Palmerston North

Another week down, only two more to go!!! After a busy week of work, and getting some stuff done at home, I thought I deserved a Friday off and a weekend away. My lovely hosts and I took off for the weekend to visit some rellies in Palmerston North. North Palmie is about a 5 hour drive South along the coast, and then inland a bit, and is one of New Zealand's only two inland cities!

Now that I've driven the road south a few times, and almost know my way around, I'll describe the highlights (yes, I do think that driving along a road in the fog/rain and once in a while sunshine has highlights). Almost the entire length of the road is windey and hilly and I'm impressed with Kiwi driving skills as many of the corners are quite sharp and sudden. Along the side of the road, there are often cliff faces which, in the recent rain, have many rock falls - small ones along the side of the road, and big one which send chunks quite dangerously every which way. The main scenery is either cliffs dotted with waterfalls, steep pasture hills dotted with sheep, cows and more sheep, or more steep hills dotted with trees. There is a bit of natural bush in preserves, but most of the non-pasture hills are in some stage of forestry pine production. The sheep are ever-present in the pastures, and even though I see them still often, there's still a place in my heart which thinks they're quite cute!! :) While the sheep are in the pastures, there are an incredible amount of wild goats along the roadside. Wild goats are considered a nuisance animal, and population control is a quite profitable side-business for some shepherds and their skilled dogs. No matter what the hills are covered in, I still find them and their steepness beautiful in the sun, and mysterious in the rain. Once we go inland a bit, there is a good section of flattish land with - more pastureland - some of which was underwater this time! Just before Palmerston N., the road gets hilly again and I saw windmills all over the hills in the distance - cool! The windmill hills marked the start of the gorge which is similar to the one to the Northwest of Gisborne and has a very wide, muddy and fast-flowing river flowing on the bottom of two steep sides. The road clung to one of the sides, and a railway line to the other - not too much room for more! The scenery in the gorge was beautiful, but I'm glad we made it out and avoided the rocks!!

View through the gorgeous gorge.

When we arrived into Palmerston, I was reminded a bit of a New Zealand version of Waterloo. Other than the many, beautiful vineyards on the way in, they had lots of shopping along the streets, a major University campus (Massey University), and a downtown core not focused around the ocean. Instead, it was focused around a grassy square, had an actual mall nearby and lots of shopping around the square. Oh, andddd, would you believe it, there was an ice rink in the middle! The weather was alright so we went for a wander, and I was quite enchanted by the bright orange plastic skates the people on the rink all seemed to be wearing as they lurched around in circles. But I can't really blame them, because there are only a handful of ice rinks in the country - not one in every small town, and definitely no seasonal ones in back yards. We checked out a few of the shops and the mall - first time I'd been in an actual mall since December! While just about all the NZ brands are different than Canada's, the wares are pretty much the same, save some extra emphasis on wool in everyday wear. We had two specific shopping hunts as well - one for some more wool to finish my sweater (yes, I've run out), and one for Root Beer for a recipe I've been wanting to make. You have no idea how hard it is to find Root Beer in New Zealand!!

 

Palmerston North town square - see ice skating back right

We then arrived at our hosts' lovely home for the evening. It was a beautiful house with lots of greenery on the outside, and books and great reading locations on the inside. And a cat. What more could I ask for? We had a good night of visiting, watching the rugby (of course), and yummy food. The next day we went for a driving tour of the town. We crossed several very swollen and muddy rivers, and, would you believe it, went up the local hill! The clouds didn't allow for great sights and pictures, but it was nice to see the lay of the land and marvel at just how 'KW' the place felt. We then went on a tour around the university campus - it was a beautiful place with lots of greenery and gardens. It was pretty much like any university one would find around home, with the addition of a pro rugby training facility, and, due to the large veterinary college, some paddocks and specialized facilities right near the heart of the campus. Quite a cool place! The afternoon was more shopping in many neat little shops, and the evening was some more great food and visiting. The morning dawned rainy, and we soon left for the long journey back home. It rained almost the whole way, and save for a lunch break and short visit in Hastings, our only stop was in Norsewood (I think). Norsewood was a small, historical town on the side of the highway which had long been a place where NZ wool had been processed into hats/mitts/scarves/sweaters(aka jerseys). While the manufacturing had since gone overseas, the town still exists through, probably through it's woolenwear outlet. Anddd, at long last and after many raindrops, we were home!

Massey Uni. Campus

Adventuring

Happy Canada Day! A day early really, but I wore some red and white nonetheless. A few people with great memories even remembered to wish me a good one - how cool is that! I sought out the fellow Canadian turned kiwi who works at the Council, and we shared a happy moment and a quiet celebration after work (including a ride in her vintage cooper mini - wheeee!).

