At Jimmy's

Y It's Friday and I'm en route to BP for potluck lunch. Time to pop into Jimmy's for a coffee and read the paper. The paedophile murderer has been arrested in Rio, miraculously, with the aid of social media no doubt, and also because of his stupidity in not changing the way he looks. He's now in gaol and will be deported never to return I would say. Silly naive Kiwi that he is, but obviously he has a serious mental problem as well.

The footy is on, both here and in Edinburgh, the people are crazy for it. I never really thought I would be, but I will try to attend the Kiwi match tomorrow night. Just for the experience. 

The coffee at Jimmy's btw was excellent so I am trying, exceptionally, a second one. The waiter, a Latin from Argentina, reminds me so much of my Spanish friend from days in Besancon it is quite disturbing. So I took a couple of snaps of him, for the record. The scene at Jimmy's, in the foyer of the St James Theatre, is very special as It feels so European, even like Madrid in its spaciousness and decor. It takes me straight back to nostalgic days in Spain which I enjoyed so much. This sort of experience I will miss when I leave these windy shores. But I will be back.

Strangely I last night received a call from Benjamin a new Peruvian pen friend who lives In Port Stephens. He wants to meet up perhaps when I go there in January, he sounds very nice on the phone. Douglas my good friend from San Francisco also rang me out of the blue the other day and left a message. I was quite astounded as he has never before rung me. I will return the call one day when I get his number correct. Sis also sent some snaps from our recent family get-together in Sydney, see photo.

Our house is quiet without the presence of the vibrant K, and F has a bad problem with her foot, too much work no doubt. So things at home will be quiet for a while.The idea of a Newcastle sojourn doesn't seem at all unpleasant, but I must be realistic about the hot summers that they have. I suppose one could always visit Wellington for a break, ay? Lol.

Jimmy's, a popular breakfast haunt..

Photo from family reunion in Sydney..

...a rare reunion of four siblings.

The Argentinian at work..

..collecting dishes..

Football fever and tattooes galore.

A great Kiwi invention, The Thermette, I must get one!

At a Greytown retro furniture shop

Sitting on Jimmy and Daisy's seat, being thankful!

I forgot I had arranged to go with Tom on his job to Greytown for the afternoon. It is a most charming spot, so full of retro/antique shops selling lovely stuff at hefty prices. Perfect for the wealthy out-of-towners to furnish their country pads. I saw some nice dining tables of great wood for about four thosand dollars each, probably quite worthy of buying if you have that sort of cash. There is certain feel of wealth and laziness here, but not a Maori or Islander in sight, it's probably not the sort of place they would like to live in I'm afraid. It is where the twain shall not meet, this little gem of post-Victorian gentility. It is really quite similar to Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands out if Sydney.

Smith the Grocer in the Old Bank

Weather turned cold again. Koroi  has excitedly left for a three week trip covering the elections in the Solomons so the house is decidedly quieter without the interaction of the two boys. F, of course, forever at work, is a presence rarely seen. Last night we had the final Scottish Country Dance, a very well attended affair to which I arrived half an hour late due to the unexpected showing of the the ECK  Worldwide Seminar address by the Living ECK Master, which was not something I wanted to miss.

It was certainly worth the wait. The speech was as always, simple and direct, a series of anecdotes about people and their lives in a spiritual context. But at the end of his speech he was visibly emotionally charged and he made a pretty quick exit which is not his wont. Methinks there are happenings afoot in the next twelve months for which we must all be ready. The times are indeed, a'changin.

At this tradtional grocers's store in the Old Bank buliding on Lambton Quay

With a few old timers...

And some young ones.

Coffee at the Smith the Grocers was OK and the atmosphere just there, but the weather again played its hand. A chill wind makes things always unpleasant in this town. I wonder how Saturday night at the stadium will be for the fabled clash of the Kiwis and the Kangaroos? I hope I can get a ticket as it will be a tough game I'm sure. I have a full Saturday as at five thirty we have the Ceilidh as well, which happily finishes at seven thirty in time for my game at eight forty five. Again the fulness of Wellington life.

In the City Library for a quick browse, and to get out of the cold!

Memphis Belle

Sunny morn makes for a city coffee stop at my newest haunt - there are just so many of them - but the Memphis  has taken my interest at the moment, in spite of the heavy rap music they play sometimes. But it gets the morning sun, is bright and cheery and certainly serves excellent tasting coffee, their buns aren't bad either, and the service is good, yourself! 

Great long black...

Lining up for their hit....

...Courtenay Place active outside

Total Kiwi bungling at airport...

Today the truth comes out about the fiasco at Auckland airport where a convicted paedophile was allowed to escape the country to Chile and now Rio on another passport. No record was made of his  whereabouts after a 72 hour leave was granted, during which time he got a new passport, legally it seems, and just escaped. A convicted murderer and paedophile, he is now now free to roam around the world, at least in South America. The Kiwi legal organisation shows a lot wanting in this area of passports and lax laws. But it's just another example of the amazing anomalies that exist in this far-flung country. It's great at doing burlesque, by the way, and brewing designer beer! See below...

Kiwi success story....

Good reading at Memphis

Today is my last Scottish Country Dance for the year, and they ask to bring a plate, so later I will prepare something special. It won't be a great hole in my life when I do leave this group as they are not the most welcoming, just a wee bit Scottish, in their ways. And the big sports news, for me anyway, is that the Kiwis are playing the Kangaroos at Westpac stadium this Saturday. It will be a game I won't miss as it is a sweet souvenir of the same game I saw in Auckland at Eden Park eight years ago. Australia lost that time, I wonder how they'll go this time when I will stand to sing our National Anthem.

