New Zealand 2018

New Zealand
Over here to touch base with friends and family for three weeks.
Its always a little strange returning to a place. Even if you leave only for a short time . Things change.
This time, 2 earthquakes have had their wicked way. Shops , places of interest , old buildings all gone.  Replaced with miles and miles of orange cones  and the occasional forlorn person standing by a stop go sign keeping watch over the miles and miles of cones.
The flight over in cattle class wasnt as bad as I though . The service was fine and the check in went smoothly, surprisingly!.
The automatic check in  machine,  as usual  required assistance and took the counter staff had to re do everything. Yes that's progress!
First impressions of arriving on New Zealand . I'm sorry but, fat. All lot of people are just plain fat. 
How would you describe New Zealand ? A rural town that just got to big ?
There is something about New Zealand or the South Island in which a force or entity operates  a force or energy that makes you withdraw from world events and become cacconed in a bubble of complacency.
The faults , the house prices as per pacific rim are vastly inflated , either that or the purchasing power of the dollar is zero.
Energy prices are sky high , in other words , overseas interests have done naughty things to New Zealand bottom and the people we electronic to safe guard us against the evil have failed to do so. In other words in my opinion the social contract has broken.
On the positive side, the level of service has improved and the ease of which you can go about your daily life is much better. Shops are open later , services  while being online and a pain in the arse to use are for the most part effective. At least in Japan you deal with a human being though.
Finally the pace of life is much slower, much much slower. I wonder why that is ?
Is it the mass of people feeding of each other's energy ? who knows .
I took  a trip to Kiakora the other day 100km from here , nice but unfortunately the earthquakes had really shaken the inner town. with large sections missing. Still the fish and chips were nice !
Took the coastal road home but half way and just before the mountains , I got something in my eye causing me to see,   nothing. . Oh boy what a fun drive home .
State highway one of a duel carriage way which means it a single lane up and a single lane down .
So when you are on a bridge and the big trucks are coming towards you, at 100km/have , you only have a foot or so and no safety barrier between you and the truck.
So with one eye closed and the other not working too well , the trucks become a big mass of blurry , starry lights
Still , I am writing this a few days later so I didn't hit anything. I think .
A few days later we we looking for the elusive rabbit. turns out we do have them but they are small and would need trapping. There are plenty of hares due to the open cattle pastures, but no bunnies.  The hill we climbed was one of the larger ones in the area and gave a good view over the district. On the very top there was a stone with a brass plaque insert. To a couple called Robinson. What  a lovely place to be.
Back down on the plain , where the rain from Spain has stayed , Johnnie , out next door neighbour has killed a bobby calf for the dog, Rather than chop it up and put it in the freezer , he has left it outside on his front lawn, Chopping bits off as and when needed. Tis be a gruesome scene , more along the lines of hammer house of horror and probably not seen in the more afluent parts of Tokyo! .
Sunday night was spent at Hamner Springs , a resort village that used to house the Queen Mary hospital for the sozzled. A british belt and braces affair set in beautiful grounds , now returned to Maori.
We had a strange but delightful meal at this restaurant where everything that was , was not.  wasabi , that was cheese. Cucumber that was apple, apples that were sugar filled with foam.
well presented and nice. It was good.
Monday rolled around and I spent the day scrub cutting.  I dont mind hard work, Its honest and good for the mind, Then into Rangiora to pick up half a ton of pellets for the fire. This turned out to be an expensive day.  The pellets were about 600 dollars , the hire of the trailer , the gasoline about 50 dollars and the speeding ticket we got for doing  100km/h with a trailer. 95 km/h is the allowable speed with a trailer.
To those who dont know. The policy men , policemen are rather enthusiastic about their job. They love to drive around in unmarked cars with hidden blue and red lights. The cars are equipped with radar front and rear, so the first thing one knows or sees are the flashing blue and red lights and you pull over to receive your state benefit.
An ice cream and a pie made things a little better on the way home .
Tuesday, I spent looking at an old motorbike, "Just an hours work", he said. Still it made the brain work.
