s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Been to four Film Festival offerings now. Most were good.

There was a bit more hoohah scaring up Slow Top’s medication. They had arranged to have both meds ready at his vet appt last week, but one of the ones they’d received was expired, so they couldn’t give it to me then. They were expecting a replacement Monday, and said they’d have it mailed out to me to save me having to come in on Monday. Thursday, I still hadn’t received it, and had given Slow his last pills, so I called the vet, who told me that they’d discovered that the stuff they’d ordered for him had been discontinued, and they couldn’t find any anywhere, but had managed to track down something else, and were having that couriered to my address. It finally arrived the next day, so Slow’s all medicated now.

It’s “Conservation Week” here, and the Dept of Conservation was giving guided tours of Matiu/Somes Island — that little island in the middle of the harbor. Over the years, it’s been used as a Maori fort, a gun emplacement, a quarantine station (both for people and for animals, but not both at once), and an internment camp for people of the wrong racial background during the two World Wars. Now it’s being replanted and used as a haven for native species. It’s under territorial dispute with the local iwi (Maori tribe) who have claims to it under the Treaty of Waitangi (NZ recently made the decision to actually abide by the treaty the pakeha (white) government made with the Maori in 1840, and it’s naturally resulting in a lot of land disputes), but the DOC is working with the iwi to make sure Maori concerns are taken into account while the dispute is resolved. For instance, there are several parts of the island that are tapu for various reasons (like, there’s a burial ground there), and so those parts are fenced off and visitors don’t go there.

Anyway, the weather finally turned southerly yesterday, so it was colder and misty-damp today when I went to the island. Got rained on a little, and I’m afraid to try and put a brush through my hair just yet, but it was neat to see the place. They had speakers at a couple of places: a DOC volunteer to talk about the DOC plantings and bird/weta/tuatara reintroduction, an ex-MAF guy who’d actually worked at the animal quarantine station (they had llamas !), and a woman who’d done her masters on the prisoners kept there during the wars. Good stories from all of them. There are still some sheep on the island, to keep the grass down on the remaining cleared hill, and two of them had lambed the night before. Day-old lambs are too cute !

So I’m back at the apartment now, with a much-appreciated mug of tea, wondering how/if I’m going to watch the rugby tonight — Australia v. South Africa. It’ll probably be showing in most of the bars on Courtenay Place… Gotta figure out what I want for dinner, too. Hmm.

Speaking of weather, Wellington Harbor has a webcam.

Dunno how much good it will do you folks in the States, since half the time when you’d be looking at it, it’ll be dark, but there it is.

—22.5 days to Snog Week