Caffe L'Affare

A cold day in Wellington and I arrange to meet Tom for a coffee on Tory at Caffe L'Affare.

I sit and am immediatley approached by two waitresses, very keen to have my order and even a chat. Perhaps  it's the weather!

 Otherwise, with my ad for housemate on the net I have had a reply from a Japanese girl Naoko, who may be interested. I have finally learned how to be when looking for a new housemate, expect nothing!

As well I have nominated myself as Team Leader in Neighbourly , a new internet neighbours website for looking after each other It's a good idea and I may even find some French students out of it. Who knows?

Just saw that my old uni mate Jill Wran's daughter is  up on murder charges in Sydney. With a good barrister no doubt she'll get off, it's amazing what a good dollar sign will give you as justice, one for the rich and one for the poor.

A music buzz in L'Affare, no wonder they have sponsored my neighbour Matt the double bassist, on their website. The food here looks quite good, but is expensive, nothing less than twenty dollars for something like a hamburger. I may try a plate that sounds interesting called 'sardines in a tin', no doubt, tinned sardines, ha ha ha.

De boyz at de lunch....

Lunch with Tom went well as always, all good there, so decided I could just scrape in a movie at the Lighthouse Cuba St to see a Maori winner called  'Dark Horse', about a former Maori chess champion, called Genesis,  who recently passed on but left a great legacy to young Maori aspiring chess players. 

Filmed in his native Gisbourne it brought all the Maori characteristics alive, and frighteningly well. Reminding me quite a bit of the famed 'Once Were Warriors' although not as gut-wrenching. The Maori culture is well represented on the NZ screen and this movie is certainly an example of its undoubted quality. An excellent and educative movie with great direction and fantastic performances especially by the young Maori boys. A real five star movie, for everyone to see.

Naoko just arrived and it was a mutual liking of her and she with us. However she needs a place now so not sure what happens there. A decision must be made on Saturday and I would keep it for her on bond payment. We'll see what happens.

Another new flatmate..

Guess where I am, yes Macca's in Basin Reserve, having a hot chocolate from a lovely islander barista. It is by far the best Macca's hot choc I have had so I am taking it as an augury that my new housemate from the Solomon Islands may be a goer, but you never know. Muriel's her name, a friend of a friend of Lesley, so who knows what will happen, you must never assume anything till the writing's on the cheque, I have learned that one by now. She seemed nice but is getting back to me in three days by text. I feel it may be a negative however, so I will go ahead with my Trademe NZ ad in tomorrow's listing, just to be sure.

In the meantime, back to square one. Life seems to be like that these days, two steps forward, three steps back, or perhaps I am being too hard on myself. After resigning from my Te Reo course I feel a little strange, as I did say to myself that I would hang in there, no matter what. But really, I am learning just SO little for the time I put in, however my experience has been profitable enough in attending the Marae and learning some Maori customs which are all important to understanding their rich culture, of which I am not at all a part, by the way. 

That said, I have no regrets in having attempted to learn their lovely sonorous language, full of love and longing, but just a little loaded on the Christian side with all their 'karakia' - prayers. That was really the straw which broke the camel's back as I certainly don't need to learn more Christan prayers. At least in Tiwhanwhana it is interlaced with a lot of humour and practical living customs, and of course, the poi which I love to learn, however slowly. It is a bit like Te Reo, so alien that I will take a very long time to learn it.

At McCafe...

Great hot chocolate...

The young Maori in All Blacks T shirt, very patriotic for their team!

I have started thinking where I  will be in three years time, when I start my seventh twelve year cycle in 2017. I really feel it won't be in NZ as my time will be up, but where, I am still not sure. I intend to re-visit Vancouver before I make any firm decisions, as that city has a distinct pull for me, in so many ways, but I may, by that time, be ready for a final solution, somewhere in OZ, and it is Newcastle which is beckoning. I hope to have a quick visit there on my October Sydney trip, just to see how it's going. After all it is now twenty years since I quit that lovely city. I have always thought it a possibility for 'retirement'...great climate, close to Sydney, nice friends, and a small city. Now I just need to hear from the ECK as to where IT wants me to go. Will I ever stop travelling, I don't really know, but I would like my own little pad with a pussy cat, one day, like I had in Hobart, but at a new stage of my life in a very different place. What is right for me will happen, that I know for sure.

