30 Dec 2003 - 10th day in New Zealand
0910 - Well, yesterday must have been hard. I went to bed by 2200 and slept until 0830 this morning. I think it rained the entire time. It makes a nice soothing sound on the roof of the van, though. The camp around me was quite - surprisingly so considering the number of people here. I walked around a bit more this morning and shots some photographs.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The camp from the beach | ditto | ditto | ditto |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A rainy day event for the kids in a tent | ditto | ditto | ditto |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A mobile batch of some quality | Coast to the south | Park and kid's tent | Coast to the north |
Up this morning and doing the normal morning things. Shoes on, out the door to the restroom, back and roll up the bed cover and stuff it into its bag over the driver's compartment, slide the bed parts back into their couch parts configuration. Then, it is on to breakfast. This morning, I opened my bag of Pam's Natural Breakfast Muesli (with water) which I bought in Featherstone. It is pretty good but I think I liked the one I got at the Bin Store in Te Awamutu a bit better. Next is coffee. A cup and a half of water from my tank goes into the heater pot, plug it in, flip the switch and less than a minuet later, you have hot water. I'm drinking it black these days. Couldn't bring myself to actually buy sugar and the cream I still have from the 22nd in Te Awamutu has gained my undying suspicion. Regardless, that first cup is always good.
I've been thinking about the next three days. Things could be complicated in several ways. First, I don't know what's going to happen with Sharon. If that goes badly, I may be flying home which initiates it own sequence of events. If things are OK with Sharon, then another factor is New Year's Eve. My strong suspicion is that every Kiwi worth their salt will be out staying somewhere for the party - in other words, I doubt I'm going to find a motor park spot that evening. Even tonight, the 30th may be in doubt.
Another angle that I've been thinking about is Hendrick Roos who lives in Gisbourne which is not far away now. I'm thinking I'd like to look him up and that, of course, could go many ways. He might be home and like to say 'hello', he might want company and invite me to park my rig there for a day or two, he may be busy and, finally, he may be gone.
I met Hendrick on Pitcairn Island in 1999 when we visited in the Akademic Shulaykin and he and his wife were living there. Quite an interesting guy. He and his wife had me over to see their house above Adamstown and he spent most of the day I was on Pitcairn with me touring around.
Regardless of which scenario comes into play, there are some invariables. The campervan must be returned to Auckland before or on 2 Jan 04. The Direct Tui arrives in Tauranga on 2 Jan 04 and sails on 4 Jan 04. If it turns out that I am to fly home, then probably I will be there on the 2nd to meet the Direct Tui, grab my stuff, say my goodbyes and then drive the van and all my stuff to Auckland where I can turn it in and then make my way to the airport. Alternatively, if I'm not flying, it still probably makes sense to meet the Direct Tui, drop all my gear from the van (computer, clothes, etc.) and then drive the campervan back to Auckland and then take a commercial bus back to Tauranga so I can be aboard when they sail on the 4th. And in the mean time, I need to find places to stay and I need to work my way in the direction of Tauranga. But, I don't actually want to be there on the night of the 31st because from what I've read in the papers, Tauranga turns into a madhouse from New Year's Eve partiers.
1030 - Been out for a walk around the camp, took some photographs and now I'm getting ready to depart for Gisbourne.
2000 - At the Waikanae Beach Holiday Park in Gisborne. $22NZ/night for a powered spot. And happy to have it because things are filling up fast.
It
didn't take long to get to Gisborne this morning. I think I was into
town by 1230 or so. As I came in, I decided to explore if I saw anything
interesting and before long, I came across The East Coast Museum of Technology.
I turned in to see what it was. It was still pouring.
The museum turned out to be about six or seven big metal or wood workshop type buildings crammed to the top with stuff. When I first saw the sign, I was thinking it must be hi-tech but, quite to the contrary, it was anything that qualified as technology for the last 120 years or so. Chainsaws, electron microscopes, fire engines, cars, radios, switchboards - you name it. It looked interesting so I thought I'd browse it. $2NZ seemed a reasonable price for admission.
I took a huge pile of photos mostly for Gene Whiteside who I thought would have loved this place. These photos can be seen here.
The curator's name was Robin Cameron and after he and I talked for a bit, he
offered me a cup of tea while he ate lunch. After about 20 minutes
of looking around and shooting photos, I joined him and couple from Wellington
who'd also been invited for a cup of tea. We all sat and talked for
awhile. This couple was nice though a bit reserved. After
awhile, they went on and another couple joined us who were from Auckland.
His name, I believe, was Geoffrey and her's, I know, was Bettina Schwenger
because she gave me her card. She emigrated from Germany four years
ago and seemed to like New Zealand quite well.
She
works for the government now. They were a nice couple - very open and
friendly. I believe that if our schedules in Auckland would have
crossed, they would have invited me over. As it was, they extended
an invitation if Sharon and I should return to New Zealand and be in Auckland.