Thursday; went into town. when one says "into town " it means an hours drive and at least $ 50 dollars in gasoline. Stopped by the skate park again then off to the shopping mall to steal their free WIFI, then off to the "Army Navy" store for some new clothes. Well they are cheap! and as long as you like green , or now desert storm you can choose any colour you like.
After shopping we took a detour around Lyttleton. Lyttleton, is on its back foot. Remember it suffered an earthquake. All the old haunts are gone, The British pub is there but no longer occupied.  A street full of "craft shops" awaits you further up the road and that is about it.  A longest milkshake in town , with 3 scoops of ice cream preceeded corsair bay. A beautiful bay in which I remember swimming as a child. The addition of  changing rooms havent spoilt its appeal..
With time a premium, it was back into the car and off to a long time friends house. Well we would have if we had known the address. Back to south city and a brief flirtation with south city WiFI resulted in a prompt reply from Heather, Sally and Richards daughter.
Sally and Richard have been long time friends and have supported me through thick and thin, with Sally bearing the brunt of my internet presence. I love that the T.V was off and that there conversation flowed freely.
They have moved from a larger property to a smaller one on the account of sallys health. Set in a back section with a view of a small park. The house is of the town variety a handfull of years old in which Richard has made access easier for Sallys " Urban Tractor".
The thing is about the location however is that its in Oxford. Not Oxford England nor any similarity with Oxford England. But at the end of the straightest longest road known to man. The man whom was later employed in Australia and possibly America and may have sub contracted out on occasions as there is a bend in the road about 40 km into the journey.
Friday saw the new hiking gear loaded up and my brother and I at the start of the Lake Daniels walk a short walk through beech wood forest to a small but beautiful lake, 8 odd km in.
We arrived a little late but with enough time to set up and eat dinner. A mountain house " just add water " affair , it was eatable. Maybe after a moth or so opinions may change but for now the stew was good.
At about 12 in the night , I thought brother had given up with the cold , it was 2 degrees or less, and had given up! Retreating to the hut for warmth. However a group of "foreign types" had decended and decided on some pillow talk before bed. Being in a hammock in the forest, I wasnt party to their inner most desires.
I woke up just after dawn, my hotwater bottle had lost its mojo and the cold was making its presence felt. So I arose and lit a fire but the rain and the wood being damp made for old smokey. Coal just made it worse.
Lake Daniels is on the west coast side of the Lewis pass and has all of the west coast charms. Rain and coal and a golden history.
A golden history on which I had decided to capitalize on. Purchasing a gold pan, My pan was to mine for gold. Things were going to plan until we stumbled upon a sign. Not a sign which requires the ridicules of the neighbours and the construction of an ark, more a laminated photocopy from the Dept of conservation stating I was to remain poor.
One thing I realized about the area was that it was dead as far as biodiversity. A couple of More porks and  the odd twitter ,most likely from the Foreign types we had met earlier. This led me to ask the question about the use of 1080. Which it seems was used in the area in 2016.
I had the opportunity to chat to a few people about the quiet forest and the possibility of trapping the area. The reply was " makes ya fit "  but no problem.
Sad really. Especially when you arrive home and the back garden is alive with birdsong.  Something is definitely wrong.
I wonder if there is another way!
The final stage of the vacation was rapidly approaching , I got the bike started and started to pack.
Here we need to insert a rant of sorts !   Air New Zealand. at the economy level you get an economy service. I mean economy .
You are allowed 23kg. One bag. and the little white button on the side of the seat has gone.
Lets start with the little white button.  Years ago, you pushed the button and the nice lady came and with a bit of negotiation you eventually got a beer.
Now,  there is a touch screen. The touch screen has a handful of options. Call crew, for a glass of water and snacks , but the kitchen was always closed.
23gk means no shopping. But I did. So I had a separate bag, my bow. The bow which was checked in as a separate bag when I went to NZ and the backpack we had was checked  as a carry on.
So when I tried to return , I now had 2 check in bags. One at 23 kg the other at 750 grams  and a payment of 100 dollars.  Hey " I will send it DHL" , 400 dollars.
The flight back was good as regards to service, the dinner service I wanted wasnt available but the attendant remember when dinner came around . I thanked him later.
The process of entering and leaving countries I must say has speeded up , the slowest part being waiting for my bag !
Is it good to be back . we will see !