new zealand

Report 23

New Zealand

Hello everyone 'G'Day' :

Gary's reports for Tasmania and Eastern Australia have now been put on the hiscox.com website He is now typing about the treks.

We survived all of the treks that we had arranged before we left and realise how fortunate we were to have Gen Walcott (from Ottawa days) suggest that we accompany her on the Milford Trek and the Kepler both in Fiordland National Park.

We were freedom walkers and were with a group of Kiwis arranged though the Otago Milford Rotary Trust. Its a fund raiser for their organization. I'm sure Gary will elaborate.

Both treks were of 4 nights duration, the weather was wonderful( except for the exposed part of Kepler, when the rain poured and the mist swirled). We were with friendly, mostly experienced hikers. It was an experience. We have kept the information and would highly recommend the group for anyone who is hasrdy enough for the hikes (packs weigh about 15kilo) After the Milford Trek we had a night on the Milford Wanderer and sailed down the sound drinking New Zealand wine.

With Gen we went off to Queenstown which is a bit like Banff, ate boysenberry ice cream, saw the Scott Antartic monument, the giant sequois and generally played tourist (which we are).

The another reunion with a schoolfriend Ann in Dunedin. Got off the plane and immediately thought that it was her mother there to meet us... she is the spitting image. With Gen, the three of us looked like craggy old ladies but we had fun.

Ann, who is involvend with tourism in the south, took us around royally. We visited the albartos sanctuary and saw the rare yellow eyed penguins on the Dunedin peninsula, drove along the Catlans coastline. Miles of sandy beaches, porposes, seals, sea lions, birds of all sorts. Terrific countryside and no one around.

Then a couple of days with Ann on Stewart Island. Even better. Gumboots are the norm, bar is just like the L'Eree in Guernsey. As our clothes are now very scruffy, we fitted right in. Stewart Island is another place we would recommend. The bell birds sing in unision, the wekas are tame, trails excellent and beaches empty. Fresh fish, mainly blue cod in the restuarants. All great stuff.

We are now in Christchurch and trying to do nothing except relax, catch up on emails, movies and laundry. The sun keeps shining but fall is in the air.

We think more and more of home, John and Noelle's wedding plans and our re-entry to 'normal life'.

This is still fun. Love Mary

Report 24

New Zealand, Dunedin

Have left the land of the cell phone, the eucalyptus tree and the stainless steel urinal and are now in the land of switched vowels.

Have discovered that folks here interchange the vowels in the pronounciation of words, an e becomes an i and an a becomes an e. "Will yis went cemping yisterday end hed e good time, etc" Now when sentences have all of the Maori word derivations and you are talking to someone from the "country" it is absolutely impossible to follow along and I feel like I usually do in Mexico. Anyway, no worries mate.

We left Australia as late as we could, we were having a good time. We had not seen anything of the outback and would like to go back sometime to travel in it even though a guy in a hostel said "its only bloody desert mate, christ why would you go there" Dunno but think that I should.

Got to Dunedin and were met by one of Marys old school friends whom we have not seen for 35 years as well as Genivive Walcott whom we knew in Ottawa before she and her family returned to NZ. Our goal was to tramp the Milford Track with Gen who had come down from Wellington. Milford is reputed to be the most beautiful track in the world.

Anne Barsby and her husband kindly let us use their home, a huge Victorian mansion on the edge of downtown, as a base while Mary, Gen and I set off for our treck, But before setting off , had to buy a 100 weight fleece top since I had lost mine on a train in Thailand and Mary , at the same time bought a new travel bag since her trusty old had sprung a leak along a seam and is not repairable.

The night before we left, Anne cooked some muttonbirds, a local delicacy. They are shearwaters that burrow in the ground and the maori have hunted them for time immemorial as they say. They are cooked for a long time to remove the salt and fish taste. The result was definitely an aquired taste, a bit like mild liver I would say and I thought they were quite good. Felt honored to have the opportunity to eat them.

