 |
|
|
A tree close to her house had fallen over and its uprooting had lifted up part of the foundation. Should she still be thinking of coming to New Zealand, she had wondered? Her parents, who were on their way from South Carolina in the pouring down rain, encouraged her to stick with her plans. I haven’t heard from her since. As far as I know she’s made it this far and should be on the South Island in a week. I plan to join her and her friend Danielle in Kaikoura on the Saturday. Sunday will be a quickie tour of Christchurch and Hamner Springs. Monday will be a trip on the Alpine Express over to the West Coast through Arthur’s Pass. We will separate there and, weather permitting, I will take a bus to Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks and hope to recapture the relaxation I felt when Thom and Dolores Hickling were here on my last holidays, just nine weeks ago. The weather this week has been brilliant, as we say, and the Lamb of Spring has definitely overcome the Lion of Winter…well, at least this week it seems so. Sonya and Danielle will head south to visit Milford Sounds. Sonya produced the CNN story on Shrek, the Merino Sheep, who was recently sheared here for the first time (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/04/28/nz.shrek.ap/). She is going to meet up with the bloke who did the deed down around Queenstown. He will take her fly-fishing. The Railway Line This week, on the bulletin board in the school library was a news article from March 30, 1989, by Howard Keene celebrating the triumph of the rail tunnel through the Port Hills which separate Lyttelton, where I live, from Christchurch. At the time, the article states, the tunnel was the longest rail tunnel in the world, the first to be cut through the crater wall of an ancient volcano. A plan for financing the tunnel began immediately after the first four ships of settlers arrived from England in 1850. A rail line
for transport was the settlers’ common vision as all goods had to be hauled
over the steep Bridle Path (right above my house) or sailed over the often
treacherous Sumner Bar. Plans for a road over the Port Hills had “gone
wonky” after steep rock was encountered in one of the passes.
By 1858, with only a population of 10,000, Christchurch had a tunnel and a rail line. The Tram Line Christchurch has a tram. It’s a touristy thing. A “tram pass” costs $12.50 for visitors and is good for 48 hours. For residents it’s good for a year. The tram line takes you all around the city centre, rattling and clanging past the Cathedral in the Square, the new Art Museum, the Arts Centre, Victoria Square, and, finally, Regent Street. Regent Street is one of the most unique streets in Christchurch. The tram line curves through it. No cars allowed. I had wonderful seafood chowder on Regent Street this week at a café (restaurant upstairs) called Six Chairs Missing. Stores with names like Moko Design Café (the owners used to live on my street before moving into the city to live over their shop), RM Williams Outback Outfitter, Tolaga Bay Cashmere Company, Artefact, Inkwell, The Blue Note, Antiquarian Natural History Books, Cubana Havana’s Finest, The Ginkgo Tree, Boxes, and, my favourite name--Pastel Shoes Dyers and Repairs. Yes, you can still get shoes dyed and repaired in Christchurch! A Beeline Look out world, here comes Buzzy Bee, a news article headline on September 5th shouts. He’s a “noisy wooden bug with a daft clicker” says Libby Middlebrook in The Press. Buzzy Bee is such a New Zealand icon I thought I had seen him before I saw him for the first time! Apparently, Buzzy Bee, now 61 years old and New Zealand’s favourite toy, has been sold to people who want to market him worldwide. He is going to have to be reinvented, though. They want him to be the next Thomas the Tank Engine. But, first
Buzzy Bee needs a face lift. His facial expression needs to be friendlier.
But Buzzy’s not the only one!
Please let me know this ain’t necessarily so. Keeping Kids In Line A 16 year-old was charged this week in Christchurch with indecent assault. I have to wonder if this kid needs braces. While waiting in line in a shopping mall to shake the hand of super-model Rachel Hunter, the lad, instead, grabbed her breast. Maybe he needs glasses instead of braces. Rachel, a Kiwi, is also the estranged wife of singer Rod Stewart (coming to Christchurch in February). The boy’s defence is that he did it on a dare. Rachel was here to promote a new line of cosmetics. Not earthshaking news, but the following was. The Fault Line Up in Wellington,
where the beehive and crooked teeth are, there are earthquakes all the
time. New Zealand is, as Dave, the geophysicist once told me, “geologically
unstable.” But, this week, about the same time Sonya, was battling
the hurricane, an earthquake was noticed by some in Christchurch, measuring
4.3 on the Richter (www.geonet.org.nz)
and described as nearly enough to “move ornaments.” No damage reported.
I didn’t feel it.
Kids! I may need Rachel’s new line of cosmetics! That Line On The Face In New Zealand, you must know, we are closer to the hole in the ozone layer. More powerful ultra violet rays beam down from on high. From now to the end of summer there will be much information on avoiding too much exposure to the sun. New Zealand, it seems, has the highest rate of melanoma in the world. And wrinkles may become a worry for New Zealand women as the aftershocks of Dr Dorfman’s thinking set in. She hasn’t seemed worried before, this New Zealand woman. She seems to have enjoyed those years soaking up the sun over years of Christmas holidays at the beach. She seems to enjoy being outside participating in sports of all kinds. And if her face falls a little earlier than those in the northern hemisphere, her sunny disposition and “can do” attitude makes up for it. Closing Lines… On duty at lunch time, out by the entrance to the school, the soft spring sun was shining down. I dared to lift my SPF 30-less face to the sky. Another teacher stopped to chat and enjoy the warmth and the moment. I realized I really and truly don’t want to live my life according to the Gospel of Dr Dorfman. I don’t want to be afraid to squint, use expression, laugh, cry, rejoice or… put my face to the wind. The newspaper on September 10th showed a map of the Banks Peninsula with little lines pointing to the locations for 12 yachting clubs offering lessons. “New Zealand is the greatest little yachting nation in the world,” it says. In New Zealand, a yacht refers to anything from a dinghy on up. In the summer, which is coming soon, lines of yachts of all sizes whiz and spin and swirl in the harbour below my home. I want to join them this year. WOW, or Women on Water, looks like an interesting group. Fun-loving women, the “advert” says, coming from all walks of life, having a little experience of sailing or absolutely none at all. Sounds like someone very familiar. The following are the previous articles that Candy has written about New Zealand for the magazine:
To contact
Candy Click Here
|
Getting
Here…Going There: What We Do We Do for Love ~ 