Bye bye to Te Reo

The weather's bad, the days are long and I'm quitting Te Reo. Have just dropped into city to get glasses fixed, again!!! And having a cofffee at Lava. Today is D Day for Te Reo, I am going in to my class and personally giving my resignation at three o'clock...reasons, I have to start teaching French to bolster my pension and will have no more time to go to class...perhaps next year I'll say, but it is over. I have learned my bit of Maori and the rest can come gradually, if ever. Of course my attendance at TiWhanawhana stays and that will teach me more anyway. They won't miss me in the least, I just must move on.

In Cafe Lava feeling better with a long black and hot milk...! Gottit!

Have done it and have more energy to swim at DSW tonight...after many weeks absence I will take it easy!

Cafe in the Library....

It's always a good place to have a rest and catch up on international newspapers and today I chose the London Times which was pretty up to date. I realised I miss nothing not having regular newpapers and no TV, as anything important comes onthe radio which I  listen to daily. Today we had a lovely sunny day, it does change daily the weather in Wellington, if not two or three times a day, so I had better not expect a dry ride home which should be in a few minutes. A reply from Beth in Oxford confirmed my suspicions that her holiday for three months had been to long, three weeks is enough for me any time. I am now seriously considering my options in Wellington, and will enjoy the next few years with a goal in mind, and small preparations being made for that eventual move, wherever it may be, Vancouver, or Newcastle, who knows? A nice chat with old school buddy JD yesterday showed me how happy he is in Thirroul, just south of Sydney, but my choice would be more like Lake Macquarie, just north of Sydney. Wherever I go it will be a great move as I am learning a lot here in Kiwi-land and my next move may be a last one?

Last day, last film...

Well, it is such a beautiful day that I really don't want to miss out on the sun but am sitting here in the foyer of the Paramount feeling its rays while waiting for my final festival chance, a photographic scenic journey through the high country of Aetearoa, called Erewhon: Over the Range. Filmed  by a local lad  called Gavin Hipkins it will doubtless be filled with film enthusiasts and is a fitting terminal event to my festival, especially as my original choice, the Hindu doco about the religious pilgrimage called the Kumbh Mela, is sold out. This latter one was the film of 100 million, can you believe, Hindus, gathering over fifty-five days every three years. It beggars belief but then so does the sub-continent. No wonder I am on a steep learning curve with my Kashmiri housemate!

This morning after a domestic start with market shopping on the quay, I had my best ever coffee. Now I am only ordering a long balck with some hot milk as I always used to do to get what I wanted. No more  'flat whites' for me. It was in the Chaffers  building, in quite a humble cafe and very friendly, serving great icecreams too. It's where Kinto used to be on Sundays, but he has changed shifts.

 May still catch up with Tom later if he is free, which it seems, he is not. It is also time for a long heart to heart with Sonny about power excesses as he still doesn't understand economic usage. It is necessary to approach him intellectually as he seems to analyse everything to the nth degree.

Sunny Sunday foyer...

...full of young film lovers..

All perhaps waiting for the filmic journey of Aetearoa...

Well, it wasn't that really, although all footage was of Aetearoa. It was quite amazing and a great Kiwi quiet achievement.  The film-maker was in attendance and humbly later answered several questions in a hard to hear voice. Essentially the film was the visualising today of Samuel Butler's epic romance written in 1842, called 'Erewhon'. Hipkins, a skilled photo/cinematographer set to work to discover ancient and modern scenes of these islands, mainly the South island with its fantastic mountain scenery I think, and bring to life, with the aid of a beautifully narrated and edited version of his book, his musings and very prescient philosophies of life and living on this fragile earth. It was certainly a film worth seeing again, and was warmly received. Another example of advanced artistic creativity in New Zealand, quite exceptional. Very thought provoking and beautiful, six stars.

At te Marae

In middleWell the long weekend turned into a short one. The trip was simple, but unrewarding to say the least.

It is Saturday night and I am prematurely home, missing the major event of the Te Reo weekend, feeling that it was not worth the suffering to endure another night in a large cold space filled with seventy close together mattresses and many people snoring. One night, with the help of a valium, was enough. And the food was execrable, even for amateur catering, it was awful. Bad tummy after each meal, nothing tasty and leftovers offered for the next meal. I am sure the large  'hangi' offered tonight would have been by far the best meal, but I didn't wish to take a chance, and it was going to be a long night and I wanted a good sleep. The activities also were badly organised and very indulgent, so much so that I may finally give in and give up. It really was that bad. I left a generous 'koha' to help with costs but the offering was pretty paltry in my opinion, and I will now consider my options.