I rather regretted after I left that I hadn't though to have invited them to
meet for dinner this evening especially as they had spent time telling me about
restaurants in town. Sometimes I'm a bit slow on the draw.
When I got ready to go, I shot a photo of the three of them. I also got
Robin's card.
The three of them had also given me a good idea where I might find a nice motor park and following their directions, I arrived here where I am now staying. It is right by the beach and about six blocks from Gisborne's main downtown section.
Once
I had my campsite locked down, I took a dry set of clothes and went to the
showers to clean up. It was still pouring. It felt nice to put
on clean dry clothes. Mine had been wet on and off for nearly two
days.
Once I was clean and dry, I found a phone and called Sharon. She was still in good spirits which made me happy. Her symptoms are about the same though she says her mouth is a bit more afflicted than yesterday. I asked if she'd been to see a doctor and she said that she'd talked to Lynne Albertson and Lynne said there was no point in coming it - just rest was the only thing that was going to help.
After my call to Sharon, I drove back to the downtown area after stopping along the way at one of the new Zealand Information Centers which each decent sized town seems to have. They quickly pointed me towards two Internet shops.
One of these I quickly located and the fellow who worked there was quite nice. He was of Chinese extraction but had grown up in Vancouver, B.C. and he and his brother had emigrated here eight years ago. He also seemed to like it.
I setup my laptop and was able to browse the web and to upload my newest web site updates but I was not able to upload and download e-mail. I suspect that ZoneAlarm on my home system is blocking me out because it doesn't recognize the IP Address I'm coming from. I called Sharon quickly and asked her to reboot my system but that didn't help. Tomorrow, I'll ask her to shut down ZoneAlarm for the time I'm working and see if that sorts it out.
I also wrote Hendrick Roos an e-mail saying I was in Gisborne but I haven't much faith it will find him. It's a hotmail address from four years ago and most of those are short-lived. I also conducted some web based searches for him and he turned up twice in 2001 as being involved in some running events here in the Gisborne area and then nothing else. For all I know, he may have returned to Germany.
After the Internet shop, I walked around town a bit and then drove over by the wharfs area looking for a restaurant Bettina and Geoffrey had told me about. I never found it but I did find the marker that denoted Captains Cook's first New Zealand landfall here at Poverty Bay. Well, of course I took some photographs! The weather was finally beginning to break and I could see some blue skies peeking through. Yea!
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The Maori version | Cook's version | The official marker | What the marker says |
I also took some of Poverty Bay, itself. A pretty place.
 |
 |
 |
| All of Poverty Bay | ||
 |
 |
 |
A bit more driving around and I began to think that I really liked Gisborne and I remembered that Geoffrey and Bettina had said there were few if any motor parks up around the peninsula north of here. I also was thinking that this might be a reasonable town and situation to find myself in on New Year's Eve. Bottom line was I went back to the office and asked if I might extend my stay through tomorrow night. The answer was yes but I would have to change spots from 145, where I am now, to 67 tomorrow.
So, New Year's Day, I can get up and either drive hard to get around the peninsula or I can take the shortcut across the bottom (2 hours verses 6). The goal is to be within easy striking distance of Tauranga on the 2nd.
I just looked on the Direct Tui's schedule and they are not due into Tauranga until 2200 on the 2nd so if I decide to fly home, that will complicate my logistics as the Tui van has to be returned to Auckland during normal working hours on the 2nd. It could work out that I have to drop the van, return to Tauranga t get my stuff and then return to Auckland again to fly. That won't be fun. I'm hoping that Sharon will improve so that returning on the ship will still be possible. I suppose the other idea would be to simply hang onto the van and return it on the 3rd. I don't like that idea, however, as it might mess up someone else's plans.
Once I parked my van and plugged in the power, I decided to walk back to downtown for dinner. I tool along the camera and my Brockman book. I shot a couple of pictures of downtown Gisborne and then walked around and looked at all the restaurants and finally settled on one that focused on pastas because I didn't like the looks of the fish places (wish I could have found the one Bettina recommended!). I order Pasta Carbonara. Whew-ee, it was rich.
Over dinner, I read another essay in Brockman's book. This one was by Marvin Minsky. I think he's onto something with his idea that the mind will be best understood as a collection of loosely coupled functional units each with their own agenda but I can't say that I found his writing to be incisive. I think he's been riding this same horse for a long time and his edge may have dulled.
 |
 |
| The clock that marks the center of Gisborne. They are building a platform under it for New Year's festivities | Another view of downtown Gisborne. |
On the way back, I shot a couple of more including one of a tow truck for Gene. The others are of the beach just beside the motor camp.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A down-under tow truck for Gene | Beautiful cloud formation | Surfing's a passion the world over | Beach homes in Gisborne |
Since I've returned, I've been writing these notes and thinking about what the next few days will hold for me. I also took my wet and uncomfortable fleece coat over to the dryer in the laundry room and gave it a spin in a dryer to make it friendly again. It is 2150now - a bit early to turn in though I'm so stuffed from dinner that I'm sure I'll sleep well.