Leaving NZ

Everyday I come across some incident, or meet somebody, who makes me think twice about what I am doing here, and why I am about to quit these precious islands. The spirit of Kiwidom is alive and well, but the functionality, if that's a real word, leaves a lot to be desired in this far-flung  outpost of the old Dominion that once was the United Kingdom.

A letter to today's Dominion Post (see what I mean?) talks of the exhorbitant cost of living here if you are on a minimun wage. The same food, for example, sourced from Utah in the US cost $92, for which here one pays $200. It is twice as expensive, and I believe, one third more expensive than in Australia. And the cost of living does play a big part in where one lives. For example I couldn't affford to live in Sydney frankly, it is too expensive, but OK for a visit.

Another example on the front page today, is of an old persons' residence, newly rebuilt, which has installed fibre cables for all residents to use their broadband, costing an extra $85 a month, whether you have a computer or not. Most of the pensioners there don't have any idea how to use a cell phone, let alone the internet. But the directions were the same, everyone has to pay. How damn silly is a city which demands that unwanted impost on its Senior Citizens? Bloody silly, and it is typical of other archaic red-tape issues that pervade this sometimes infuriating democratic system. I think you just gotta be born a Kiwi to understand and accept their unique situation.

 And then you have the Memphis, this beautiful, friendly, good-coffee cafe right on the main strip of Courtenay Place. How can I leave this place? I will miss the Memphis very much, as I will equally miss my Maori cohort of friends I am singing with tonight to celebrate a ten year wedding anniversary of a couple of wonderful role-model Kiwi men, Des and John. The latter with his two daughters and many  grandchildren should make it an interesting night. Such is the anomaly of these windy isles.

A victim of bureaucratic bungling..

The Kiwi religion - Sport

Sun on the Memphis

..and on me.

Chilly wind factor

Out and about in the cold wind of Wellie. Stimulating if you are rugged up, but freezing if not. All the Kiwis know this state and are dressed accordingly and take it in their stride. Hark back to the unbelieveable courage and bravery of the first Kiwi born Govenor General and war hero General Sir Bernard Freyberg and you'll see what I mean. This man, who died at 74 from an old wound he suffered at  Gallipoli, was one Kiwi who stands taller than most, but who probably would not have had it that that way. Modesty is a Kiwi trait held higher than most.

And it is not the best week for John Key who is still o/s 'meeting important people', who will soon return to more ridicule and a possible court-case about his serial hair-pulling incident. He may not survive till the next election, but methinks he will as Kiwis are also a forgiving lot.

They also don't like that Indonesia has summarily murdered the Bali Nine, against all international opinion. Some of the nine are obviously not at all criminal minded, just impressionable silly young men, but now they have paid the ultimate price for their stupidity in a country which is known for its tough laws on drug importation. I wonder if there will be any repercussions from this harsh capital punishment, but each country has to create its own laws.

However the religion of this country I am living in, is Rugby - Union, of course, and there is a new doco made about a small countrytown Rugby team which seems worth visiting. Next week at the Embassy I will catch it I hope. In the meantime my BnB booking in Birmingham has been refused as it is too far ahead I think. It is summer in August and some BnBs may have forgotten they won't be home in August. There's more work to do there when I get home after my (two) coffees today at the Memphis, with Tom. But the sun is shining and inside it's warm and buzzy, as always at the Memphis, with the ever charming owner and host, John, always at the ready. But today we have a rare lone female at the cash register - Memphis is diversifying!

Busy at the Memphis

Bernard Freyberg, war hero and swim champ

PM Key's Mana in doubt

Rugby, the religion of NZ countryside

Sun returns - but news worsens

The sun has returned to Wellington but the news worsens from Nepal with over four thousand dead and feared up to eight thousand may have perished. With disasters like these one automatically thinks of the Nostradamus predictions where where the world as we know it comes to an end. For these thousands of Nepali, or visitors to that beautiful county, it has. How could one not believe in reincarnation when you see mass loss of life like this? These souls which have been taken prematurely will doubtless spend some time resting before reincarnating to a new life where hopefully they will get a better chance. It is a salutary reminder not to sweat the small stuff, as the jargon has it, as we are so lucky to have been born in a free country with opportunities to do what we want. Or is it that in past lives we have earned this 'luck'? Perhaps we were demolished in an earthquake in an earlier life and we don't have to got through that experience again. Just thinking... 

