Meditations, Part 2

Meditations, Part 2

Ratio of visitors by nationality (or language): Aussies and Brits make up what seems like 80% of the visitors, Dutch and Americans probably another 17%, a few Kiwis, Germans, Japanese, and very few French, Indians, and Malaysians the rest. Most of the Brits complain how far it is to come, yet come they do. Clearly, speaking the language (or nearly so), makes it more comfortable for them, plus there are the fixings of tea in every hotel, motel, homestay, farmstay, home, cottage, overnight room with the exception of the boat in Doubtful Sound.


Rental cars in NZ: THB thought he was saving money by renting from the low cost provider, Apex, on both the North and South Islands. And, this turned out to be true until the earthquake happened and, with restructuring the itinerary, the (third) Apex car went back early and THB should’ve read the fine print: the policy is no refunds, pay up front. Ah, one way to be the low cost provider! Another learning with Apex: the local pick-up spots appear to be franchises and have some control over their inventory as does the national office. Oops, the national office turns out to be in central Christchurch, so after the earthquake you got referred to the Christchurch airport location. Needless to say, they weren’t the proficient folks that THB talked to before the earthquake, nor were they, understandably, in much shape to provide cheerful customer service.

When we picked up the rental car (our fourth) from Europcar, the Aussie (all service people are apparently not allowed to be Kiwis) guy very cheerfully offered us two levels of insurance: $25/day to limit your liability from $3500 to $2000, and for $35/day you could get the no worries, no liability at all coverage. THB hears a loud voice going off in his head: THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS A DAY, YOU CAN RENT A CAR PER DAY FOR THAT! As another ex-pat said, it almost made you want to take the $35/day and have a royal smash-up right quick. A big smash-up…

Country driving: courtesy, one lane bridges, stop and give way, GPS, winter and road repair: How many kilometers did THB and DB drive? It’s not like you turn in the car and they give you the before and after numbers on a contract. Apex doesn’t really do contracts, nor do they really do final reckonings, they barely collect the keys (and sometimes not even that). Sorry, got sidetracked….THB guesses something like 2000 -2500 miles. High? Low? Damn…probably low…lots of mini-trips that boosted the miles up there.

Overall, staying on the wrong side of the road was pretty easy because every time THB wandered to the right DB would remind him that he was not where he should be and more importantly the car was really not where it should be. The few times THB drove without DB, it was actually a lot more nerve wracking, since now THB could be both on the wrong side of the road AND going the wrong way (yes, this happened). DB, as always, did a great job of getting us to the right spot. The GPS helped, mostly (as we had been warned) in the towns (K&E: THANKS!!!). Once you are on a road from one famous spot to another, there is pretty much only one way to get there (same-same for US in the Southwest).

There is a truism about driving anywhere: there are two seasons, winter and road repair. It’s true here, we saw lots of patching going on, and in general the roads are in very good shape. And, drivers respect the work being done and slow down as appropriate. In general, drivers here are pretty courteous. Ah, the reason for that: most of the drivers outside of main areas are tourists who don’t want to damage their cars since they have waived the insurance! The locals drive like maniacs!!! They have something here called Give Way. That means that as you come up to a turn you can ease out and gun the engine if you think it is clear. HA! For the Kiwis, that means you go way out there assuming the road is always clear. Sort of like exaggeratedly fast California stops. Very intimidating if you see some car coming up to you on the perpendicular, because now doubt has set in: are they gunning it or stopping? Needless to say, the idea of a stop sign them becomes ridiculous; THB suspects that Kiwis dig them out and replace them with Give Way signs whenever the three traffic control people (the entire country’s allotment) are looking the other way. And, there are plenty of rotaries, and THB loves them. As long as you remember to always go left to get on, they work really well. Combined with the Give Way mentality, sometimes it looked like a start to a race: gentlemen, rev your engines when approaching a rotary.

