However I have had welcome guests from Melbourne for lunch on Tuesday, the day after the most perfect summer day in Wellington. I cancelled my already changed reservation at Ti Kouka, the best hidden restaurant in W, and served them the best available lunch in Roseneath, in my kitchen. My guests were my oldest friend from Sydney Uni days and her long-term husband, who were on a trip to see the north island and then take a cruise with the Holland-America Line back to Melbourne. They were circumscribing all of NZ and even visiting Hobart on a two week luxury cruise home. Lucky things I thought. But my good friend T said she hates them, these cruises that he loves so much. Such is the fate of the LTR!
But back from dreaming to real life at the Rugby Sevens. For those not in the know like myself, these are fiercely competed Rugby games lasting seven minutes with a paired down team, and the whole world, that is about twenty nations, from as far away as France and the USA, compete. They go to play at all participating nations' countries, and the final stop is always at Wellington, and the whole city, it appears, goes bananas, something I will witness tomorrow when the competition lasting three days, begins.
But I did learn a big local lesson yesteday on going to City Square to see the arrivals of all the teams parading on the back of big trucks, with bands and marching girls and all. The Lady Mayor welcomed them and all was in place. But my story is about space, personal space that is. I went quite early to find a good spot to photo the teams arriving, and found it at the top of the steps overlooking the walkway. But is was pretty full with others so I edged my way at the end, where I thought was a suitable space. But no, it was not suitable to my neighbours who immediately let me know when they thought that I may impede their views, which I wouldn't have at all. They then proceeded to yell and abuse me, and yes he even attacked me! This has never happened to me before and my first reaction was to stand my ground, but I soon saw that he and his wife meant business, so after two rude shoves, and an obvious desire to carry it further than just a shove, I picked up my camera and said I wouldn't want to share a space with them anyway. I then cheekily wished them a 'Happy Waitangi Day', (they were Maori), and I walked away leaving their anger to themselves. It took me a while to settle also, but later I took some much better shots on the ground level.
Waitangi Day btw, commemorates the signing of a treaty on February 6, 1840, between some Maori Chieftains and the settling, ruling Whites, but it is still a source of grievance for reasons too detailed for here, except that many Maori did not agree with it, losing a lot of their territorial land in the process. The Treaty was signed in Waitangi, near the Bay of Islands way up north, a most beautiful landscape now enshrined in history. The iwi of the North, those indigneous tribes, are now fighting for $500 million in compensation for lands stolen, not unlike the processes going on in Australia.
Later that night, at my first Scottish Country Dancing of the year, the teacher just happened to remark on explaining a complex step to us, that in NZ people need to keep a rather large personal space around them, it was their right and tradition. In this case I had obviously transgressed that space and also it was on the the sacred Sevens Day when emotions were high. I will never make that mistake again.
And now to celebrate Waitangi Day properly I am attending a free concert of the National Youth Orchestra at Te Papa. It should be wonderful and the sun is shining for their National Day.
...and bright white exterior
...to match all the other white houses.
The huge crowd assembled in the upstairs foyer was no surprise as I had heard how good this youth orchestra was on the radio, and with Aussie guest Conductor Benjamin Northey it was set to be an exciting event. I take myself to the side of the big crowd and find a spare floor space as there are not a lot of seats and they are all taken.
The concert starts with a wonderful and rousing rendition of the patriotic Overture to Aotearoa by Douglas Liburn, a great Kiwi composer. Northey elicits a great performance from this very young orchestra. They really sound like a much more experienced mature symphonia and I am mightily impressed. Following this treat is an adventurous composition,written twenty years ago by a young Kiwi composer now resident in Sydney, called Hommage to Metallica, which was nothing if not original.
The third and final piece was the ever favourite Rimsky Korsakov's 'Scheherazade', and it was another excellent rendition. Northey is an exciting conductor and has great empathy with his young orchestra, epecially having only spent the last week with them on a music camp at El rancho, a little piece of Mexico he tells us, north of Wellington.
The audience received them enthusiastically of course, and it is just a sign of the great health of Kiwi classical music for the future. I decided to further celebrate this national day with some lunch at the Te Papa cafe and then a movie at the Cuba Lighthouse as there is a new one premiering today and it looks very good.
The Te Papa Salade Nicoise, a piece of Art!
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