Death toll climbing...

Surrogate babies saved for gay Israeli couples

A rival for Tom at Lower Hutt

Scoffing a Sub-way for brekkie

..at the Memphis

Which brings me to the small stuff. My printer cartridges have died suddenly after giving me very little  service, about ten pages at the most. Of course I have not kept the receipts from Dick Smith, who does? But $70 later, which the cartridges exhorbitantly cost, I can't print anything. So am off to ask Dick Smith what to do, nothing probably, as big companies like these don't take any responsibility for little things like ink cartridges, much to my chagrin and annoyance. But then think of the Nepali in their disaster, and realise it's not the end of the world, I just won't use cartridges again. Means a new printer perhaps.

Then back to BP to top 'n tail the Candlelight Program. It's getting closer and R is getting nervous. But I am in the throes of organising my UK trip so things are a bit tight for me too. Later today it's time to book the BnBs for Birmingham and Brighton, then next week the train and coach trips for commuting to London and Brighton. Oh well, it's just sitting down to concentrate for an hour or two, and it'll get done.

Don't sweat the small stuff, I tell myself.

RAIN! But disaster in Nepal

Yes the rain has set in but the news from the awful earthquake disaster in Nepal is getting worse. More than 3,500 are dead and 6,500 injured and these numbers are climbing. About twenty Kiwis are there and missing, so it looks grim for them and their families. This was an earthquake-prone area and no-one would have been that surprised with the results of this natural disaster. 

What can you say, but May the Blessings Be!

My veranda..to the left,

and to the right.

Praying for family members...

Indians leaving Nepal...

Kiwi pie success story in Shanghai

Last night I began my bookings for hotels in Birmingham and immediately see I have missed the very cheap rooms. From now on they get dearer and dearer so today is my last chance - book or be damned! Have finalised the Brighton end and the Oxford part is pretty finished, so now it is just Birmingham, and the Seminar of course, to book and pay for. Early organisation is of the utmost importance in travelling and I should have learned that by now. So after a coffee at the Mediterranean in Newtown, where I have just dropped off a large box of clothes to the Animal Rescue Charity, including my revered American Army great coat, I feel I have made a start at reducing my travelling possessions. Good on me!

I hope I can declutter more in the next few weeks as it will make the final move so much easier. The rain doesn't help, but then in Wellington you never let the weather affect your plans or you would do nothing!

Caught an excellent doco movie on way home from ECK class. A real fashion flick, it was called 'Dior and I'. It was unusual and accurate and quite absorbing, if you are a fickle flimsy fashion aficionado like moi. It showed the real world of haute couture, one which I flirted with in London and Paris in the mid seventies. Nothing has changed much, just more hype and more money.

Monday Holiday at Zaida's

The rain has finally come to drench Wellington after being really good to us over the Anzac  remembrances. So I am out to get some photos printed at Harvey Norman and also have a coffee and sandwich at Zaida's right next door. It is excellent as always, and I picked up on some local magazines to have a look at. 'Next', the top Kiwi women's glossy mag, is a good example of female pride and achievement in NZ. But it is 99% white and very middle class. So not much of lefty politics there. 

'Capital' on the other hand, a great Wellington specialty mag, has a lot of meat on its bones. Typical is an article entitled 'Richie McCaw is Gay' and giving a page on sports writers and the opinion that who gives a stuff if Richie is, or isn't. This is two years old this mag, and Richie is still being seen with the odd beauty on his arm, but remains vehemently single. Nice to see it getting an airing though. The writer quoted the great Aussie league footballer, Ian Roberts, who famously came out as being gay.