 

Canada Day aside, this week was Maori language week! We celebrated it at work with many activities, phone greeting contests and more. We had a great lecture by a local language historian on local Maori  place names and stories and how they related. I've found that I've picked up quite a few Maori words while here, I can hardly pronounce most of them, but I know what they're supposed to sound like! Our week finished with a workplace social 'boil-up' - a traditional Maori dish which involved boiling pork bones, potatoes, a bunch of other things, and a local vegetable a lot like watercress called (and I know the spelling's wrong) poha. The poha was prepared to perfection and the dish was very yummy! Later that evening, I watched a New Zealand movie, 'Once We Were Warriors,' for another perspective on kiwi life and had a chance to admire the beautiful Southern stars under a really clear sky. I don't think I have ever seen so many stars!!

We had absolutely fantastic weather for the weekend so, I went for an adventure! I went up to a huge sheep and beef farm, aka 'station,' with a friend from work. There, a group of about 10 of us young folk went to bring home the bacon, old-school style. We drove through a beautiful countryside for about an hour out of town to the Station, which was even more beautiful countryside.  There were great views of those huge and terraced hills that are so common in this part of the world and I never tire of admiring.

The hills, which also happen to be darn hard to take decent pictures of...

 

The main part of the farm included a beautiful old farm house surrounded with a lovely lawn and a few fruit trees (fijoah, mandarin, lemon, etc.); shepherd's quarters where about five or so  shepherds live full time and look after the sheep; dog's quarters where there must have been over 30 energetic sheep dogs living the good life; a shearing shed; and a few storage sheds. When we arrived, we decided to go to the Rere rock slide - something I'd heard I had to try, but hadn't been brave enough to without being equipped with a wet suit and inflatable tube/boggie board. Now, I had no excuses and we all went to the giant, natural, slopped rock face which made an absolutely amazing slide! Other than the mid-winter chill of the water and the slippery rocks, it was a lot of fun!

Me raring down Rere

 

We cleaned up and packed up to head out to the cabin in the woods of the farm. The cabin was quite nice and we started a great, roaring fire, no need for torches (flashlights). 'The boys' brought home their catch of five deer and we had a delicious 'tea' (that's what they seem to call dinner over here) of roast lamb and veggies and a great evening of socializing. Yummm.

A shepherd's dogs-in-waiting

 The next day we made the  exciting trek back to the main station via ute-back (the back of a truck) and bike (4-wheelers), divided the catch up into chilli-bins (coolers), checked out the farm a bit more, and parted ways. Great weekend, and hopefully some kiwi visits to Canada to come! When back home, I just couldn't ignore the perfect weather, and went for another walk around beautiful Wainui beach neighborhood, across the bridge to neighbouring Okatu, up the local hill at the end of the beach (Makarori headlands), checked out the Okatu scenic reserve, and returned home for tea. Tonight,  tea was a good mix of kiwi and Canadian with bacon and egg pie (kiwi), complimented by a Julie-made pumpkin pie. Yum!

The view of Wainui from the Makarori Headlands

On Shaky Ground

Another average week dawned to a weekend of beautiful weather!! I somehow managed to wrangle a Friday off, and the family I'm staying with and I headed down to Napier and Hastings to visit extended family. It was a foggy drive through some more very windey roads for about 3 hours South along the coast. Napier and Hastings are nestled beside each other (kind of like K-W), and keep a steady watch over beautiful Hawke's Bay. The towns have lots of interesting architecture and a great sea-front focus as they centre around dark-stone beaches. On our drive in, we passed a busy port and through the two towns to the Slade residence. The Hastings crew was a great, friendly bunch and I felt right at home!

The view of Napier on a hill on the way into town

 

The next day we all went for an art deco tour of Napier, great way for us all to see the city in a new light! Wait, art what? In the 1930s, a large earthquake in the area made some significant changes to the area. The earthquake plus the resulting fire pretty well leveled Napier and brought the land about 5 feet out of the sea (bye-bye existing beaches and harbour, hello new beach and a lot of reclaimed land). During the rebuilding, the preferred building style was the modern one of the time - art deco! So, all the buildings have that plaster/concrete look with lots of geometric patterning and decorative designs and because it's NZ, many of the designs have Maori motifs.

An art-deco upper store front in downtown Napier.

