May 02, 2004
The first immediate translation of the above Maori word is 'Hello'. The second two are 'Good luck!' and 'Good health!' , none of which stayed with me during these 4 weeks for I got water in the electrical circuits of my beloved Casio camera during my climb to the Francz Jozef glacier on a day when it was raining cats'n'dogs and I spent days waiting for a wound to heal in Christchurch.
You may remember that in Japan I got mistreated for hairlice and some mysterious insect bites. Well, one of the bite on my bum got so big and infectious that it was a real 'pain in the ars' to sit through the long journey. After which I immediatelly attended the local 24-hour surgery in NZ. Iwas a pleasure talking to someone who understood what I was saying. All the way to the point when he (probably the only doctor in the place with a touch of sadism) stuck needles to the extremely sore part of the swelling and cut a deep 2cm long opening in the middle before I could open my mouth to protest. They also did some test after this in order to look for the origin of the bites. Found nothing, so I came back with exactly the same problem 2 weeks later after my south island trip (only this time the swelling was 5 cm away from the first one - but same treatment applied. Except for the fact that at the same time both of my heals had split to the flesh of the dry skin from 6 months' walking. So, both of my legs plus my bum being painful, the sheer existence of living was a joy without being able to walk and sit for a while...:D
When I finally got away from the doctor for the first time I looked around the street and dropped my jaw onto the walkway. So perfectly round were the girls brest all around me! Small or big, white or coloured.. but mainly white and even for the fat girls! It took me a while to realize what a wonder a wonderbra full of silicon can do...
The other two culture shock was due to my long stay in Asia: One of them was the fact that I was not sure I wanted to see half naked people snogging and touching on the streets. I felt that their brilliance in licking each others' piercing was none of my business...
Afetr spending 5 month in AsiaI it felt like arriving from Liliputh to Whalesland! Literally, these people here are HUGE! Both the Maori and the English descendants (commonly called 'Europeans') are in need of serious gene transplantation. (Interestengly the Asians, who keep moving to NZ for the 'pleasures' of the two main group, do not get fat. I wonder if it is anything to do with the diet consisting of 'fush and chups', mayonnaise and fast food? (Having lived in England for more than two years I somehow never grew fond of the English food. However, Kumara (sweet potato chips)with Flounder, Sallops or Crayfish can be nice once in a while. I also tried Mussles and wine made of Kiwi fruit.:)) By the way, the solutions to these weighing problems are well advertised in any of the girly magazines: plastic surgery in all forms, including the cutting out of half of your bowel system!! Not to mention the lack of full fat yoghurts in shops which caused me a serious distress! :))
Anyway, a few info about NZ travel: Best, cheapest and more free to travel if you are intrested in the country is to buy a cheap used campervan that u can sell at the end of your trip. Second best option is the combination of train, bus and hiching - what I did. (I have had some interestingconversation with people who picked me up: an Izraeli boy who after spending 5 years in the warzone prefers to relax alone away from his fellow country travellers who move around in groups and have no shame to look down on other tourists an the natives (remember Nepal?), an Australian man who has spent a considerable time of his life splitting each week in halves btw NY and London and who is as much interseted in Buddhism and meditation as myself, a young fisherman whose daily rourine involves killing sharks...
The most expensive and convenient option being the organised buses but please take my advise on this if you are sane people: Whatever you do, don't opt for the 'Kiwi Experience' unless you are under 20, are travelled to NZ to get constantly pissed and prepered to wreck the whole hostel with your fellow unintrested/ing travellers. I know what I am talking about because I have seen it with my own eyes. Pigs are cleaner in the kitchen then these ivoo and iivo (Hungarian , meaning : mating and drinking) youngsters from all the sophisticated countries of the western world and they probably don't break the framing glasses of pictures on the walls...
You may wonder who travels in NZ. People from Britain, Izrael, US, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and France - in the order of declining numbers. There are probaly two reasons for this: One is that the previously popular SEAn destinations are out of the question for many safe holiday seekers and the other is the ads of the 'Lord of the Rings' locations. (By the way, you may hate me for this but apart from the sceenery the film with all those ugly fighting was a real bore to me. Sorry. I could't wach the second one till the end, let alone going for the 3rd. But! The making of it must have been a real cool thing!)
