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

We took Friday off, a much deserved rest. And more than 10 hours of sleep was also a wonderful present. Saturday the goal was to go and look at some Utes, as I had picked up a copy of Trade and Exchange the day before (much like the Want Advertizer in Boston) and had found a couple of fine sounding vehicles. The goal was to get a flat-deck Ute from the 80’s (Japanese models only please as the Fords and Holdens had terrible maintenance records). We had two lined up, but playing phone tag around lunch we coulnd’t get in touch with either seller, so we decided to go appliance shopping. We drove up to Petone (the town on the harbor at the very bottom of the Hutt Valley) and went to Bonner Appliances, where we bought a ‘Fridge, Washer and Dryer, all for the cost of a new ‘Fridge! Woo! It cost money, but it was also a wonderfully cheap way to go. We will get them all delivered on Saturday.

By then we were finally starting to getting callbacks on our Ute inquireys, so we drove way up the Kapiti coast (about an hour) to Otaki beach, where I looked at and test drove a 1981 Toyota Hilux. Nice vehicle, and the owner was an obvious motor-head. But the brakes made me nervous, in that they did not seem so good at actually stopping the vehicle, which is a feature I like in my brakes. We then drove across the always-exciting Akaterawa road to the Hutt Valley, which was a fun 45 minutes or narrow and winding road clinging to mountainsides. Our second time across, this time west to east. In Upper Hutt I looked at a 1988 Nissan Navara King Cab, and it “won”. Now I am doing the registration-change dance, and hopefully by the beginning of next week I will have a Ute all of my very own! Woo!

For dinner we went to Great India on Manners street, which I had heard had fabulous food but had never tried. It was in fact some of the best (if not the best, period) Indian food I have ever had. I think it is going to be on the tour for when people come and visit.

Then later Saturday night we gathered in a crowded bar with our friends Stephanie and Patrick to watch the All Blacks take on Australia. NZ looked good for about the first 4 minutes, then they lost their steam, and never got it back. When plan A failed, they had no plan B and ended up getting stomped. This has of course dirven this rugby-obsessed country into a fit of reflection and self-flagelation. I also just read in the news today that there was a noticable spike in domestic violence calls Saturday night and Sunday, as disappointed (and often drunken) fans took out their frustration. One of the dark sides of sports-obsession.

On Thursday night we all gathered to do a promotional parade for the coming Folklore Festival. This is going to be New Zealands first attempt at a Renn Faire, being run by a fellow from California who moved here 5 years ago, but used to be heavily involved in the Renn Faire circuit back in the states. As he has described it, the Kiwis do not “get” the concept as of yet. They have plenty of recreation organizations down here, but they tend to be closed groups that just play with each other. The idea of recreation as crazy street theater is new to them (apparently). Also, with such a small population base you need to bring in every possible group to hit critical mass for the faire. One ramification of this is that we have a serious hodge podge of periods and styles. Should be a hoot!

Originally Tam and Sybille (a friend from dance class) had wanted to do the “Bellydancer Busking” thing, but as another troupe of dancers were already lined up to do some more formal performances, they decided not to step on any toes (and steal any limelight), and decided to go down the pirate path instead. After a conversation with Roger, the organizer, this suddenly and horribly grew and mutated. Now we have a whole “pirate camp” area with a tent, a ship, props, and all sorts of other stuff. We have a half-dozen priates now (all dancers), and are recruiting more. As they come from the dance class, again I am the token male. Which of course makes me the ship’s cook! With Captain Belladonna Bess, and crew like Die Rote Johanna, Dizzy Nell the Navigator, Mistress Comeaboard our “cruise director”, and Blackpowder Peg, I have obviously learned to be very quiet and careful.

So Thursday evening at 7 we gathered to advertise the festival, which is now less than 2 weeks away. About 20 of us arrived in garb behind a local pub, where The Order of the Dragon put on a live steel fighting demo. I had the only drum, which I played and played until my hand was bright red and quite sore. From there we marched up Manners street to Courtney Place, dropping into the larger bars along the way to spread the message. Hopefully we will have good crowds come the weekend of the festival. I will be doing both SCA fighting demos and pirating, changing back and forth between costumes as the day goes by.

Once again time has slipped by, and we have fallen way behind on the blog posts. But at least I finally remembered my password, and can now log in as myself again! (Or have I? Who can tell?)

Last Wednesday we went to our first SCA A&S night. This involved about 9 locals getting together to chat and work on various craft projects from embroidery to making shoes to fiddling with armor (these nine represent about 75% of the total Wellington population). Perhaps it is no surprise, but you can fly to the other side of the world, and the SCAdians are cut from the same mold. This was nice, as it made it easy to slip right into the groove, as we all spoke the same language. They are all really nice, and did a great job making us feel at home. The local shire is made up almost entirely from relocatees, mostly from Christchurch (the largest center of SCA activity here) as well as other areas within the country. With such a small population, everyone seems to know each other (no surprise there).

When they found out we were Mongols they immediately asked if we knew the one Mongol they know, Ethan. Ha! Seems he still passes through Christchurch regularly on his way to and from Antartica, and hangs with the local SCAdians while he his there. We will have to visit him next opportunity. Again, amusing to go ’round the world and still have familiar names and faces.

One comment on driving around the city- Wellington has been beautifully described as a big “snakes and ladders” board, with the odd gust of wind thrown in to act as the random die roll. Many of the roads were drawn by helpful administrators in London 140 years ago with no knowledge of the rather steep Wellington topography. This results in streets that twist and turn madly to maintain an acceptable grade. In other places streets are discontinuous, segments being connected by steep staircases with the street name. Are you starting to see the snakes and ladders here? We do. While there are not many roads, the combination of name changing and no 90-degree angles means that finding an address can be a wonderful test of navigation skills. We try to leave early, and then enjoy the scenery as we inevitably have to circle back three or four times.