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On the drive back from Rotorua, we were graced with the most brilliant rainbow any of us had ever seen: a full arc with colors so bright they almost seemed to glow. At one point, there was a second fainter rainbow hovering just above this one. I stared at it in awe for about 10 minutes, until it faded, then turned my attention to the red-orange sunset. Not a bad way to pass the hours riding bitch in the back seat of a tiny “sports” car. Road trips rule! Yay Rotorua!
I’ve been uploading my New Zealand photos in dribs and drabs. The latest are from yesterday’s trip to Auckland Zoo, where they allow visitors to get impressively close to many of the caged animals. I think my favorites were the Galapagos tortoises, massive creatures who seemed to feast endlessly on very short cut grass.
Today we are off to sulphurous Rotorua, for some steaming hot geothermal action. Mud pools and geysers galore!
I’ve just been to a yummy Christmas bbq, with champaign and salad and fruit and pickles and lots of meat that I didn’t eat but which everyone seemed to enjoy. After dinner, we and what seemed like everyone else in the “beach community” went for a walk on the waterfront. Now I’m trying to give my digestion a kick in the colon with green tea and “Delicia’s Garlic Cloves” (my new favorite pickled thing).
A mosquito just landed on my arm. Yay summer Christmas!
I have writers block. Or rather, writer’s insecurity. I’ve never been great at self expression, and today I seem to be fumbling more than usual. I keep trying to tell a story, then deleting it half way through.
Is it sincerity I struggle to find? I’m in New Zealand and people keep asking me what I think of the place and I feel like I’m supposed to exude wonder at its remarkable unearthly beauty. And though I do want to write tales of this natural wonderland, the stories don’t seem to come. Maybe that’s why all my words feel so forced to me.
This isn’t to say I am without awe. Camping in the Northland was full of magic, such as the giant Kauri trees in the Whaipoua forest, and the massive sand dunes on Ninety Mile beach (if only I had my boogie board). But outside of the forest, far from sand and sea, words escape me.
The other day, Tim and I were on a walk in the Waitakere Ranges, a chain of hills 25 km west of central Auckland. While walking through a dense bit of forest, it struck me that the landscape seemed almost too perfect. The scenery reminded me of Brookfield Zoo’s “Tropic World”, a house designed to look like the prototypical rainforest, ideal but contrived. And yet, NZ isn’t contrived at all, it’s filled with natural beauty in a near idyllic state, and I’m so dumbfounded by it all that the best I can do is compare it to a zoo!
Long before I’d ever seen my first theorem, I wanted to be an astronomer. In fact, I even majored in astronomy during my first year at UIUC. There’s probably an essay in me on my switch from astronomy to math, but who wants to read about the death of a childhood dream? And who said it had to die anyway?
I spent the early part of this week camping in the Northland (northernmost part of NZ’s north island). On our first night in Matai Bay we were treated to a semi-clear night (and a lovely pasta dinner, thank you Tim!). In the darkness, the Milky Way reminded me how much I love looking at the stars.
Naturally, I couldn’t resist taking a photo. A 30-second exposure wasn’t long enough to blow anyone’s mind, but it did pick up the southern cross and a slight hint of star trails. Star trails! The wheels are turning….
Yesterday I picked up two new toys for the camera: a wireless cable release and a tripod. Last night was too cloudy for star trails, but I did grab the above shot of Auckland’s skyline from Mission Bay.
On my first day in Auckland I bought a pair of inline skates. They are K2’s, just like my old pair, and fit like a glove. I made the mistake of googling their cost in US Dollars and was a little sickened by the difference. Yesterday I took them out for a ride along the waterfront. I put on my skates and drifted out onto the magnificently paved and uninterrupted path. That’s all it took to convince me that my purchase was smart, if not frugal.
Skating rules… more on that after my blisters heal. For now, here’s a picture of the waterfront. That foolish overdressed American blocking the view is me!
More specifically, I’m in Auckland. The reality of being on the other side of the world hasn’t quite hit me yet. But then again, I only just arrived. Today’s primary goal is to stay awake with the help of breakfast and maybe a little sight seeing. Ooh, and some amazing coffee I’ve heard so much about.
I’m going to New Zealand for a month! I leave in about 14 hours and have so much to do, including get a good night’s sleep. But how can I sleep when I’m so excited to get on that plane? It’s like Christmas. No wait, it IS Christmas.
I am lucky.
i’m tired tonight. long day i guess. woke up early and worked out the ol’ legs. squats, presses, curls, raises. up. down. one. two. rinse. repeat. and me oh my, is that smell coming from me? my sweat glands: conduits of curry. but i can’t say it wasn’t worth it: last night’s spiced chickpeas were divine! then into town to meet Tim at the Tate Modern. we tried to ride the slides but get this: tickets required. what is this conspiracy of queues? a queue for the ticket. a queue for the slide.
london: city of inefficiency.
so what was supposed to be a fun ride turned out to be a major pain in the ass and the wait was over an hour so eff it. we diverted to the gift shop and were inspired by all the books. how about we go to charing cross road and look at some more books? ok!
it was a bit of a hike to covent garden, but a marvelous walk. i was lost for the most part, so followed Tim’s nose towards our destination. he led us through the offices were all of the lawyers and barristers work, somewhere between Fleet Street and Victoria Embankment. this is the London of my dreams: big beautiful OLD buildings surrounding picturesque courtyards with trees and fountains and benches, narrow passages leading to more courtyards and secret pubs, old men in suits, offices where people toiled over piles of papers and books and important looking documents, fascinating and surreal scenes that don’t seem to exist in the “real” London of fish and chips and beer cans and Tesco.
we never made it to the book shops because we wanted coffee and snacks. and then it was time to go home. this led to another walk, and a bus ride, and another walk. it’s so great to live in a city where i get to walk everywhere and go to museums but why does it tire me so? am i actually burning more calories while i’m in a museum? sometimes i wish the halls of museums were lined with water stations like the ones at running races, where volunteers hold out cups of cold refreshing water for passer-bys. a few words of encouragement wouldn’t hurt: “keep it up! just one room to go!” “yes, all of the old broken pottery is supposed to look the same!” “mind the Rosetta Stone, it’s a doozy!”
so my battery’s dying but i really want to get something done tonight. create something. or learn something new. but i’m exhausted! but rather than give up and settle in with my book or a movie, i’m sitting in front of my computer like a boob. why this reluctance to throw in the towel of productivity and enjoy the rest of my evening doing something which requires only as much energy as i have available? aimlessly reading things on the internet will not re-energize me. this obsession with “getting things done” is making a mockery of my free time! and i’m not even working at the moment! all my time is free time. and everyone knows that girls just wanna have fun. so on with it! amen.
fyi: current reading is Ironfire by David Ball, an “epic novel of love and war”. So far, so hard to put down. I wouldn’t normally read a book set in the 16th century about religious wars and sea battles and sultans and knights and slaves, but I thank my mom for the recommendation: this story is addictive!
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