Build it and they will come, or is it vice versa?

So we spent a few weeks on day explorations and it is time to head off into a bit more wilderness. Why start small? So we started with the tallest peak in the Waikato, that’s our region… a two day trip up Mt. Pirongyia. It was pretty fun climbing up and down on the thin ridge of an ancient volcano through all kinds of weird and wonderful plants, roots and mud (Pirongyia is famous country-wide for its mud, and it delivered... on us). Also the word “switchback” is clearly not in the New Zealand vocabulary. Why go around something when you can go over it? "No worries, mate!" So up and down we did. 

Now it is hard to capture steep inclines with a camera but let's just say that the chain in the right picture was not there for no reason.

A great view of the ridge we followed.

From the peak across to a smaller cone with Waikato farmland behind it

Hopefully the pictures share a bit of how beautiful the "bush" is, but then you likely already know about that from others stories. But most striking to us, was not the beauty but the facilities. It is the priority this country places on outdoor recreation and the facilities to make it tick. It is absolutely amazing. Pirongyia is not a "Great Walk" (the name for the tourism marketed NZ wilderness trips), in fact it barely gets an auxillary paragraph in the Lonely Planet Tramping Guide. It is known mostly for nice views and a lot of mud (both true). But the network of trails (and signed and interpreted nature walks) up and around it are amazing. On top there is tons of boardwalk to avoid the mud (in the middle of the top of a mountain) . Here is a picture of the hut you can stay in at the top for $5 a person a night. In fact this hut is slated for demolition to be replaced by a bigger and better version. Out tent site cooking shelter put the roadside provincial park campgrounds on the bike trip this summer to shame (and they cost $30-$40)

Most of all we loved the solar powered composting toilet system which excretes clean water for the plants and the end of the process. It is perched on the cliff with an awesome view.

Since Pirongyia we headed to another cool spot (more on that next blog). Again this one is not for international tourists. 

Check out this solar powered hut in the middle of a beautiful alpine wilderness valley...

and the boardwalk infrastructure leading up to a higher peak. 

The hut sleeps 80! and is three hours up a mountain. Guess what? It is filled up all weekends and all summer, every night (the rules sign said they turn people away if you do not have a reservation... and what if you did not bring a tent?). We were there on a Tuesday in what was equivalent to mid-April in Nova Scotia. There were 25 folks in the hut so we chose the campground. Thousands of people stay here every year, and these are regular old New Zealanders. There is a big ethic of high schools taking students backpacking. We saw several  large groups of students. We ran into a Dad and his two kids (10-12 or so) on the trail. He was out for 3 days in the bush with the kids and had taken them out of school. He was a farmer and had to get back for afternoon milking. Outdoors is a priority and the infrastructure in the backcountry to support tramping is phenomenal and everywhere. And the infrastructure tradition has been there long before New Zealand recognized it could make money off global tourism. How did this amazing outdoor priority develop? Now there's a question for further investigation...

The Same but Different

It is so interesting being here in New Zealand where so much looks the same as it does in Canada, but is so very different. Unlike our experiences in India where frankly everything looked so very different, we were always surprised when we found similarities.

Looks pretty similar...

What is different?

Traffic patterns! Yes I knew that people here drive on the “other side of the road” (not the wrong side….) and I know that Indians drive on the “other side too”, so I should not have been so discombobulated with trying to learn to drive on the left side of the road. But we never drove in India, so this is really my first experience with it. And it was weird. Where do you look when you pull out onto a busy street? Right …? Left… ? yikes.! Also, I had not been in a car virtually for 3 months prior to arriving here, so driving itself was just plain different – and was a bit weird! Now I am used to it, but in the beginning it was strange.

Hot and cold water taps. Don’t know why but they are reversed here. You can wait along time for the water to warm up if you turn on the left faucet.

North versus South – The best garden or house exposure is a north facing slope…Makes sense when you think about it because we are in the southern hemisphere, however, it is so non intuitive that it really threw us for a loop, especially to start. Initially when looking for a place to stay, we automatically dismissed anything that advertised a north facing deck for example. Duh… that is what we should have been looking for! In the forest on a hike, I can’t just subconsciously look up to see where the sun is and then orient myself. I have to consciously look at the sun, and then calculate which way is east or west by a conscious thought process. Getting better now, but it was really a mind warp to begin with.

