hi again... we stopped at the information center... a helpful lady there... and on the counter a picture of a wild looking , burly , gray haired guy... her husband , we later found out... this character,,, a world champion puzzle maker... the puzzles that people make to drive us crazy... like the cube one.... the lady said that we should go to his place... and got a free pass .. so why not... but while at the center we did talk to an ole gent that used to live in greenfield mass... when he was a young man, for a year... he taught grammar school there.... loved it.. said the farm country reminded him of nz... he showed us a black and white film of nz in the 60's.. beautiful...told us stories of the kairu tree and the gum gotten from it.. that is made into varnish.. he had one on a pendant.. gorgeous... said the erosion is getting bad, that the center may have to move..... this is right on the harbor .. this harbor had ships from all over the world coming in for these trees for ships' masts... they only came in during high tide to get over the sand bar..... we did see alot of kairu trees coming into this maori village.. omapere... up this windy road and down and around.. like a taxi gone wild we were.. ha.... but not much traffic at all... fb was workin his biceps... we wanted to go back and see the ole gent at the center but never made it.. we went to shangrila....
we drove down this long dirt road... i was beginning to think it was a joke.... where was the labyrinth house... seemed it never came.. it did,,,,, we arrived at his small shop... a gray haired man,, sitting in a rocking chair, his peacocks on the railing of the place... soon as we got in... he had alot of toys for us to try .. it was frustrating... couldnt do many.. i got one.. and fb.. the rest were mind boggling.... he sat there and watched .. i think he thought we were kinda... dumb...... not really... but he did it.. it looked easy.. well he invents them, he is a genius at this... in his old sweater and worn pants and nice smile.... he sent us out to a maze to find thirteen letters... and make words.. we get a prize... it was a maze made out of bushes.. something like the cornfield... around and round we went... he had 4 p's... counted them over and over... felt silly... but what fun.... well he helped us in the end.. after an hour.... the ans....... lick a lollipop..... prize ... a lollipop... ha..... the place was shangrila..looking.... peaceful... hobbit like..... we walked to a waterfall..on his land... left.... this guy is cool.... he was off to prague for convention of puzzle people..... bye
Sunday, June 29, 2008
on the way... part 2
toots here... just fillin in on stuff that fairbs didnt mention... excuse the lack of punctuation... its faster this way.... ps.. whatever fb said about me isnt true... hahaha... no.. i mean its all true... so when we got into tahiti.. maybe fb didnt mention that we got off the plane to 3 older gents dressed in my personal favorite, turquoise and white tahitian dresses... and playing ukelele's... playing tahitian music.. ... and someone handed us all little white flowers.. which they later said to throw away as you cannot bring anything alive into new zealand, penalties severe.. we were told.... i tried to put one in my journal and press ... they smelled so good... but a flower in lieu of jail.. and fines.... remember the line from who threw momma from the train... it was hot and humid,, it was stifling it was damp... danny devito and billy crystal couldnt come up with the line.... well,,, it should have been.... it was hot and humid... ps the tahitian language is beautiful to listen to.... very musical.... flight attendants tahitians and in tahitian clothes.... south pacific all the way////
i think i mentioned that driving on the left isnt bad.. in an email... but when you add using your blinker too,, this is too much to ask... the windshield wipers on the left ,,fb keeps thinking they are the blinkers have gone on alot and not even when it rains.
the woman who runs this hostel with overstuffed couches, books and chess table to play at...huge friendly kicthen.. people cooking all the time and meeting... has lived all over the world...south africa, and other parts of africa... originally britain.. her next stop she says is to see polar bear... in canada..... her son, mike, helps her run the place... there are alot of ex brits here and germans... south africans.... we met one the first night.. he was hunting wild boar... the bigs ones.. they are pretty fierce animals.. he has 400 acres up in the woods in back of this place.... and the boar comes into sue and her sons yard, where we were staying... we didnt see him,, ..... he has family in south africa that run survival game stuff and its lucrative.. even tho his brother had been shot at already, he had a bullet proof vest on.... but the job is good.. so he stays...
we also met a nice girl from ireland, galway..... she is a cook.. works for a few years or less and then quits her job and travels.. and she doesnt even have a rental car.. guess she get rides on buses or from the kindness of other backpackers that have rentals, cause it hard not have a car here.... she also was full of good tips for us...more soon... tune in next.. for the Puzzle guy and Shangrila in new zealand.....
i think i mentioned that driving on the left isnt bad.. in an email... but when you add using your blinker too,, this is too much to ask... the windshield wipers on the left ,,fb keeps thinking they are the blinkers have gone on alot and not even when it rains.