Set off for the Milford Track, about three hours west of Dunedin at seven in the morning,our gear which we had mailed from Canada in our packs, rain pouring down, the first really wet day we have experienced since leaving Canada. We travelled by bus with the Milton Rotary Tramping Club. Forty in total, most our age, grissled trampers all. Apparently we took up the entire allotment permitted for the "free trampers" allowed on the 55km trail each day. We discovered that there would be another 40 hikers on the trail who were paying guests, $1600 for the privilege, helicopter assisted, mostly Germans and Brits it seemed.

We drove to Te Anau, then boat to the start of the trail. Walked for about an hour and a half to huts which had bunks, mattresses {absolute luxury] and a cookhouse with all of the gear. Gosh these Kiwis know how to do it. But we came to realise that the Milford is a bit of a shrine and all Kiwis regard it with respect. It was well maintained and the rangers who were at each camp clearly were very proud to have us all visit.

Must say that I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to do the track without the hassle of organizing anything, not even the permit, or the responsibility of weather etc. It was even more enjoyable to be with a group of Kiwis who all seemed to be good fun.

The trail is about a day up and two days down and an easy first day [just an hours hiking into the first hut after a boat trip across Lake Te Annau making the fourth day. The paid hikers were about an hour behind us in well appointed quarters apparently. The trail was much like we are accustomed to and I thought often about our hiking mates back in Canada as I plooded along, sometimes feeling very strong other times dragging my arse a little since we had not hiked on this scale for some time.

The second day the rain came and my thoughts turned to my tired gortex jacket, resolving that I would get wet rather than sacrificing any of my dry clothes especially the new fleece top. That night the sun came and we enjoyed clear blue skies until the end of the trail. Lucky since this is the land of eight metres of rain each year.

At the end of the trip the hiking club had organized an overnight trip on a boat to explore the Milford Sound, an impressive place with mountain walls dropping almost vertically into the 1000 ft deep fiord. Generally the experience was much as we are all used to in BC except that the mountains seem to be more craggy and the trees seem to be all deciduous but do not lose their leaves, and some rather strange birds. Apparently birds in New Zealand had no ground predators and as a consequence many lived on the ground where their food supply was located and conseqently lost their wings. With the introduction of European animals like the stoat many of these birds are extinct.

The big experience for all of us on the trip was that one of the women, about 55 years old, coming down from the saddle on a very rocky tough trail started to feel numbness in her fingers, the arm, a loss of speech and then started to fall over. She ended up being carried down and was eventually airlifted out. Sounded like it could have been a stroke, would have been nice to have had Chris T along. She recovered and met us upon our arrival at the end of the trail and joined us on the boat trip. A salutory experience. It did not detract from a very enjoyable time however. On the last day I just powered along feeling very strong, my thoughts deep within myself....a very good trip.

After Milford we had a three day rest and used the time to explore Te Annau and Queenstown about two hours or so away. Queenstown is a little like Whistler in that it it is a recreation and tourist place. Apparently 80 tour buses visit Milford each day, a great sight to see them at pee stops and even funnier to see folk lining up for forty cans in a row. Tourism must destroy this place one day since the economy is so dependant upon folks from overseas.

Our next trip was the Kepler Track which sets out from Te Annau. A four day hike with more time spent above the trees. Fortunately for me on the day along the knife like ridges it was cloudy but I still felt vertigo and the urge to fling myself down the scree slopes to eternity. The Kepler is as eqally well maintained as the Milford but does not have the same rationing system. We were a party of twenty and were competing for bunks with the rest in the sixty bunk huts. Even so the scale of the place is so huge that one was not aware of other folk during the day and I usually managed to hike by myself or chat to one of the others while Mary spent most of her time with Gen.

After Kepler, Gen returned home and Anne took us for trips around Dunedin including an albatross colony. Apparently these birds fly around the Antarctic for a year living at sea, then return to the Otago Peninsula to have their young, the only mainland nesting site in the world. Guess the albatross must have mistaken the hill at the end of the peninsula for an island. They are an immense bird, 10 ft wingspan and need a strong wind to get an airborne. The facility is run by the department of conservation with an exceptionally good interpretation centre and guides to show folk around. The security was immense going through a series of locked gates to enter a hide to view the birds. An exhilarating experience that was matched by the visit to the yellow eyed penguin colony which was just about next door.