Grass  & Weeds– Somehow here the grass is green and healthy looking, but it barely grows. We have been here for a month now, and the grass has only grown about 1-2 inches. And in our very small vegetable garden, the weeds were so incredibly whimpy! That section of land had not been dug up probably for several years, and yet when I dug it up, it was really easy – no deep roots, no roots that clung to the soil… Dealing with the insects is a challenge, but the weeds are whimps!

Language - Yes I know people here speak excellent English – the difference is the accent. People typically try to hold back a growing grin when they hear me speak. “You’re not from here are you?” they ask. But to my ears it sounds like “Yau nut frum heah, ah yu? And often I don’t really fully understand what people are  trying to tell me! Vowels are all different, and you never pronounce an “r in the middle of a  word,  A long A sounds like a long I, so mate sounds like mite. A short E becomes a  short I, so wet becomes wit.  And a short I becomes a short U, so fish becomes fush.  Lots of “plices” serve “fush and chups ”! Add to that the fact “wh” sounds like an “f”, and one can get pretty confused. And lastly of course, there are numerous  expressions we need to learn. “Put your togs in the boot!” means “Put your bathing suit in the trunk of the car.”  Or  “ I am totally nacked” evidently means “I ‘m really tired…”. All in all the language is different!

Friendly people – Everyone here is totally friendly and very safety conscious,  (not that different from Canada) but put them behind the wheel of a car, and they forget all sanity. The posted speed limit is 100 km/hr on small winding roads. Imagine the bottom of Deep Hollow Road with a speed limit of 100.  Hmmm.

Looks pretty different...

Animals and Vegetation – Wow. From a distance the forests look like forests, but up close they are full of giant tree ferns, palm trees, incredible vines and other trees which only grow here. The bush” here is absolutely amazing. New Zealand has no indigenous mammals, so no bear, coyote, cougar , no dangerous animals in the wild. No poisonous snakes either. So no problem camping or tramping in the bush.  They do however have possums, rats, ferrets and some weasels all of whom  don’t belong here, and are doing terrible damage to the ecosystem. The possum were imported for trapping for fur, in the early 1900’s but with no natural predators they run unchecked, and are deadly to some species of trees, and birds.  The ferrets and weasels were imported in misguided attempts to control rabbits (which also were imported for fur). Unfortunately flightless birds are a lot easier targets for ferrets and weasels, so the indigenous species suffer. And rats, well they just came uninvited on ships, with devastating effects to unsuspecting birds. It is hard to wrap my mind around possible solutions to the problems these non native species cause. One solution – which is really different for me – is widescale poisoning. Current government policy is just that, and it is widely supported by conservation groups, environmental groups, the scientific community, and the general public. I need to understand the ins and outs better, but for now all I know is that it is just very different!

Yipes!

So it is a different world for us, even though on the surface one expects it to be so similar to our world in Nova Scotia. Having said that, it is an incredible experience here in New Zealand, and truly New Zealanders are among the friendliest, least pretentious and most accommodating folks I have ever met. And the mountains, and plants and animals are incredibly fascinating. It is like living in the Lord of the Rings, when we are hiking in the bush. And that is remarkable!

So all is well with us. Hope all is well with you.

 

Hi from Ginny!

Life  is good for Alan and me here in New Zealand, and I apologise for being so slow to do blog posts. In part it is perhaps because one day seems to blend in with the day before, and I have the luxury (and I know it is a huge luxury) to be able to really relax and  not have deadlines here in New Zealand. On the bikes last summer, we were always on the move, and each day was punctuated with a blog from one of us. We did not have a real schedule, but we did have a long term plan to do the trip in 3 months, so we had to keep moving. Before the bike ride, life was really busy – busy at work, busy packing up the house, busy riding practice runs up the mountain on the bike, and I never felt like I had enough time to do what needed doing. Here, for the first time in ages, I do have time, and I am enjoying it. I have gotten involved some with some really interesting folks doing community garden work here in Hamilton. But I also have time to explore the city’s wonderful bike paths along the river, wander in the gorgeous Hamilton Public Gardens, take extended bike rides in the countryside, participate in community events like planting indigenous plants along the waterfront to help restore the native plants here. Alan and I have also done a few overnight hikes, which have been gorgeous. So all is well. More from me in a bit.

Ginny having the time to check out the sights!