Baguette and roast beef sandwich

The thinking magazine

Dear sweet Richie, my fave All Black 

The classic nuclear family in Lower Hutt

This arvo I have another rehearsal with Tiwhanawhana for the Friday night commemorative wedding party for an amazing couple of queens, John and Des, who are celebrating ten years of their official marriage, although they have been a couple for over fifty years. I am hoping to attend it, even as the drinks boy, as it should be an interesting part of gay New Zealand folklore. It is also at Zealandia, a bird sanctuary I have long wanted to visit. So now on to baking a cake for the week, carrot and walnut, as Tom has given me a bag of nuts from his tree in Norsewood. Let's hope the rain lets up for a while as it has been very, very, wet!

Te Aro Valley Chai

It is Sunday, my recovery day, and I have done the market shopping and am now sampling a taste of what I consider quintessential old Wellington, Te Aro Vally. It is just on the outskirts of the north inner city, but still only a short walk to anywhere. Things have stayed the same here for the last century it seems, and the desire to keep this heritage intact is alive and well. I decide to have a chai tea, opposite the main cafe where I have been before. The Haya Cafe Deli is vey family run, with bread baked on the premises it seems, so I have bought a loaf to take home.

The Haya Cafe Deli at Te Aro

Fresh baked bread and Kiwi Chai

Not wasting a minute...

They do destroy some things however...

There is no doubt of the authenticity of this city. It has its own style and always has proudly not only kept this style, but where necessary, has embraced the future with both hands. Certainly in the IT industry it is on the cutting edge, and it was this that initially attracted me so much to this quaint accessible city. It is old, but new. It embraces change, but appreciates what it has had. In the area of food and drink I believe it is unsurpassed anywhere in the world, and this is in part, because of the fierce food and agriculture control the islands have always had. Let's hope they keep it like that as the rest of the world seems to be going in the opposite direction. 

This morning I had a welcome response from old friend M. in Oxford and they want me to come to see them in August. I can now tailor my movements around this one fixed spot. Next thing is to lock in A. at Richmond, and after that it is all up to planning the Birmingham end. Three nights at a BnB and three nights at the Brittannia Hotel I think is the way to go. Hopefully I will get someone from the Seminar to share my twin room at the Brittannia. It is slowly coming together but I still have this end to finalise, the house and car in particular. But I'll leave that till a little later.

St Kilda vs Carlton

This was a game I couldn't miss, my Aussie Rules team St Kilda playing Carlton at the Westpac Stadium, their Kiwi 'home'. The weather was great, and although I had had a pre-dawn start, I was going to enjoy this first game, for me, on Kiwi soil, of the 'Game Made in Heaven'.

As always the Saints began well, but by the second half the shakes had arrived, or was it the pep-talk given by charismatic Mick Malthouse, coach of Carlton which changed the course of the game. Anyway the result was that Carlton wiped the floor with the Saints and won by a good five goals, leaving the Saints with a red face. They were lacking their great leader, Nick Riewoldt, of course, but still....

It was a good game for the most part, but the atmosphere of the MCG certainly is not in Wellington. The locals just don't quite understand the skills and finesse of this Aussie football. There is really nothing at all like the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A minute's silence in respect of the Anzacs

In amongst the Saints followers

Half time recovery, with fish 'n chips.

...with clouds appearing for the Saints!

After the sad loss by the Saints I had tea with Ron to recover my spirits, before returning to the Cenotaph in front of Parliament House for a planned Peace Vigil with some friends from Interfaith.

It was indeed, a full day, this centenary of Anzac!

Dawn Anzac Service

ANZAC Day 2015

My alarm went off as scheduled at 5 am and I struggled out of bed having taken 2 mgs of diazepam the night before to ensure some sleep. I notice my housemate Fir has already silently disappeared to her workplace, it being a heavy day at the Karaka restaurant today.

Throwing on my heavy khaki American army topcoat, I manage the short trip with all green lights, to find a parking space not too far from the Memorial Pukeahu Park. I see that the nearby roads are absolutely packed with parked cars and fear the worst. The Dawn Service is going to be more than packed. I park at St Mark's Church parking, my car is OK there I am sure, and quickly join the lengthening throngs of silent walkers going up the Basin Reserve towards the new Memorial Park. 

