So, the MoWenck website had a bit of a China Syndrome moment last week but we are back up and running no thanks to Jack Lemmon or Ha Noi Jane Fonda. The meltdown came after a catastrophic hard drive failure that resulted in a loss of data. Unfortunately the back-up of our website data was also on the Three Mile Island hard drive at the time of the ‘incident’. Fortunately, not all was lost as our technical support guru—whose hard drive crashed and whose server we utilize--had a second back-up of the website on his personal computer. However, that back-up was from sometime in February. Therefore the MoWenck website has become a time-warp. Everything on the site from mid-February to mid-August, including all emails, photos, blogs, etc. was lost. D’oh! That means there will always be a time-gap of unaccounted for travel experiences in our binary collection of travel memoirs. I think of it as a sort of ‘website blackout episode’, as if our website went on a huge weekend bender. Sure it is disappointing but the important memories of our travels on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Australia remain forever imprinted in the RAM of my mind. Hopefully it never goes Chernobyl on me.
All that was just the tip of the iceberg for a horrible MoWenck week. Earlier in the week we learned that our “sweet as” Subaruby mobile was not as sweet as we thought. It turned out that the Rac-in-peering steering needed to be replaced: ca-ching ($550) and the CV joints too: ca-ching ($550). Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play? Ouch! Then, after all the repairs were completed our first test drive proved the repairs to be of inferior craftsmanship and the car was still not right. The good news is the mechanic fixed the car good and proper at no additional co$t (bet your arse on that one!). Now that the car is fully operational again we are contemplating selling it at a complete loss. The unnecessary stress and mental anguish that accompanies owning a used car in New Zealand is almost too much for me to bare. Combine that with the lefty gearshift and driving on the wrong side of the road and I am ready to hop on a bus. Sure, traveling by bus has many drawbacks but the value of peace of mind is impossible to measure. It will all be an expensive lesson in having a pre-buy inspection done before buying a used car, especially in New Zealand. Of course, nothing is as bad as it seems so let us move on to the good things that have been going on in the MoWenck domicile.
Through work and hanging about we have made many new friends. Kiwis are just good people. Unlike their neighbors across the Tasman Sea Kiwis do not suffer a serious inferiority complex*. While the morons in Washington D.C. may not like the fact that New Zealand is a nuclear free zone—that’s right, the US Navy is not allowed in NZ ports with their fancy smancy nuclear powered vessels—the Kiwi people show no animosity towards Americans and are quite friendly to us Yanks in general. All this despite the fact that America dragged the Kiwis into a war in that big stupid blunder of a hunt for weapons of mass destruction…um…er…I mean fight against terrorism…uhh, no wait, hold on, I mean liberation of the Iraqi people and spread of democracy (what about Tibet? Nepal? Ivory Coast?). That’s right, New Zealand is partners with Australia in a thing called ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) and they sent troops to Iraq. But then where was I? Oh yeah, politics. So New Zealand has this big election coming up and I was extremely tempted to register to vote. I would have too except for two things: 1) I would have needed to get a NZ driver’s license for $84 (not really a problem) and 2) Uncle Sammy probably has some screwy law that makes voting in another country a criminal act of treason or something. Rather than risk it I am just observing the election. I won’t bore you with the details but I will add that I am amazed at how the same idiots seem to be in power every where I go in the world. Or perhaps Noam Chomsky was right when he said (essentially) that it doesn’t matter who wins an election, both candidates (parties) are likely to make the same general mistakes once in office. The problem is not the leadership but rather the system. Bravo Noam! (Yes, I have totally simplified Mr. Chomsky’s ideas and/or misinterpreted them.). Blah! On with this blog.
After working for peanuts as a relief teacher at local preschools (daycare) Amy found gainful employment with the NZ government via a temporary agency. The job sounds pretty mind-numbing but it pays decent and is full time through September. I found a gym to play hoops in on Wednesday nights and after my first night I was offered a spot on the roster of a local club team. The team sponsors are a ‘massage parlor’^. Unfortunately I had to decline the offer as the games are on Saturday nights and we have planned several weekend trips that would make me unavailable. We spent a few weekends kicking around Christchurch enjoying the Arts festival and such. The Cirque Eloize was really amazing and delightfully entertaining (did I just write that sentence?). The performance was both dazzling to the eye and amusing to the mind. The Island Sounds 20 acoustic guitar performance was a little disappointing. A couple of Saturdays past we went for a drive out the Banks Peninsula to the tiny seaside village of Akoroa famous for its French influences. The village was pleasant and the drive along the summit road offered many spectacular views. We also paid a visit to one of the South Islands best Maori Museums in Okains Bay. On another Saturday we went to the Holy Grail to watch the All Blacks play the Wallebies (Australia) in a tri-nations rugby match. The Holy Grail is this enormous sports bar with the largest screen I have ever had the pleasure to watch a sporting event on. The match was essentially to decide which rugby side was going to challenge the Springboks (South Africa) for the tri-nations series trophy. The All Blacks came out all flat and Australia jumped out to an early 13-0 lead. The All Blacks regrouped and ran off 30 unanswered points to seal the deal. That was a good thing because now the match this weekend in Dunedin between the All Blacks and the Springboks is the deciding game (essentially) in the tri-nations series. MoWenck will be there for the match from haka to finish and hopefully the All Blacks will win—apparently the country goes into mourning when the All Blacks lose. My only true hope is that the Suberuby makes the drive down and back without any incidents. And that about sums up the happenings for Mowenck down in New Zealand. Hope all is well back stateside and that you are all enjoying your summer.
Notes:
* I don’t mean to insult Aussies but I can think of no other way to explain why Aussies insist on telling Yankees and POMS how Oz is better than America or England other than to say there is a slight inferiority complex there. I mean, if I have to listen to how big Australia is ever again, I am going to puke. Yeah, I know, Oz is big but it still isn’t as big as the USA and yes, I include Alaska when I say USA, it is in the freakin’ Union!