To end our visit in Dunedin, Mary and I with Anne set off to vist Stewart Island for a couple of days. Stewart is about an hour off the south coast of the mainland by fast ferry. A remote and large island with a small community around a bay inhabited by folk who wear gum boots. Even saw one wearing one teva and one gum boot! An interesting place, clearly for those who want to get away from it all. We had wonderful walks, saw a variety of birds, had a great time in the bar and some good fish meals. Reminded us all of the Channel Islands. Even met a guy from Quebec with whom we chatted.

To get to the island we travelled through the Catlins, another remote area along the coast with remarkable sealife and birding opportunities. All of this reinforced the realisation that NZ is a unique place, the Maori, birds, trees, plant life and so on which seems to have detached itself some how from the rest of the world. This must affect a nation in many ways which I hope that we get some sense of over the next weeks.

We left Dunedin by bus for Christchurch where we have the good fortune to rest up for a long week in an appartment of a West Van friend. We are looking forward to this, an opportunity for normalcy, some wine and a film or two.

Report 25

New Zealand, Christchurch and on to Picton

We travelled to Christchurch from Dunedin by bus, got a special priced deal that left at seven in the morning. A fast trip on a Volvo bus along highway one, two lanes only with passing lanes at intervals. No super highways here, guess these Kiwi drivers are accustomed.

Stayed at an appartment hotel for a week and a half as we waited for our camper van to be available. A very pleasant stay since Christchurch is a comfortable town, established back in 1850 by four boatloads of settlers with the mission to establish a bit of England in the southern hemisphere. The place has superficial hints at England, place names, gothic style buildings, Anglican churches but of course is not the England we all know, how could it be so, but it is pleasant.

For me the most interesting thing about the town are the open spaces and parks in the, a legacy of the deal between the C of E clerics and the Presbyterians. As I understand it when the C of E folk arrived they expected to have the place to themselves but discovered that the Presbyterians had beaten them to it and had built their church. So it was agreed that they would remain five miles apart when the C of E folk built their church.

Much of the space between the churches is the Hagley Parks, North and South with the River Avon running through them in the form of a tight loop that now encloses the Botanical Gardens. The city parks department have done an excellent job over the years in the zoning of the paces, beautiful rose, dahlia and perennial flower gardens at the centre of the Botanical bit through exotic trees [for here that is, but generally stuff from around the world] to passive park for walking and strolling along the river watching the punts to spaces for active sports on the outside of the park. All very pleasant.

We did our usual thing of renting bikes for three days and explored along the river to the coast and in the other direction through the posh part of town. Surprised to see a lot of key lots with housing built in the backyards accessed by a drive from the street. The blocks are very deep and one gets the sense that the key lot idea is extended for more than two houses back.

This idea of course is not common in Canada and in any event the back lot would not be valued highly. Here it is the reverse since folks create their own world around their house in the middle of the block and value it highly. It is felt that these lots are safer for kids, the space is more useful than the space around street facing lots and they are more exclusive. We saw some attractive homes on the street and assume that the key lot houses are even nicer.

Went to the museum, lots of good information [did you know the Maoris hunted the Moa to extinction] and the Antarctic Centre [this is after all the place that Robert Falcon Scott set off to the south pole to discover that the Norwegian had beaten him to it and as he lie dying in his tent 11 miles from a food dump wrote that it was all worth while to proove that Englishmen men could suffer hardship] The rather more poignant quote I thought was by Oates[I believe] who left the tent some days earlier, exhausted saying "I am going outside and may be sometime" An interesting reminder of ones heritage which we were led to believe was important.

We walked to Lyttleton the port where the first four ships arrived, a place that time seems to have passed by except for the container port. We were visitted by Norma and George from West Van who were on their way south and together we visitted Arotoa a village by the sea near Lyttletown settled by the French way back then. The interesting thing about this place is that it is in a most tranquil setting around the inside of a volcano by the sea next to Christchurch. In fact there appears to be two volcanos that interlock in the plan form of a letter "s" with Lyttleton in one volcano and Arotoa the other, both towns connected to the sea but all separated by big, I mean big especially when you walk amongst them, rolling hills.

