St. Patrick's in Sydney

It's only now St. Patrick's day here in Sydney; I guess I'm one day behind you guys. I stopped by a pub to have a Guinness (I felt duty-bound, as I am, after all, one-eighth Irish), but since I didn't know anyone it wasn't much fun, so I left afterwards. I actually hardly go out at night, not only because I'm too tired after touring all day, but also I'm just not that interested in it. I'm especially not into it these past few days, as I'm not feeling to great with the sunburn I got in Fiji, and just road fatigue. I always seem to wind up walking for miles, even when I try not to: today in Sydney I bought an all-day ticket for an "Explore Sydney" bus that covers all the main sights of town and you can hop on & off. At first it worked great; I hopped of at Darling Harbor and caught the next one, then again at Mrs. Macquarie's Point to walk through the Botanic Gardens. Then once more at the Museum of Australia, but somehow wound up walking all the way home to my hotel, for various reasons.
Anyway, I'm glad I did, because I saw a lot I wouldn't have, which I'll write more about in the next blog. And now I'm in bed with a show on TV about how climate change is affecting Australia. The country is very concerned about it, and it's already crippling some farmers. They even have a Minister for Climate Change-- Penny Wong, who, after hearing the disturbing UN report on glacial melting, is going to present a plan for Australia to reduce carbon emissions. Isn't that great? Can you imagine the idiots in the White House appointing a Secretary of Climate Change? Of course not-- that would be admitting that there actually is a problem! Ol' George could larn a thing or two from these here Aussies.
So, while the rest of the world is trying to create solutions to the problem, the U.S. administration, led by the President, is hiding its collective head in the sand and pretending it needs "further study"-- while U.S. oil companies continue to make record profits. I wonder if they're even required to donate a tiny fraction of all those billions to do any research at all to try to find solutions for global warming. Anyone know?
Might be something to ask back there in the states. After all, it's YOUR tax dollars paying their wages. They work for you. Maybe it's time we all reminded them of that.
P.S. Also, has Bush said anything at all in protest to the corrupt, cruel, crappy Chinese government for its treatment of brave little Tibet? No, that might hurt his business buddies, which is the only important thing to him.

Sorry-- in the words of Dennis Miller, I think, therefore I rant.

Fiji Time

Fiji was like a Caribbean island, only a lot farther away. I didn't actually see much of "the mainland" as they call the main island, but went right out to a resort on one of the small outer islands, Waya. It was just like I pictured it would be-- lots of coconut palms, thatched rooms (buras) on the beach, warm water for snorkeling, and a laid back, easygoing attitude (Fiji Time). When I arrived at the resort I took my shoes and watch off, and didn't put them on again until I left. It was only two days, but they were gloriously relaxed. My only regret is that I didn't have more time there.

I went on a scuba dive, got a beachside massage, and snorkeled over the coral reef right off the beach, which was my favorite-- when you scuba, you're constantly checking your gauges, keeping an eye on your dive buddy, and worried about your air; when you snorkel, it's just you flying over the reef, watching the fish. Picture one of those really cool aquariums you see in pet stores, full of pretty coral and lots of different exotic fish. It was like swimming in that. What could be better?

And the sunsets were pretty spectacular too. I took lots more photos like this.

There were lots of great people, like Chad & Dave from Jersey, gorgeous Ange from Australia (whom I got to dance with at the "Meke"), and two pretty German girls whose names I never got, but managed to get in a picture with them!

Unfortunately, I also got a bad sunburn from that second snorkel swim. I know, stupid of me, but I didn't plan on being in the water that long. Anyway it was so painful I had to do a bit of home first-aid that night, wetting towels and laying them on my back.

So needless to say, my last night in Fiji wasn't too "hot" (sorry, couldn't resist), but the next day was a nice day of relaxing on planes, going to Sydney to see my first glimpse of Australia.

Christchurch

Well, they were right; Christchurch is about as English as you can get without crossing the Cliffs of Dover. The streets are all named Litchfield or Manchester or something, and the stream that runs through it is even called the Avon. It's a pretty place to take a walk or go punting.

They even built a gothic church, which stands in the town square now. It's a pretty nice place to watch street performers or meet up.

I don't know that I'd even call Christchurch a city; it has no skyscrapers and it just feels like a town. I walked all around it the first evening, and along the river, popping into one of the many pubs here for dinner.