So back to Wellie to catch one last FF movie, this time one from OZ.

Entering the Marae, slowly being welcomed...

..some passed-on elders.

Rugged up against the cold, mattresses on floor

In the 'kai', eating room.

In middle, the Maori elder now caretaker of this Marae

Weekend on the Marae at Wainuiamata...

Well the weekend starts today, Friday, as I stuff my duvet into a big plastic bag to be my bedding for the weekend. God alone knows what else I'll need on this weekend which everyone tells me will be fantastic. The weather is already bad, my new French housemate has told me she has a new job in Napier and will be leaving at the end of the month. It is not a great start to my weekend but I must put all this behind me as I will get a new housemate who will be just as good, if not better. Sonny its turning out to be just that, a mother's boy with not a great idea of looking after himself, or his room as I noticed on a cursory visit. But he is nice but just hasn't been trained properly although I'm sure his mother thinks he is perfect. At least he starts a mini-job this Saturday at an upmarket restaurant on Oriental Parade. This will do him good, and I am happy to get him out of the house for a while.

So I am in Caffe L'Affare, the trendy cafe in Tory Street which sponsors my neighbour Matt. My coffee is a large flat white, and tastes only of milk. I tell the attentive waiter and he says he will get me another, with 'full extraction', meaning more coffee flavour and much less milk, which is what I really wanted in the beginning. Perhaps that is what I need to say next time as I am sick of getting a 'latte' for a 'flat white'. The second, complimentary coffee is much better, but still not my perfect coffee...perhaps I will never get a perfect coffee in these lower worlds.

Having just left Bella at Europe Motors for her WOF I am now off to BP for potluck lunch, I will pick up some sushi on the way. I have time for one short Spanish Russian Doco called 'Demonstration' at the Film Archives, before I hit the road for the Wanuiamata Marae for a long weekend, not too long I hope! Just received a late email from the organiser, my teacher Gaylene, giving me the Google Map which I had looked at already this morning. It still doesn't show exactly where the Marae is anyway! Such are Maori directions, quite a bit like Aboriginal directions, 'you'll get there mate'. 

It's interesting that the longer I stay here the more Aussie I become, and one day I will return I am sure, to take my place with my Aboriginal brothers and sisters. But I still have a couple more years to acclimatise myslf to the Kiwi life, which still has me learning a lot, and where every single day is a new adventure. When I stop learning, I will leave.

Caffe L'Affare on Tory St

The second, better coffee.

Film Festival Forever...

And now for two completely different films...

Rushed out this morning to catch two more films, leaving a sleepy household with Sonny never out of bed. This is my gung-ho soon to be Cordon Bleu chef, I don't think. His ideals are in the sky but cooking is on the ground and it's not where he is residing at this moment in time. We'll see what happens in the future. In the meantime my friend Karen has kindly facilitated an interview for French Ilham in her major supermarket chain. A job is what she needs, and unfortunately it is what Sonny needs too but doesn't yet realise it, nor it seems, want it.

So into town to catch a possible marvellous doco about British exploitation in the Congo....

In the sunfilled Paramount foyer....

A Texan Indie thriller, 'Cold in July'

A British eco-documentary about Virunga National Park and the threat of oil seekers in a National Heritage site in east Congo.

This was a chilling but true  narrative of two journalists embedded in the Congo, showing how the thirst for 'oil money' in a Heritage National Park outweighs all moral fibre and no country is above blame. Leaves a sour taste in your mouth as you realise that there is little that can be done and that Africa is the big loser in all ways. A sad story.

The buzz of conversation...

In an interesting foyer.

Coming out of 'Cold in July' I see the WIFF in full swing, it attracts such a cross-section of the society although I do notice a distinct white varietal strain of attendee. Sitting opposite me is a typical version of young, possibly single female, with friends, and also with a very spoiled Dachshund pup in her shopping basket. And on my left a young man with his parents, all movie buffs no doubt.

However the movie, a cool Indie with two major box office pulls in Sam Shepard and Don Johnson, was indeed a tough but realistic modern film noir, with US porn industry and black Mexican labour taking prime spots in what turned out to be typically gut-wrenching, but laced with the cool irony of a hardened director. I probably could have well done without seeing it, although it was very good in its own ugly way. 

I need a night singing with WOSOSI to get it out of my mind.