Last night I was told some family history, which I'm putting here in the hope that this will help me to remember it.
My grandmother lived on a farm in a German village in Borodino, then in Romania, now apparently in the Ukraine. When Hitler and Stalin decided to divide up eastern Europe between them, this part of Romania was given to the Russians. The germans who lived there decided that it was for the best for them to leave, despite assurances from the Russians that they would be well treated. They were given a couple of days to leave. They went to what is now Poland, which was at this point once again German. The journey was very tough, though until last night, I understood it to be even tougher.
In fact the tougher journey was done in the last weeks of the second world war in Europe. The Russians were advancing and my grandma and her family were essentially on the front line. It was not a time to be a german person under control of the Russians after what the Nazis had done to the Russians, so vast numbers of germans distributed over Europe, some having been there for hundreds of years, needed to flee from them.
Hitler didn't allow anyone to retreat, so my family and many others could only leave an area which was suffering the Russian onslaught once the Nazis in the area had left. They were one step behind the Nazis who were themselves fleeing the advancing Russians. According to a lady my Dad met a meeting of Borodino survivors a few years ago, my grandmother and her sister Emma were the two able bodied young people in the group and for the several months that this journey took, they would go ahead of their families to search for safe places to put their carts and to stay overnight. Places safe from the Russian planes that would attack them. They would also try and find food, for example digging up potatoes from the frozen ground.
The lady said that if it wasn't for my grandma and her sister, she thinks that they wouldn't have made it. Once they made it clear of the Russians, my grandmothers shoes had to be cut off her as she hadn't taken them off for three months having walked I don't know how far in the depths of the eastern european winter.
Germany was devastatingly poor after the war, of course. My Granddad was in charge of the NAAFI in Stuttgart having previously done the same job in Cairo. My grandma worked there and they met and rest is history. Well, it's all history. They came back to England where she was warmly welcomed and made a part of the family.
8 January 2012
24 October 2011
Thursday 01/09
I woke at hideous o'clock, Some kind of number with a five in it, I got a text from Lloyd just as I was leaving - have you checked in yet? This threw me somewhat. I don't know if he was playing games with my mind or whether the hourly was doing so with his.
I checked that I had all my stuff, about twenty times in total, shut the front door with a degree of sadness, and took the lift down to Hong Kong! It was already very slightly warm. It was the first time I saw the place quiet. The walk was twenty minutes down what you might describe as a dual carriageway. I know that word is well defined, but it was early, I told you, I'm not sure...
The walk seemed to take quite a while, I had little idea how far it was. I walked through IFC2 (I think) and checked my bags in at Hong Kong station. I then travelled light to the airport, too sleepy to read Tony Blair's autobiography.
The flight was exactly the same as the previous 40 odd hours of flying I'd done that fortnight. Air New Zealand still hadn't put any new material on their in flight entertainment system but I got by!
At London, I was slightly less disgusted by our country than I normally am when returning home. I treated myself to the quicker Heathrow Express ticket because I was keen to get back to Em.
I checked that I had all my stuff, about twenty times in total, shut the front door with a degree of sadness, and took the lift down to Hong Kong! It was already very slightly warm. It was the first time I saw the place quiet. The walk was twenty minutes down what you might describe as a dual carriageway. I know that word is well defined, but it was early, I told you, I'm not sure...
The walk seemed to take quite a while, I had little idea how far it was. I walked through IFC2 (I think) and checked my bags in at Hong Kong station. I then travelled light to the airport, too sleepy to read Tony Blair's autobiography.
The flight was exactly the same as the previous 40 odd hours of flying I'd done that fortnight. Air New Zealand still hadn't put any new material on their in flight entertainment system but I got by!
At London, I was slightly less disgusted by our country than I normally am when returning home. I treated myself to the quicker Heathrow Express ticket because I was keen to get back to Em.
10 September 2011
Wednesday 31/08
We all managed to get together on the sofa at about midday. I'd slept reasonably well despite some crazy DIY going on somewhere upstairs. We are all feeling obviously very fuzzy, but it was clear that I had largely got away with it. We pieced together recollections of the evening before.
Lloyd and I took a tram to the City Hall for dim sum. This is a cool place to go for it; it is well known because the food is brought round on trollies and the room has large chandeliers and I guess a colonial feel. I was here on my last trip, which was the first time I had dim sum. As I didn't really know what I was eating at the time, I struggled in the years after to recall what had made it so memorably delicious.
When the food came, it turned out that their food was similar to the dim sum I had subsequently had, just done with a lot more skill. We ordered too much, but thanks to us arriving so close to the 3pm end-of-dim-sum-time, they simply didn't bother to bring the last few dishes, leaving me on the right side of regurgitating last night's gin.
On the tram back, it became clearer still that I was really going to miss Hong Kong again, mainly for the fact that it is so incredibly bustling. Everywhere is totally full of people and activity, the details seemingly constantly changing, and with a healthy dose of weirdness thrown in. The example that sticks in my mind being the shop round the corner from Lloyd's that sells anything deer-related that they can get their hands on - antlers, foetuses, digestive system stones; if i could read chinese I would probably find that the remainder was wronger still.
We had decided to more or less write the day off (thought City Hall Dim Sum was something I had really wanted to do). We could have gone to Macau but it would have been risky. Back at the apartment, we instead watched the rest of Inception and ate chilli. Turns out it's not a film you can watch in sections, especially with a brain as furry as mine was that day.
I suggested a game of Abalone to try and resolve this somewhat. Did I mention this game before? Totally addictive.
I packed my bags and went to bed. That's it, then.
Lloyd and I took a tram to the City Hall for dim sum. This is a cool place to go for it; it is well known because the food is brought round on trollies and the room has large chandeliers and I guess a colonial feel. I was here on my last trip, which was the first time I had dim sum. As I didn't really know what I was eating at the time, I struggled in the years after to recall what had made it so memorably delicious.
When the food came, it turned out that their food was similar to the dim sum I had subsequently had, just done with a lot more skill. We ordered too much, but thanks to us arriving so close to the 3pm end-of-dim-sum-time, they simply didn't bother to bring the last few dishes, leaving me on the right side of regurgitating last night's gin.
