Friday, April 28, 2006

Public Displays of Affection

Massages are a popular service here in Australia, with many store fronts and street vendors offering a quick rub down in public. With prostitution being legal here, there is not the same stigma associated with Asian massage parlours. Out to dinner tonight with my parents and the Swicks, we saw several people getting some serious work done to their backs in a public marketplace. Maybe its just me, but I would never want some one exerting that much physical force towards me, lest I let out a whimper. It is amusing to see these people slumped over on their tables with a 'hygenically' protective sheet over them, having a complete stanger with their hands periously close to one's private regions. Within five feet of them were a Chinese dumpling cart and an imitation Hello Kitty stand. How's that for quality.

posted by ncawthon at 10:02 PM

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Ch-Ch Cha-Ching

Today we're spending a cold, dreary ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Armoured Corps) Day in Christchurch. The rain has really started to come down, the entire South Island seems to be under a cloud. The numerous ducks in this town are certainly enjoying the wet weather, as their incessant quacking reminds us. We're lucky that the weather for our trip has been mostly dry up until rolling into town.

Christchurch, or 'Ch-Ch' as it is affectionately truncated on street signs, is New Zealand's garden and arts capitol. They've converted an old university grounds into an art centre, with each classroom and building having a different craftsman or textile store. peddling their wares. We were able to really cash in while shopping here, having spent too much on souvenirs and presents.

We're wrapping things up pretty quickly, just having stopped over at the Antarctic Museum before jumping on a jumbo back across the Tasman. The museum itself was packed full of information, delivered via slideshow, video and talking peguin. There was a sub-zero climate simulator, which allowed us to experience what it was like to try and survive, let alone work, in -25 degree temperatures. Peggy & I couldn't handle it for more than a few minutes, a testament to our California upbringing.

posted by ncawthon at 7:18 PM

Monday, April 24, 2006

Your Slaughterhouse or Mine?


As you may or may not have been reading, there's been a great deal of sheep here in the New Land of Zeal. Through our various encounters with the locals, we've found out many intricacies about the day to day of our fine woolen friends.

Our first question centered around colored markings on different sheep's backs. They'd be green, red, purple or blue depending upon the pasture. I surmised that it was mint jelly being applied as an early marinade. Peggy, given her public health background, thought it was a indication of vaccination. Turns out, it was not by the hand of man that this marking was applied. Instead, the underbelly of a ram (male sheep stud) was coated with a colored chalk and as he made his way around the pasture for some sweet sweet sheep loving (up to 300 per ram), he would 'leave his mark' on his selected partners.

In addition, there were some sheep that had markings on their noses. These were the 5 year sheep that were tagged for slaughter. So whether the marking was on the nose or the back, I guess they were screwed either way.

We also drove by an abbetoir, which is a fancy French word for sheep killing place. This abbetoir was unique in that it was built into the front of a man's (assuming it was a male owner) house on the main road. He had converted his front yard and garage into a sheep pen and slaughterhouse for farmers to bring their flock. He must have had a pretty short commute for work, but I can't imagine bringing an unsuspecting ladyfriend home to such a place after a first date.

After spending a glorious, star-filled night in Lake Tekapo, we're approaching Christchurch for our final night in EnZed. Lake Tekapo was a tiny retiremen/ resort community at the base of several ski resorts surrounding Mt. Cook. The church of thhe Good Shepard was a iconic little stone church that served as their most recognizable landmark. Lake Tekapo could be compared to Tahoe in a former, simpler life free of vice and congestion. We're all not looking forward to a return to civilization, as we haven't seen a functioning stoplight in a full week.

posted by ncawthon at 8:18 PM

Tramps, Hookers and Shags

Last night's wildlife tour presented us with the endangered Yellow-Eyed penguin and the New Zealand fur seal, known in the olden days as hookers. This presumably is due to the type of instrument used to kill them when sealing was legal in these parts. We saw about a dozen of each animal on their respected beaches, only a few kilometers apart.

The Otago Peninsula had these fantastic marshes for which one could hike (called tramping here) around. Black swans, oyster catchers and comorants (called shags) were easy bird spottin'. But then we caught a bird that was in an entirely different league, venturing to the point of the peninsula for a albatross experience.

At this point was a lighthouse surrounded by an albatross colony. One could position themselves on the cliff and observe these massive birds soar right overhead. Albatross have the longest wingspan of any bird in the world, measuring up to 10ft from tip to tip. These wings help the albatross travel east across the pacific from New Zealand to South America.

As I was lining up for a photo, a group of either Korean or Japanese tourists came up to try and catch a glimpse as well. Just then, a large adult albatross did a fly-by coming extremely close to us. The crescendo of joyous screams from the group was hilarious, it was as if they were on a roller coaster ride. The experience absolutely blew their minds, each one of them were carrying on in such an animated fashion, re-creating the encounter. For the next twenty minutes, every time there would be an albatross even hundreds of yards in the distance, the four of them would get together to yell and wave, trying in a futile (but amusing) attempt to attract the bird's attention.

posted by ncawthon at 7:18 PM

Sunday, April 23, 2006

You Say Go, We Say Otay!

After a night in sleeping the stables of the historic Larnach Castle, today we're spending some time checking out Dunedin and the University of Otago. The region has a very heavy Scottish influence, a cold grey loch filled coastal landscape with some pretty industrial looking surrounding towns. We had a good time staying in the converted castle horse stables, it wasn't too cold despite all the racket and ubiqutous presence of hot water bottles earlier in the evening. We were served a regal breakfast, consisting of more than the expected oats and hay.

In Dunedin, we climbed the steepest street in the world, according the the Guinness Book of Something-or-others. Our independent panel of reviewers thought that this was somewhat of a ruse, being that there were many streets in San Francisco and the Berkeley hills that seemed much steeper. Will have to double check the math on those formulas.

Yesterday we went coast to coast, having travelled from the Tasman Sea to the Pacific. It was only four hours in total, but still an impressive journey to behold. A dramatic shift in landscape, for sure... whereas the west was tropical rain forest and glacial canyons, the east is more rolling pastures and drier climates.

We're staying tonight on a farm along the Otago Peninsula. Rolling hills, dirt roads, deserted beaches and (more) frolicing sheep. Reminds me a bit of the rural areas around Petaluma. The owner of the cottage is also one the three legacy families who owns a majority of the land on this breathtaking peninsula. He gives wildlife tours in a Land Rover of seals and yellow eyed penguin colonies, all on his own land. We're looking forward to immensly, especially Peggy who is a big penguin fan.

posted by ncawthon at 7:18 PM