New Zealand

We spent our time on the shores of New Zealand in the care of friends; Craig & Tracey at the Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood.  Earthsong describes itself as: "...a cohousing neighbourhood based on the principles of permaculture, that will serve as a model of a socially and environmentally sustainable community" - values that really appeal to both Simon & I.

The first night we shared one of the twice weekly neighbourhood meals in the common room.  Earthsong is divided into teams who take turns preparing these communal meals.  This means that these teams cook for roughly 50 people about once every two months.  With the amount of food that is grown in the gardens, the would-be chefs can select from a beautiful organic supermarket, right outside their door... 

After dinner it was home to watch Invader Zim (Doom doom doom, da, doom) with some new friends (one of whom coincidentally has the same unusual surname and same first inital as Simon.)

The folllowing day we took the train into Auckland (an hour train trip compared to what is apparently a 20 minute drive - no wonder that people in NZ use cars to move around).  From there we took a surprisingly short ferry excursion over the bay to Devonport.  We explored some of the second hand bookshops - of which there are many - and then home to enjoy Stardust (the sequence of Robert de Nero as a pirate by day and a drag queen by night is certainly not easily forgettable...)

Raglan was our destination the last day and the highlight would was the Bridal Veil Falls.  55m high into a lagoon at the base... just beautiful.  The sign from the road to the falls said it would be a 10 minute walk but I think that was only if you were an old lady... with a limp... and maybe a backpack.  

One of the things that struck me the most about the foliage of NZ was that there were only subtle differences between Auckland and Melbourne.  Looking around showed an odd combination of tropical plants like you would see in Brisbane and many of the the same species as are in Victoria. Seeing gum trees in another country was a little jarring too. 

Interestingly, Simon's hair continues to make us new friends - apparently blue is a very difficult colour to achieve (we are often told) and vividness of the colour gets us both a lot of stares and comments. (As the person that is usually the one to attract the looks of others... it's kind of nice not to be the centre of attention for a change.)