^ And by ‘massage parlor’ I really do mean brothel. Most people don’t know it but prostitution is legal in NZ. The way I understand it is that on three islands of 45 million sheep and 4 million people something has to protect the sheep from the men.
New Zealand immigration has this silly little policy that holiday travelers must provide proof of forward travel to another destination-a little insurance that the visitor will leave NZ when their holiday is over. Of course, our travel itinerary has been obsolete for some time now and we have been making travel arrangements as we go (Oswego?*).
Besides, we were not sure how long we would be staying in NZ. We didn’t want to commit to a long stay, get there and find it too cold or uninteresting or whatever and therefore we bought one-way tickets to Christchurch. The airline didn’t tell us at the time of purchase-they never do-that we would require forward travel to board our flight to New Zealand. So we found ourselves at Sydney International Airport denied a boarding pass for our flight with half an hour to make a decision. Miss our flight and reschedule or buy a cheap flexible flight out of NZ back to Oz. Since our Australia visa expired that day we had little choice but to purchase forward travel from New Zealand. It was not cheap-it never is when you are in a hurry-but the ticket we bought does allow for date change (for a small fee) and thus provides us with some sort of flexibility for our departure from New Zealand. Finally the kind lady at the check-in counter let us check in our bags and sent us on our way through the myriad that has become airport security. We made it just in time to board our almost empty flight. It is only a three-hour hop across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand from Sydney and our flight was uneventful.
We were lucky enough to be flying into Christchurch on a relatively clear day making the uneventful flight memorable for something other than the hassles of check in. As you approach the South island of New Zealand from the West in the air the first thing you see are the majestic Southern Alps appearing to rise up abruptly from the sea. The snow-capped Mt. Cook and Mt. Hutt are prominent but the entire range is majestic (very similar to flying over California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains from SF to Las Vegas). We flew right over Mt. Cook and Franz Josef Glacier that appear to be reaching for the beach or sea on the Western side of the range. The alpine lakes, the rivers, the fjords…awesome, even from 20000 feet! We had not even touched down in Christchurch and I knew I was going to like New Zealand.
So we made it to Christchurch without incidence and despite the fact that our flight was nearly empty we were not the only ones in line for immigration. It took about an hour to get through and they did check our forward travel arrangements before welcoming us into their clean, green, pristine country. We spent the next 2 hours clearing customs-ick! And trying to find accommodation. There wasn’t much accom. Available because the English/Irish Lions tour was in town for a rugby match the night before (more on that in a bit). Mo and I called guesthouses from the airport trying to find somewhere to take us in at a reasonable rate. A young Malaysian boy who kept harassing me with “Scooby Doo” references made the process of finding a room more difficult. Apparently the boy had recently seen the Scooby Doo movie and as his father explained to me he was confused and thought that I was a character (Shaggy) from the movie. Great! He was a cute kid but the Shaggy crap was really too much. Amy thought it was adorable and funny and of course took the piss out of me about it. Finally we found a room and hopped on a shuttle destination Dreamland. Dreamland is a quiet, clean guesthouse in the St. Albans district of the city about a 15 minute walk from the city center. The owner is an eccentric Swiss cat and despite his conspiracy theory tendencies Marcus is harmless enough. We took an en suite double room at $54/night (Kiwi) but kept our options open to take the room on a weekly basis for $280 if we decided to stay in Christchurch. After settling into our new digs we set out to the local supermarket to scrounge up a meal. We also picked up a local newspaper to check out the classified adverts for potential employment opportunities. The paper was packed full of Lions tour coverage and I feel I must take a moment to explain here.
The English/Irish Lions are the international rugby squad from the British Isles and they were in Christchurch for a match against the All Blacks-New Zealand’s international rugby team-the night before we arrived, as I alluded to earlier in the blog. There are many sports in New Zealand but the country only stops for one sport-rugby (even Parliment shuts down if the All Blacks are playing). Kiwis are crazy for the game and the All Blacks have traditionally been the most dominant internationally team in rugby if not one of the most intimidating teams in all sport. The All Blacks uniform is simple, all black as the team name would suggest. Before the All Blacks start a match they perform a ritualistic Maori dance known as a Hakka. I saw the Hakka for the first time a week later when the All Blacks played the Lions in the second match of the three match series. About the Hakka lets just say the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end watching it and I was in a bar 400 miles away from the stadium. More proof I am not cut out to play rugby-that and the fact that I would be second row. Anyway, the night before we arrived in Christchurch the all Blacks pasted the Lions 21-3. The Lions captain dislocated his shoulder 1 minute into the game-on a somewhat questionable spear tackle-and they never recovered. Further, the Lions were de-clawed in the next two matches 48-16 and 31-?. It was ugly, the All Blacks killed them and the Lions fans spent something like $50 million (Kiwi so about 25 million pounds) traveling with the team. Nucking Futs! Needless to say I have already decided that I will attend the next All Black match in New Zealand on 27Aug05 at Dunedin versus South Africa in the tri-nations competition.
Amy and I spent the next few days exploring the pleasant little city of Christchurch. It is clean for a city and reminds me a lot of Chico California. The Avon river flows through the heart of the city and there are always ducks and swans swimming on the river. The city is loaded with churches and museums but my favorite place we explored was the botanic gardens. I felt at home in this fantastic haven in the city where they have several giant sequoias and many lakes etc. As we explored the city we kept our eyes and ears open to any leads for work to make some casheesh
NOTES:
^ I still had the word file I typed my last blog on saved on my computer so I decided to repost it following 'the melt down".
* Random Phish reference for shits & giggles-BABY!