The Haka

On my way home from my magical trip to the Hamilton Gardens (see last post), I was drawn to a large number of big white tents and a sign for a Maori cultural and arts festival across from the Gardens parking lot. There were displays, workshops, war canoe rides, carving etc. So I was bumbling about taking the displays in when a woman asked if I wanted to go to the Haka. Haka is the name for a Maori dance, which comes in a wide variation of forms. Not knowing much, but up for anything, I said yes and headed outside to wait with a Maori guide in a grassy area, and we started to chat. He explained very little and then asked/told me that I would sort of be “the white chief” for the Haka, which meant I was the spokesperson for the audience. It seems that one must first be challenged outside by the dancers, and if one accepts the challenge properly and appropriately, everyone is then invited inside for the full performance.

So I sat waiting out front of everyone. From the tent, three Maori warriors with full face paint and war clubs ceremoniously advanced on me, stopping just a couple of feet in front of me with war clubs flying by my face in a martial arts sort of way. My Maori tour guide explained what to do and politely suggested that I not move forward before he instructed me to (unfortunately he was whispering in my bad ear but don’t worry, there was little chance of me challenging the war clubs which were zinging by my face). Eventually, the last warrior laid a rose on the ground between us, stepped back, and then I was told to fetch it and return to my spot. Presto, the intensely hostile and intimidating faces turned welcoming and we all followed the warriors inside to a tent theatre and were treated to a wonderful performance of various forms of dances. By the end I was dragged up on stage to practice the specific Haka that the New Zealand Rugby team (the All Blacks) performs in front of their opponents before every match. It was pretty funny. The performance troop had been together for many years (about 25 of tem) and made the finals of the Maori national competition, which is a huge yearly event with regional qualifying, etc. They were good. These pictures are not of the performers but are from the web (it was not an appropriate time or place for pictures. These web pictures look very similar and at least give you the feel).

I have been reading a bit of New Zealand history and appreciating the differences between the Maori place in New Zealand culture vs aboriginal cultural presence in Canadian culture. Though Maori are economically and socially disadvantaged relative to “pakehas”, it is nowhere near as bad as Canada. Maori culture is seen as a proud foundation for mainstream New Zealand culture. Can you imagine Team Canada proudly performing an aboriginal war dance just after O Canada at every Olympic hockey game?  But that’s what the New Zealand rugby team does (the All Blacks) as every other New Zealand national team. The Rugby All Blacks are even more famous here than Team Canada would be in Canada (rugby rules!).

The fact that that the Maori word “pakeha” exists and is used by pakeha suggests the fundamental difference. Pakeha means “people who came from across the sea (i.e., British/European).” It is a constant implicit reminder that white New Zealanders were not the first peoples of this land, which everyone recognizes. In Canada, First Nations people often remind others that they are the first peoples, but there is no word that non-aboriginal Canadians use to describe themselves as not of this land. Can you imagine non-aboriginal Canadians describing themselves as “Second Canadians”? This is an important distinction. This sense of Maori presence is always about as most place names are Maori except those of the major cities (everyone groans when I butcher another Maori name despite my best efforts). All the formal events we have been to are opened by a Maori welcome. Also most institutions, even if they are pakeha, have a “Kumatua”. This is a Maori elder or advisor, sort of in the role of a chaplain.

I am starting to explore how and why there is such a different ethic here. So far I have uncovered a bunch of things. The Maori never lost on the battle field where they fought aggressively against the British. There were heavy casualties on both sides.  They were instead marginalized from the huge numbers of British landing and through the devastation of population loss due to no immunity to European germs. They also all spoke the same language, united in the face of the British invasion, and were more settled on land. They “missed out” on residential schools and an “Indian Act” though there was a lot of racism and discrimination. A strong aggressive posture won them more respect from the British even if there are lots of challenges and social issues before them today. Something to think about.

