Tag: history

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Taking the Long Way Around

Tiffany:

So it’s that time again for Greg to take the mic for his birthday message:

 

Greg:

2 years ago today I wrote you  from a remote island in the middle of French Polynesia in between diving lessons.

Last year my birthday found us still in the Pacific, but at least now having sailed on to a different island and learning to surf.

Even now both Tiffany and I find ourselves looking at maps of the world attempting to wrap our minds around some of the things we’ve done.  Did we really sail to Tahiti?  Did I actually have a role in sci-fi movie?  Have we really created almost 200 integrated video blog posts?  Seriously, we managed to find wine made from bananas?  We can play Jingle Bells on the ukulele?  And did it took us 20 minutes of bashing a coconut before we realized the machete was dull?

Did I actually convince my wife that creating from scratch and wearing a genuine coconut bikini was:

1) Something worth doing and

2) Important to document videographically?

This picture encapsulates awesome.

Odd as it sounds, even to us now, the answer to those questions and so many other amazing adventures is “Yes.”

As we’ve told a few of you the good news is that we are now and at this very moment on our way home.

Continue reading “Taking the Long Way Around”

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Living in Rural New Zealand

Helensville, New Zealand

As we’ve previously noticed, the lines between rural and urban New Zealand are quite blurred.  Sheep can be found in the middle of their largest city, and when we tell New Zealanders that we lived in Helensville for a few weeks they said,

“Oh, that’s in Auckland”.

Which it’s not.  It’s about an hour drive north of Auckland into the boonies.  Helensville is a small town (by American standards) complete with a large showground for showing off their various equestrian and agricultural skills.  (Ok, we admit that San Francisco has the Cow Palace, but let me tell you it’s not the same thing.)  When you see people riding their horses FROM THEIR FARM and your water supply comes from the rain on your roof, then there’s just no way that you can consider it to be urban. Continue reading “Living in Rural New Zealand”

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Storming the Hedges

Dunedin, NZ

The Kiwi Roadtrip continues!

At long last we finally come to it.  Our grail, our Mecca, our El Dorado, our own little land of Canaan in New Zealand, if you will. (yeah, we’re still reading the Bible.)

The culmination of our quest, the living beating heart of our journey (well this part anyway), the Vegas of our Great Kiwi Roadtrip…

 

Castle Kiwi

(Aka Larnach Castle)

There remained but one final obstacle to overcome, one last trial to endure before the castle would indeed be ours as the very land itself conspired to bar our path… Continue reading “Storming the Hedges”

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Where the Scots ended up

Dunedin, NZ

Often when writing a blog entry we look back on the last few articles in order to remind ourselves where we left off.  This time we reviewed the road trip video and, well, frankly… Wow, that was a terrible resolution.  Not to mention a terribly long video.  Since we are writing these trip entries for ourselves as much as you all and since there is no way we’re going to leave that on the site we redid the road trip.  Each entry from then until now just got a new and different 1 minute clip of our adventures driving down the coast.  Because road trips are all about the little things like cows stopping traffic and “ocean golf.”  So if you wanted to see all the little things like Tiffany dancing in a kiwi hat and Greg’s adventures with roundabouts, that’s where they are.

The Kiwi road trip continues!

Continue reading “Where the Scots ended up”

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First! FIRST!!

Auckland, New Zealand

Come on, how often do you get to call first on New Years? Well, if you’re a Kiwi probably about once a year but still, we’re American so it’s cool!

Sydney claims first and the world gives it to them but that’s hogwash. Auckland is closer to the dateline, so they have lawful first claim.

Also, Sydney has fireworks off a bridge over water (weak) while Auckland launches explosives off the Sky Tower which is right over their main city buildings…way more dangerous…which means way more cool!

Continue reading “First! FIRST!!”

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Eating Kiwi Style

Auckland, New Zealand

With a population of about 1.3 million, the city of Auckland is the major city of New Zealand. It’s considered so truly massive that recent legislation has consolidated all the suburbs under one city government which is referred to as the “super-city.”