There are also a number (many….1000s) of places where the traffic narrows to one lane. Not one lane in each direction, that’s pretty much everywhere; one lane for both directions. One direction has the right of way (solid line with arrow) and the other doesn’t (smaller line, usually red). Only a few times did DB have to point out to THB that he did NOT have the right of way (what sign? THB did not see a sign…what sign?). And, along with Give Way, the Kiwis pretty much assume they have the right of way unless proven otherwise while the tourists (THB not the only one) assumed it was always better to stop and look before moving on (remember, most drivers have waived the insurance…and the few that haven’t have taken out the No Worries version that means they can gladly total their car).

Finally, THB has decided that (along with old age), these drives are a lot more pleasant if there are no cars in front or behind, so he has become the ultimate nice guy: the one that pulls over when being tailgated or slowing down to leave 20 car lengths between him and the car in front. Now, that is actually not a huge concession because in the Southwest and NZ in the mildly off-season there aren’t that many cars on the road. In any case, these two driving trips have been very rewarding, whole days with massively beautiful vistas.

Finally, it does appear that gas costs here are just like everywhere but the good ol’ USA: high. A fill-up on our dinky little 4 seater Tiida (say, what?) was close to $60. Must mean either the tank is 40% of the available space in the car or the price of a liter is pretty steep (bet on the latter).

Meditations, Part 1

Meditations, Part 1


Light switches: What can THB say about light switches? Damn, they are everywhere here, including a switch over ever socket (so if it is a plug where you can plug in two separate devices, there are two controls right over the sockets). So, often, THB would plug in something (computer, chargers) and forget to flip the socket control. Or forget that maybe there was a control switch on the wall. How many ways can you protect yourself from actually getting something to turn on? We rarely (never) stayed anywhere that in one room didn’t have more controls for the plugs than we have light switches in the loft (there are 8 light controls for the entire loft). That is one room in NZ greater than entire living environment in E-ville. Why? THB is perplexed…how can it be saving energy, doesn’t the usage start when a device is turned on AFTER it is put in the socket?

Wines: THB thinks that the reds in this area are basically priced at about double (or more) what we would pay for a comparable wine at home, so his cheapness is keeping him from drinking the good stuff: a $90 syrah or pinot noir here is the equivalent of a $35-45 bottle of Californian wine, and the $40 and under bottle here is not all that drinkable (ie, probably not sold) in California (or not bought by THB to be drunk). THB did not have the time to search out the best buys, so this is strictly one blogger’s opinion based on very limited experience. We did much better with white wines, in the $15 to $35 range.

Department of Medical Conditions, an update: THB has essential tremors, which the doc says is way better than having non-essential, unessential, or inconsequential tremors (or Parkinson’s, which also would not be good). When we had dinner at Saffron in Arrowtown, the amuse-bouche (in this case not only not-so-amusing, also not so good to be a jump in the mouth) was a purple egg yolk thing wobbling in a small spoon. When the waiter left them off at the table with a small flourish, DB politely pushed the tray with the spoons of these purplish wobblers towards THB. THB shows his gratitude, skooshes up the wine list in front of him closer to make room for the tray and proceeds to watch his purple wobbler leave the spoon just as he begins to lift the spoon (most likely having essentially tremored the spoon and bumped the wine list simultaneously). Now the wobbler, having miraculously not broken out of the yolk sac, is sitting on the wine menu. THB is not looking at DB, he’s concentrating on the wobbler; something tells THB intuitively to not look up, stress only increases the tremors. Somehow, THB nudges the wobbler back on to the too small spoon, and even more amazing makes it into THB’s mouth, where it explodes into tomato juice. An amuse-catastrophy-bouche avoided…as an aside, sometimes THB finds his fingers jumping all over the keyboard, pounding (or attempting to pound) on the keys outside of his control. This should stand as the explanation for much of what gets written for the blog: essential tremors as literature.

And, dyslexia must be rampant in NZ. There is absolutely no consistency on which was hot or cold works on the faucets. Sometimes the H and C were even reversed on the faucets (not sure why). At least the turn signal on all four rental cars is on the right hand side (away from the gear shift).

Day thirty something

Day 36: Oamaru

Last full day in NZ, so the last NZ fact and quiz, all rolled into one:

New Zealand Facts

The Treaty of Waitangi comes in three versions: the English, Maori and the English translation of the Maori version, which is slightly different to the English version.

Which version is the following, the English version or the English-Maori-English one?

