A shadow fell as we learned of a long-awaited death – the Doyenne, whom we stayed with in Wellington, and of whom I had grown very fond. What’s more she had died the previous morning our time, and due to the time differences and everyone being careful of each other’s sleep, we didn’t find out […]
Angry Americans
At coffee in Cihangir today we sat next to an American on the phone and, of course, eavesdropped with great interest. He was talking to some sort of helpline in the US, to find out if he could get his first dose of the vaccine here in Turkey and then the second dose in the […]
To the volcano
At some point I should become all blase about volcanoes and volcanic activity since I’ve been fortunate to see so many, but not yet. This morning we left Monteverde. A van collected us, collected three other people (I’m afraid my luggage and the Gentleman Friend’s was very bulky indeed) and took us off through some […]
The other side of the island
This morning, around 8.30 Surfer Dude came to collect us and we left for a tour around the island. Going west, we took the mountain road, between Mauna Kea on one side and Mauna Loa on the other. It was very clear and the landscape was stunning. The two mountains are immense shield volcanoes so […]
Not so far after all
This evenimg, as the Gentleman Friend was on a call with a Kiwi colleague, I sat nearby working on a report. I half-heard him say something about how New Zealand feels so far away from the world and its ills and I stared down at the news window I had open, about an ongoing shooting […]
We’re off
Tonight we fly to the US. Last night was a sort of farewell dinner with Yerbouti, his wife and daughter. A pleasant and intelligent lot but at the end of dinner I realised there was an urgent work message and spent much of the rest of the evening finishing up. Overnight it began to rain, […]
Three stars
Last night we had our dinner at Hiakai, the new hottest thing in Wellington. This is a high-end restaurant that uses Maori/ Pasifika ingredients and has created a great deal of buzz including an article in the New York Times and this interesting piece about the challenges of sourcing native produce in NZ. It’s located […]
New arrival
A new person has arrived, the last of the Gentleman Friend’s relations aside from a few outlying ones. This is someone who is very interested in genealogy (something that, I must admit, interests me not at all) and has been on a decades-long quest to map out relations from Trinidad to New Zealand. Along the […]
Uphill
After a leisurely Sunday morning we accompanied the Doyenne to her weekly shop, helping with the heavy gingerbeer crates she couldn’t manage by herself. (Or, more accurately, the Gentleman Friend helped her). Part of the shop is a wholesaler, which is the sort of thing I enjoy wandering through and seeing the immense buckets of […]
Zealandia
This morning we went for a drive with the Doyenne, who is not able to walk much but does enjoy driving. As soon as we passed over the hill we arrived at a wild coastline, with high waves breaking on a rocky shore. Hard to believe that this was a near suburb of a major […]