New Zealand or Aotearoa (Maori, meaning 'Land of the Long White Cloud') is beautiful. You can easily spend month here wandering aroun the country, walking the different treks, boasting your adrenalin level with Zorbing, Bungy (a 195 m new one from a tower in Auckland), skydiving, dolphin swimming, black water rafting just to name a few. (of which I have tried a few myself.:)) However, compered to last years' lonely planet facts, the prices are generally 30% up and the main attractions of the countryside can be found in other forms aroumd the world. Eg: the glaciers. It is true that they are the only glaciers around this altitude this close to the sea but you can see glaciers in Switzerland in Europe. The thermal wonders of geyzirs and mud pools around Rotorua and the volcanic landscapes of Tongariro are similar to the land of 'Old faithful' in the US. The Fiordlands of Milford resemble the ones in nortern Europe. However some people opt for NZ because you can find very varied landscapes from all around the world in one relatively small place.)
Nevertheless, for me the people, the fauna and flora was the main attraction. Just to name a few:In the Milford fiord I saw the otherwise deep growing rare black corals and other interesting sea life in an underwater observatory. (It occures because the rain, which rains 300 dayss per year, acts on top of the seawater as a huge sunglass filtering out the sunlight and creating an environment usually only found much lower in the oceans.) Other times I enjoyed the christmastimelike athmosphere of the glowworms in a forest at night. The unusal nikau, kauri, rimu, ponga (silver fern - national symbol of NZ) trees and the often entertaining birds. My favourite is the cheaky Keas, who stole passports, wreck the cars and bikes left in the parks and undoe shoelaces. They love rubbery things and imitate movements of people, as well as queing up to slide down on the ice. I also saw some Weka, Pukeko, the funny Kiwi, friendly Fantail, an original Bellbird and the metallic sound imatating Tui. Oh, jeah and a Falcon from real close slowly consuming its prey. Kiwis, you may contempt me for it but I just love the look and touch of the pest of the country which are eating the native forests up: the possums. They have beautiful silky fur - which is well exploited in the souvenir shops all over the country. Run over possums turned into hand, ear or nipple warmers and the like...
There is also the problem of well advertised and too organized travel attractions. I mean the leaflets in genaral. Every company put the best photos ever on their leaflets and when you go there you are bound to feel disappointed. Ok, I wasn't lucky with this exceptionally bad weather this year but still, I think it didnīt help.
Now, letīs talk about he joys of dorm room and bank beds: hitting your head in the delibaretly low upper bed and passing out every time you want to get up after a good night sleep with someone snorring, rastling all night with plastic bags, eating crunchy chips, listening to gossiping sissy girl talk or rocking the squeky metals just for fun is a real source of plesure. (Odviously my level of tolerance must have dropped in th last couple of days... Oh, how I miss my beloved single room and healthy cooked meals all under 5 kiwi dollar a day in a country of blooming flowers and smiling people! Oh yes, Asia...)
Talking of the joys of living: Guess where has evelotion for building healthy living places stopped in NZ? Exactly! Just like in England the Kiwis seem to have find it difficult to understand the practicality of having one tap instead of two of which eighter burns or freezes your hand, as well as enjoying the benefits of double glazing and central heating. There is one more common thing with Britain: Only here you would here the 'Mumy, mumy, mumy I want this!' cries of the children who have obviously have no guidelines but too much freedom which makes them real frustrated. (I wonder why I did not hera this in Asia?)
One of the nicest place I stayed at must be Turangi, near the Tongariro Crossing. The hotel owners have become millionairs in two yers thatks to the fortunate location and the excellent and friendly service thay provide. It was here that met some great people for good conversations. An izraeli man with his wife and a ChineseAmerican very sporty retired policeman from SF who is into Art Deco. We did the most famous one day walk of the country together, or it is perhaps more precise to say on the same day. At the start I first I made sure I ad enough sunblock in my eyes, so when I got up where the fog was so thick and the wind so strong I would look real cool with all those tears running down my cheeks while looking for the signs of all those literally unseen beauties around us. Freezing cold is not a word to describe the conditions in which I leaned 45 degrees sideways onto the wind and kept murmuring to myself: 'Keep walking! Keep walking!' like Dory, the naturally blue fish from the cartoon of "Finding Nemo'. (If you havenīt seen it, belive me your life is not complete yet!:) Well, me and my friend did the 17 km in 8 hours walking slow, taking plenty of photos when the weather let me have an opportunity but I was told that some Kiwis do it in 1,5 hour running! and once a 76 years old Austrian Alpinist woman did it in couple of hours on her hands and knees when noone else dared to face such severe wind conditions.
