia for a 3 day residential school as part of a course I am studying this year. Coincidently it will be at my old work place, Adelaide Zoo. So, that’s the report so far for 2010. Time really is flying…….
1 - Cook's cure - Captain James Cook, the man who navigated New Zealand, is said to have discovered a cure for scurvy, a disease that results from Vitamin C deficiency, when he played around with medicines.
2 - More births- New Zealand births exceeded deaths by 29,890 in the September 2005 year.
3 - Older brides - New Zealanders are getting married older. The latest statistics show that the median ages of men and women marrying for the first time is 29.9 and 28.1 years. These brides and grooms married, on average, nine years older than their parents did.
4 - Big on butter - For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100kg of butter and 65kg of cheese each year.
5 - Clever Kiwis - A New Zealander invented the tear-back velcro strip, the pop-lid on a self-sealing paint tin, the child-proof pill bottle and the crinkle in hair-pins so that they don't fall out.
6 - Olympic gold - New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals a head than any other country.
7 - Sheep dip - In the early 1980s, New Zealand was home to more than 70 million sheep, but now has 40 million, or about 10 sheep to one person. This decline hasn't stopped New Zealand from bringing in 50 per cent of all international trade in sheepmeat.
8 - Golf swings
Measured by club memberships, golf is the most popular sport in New Zealand, followed by netball.
9 - Curious Kea - The kea, native to New Zealand, likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.
10 - Quick work - The shortest interval between separate births in the world is 208 days. New Zealander Jayne Bleackley gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000.
11 - Why bother? - Two Massey University students broke a Guinness World Record in December for the world's largest tape ball. The ball, which weighs 53kg and has a circumference of more than 2.5m, was made by winding Scotch tape continually around itself.
12 - Spelling test - The longest place name in the world still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu… a hill in Porangahau in the Hawkes Bay. The Maori name translates to "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as Landeater, played his flute to his loved one."
13 - Middle age - The median age of New Zealanders is growing. In 1901 it was 23. By 1991 it was 31 and in 2001 it was 35. By 2021 it is expected to be 40.
14 - Rising prices - In 1984, $43 in New Zealand would buy approximately the same as $100 today.
15 - Blacked out - The longest blackout in the world was on February 19, 1998, when the four main power cables supplying Auckland city, broke down. The disruption, which lasted 66 days, affected 7500 business and residential customers and cost businesses an estimated $300 million.
16 - The sea, the sea - No part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea.
17 - Lost in space
In the scene of Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard shows Lilly she is orbiting Earth, Australia and Papa New Guinea are clearly visible but New Zealand is missing.
18 - Bottom line - No capital city in the world is further south than Wellington.
19 - Animal farm - Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world.
20 - Pipebands galore- There are more Scottish pipe bands per head of population in New Zealand than in Scotland.
21 - Big readers - New Zealand has more book-shops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7500 people.
22 - Bad behaviour - New Zealand has the third highest rate of deaths in the developed world from maltreatment among under-15-year-olds; third to Mexico and the US.
23 - Freshwater spring - More fresh water flows up from cracks in the limestone at Waikoropupu, near Takaka, than from any other freshwater spring in the world - more than 2100 million litres every 24 hours.
24 - Trout heaven - More rainbow trout in the 2kg to 3kg category are caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together.
25 - World-beaters - New Zealand is home to the world's smallest dolphin, the Hectors Dolphin, the rarest sea lion, the Hookers Sea Lion, the largest flightless parrot, the kakapo, the oldest reptile, the tuatara, the heaviest insect, a weta, the biggest earth-worms, the smallest bats, some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