Her Majesty Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland regarding with Her Royal Favour the Native Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and anxious to protect their just Rights and Property and to secure to them the enjoyment of Peace and Good Order has deemed it necessary in consequence of the great number of Her Majesty's Subjects who have already settled in New Zealand and the rapid extension of Emigration both from Europe and Australia which is still in progress to constitute and appoint a functionary properly authorized to treat with the Aborigines of New Zealand for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereign authority over the whole or any part of those islands.


Pics: DIY bath, sunrise, pics from local hike (appropriately named given the dropoff to rocks below), penguin mania, more Oamaru buildings, steam punk going diesel, Oamaru walking committee

Weather: Unusual, clear with Santa Ana winds (means quite windy with warm to hot temps for those blog followers not familiar with this terminology), more warm than hot

Just to reiterate (like there aren’t enough words already in the blog), the Harbour View Cottage is terrific: a great view, fully functional, close to town without being in town, a nice place to lay up for a couple of days, a very nice final (inadvertent) stop before leaving NZ.

Breakfast of toasted sultana bread and fresh ground coffee, a hike over the hill and through a pine forest to a path that hugged the cliffs down to the pay for view penguin arena and on to the bakery in town. We decide that the pay for view penguin show is not for us (and, we saw them last night on our own): they basically herd the penguins to a path that leads by the viewing area to a gate that opens up into their nesting area. Hard to imagine doing that to too many wild animals under the name of conservation (THB saves $40!).

Second aha moment of the day (it’s only 10am): the best bakery in town puts out yesterday’s (or even earlier?) pastries, and not to the improvement of the pastries. Sad…very sad; two dead pastries and two flat whites, $16.

Third aha moment (it’s now 10:20am): Loan & Merc, Fleur’s second (or is it third, if you count the caravan?) restaurant has a sign up that they are closed for Staff Training. Damn….DB calls when we get back to the cottage and they may open up later in the day. What else can happen?????

By lunchtime, Loan & Merc is not open and Katie has managed a rezzie at Fleur’s Place for 6 of us, so that takes care of dinner plans. We dine at a café in town on grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches and bottled ice teas, $18.

Another shot to see the yellow-eyed penguins from the bluff, no go. Too early, apparently. We agree that it doesn’t matter, even with strong binocs from HVC we won’t see much detail, the distance from the viewing area to the beach is too strong.

Dinner at Fleur’s Place turns out to be very disappointing. We share baked sole (supposedly the whole fish, instead we get very dull fillets with a flat sauce of capers and lemon that turns out to be more of a bordelaise) and seafood chowder with almost no taste. Same for the veggies that came with the sole, overcooked. Dessert was decent, a Crème Brule with poached plums. Katie and Tom had the same as we did, a different dessert, and the boys shared pasta and a dessert. Chard Farm Chardonnay. Total: $180

And, we find out what happened at Loan and Merc today from Fleur herself. A long story, of which THB understands very little, about the three chefs not getting along and Fleur saying there will be no hiring of a maitre d, so they, as Katie put it succinctly, had a “time out” today for the staff to work on getting along.

Day...sometime in the 35th millenium

Day 35: Dunedin to Oamaru

Pics: Sunrise at the Brothers, Brothers from street level, the steepest street sign, Fleur’s Place and lunch, baseball rocks, Oamaru cottage, punk from around Oamaru, a yellow eyed peguin

Breakfast same-same, check out, total for two nights with the bro’s is $350, including breakfasts. Stroll through Dunedin to the Uni (as they call all universities here) and back to pick up some local wine, Montana Sauvignon Blanc (NZ), and a bottle each of Anchor Steam and Lagunitas IPA (each bottle equal in price to five in the Bay Area). The store carried quite a selection of N. American brewskies (no CA wines), and tonight we are having dinner with friends of a friend, and they are from Montana. Let’s hope the wine does their namesake state proud (hmmmmmm….DB reports: not bad!).

