CALLING AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

[shostakovich]

Questions for dai bread. I once had a recording of music by Douglas Lilburn, on a Kiwi disc. I liked it. Is Lilburn a big name in New Zealand? One of the compositions was Aotearoa Overture. I understand that was the native name for New Zealand.<P>At some point it was called Van Diemen's Land, I think. Can you briefly tell us about the names Aotearoa, Van Diemen, and New Zealand? Van Diemen and New Zealand sound very Dutch.<P>Here, in the Hartford, CT area, the Dutch explored the region before the British did. In fact, a lo-o-o-o-ong term, unfinished civic project, called Adriaen's Landing, honors Adriaen Block, who came up the Connecticut River in something like 1614.<P>I think I'll quit here, before I get into the (once) Dutch Empire, and Dutch art. <BR>Shos

[bignaf]

I thing van dienen's land was the name for Tasmania...???

[Bones]

Douglas Lilburn...Wow! What a great monthly bio that would have made.

[dai bread]

I'm glad you liked Douglas Lilburn, shos. Yes, he is big here. A sort of founding father of classical-style music in this country. The Aotearoa Overture is one of his well-known works, but I prefer "Landfall in Unknown Seas" written to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Abel Tasman's sighting of N.Z. in 1642. It's a setting of a poem by another local man, Allen Curnow, which starts "Simply by sailing in a new direction you could enlarge the world" and carries on from there.<P>Aotearoa is the Maori name for N.Z. We tend to consider the term "native" to apply more universally than to just the indigenous people. These days, after 200 years of intermarriage, this is our place too.<BR>The generally-accepted translation is "Land of the Long White Cloud". If you ever get the chance to see this place from the sea, you'll know why. Some Maori stirrers call it "The Land of the Wrong White Crowd", but we won't go there, or I'll need to write a history textbook.<P>Van Diemen was Abel Tasman's sponsor, I think. Governor of Batavia? I'm not sure. Anyway, he was important in getting Tasman on his way. He is remembered in N.Z. by Cape Maria Van Diemen, at the northern tip of the North Island. (Maria was his wife). Tasmania, as bignaf says, was the original van Diemen's land. Australia was called "New Holland" at the time.<P>Tasman gave the name of "Staatenland" to N.Z. but thank goodness it didn't last. I don't know who decided to change it to New Zealand, or why the spelling was changed, but bearing in mind the rise of the British and the decline of the Dutch in the 18th and 19th centuries I suspect some Whitehall bureaucrat.<P>Bones, if you want some NZ composers for your monthly bios there are 2 or 3 that could be used.

[shostakovich]

Thanks for the info, dai bread. Do you remember when you posted (local time)? It came up here at 22:12 on the 24-hour clock. I'm guessing a 12-hour difference, give or take an hour. Just curious.<BR>Shos

[dai bread]

You're normally 17 hours behind us, Shos. Add an hour for daylight saving (summer time) and it's 18. Or, for easier figuring, 6 hours ahead on the previous day.

[shostakovich]

You mean you get stock reports and racing results 17 hours before we do?? I see a bright future for you. Where's the $ icon when you need it?<BR>Shos

[dai bread]

What a lovely thought! If it was true I'd be sailing a superyacht at the America's Cup!<P>Anyway, tell me about your place. I have a vision of the Hartford area, and Connecticut generally, as being what we call "Leafy suburbs". Nice clean, well maintained roads flanked by wide grass verges, mature trees, and large bungalows set in decent-sized sections with tidy gardens. Mum, Dad and 2.4 kids. How far off beam am I?

[shostakovich]

Well, CT is currently buried in a deep freeze. The highs for the last week and the next are all below freezing. The state has lots of trees, and almost as many stupid politicians. If we lumped them together there would be more deadwood here than in the forests that our mean-spirited president has recently opened to logging.<P>CT has pretty good public education with the usual urban exceptions. Yale Univ is an hour from Hartford. So is Univ of CT, whose women's basketball team just set a record for consecutive victories, 55 (56 earlier today here, yesterday N.Z. time).<P>Hartford has lots of insurance companies, many of which are laying off people because of our recent economic downturn. East Hartford has United Technologies Corp ( a major industry also laying off), which was United Aircraft when I worked there, and once connected to United Airlines.<P>Homes are mostly pretty nice and roads are mostly well kept. It's a nice place to live if you are not in a depressed area and have not been laid off. The state's history is older than the country's. In fact, Oliver Ellsworth of Windsor, whose home is a museum located a couple of miles from our house, get's credit for coining the term United States of America in the Constitution.<P>Hartford has a world class art museum, a pretty good symphony with a new conductor, a hospital whose cardiac unit is one of the best, and the homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. But, of course, the real prize is that it's home to BEETHOVEN.COM. What else needs be said?<BR>Shos

[dai bread]

Indeed there's not much more to be said. Hartford does sound nice. Much like this place, except that we don't get snow. We natives get blase about Auckland, but it scrubs up very well on video. I'm not sure that I can post pictures here, and they won't be video anyway, but I shall experiment <BR>If this comes out, it's what's happening today.