Then today I rode up yet another gondola to the top of one of the nearby volcanoes that seem to be next to every town in this country. Afterwards I caught shuttles to two different wildlife reserves, zoos really, but both with lots of roomy areas for the animals. The first one was cool, I saw kiwis, huge rhinos up close, I even got to feed and pet giraffes! The second place had a wallaby that let me pet it, and there was a surprise: one of the Arapawa goats, donated by Betty herself. It seemed to be craving attention; I felt bad to leave it.

I'm also learning to be more open to meeting new people. On the ferry over here there was a guy I noticed who was tall, bald, and looked just like Vin Diesel. He was even wearing weird goggle-like sunglasses; I took to thinking of him as "Riddick". Anyway, as odd as he looked, I never dreamed of talking to him, but near the end of the trip he happened to be near me, and asked me where I was from. It turns out he's from Bavaria, and was a really nice guy! So now, if I'm sitting on a shuttle bus or something I ask other people where they're from, and I've already met a girl from Adelaide, Australia, some folks from San Diego, and even a bunch of college girls from Japan! One of them even asked if she could take my picture after the ride, and asked me not to forget her. I also got a pic of us on my camera, but I have such a stupid, nervous grin on my face I look hideous, so I won't post it!

But I think I'll keep this up, talking to strangers!

Anyway, that's about it for New Zealand for me. This is as far south of the equator as I go. Tomorrow I have just time to visit the botanic gardens and maybe a museum, then I fly back to Aukland, then on to Fiji. (That sounds weird even to me!) So I'l be back here in a few days telling you about that. See ya then!

Arapawa Animal Sanctuary

Well,I'm on the bus again now to my final New Zealand destination, Christchurch, half-way down the coast of the South Island. According to the guidebooks, it should be the prettiest of the cities I've visited so far. The buses ("coaches" here) are really the way to go: you can relax, enjoy the scenery, meet new people, and maybe get a bit of reading or writing done. And the coaches are very nice, with large, comfy seats (better than most airplanes), usually with lots of empty ones, and even bathrooms in the back. These ain't Metrobuses!
The countryside along the coast reminds me of a mix of Oregon coastline and Texas hill country. It's quite pretty and green, with gravel streams coursing lazily to the sea. I've spotted some "Middle-Earth" type areas that look like the Lord of the Rings may have been filmed there. (There was a tour in Wellington to go see "The Shire", but I didn't have time.)
Anyway, I had a great time at Arapawa (pronounced Ara-PA-wa) Island and Betty Rowe's animal sanctuary. It was very isolated and a bit rugged, but that made it a nice break from the cities I'd been touring up til then. It's just a little farmstead with twenty or so Arapawa goats, a pair of sheep, two young feral island pigs that came around to scrounge, and assorted geese, cats, and a Weka or two, a Kiwi-like bird that humans haven't managed to wipe out yet.
Betty started her sanctuary in the '70's, soon after her and her late husband Walt moved there to manage sheep on the island. They soon discovered the beautiful wild varieties of goats, sheep and pigs that all have striking coats ranging from black & white to calico or torti-like colors, and sweet, shy personalities. After asking around they found that even the locals didn't know where they came from. Painstaking research indicated that they may in fact be descendants of old English breeds actually left there by Captain Cook on his expeditions in the 1700's. And even thought DNA tests proved that they are distinct, rare breeds (the English link has yet to be proven definitively), the New Zealand government, astounding as it may seem, wants only to exterminate them, as they aren't true native wildlife.
So Betty and her friends have been fighting the Department of Conservation for decades, and despite some government slaughters that have decimated the goat populations, have managed to preserve some on their 300-acre sanctuary, and export some to other rare-goat breeders in the U.S. and Britain. She is slowly gathering support from the media and people worldwide, so hopefully soon the D.O.C. will put a stop to the killing.
But even then the danger won't be over yet. There are less than 350 of the goats worldwide, hardly a plentiful breeding gene pool. And Betty told me about just a couple of years ago how she watched as a boat passed slowly by in front of the sanctuary (and its large "Animal Sanctuary" sign), then as soon as it was around the bend, shots started ringing out. The idiots ("hoons", as they are called here) shot twenty of the goats with high-powered rifles from the boat, just for fun. And these brave "hunters" even had children with them. When one of Betty's sons raced furiously after them, they fled for Picton, but were fortunately soon caught. But due to New Zealand's weak animal welfare laws, they were only fined NZ$500 (about $400) and the sho0ter's gun license was taken away. Keep in mind these were Betty's own goats, many of whom she had hand-reared since they were babies, and each had names and distinct personalities. The saddest part is, if they had only stopped at the sanctuary, Betty would have gladly welcomed them in for tea (as she does all visitors), and the children could have met and petted the friendly goats. But instead, like children themselves, all these morons could think to do was shoot them. I wonder what kind of lesson they thought this was teaching their kids?
This kind of callous disregard for other animals is unfortunately prevalent in rural New Zealand. One common method of "hunting" on the islands is for people to let dogs loose from their boats to run down the wild pigs and other animals, and attack them until, at last, if the hunters even bother, they come and shoot the prey. This kind of cowardly ignorance left a pig screaming in the woods near Betty's house, where her husband found it with three of its legs chewed off (whereupon he immediately shot it). The "hunters" hadn't even bothered to find it. And guess what? There's NO laws against this at all. It's perfectly legal here. And apparently the dogs trained to do it are half-starved, then thrown bits of pig flesh to fight over, just to get them used to that kind of thing. Wonderful pastime, ain't it?
So the battle against shortsightedness and ignorance continues, meanwhile Betty gets help from many volunteers and people who write or email from around the world. While I was there she received a letter and a $50 donation from someone who had read her story on the internet. But those a few and far between, and for now she mostly relies on her sons and other friends to help keep her little farm going. [If you'd like to read more about the sanctuary and see some pictures of the striking goats, click on http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/rowe.html
I had offered to volunteer there for a few days at the Sanctuary with Betty, who invited me to stay as long as I wanted. Her son Mitch met me in the nearby town of Picton and with his pretty wife Deb, bought me out to the island, where they have their own nearby weekend home. Betty met me on the dock with a hug, and we carried in the groceries I had brought. We hardly needed them--she served me delicious vegetarian dishes for my whole stay. There wasn't a huge amount of work for me to do-- I re-hung a shed door, pruned a large branch off a tree, did a bit of cleaning and general handyman stuff, but mostly I just enjoyed feeding and getting to know the animals. One afternoon I went for a hike up into the rugged mountain behind the farm and along the beach, and in the evenings we sat on the porch with a stupendous view of the bay, and had long talks about life in New Zealand. It was, so far, the highlight of my trip... I even got to name a couple of the animals: there are two magnificent rams, but they were just called "Rambo I and II"; I named the second one Ramses. And a handsome male goat wandered in from the hills and settled in, purely voluntarily, with the herd at the sanctuary (perhaps it's lonely in the wild); he is a beautiful, healthy-looking specimen, so we came up with--what else?-- "Hercules". (Note: when he arrived, the resident couple of geese made sure he knew his place, by pecking at him for a bit! He took it calmly and now hangs around with the other males, an accepted member of the family.)

