Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Anglican Labyrinths in Nelson
Symbols carry so much weight in our society. Should you have any doubt, just consider the significance of the golden arches, or the sign with a tent and red slash on it – no camping – we have seen a few of these along the way here in NZ, but have failed to heed them just as often!
It is interesting to see the symbols that do recur in popular and fast food culture, be it McDonald’s, Burger King, or KFC, the latter being the one American chain in which we have indulged since being here in kiwiland. The symbols that recur in Christian churches include icons, altars, crosses and crucifixes, but this is the first time that I have ever encountered a labyrinth in a Christian context. The concept apparently reaches far back into the Middle Ages, when it was a popular means of meditation.
Squatting at the point that forms the beginning and end of the labyrinth. As compared to a maze there are no dead ends, such that one walks to the center then turns and exits from whence one came. Great for meditation, and an intriguing relic from Church history.
I found the exercise extremely settling and was able to simply let all of my thoughts go, considering only the items of utmost importance in my mind.
The church in which this lay was set on the top of a high point in the city of Nelson on the South Island. The day that we arrived to the city, we were immediately drawn to the gothic-looking cathedral, and so set out our groceries on the side of the hill. As we prepared sandwiches and consumed some beverages, wouldn’t you know it, but a whole wedding party converged upon us! We were of course looking quite shabby after several consecutive days of camping and they dressed to the hilt for the big day. We immediately offered to move, as they planned to photograph at the big tree right near us, but they assured us that we were fine, and with kiwi hospitality encouraged us to stay right where we were. Absolutely amazing!
Side view of the Anglican Church where we passed the afternoon of 15-Jan.
The rest of the afternoon would have passed lazily there, but for the incessant bells that rang in the tower and inhibited us catching up on sleep. However from that moment we were infatuated with the small city, which hostel – the Palace Backpackers – became our home for the next four days, and which people were very kind and formed a beautiful setting for Daniel’s birthday on 17-Jan. We left finally on 18-January.
Carrie sits on the bed in our room at the Palace Backpackers – Nelson NZ. Highly recommended with more pictures and videos from our experiences there to come!
By far though, the most memorable moment in the city was the Cathedral and its labyrinth, and I find myself hearkening back to the thoughts of that time ever more as we continue along the at times crazy and wild track we follow through NZ!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Poached Eggs, Pesto, and Toast
One of the greatest things about exploring a new country is the experimentation with the local food combinations. Through a variety of different economic influences such as a supply and demand, the availability of ingredients and certain spices, as well as the impetus for each culture to share its own cuisine leads to a variety of unique plates. Here in NZ the cuisine varies as widely as the population. Without knowing too many of the specifics, NZ is a nation of immigrants as much as the United States, though people tend more often to come from India and Asia. And in our case, a man who had moved to NZ from Algeria.
Though not directly related to this post, this photo provides a sense of the “foreign-ness” that we here experience every day. I do not suspect one could ever find the term “tepid” used in the US to describe what is essentially a public hot bath.
On this particular day, I had headed out to the Auckland suburbs to drop Addie for her cooling system refit, and hence was without transport. Walking for a couple 20 minutes, I never found the library, but happened upon a fresh fruit market where I met a really nice girl from Pakistan, who went by the name of Annie. She had decided to marry a man by the name of Ben and had opened a “fruit and vege” shop, which litter the countryside and the streets of bigger cities throughout the country. She and her husband had traveled a ton though, and her stories were phenomenal. On my way there I had discovered that our mobile phone had miraculously died, and so I had no way of getting ahold of Mike, Carrie, and Daniel, who were assumedly waking up by this time at Debbie’s place.
Daniel is baffled by the mainstream use of the corresponding term for “napkins” in Australia and NZ
As it turned out I had little to worry about, as Daniel was sleep-deprived (as per usual) and Mike and Carrie were still recovering from the time change. This did not help me any, and yes pay phones do exist in NZ, but Debbie’s and every other useful number to me were stored in the now dead mobile phone! (I use the term “mobile” because it is the mainstream term in Australia and parts of NZ - “cell phone” usually merits you an odd look from the locals, so you make the adjustment pretty quickly).
Thus after a nice chat, Annie and I looked up all the Vodafone shops in the area, where I might possibly find a charger and get in touch with my compadres. They all turned out to be at least a 20 minute walk away, so being the shy individual that I am, I began to ask in the shops surrounding Annie’s fruit and vege. After enquiring with several Indians and locals, I came to nothing, though my last enquiry gave me a lead. And so half an hour later I was seated at the lone table in the Vodafone shop, charging up the mobile, and waiting for Debbie to bring everyone over so that we could proceed with our day.
A good view of one of the types of buildings that comprise the Auckland skyline
By this time I had been up for a while, so after a good deal of journaling, I decided to try to find something to eat in the area. My compadres were soon to arrive, but I was sure that I could find something quickly. So I bid adieu and poka to my awkward Vodafone friends, and proceeded to find two gentlemen smoking cigarettes outside of what appeared to be a pleasant breakfast-style café. The time was just shy of noon if I recall correctly. Irregardless, viewing the menu, I noted a combination of foods I had never before imagined: “Poached Eggs, Pesto & Toast – $6.50.” I couldn’t help my curiosity, and the price was right, so this is how I ended up in the car chowing down on a combo that was probably one of the most novel and best breakfast ideas I have learned in recent memory.
Munching away, I shared it with my newly arrived comrades, and thanks to Debbie once again, we made our way to the market and collected nearly $250NZ in goods and supplies. We were unable to find some things, and unable to bring ourselves to pay what was asked for others ($12NZ for duct tape!), but in the end it was and has been the novelties such as the poached eggs, pesto & toast that has made each day of this journey ever more interesting, and ever more invaluable.
Gnats were everywhere this morning: 1.20.11
"Oh no," said Carrie outside our tent. "They are everywhere."
I woke to the sound of frantic swatting this morning at our campsite outside Nelson Lakes National Park near Murchison, New Zealand. Thousands of gnats were instantly upon us, and we made it out of our campsite in record time- one hour, our best yet. For the next 60 kilometers to Murchison we kept feeling their bites and finding them hiding in bags. We are all covered in little red spots but are happy to have escaped.
We've been a bit behind on our blog postings and are doing our best to catch up with limited internet availability. Thought it would be good to post something that happened just a few hours ago. Thanks to all our followers, you inspire us to keep going!
Addie before she had a name….
For those of you who are a bit curious as to how the purchase of the car went down, here is a bit more info and a video that we took straight away after we purchased the car! About 1 hour after this video was shot, we booked it to the airport only to find that Mike was not there. This however did not dampen our excitement: we bought a car in NZ!
The night of 4–January when we purchased Addie from Mohammed who is the proprietor of Traveller’s International, a hostel just down the road from where we stayed at the Skyway Lodge
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