We picked up our camper van, a two berth inside a Ford Econoline with kitchen and the rest except loo. About ten years old at the right price and, we were to discover, a very reliable machine. This was to be home for four weeks to discover the rest of New Zealand.

We got the reference for the company from a couple in Rajastan and learned of good tips for where to go from the sister of Liz Birnie, now living in Christchurch. We set off for the Haass Pass to the west coast, past the Fox and the Franz Josef glaciers and on up to the Abel Tasman Park. At the park we took a boat trip to beaches for a walk and a quiet swim. We were gobsmacked by it all, such powerful landscapes. They say it is just like BC and it is, not better, just "different".

On our way to Picton to get the ferry via Blenheim to visit the sauvignon blanc wineries we called in at the owner of our van to pick up a receipt, drop off a cell phone and to get an oil change. An interesting German guy and friend by the name of Wenzel, living on a farm on the top of the hill, sea in the far distance. A deer farm, with emu, chucks as they say and maori pigs. A most idyllic setting and way of life which I sensed they enjoyed. A couple, each with clearly established jobs making a living that gave them big quality of life. As the woman said "As a kid living in Germany I always wanted a farm of my own" Now she has.

While we were resting in Christchurch our mind inevitably turned to home since as we made our reservations for the final leg of our journey back to the West Coast. Good job that we did because we discovered that Air New Zealand had cancelled all of their flights from the Cook Islands to Hawaii, our ticket routing. We are now on standby through Tahiti. More to follow on this.

Our thoughts also turned to the Fischlers in Ottawa who had arranged for us to get CBC News on email over the months which has kept us in touch...was delighted to read recently that Minister Manley "hedged" when asked by American generals at a strategic conference in the States Canadas views on the proposed missile defence system, you know that looney toon idea of Bush to prop up his mates in the defence industry.

And of course we thought of the Peakmans in West Van where Derek has diligently taken our messages off the email when we were in need and Lenore, our trusty power of attorney who has looked after our financial affairs. Thanks a bundle to you both. And what did you think to the Oscars, Derek, the locals here are quite jubilant.

We now drive onto the Lynx, a giant catamaran car ferry very similar to the Pacificat for a two and a quarter hour ride to the north island. The fare is $350....eat your hearts out those folks who think the BC Ferry fares are two high.

Report 26

New Zealand, Tramping on.

Napier, New Zealand April 3rd 2001

We have now moved up to the North Island.

Gen Walcott who lives near Wellington and to whom we are forever grateful for arranging for us to go on the South Island 'tramps' came up trumps again. She arranged for us to go on a private tramp on the east coast, south of Wellington (miles from anywhere) with her and her husband Dick. He's a geologist so we learned about extrusions, faults and other goodies like that as we walked along.

The tramp is called the Tora Walk and was put together by three farmers wives who decided that they could bring in some income of their own. They cleaned up the shearers quarters on their stations, had some bush cleared and marked out a 3 day hike. Now the yuppies come (mainly all New Zealanders and grey haired), pay the bucks and have a great time. We reckon with about 900 people per year, at 125 per person (meals are extra), they reached their goal.

We walked for about 5 hours each day. Day one was up in the hills with magnigficent views all around. It was extremely windy (around 100 mph) So windy in fact that the high tech windmills in the area closed down. We were warned that we were walking at our own risk. I often had to hold on to Gen to make sure she, being a lightweight, did not blow away.

At then end of the day Gary and Dick rescued a sheep that was stuck in a pond.... mud up to its belly.

Day two was along the beach, surf crashing and all that (wind had died down). We did do a side trip up into the hills where I rescued a sheep dog that had had part of its paw sheered off somehow... looked pretty awful. It managed to walk back to the station with me, so that was rescue number two.

