Last day at Long Bay

As you see from my pics it is a cloudy and somewhat cooler Sunday, perfect for a quiet day of recollection.

I cancelled my planned trip to the Hot Baths at Waiwera, leaving the space for a more enthusiastic member to attend. More talks to attend on updates and a legal battle which should be more interesting, I decide to stay back and pack for the afternoon's trip to Waiheke Island and the Norma visit tonight.

Last night the talent show was a fun experience opened by our Maori contingent, me included, singing a couple of Waiata with the appropriate dance moves, which was greeted with much applause. The major event was Ailua singing Ella Fitzgerald's 'My Funny Valentine', which he did with great emotion and received an ecstatic audience response. He was very happy. Afterwards we all repaired to see yet another movie, my third sighting of the great English winner,  'Pride', which was shown to an appreciative audience. Then off to a good night's sleep.

It has been good so far, nothing great, but most enjoyable, with some good re-acquaintances made and it will be sad to say goodby later today.

Heavy clouds...

....the Chapel in the sky...

...from my balcony.

This morning, the Canadian new incumbent, Mark Fisher E.D., gave an informative spin on the legal position of hiv positive people on disclosure.

Should hiv become a notifiable disease as has been signed into national law in Canada? Dr Peter Satxon, social scientist specialising in hiv and AIDS spoke to this topic.

Are we a public health risk? If hiv is notified then our freedom will certainly be curtailed. Stigma is still rampant in many circles in New Zealand even within the gay community. The Bill about the NHI, the National Health Index in Canada, was the subject under discussion. Mark is making a pointed proposal on behalf of Body Positive to the NZ government.

The emerging problem of HPV, human papiloma virus, (genital warts) was discussed with Peter Saxton endorsing the new vaccine now available as essential for the younger people where HPV is now rife, but also advisable for both sexes who are sexually promiscuous up to about the age of fifty. 

Sex has certainly created some problems for the health industry, or has it just created a gold-mine for the interested drug companies? One could ponder that question ad infinitum. It was an informative meeting all the same.

Interested discourse...

Writer's Workshop

At the retreat we have just experienced a great Yoga Workshop and now have a writer's workshop conducted by an American standup comedian. 

A varied group came together who all write for different reasons.  

He wanted us to use pen and paper so here I am now having a break from my i-pad..

All finished well with a little more stimulation to start getting my blogs more readable to the GP, or even just my Facebook friends. Perhaps they could cope with it. Of course soon it will be from Australia instead of NZ and that l ge a totally different stpry.

However this afternoon we had the Maori AGM called Ti nana ora, or Body Alive, as there is no translation for 'Positive' in the Maori tongue. It was so inclusive I felt immediately a part of their whanau making my decision all the more poignant and difficult, as the more I become defined in the Kiwi context, which is so welcoming, the more I find it more difficult extricate myself from it. But of course this is just on this 'hui' or get-together which I can always attend even from as faraway as Gosford in NSW.

Long Bay Bliss

Arriving at the Retreat site at the very beautiful Long Bay, about forty five minutes north of Auckland on the road to Whangerei, the mini bus is quietly expectant. The visitors traditionally love coming up here, especially from the cold southern climes, but today is not much different from the South as Mother Nature, quirky as even, brings grey skies and showers. But who knows, tomorrow it could be warm and sunny. Such are the vagaries of Kiwi weather, even in the North. There will be about fifty men here in total I believe, and the chemistry could be volatile coming from all parts of Aetearoa. The Maori contingent have set up their camp in the large long room which is nominated as Te Marae, with rubber mattresses strewn around the room as in the traditional Marae setting. This will be a space for the Karakia and Waiata during the weekend

 On arrival we were given our room key and a small pack of 'goodies', snacks etc, as our Glad Bag. It is the tradition. At six we are assembling for the opening meal and later to hear the overall plans for the weekend program. I know there is a three hour 'tramp' on each morning, but not having (stupidly) brought my rain jacket I will likely forego that pleasure. But there will be other things to do, not the least meet and chat with the new people. Already an formerly unknown Wellingtonian has appeared so there may be other surprises. My re-uniting with my Maori friends will also be welcome. I have been told I am sharing my small but nice room with B, a Wellington friend who is half Maori and half Pakeha, with lots to talk about perhaps. B is not arriving till later at 9.30 pm having taken a later flight so it is nice to settle in, solo.

View from my cabin...

Lovely verandah...

Looking back up the slope of Vaughan Park

After an afternoon nap

Airport delay

A bit of drama at the normally simple  Wellie airport. I arrived right on thirty minutes early to find most people already assembled and sitting quietly. Half an hour later no announcements of any reason for delay but finaly an apologetic Asian voice says there has been some problem with an accident to an incoming passenger and they do not know when we will be leaving. No more information. Typical airport obfuscation. No-one seems to say a word.

Patient Kiwis waiting..

Discussing the wait..

Ron overseeing the problem.

An hour later we take off with nary an apology and just some murmuring about seat fourteen which may have been soiled. I quickly order a muffin and airline coffee  (not a real one) to satisfy my lack of caffeine leaving home so early this morning. It is a full flight and I am sure there will be somedisgruntled  passengers. Friend Ron's flight is leaving two hours later so he texts me saying to find my own way from airport with American Neil who has already arrived, courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Enfin, Cafe Alleluya!

Well after a semi disastrous beginning I have arrived in the sunny and quite hot city of Auckland which is where we take a bus to our destination later this afternoon. 

Meeting up with New York comic Neil at the airport we took a Shuttle bus together to the centre where the action is starting. But having had no brekkie I repair immediately to my local and favourite cafe Alleluya to have two softly poached eaggs on ciabatta and a reasonable coffee. New Zealand being what it is, ie small and friendly, I happen to sight Bruce sitting alone, also availing himself of a caffeine hit. As he is here to counsel a young man in the news about hiv infection I say a quick hullo before I take another table and leave the arriving young man to his counsellor. I am sure he is in good hands, and I will be having long chats with Bruce during the weekend anyway. 

