Let's go Red Sox !

4th of July dawned warm and muggy. With great antipaction we made our way to the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park, the oldest ball park in America at 99 years of age. We had amazing seats- 4 rows up from the on deck circle for the Red Sox. Day was hotter than hades but we did our best to keep cool with a few beers along the way. As it was the 4th of July, there was a distinct military flavour throughout. A young naval rating threw the first pitch, the marine choir sang the national anthems and a fly over by air force jets started the game. Sadly we lost the game but it was a fantastic day all round. Back tonight for another try though.

  Some opening events!

Big Poppi- David Ortiz

Ellsbury makes Third Base

Gonzalez at plate with JD Drew warming up

The great knuckleballer Tim Wakefield

Entrance to the Park and the famous Citgo Sign

Boston

Well here we are in Beantown. Happy 4th of July to all my American friends. Back by popular demand is the travel blog( honestly- some have asked for this to continue!). Having wonderful weather, eating fabulous food, and drinking regular amounts of Sam Adams just to keep up with the locals. 

We are just about to head out to our first ball game so this is really just a testor . The pictures above are of Copley Square and the Boston Skyline. In honour of Independence Day, we have the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill below( seems appropriate).  Look for more blogs later tonight from our Fenway adventure!

Final Days

Auckland Harbour

My last few days were spent in Auckland visiting with my cousin. The first day was drizzly and overcast so not much to see there! My final day was hot and sunny again so we were shopping and stopped for lunch by the harbour. Had beautiful blue cod fish and chips with a snappy Pinot Gris from Trinity Hills. Delightful!

At the airport- all good things must come to an end.

Maori symbols

Koru: The beginning of life. It is taken from the shape of a new silver fern branch before it unfurls.

 Pekapeka: A mythical bat which foretells disaster.

 Hei Tiki : A talisman for the Maori . May be a fertillity symbol. The strength the persons character is displayed in the Tiki. Used to adorn the top of house entry way carvings. 

 Twist: Symbol of Friend ship and bonds between friends, families , lovers. Can be seen in single, double or triple twist forms.

                      Fish Hook- Hei Matua: Prosperity. Fish were plentiful for the Maori so they associated fish with prosperity.  

Manaia: Spiritual Guide. These typically have the head of a bird, body of a man, tail of a fish. Thus the person is protected over for sea, land and sky.



another curve in the road

New Zealand is made completely of volcanos- extinct and active. This means that it is the land of a million curves in the road, as you are just driving up and down these mountains. Rarely is their a sign for windy roads- unless it is a hari kari sort of situation . Looking on the map it would usually appear that the road was straight- this was cartographer deceit - they probably just couldn't fit in all those little curve marks on the paper without getting vertigo from the exercise.

Often I was ready to stop the journey and go back to my hotel because of the never ending bends !Just as one was about to despair though, a magnificent vista would appear causing you to be glad you suffered the road madness to get to the said destination.

The only thing worse than the continual bends are signs indicating the road is going to go through some sort of gorge. This meant several hundred hairpin bends, usually involving a cliff edge where the average speed to take the bend was 10 kms. On one particular gorge, it was wide enough for 1 and a half cars, but two cars and big trucks were actually using the road. No guard rails- these seem to not have reached NZ shores. The drop was a few hundred feet off the cliff, heavy mist was falling and I was routinely pushed right to edge by some antipidean version of a Mack truck. At one point I thought I should find a lay by to pull over but then determined I would likely not get back in the car again so thought I should stick it out. My cousin had told me it was such a pretty drive around there!! After reaching my destination, and carefully prising my fingers off the steering wheel, headed for the mini bar where a few gin and tonics restored my sense of well being and obliterated the memory of the trip well enough for me to continue on the next day.

My aunt in Christchurch had been telling me about a stretch of road near her holiday home. " trucks go over the cliff there every week" was her comment. "Why doesn't the transport agency put up guard rails " was my response. "Oh that might be an idea " was her surprised response.

Kiwi's

Food for thought - The people of New Zealand are probably the only nation to be have a nick name of their national animal. As Canadians we should be thankful that we do not share the nickname of our national animal.........  

I have had a bunch of people ask me what the sound of the Kiwi call is . Below is a link to a website that has both male and female calls. Males have a high pitched call. You can hear the female in the distance returning the call, but the female call is lower in tone. 

www.kamcom.co.nz/recognisingkiwi.htm

Check it out for some cool mating calls.

Buried Village of Te Wairo

15 kilometers outside of Rotorua is the buried village of Te Wairo. At this site were the Pink and White Terraces. These Silica terraces had been formed from the hot springs that poured down the mountain side, the minerals in the water creating different colours. The water cooled as it came down the terraces so various areas could be used for bathing , cooking and water source for the Maori villagers. The area became a huge attraction after the British settled New Zealand and the Maori became very wealthy acting as guides to the Terraces. 

Around June 7th, 1850, a group of tourists were in a boat on the lake with their Maori guide , Sophia. They saw a huku or war canoe approaching filled with warriors. As the boat came near the warriors  turned to dogs then disappeared. Sophia went to the village elder with the vision. The elder predicted a terrible event would happen because of the Maori's greed .Sure enough in the early morning of June 10, Mount Terawera erupted. While the volcanoe was some 7 kilometres from the village, the ash from the volcano buried the village and killed 120 people. 4 days after the eruptions the elder who had predicted the disaster was dug out of his whare seen above. 

The eruption created a 100 foot crater at Lake Rotomohana and covered the Terraces. The crater was eventually filled with water extending the lake size by about another third. While I was in NZ , researchers had discovered evidence that some of the terraces may still be intact at the bottom of the lake. They will be doing further excavation in the future.  

The banks at the sides of the whare indicate the height of the ash which covered the buildings. Experts believe that the A frame shape of the Maori whares saved many villagers as the ash could slide off the roof, but it was about 25 feet deep. Virtually all the European style buildings collapsed under the weight of the ash. This included a three storey hotel. One of the survivors of the eruptions was able to visit the area in 1930 when excavations commenced. he was able to give details of where buildings were located and who lived in area.

This avenue of Poplars survived the eruption. The missionary who had built up the village area in the mid 1850's had transported these poplars from Illinois. They had their tops cut off to make fence posts. My cousin , who is a horticulturist confirmed that it was common practice to top off the poplars as the tops would regenerate and keep the settlers supplied with wood for building.

Te Wairo Waterfall- 180 feet in total