On the tram back, it became clearer still that I was really going to miss Hong Kong again, mainly for the fact that it is so incredibly bustling. Everywhere is totally full of people and activity, the details seemingly constantly changing, and with a healthy dose of weirdness thrown in. The example that sticks in my mind being the shop round the corner from Lloyd's that sells anything deer-related that they can get their hands on - antlers, foetuses, digestive system stones; if i could read chinese I would probably find that the remainder was wronger still.
We had decided to more or less write the day off (thought City Hall Dim Sum was something I had really wanted to do). We could have gone to Macau but it would have been risky. Back at the apartment, we instead watched the rest of Inception and ate chilli. Turns out it's not a film you can watch in sections, especially with a brain as furry as mine was that day.
I suggested a game of Abalone to try and resolve this somewhat. Did I mention this game before? Totally addictive.
I packed my bags and went to bed. That's it, then.
31 August 2011
29 August 2011
Saturday 27/08
Nothing happened until 3am. There was no sign of life.
At 3 we took a tram and then a bus to Stanley. We walked through a tat market and down onto the beach where we met some people Lloyd knows and some he didn't. We sent keen minions to go and buy meat and the others went for a swim in the sea. Probably should have taken some trunks - spent the rest of the day pretty wet.
The water was warm, we spent about half an hour out there, it was easy to more or less just float, surrounded by a view of several islands and more huge ships. The swim finished when we saw the bbq was going. We had one of the four on the beach, made out of concrete and surrounded by concrete seats.
We spent quite a while eating tough but delicious lamb and studiously avoiding the chicken. Wings. Some of the people there were not in banking or software, we had a beer or two and swam again in the evening. We got a bus home and found that it had somehow been quite a tiring day. Perhaps it was the night before that was tiring, but I slept well.
At 3 we took a tram and then a bus to Stanley. We walked through a tat market and down onto the beach where we met some people Lloyd knows and some he didn't. We sent keen minions to go and buy meat and the others went for a swim in the sea. Probably should have taken some trunks - spent the rest of the day pretty wet.
The water was warm, we spent about half an hour out there, it was easy to more or less just float, surrounded by a view of several islands and more huge ships. The swim finished when we saw the bbq was going. We had one of the four on the beach, made out of concrete and surrounded by concrete seats.
We spent quite a while eating tough but delicious lamb and studiously avoiding the chicken. Wings. Some of the people there were not in banking or software, we had a beer or two and swam again in the evening. We got a bus home and found that it had somehow been quite a tiring day. Perhaps it was the night before that was tiring, but I slept well.
28 August 2011
Friday 26/8
I woke up at 7:30 and surfed til 9:30 when Lloyd appeared. We watched a couple of TED talks over a breakfast of steamed bun things with chocolate that Lloyd knocked up. Particularly enjoyable was a talk where Richard Dawkins said some things that I already believed in; his confirmation felt good.
Then we took the subway and a taxi to Kam Sham country park where we did a 4k "hike" - I'm not sure anything so sure can be a hike in truth. The attraction of this hike is that the area contains a couple of thousand monkeys and we found them as soon as we got there. Well actually, we had to get a bus back to civilisation (a petrol station) when we realised that we had no water, but when we got the second bus back, we immediately found around 20 monkeys, sitting around doing their own thing.
This was very sweet. I again regretted leaving my telephoto lens at home. There were lots of baby monkeys being exceptionally cute and we chilled out and sat around with them for some time.
Also from the petrol station, I bought a pack of sausagey things. I don't know why, I think I was won over by their exceptional cheapness. It was a level of wrong I find hard to describe. They were labelled garlic and chili sausage or something similar. God forgive me.
Drink waiting for ferry looking out across the water, had a quick shower then met some of Lloyd's friends for drinks. We went to a place with live music and an outside bar up a skyscraper where the employees kept coming over telling us not to jump off.
After an ill-judged fry up, we got back at 4am.
Then we took the subway and a taxi to Kam Sham country park where we did a 4k "hike" - I'm not sure anything so sure can be a hike in truth. The attraction of this hike is that the area contains a couple of thousand monkeys and we found them as soon as we got there. Well actually, we had to get a bus back to civilisation (a petrol station) when we realised that we had no water, but when we got the second bus back, we immediately found around 20 monkeys, sitting around doing their own thing.
This was very sweet. I again regretted leaving my telephoto lens at home. There were lots of baby monkeys being exceptionally cute and we chilled out and sat around with them for some time.
Also from the petrol station, I bought a pack of sausagey things. I don't know why, I think I was won over by their exceptional cheapness. It was a level of wrong I find hard to describe. They were labelled garlic and chili sausage or something similar. God forgive me.
Drink waiting for ferry looking out across the water, had a quick shower then met some of Lloyd's friends for drinks. We went to a place with live music and an outside bar up a skyscraper where the employees kept coming over telling us not to jump off.
After an ill-judged fry up, we got back at 4am.
25 August 2011
Thursday 25/8
Landed in Hong Kong having managed to get a few hours sleep, and met Lloyd by 8am, going straight back to his via breakfast. This was some sweet but delicious hot tea and toasted buns with a creamy syrup on it, or as Lloyd put it, a diabetic's ejaculation. Sorry.
It was fairly warm as I navigated my bags through the busy streets. Though I was here I few years ago, I struggled to get any orientation. At Lloyd's place I put my stuff in my tiny, but very much appreciated, room and got about an hour's sleep. We packed bags with stuff for the beach and then headed out for Dim Sum. This was much the same stuff as I had several times in Shanghai, that is, very good. The only suspect thing was the dessert of warmish lentil soup, with another ingredient escaped me now. If this stuff was appealing to anyone then every time they walked past a muddy puddle they would feel peckish.
By this point, it had started to rain and the weather was looking grim so heading for a beach wasn't going to happen. We left the restaurant and walked in the direction of Lan Kwai Fong, for lack of a better idea. We had a stroll around, with me trying to recollect what I might have done here several years ago. Unsuccessfully. We then headed into an area with lots of shops selling a mixture of incredibly expensive art, ivory sculptures (again, for ALL the money and sometimes labelled as 'mammoth') and some assorted tat. Lloyd wanted a Chinese chess set but we found more normal sets than chinese ones. I turned down the chance to buy Christiano Ronaldo poker sets or vintage Chinese pornography, or as they call it in China, "pornography".