Overall, it creates a really neat effect in the town and you can see it all over, especially when a wonderful tour shows you what you're looking for. After the great walk, an historic video of the earthquake,  and a morning coffee break, we went for a drive. Most of Napier is built on a low-lying flat area, but there's one very steep hill near the centre of town, and we went for a wild ride to the top to  see the sites - I would not like to learn to drive around there! The houses were all quite lovely and colourful (I love NZ houses for some reason, I think it's because they all look so full of character) and we got a great view of the port area from a park at the top. After getting the lay of the land from this direction, we headed back through Hastings for a different view. I've realized that New Zealander's favourite way of showing off their country is climbing the nearest and tallest hill, and I must say I quite like it! (Not kidding though, no matter where I go, it seems to be the mandatory thing to do, Auckland, Gisborne, Hastings, Whakatane, Tauronga… :) The hill we climbed, okay drove up, in this case, was quite the hill! It offered an absolutely beautiful vista of the many, many other hills in the surrounding area, and of the Hastings/Napier Hawke's Bay area in general.

It's a bird, it's a plane, nope, it's up a hill!

 

On our way home, we visited a swampy estuary, and it was very cool to see all the birds and native vegetation preserved just next to the highway. After that full day, we spent our evening, of course, watching rugby!!! Including a world cup 7s game which Canada won, not versus the kiwis of course… the kiwis later won both the men's and woman's championships!

The estuary swmp!

 The next morning, I made some good old Canadian pancakes and we went to a memorial service for one of the members of the Sir Edmund Hillory's (a kiwi's) Everest climbing mission. The memorial was for George, the photographer and a Hastings native. It included speeches from his family and friends, and lots of stories about his Everest, Antarctica, etc., adventuring days. Very, very cool! And also held in a very beautiful church. We then left to get back to Gizzy and had a beautiful drive back stopping for lots of scenic pictures (most often at the top of hills), and at a hot springs to check out the area and take a wee trek in the native bush. Thanks to great hosts for a great weekend!

Here and There

Whoops I did it again - I just got too busy having fun! :) The last few weekends have been full of out-of-town adventures!

One weekend, a friend from work and took a trek up to Tauronga and 'the Mount' (Mt. Manganui). We arrived in Tauronga after about 4h drive through the beautiful gorge and along the coast. Highlights of the drive include the normal, bushy reeds along the side of the road being coloured bright pink… something we initially thought was an amusing spray-painting prank, but soon realized that not even the most ambitious spray painter would paint every one of them for about 15km, so apparently that's  natural in that part of the world. In Tauronga we walked around the 'big city,'  and were amazed by the non-casual attire of the other pedestrians - apparently I've spent a bit too long in dear Gizzy. :) We then headed over to the smaller settlement on the other side of the harbour known as the Mount due to the large hill/small mountain to one side of the area, and visited my friend's friend and had a lovely evening there. The next morning, we stopped at the local hot pools before taking the trek home through incredibly rainy weather. On the way, we passed through the kiwifruit growing capital of NZ, Te Puke (sounds yummy, eh?) and their giant kiwi statue!

Tauronga Beach Front

The next weekend was a rainy, relaxing one where I worked on my latest project - a hand-knit NZ wool sweater! What more perfect souvenir and way to pass the time could there be. It's progressing well, and I have only one arm left, pending more wool coming in… :S I've also been reading quite a bit, watching some new TV shows (including a quite funny British comedy Mrs. Browns Boys, teehee) and enjoying having some down time! During the week, I continue to play badminton, go to a friend's movie night and visit friends at the fishing club - busy schedule! One evening, some friends and I had a classy evening, going out for a yummy seafood platter and a play. The play was a dramatization about life in a remote town 'up the coast' and how young kids entertain themselves despite the isolation. The story line was a bit weird, but there was great effects and it was quite entertaining! Oh yeah, I also work… which I promised more info about, so here goes. I work for the Gisborne District Council on their policy planning team and am helping them with their water plan, among a few other things. I feel kind of uncomfortable posting details about what the local council's staff is doing online for all to see, and no one really wants to hear about work, so if you have any more questions, send me an email! Basically, I'm helping them gather data to report on irrigation and water quality in the area and make management policies based on that. I love my job, the team I'm with, being productively busy and working at the intersection of science and policy!

View outside my window on a sunny day!!

What I actually look at all day... :)

 

 Side note of the day: New Zealanders are very British, 'Palmie' in kiwi speak. From their speech, following the Royals, often visiting/living in/immigrating to England, watching British comedy and other tv shows and many other little habits, they seem to have maintained much more of a connection to the homeland than us Canadians. They theorize it's because they're an Island with no one else to connect to, and we're so close to the American dream, but who knows!