First off, thanks for sharing comments on the last entry. I’ve disabled the silly google account thingy, so you can now leave comments as an “anonymous” person (though I hope you sign your name somewhere), and I sincerely hope you do.
Secondly, sorry for letting this blog rot on the shelf like a forgotten bun. I’ve been busy- picking up things like a NZ voltage adaptor, for instance, for powering my mac. Forgot my Thom's toothpaste too, and discovered an apparent antipathy from New Zealand's makers of "natural" toothpaste toward fluoride.
Just to run it down: the flight was fine. About 11 hours. Didn’t sleep, really… just sort of… abided. Too excited! Watched The Simpsons movie. Landed pre-dawn. Suffered the mild indignity of having to have my tent inspected by a pest control agency. Took a shuttle to the city, and got dropped off at The Brown Kiwi Backpackers in the Ponsonby district of Auckland, which is my favorite part of town. Ponsonby is a combination of what would be separate ghettos in S.F.- gay, Asian and “hipster”(a la The Haight). I’m sorry to say I didn’t take the time to take any photos of the Elizabethan business architecture this time around- at this point it’s too familiar to remember to document- the only picture I took was of the fire escape plan in my room, which I thought expressed a certain Kiwi practicality -note alternate escape route suggestion:
One full day of errands in Auckland was plenty. The air was soft and warm, a gentle breeze made me yearn to get out into the beautiful countryside. I rented a car, took a deep breath, pulled out into traffic (stay on the left!), got on the motorway onramp, and off I went- south on route 1- toward the east coast and the city of Tauranga, where Dean and Anj, my dear friends, lived. My first glimpse of the beach was this place- Waihi. This was what I came here for.
It was wonderful to see the Ellery’s again. All of them (including Asher and Zaphia, their children) are artists, and their house is a mad gallery of original art, with a heavy emphasis on the work of Anj, who is a professional, and truly gifted. I was too busy reveling in the heady brilliance of this family to take pictures of their pictures, but promise I will when I see them again, and share them with you all.
I did get a picture of their new kitten, Pepper. Here she is feeding, with Anj’s legs in frame on request, for scale.
After that brief visit (see you in March for the Jazz Festival!), I drove across the island from the east coast to the west coast (about two hours), to Raglan, where I'm writing this now. I'm planning to stay here for a while... months... so more on Raglan soon. It's a small town, full of eccentrics, and I hope to relay some of the stories I've been hearing about the people here.
Thanks for the calls and comments. It really feels good to stay in touch, and makes the eight thousand miles feel insignificant.
Hope all of you are doing well.
2 comments:
Congratulations on making it to your second entry. The lack of photos lend a certain universality to your comments. I'm looking forward to seeing them, though.
-- Evan
Hi Evan,
It seems that each photo, if it even works, takes about ten minute (to infinity) to "upload". There's gotta be a better way... will look into it, maybe put photos on a flash drive and do it down at the local internet cafe.
Thanks for the positive spin regarding thier absence, though. You're right- as usual.
Hope all is well- did the gift arrive?
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