Magic in the Gardens

At the end of the last post I noted the Sustainable Garden presentation at the Hamilton Gardens just five minutes away by bike. Ginny had told me about it so I added it in the blog and then thought some pictures would be nice and I went off to see it. My head was so blown away by my garden adventure that I decided to leave the last post alone and save my further reflections for this one. Ginny had told me the gardens were amazing, but of course seeing is believing. The Sustainable Backyard garden was superb, lots of displays on backyard aquaculture, composting, crop rotation, etc. The whole thing is maintained by the Hamilton Permaculture Society and provides a wonderful demo and model of what can be grown in a small backyard for the whole city to see, and believe me, the whole city sees it. The parking lots were overflowing and people were everywhere— all ages and cultures. A pack of four year olds was watching the chickens and running in circles all about. Teens were hanging out on the paths and twenty somethings were walking about in couples and clumps. Then there were us older folks, a mother and a 14 year old, and some that were significantly older than me! There were anglo Kiwis, women in saris and a good dose of Chinese. These gardens were not just for the snooty but the preserve of all sorts of people— the whole commuity. It did not take long to figure out why.

The gardens are pure magic, the best interpretive environmental education centre I have ever been in, though that was not explicitly the intention. Around every corner was a new garden ecosystem with greenery, water forms, statues that drew you in and evoked surprise, wonder and beauty. There were no plant name tags, only one or two simple descriptive signs for each large garden with no images on them. The clear message was that the gardens would speak for themselves, and each garden was a snapshot of a particular place and time, portraying that culture’s philosophy and view of nature and beauty. They present each garden as a story, and everyone knows I am a sucker for stories. Sure enough, the Sustainable Backyard was there because of its educational mission, but it was also there because represented an important 21^st century philosophical view of nature. 

So here are some pictures of just a few angles on of the gardens… and remember this is free all year round, and supported by a city half the size of Halifax. Whoever designed the gardens had to have read the famous architectural design book called "Pattern Language", because they have every basic principle of good architectural design I could think of built in. The sign for the Chinese scholars garden is the only interpretation in that garden. When I read it, my next thought is I want to go see it!

Then you look up... and who would not be a sucker for this entrance. It was amazing inside but my camera could not do it justice...

Here is the short intro to the 17th century Mogul garden...

And here is the garden!

The Japanese dry zen garden.

And so with all this beauty, how did they get the expoitation of nature as a commodity across as a contrast to the Sustainable Backyard? There is nothing better than a 1950s California American garden...

So several hours evaporated quickly as I wandered about and sat in various places taking it in. Fittingly a blue kingfisher was catching minnows in the Zen water garden, a unique New Zealand kingfisher... most all the birds in New Zealand are unique. Ultimately, it was time to head home for supper so out to the parking lot I went to fetch my bike... but then there were a whole mess of white tents across from the parking lot. The sign said Haka... What could this be? In I went and it quickly became apparent that the wild adventures in the Gardens were not anywhere near being done... but that must wait for the next post.

Why not in Canada?

New Zealand is an interesting place in that is very similar to Canada (affluent, small population, English-speaking, commonwealth country with an economy highlighting commodity production and tourism), so you sort of expect things to always be the same but then you stumble into differences. It makes you ask, if it can happen here, why not in Canada? The cutest example this week was the gift pack we received for hooking up the electricity with a local power company (Meridian, check out the web site at Meridianenergy.co.nz if you are interested). We just signed up because someone said this is a good company to call (there are multiple power companies). So yesterday I came home to a box awaiting us on the step. It was from Meridian and it included a compost bucket made of recycled plastic with a mix of eco-green cleaning supplies and soap in it. With it was a welcome card. It was a recycled Meridian Christmas card. Above the printed holiday message was a hand written note, and I quote:

“Hi There!

Thanks for joining Meridian. As you can see we don’t believe in wasting anything— even these left over 2007 Christmas cards came in handy. It is all part of being a New Zealand owned, 100% renewable energy company. Anyway, it’s great to have you on board. Have a happy… Err… day.”

The last line is a reference to the printed holiday greeting below in which the “holiday” in the wish for a “sustainable holiday’ has been crossed out and replaced by “day.”

Other examples… 80% of the produce in the grocery store is grown in New Zealand. There are local bakeries in every neighbourhood (across the street from us—yum) and just up the way is a bulk food store specializing in organic stuff at prices that seem quite similar to the supermarket. We are in the midst of a huge dairy and meat producing agricultural region. All the animals are free-range, grass fed in fenced pastures with animals moving from one pasture to another regularly. Manure just falls on the pasture (ok so the river through the city is not clean). Given the climate, there are no barns or feedlots. All in all, it is a lot easier to eat more sustainably. Mind you, New Zealanders love their meat and dairy and those cows fart a lot, but not as much as Canadian feedlots. Oh yes, at the fancy Hamilton Botanical Gardens, one of the demo gardens is a sustainable organic one including a mini-chicken tractor with the chickens in it. How about that for the Irving Centre?