It is already five-thirty so the service will have commenced. I was still not quite prepared for the numbers that met me as I reached the park. There was no way I could get anywhere near the Memorial, and even with five large televised screens to show the ceremony, I could not manage a standing space nearby to even witness the solemn unfolding of this historic event. The Governor General, Maori Sir Jerry Mateparae had just begun to give his address as I found a place near the wall where I could sit down if necessary. There were thousands of Kiwis in attendance, all ages, families and their dogs. It was a mammoth task to keep this enormous crowd safe and organised. The Wellingtonians were showing their solidarity.

The ceremony continued with the Govenor General from New Zealand being followed by the Aussie GG Sir Peter Cosgrove, who immediately after this event was on a plane to return to OZ for the same service in Canberra. A busy man on this centenary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli.

The PM John Key gave a somewhat uninspired speech, possibly still suffering from his ignoble recent sexual harassment of the young waitress. The 'Last Post' sounded loud and strong into the stillness of the still-dark early morn over Wellington as the ceremony neared its close. It had been emotional and impressive, inspite of the difficulty of vision and the crush of the crowds. One person received paramedic treatment nearby  as the crowds proved to be too much.

Finally the moving and beautiful 'Abide with me' was beautifully rendered by the massed choirs and then the two National anthems were sung. I raised my voice for the Aussie 'Advance Australia Fair', and heard a few other Aussie voices not far away intoning the not too exciting words. The Kiwi anthem, on the other hand, was more than impressive, with the Maori words rolling off the tongue of the man in front of me, and then the English version of same. 

This brought to an end my first and only Dawn Centenary Service in New Zealand. I was very happy to have experienced this output of remembrance and solemnity that the Kiwis produced so movingly on this very important day. Feeling a bit faint, I waited for the huge crowds to disperse a little, before making my way to Cuba Street to the CQ Hotel which had advertised brekkie after the show. A queue a mile long told me it was not the place to be, so I waited in the downstairs foyer watching a rerun of Chunuk Bair as this awful heroic disaster was retold on the tellie.

Afterwards I repaired to the CQ cafe for a coffee and desultory bagel, joined by a few Italians who were animatedly chattering to the waitress in Italian. So what's new in multicultural Wellington, on this cool but fine morning, celebrating one hundred years of giving, in total, over sixteen thousand Kiwi lives to support a decaying Empire which used this manpower mercilessly for its own imperialistic ends. 

What a tragedy was Gallipoli, and never to be forgotten.

May they Rest in Peace. Lest we forget.

Am now off to Westpac Stadium to see my Aussie Rules team St. Kilda play the Blues, Carlton. Should be a great game, even without my favourite skipper Nick Riewoldt who couldn't make it for the game today, and it's sunny blue skies, thank you Wellington, and 'Go the Saints'!

PM John Key showing his normal style and dignity....

(Photo on wall of CQ Hotel cafe)

 

The Dawn Service program...

The Maori words of the National Anthem

A long wait for brekkie at the CQ Hotel on Cuba St.

Great crowds at Dawn Service

Two Anzac Movies

I wonder if I may be doing Anzac over-kill this centenary year of the Allied disaster at Gallipoli. With another Kiwi documentary of four young soldiers gallantly, if naively, volunteering to save the British Empire in WW One, and then a film about the valiant Kiwis taking and holding the Turkish hill, Chanuk Bair, while their English commanders drank brandy and sent them to their inevitable deaths, it may be just a little too much. Tomorrow will culminate at dawn with a service to remind everyone that this war will never be forgotten. Chunuk Bair, by the way, was the only brief success attack in the whole of the Dardanelles disaster, and attributed totally to the New Zealanders and their staunch fighting capacity

It is not an easy film to come home from, but it is another salutary reminder of the stupidity of war.

Film Archives in War mode

A nice place for a lemon and honey drink

The March

It is such a balmy autumn day in Wellington I have chosen to sit with the smokers, the elite, outside on the pavement at Memphis. The city seems quiet in preparation for the biggest Anzac March ever, with Sir Peter Jackson being one of the organisers who provided real-life replicas from the First World War. Apparently he is a real aficionado of this War, as an historian also. I will certainly be there to witness it and also tomorrow with a plethora of a services happening. The Dawn one will doubtless be the most evocative.

