August 18, 2011 - Midwinter in NZ!

Haere Mai!

It continues to be a BEAUTIFUL winter here in Christchurch. We had wanted to be back in Canada by now, thinking that we could avoid the NZ winter and enjoy the Canadian summer, but the summer in western Canada has been miserably wet (from what I've heard) while the winter here has been mild and generally sunny (I think I even heard we had experienced the warmest May on record, but I can't verify the truth of that). So, all-in-all, I think we've come out ahead weather-wise.

Our friend Xanti is travelling around the south island of New Zealand right now, and he came to visit us in Christchurch for several days. Xanti and I had a great time - he's such a fun guy to spend time with. Xanti and I walked downtown (or as close as we could get to the downtown, anyways) to look at the damage there. It was surreal, looking down the abandoned streets where I once walked with Aya, Rowan, and Shelley. Gaps have started to appear in the city, as damaged buildings disappear and are replaced with square empty spaces filled only with dust and a few loose bricks. The city is changing, as all cities must, but at a much accelerated rate. In just a few years Christchurch will be a very different place than that city of the past, that fading ghost of the city-that-was. I hope the new city is better, more exciting, more vibrant, but I am skeptical. The old city was so interesting, and I fear that the city of Christchurch will grow a new shape of steel and mirrored glass.


Xanti and I also spent some time driving around the Banks Peninsula, first to the beaches of Sumner, then further afield to Akaroa, the small French-Kiwi town that never was. It was an amazing day, with brilliant blue skies and warm winds. We drove down to the teeny hamlet of Okains Bay, where we walked on the beach and poked at a dead seal (probably a New Zealand fur seal, if I had to guess). We had some great dinners with Xanti - it's nice to have visitors! Aya and Rowan LOVE Xanti, so we all had lots of fun.

After Xanti left Christchurch heading south, we went on a short vacation of our own. We rented a bach ('beach cottage for rent', in Canadian English) on the west coast just outside of Hokitika. It was my first visit to the west coast, and I LOVED it. I had heard it was a rain forest, and it lived up to my expectations. Tree ferns, native forest, deep canyons, wild beaches. We left Christchurch, went through the Castle Hill Basin, crossed through the mountains at Arthur's Pass, down through the coastal plains near Kumara, then went a bit south to Hokitika.

Amazingly, here is an Air New Zealand ad that features (at the very end) the bach we stayed at. Interestingly, the 'flight' of the shot actually roughly follows part of the route of our vacation; through the Arthur's Pass area, across the coastal plain, and to the bach. Very cool! Watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOHTbd_yhA

We spent some time in Hokitika. The town itself is not terribly interesting, but several Pounamu (New Zealand jade) galleries are found there. The west coast of New Zealand was the most important source of jade for Maori, and to this day there are many jade carvers who live on the west coast. We also went to Greymouth, a town at the mouth of the Grey River (not a terribly clever name, seemingly), which also is an important jade carving center. There we met Jeremy Dalzell, a talented sculptor working at the jade gallery Shades of Jade. Shelley had always wanted a crescent shaped pendant made from NZ jade, but hadn’t been able to find what she wanted. Jeremy offered to custom-carve a piece for her, and showed us some pieces of jade he had in his workshop. Jeremy and I sat down and designed a piece for Shelley. He finished it in a week, and mailed it to us in Christchurch. Shelley is thrilled with it, finally having the exact piece she wanted. It’s carved from a beautiful piece of Marsden flower jade (one of the most prized types of New Zealand jade).

Having spent a great deal of time (both online and in the real world) looking at pounamu carvings and sculptures, it was nice to meet Jeremy. He is one of New Zealand's very best jade carvers, and it was a pleasure to meet such a friendly and interesting artist. If you are ever in Greymouth, visit his shop - it is certainly worth your attention. Some of his work can be seen on his website at

http://www.shadesofjade.co.nz/index.html

Interestingly for us, we heard much discussion of Canadian jade in New Zealand. Jade supplies in New Zealand are VERY limited and are virtually exhausted, and very little high quality jade remains. As such, there is a lot of politics surrounding jade in NZ. The supplies of jade are controlled by Ngai Tahu (one of the Maori ‘tribes’ of the South Island). Regardless, the quality and quantity of the remaining jade is limited. Canadian jade is, in contrast, both of very high quality and relatively plentiful. Many jade carvers in NZ would like to use Canadian jade, but are prevented from doing so by the ‘stigma’ of carving and selling jade other than that found in New Zealand. Strange to encounter so much discussion of the politics of Canadian Jade in NZ, when jade is almost never discussed or advertised in Canada.

We also drove north to Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks). This part of the coast (from Greymouth to Pancake Rocks) is reported by Frommers as being one of the worlds most beautiful drives – and we certainly agreed! Pancake Rocks themselves are very interesting, with pounding surf having carved out arches and towers from a uniquely ‘pancake-like’ rock (limestone) formation. When we parked, a pair of wekas (a flightless endemic bird of NZ that looks a bit like a kiwi) came out to see what we were up to. One of them peered at a sleeping Aya, as if to see if she was good to eat.

Near Hokitika, we went for a walk through a kahikatea forest. There are VERY few remnants of intact native ‘old growth’ forest left in NZ. First the Maori, then the European settlers burned off and cleared the majestic (but slow-growing) forests of NZ. Some of the trees of NZ were very old (as fires were very rare) and huge – one kauri tree reached 30 m in diameter. 30 METERS IN DIAMETER! Crazy. Most of these forests are gone, but we did get to see a kahikatea forest, where the impressively tall kahikatea trees were covered with an even more impressive covering of epiphytic plants.

The back we stayed at had an outdoor bathtub. Why don’t they have these in Canada? Kindof like an inexpensive and casual hottub. Aya and Rowan loved bathing in the outdoor tub by candlelight. Aya, the mermaid she is, must have been in there for two hours.

We headed back to Christchurch via Arthur’s Pass. This time I stopped at the highest point of the pass to take pictures of the strange (well, to a Canadian) vegetation. This is one of the things I love about the southern hemisphere. The plants and birds are all so strange (especially the trees, except where they have been replaced with pine trees and Douglas-firs from North America).

Back in Christchurch, Shelley and I are planning for our return to Canada. We’ve REALLY enjoyed our time in New Zealand, but the time has come to head north. We’re planning on visiting Auckland the North Island for a week, then flying back to Edmonton (via Vancover). We’ve got a lot to do in the next two weeks!

I’ll try to post again soon! I’m hoping to have the time to write about all the things we’ve enjoyed about NZ, and how our perspectives have changed having experienced several thousand earthquakes (which are still ongoing – we just had a 4.2 last night at 3 am)…

Kia ora!

Trent.