Xtreme, Yoga, Zoo

X is for Xtreme snow sports.  I took the opportunity to learn snowboarding over here.  Slowly I got the hang of things and managed to look a little impressive as long as I stayed on the beginners trails.  The need to feel more competent and the desire to get to the higher points of the fields saw me share time between snowboarding and skiing – my easier option.  Alas, skiing is now all I do on the slopes but I am glad I can now say I’ve done it.

Y is for Yoga.  Something I had never really had any interest in doing before, but again, a change of scenery made me realise how easy and important it is to learn new things.  A local instructor was starting up beginner classes, so off I went and my body has never felt better.  Stretching and twisting is a lot harder and tiring than it looks.

Z is of course for Zoo.  Without the Zoo here at Hamilton and all of its superb staff and animals, this adventure in New Zealand may have ended long before now.  It’s what has kept us here past our original plan of a year and it’s a place to be cherished forever.

Unknown, Volcanoes, Wanaka

U if for the Unknown.  Everything was such a big unknown when we left Australia.  There was no certainty, nothing solid and all sorts of potential roads to go down – some would be our choice, others would be dictated to us by circumstance.  It was a little scary and possibly even reckless, but it has been exhilarating beyond all expectations.

V is for Volcanoes and this area of the north island is one of my favourites of all New Zealand.  These mammoth natural wonders rise nobly from the central plateau and command your attention from hundreds of kilometres away.  Their beauty is only equal to their mystique and provide a range of activities from bushwalking to skiing in what can only be described as a place of incredible power.

W is either for Wanaka or Wellington as they are both deserving of a mention.  Wellington has always been the favourite of my New Zealand cities – full of charm and fascination it won me over before it had even said “hello”.  Wanaka is a small town not far from Queenstown, but has yet to be tarred with the hype of it bigger sister.  Nestled on an alpine lake with a backdrop of dramatic ranges it was always going to be a favourite.

Queenstown, Raglan, Snow, Travel

Q has to be for Queenstown.  My original visit about 5 years ago left me feeling more than a little disappointed.  I had heard so much, probably too much, about the town and its bigger than life personality only to get there and think it was an empty hulk of a tourist town plumped up by the ‘you-have-to-go-there-hype’.  On subsequent visits though, I fell for the place and most specifically its dramatic location within the valleys of the Southern Alps.

R was either for Rain or for Raglan.  Rain because there is so much of it although I still couldn’t get enough of it.  Raglan because this is where I have spent many hours combing the beaches with Phil and the dogs, being tantalised by the every changing black sand coastline, the huge estuary, the flame red flowers of the Pohutukawa trees, the laid back pace of life and friendly charm.  There are more reasons why I love Raglan on this old post…………….

S is for snow and plenty of it.  Being so close to ski fields gave me change to really indulge in snow sports and I love it, love it, and love it!

T is for Travel as that was one of our objectives when moving here, not only within New Zealand but out to the Pacific Islands as well.  There is no corner of NZ which has not been witness to the Phil and John road show of adventure plus a number of Pacific Islands as well.

P is for Poi E

Poi E is sung by the Patea Maori Club, a very classic Kiwi song with great footage of New Zealand fashion in 1982!

O is for Oz

Australia, affectionately called Oz by its citizens, is the greatest country in the world.  I feel comfortable saying that without causing others offence because everyone feels the equivalent amount of pride about our home countries……don’t we? Anyhow, my positive impression of Australia has only been intensified since landing here in Aoteroa for no reason other than it is a big part of who I am.  I have mused before about what I miss from my homeland so will spare you the dribbles once more, but it really warms my soul when I think of these things.  How about another cliché – absence makes the heart grow fonder-lame but something definitely resonates for me from those words.  So it is with great excitement mixed with a slightly heavy heart that I can share that my time in New Zealand is drawing to an end.  A decision was made recently by my other half and I that it is time to head back to Australia to live.  This decision was nothing at all to do with being dissatisfied with New Zealand as I can not seriously fault my adopted country in any way, shape or form.  It’s a very simple case of longing for that part of me that remains in Oz.  But rather than trying to go back to exactly the same place and time that I left, we are heading to Darwin.  Not sure what to do or how it is going to work out, we don’t have jobs to go to or anywhere to live.  We sold almost everything to move to New Zealand, so it is going to be another real adventure in change.  On the move….again……

N is for New Zealand

Kind of an obvious one really.  It is where I am and what has shaped me for the past 3 years.  It's what started this blog in the first place and gave it momentum as time journeyed on.  It is everything and everyone that I see around me and it is all very beautiful and inspirational.  New Zealand is too much to put in to words and means too much to me to be able to express it sufficiently to give it justice.  Put simply, N is for New Zealand and I love you.