One final note about the island for you astronomy buffs I had what was quite probably the best, clearest night of my life for stargazing while there. The island is practically uninhabited, it's in the middle of the Pacific, and there was no moon-- we're talking clear, dark skies. So after dinner, I walked up a little rise to the gueast house to go to bed, and I remembered to look up. Well, there should have been an orchestra playing a crashing symphony, or at least some of that stargazing music from Cosmos, because I was awestruck. Stretching across the whole sky was the Milky Way, big and bright and you could see why it was called the 'backbone of the night" by the ancients. I could almost hear Carl Sagan saying "billions and billions of stars". The next thing I saw was the constellation Orion-- but oddly, he was upside-down! --but even then, he was so bright, his sword stood out better than I'd ever seen it. Then I immediately hunted for the Southern Cross, which I spotted quite easily, big and bold, hanging there in the sky like a celebrity I'd read about all my life but never seen until now... then I noticed Leo, which I'd also never seen except in observatories. always being too low on the horizon.

And finally, I noticed a fuzzy patch of sky that looked at first like a comet I'd seen once, but much bigger. Then it sunk in to my head that this must be one of the fabled Magellanic Couds, the sister galaxies to the Milky way, also visible only in the southern hemisphere. I had forgotten all about them until then. I must have stood there for a half hour, struck by the majesty and permanence of those stars, and felt, for a moment, a kinship to the universe that I've never felt before. It's hard to explain, and I'm sure it sounds corny now, but I stretched out my arms and said out loud, "I'm part of all this", at the same time knowing that my life is fleeting and insignificant against the backdrop of Eternity.

Sorry, but I guess the splendor of it all brought out the poet in me.
Next: Christchurch: City of Gardens.

Wellington

I think these pics are pretty self-explanatory... Wellington's a nice place. I thought Aukland was the capital of New Zealand, but it's actually here, which I'm sure most of you already knew! The city's nestled in a harbor in front of some mountains (or more likely old volcanoes), so the cable car goes right up from the middle of town to a great viewpoint and gardens.