Still stuck for ideas in the naff weather, we got foot massages in a place round the corner from his apartment. He does this sort of thing. It really did the trick after having done a lot of skiing recently. I particularly enjoyed the knee pit element.
Back at Lloyds, we monged out in front of the TV again with some Daily Show and watched Shutter Island which I really enjoyed and woke up my slightly jet-lagged brain. Thus when we headed out into the cooler evening I started to piece together where everything was and to appreciate the hecticness of being back in Hong Kong. We headed out for some a couple of blue ladies at the local darts bar. Blue Lady is a brand of beer. I suck at darts, but sucked quite a bit less by the end of the third game. I'd like to improve at this, it's frustrating not being any good. Then onto a Japanese chain for some cheapish ramen and kimchi.
Back at Lloyds for the third time - his place is conveniently very central - we watched some dodgy zombie thing with the main guy from Teachers before calling it a night.
It was fairly warm as I navigated my bags through the busy streets. Though I was here I few years ago, I struggled to get any orientation. At Lloyd's place I put my stuff in my tiny, but very much appreciated, room and got about an hour's sleep. We packed bags with stuff for the beach and then headed out for Dim Sum. This was much the same stuff as I had several times in Shanghai, that is, very good. The only suspect thing was the dessert of warmish lentil soup, with another ingredient escaped me now. If this stuff was appealing to anyone then every time they walked past a muddy puddle they would feel peckish.
By this point, it had started to rain and the weather was looking grim so heading for a beach wasn't going to happen. We left the restaurant and walked in the direction of Lan Kwai Fong, for lack of a better idea. We had a stroll around, with me trying to recollect what I might have done here several years ago. Unsuccessfully. We then headed into an area with lots of shops selling a mixture of incredibly expensive art, ivory sculptures (again, for ALL the money and sometimes labelled as 'mammoth') and some assorted tat. Lloyd wanted a Chinese chess set but we found more normal sets than chinese ones. I turned down the chance to buy Christiano Ronaldo poker sets or vintage Chinese pornography, or as they call it in China, "pornography".
Still stuck for ideas in the naff weather, we got foot massages in a place round the corner from his apartment. He does this sort of thing. It really did the trick after having done a lot of skiing recently. I particularly enjoyed the knee pit element.
Back at Lloyds, we monged out in front of the TV again with some Daily Show and watched Shutter Island which I really enjoyed and woke up my slightly jet-lagged brain. Thus when we headed out into the cooler evening I started to piece together where everything was and to appreciate the hecticness of being back in Hong Kong. We headed out for some a couple of blue ladies at the local darts bar. Blue Lady is a brand of beer. I suck at darts, but sucked quite a bit less by the end of the third game. I'd like to improve at this, it's frustrating not being any good. Then onto a Japanese chain for some cheapish ramen and kimchi.
Back at Lloyds for the third time - his place is conveniently very central - we watched some dodgy zombie thing with the main guy from Teachers before calling it a night.
24 August 2011
Wednesday 24/8
I woke up, feeling very blurry but that I had probably gotten away with it. Chris and I managed to meet at 11 for breakfast, which turned out to just mean coffee. He was that broken.
We took the gondola up to Skyline Queenstown, the place where people do bungee jumping and similar activities. We were there for other reasons. Obviously. There is a large 'centre' up there where the views of Queenstown and the surrounding lakes and mountains are extraordinary. We spent a fair while doing that with the tourists (pah! we're locals now!). We were mainly there to go on the luge however. This was just the right level of excitement and physical exertion for our suffering minds and bodies. There were two courses to try: the first 'beginner', the second 'fun' or maybe not. It was fun stuff.
We then went to meet Jim for lunch, and wanted something rejuvinating. We went for a set menu at a Japanese restaurant; noodle soup was clearly the thing but with a couple of other nice courses for luck. Again, this is what a day should look like. I said 'see you later' to Chris, who had been a worthy Queenstown companion, and went back to Jim's to pack.
This I did and then took a final walk down the hill to his work. It was quite gutting looking over the town and the lakes and the mountains for what might be the last time. I went into his office to the usual confused looks from the people working there and we headed down the road to the bus stop. We chatted for a while, waiting for the bus to the airport to come. We talked about his plans for the next year or so, it was a pretty surreal moment. It had been a really great three weeks and I felt like I was living something really good behind. I obviously was: my brother. But also, a place full of fun and friendly people making the most of a brief period of a great lifestyle.
We took the gondola up to Skyline Queenstown, the place where people do bungee jumping and similar activities. We were there for other reasons. Obviously. There is a large 'centre' up there where the views of Queenstown and the surrounding lakes and mountains are extraordinary. We spent a fair while doing that with the tourists (pah! we're locals now!). We were mainly there to go on the luge however. This was just the right level of excitement and physical exertion for our suffering minds and bodies. There were two courses to try: the first 'beginner', the second 'fun' or maybe not. It was fun stuff.
We then went to meet Jim for lunch, and wanted something rejuvinating. We went for a set menu at a Japanese restaurant; noodle soup was clearly the thing but with a couple of other nice courses for luck. Again, this is what a day should look like. I said 'see you later' to Chris, who had been a worthy Queenstown companion, and went back to Jim's to pack.
This I did and then took a final walk down the hill to his work. It was quite gutting looking over the town and the lakes and the mountains for what might be the last time. I went into his office to the usual confused looks from the people working there and we headed down the road to the bus stop. We chatted for a while, waiting for the bus to the airport to come. We talked about his plans for the next year or so, it was a pretty surreal moment. It had been a really great three weeks and I felt like I was living something really good behind. I obviously was: my brother. But also, a place full of fun and friendly people making the most of a brief period of a great lifestyle.
23 August 2011
Tuesday 23/8
Met Chris for breakfast. He was fairly messed up - a little coffee helped. I can really get used to posh leisurely breakfasts. We got up the mountain fairly late and found good conditions up there. I was finding the skiing really easy so decided to go off-piste with Jim for a bit but I soon was down a ski and face down.