the woman who runs this hostel with overstuffed couches, books and chess table to play at...huge friendly kicthen.. people cooking all the time and meeting... has lived all over the world...south africa, and other parts of africa... originally britain.. her next stop she says is to see polar bear... in canada..... her son, mike, helps her run the place... there are alot of ex brits here and germans... south africans.... we met one the first night.. he was hunting wild boar... the bigs ones.. they are pretty fierce animals.. he has 400 acres up in the woods in back of this place.... and the boar comes into sue and her sons yard, where we were staying... we didnt see him,, ..... he has family in south africa that run survival game stuff and its lucrative.. even tho his brother had been shot at already, he had a bullet proof vest on.... but the job is good.. so he stays...
we also met a nice girl from ireland, galway..... she is a cook.. works for a few years or less and then quits her job and travels.. and she doesnt even have a rental car.. guess she get rides on buses or from the kindness of other backpackers that have rentals, cause it hard not have a car here.... she also was full of good tips for us...more soon... tune in next.. for the Puzzle guy and Shangrila in new zealand.....
On the way
We lucked out with the flight, as much as you can with a thirteen hour first leg. Very few people so once we were in the air the seat sharks circled the free four and three set rows and settled in for the night. We were lucky enough to get a couple of three seat beds.
We had a meal and few movies before trying to sleep - the first thing we saw was the flight plan 6,301 miles to Papeete Tahiti. Not a flight where you want to to keep watching the progress of the plane on your screen.
Papeete was hot - sticky, damp and hot. Most laid back crew and ground people I've ever seen. We arrived late and they said we'd leave in a while for Auckland. Only a few gates but no indication when. The terminal is completely open - no wall separating from the outside, just big eaves to keep the rain out. At some point they decided it must be time to go so we left. We got to Auckland two hours late, but we have no schedule so who cares.
The ride out of Auckland was typical - I made a wrong turn 100 yards from the car rental place and we wound up not on the Auckland bypass but their version of the Berlin Turnpike. Not having any idea where we were and trying to remember which side of the road we were on we just kept driving around hoping we'd see something that would get us on route 1. We finally did and just got the hell out as fast as we could.
Kept heading north and the country starting turning tropical with palm trees and then alternated with areas like California foothills in the spring and Wyoming foothills with large flat ranch areas and hills, not quite moutains rising up with a top layer of green trees.
We thought of staying in a town called Dargaville. Thankfully the only accomodation was a very expensive motel and a real dumpy camp/cabin area. The town made Winsted look like Simsbury and we headed north.
Went through beautiful farmland, hills and mountains with the ocean out of sight but just over the hills. Road was as windy and up and down as any we'd been on. Farms, huge trees, palms, giant ferns, kiwi crossing signs. Toots asked if monkeys lived here - we wouldn't have been suprised to see some - we did see parrots.
All of a sudden, boom! The ocean - a huge bay - what they call a harbor. Very small town with a few stores and a hostel - the Backpackers Lodge. We had a double room close to the bathroom, there were a few small dorm rooms, nice communal kitchen and a great living/reading room. If we can keep finding more like this, it's the way to go.
We had a meal and few movies before trying to sleep - the first thing we saw was the flight plan 6,301 miles to Papeete Tahiti. Not a flight where you want to to keep watching the progress of the plane on your screen.
Papeete was hot - sticky, damp and hot. Most laid back crew and ground people I've ever seen. We arrived late and they said we'd leave in a while for Auckland. Only a few gates but no indication when. The terminal is completely open - no wall separating from the outside, just big eaves to keep the rain out. At some point they decided it must be time to go so we left. We got to Auckland two hours late, but we have no schedule so who cares.
The ride out of Auckland was typical - I made a wrong turn 100 yards from the car rental place and we wound up not on the Auckland bypass but their version of the Berlin Turnpike. Not having any idea where we were and trying to remember which side of the road we were on we just kept driving around hoping we'd see something that would get us on route 1. We finally did and just got the hell out as fast as we could.
Kept heading north and the country starting turning tropical with palm trees and then alternated with areas like California foothills in the spring and Wyoming foothills with large flat ranch areas and hills, not quite moutains rising up with a top layer of green trees.
We thought of staying in a town called Dargaville. Thankfully the only accomodation was a very expensive motel and a real dumpy camp/cabin area. The town made Winsted look like Simsbury and we headed north.
Went through beautiful farmland, hills and mountains with the ocean out of sight but just over the hills. Road was as windy and up and down as any we'd been on. Farms, huge trees, palms, giant ferns, kiwi crossing signs. Toots asked if monkeys lived here - we wouldn't have been suprised to see some - we did see parrots.
All of a sudden, boom! The ocean - a huge bay - what they call a harbor. Very small town with a few stores and a hostel - the Backpackers Lodge. We had a double room close to the bathroom, there were a few small dorm rooms, nice communal kitchen and a great living/reading room. If we can keep finding more like this, it's the way to go.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
and so it goes
fairbs will keep me honest... he will make some sense of this trip... i will run on and on..
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