We are lazily strolling to get back to the car and THB has to stop DB…she has walked by a couple of friends of ours from waaaaaaaaaay back when LB was in preschool. So, finally, zero degrees of separation! Penny and Steve have 2.5 weeks here in NZ and have been traveling mostly by bus. Like us, they’ve made a few adjustments due to the earthquake, and there have been a few overlaps (e.g., the jeeet boat on the Dart River, Abel Tasman NP). Who else is roaming out there awaiting a chance meeting?

There is a famous restaurant on our route today, Fleur’s Place, and we might be eating there tomorrow night. So, it can’t hurt, maybe we can give it a try for lunch, too. Uh Oh, the sign out at the highway sez they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (what day of the week is it? No clue…What month is it? Don’t know that either). We head towards the water, and sure enough they are closed… the restaurant is closed, the caravan is open!

There is a trailer in front of the restaurant serving a few items, so we order up: seafood chowder with mussels served in a flour tortilla, beans and mussels something (yes, it is a burrito though they don’t call it that on the chalkboard), a grilled scone with butter and chutney, and lemonade, $32. One of our best meals, sitting at a picnic table overlooking the harbor, right there at Fleur’s (okay, not RIGHT there, close by!).

Next a stop at boulders sitting at the edge of the waves rolling up onto the beach. At first, THB is a bit skeptical; we paid $3.20 for this? (Actually the cheapest - and voluntary - entry to any tourist stop on the entire trip.) To see rocks on the beach? DB correctly figures out that if Andy Goldsworthy had put these here, people would be traveling thousands of miles to see the installation and paying thousands of dollars for his one-of-a-kind photographs of the place. It is pretty special, and the rocks themselves very unique, almost like deteriorated giant stone baseballs placed in the water…hey, maybe we can put some out from of the Oakland Coliseum?

With the help of Ms GPS (Susan), we find the cottage up above Oamaru, about 2 hours from Dunedin. What a find!!!!! It has two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen/den combo, a bathroom/laundry room combo, and is quaintly furnished with period pieces. As we walk in, Leonard Cohen is playing on the stereo…turns out the landlord has figured out everyone loves Leonard and he makes a nice greeting – at first, we’re a bit confused, have we walked in on someone? Clarkie the landlord shows up and gives us the tour; total for two nights paid in advance: $270.

A walk to town, pick up some bread for toast tomorrow (we find out later, this is the best bakery in town, THB has the bakery nose!), and look at the local art scene, a bizarre mix of Victoriana and odd train and other post-industrial metal sculpture. Turns out our Clarkie the landlord and a bunch of other people here are part of something called Steampunk (see pic of Steam Punk building), sort of a Jules Vernes sci-fi gone wild era where steam power is still widely used. Maybe they are prepping for the post-oil period if something else is found to make steam…

Just nearby, 5 minutes or less from the cottage, we go to see the yellow-eyed penguins. See the last pic and, since it is compressed, you won’t be able to enlarge it so you won’t be able to see the one lonely distant penguin on the beach. Neither could 50 other people - we were lucky enough to be standing next to the sharpest eyed 70 year old British woman in NZ. THB could not understand a word she was saying, DB had to tell THB later that she was actually speaking English (THB is still doubting that claim).

Dinner at Katie and Tom’s house, also nearby (since Oamaru’s population is 12,000, pretty much everything is nearby). They are here with their two boys, 5 and 3, as Katie is doing what we think is a gap year after finishing her doctor’s residency and before she and Tom and kids go back to Bozeman at the end of the summer (US summer!). That means she’s subbing for docs on leave, vacation, sabbatical. There’s a need for GPs here, many recent Kiwi graduates leave for Australia and higher wages and don’t come back. Tom is the house husband (taking time off from teaching at uni) something that is pretty much unheard of here and looked upon a bit suspiciously by the local women as the local men (all of NZ) are basically stuck in the pre-feminist era. He’s makes a great dinner: roasted chickens, stuffing, new potatoes, chutney, berry crumble with ice cream and NZ pinot noir.

After dinner, we go in search of the smaller blue-eyed penguin, and have not trouble spotting them: they are leaving the beach at our end of town and walking cautiously across the road. They are small and appear to be traveling in groups of 3-5. It is pretty dim out so we can’t see them all that well. On other hand, the sky is full of stars and the Milky Way is easily visible, along with what we think is the Southern Cross.