Bri and Kim were about too, at the top of every ride up in the lift we could see people doing jumps and whatnot. One time going up the lift we saw the worst accident, but it was just a guy coming down the piste pretty normally. I noticed that he seemed to be heading into the plastic barrier at the side but looked in control. But he just didn't turn and ended up somersaulting the barrier in a nasty way. Coming down, we asked if he was ok and went to tell the people on the lift to send him help. The guy said that he had lost control and could barely walk. It was so strange how he looked in control at the time though. That day we saw so many accidents - probably about ten people whose day (at least) up the slopes were cut short. Probably just the slightly funny weather.
At the end of the day, I bought us lots of stuff for pasta. I showered and made some fire while Jim went to work. Chris came round and we had a beer. I laughed very hard at the new tan lines on his face. I made dinner just as Jim came home and he stuck Top Gear on. I had to go pretty much immediately to meet Loren so we left Jim to it which felt pretty mean as he had just been at work.
So Chris and I started with a couple with Loren, who was once again amazingly nice and entirely weird to see. She insisted that I'd probably be back in a month anyway and it was a strange goodbye. Jim showed up and we went to quite a nice little bar to drink bad drinks. I never thought I would veer as back into that territory as to drink a Jaegerbomb, or in fact a lot of them, or to become comfortable with it. Isn't Jaegermeister for people who think that Jaegermeister is incredibly cool? Anyway, we stood in the freezing cold and chatted - great to spend some final time with Jim - and we had cheap beer and occasionally downed one of these weird things. By this time, Chris was already showing signs of suffering.
We headed to the bar where there is the weekly open mic. The people playing were all very good but playing incredibly bad songs - not sure if this made it more or less impressive. Bri did a few songs and was great, despite the songs being of the calibre of Teenage Dirtbag, Lots of people I had met over the month had shown up - I'm not saying this was anything to do with me - but it did all come together for a brief while. Gin suddenly came into fashion, Chris developed a liking for expensive gin on behalf of all of us.
Roughly around this point Jim got kicked out despite being most likely the most sobre person in the bar. He did also have the best beard and said that one of the barmaids in there had something against him because he is 'too confident'. So I said goodbye to everyone and smuggled Jim his pint out in my coatsleeves. It was around this point that I uttered the immortal words - 'what can we do to get Chris more ******'.
We went to a bar with a rodeo thing and left because it was crap then headed to a comparitively expensive cocktail place where a friend of Jim's worked. I think Chris bought, but it's foggy. The girl who new Jim went to UKC but couldn't remember what college she was in. Impressive.
Back home via Fergburger, where Jim insisted on buying the biggest and worsest Ferg. What a good night. We went home and I drank all the water I could find in the tap to head off almost certain disaster the following morning.
Bri and Kim were about too, at the top of every ride up in the lift we could see people doing jumps and whatnot. One time going up the lift we saw the worst accident, but it was just a guy coming down the piste pretty normally. I noticed that he seemed to be heading into the plastic barrier at the side but looked in control. But he just didn't turn and ended up somersaulting the barrier in a nasty way. Coming down, we asked if he was ok and went to tell the people on the lift to send him help. The guy said that he had lost control and could barely walk. It was so strange how he looked in control at the time though. That day we saw so many accidents - probably about ten people whose day (at least) up the slopes were cut short. Probably just the slightly funny weather.
At the end of the day, I bought us lots of stuff for pasta. I showered and made some fire while Jim went to work. Chris came round and we had a beer. I laughed very hard at the new tan lines on his face. I made dinner just as Jim came home and he stuck Top Gear on. I had to go pretty much immediately to meet Loren so we left Jim to it which felt pretty mean as he had just been at work.
So Chris and I started with a couple with Loren, who was once again amazingly nice and entirely weird to see. She insisted that I'd probably be back in a month anyway and it was a strange goodbye. Jim showed up and we went to quite a nice little bar to drink bad drinks. I never thought I would veer as back into that territory as to drink a Jaegerbomb, or in fact a lot of them, or to become comfortable with it. Isn't Jaegermeister for people who think that Jaegermeister is incredibly cool? Anyway, we stood in the freezing cold and chatted - great to spend some final time with Jim - and we had cheap beer and occasionally downed one of these weird things. By this time, Chris was already showing signs of suffering.
We headed to the bar where there is the weekly open mic. The people playing were all very good but playing incredibly bad songs - not sure if this made it more or less impressive. Bri did a few songs and was great, despite the songs being of the calibre of Teenage Dirtbag, Lots of people I had met over the month had shown up - I'm not saying this was anything to do with me - but it did all come together for a brief while. Gin suddenly came into fashion, Chris developed a liking for expensive gin on behalf of all of us.
Roughly around this point Jim got kicked out despite being most likely the most sobre person in the bar. He did also have the best beard and said that one of the barmaids in there had something against him because he is 'too confident'. So I said goodbye to everyone and smuggled Jim his pint out in my coatsleeves. It was around this point that I uttered the immortal words - 'what can we do to get Chris more ******'.
We went to a bar with a rodeo thing and left because it was crap then headed to a comparitively expensive cocktail place where a friend of Jim's worked. I think Chris bought, but it's foggy. The girl who new Jim went to UKC but couldn't remember what college she was in. Impressive.
Back home via Fergburger, where Jim insisted on buying the biggest and worsest Ferg. What a good night. We went home and I drank all the water I could find in the tap to head off almost certain disaster the following morning.
22 August 2011
Monday 22/8
I was up at 6:20 and headed straight out. Nowhere was open to buy breakfast. I met Chris at the office and we booked the $230 day trip. We got a coffee from the hotel opposite and then took the busy. There was a considerable drive to get there and it felt like a very touristy thing to do. For some reason, the driver's announcements made it clear that he was obsessed with eels. It was good to have some entertainment though.
The trip there consisted of two coaches, a boat across a lake and then another coach which drove us down a stretch of road unconnected to the rest of the road system. For anyone interested, it has a 1/5 gradient and was built as part of the dam project that it turned out that we were going to see. Not that either of us knew this at the time.