This weekend will by its nature be somewhat political as I intend, as I already said to B., to stand down from the Board unless my arm is twisted, but I don't think it will be. There are two candidates waiting in the wings in Wellington to take my place anyway. So out with the old and in with the new. Bruce can't speak anyway as it was his decision to stand down last year as well.

The tug o' war nature of my decision to quit these windy isles is always to fore when I talk with someone like B, a lovely Kiwi man who has lived much of his life in Sydney but who returned in times of crisis to help establish the New Zealand AIDS foundation, and following that, the formation of Body Positive. He is indeed an iconic Kiwi and will soon be appropriately honoured for his services.

Climate wise, Auckland is far in advance of Wellington with its insuperable wind channel through the Cook Straits. Here the weather is somewhat wild I must admit, but it doesn't have that battling quality which sets Wellington aside as the 'great achiever', a quality to which quite frankly,  I can't and don't wish to aspire. I am just too bloody old.. There I said it, the ageist card again, but I'm afraid it's true and the idea of settling somewhere where I have some old friends is becoming more and more appealing as I get on in years. And naturally it is in Australia where I have these friends - in Sydney, Gosford, Newcastle, Melbourne and even Tasmania, where I still have a soft spot nestling in my heart.

So now on with my last weekend away in Auckland, and I hope I can survive it unharmed and with some good things emerging from it. As well a nice visit to Waiheke to see Norma who has just informed me the sale of her house has fallen throught, the would-be purchaser having died from a heart attack. Oops, what's happening there? I hope her lucky streak is not ending but she is canny one and should be OK.

Last coffee before Auckland

It's a grey, cool day in Wellie and I am sending a birthday card to Benjamin ten days before, hoping it may arrive in time, but I doubt it. The mail here is abysmally slow and shameful for a capital city, but they have let the services go because of the fast downturn in letter writing ot course. Emails win!

Anyway I have sent my first card to B and I am sure he will appreciate it. Last night we had a long talk, or more like it, he had a long talk on Skype, telling me of his rather less than fantastic Sydney Mardi Gras experience. I wasn't too surprised as that day has had its time for people of our age. He had guests from Britain who weren't too enthralled by it either, but when you pay $100 for an obscure standing position without toilets, it seems to be a rip-off. He has learned a lesson there I think.

Just read the Dom Post, more drastic news of killings and X factor abuse on TV, also a memory of the 1986 Homosexual Law Reform which my friend Tom helped to instigate here in Wellington. It would have been a tough time in conservative Wellington as there is a strong Presbyterian strain here which did not allow differences, and certainly not gays.

Am now at the Memphis Belle, a bastion of freedom where all is cool in Wellie paradise. Now for the Auckland Jetstar seat booking and a very early start tomorrow. 

Koroi is still in the disaster area in Vanuatu and we don't know when he will return. So it is very quiet at 42 except for Sonny who is on the hunt for a mouse, using of all things, peanut butter as the lure. He has not much experience in mouse catching I'm afraid.

Am also off to pay another $80 fine for going over the 100 limit somewhere, they have had a real blitz on any speeding so I have to be so careful in my little Bella.

Memphis morning...

Wet and grey..

A tortured Kiwi killing an Aussie

Finally law reform in 1986

The Embassy upstairs foyerwhere I have just purchased two more French Film Fest tix for next week, although the large cinema is rarely full and one can always get a seat at the last minute.

Francophiles discussing their choicies.

Quiet after the storm

Am lying on my bed and it is calm after the tail end of cyclone Pam which devastated the Melanesian islands of Vanuatu and so many others. Koroi is there amongst the debris reporting for Radio New Zealand, we will hear all about it on his return whenever that may be.

This is my enduring memory of the beauty of my bedroom at number 42 Evans Bay Parade.

The view..

I have just had coffee with Steve to suggest he stand for the Board at this weekend's AGM in Auckland. He has agreed and I think he will be a shoo in, especially if I decide not to stand which I think is a good idea. However we'll see what the rest of the Board thinks as there won't be enough places for too many Wellingtonians on the Board.

I am gearing up for the weekend which will be quite exhausting as I am also visiting Norma on the way home. The Retreat itself is a tiring experience and I will be exhausted on my return.

At the Memphis before the gale

Well Cyclone Pam has wrought havoc in Vanauatu and I hear from flatmate Koroi who has been flown there  by Radio NZ to cover it that it is a scene of desolation. He is tweeting regularly and says there are eleven fatalities, not twenty-four as in the press. We will hear more later, but Wellington has virtually escaped unmarked except for some turbulent southerly winds whipping up the waves outside my window.

I notice K has taken a blanket with him in case the situation is dire and there is no place to sleep.

Wet on Dixon Street

Headlines in Dom Post

The disaster in the Pacific makes everything here inconsequential as life goes on. 

At our Interfaith meeting last night Kush gave a fascinating video clip explaining clearly the essence and teachingsof the Hindu Faith, or way of life, as he called it. It is amazingly similar, if not identical to Eckankar teachings, the major difference being the sound we use is not Aum, but HU, and we have a living ECK Master at all times. I mentioned this to the assembled group and the Chair peremptorily asked me why then, am I not following Hindu, and gave me no time to answer. I may have to write her a letter to elucidate the difference in the religions.

However in the meantime it is time to clear up my desk mess and put in order my affairs. A quick phone call to Maisie wishing her Happy St Pats Day also set me in a better state of mind. Maisie is always good for some sane advice when I get emotionally a bit carried away

Bleak, wet and windy outside