M is for Marcus Lush

How coincidental – L was for Lush and now M is for a fellow called Marcus…..Lush!  A lame joke aside, Marcus Lush is a well-known NZ journalist.  He currently has a prime time slot on the national radio station talk back session, but also pops up in newspapers and magazine editorials from time to time.  He has presented a range of documentaries over the years that he is passionate about especially travels and the regions in New Zealand.  He is a straight talker with enough eloquence to not overtly offend yet still share his personal opinions with the world.  He is loved by some, despised by others and characters like him are usually at the bottom of my Xmas card list of favourites.  But there is something undeniably charming about Marcus Lush.  He is absolutely a Kiwi through to the core and passionate yet positively critical about the shortfalls of life today.  Not to mention, he is a bit of a spunk. 

L is for Lushness

Not the ‘harlot’ type of a girl who would hang around salubrious establishments in the 1940’s looking for their next heart to break either.  Lush as in the word that describes copious amounts of thick vegetation – green, dense, abundant, verdant and luxurious.  With a big degree in variation between the wettest and the driest locations in New Zealand and humans unquenchable craving  to clear yet more forests,  the word cannot be used to describe every square inch of the country.  Lush can however be used linguistically correct to still describe the majority of this land, from its lush green pastures to its lush mountain slopes to its lush coastal forests.  You get the picture.  Thanks to a rainfall that falls relatively evenly over the cycle of the seasons, rich soils signifying a volcanic history as well as vast alluvial flood zones, New Zealand was cloaked in this lushness for most of its existence until the arrival of mankind.  What remains however, is mosaic of greens, forever lovely and lush. 

K is for Killing

A great topic to start the New Year on but it’s time to create some controversy.  There is a general acceptance in New Zealand that hunting is a perfectly normal activity that the entire family can enjoy.  I am well learned to hunting being one of the basic skills man developed which advanced civilisation.  To this day it is still a means of support and survival in many areas of the world.  But I can’t move beyond the fact that for most of us, we have moved on from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to agriculture and urbanisation.  Hunting is now termed as a ‘sport’ and a ‘leisure’ activity, no longer a requirement for daily survival.   This is what is evident in New Zealand.  The government contributes huge financial resources to the production and protection of introduced species such as dear, trout, pigs and pheasants.  The same government is spending millions trying to counteract the negative impact these same animals are having on the environment by replanting forests, cleaning streams and protecting what little native birds are left.  This makes as much sense to me as providing weapons to a country to fight in a war against your own.  Furthermore if the prey is getting limited, more get released in to the environment so that hunters are always satisfied.  If the hunters still don’t manage to kill anything, they can pay for someone else to round up animals up on a cliff or run it down with exhaustion, so the hunter can enjoy the moment of the kill.  Excuses such as keeping feral numbers down or helping protecting the environment are simply that, excuses.  Here’s to some change in legislation in the future………

J is for Journal

Way back when I began writing this blog, its sole intention was to be an online journal.  I wanted to write about my experiences on this adventure and be able to share them with family and friends that were being left behind.  A record of events.  A historical narrative.  Proof.  I look back on old postings, especially the early ones leading up to leaving Australia, and I am instantly transported back to the feelings of anticipation and excitement of the unknown.  I reflect on what may have been done differently if I had known what I know now. I find myself wanting to talk to the John Ray from then and tell him how magnificent the future is going to be and how many adventures he will be experiencing, big and small.  This journal has become part of the adventure in its own right.

I is for Islands

One of the ambitions we set ourselves when arriving in New Zealand was to take advantage of the proximity to other Pacific Islands.  Two factors have helped us achieve this.  The first is an obvious geographical benefit of being closer to the Pacific Islands than Australia = cheaper fares.  The second is the fact that New Zealand has a significant proportion of people from the Pacific Islands living here.  This results in a lot more flights, airlines and options travelling between NZ and The Islands = cheaper fares.  First we went to Samoa, then Niue, most recently Vanuatu and in February we are off to Tahiti.  Each island has been different – culturally, linguistically, geographically and geologically.  Some had ocean caves full of colourful fish like a huge underwater aquarium; others were fringed with reefs in an endless mosaic of patterns.  Others had white sandy beaches fringed with swaying palm trees or black volcanic rocks tumbling into deep ocean cliffs.  Some had volcanoes, spewing lava and ash into the atmosphere; others were clad tightly in dense jungles.  No two islands had the same combination of elements but one thing they ALL had was an exotic charm, feeling of remoteness and loads of friendly smiles.

H is for Happiness

Happy to be here.  Happy to have done what I have done. Happy to do more of it. Happy.