[Later] Well, that was a big waste. it's finally a clear night, so I went outside hoping to maybe see the Southern Cross, but the city lights are so bright you can barely see any stars at all. I've been here 5 days and still haven't seen it! But that's ok, this weekend should be much better when I go out to that island with the goat sanctuary; according to the picture I saw of it, there's almost nobody living there... it should be nice dark skies-- if only it doesn't get cloudy again! (Speaking of astronomy, Joe and Mike, I found out that New Zealand time is exactly twelve hours different from Greenwich time, which means I'm on the opposite side of the planet from you! Happy now?) Another nice thing tonight, even though I've started to get used to sleeping w/o a fan (yes, can you believe it??), I asked last night here at the Wellington youth hostel, knowing that there was no way they'd have one, but just in case. Well, of course, they didn't, but the nice young guy at the desk really made a search (they actually have some, but use them for other things); and today when I got back from sightseeing, there was a fan buzzing in my room! I made a point of thanking the lad. The rooms in this hostel, although still pretty bare, are way better than that horrid first one in Aukland. That one had only one small prison-cell-like window way up high that only opened a few inches, which helped not at all the stifling heat of the room. I had to prop the door open to get what little air I could, which I'm sure made all the young girls passing by think I was creepy. (*Look, Helga, there's that old American trying to watch us again*) And there was nothing in the room but two beds and a battered old fold-up chair-- this one has a nice little desk and end tables. Even the reading light was horrible, because it was mounted right over the bed so it shined right in your eyes as you tried to read. And of course, early in the morning, construction was going on outside! Needless to say I didn't sleep too well. But tonight I'm going to bask in the luxury of a cool room and a humming fan to lull me to sleep.

P.S. Oh, and C.A., you were asking about the water... it's fine, I've been drinking tap water all over this place (I try to save a little plastic by not buying too many new bottles). No worries there, mate!

Some Notes on New Zealand

If you're curious about this island country, here's a few observations:

Money: their money is beautiful, the "paper" bills feel like paper but are practically un-tearable, and each features some famous New Zealander on one side (except Queen Elizabeth on the $20) and native wildlife on the other. The bills even have a little clear patch with a watermark in it-- rather hard to forge, I think.
Maoris: The native New Zealanders are everywhere; they work in shops, drive the buses, I think even one of the pilots on the Air New Zealand plane was one. They have a distinctive look, kinda like Hawaiians. I was told by a little old lady on the bus that they have been given a lot of land back. For instance, she pointed out a mountain we were passing and said it was Maori-owned, and people were not allowed to go on it as it was sacred. Perhaps the U.S. government could learn something here.
Weather: It's exactly the opposite of the U.S. By that I mean it's exactly the same, only as you go south, it gets cooler. Being late summer here, Aukland up north was like Tampa's weather was last month: t-shirt & shorts. But a 10-hour bus trip south to Wellington means now I'm wearing jeans and a long-sleeve. Another odd thing I didn't think of-- the days are longer here. Well, sure, it's late summer... only I somehow didn't realized that would change the length of the day. Helloo? Wakey wakey, Dave!
Oh, and I have yet to see the constellations here. It's been cloudy every night except the first, when frankly I was so tired I forgot about it. Maybe tonight will be the night I see the Southern Cross!
Land: I don't know what my expectations were, but it seems pretty much the same as the U.S. east coast. It's very green, although that lady said there's been a drought here this summer. One sad thing: she pointed out miles of cleared land were you could see bulldozers had pushed all the trees into great mounds of decomposing matter. She said it was to make more room for dairy farms, and that it used to be all woods. Which seemed a little sad, to me, especially becuase, just a bit further on, we drove through endless miles of treeless scrubland. It seems if land needed to be cleared and grass planted, why not that area instead of woods?
The lady also asked me what the U.S. is doing about carbon credits. I had to tell her that U.S. corporations and the government don't give a hoot about carbon output or credits, which is frankly an embarrasment-- just one more reason to look forward to the end of the Bush administration.
But the main difference in the geography is underneath: it's very volcanic. Places where they've dug out (like on a highway through a hill) the earth is ash-grey. The main lake in the center of the North Island is an old volcanic caldera. Many of the cities are actually build on the sides of extinct volcanoes. And in the town of Rotorua, where there's steam vents and bubbling mud pools everywhere, you can even smell the sulphur!
Quirks:
Travel agencies are "Flight Centres", and there's a chain of PetSmart-type pet stores called "Animates".
There's an odd mixture, especially here in Christchurch, or old English place names (Canturbury Place, Worcester Street) and Maouri (Waitangi Rd, etc.)
Everyone's been asking me what I thought about the campaigning in the U.S. It seems they know more about it here than I do!
It's very English here: they drive on the left side of the road, every hotel has a teapot and tea in it, and in every town there are "Tearooms" and of course a pub or two, as well as a fish & chips shop.
The accents range from very posh, finishing-school English to rough country drawl almost as thick as an Australian's.
They seem to be a fairly "green" and forward-thinking country, yet they sell animal skins in tourist shops, and are flattening their own forests to make room for dairy and sheep farming, a rather unnecessary and highly inefficient way of making protein (of course, this happens all over the world as well). Fortunatley the big, ugly American way of factory farming, with its gigantic cattle barns and polluting feetlots, has not caught on much here yet, but it's probably just a matter of time. Veal is very much for sale here, as well as eggs from battery-caged hens.
All in all, New Zealand seems to be still an unspoilt, low-populated country. I would hate to see it paved over, Wal-Marted and Disneyfied, and turned into a mini-America... Please let it not be so.