Of course they could learn a bit from us too. The older houses are not insulated with single pane glass, and winters are cool though not Canadian cold. Also, you take your life into your hands when you step off a curb, and I never step, I run across the street after calculating I can get to the other side before the oncoming car runs me over. Cars fatally ran over bicyclists 5 days in a row last summer in the country. So all is not better on this side of the world… but they have a lot to teach us.

Ki Ora...

Welcome to Our New Zealand/Aotearoa blog… A brief chronicle of some of our adventures in New Zealand over the next 8 months. Unlike WarPoTay Adventures, it will not be daily, but hopefully it will still share some of the places we visit and the people we meet in a fun and informal way.

So, we’ve been here nearly two weeks and we have a new home in the middle of Hamilton with most things we need, a car to get outside of the city with, and two bicycles! I have an office at the University of Wakaito (a short walk from the house) and we have started to explore this world and adjust to our new kiwi lifestyle, like driving on the other side and remembering that the warm afternoon sun comes from the North, and that it is Spring!

Our house...

Sunset from the living room window...

Much seems familiar but then we constantly make cultural mistakes or identify ourselves as North Americans in gauche ways. You do not take a university course, rather it is a “paper.” And there is always the question… “Why do North Americans always carry around travel mugs, why don’t they just use the real cups that are already waiting for them at the cafes? And then there are the expressions… “togs”, to go “flatting,” “he’s just a box of fluffyducks,” “we’re cooking with gas” and “Bob’s your uncle.” Oh my. How many of those can you non-Kiwis understand?

A few pictures from last weekends adventures…

Raglan, an amazing nearby beach

Surf's up... 

This weekend has been lots of “tramping” in the “bush.” Today we headed off to the launch of NZ Conservation Week festivities at a campsite, which was a 3km walk from the road. The weather report was for a major rainstorm and sure enough it started raining as we headed out to the car. We figured we would be the only ones there, how many Canadians would walk 6 km round trip in the rain on a Sunday morning, for a welcome speech, a bit of music and a hot dog. In fact there were about 50 folks, this is NZ and they take their tramping seriously. We stayed through for a guided walk in the rainforest and a trip through a neat limestone cave. Along the way we had the undivided attention of the 2^nd interpreter who told us lots about the forest and some of the environmental issues here (Conservation officials seem freer to speak their minds here without Stephen Harper gagging them). New Zealand is spectacularly beautiful and it is very “green” as in the actual colour, but when one starts talking to folks one realizes that it is not the green philosophical place that the world perceives of it and it likes to portray. Of course it is better than Canada, but that is not saying much of anything. It is amazing how much of the forest is gone around here, even if what is left is spectacular.

The problems with invasive species are absolutely enormous. Specifically the rats, stouts and possums (brought here by the Polynesian ancestors of the Maori and the Europeans), can quickly eradicate most of the native birds in an area as the birds have not evolved defenses to ward them off. What is to be done? Lose all the bird species or try to control the rats and the possums. So they are putting out toxic poison pellets for the mammals in large areas to control them. But though they can kill them relatively quickly, the rats in particular rapidly reproduce and return within a year. Do you do this forever? Many conservationists seem to support the programs but we have not heard the alternative views as yet. HMMM, quite a mess (that’s our happy environmental thought for today).

After our guided walk, we did a beautiful hike in the rain up a stream to the tallest Kahikatea tree in New Zealand (66 metres). We are sure that Golum was running along beside us, hidden from view and occasionally peering out— that was the feel of the place.  Every time we turn a corner or see a new landscape, we recognize it from Lord of the Rings (so I guess Hollywood does define our reality). The bush (forest in Kiwi) is stunning with all sorts of fern trees and exotic leafy tree species, many of which do not exist anywhere else in the world. The forest is dark, I felt like we needed flashlights to navigate at mid-day given the gray today. Even yesterday, which was sunny, only the occasional shaft of light lit up the forest floor. We saw a good number of birds but it was hard to make out their colours in the dim light. Unfortunately rainforest pictures must wait as I forgot my camera yesterday and it was too wet for a camera today.

A view of the "Shire", the real Shire set is only 30 minutes away.

Alan