Sunny Wellie morn...

Opposite the Opera House

The victim of the PM's hair fetish...today the famous mouth of Maori politician Winston Peters expressed exactly what I had thought about the weirdness of the PMs' pulling the hair, consistently, of the young waitress. He certainly does have a hair fetish, which has been shown in many earlier photos and reports from earlier 'hair touching times'. OK, it may be harmless, but it is still a harassment, bordering on the sexual and certainly I hope it comes to court as he needs to to be properly censured. In his position he has to learn he is not God, just as Tony Abbott, his silly Aussie counterpart, needs to be shown that he is a twit as well.

This photos of the diggers in the trenches was in the drawer of the desk where my coffee sits. It shows exactly the ugly and extremely difficult close encounters that the WW1 soldiers experienced. Smoking, it seems, was their only release from the awful reality of killing other men, especially in the case of the Turks, who were just defending their country from invasion after all.

Getting ready for the Last Post

...and St Kilda is coming, albeit Shane Savage from Auckland!

The real thing (with extras!)

Rousing Scots Band

The march, much smaller than I had expected, was really a tribute to the entrepreneurial skills of Peter Jackson, who appeared, as per Alfred Hitchcock I surmised, in the rear of one of his very authentic army trucks. However apparently earlier in the parade, the original vintage army vehicle in which he was travelling had irrevocably broken down. How real was that! But next stop is the War Museum exhibition he has created.

However what this parade lacked in numbers, it made up for in flair and originality with its director the Academy Award Winner Jackson. Perhaps tomorrow's events, on the real day, April 25, will have bigger numbers as it is nearly a holiday too. However I happen to think that all events, ceremonies, march and services, should be on the day itself, and it to be declared the Public Holiday, thus facilitating and ensuring maximum presence. But I must remember, there are not the numbers in NZ, nor, naturally, any Returned Servicemen as they are too old or no longer with us. However, in OZ, the march normally includes the families of old soldiers, and present, acting servicemen. They may be there tomorrow.

More Anzac

The city is hotting up for a mammoth fews days of sad remembrances. A concert tonight at Michael Fowler Centre with a symphony called 'Spirit of Anzac', composed by local boy Michael Walker, will hopefully have a good attendance. I hope to attend another music piece, a documentary movie at the Film Archives about the composition by Edward Elgar of a symphony commemorating the death of a young New Zealand soldier, who actually was the son of his beloved partner at the time. It should be interesting.

Symphony composed for Anzacswritten by Kiwi Tom Cardy and conducted by Aussie Ben Northey

What did we learn from Gallipoli?

This will be after I see a much touted UK contribution entitled 'Testament of Youth'. It looks like a real tear jerker as it is the autobiography of Vera Brittain, a young English rose in love with a soldier at war with Germany in WW1. It is to be shown as a preview at the Cuba Lighthouse so it is big movie day for me, finished off with Scottish Country Dancing, as always.

Twenty thousand are expected in Wellington over Anzac Day so I am wondering if an exit is the wiser option? Tom who just joined me for coffee at the Memphis, is going to Norsewood for the whole weekend, doing a small Dawn Service up there. Sounds like a much  better idea than battling with the thousands at Pukeahu Park!  I'll see what I can do to manage the crowds.

More news of OZ, bad news as always. The weather is monstrous in NSW, storms and high temperatures (what have I asked for?) and the oldies rebelling about low pensions and high cost of retirement. Well, what's new? You just have to learn to manage on a small income as I will be doing. I never have problems with that as I learned good lessons in frugality from my dear Mum who was master of saving a penny. But I am, I must say, also a good spender. Lol!

Weather in OZ..more disasters.

Aussies take off their blouses in protest!

Young love - victims in an awful war. It was indeed a tear jerker, but evoked with pain, the reality of a war-torn Britain and Europe. A sad, sad, testament

to the bravery of youth and the cruelty of warring nations. The assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand of Prussia had set in motion events, which in the hands of powerful men resulted in the destruction, not just of cities and towns, but of families and loved ones all over Europe, America and the antipodes. 

Another sad exit from a movie which was true, and well made.