At the end of this road was Doubtful Sound. We got another boat, this time a pretty huge and modern one. It was pretty empty because of it being Winter. The scenery was immediately wonderful. It was of a huge scale. There were seals (again) and, if you believed what the captain said, tiny penguins. We had really good packed lunches included in the deal. I found myself running between the various floors desperately trying to get a photo that captured something about the place, but found it totally impossible. At the end of the Sound, we headed out into the sea for a bit to take a look at the entrance to the sound and then started to head back to our starting point. There were numerous parts that were a bit more special than most, and in what was probably the best, the driver turned off the engines and we sat there floating more a few moments in silence. It felt superbly remote and unspoiled. It was definitely the highlight of the day. It was hard to fight the urge to take some more photos here rather than to just try to take it all in. Somehow we managed!
The coach back took a different route, via a power station powered by water from a dam. We were given some impressive facts about the place like how it generated enough Electricity to power Wellington. I asked whether if there were more places where these dams could be built, and if so, whether more cities could be powered this way. Unfortunately it turned out the guy was unable to comprehend any questions or doing anything except regurgitate his small list of facts. I took instead to occasionally ask him if there was somewhere I could buy a bacon sandwich as we went to different places. It only took me doing this a few times for him to get really annoyed. In some way, it felt like a minor victory, against something.
Back at Queenstown we got Jim to meet us and we went to Flame to get some more of their ribs, having tried them as part of the mixed grill previously. The racks we got were huge, with just a few token potatoes and nothing else resembling veg. We had coke floats on the side. Even the meat sweats could not tame the pleasure. We considered going to Cardrona the next day where the skiiing is suppoosed to be great. But we would have to get up stupidly early and we were set on having a big night the next day.
The trip there consisted of two coaches, a boat across a lake and then another coach which drove us down a stretch of road unconnected to the rest of the road system. For anyone interested, it has a 1/5 gradient and was built as part of the dam project that it turned out that we were going to see. Not that either of us knew this at the time.
At the end of this road was Doubtful Sound. We got another boat, this time a pretty huge and modern one. It was pretty empty because of it being Winter. The scenery was immediately wonderful. It was of a huge scale. There were seals (again) and, if you believed what the captain said, tiny penguins. We had really good packed lunches included in the deal. I found myself running between the various floors desperately trying to get a photo that captured something about the place, but found it totally impossible. At the end of the Sound, we headed out into the sea for a bit to take a look at the entrance to the sound and then started to head back to our starting point. There were numerous parts that were a bit more special than most, and in what was probably the best, the driver turned off the engines and we sat there floating more a few moments in silence. It felt superbly remote and unspoiled. It was definitely the highlight of the day. It was hard to fight the urge to take some more photos here rather than to just try to take it all in. Somehow we managed!
The coach back took a different route, via a power station powered by water from a dam. We were given some impressive facts about the place like how it generated enough Electricity to power Wellington. I asked whether if there were more places where these dams could be built, and if so, whether more cities could be powered this way. Unfortunately it turned out the guy was unable to comprehend any questions or doing anything except regurgitate his small list of facts. I took instead to occasionally ask him if there was somewhere I could buy a bacon sandwich as we went to different places. It only took me doing this a few times for him to get really annoyed. In some way, it felt like a minor victory, against something.
Back at Queenstown we got Jim to meet us and we went to Flame to get some more of their ribs, having tried them as part of the mixed grill previously. The racks we got were huge, with just a few token potatoes and nothing else resembling veg. We had coke floats on the side. Even the meat sweats could not tame the pleasure. We considered going to Cardrona the next day where the skiiing is suppoosed to be great. But we would have to get up stupidly early and we were set on having a big night the next day.
21 August 2011
Sunday 21/8
Managed to get a few hours sleep.
At 5ish we had breakfast, which caused us to both briefly pass out, and at 7:30 we checked in. We boarded the largely empty 8:30 flight. Waiting to take off, we could see through the windows tons of snow on the mountains.
The flight was again laughably brief and we grabbed our bags as quickly as we could and took the first taxi we could find. We chatted with the driver about boarding, and were getting very excited about being back in Queenstown. We managed a ten minute turnaround back at Jim's, I hired skis and we were soon on the bus. We got to the slopes at about 11:30 - not a bad effort. That day we skied with Kim, which was fun.
In the evening Jim and I headed out for a couple in Morrisons. Chris came along and we left Jim with Bri while we went for a small but great $20 roast in the cafe where he does his waitress-stalking. Bri gave me a surprisingly warm goodbye considering that we had barely spoken. After eating, we all met up again after Chris and I had decided that we should do Doubtful Sound the following day and that then was the perfect time to book it. The booking place had just shut so we resolved to get to their office for 6:30 the following morning for the 6:55 trip. I can't tell you how early this felt at the time, but the decisiveness felt good. I had to make the most of the last few days.
At 5ish we had breakfast, which caused us to both briefly pass out, and at 7:30 we checked in. We boarded the largely empty 8:30 flight. Waiting to take off, we could see through the windows tons of snow on the mountains.
The flight was again laughably brief and we grabbed our bags as quickly as we could and took the first taxi we could find. We chatted with the driver about boarding, and were getting very excited about being back in Queenstown. We managed a ten minute turnaround back at Jim's, I hired skis and we were soon on the bus. We got to the slopes at about 11:30 - not a bad effort. That day we skied with Kim, which was fun.
In the evening Jim and I headed out for a couple in Morrisons. Chris came along and we left Jim with Bri while we went for a small but great $20 roast in the cafe where he does his waitress-stalking. Bri gave me a surprisingly warm goodbye considering that we had barely spoken. After eating, we all met up again after Chris and I had decided that we should do Doubtful Sound the following day and that then was the perfect time to book it. The booking place had just shut so we resolved to get to their office for 6:30 the following morning for the 6:55 trip. I can't tell you how early this felt at the time, but the decisiveness felt good. I had to make the most of the last few days.
20 August 2011
Saturday 20/8
Woke at 10:20. No-one emerged until 11:20. In the meantime I made the most of the WiFi and Matt's landlord's book collection.
Took a last look at his place. Gave him Emily's Christmas present of some gloves you can wear and still use touchscreen phones.
Matt and Natalie recommended Mount Victoria as a great first destination in Wellington, as you could see the layout of the city really clearly. Yup it was cool....