Day three was through lots of bush (Gen told me the names of trees and plants while Gary and Dick were doing man talk). The whole area is parched, drought conditions.

Our bags were carried by the local mailman in his truck, meals were prepared for us and left ready in the fridge for us to cook when we were ready and one of the family would spend some time each evening with us explaining the area and of course, answering questions about life on the range. Excellent and highly recommended.

Now we are back in our 1991 Ford Econoline camper, visiting Napier which is an art deco town on the east coast of the North Island. It was obliterated by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in the art deco style. The whole area is one of wine, fruit and veggies...... we are eating well and drinking lovely wine, C.J. Pask , Te Something or other and the slightly less lovely but lots cheaper Rubin Hall and Banrock Station which is a box wine here.

The perfect weather that has followed us throughout our trip has broken, so we shall see how the closeness in the camper works out!

We have received confirmation of our re-entry to real life, arrive in Vancouver late on May 6th..... days are ticking down. How will we take to a regular routine again. We will even have to pay our own bills, a task that Leonora has taken over during our absence.... we owe her big time (and of course Derek who answers our email questions). We will have to have our own Oscar ceremony of thanks when we get back.

Thanks to you all for keeping in touch and letting us know what is going on at home. Its great to hear all of your news.

Report 27

Cook Islands

One of our last emails.. just shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc at the Auckland Harbour and took an auto photo to comemorate our leaving NZ. Off to Cook Islands at the crack of dawn.

For the week starting April 21st (we again a day and do the 21st twice) we will be at the Cook Islands Lodges (sounds grand but its a backpacker's place) and the phone there is New Zealand code plus 682 24 303. They speak English and the place belongs to NZ.

I dont know how easy emails will be but we will check when we can. The following week until May 6th we will be in Papete in Tahiti but do not have a place there yet.

Gary is in the process of polishing up his North Ialnd report for Mark and the web so our news should be posted soon.

Report 28

Leaving New Zealand

We have just spent our last day NZ, roaming around Auckland, over the water to Devonport and back. Just bought a bottle of sauvingnon blanc from a bottle shop with two plastic glasses that Mary stole from the cafe on the ferry and we sat on the Americas Cup wharf and had a toast as the sun set over the yachts in the harbour. It seems a long time since we arrived in the north island, driving off the ferry onto the first freeway we had seen in NZ. Speed limit of 100kph and traffic rushing along as we drove to the Walcotts two friends from our Ottawa life.

The Walcotts live in Eastbourne across the bay from Wellington. Lots of "remember when". They have a nice house literally on the edge of the city backing up against the bush with a garden just jammed with fruit trees including a range of citrus fruit, grapefruit, lomon, mandarin, could not believe my eyes; this must be the tropics, I thought to myself. Dick seems to be more of a veggie growing fan than I and I must say that I was very impressed, not only grower but builder as well. Perhaps geologists here are more versatile than elsewhere.

In Wellington saw the museum Te Papa, brand new, in a very overstated building. Really the museum was a collection of created artefacts. Very interesting but rather an anticlimax since I had heard about it during our travels and was expecting more. Tends to be a theme park, a good one but a theme park none the less. The building is on the waterfront, good setting with the usual waterfront stuff. I fear this is about all that we saw of the city since it rained the next day and the cinema got the better of us...saw The Price of Milk, a bit of an "in" Kiwi film, very funny. Rained again the next day, so we saw Crouching Tiger....a chinese western.

The big event staying with Dick and Gen was to go off with them on a tramp to a "private hike". This was a three day effort on three or more farms, staying in shearing sheds and so on with meals provided. I did not realise that these types of walks existed but there are a number of them it seems, which provide extra cash for farmers wives and gives townies a sense of what the countryside is all about. In this case the land was originally a 12 square mile sheep station [ imagine that] aquired by the government after the second world war and subdivided into twelve, plus or minus farms which were made available to returning veterans.

