Greetings or Kia Ora from glorious New Zealand with my hosts Darren, Jade(10) and Caleb (8). This winter I decided to journey to New Zealand for a few months. A destination that has been on my bucket list for almost twenty years but mostly because I had a good friend who lived here who promised to welcome me if ever I came. I have not seen Darren in 18 years since his month long stay with me in Boston. We were flat mates in London for a few years in the early 1990s. He has been a school teacher for 12 years and is currently a middle school teacher in the quaint dairy farming community of Te Aroha which is Maori for "the mountain we love" and he is also the loving father of two wonderful children.
Well my journey was long. New Zealand does not require a visa, however in hindsight I should have gotten a working visa which also would have cost me nothing for 3 months. Anyway ce la vais. After Christmas I travelled from Maine to Boston by car and from Boston to NYC by bus (Megabus.com rocks) and then NYC to LA and then LA to Aukland with American Airlines. I spent a few days visiting friends in Boston (Nathalie took me to Q, a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that is TO DIE FOR) and in NYC visited with folks now friends we have hosted at Kendall Farm Cottages and my first Peace Corps roomie, Liz who is doing amazing things in Ghana through Columbia Teachers College and even visited TiGeorge's Haitian Cafe in Los Angeles. The flight from LA to Aukland was an arduous 13 hours. I did watch the movie, The Help which was quite a film. We crossed the dateline in the air. New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the beginning of a new day. New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of EST in good ol' Maine so it took me a few days and my body a week to adjust to the changes. I made sure to walk around the plane every few hours but when I arrived at Darren's house 15 hours after departing LA my ankles were swollen. Oh ah ah the excitement of now being in my 40s. Darren's Mom is going to give me some leggings to wear on my way home. Apparently many NZers wear these because for them to go anywhere requires hours in the air and these leggings really help.
It is now summer in New Zealand so the temperatures are 80F - 100F. Darren is off from work for the Christmas school holiday which we timed perfectly with my visit. Currently plums-red, yellow, purple, kiwis green and golden and avocados are in season. I hope to be here for the passion fruit which is one of my all time favorite tropical fruits. New Zealand is LUSH, LUSH, LUSH with mountains, beaches, farmland, small communities, geothermal activity, weird and wild critters and some of the best diving in the world!
New Zealand is made up of two islands which together are the lengthish of Maine to Florida. However you are only really ever 40 minutes from the ocean from anywhere on the islands which is amazing! The population is only 4.5 million for the entire country and last night I learned that Aukland has 1.4 million residents of the 4 million and 30% of that population is Asian. There are lots of immigrants from the South Pacific islands and more and more from EurAsia. The minimum wage here is $12.75/hour, a gallon of gas is $10.00. One-third of the world's milk production comes from New Zealand and the cost is approximately $3.00 for 1/2 gallon. Food prices have jumped 200% in the past 2 years. The bungy jump was invented here in Queenstown so I might have to go and check it out!
Maoris, the native people of this island nation have their own TV channel in their language, their own schools, retain ownership of much of their land however keep it open to the public to explore and appreciate and most names of towns, mountains, rivers are in Maori as are the plant names. Sadly on the first day of Parliment of the New Year the Maori Party was a no show. The Maoris have so many legends and stories about the earth, environment and people. Darren and his kids tell me folklore on a regular basis which is wonderful. Certainly teaching kids these stories while they grow and develop in school helps them appreciate each other's cultures. The culture and language is taught in all schools nationally. It is quite fascinating. The Maori people, men and women are generally extremely tall with large builds and lots of tattoos on their arms, upper bodies and faces as well. No wonder the All Blacks rugby team looks so powerful with their warrior stances and incredibly enormous builds. Yes oh yes The All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup. New Zealanders believe that American football is woosie with all of their protective equipment. Rugby has hard tackling as well and no gear. But I am still making Darren and his son Caleb watch the Super Bowl with me in February!
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