The Eleventh hour of the Eleventh day of the Eleventh month

Yes it is windy Wellington again so I batten the hatches and take a bus to the National Library in town. Always something on there and today is the WW 1 memorial which is very interesting indeed. And I am there exactlly at eleven o'clock, some interesting synchronicity there.

The exhibition is sad and true, with stories of conscientious objectors quite at the fore, as well as the sacrifice of the soldiers and their heartrending naive letters to their families back home, letters which took months to arrive. Sometimes I think NZ post hasn't got much better.

After the exhibition I have a coffee and scone at Home, my second favourite cafe, and always with something to read. Today, apart from the  Dom Post, there is a recent New York Book Review.

Interesting in the Post to read of the appointment of a new Kiwi boss of Te Papa after the last Brit has been posted off with many losses to his name. The new one looks like he has been employed for the bottom line, not for any cultural knowledge. The editorial says it all, he is a cultural philistine.

This is the weird part of wonderful NZ, they make such mistakes sometimes and don't learn from them. Doubtless their biggest success story is in sports, and Richie McCaw is the God of Rugby...see the cartoon..

I keep questioning why I am leaving, but I do know deep in my heart it is time to go so I just have to make every day a special one and the time will fast disappear. Today I am buying swimmers to have DSW printed on the rear, hommage to my new swim team for whom I am competing in January. It will be a farewell comp for me, possiblly two swims will be enough, I am not that young anymore I keep reminding myself.

A WW 1 soldier

A doubtful choice at Te Papa

King McCaw always there...

A welcome read every so often..

Lots of kids using this great library, also sleeping there!

Back at Gotham

Woke at six feeling so refreshed after a real sleep in my own bed I am already out and about meeting Tom for coffee at Gotham.

Have also done house chores and set up a a situation which is exciting for all concerned at number 42. More later about that as it is in the slow cooker but it is shaping up to be a successful result.

Am at Gotham in wonderful Spring weather...

Have even doffed my winter gear in anticipation...

My ruminations after the four day Hui are leading me, as I had thought, to the full realisation of where I stand, or not, in Kiwland. Such a wonderful, magnetic country, full of active charming people, but are they my whanau and iwi? This I the question I am carrying away with me from this very  tribal weekend in Whatawhata.

My iwi is obviously back in Oz, and my whanau I create wherever I may go, but Eckankar is the one essential ingredient. My life in Wellington is richer than it's been for a long time, but I feel that next year will be the time to return to my iwi and be of service there. The Kiwis have taught me a lot and I will continue to have an undoubted relationship with them, coming back regularly I am sure. But the drive is there, to go home to Oz and to be myself there as I am here. Lots to look forward to and a legacy to leave here in Wellington as well. Koroi may well be a part of that.

Typical Kiwi collecter, this time it is tea towels.

...and here a master craftsman sells his chairs in Carterton

Last day of Hui

The sun shines for the last day, a little hung over for some, but everyone feels a bit sad at the end of the great three day feast of friendship, brotherhood and above all, sisterhood. The number of trans boys and girls who feel safer to appear as their real selves must be increasing exponentially each year with the aid of such an event as this Takatapui hui. There should be more of them around rhe world.

The day was a bit shorter for us who had an eight hour drive to get home so we sadly had to leave before the final farewell where the decision was made for the next Hui venue in two years time. 

This one should be on my calandar!

Final discussions...

Sunny day to end...

Me, a wiser but tired man!

Hui -day three

KmThe day began after breakfast with a sunny start and the powhiri for the TV star of the day, Tamaki Coffey, who was made very much welcome, and later in the tent he gave us a talk about his rather modest start in life in Lower Hutt.  With a humble working class background of simple factory working parents he discovered he was different at an early age, so he began a pen-pal relationship with a gay man where he had to intercept the mail to prevent his parents from reading the letters. He also had a friendhip with Polly Filler, a very OUT drag queen, now starring in the Melbourne drag scene. At sixteen he came out to his parents and he says his real life began then, when he told his Mum and Dad who he really was.

He eventually went on to become a big TV star and came out publically when he won Dancing with the Stars, giving his favourite charity, the Rainbow Youth, over two hundred thousand dollars.

He met his partner Tim and had a civil union inviting a bunch of his favourite drag queens and some of his best gay friends. He wanted the straight guests to witness and understand just how well they were in their long-term gay relationships. He was a charming charismatic speaker and naturally received great applause.

After Tamaki a Samoan came on stage to tell his very different story of coming to NZ as a young man to really discover who he was. Both stories were salutory lessons in acceptance and individuality.

Some of our people...

Tamaki settling in..

The powhiri...

Picnic at beachside Raglan..

Weather showing us its best face.

Well after another one hour bus ride to Raglan, a pretty air-strip cum beach town, we returned to prepare for the the big final feast on Saturday night. It was indeed a big Maori food affair, with so much seafood and meats, vegies and salads, that people were tempted to really overeat. It was also an event  welcoming the presence of Samoan dignitaries. The floor-show after dinner with, amongst others, several hula dancing boy-girls was a fitting end to a big day and really the end of the main events of the Hui. A bus was also there to take people to the  Hamilton Gay Pride celebration especially postponed to coincide with the Hui. This I left to those with more energy and fewer years than myself, feeling an early night might be the better option. I needed a good sleep!