So we got to see some real farmers and chatted to them....intertesting lives, hard work for not a lot of return, I even managed to pull a sheep out of the mud and saved its life....gold star. The interesting thing I discovered was that the farming industry seems to work on the basis of building value in small increments then passing the product on to the next to build value upon. Some farmers seem to just breed the animal then wean them off and sell to another farmer who fattens them. This way the farmer gets access to cash earlier than if they took the animal all the way through to the abattoir.

The area we walked through was in drought and it seemed amazing that it would support any animal but it seemed to do so and lots of them whilst up the coast farmers were having their best year with plenty of fodder. A good walk through open range land, by the sea and through natural forest or "bush" as they call it here.

After leaving the Walcotts we resumed our journey north through back roads to Napier site of the 1931 earthquake when 130 odd were killed and the town flattened. The place was rebuilt in the art deco style fashionable at the time. Not great buildings but interesting to see a place all built in one style. Lots of visitors and of course home of the Kim Crawford winery, a wine that John Brown had introduced us to in Vancouver....found it!

We travelled north through Gisborne and on up the north east cape. A pretty remote area but lots of wonderful beaches set among remote farms and Maori villages. We stayed overnight at the farm of a couple we met on the Tora Walk and got yet more insight into the farm thing. Found it quite fascinating and many wonderful walks on beaches.

Our route took us on to Tauranga through Auckland to the Coromandel and on to the Bay of Islands and Waitangi, the heart of what we would call NZ confederation before returning to Hamilton to stay with Avril who was Marys bridesmaid and we had not seen for 36 years. Avril is another farmer, cannot get way from them it seems. Returned the camper and made our way to Aukland for a few days to finish our stay in NZ,

So what is our impression of the country.....motor camps, tough and hospitable people, rolling hills, stunning beaches, beanies and lousy drivers.

The phenomena of the motor camp is an interesting one I think and we stayed in a lots of them. They are found everywhere usually in a rural setting and accomodate any form of traveller from the tenter, campers on powered or non powered sites, trailers that are permenantly fixed to the ground and rented like a cabin, motel units or cabins and even a hotel room. Some even have convention facilities and most have shops. They seem to be the most common form of accomodation for the holiday maker and rival backpacker accomodation which is really a synonym for low price hotel. We found many motor camps which were beautifully kept in exqusite settings.

At one camp after travelling over a frightening road in the Coromandel, gravel surface with big rocks, drop off into deep valleys, narrow, logging trucks you know what I mean, we arrived at a camp and met a young German couple who had a two year old kid in a tow, cycling around NZ, a three month trip. I remarked on the road that we had both crossed over and that I found it the road from hell and commented that there must be times when it must have been scary for them as I found it frightening caught in the turbulence of trucks, usually tandem affairs that roar passed us at great speed. Oh no they said "an easy road" All so predictable.

The camper of course was the highlight of this part of the trip and gave us the freedom to go anywhere. Ours was the eqivalent of a 60 sq ft self contained apartment and when fully fired up enabled us to go anywhere..had a great bed, frig, stove and hot water, just needed us to hook up to civilisation periodically to get resources and we were in our own little world. But it was a bit tough to drive, like a half ton truck and because it was high, a bit unstable. Will have to compare it with a VW Camper.

The country of course is stunningly beautiful with equally beautiful people, did not experience any agro or hostility anywhere just untrammelled helpfulness. The land, apart from the Canterbury plain on the South Island is one huge blanket of rolling hills, valleys flowing to the blue sea and rolling surf. The economy of course flows from the land, farming everywhere which has brought about one tough cookie, the Kiwi farmer, takes no bullshit but a gentle fella, slouch hat, shorts, knife on his belt, a pair of John Bull boots all riding a four wheeled motorbike on a labyrinth of tracks across the farm.

Now the Kiwi driver, he is of another race. Drives everywhere at 10/20 kph above the speed limit, and when approaching a slower vehicle forms an invisible connection to the bumper of the slower vehicle in front of him, then overtakes at the first intersection where the pavement is thickened out to give extra space for right turning vehicles. Very scary especially when you are trundling along in a rattling ten year old camper along a country road. The freeways, well we avoided them hence our trip around the outside edge of the country.