G is for Grab-a seat

This is a website set up by Air New Zealand, the national airline of this great country.  Every morning hundreds of cheap seats are put up for sale giving passengers the chance to fly between set destinations for a fraction of the normal price.  It’s simply a matter of watching out for something that interests you and you GRAB it!  We flew to Auckland for lunch one day, even though it is only an hour and half drive away.  Every few months they do crazy things like $1 airfares and such. There are usually a selection of seats to various other Pacific Islands and Australia and every few weeks they include flight to almost all of their worldwide destinations.  If only we were rich……..and didn’t have to work.  Damn.  Anyway, about a year ago they added something a little different to the bargain and that is a reverse auction.  Every 15 minutes during the day a few tickets to one of their domestic or international destinations is advertised with a clock which runs backwards for a minute.  With each second, the price drops and the first person to stop the clock gets the tickets for the price that it was stopped at.  So the real gambler will wait until the minute is almost over as the price could be a mere $1 by then.  If only other airlines did this as well.

F is for Fotography

I know the spelling is wrong, but it did seem like a good match.  A little over a year ago I bought a big camera with two lenses and no idea how to use them.  I had always wanted to get in to photography but found the cost debilitating and so just admired great photography from afar and dreamed of what I would do if I had a better camera.  A few short courses later, and hundreds of hours of reading later, I finally feel that I am getting a feel for taking good photos.  I have been experimenting with exposures, getting in to night photography, and have bought an array of lens filters and other accessories.  I now find myself looking at objects and landscapes as potential photos and trying to work out what settings and lenses would be best to capture it all.  I love it.  

E is for Extinct

The most notable aspect of New Zealand for me is the silence of the forests.  Where once a myriad of bird life coexisted to fill every ecological niche in New Zealand’s varied habitats, only a few remain.  Many of the native species have become extinct since humans arrived here 900 years ago.  What native species persist are largely outnumbered and displaced by introduced pests such as sparrows and starlings.  Gone are the largest eagles ever known with a wing span of 3 meters and weighing up to 15 kilograms.  Gone are the eleven species of flightless moa, ranging from small chicken size to nearly 4 metres tall.  In fact New Zealand has lost over 47% of its bird species since humans arrived.  Given that there were no mammals in NZ prior to this apart from a few species of small bats and coastal sea lions, this is still almost half of all terrestrial vertebrates that existed around 1400 AD when it is thought the first wave of humans arrived.  The damage has been done through overhunting, land clearing, swamp draining and feral animals. The few remote areas which have remained less affected give glimpses of what may once have been an aural symphony of music filling the now silent theatres.

D is for Delightful dogs

Another animal one I’m afraid.  When we were originally only coming over here for one year we were planning to be leaving our 2 dogs behind in Australia in the care of others.  Upon deciding to stay longer we opted to bring them over to join us.  An expensive undertaking of about $4000, but one we didn’t ever consider not choosing to do.  As a result we have been able to enjoy our days off with walks around the countryside and runs along the beautiful Raglan beaches with Renner and Flinders in tow.  It has been great having this part of our ‘family’ life continued in our adopted country and they have loved it too.  Being a water loving dog, Renner has relished in all of the streams and puddles that the wetter climate over here produces.  Being surrounded by farmland and livestock has kept Flinders busy watching and trying to ‘round up’ all the neighbouring cows. Delight in the simple pleasures is what D represents for me.

C is for Chimps

Chimps have been a big part of my life in New Zealand.  From day one over here I have been involved in the chimp troop and some days I felt I was one of them myself.  Many hours, if not months!, have been thinking, worrying, feeding, cleaning, training and playing with my little hairy friends.  Some days have been joyful, others mentally challenging and a few even ending in tears.  Lots of fights and screaming, banging and bashing, mind games and politics all definitely has a sanity tax for those who work with chimpanzees.  These extra grey hairs in my beard can account for that.

B is for Black sand beaches

The North Islands beaches along most of the western coastline are remarkably different than those along the east.  Many of the rivers that drain the volcanic North Island flow out west, taking with them the dark coloured eroded sediments from past volcanic eruptions.  These sediments are very fine, almost dust like, and so get carried along the coastline by the currents and waves to form long glistening beaches.  On closer scrutiny, the ‘black’ colouring is from the moisture in the sand as the particles themselves are more of a grey colour.  The different sized particles are slightly different shades of grey and as a wave recedes, a rainbow of these shades is left behind in amazing patterns of art.

A is for Annabel Langbein

As a tribute to my time here in New Zealand, I am going to present 26 of my favourite memories and other things about my time here thus far.  Why 26?  To follow the path of all corny things that have gone before me, I will go from A- Z with each letter of the alphabet representing one of these memories.

So starting from the beginning and with a topic close to my heart, but even closer to my stomach, is the lovely and delicious Annabel Langbein.  Annabel is the queen of the recipe collections here in New Zealand and took me quite by surprise with her fresh and easy attitude towards food.  As a result, her book was purchased and many a recipe was prepared and will continue to do so.  Her TV series "The Free Range Cook" and the subsequent book were set around Wanaka in the South Island as well, which is one of the most beautiful and one of my favourite places on this earth.