[TJRDN]

<p>[ 01-26-2003: Message edited by: TJRDN ]

[owlice]

Radio New Zealand has been doing an 11-part series on Lilburn:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.southwest.org.nz/dl/htm/index" TARGET=_blank>http://www.southwest.org.nz/dl/htm/index</A><P>And you can listen to Lilburn's music over the Web at:<BR> <A HREF="http://stage.vitaminic.com/main/douglas_lilburn/all_tracks/" TARGET=_blank>http://stage.vitaminic.com/main/douglas_lilburn/all_tracks/</A> <P>(FYI: That link did not work for me in Netscape, but came up fine in IE.)<P>And buy a CD with Symphonies 1-3 on it here:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000066JHR/qid=1043636590/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1831851-3027163?v=glance&s=classical" TARGET=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000066JHR/qid=1043636590/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1831851-3027163?v=glance&s=classical</A><p>[ 01-26-2003: Message edited by: owlice ]

[piqaboo]

HIJACK!

Dai, we're giving serious consideration to an antipodal holiday this coming summer (well, our summer anyway). We'll have 3 weeks, somewhere between mid-June and the end of August.
When, within this window, would you recommend we visit?

I'm thinking longer days and warmer weather are a plus, but there might be something fab we should not miss that influences the decision.

Tentative itinerary:
1.5 weeks North Island - first
1.2 weeks South Island - second
0.3 weeks actual flying time to and fro NZ

North Island: volcano maybe, guysers fershure
South Island: glacier - for the rubber-eating parrots if nothing else
abel tasman park
Is it worth taking the ferry between the islands or should we fly?

Thanks!


And I WILL find a pavlova this time. Last trip, we spent 3 weeks and found ONE. Everyone else was sold out. I know they are easy to make at home. that is NOT the point!

[dai bread]

Pavlovas are not easy to make at home. If you can make a good one, Piq, I'll invite myself to your place to try it.

We always introduced our homestay people to pav. One of our Koreans had two helpings and then licked the plate! Not just his. The one the pav. was made on!

I'd be inclined to make your holiday earlier rather than later. You don't mention snow in your itinerary, so presumably that doesn't feature in your plans, and the weather doesn't really get cold until July/August, although Global Warming does some funny things. Also, school holidays are at the end of August and run into September.

If you still want to do the Tongariro Crossing, you will need warm clothes and strong footwear. I'm not sure I'd want to try it with a pre-schooler in tow at any time, but you know the Altoid & I don't. Getting to Ruapehu's crater is a major exercise, and also not something for a pre-schooler, unless you want to pay for a helicopter ride. Altitude is about 2800 metres. The geysers are easy, though they involve a lot of walking and on a fine day you can get hot & tired. Also, take in a visit to Tamaki Bros. Maori Village at Rotorua. When we did it, dinner, tour & bus rides there & back cost $80 per adult, and we though it good value. (You two will do well in the obligatory sing-along on the bus on the way back Brush up some American, or even Californian, songs).

I hope you see Kea in the South Island. They are very inquisitive and have been ranked as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, including dolphins & whales. I doubt if you'll see them eating rubber though. Those videos are made by leaving a car unattended for a while. Also, see if you can drive up the West Coast of the S.I. It's well worth it. Take the detour to Lake Kaniere too. Bring plenty of video tapes, discs or cards for your camera.

The ferry trip between islands takes about 3 hours. Cook Strait can cut up rough, so the trip can take longer. Most tourists who use a rental car drop it off at Wellington & pick up another in Picton, or vice versa as the case may be. The flight is about 20 minutes, plus time mucking about at the airport. The ferry ride is nice on a good day and if you have the time, I'd recommend it. Wellington harbour is quite attractive, and so are the Sounds on the other side of the Strait.

BTW, you do realise, don't you, that in flying from the U.S. to here, it takes 2 days to get here? On the other hand, the trip back has you arriving before you've left.

Let me know your dates, and I'll see if I can arrange a meeting.

[piqaboo]

Dai,
thanks tons.
I also have your previous pm info, filed somewhere soooo safe.... but I know what pile it is in!