Matt and Natalie had been kind enough to take us to the airport first to drop off our bags, so we could look at Wellington unencumbered. It seems that the rule of New Zealand airports is that the first employee you find to ask a question will be so vacant as to not even understand the question, or perhaps that there is a question at all.
We were dropped off in town where we said goodbye to them. We walked around a lot, by the water and Cuba Street (apparently the cool bit). There were the sort of clothes shops that I like, which pretty much never happens - the world has moved on from from the late 90s/early 2000s. I treated Jim to some good and really cheap sushi.
[Lots more stuff here]
We found Dad at a museum. We walked back to the camper, which was a little bit weird - we had only seen it the day before but it felt like an old home. He and Lesley dropped us off at the airport and we said goodbyes again - this time for definite however. It was sad watching Dad and Jim say goodbye - for I don't know how long. In the airport we chatted with a girl at the snack bar who lived in a camper with her sister for $25 per week. On a beach. With penguins.
The flight to Christchurch was quick. Only 'vertical sleeping' was allowed and only in the international departures area as everywhere else was shut overnight. There was an 'allocated rest area' with signs almost pleading with you not to overnight in the hotel, but go on then if you really have to.
The 11 hour wait until our flight was an intimidating prospect. I went walking for an hour or so, looking around the airport, trying to find ANYTHING. There was nothing much, except the United States Antarctic Mission. It's at moments like this that you realise just where you are on the planet. About twenty of us curled up in this cordoned off corner - occasionally hit by gusts of wind when a cleaner opened a door. It was surreal.
Took a last look at his place. Gave him Emily's Christmas present of some gloves you can wear and still use touchscreen phones.
Matt and Natalie recommended Mount Victoria as a great first destination in Wellington, as you could see the layout of the city really clearly. Yup it was cool....
Matt and Natalie had been kind enough to take us to the airport first to drop off our bags, so we could look at Wellington unencumbered. It seems that the rule of New Zealand airports is that the first employee you find to ask a question will be so vacant as to not even understand the question, or perhaps that there is a question at all.
We were dropped off in town where we said goodbye to them. We walked around a lot, by the water and Cuba Street (apparently the cool bit). There were the sort of clothes shops that I like, which pretty much never happens - the world has moved on from from the late 90s/early 2000s. I treated Jim to some good and really cheap sushi.
[Lots more stuff here]
We found Dad at a museum. We walked back to the camper, which was a little bit weird - we had only seen it the day before but it felt like an old home. He and Lesley dropped us off at the airport and we said goodbyes again - this time for definite however. It was sad watching Dad and Jim say goodbye - for I don't know how long. In the airport we chatted with a girl at the snack bar who lived in a camper with her sister for $25 per week. On a beach. With penguins.
The flight to Christchurch was quick. Only 'vertical sleeping' was allowed and only in the international departures area as everywhere else was shut overnight. There was an 'allocated rest area' with signs almost pleading with you not to overnight in the hotel, but go on then if you really have to.
The 11 hour wait until our flight was an intimidating prospect. I went walking for an hour or so, looking around the airport, trying to find ANYTHING. There was nothing much, except the United States Antarctic Mission. It's at moments like this that you realise just where you are on the planet. About twenty of us curled up in this cordoned off corner - occasionally hit by gusts of wind when a cleaner opened a door. It was surreal.
19 August 2011
Friday 19/8
Up early - brekkie and then miraculously left by 8am. I drove us to Pilton - 4 hours of stupidly bendy mountain roads - and I only hit one thing! Some fast beautiful open valley roads too - it really felt like we were going somewhere!
Things were flying about in the back again - great fun. No-one complained - I guess they really didn't want to drive! We stopped once, to take a look at Havelock. We drove onto Pilton, tried a few things at the Dutch bakery. Very scenic port. Second hand books. Finally bought a belt.
Caught the ferry - getting on it was the biggest bump yet. Book-head collision, which Jim understandably found funny. Great views - incredibly windy. Deck ten was soon shut.
In the on-board pub, Jim and I drank dark lager and listened to a passable jazz band. The guys from the Wellington Cultural Exchange were on board. It was a struggle to stand up, I think this would be good practise for the kind of culture they were looking to imbibe on their trip.
Went and sat at the front of the boat. One block was being very sick. A ferry company employee came past me to get some more sick bags. "Power chucker!" he declared when he saw our amusement. Lesley was in no state to be amused however, she was feeling worse for wear. Waves smacked right into the front of boat; each time it took a few seconds before we could see out of the front again. With the rows of seats in front of us, it was like sitting in a weird cinema. All the chuckers had gathered there because being able to see out of the window made them feel less sick. When the captain announced that the blinds on all windows would be shut because the light from them makes it harder for the captain to see when docking at the destination port, there was a huge collective groan. Oh no! Hilarious!!
We drove from the ferry and headed to Matt and Natalie's place. We said tentative goodbyes should we not be able to meet the following day. Their place was very cosy and Matt was making a fire as we arrived. It was so strange to see them on the other side of the world. We chatted for quite a while about what we all had been up to and then headed out to brave the cold. Wellington had real roads and modern buildings. We went to a Turkish restaurant that they had tried before. It was pretty good, packed with the Friday evening crowd. I don't think we lasted long after dinner, zzzzzz....
Things were flying about in the back again - great fun. No-one complained - I guess they really didn't want to drive! We stopped once, to take a look at Havelock. We drove onto Pilton, tried a few things at the Dutch bakery. Very scenic port. Second hand books. Finally bought a belt.
Caught the ferry - getting on it was the biggest bump yet. Book-head collision, which Jim understandably found funny. Great views - incredibly windy. Deck ten was soon shut.
In the on-board pub, Jim and I drank dark lager and listened to a passable jazz band. The guys from the Wellington Cultural Exchange were on board. It was a struggle to stand up, I think this would be good practise for the kind of culture they were looking to imbibe on their trip.
Went and sat at the front of the boat. One block was being very sick. A ferry company employee came past me to get some more sick bags. "Power chucker!" he declared when he saw our amusement. Lesley was in no state to be amused however, she was feeling worse for wear. Waves smacked right into the front of boat; each time it took a few seconds before we could see out of the front again. With the rows of seats in front of us, it was like sitting in a weird cinema. All the chuckers had gathered there because being able to see out of the window made them feel less sick. When the captain announced that the blinds on all windows would be shut because the light from them makes it harder for the captain to see when docking at the destination port, there was a huge collective groan. Oh no! Hilarious!!