And the "beanie" .... every well dressed youth especially if Maori, must have one, with a label on of course.

The impact of the Maori is all embracing. All place names seem to be Maori based, seems as if all start with Wai... and as a consequence I was unable to remember any place name and never knew where I was. One place seemed just like another to me. Very embarrassing when chatting to people cos they always wanted to know where we had been and where we were going....could not answer them. One gets the feeling that the Maori is the NZ guilt...much like natives in Canada, a similar land claim process is underway and quite the reverse of our experience in Aussie where aboriginals were rarely seen or talked of.

An interesting fact we came across is that half the population of NZ lives from Auckland north and Auckland has the biggest Samoan population in the world. Interesting how the face and attitudes of the place change as you go north.

Now its time to say 'Haere Ra' to New Zealand and on to the Cook Islands tomorrow at the crack of dawn.

Report 29

Moving Hotels

Until May 1st we will be at Sunrise Motel. The phone there is 682 20 417 The other place was truly a hotel from hell... we had to stay for three nights as we had pre paid! Cook Islands are 3rd world without the garbage, lots of Canada 3000 tourists talking about Surrey and ICBC (re entry mode for us), weather grey with sudden squals but the water is warm and the snorkling fish are magnificent. Food very expensive, will be thin when we get back! Love M

Report 30

ITS RAINING .. AND RAINING IN THE COOK ISLANDS

Mark: Please post this as my report from the Cook Islands. It wont be a long one... email is $18 per hour here and the line is very slow.

We are staying in Raratonga, one of the Cook Islands for 10 days. Gary has describes the place, the politics and all that in his report. I just want to talk about the weather!

We had a bad start here staying at 'The Hosdtel from Hell' but soon wised up and moved to a little beachfront cottage near Mura Beach. Basic but contained everything we needed, especially a kitchen.

We rented bikes and have cycled everywhere getting soaked more often that we can count. No mudguards on the bikes either, which makes for a very dirty back.

Island is quite beautiful, lots of flowers, yellow sand beaches, turquiose water, excellent snorkeling (that is if the wind stops blowing) and extremely friendly people. You feel safe out and about, English is the local language, stores are well stocked. (Our coveted large bottle of duty free gin was stolen from our room over the weekend - not good. Kids were around).

There is an excellent bus service but with the island 32 k in curcumference and flat arou d the coast, cycling is the best way of seeing everything.

Canada 3000 airlines has a regular service here, our reentry started on the frst evening here when we overheard a group of people talking about ICBC and Surrey. Thought... yes we are on the way home.

As mentioned, the island is very clean. This morning after days of gale winds, people are out sweeping their grass verges of rubbish and brances, weed wacking and lawnmowing is going on. Seems that they take pride in the beauty of the place and do everything to make it look so. Garbage trucks are out daily and they have garbage bins everywhere. Canada in their generosity decided to implement a recycling scheme here and have a few bins around the place.... bit like coals to Newcastle.

In my reentry mode, I have started making lists.... how much we spent, analysing our expences (for Australia, NZ and Cook only), lists of what we brought and used.... probably of no interest at the moment but if any of you decide to make a similar trip, we have the data.

This is the next to last report... our days are getting short. I am thinking about all of the garden work that needs to be done, the catering for the Toronto 'Wedding Open House' that we are to host on the evening prior to john and Noelle's wedding. Haircut, dentist and all that.

But, as they say 'its been a slice' and I'll try not to bore you when we get back..... M

Report 31

Cook Islands

Well back into the third world or at least it felt it when we arrived. Do not know why, it was probably the hostel that we had reserved and checked into. The place was run by an Israeli couple, run down, filthy and no facilities. They clearly do not invest in the property and probably have no money. One wonders why they are here. We made an official complaint and moved on to a nice place on the other side of the Island, only $20 more for a self contained bungalow on the beach. So the perception of the place changes from our initial experience.