Snow is optional.
Helicopters .... TBD. they tend to be pricey.

Toddler .... Altoid is no longer a toddler, tho still a very young child. A good travelor, and we do try to set things up so she can keep her reputation as one!
In fact, the mud pits at the geysers scare me extremely because they look soooo touchable - and >100C.

I commend your korean guest for his good sense re pavlova!

Kea - thanks - I was drawing a blank. When my mom and I visited the Fox Glacier, the kea started right in on our cars windshield wipers. Maybe they are bolder in winter (which is the only time I've been to NZ). I think they are beautiful, with their scarlet red underwings and khaki body feathers.

Is anyone doing a sheep shearing show in the winter? (Sick puppies if they are). Her royal highness would greatly enjoy that. I've been told Wellington is worth a stop.

If we can fit it in, we'll get to Dunedin on the South Island, for the albatrosses and penguins, not to mention touring the Cadbury factory.

I'll play it by ear about going whale watching. My memory of that as a young teen was "boooooring" tho as an adult I love it. We dont get to see sperm whale this neck o the woods.

If I learn to make a good pav, or not, you are welcome to invite yourself over. We've a spare room for you and Mrs Dai. San Diego is a good place to visit.

[dai bread]

The mud pits and most of the hot water pools are actually quite hard to get into. They tend to be in fairly deep holes. Anyone who falls in stays fallen. (Doesn't happen very often!) The pools that can be touched are generally those used for cooking. Yes, people do live by them, and they do cook their food in them. They also use them as baths. As one guide said to my party, "You don't bath in your cloths; why should we?"

The big danger in the thermal areas is wandering off the tracks. The crust is of varying strength, and you can't tell by looking what is safe & what isn't. Rotorua is a place where hot pools occasionally pop up in suburban sections, and the affected householders have to evacuate their homes. I don't think one has popped up under a house yet.

Rotorua has an Agrodome, where you may find sheep being shorn. You won't find shearing anywhere outside an agricultural show until late August.

Wellington is a nice place. It looks spectacular in the evening, and pretty good in daylight from the surrounding hills. They have a windmill, a modern one for generating electricity, and the view from its site is impressive. There are lots of similar views from just about any street on the hills. Those streets are narrow & winding. There's a lot of cultural activity there too. You'll almost certainly be able to go to a concert by the NZSO, which you will find interesting I think.

If you want opera, "la Boheme" is being staged, but you won't be in time to catch it in Wellington. The Auckland times are below, and are probably also too early.
AUCKLAND
Aotea Centre, THE EDGE®
May 29, 31, 7.30pm
June 5*, 7, 7.30pm
June 3, 1.00pm

Here is an APO program you might like, if you're here at the time.
1001 nights
Thursday 19TH
June
Arvo Volmer
Conductor
Bella Hristova*
Violin
Members of the Central Band of
the Royal New Zealand Air Force
–
Janácek
Sinfonietta
Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 1
Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade

Arvo Volmer, who led the orchestra’s
groundbreaking 2006 performance of
Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony,
returns for a spectacular evening
opening with Janácek’s Sinfonietta,
featuring no less than 12 trumpets.
Winner of the 2007 Michael Hill
International Violin Competition
Bella Hristova also returns to perform
Prokofiev’s haunting Violin Concerto No. 1
with Rimsky-Korsakov’s kaleidoscopic
Scheherazade closing the concert.


Whale watching is expensive. Last I heard, $100 per person. Apparently it's a very good outing, though. Maori know how to charge, but they also know how to look after guests, and Kaikoura whale watching is a Maori business.

Good luck with your planning!

[piqaboo]

wooohoooo !!!!!!
Its going to happen.
Tickets have been purchased.
Winter clothing is being located.
Dai, here's fair warning to duck and run,
here we come!

Altoid, OT and I shall descend upon the fair isles for our somewhat annual holiday.
:happy dance:

Selma, GC - we're gonna need a cat & watering plants friendly house sitter. Any suggestions for who?

[dai bread]

Wow! So there's an upside to our shocking exchange rate after all!

Presumably you're still thinking of July or late June. We should be able to meet if that's the case, though I should warn you I no longer live in Auckland. I really must see about changing my profile. Chris told me how to do it, but I couldn't get the proper page to open. That's not the first time that I've thought Overseas receives a different service from the U.S.

Anyway, I'll send you a PM with contact details.

[piqaboo]

We be excited, not least at the thought of meeting you!

[barfle]

Mr. Bread will be pleased at meeting the Tenor family, as I was.