Aukland & Rotorua

It's funny, but I think some places need time, like wine, to grow on you. Aukland may be one such place. I may have given it a bit bum rap. The second day, the sun came out, and I went for a walk to the nearby "Domain" park, a huge swath of grass covering acres of open parklandand beautiful tropical trees, which oddly happened to be all on the top of an ancient volcano-- you could even just make out (if you knew what to look for) the caldera, or cone, right next to the Aukland museum, poised majestically near the top with a magnificentview of the city. The museum was actually quite impressive, even from a boy who's used to Smithsonian standards. It was packed with great Maori artifacts, including a huge war canoe carved out of a single tree that could hold up to 100 warriors. It also includes, on the top floor, the history of New Zealand at war, with walk-through exhibits of life in the trenches in WWI. But what I liked best was the evolutionexhibit, showcasing a giant Moa bird towering three meters (over 9 feet) tall. I mean, the leg alone was taller than I am! And thisis a BIRD! It looked like a dinosaur, for pete's sake! The shame is, it was driven to extinction by humans only a few centuries ago. If not for overhunting, it would still be around today. Can you imagine zoos with birds as tall as an elephant? Incredible.
Anyway, then I walked around other parts of the city, including right through the beautiful university section, that were quite nice.I guess you shouldn't judge a town in one day. I looked at a map of the city and realized that I had just scratched the surface of it.
Then yesterday it was raining, which was good because I spent most of it either on the computer this morning or on the bus coming to Rotoruathis evening. Rotorua isn't an exotic island, although it sounds like it should be! It's a town half-way between Aukland and Wellington, pretty much right in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. It's an average sized town on a big lake, so it has a nice waterfront,where I walked today among hundreds of birds... there was hardly anyone else around as it was still raining. And no, I had no bread to feed them! (I wanted to, but the nearest store was blocks away.)
Anyway, I had heard about a historic old pub named the Pig & Whistle. New Zealand, founded by the British, is full of old pubs likethis. So I found it and almost right away got invited to join the table of two Englishmen, Brian and Mark, and we proceeded to have a greatconversation, good food, and several rounds of beer (I wanted to sample the local brews, and did). These guys, both about my age, were both working towards getting citizenship in New Zealand, which apparently holds enough interest to draw people from all over.We were later joined by another Brit ex-pate, a pretty young 20-year-old girl from Nottingham who was also trying to emigrate to N.Z. She wasworking two jobs and didn't know what she wanted to be in life, just that she liked to travel, having done so as a child. Sound familiar?
So that was my one night in Rotorua. Todday I leave for Wellington, which according to my two new British friends is the best town to be in here.I was supposed to meet up with Brian this morning to ride the "Zorb", the giant inflatable ball that you get inside and roll down a hill; he said he'd meet me at the hostel at 9:30-- well, exactly at that time I went downstairs to look for him; the receptionist said he had come early, anddecided that I must be sleeping in, so he left. Here's a clue, people: if you say you're gonna meet someone at a certqin time, WAIT UNTIL THAT TIME before you leave! I mean, I was a bit hung over anyway, and not feeling quite up to rolling around inside a huge bouncing ball, but it would havebeen nice to at least say goodbye to the fellow. Anyway, I'll push on to Wellington and see what it has to offer. See ya then!