What of the Cooks. Well they comprise 15 islands between latitude 10 and 15 south, spread over a distance of a 1000 miles in two distinct groups, the south and north islands. Our island 3500 from NZ, the main one, is Rarotonga in the south group about 10000 people with 6000 others on the other islands. 50000 Cook Islanders live in NZ and others in Aus. Raro is 32km in circumference with big and rugged, 2000 ft high mountains in the centre. Jungle, could get lost there but there are trails and organised hikes are run. Road around the edge which we bike around for excercise and fun. As Mary says, dodging the rain since it has rained continually since we arrived with very high winds...thought Guernsey was bad. The second island, Aitutaki is regarded as the tourist island, a true atoll, large enough to get Rarotonga inside the atoll apparently.

The Islands were settled by folk 1000s years back who island hopped from Papua NG to the Solomons, Samoa, Tonga and here before they set off to NZ and settled there. The Islands or at least the bigger ones were divided into districts with a high chief and then into family groups of 100-200 people.

First European contact was in the 1600s, Cook knew of them in 1773 and the Missionries from the London Mission Society came in 1821. These folks were very aggressive converting everyone to Christianity and asked everyone to burn there idols, religious artifacts and so on. The result is very little original stuff in museums or in fact that exist...tradegy of zealots. The Island is now solid christian with Methodist runnimg at two thirds and the balance Latter Day Saints, 7th Day whatever and so on. Even a Catholic or two.

The authority of the missionaries 1853-80, the whalers in 1850s and incursions by the Spanish for slaves to the copper mines in Peru and the French resulted in the Islanders asking the English to take control, which they did. The Islanders were annexed to NZ in 1901 and self government in 1965. So the folks here are kiwis but not the other way round, hence the no of folk in NZ. The gov has 25 elected members with an upper house of native chiefs who are advisers. MP salaries are $100,000, not bad eh!

I went to an Anzac parade the other day, the eqivalent of Remembrance Day. All the power of the island there, The queens rep, tribal chief [the Araki] PM, leader of the op, consulates and so on. Quite an event, all suits, white dresses and hats.

All of the land is in native ownership, leases to hotels and others. Understand the Japanese are not welcome. So the place is a bit understated, every thing runs on Island time, little maintenance seems to be done to anything since stuff that goes wrong gets fixed when it breaks or not at all. This is not a commercial place but is very clean. The weedwacker seems to be the tool of choice of young guys who seem to be everywhere keeping the road verges and gardens clean. Folks are very helpful and no crime at least not on the person. Petty thievery happens though since we lost a bar of soap and a bottle of gin from our room.

Hotel rooms are expensive, their are four or so resorts, $200-300 and more a night. but the best deals are the beach cottages it seems which run at $100-200. Rates are NZ $s.The island is surrounded by a reef so swimming is a bit tough due to the shallow water and tends to be centred in specific places where the the water is deeper. Waves crash on the reef, it seems pretty dangerous out there. But the snorkelling in the lagoon is great and the fish big and beautiful.

The food is not diverse, mainly veggies like taro and kumura, some chicken and little fish. Apparently all of the fish in the lagoon are poisoned due to the run off from the fields, septic tanks and so on, though this is refuted by some. Apparently very bad scene if you eat it and get poisoned. No fishing industry outside the lagoon much it seems, only fish from the game fish trips that finds itself in the hotel restaurants. Some agriculture, papaya, coconut, taro, cabbage lettuce etc. So everything tends to be imported hence the expensive cost of living for visitos...tomatoes $10 a kilo.

There is however one exceptional restaurant, set up by Kiwi woman now run by a young guy from Van. Wonderful food, a bit fusion based on asia and yes wine is available...a bit expensive but still cheaper than BC. There is also a pasta place run by a young chef from Milan and a wonderful garden cafe run by a local woman who is preserving local flora and fauna in a garden setting.

So the the place seems a paradox and have a bit of a difficulty making my mind up about it. The reason I feel this way is perhaps the old guy I saw at an Island Resort Cook Island night at the table next to us who went up to the buffet table to get his food. He came back with his plate piled high, chicken, pork, lamb and beef, even green lipped mussels piled on top. While his wife went to get her food he emptied the wine bottle into his glass then drank from her glass until she returned......he was Canadian.