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Published: April 9th 2006
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NZ wind farm
Nympsfield residents note: someone's making an effort and not worrying about their property values. New Zealand has redeemed itself a little, just a little. After Napier and Hastings we headed off to Waikanae to look up a friend from Nailsworth, Sheila, who moved back there 4 years ago. Booked into our motel and headed off to find her and we did quite easily. We hadn’t given her any warning of our visit, only checking in the local phone book to see if she still lived at the address we had for her. Rang on her doorbell, heard the noise of dogs so we knew we had the right place, she opened the door with a look of immense surprise and after a moment to remember who we were, let us in. After she’d apologised for her immaculate house being in such a mess we told her how well she was looking (she is 72). She then told us how, actually, she’s not in great health having spent 11 days in intensive care suffering from viral cardiomyopathy, which apparently is a viral infection which destroys heart tissue. This had left her with 18% normal function, which fortunately (and beyond all medical experience) has regenerated to 40% now. On reflection it may not have been such a
Barb and Sheila
Feeding the ducks great idea to go and surprise our senior friend, if we ever have the idea again we will probably think twice.
Nevertheless we spent a great three days in her company, the first night she took us out to eat, along with her new boyfriend Rob (75) to a restaurant that we would never have found without local knowledge and had the best meal we’ve had here. We both had Tarahiki (a local fish) cooked in triple sec and banana which sounds a little odd but was actually delicious, not only that but the price was NZ$ 23.50 (UK£8.66, US$15.00). Served in the UK anyone would gladly have paid £20.00 for it, it was that good. Also, just about every restaurant here is B.Y.O. so we had a couple of bottles of fine wine to wash it down that seemed to have cost us pennies. It was very interesting to spend a couple of days with people whose home is in this country, it gave a good perspective on things that had puzzled me since arriving here. There is certainly tension between the Maori and the Pakeha, exemplified by the fact that many whites feel that the word ‘Pakeha’ is
an insult despite there being no real evidence for that. More instructive, I feel, is the fact that poverty (relative) again divides down racial lines. No prizes for guessing who falls on which side. At the moment there is an electoral register being compiled which gives the Maori the choice of being on the ‘Maori’ register or the ‘General’ register, the results of which will determine the number of ‘Maori’ seats in Parliament. Smells a bit of apartheid to me, not to mention being a good bit of information gathering. Time will tell.
The town where Sheila lives is practically a retirement town, this is easily divined by the fact that the place supports at least 4 second-hand shops, all pretty much exclusively stocked by house clearance stuff from the recently deceased, all the same, a thriving community.
On to Wellington now, the capital city. A marked improvement over Auckland, where incidentally 30% of the NZ population live, where we are staying is right next to Cuba St., which is being promoted as the up and coming, bohemian, trendy part of town. I personally think it’s trying just a bit too hard and is only succeding in looking like it’s
Wellington
from the top of the cable car station populated by kids who were turned away from Columbine High School, but this is after all New Zealand, give it twenty years and it may be great. But we’ll all have moved on.
Still I’m warming more to the place. Off to the south island tomorrow and the promise of whale-watching, snow-capped mountains, glaciers and cold weather. Roll on Fiji.
I say, you can tell jb isn’t a shopper - thought some of the shops looked good (individual) and a few interesting bars. Although it really doesn’t have any sort of vibe or very much going on really. Can’t imagine NZ without any overseas vistors - it would be just so empty, don’t understand why everything is so behind - the world isn’t that big a place. The music is beyond dire - I don’t mind a bit of retro but please, it’s really so old all the time. The tv is really sad too - like swap shop but less interesting (and professional) and NZ pop idol - no please it’s too sad. Some of the tv is like the stuff Chris Tarrant used to show on a tv show he presented (Tarrant on tv?)- you have won a t-shirt/bedside lamp type thing! It’s a very bizarre place the world has hit the year 2006, and NZ hasn’t - really not sure how it is going to progress, but life goes forward, you can’t go back, no matter how much you want to, and there is the conflict. Sheila did say to us there are a lot of old people here, seems a lot of younger people chip off abroad, (leaving the student loan behind!).
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