Whale and dolphin watching in Kaikoura must be another place I never forget. Unfortunatelly the antibiotics I had to take at the time made me sooo sick in the stomack that could hardly stand to witness the sperm whales diving for viscous giant squids, the virtual reality video of the underwater canyon swarming with crayfish and the promised 'Heeps of dolphins, you will see, rightyo sweet'art!'. Climbing both the Francz Jozef and the Fox glaciers, doing the maze inear Wanaka in 20 min instead of the estimated 1,5 h, trying a hand at varous puzzles and a Scrabble game with Englis boys in English in Akaroa, doing the Diamond Lake walk (where I saw the rare Falcon), flying over Mt Cook and enjoying the sandfly bites at the west coast are all activities I embrace. Maybe the only exception is the Francz Jozef climb in the pouring rain which ruined my camera. So devasteted I felt until getting back to Christchurch and buying a new one, that I kept dreaming that my beloved Casio worked again!
After buying my new baby (a fresh Canon model with 10 times optical zoom, endless video, etc) I headed to see my bone and jade carving friend who have had excibitions in NY and Europe and who has made the most thin and intricatelly complex jade piece I ever saw! I baked some Hungarian poppy seed cakes, as well as cooking soem tasty good food and pancaces. I had great conversations and made the most thin bone piece without breaking he ever saw. Before leaving I bought a fishook specially made for me out of whalebone in the traditional Maori manner for good luck on seavoyage.
My most impressive encounter with Maori culture happened near Rotorua. But first a bit of history: Before the Maori arrived to NZ ther was a huge flightless bird, called the Moa, and some peacful inhabitants whom the Maori ruthlessly killed and ate according to their cannibalistic warrior traditions. When the Europeans arrived the Maori were much better treated than any other colonized nations (including the poor neighboroing aboriginals - watch 'Rabbit proof fence' if you have the chance!) and even had a a treaty signed but still their language was officially banned for a while and their culture was disapperaing. Today they enjoy a renessaince in all the arts of carving, oral tradition reciting and the like again. Ther are bilingual schools and land is given back to them. Hoever their culture is not easily adjuted to the Europen norms, so they still suffer some disadvantege. The impressive Te Papa museum in Wellington almost entirely dedicated to their culture and there are new films being made like the dreamlike 'Whale Rider' and the perhaps less fortunate one, titled 'Once we werewarriors', which is all about the fact that today Maori are one of the leading ones in the first 10 domestic violance leading nations. NZ is approximately the same size as Japan but instead of 170 million it only has a bare 4 million population mostly congregated around the biggest city, Auckland. (Wher you can find these wonderful, new and funky pacific rim meals as well as good and cheap food from all over the world!) Anyway, back to my Maori chiefs with the piercing eyes. The educational night show with Ngate Whakane from the Wetini Mitai tribe was more than excellent! He is one of those leading man who deserve to be put on stage with the most famous balley dancers, which he did with ease. He has a tatoo all around his thighs and bum and on his face according to the formalities of the tribal traditions. Tounge sticking and face pulling are just one of the powerful elements of haka (war dance) that left a big impression on me. The girls juggling with jojolike balls is another. Hoever there was one more time I met a Maori man with a real Moko (tatoo) on his face at the sacred crater in the heart of Auckland. First he was not willing even to talk to me but nevertheless we had a little conversation about his spiritual path finding...
During my travel in the last 6 month I never met another Hungarian, (usually people from there have just enough to get buy, so I am a lucky one - which does not mean I did not have to make sacrifices for this trip) let alone meeting someone baring my name. (Kinga is a special Hungarian name). So I was rather perplexed to see one day the name 'Te Kinga' on the map in NZ. I found out later that the Maori could not pronance king , so they added an extra 'a' to be able talk about him. Talking of talking names, the longest place name in the world is in NZ:Tuamatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronu-kupokaiwhenuakitanatahuI leave you to it to find out what it means exactly!:))
Finally, I saw these grains of wisdom at a nice hostel on some unusual postcards. Let me share with you:- Why frown when it takes 17 muscles to smile but 32 to frown?- Knowledge comes from learning, wisdom comes trough letting go of what you think you knew.- A smile cannot be bought or sold, yet is the richest gift one can give or receive.- Worriing will not change the future, feeling guilty will not change the past.- If we could hear one anothers' thoghts ; it would relieve God of a great burden.
I hope you are all well and happy. Soon I will write about my time in Tahiti. Until then take care!
Love:
Kinga