We drove from the ferry and headed to Matt and Natalie's place. We said tentative goodbyes should we not be able to meet the following day. Their place was very cosy and Matt was making a fire as we arrived. It was so strange to see them on the other side of the world. We chatted for quite a while about what we all had been up to and then headed out to brave the cold. Wellington had real roads and modern buildings. We went to a Turkish restaurant that they had tried before. It was pretty good, packed with the Friday evening crowd. I don't think we lasted long after dinner, zzzzzz....
18 August 2011
Thursday 18/8
Woke up early and rang Emily - good to catch up with her after her Scandinavian trip. Had a big brekkie - boat trip around Abel Tasman national park. Nice sandwiches.
12k walk - lots of photo opps. Dad's Santa Claus boots apparently held him up on his shorter walk. Lots of seals and birds - again. And lambs - wished I had my telephoto lens. Quick beer in the only bar open near Dad's hotel thing.
Made dinner - ommelette and pasta. Ignorant American woman - very friendly. Sat in the hostel kitchen area and talked of old times.
12k walk - lots of photo opps. Dad's Santa Claus boots apparently held him up on his shorter walk. Lots of seals and birds - again. And lambs - wished I had my telephoto lens. Quick beer in the only bar open near Dad's hotel thing.
Made dinner - ommelette and pasta. Ignorant American woman - very friendly. Sat in the hostel kitchen area and talked of old times.
17 August 2011
Wednesday 17/8
Woke up, had brekkie, booked ferry for Friday. Having seen today's ferries effectively cancelled due to the freak snowy weather. Drove several hours, hippy cafe with telescope. Went to farewell spit. Massive bird sanctuary and a starting point of annual migration. Jim and I went for a walk - lots of lambs. Amazing empty beach, saw one vehicle -carrying a dead bore. Dad got a room at a lodge at Kaiteriteri while Jim and I stayed in the van. More space! Cooked a stir fry. Nice to be in a real building!
16 August 2011
Tuesday 16/8
THIS MUST BE FOR A DIFFERENT DAY
brekkie chris
skiing coronet
THIS IS FOR 16/8:
Up at 8 for 9? D&L said they needed an hour and a half. So we agreed to get up at 7:30.
When we left at 10 we drove into Westport proper, at which point Jim and I were famished at we'd had breakfast at 7:30.
Nice town, nice buildings. Redneck or just different? Got food from supermarket - some nice stuff - I took over driving. At the I-site we booked tickets for the Denniston Mine Experience - they were holding a tour up for us. We caned it to the mountain and then upwards. This was interesting driving in 6.4 metre lorry with a house stuck on the back. Spectacular mountain and see views as we gained altitude.
Tour - protective clothing, safety briefing, saw remains of trolley area and cable pulling thing. On "locomotive" into mine. We all joined the union and were allocated roles. The tunnel was small but would have been smaller still in the day - only going as high as the seam of coal that was being mined. We went through all the steps of theoretically doing mining - as per our roles.
We talked to a couple who were also touring in a camper. We drove towards Nelson but stopped at Motueka. Everything shut. Decided against pies and toasted sandwiches. Ended up at McDonalds. Black dudes spending last pennies on ice creams. 23 between around 8 guys.
Found D&L still at the pub - the owners had to let us in as it was shut. Chatted with owners. Decided to sleep until we woke up - not sure why we are all tired!
brekkie chris
skiing coronet
THIS IS FOR 16/8:
Up at 8 for 9? D&L said they needed an hour and a half. So we agreed to get up at 7:30.
When we left at 10 we drove into Westport proper, at which point Jim and I were famished at we'd had breakfast at 7:30.
Nice town, nice buildings. Redneck or just different? Got food from supermarket - some nice stuff - I took over driving. At the I-site we booked tickets for the Denniston Mine Experience - they were holding a tour up for us. We caned it to the mountain and then upwards. This was interesting driving in 6.4 metre lorry with a house stuck on the back. Spectacular mountain and see views as we gained altitude.
Tour - protective clothing, safety briefing, saw remains of trolley area and cable pulling thing. On "locomotive" into mine. We all joined the union and were allocated roles. The tunnel was small but would have been smaller still in the day - only going as high as the seam of coal that was being mined. We went through all the steps of theoretically doing mining - as per our roles.
We talked to a couple who were also touring in a camper. We drove towards Nelson but stopped at Motueka. Everything shut. Decided against pies and toasted sandwiches. Ended up at McDonalds. Black dudes spending last pennies on ice creams. 23 between around 8 guys.
Found D&L still at the pub - the owners had to let us in as it was shut. Chatted with owners. Decided to sleep until we woke up - not sure why we are all tired!
15 August 2011
Monday 15/08
Woke at 9am - the fact that my alarm was set for 7 indicates that the earplugs may be working better than expected. I asked "was it cold last night" and immediately got stories from all directions of the most arctic night in living memory. Man up everyone!
Having issued the "2 hour late" call to the team, it took a full 34 minutes to get moving. I dutifully refrained from emptying my bladder to save vital seconds, only to have to wait for Jim to pluck his eyebrows and Dad to apply his fake tan.
Pancake rocks & blow holes at Punakaiki
Internet cafe - booked flights back from Wellington
Drove to seal colony at Tauranga Bay
Parked in site at Westport.
Made lamb and pasta in site kitchen and watched masterchef equivalent
Discussed the pros and cons of going out. Decided it was too cold and we were too lazy.
Having issued the "2 hour late" call to the team, it took a full 34 minutes to get moving. I dutifully refrained from emptying my bladder to save vital seconds, only to have to wait for Jim to pluck his eyebrows and Dad to apply his fake tan.
Pancake rocks & blow holes at Punakaiki
Internet cafe - booked flights back from Wellington
Drove to seal colony at Tauranga Bay
Parked in site at Westport.
Made lamb and pasta in site kitchen and watched masterchef equivalent
Discussed the pros and cons of going out. Decided it was too cold and we were too lazy.