To give you some perspective on this Auckland is the largest city, by far, that we have encountered in the South Pacific. It makes the major French Polynesian city of Papeete look tiny (to be fair, that would be because it is by our standards). Even for Kiwis, Auckland is huge. As many people live in the city as live on the entire bottom, larger, island of the nation. The Auckland area contains a full quarter of the national population of New Zealand, a nation that by islander standards completely dwarfs everyone else out here. Heck, the number of people in this city alone dwarfs many of the countries we’ve visited. Remember how Niue has a national population of 1300? There are more Niueans in Auckland than in their entire home country! So by islander standards, this place is huge.

On the other hand, in the US Auckland would come in as the 9th largest city in terms of population, somewhere between San Diego and Dallas.

… and we’re fairly certain that if we picked up the city of Auckland and just placed it into the San Francisco Bay area no would notice anything unusual. One because the city is not all that big compared to the rest of the Bay and two the city and its people would just fit in that well. Continue reading “Eating Kiwi Style”

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Kia Ora!

Auckland, New Zealand

Kia Ora means hello in Maori, the language of the indigenous people of New Zealand.

A plane flight brought us from Tonga to Auckland where we planned to spend a week or two with friends before returning to the US for a little while.

Right up front we want to make something clear about New Zealand. It’s not like we’ve ever claimed to be completely objective in reporting to you our findings during our wanderings of the world. Though we do our best to see things from different angles and explore the cultures that produce different ways of thought from our own we also understand that we are outsiders looking in and we may not grasp everything we see in all its minutia. We are human after all. Overall though we do our best to at least give you multiple points of view. This was very difficult for us to accomplish in New Zealand for one key reason:

New Zealand is about the most awesome country we’ve ever visited in our entire lives.

Continue reading “Kia Ora!”

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Hail Brittania!

Enroute Auckland, New Zealand

Before entering New Zealand we really should take a moment to recognize something we have grown to realize in our travels.

Play this while reading:

When people ask us what we think of USA & UK relations, we, without fail say the same thing:

“Britain and the US have exactly the same relationship as Greg and his sister. Allow us to elaborate: During times of peace, no one fights more with each other than the US and the UK…but the second someone else steps into the fight to attack either side, both siblings immediately turn and jump the new threat, providing each other their full and unequivocal support. Once the interloper is decimated and we’re both sure the other is alright, the two immediately turn back on each other.”

Continue reading “Hail Brittania!”

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The Upside to Colonization

Tongatapu, Tonga

Downside to never being taken over by a western power: There’s a lot of poverty in Tonga.

 Hut village on the edge of the capital town

 

There’s a lot of wealth too, it’s just focused on the royal family and a very small percentage of ultra-rich.  Driving around Tonga, like in Mexico, it was not unusual to drive past a grand palatial estate that had hovels as immediate neighbors.

 

 

Due to religious dedication and cultural tradition, churches and graveyards were typically the nicest areas in the towns

 

So you’re saying “Ok so yeah guys hey you notice we’re kinda having the same thing here back home?  What, you been under a rock the past few months?”

On a boat, actually, rocks don’t float.  And this is different though the overarching issue is the same.  What is the guaranteed minimum quality of life we as Americans, or as people, should have?  Isn’t that one of the core issues that universal health care, minimum wages, taxation, all of it ultimately comes to?  Tiffany’s brother Chris and Greg spent a few hours talking about “the right of internet access.”  It all comes down to what is the minimum acceptable standard of living that we can reasonably expect.  Where that line should be drawn.

In Tonga, there is no minimum we’re aware of.

 

Continue reading “The Upside to Colonization”

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The many hazards of landlubbing

Tongatapu, Tonga

We ended up at this luau & Tongan food fest put on by a local entrepreneur in an Oceanside cave.  Just getting there reminded Greg of one of hazards of land bound life outside America…

Seriously, either there’s something in the North American water supply or all those growth hormones we keep feeding our cows and plants are rubbing off because back home Greg is able to pass though most passageways without being actively molested by the ceiling.  A feat he has a much more difficult time with everywhere else in the world.

Remember how in Vava’u we noticed that the men’s dances had a lot more movement than the women’s?  Yeah that’s because the men’s dances in Tonga were actually used for the teaching and practice of armed and unarmed combat.

 

Continue reading “The many hazards of landlubbing”

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