14 August 2011
Sunday 14/08
We woke to found ourselves surrounded by mist and mountains. It was 9am and we had to depart the site by 10. We did the very essentials, which for some meant a full shower despite the activities planned for immediately afterwards. Parking by the springs building entrance we very clumsily made some bacon sandwiches and tea.
The springs had been refitted recently - there were many different pools - each with friendly Kiwis and a fair few Brits. The pools ranged in temperature, with a strong positive correlation between warmth and sulphurous stench. We did some lengths and tried to go on the flumes but we didn't have the requisite passes. Everything was an extra, it seems.
It then stared hailing - slowly at first, but soon substantially. Thing was very cold by very fun. The fog soon hid all but the nearest mountains and the automatic lights switched on - at 1pm.
I was highly amused by the locals' bad tattoos. The hot water made me feel a bit odd after a while. Soon the hail turned to snow, apparently a cue for people to start having hail fights. The hail caused lovely wave interference patterns.
We got changed and found D&L talking to the I-site ladies. We drove to Greymouth, with some amazing views on the way. The mountains were now covered by the snow that had been long threatening to appear. I drove the final half of the journey there, over some very rickety bridges and finally a large bridge into the town itself. We drank coffee in McDonalds and used their wifi. Dad managed to transfer some money online using only six devices. We reconnoitered (Dad is the only person who uses this word but drops the 'T') the freedom camping site and stopped at the only place still open (at 9pm on a Sunday) - the fish and chip shop cum general store. So no chance of a beer. We ate in the van still parked outside the shop and headed back to the site. After a while, a Nazi from the next motorhome came and told us we were breaking the law by using gas so close to her van so we had to shift promptly.
Tensions amongst the campervan elders increased with regard to the domestic realities - lights at the wrong height, bed too cold, various van systems not working too well. We were asleep by 11:30 with an early start planned. An itinerary was still lacking but required- the train trip we had half planned appeared to be a no-go so a rethink was in order.
The springs had been refitted recently - there were many different pools - each with friendly Kiwis and a fair few Brits. The pools ranged in temperature, with a strong positive correlation between warmth and sulphurous stench. We did some lengths and tried to go on the flumes but we didn't have the requisite passes. Everything was an extra, it seems.
It then stared hailing - slowly at first, but soon substantially. Thing was very cold by very fun. The fog soon hid all but the nearest mountains and the automatic lights switched on - at 1pm.
I was highly amused by the locals' bad tattoos. The hot water made me feel a bit odd after a while. Soon the hail turned to snow, apparently a cue for people to start having hail fights. The hail caused lovely wave interference patterns.
We got changed and found D&L talking to the I-site ladies. We drove to Greymouth, with some amazing views on the way. The mountains were now covered by the snow that had been long threatening to appear. I drove the final half of the journey there, over some very rickety bridges and finally a large bridge into the town itself. We drank coffee in McDonalds and used their wifi. Dad managed to transfer some money online using only six devices. We reconnoitered (Dad is the only person who uses this word but drops the 'T') the freedom camping site and stopped at the only place still open (at 9pm on a Sunday) - the fish and chip shop cum general store. So no chance of a beer. We ate in the van still parked outside the shop and headed back to the site. After a while, a Nazi from the next motorhome came and told us we were breaking the law by using gas so close to her van so we had to shift promptly.
Tensions amongst the campervan elders increased with regard to the domestic realities - lights at the wrong height, bed too cold, various van systems not working too well. We were asleep by 11:30 with an early start planned. An itinerary was still lacking but required- the train trip we had half planned appeared to be a no-go so a rethink was in order.
13 August 2011
Saturday 13/8
Got reasonable sleep thanks to Chris's earplugs. At 8am went for walk around the town and took one photo. V Small but interesting. Set up for visitors. Surf shop. Lots of interesting things to do but I guess a few amazing ones.
Brekkie - vegemite on toast. Following Jim's encouragement.
Drove to seal colony. Seals were right outside, some lounging in the carpark. Most were laying on the rocks by the sea, rubbing themselves against them continually. They seemed very much used to the attention. We photographed them (and even watched them) for some time. A walk along the cliffs showed Maori defences and amazing coastal views. There were further outcrops of rock, more secluded and this time with hundreds of seals. This is a thriving area for whales, of which we saw none.
The famous seafood van (Lonely Planet-recommended) was the next call, along the coastal road. They were short of most things as "Saturday is a kind of half day". In the absence of Paua fritters we had crayfish fritters; tasty, but not much tastier than the egg that it had the texture of, and salmon that was very soft but nothing too exceptional.
Nothing more that we fancied in Kaikoura so we opted to press on. Back South to Hanmer Springs. Spag bol was good. Rain started. Polar Blast seemed to begin with some heavy rain, thwarting our idea of heading townwards. Chose site 600m instead of 2000m from town. Showers were an important factor in this.
First campervan troubleshooting excitement - 120l of water used up in a day explained the noisy water pump that must have done it no end of good. And the grey water full explained the blocked sink. Expert.
Spag bol then asleep by 10:30. A lot of rain overnight.
Brekkie - vegemite on toast. Following Jim's encouragement.
Drove to seal colony. Seals were right outside, some lounging in the carpark. Most were laying on the rocks by the sea, rubbing themselves against them continually. They seemed very much used to the attention. We photographed them (and even watched them) for some time. A walk along the cliffs showed Maori defences and amazing coastal views. There were further outcrops of rock, more secluded and this time with hundreds of seals. This is a thriving area for whales, of which we saw none.
The famous seafood van (Lonely Planet-recommended) was the next call, along the coastal road. They were short of most things as "Saturday is a kind of half day". In the absence of Paua fritters we had crayfish fritters; tasty, but not much tastier than the egg that it had the texture of, and salmon that was very soft but nothing too exceptional.
Nothing more that we fancied in Kaikoura so we opted to press on. Back South to Hanmer Springs. Spag bol was good. Rain started. Polar Blast seemed to begin with some heavy rain, thwarting our idea of heading townwards. Chose site 600m instead of 2000m from town. Showers were an important factor in this.
First campervan troubleshooting excitement - 120l of water used up in a day explained the noisy water pump that must have done it no end of good. And the grey water full explained the blocked sink. Expert.
Spag bol then asleep by 10:30. A lot of rain overnight.
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