Different December

Maybe kiwis decorate later in the season, or maybe they don't decorate at all. I've seen one house decked out for Christmas in my walking. Department stores have the most. There is a large Christmas tree in the town square and there was a Christmas parade yesterday. Sharon and I spent 3 days in Wellington and the overall city decor was very low key. Plenty of TV commercials for Christmas gifts and flyers in the mail. People mostly seem to be concentrating on the fact that summer is finally here, the weather is beautiful, kids will be out of school soon for a long summer holiday. Lots of warnings about wearing sunscreen and hats as there is a big hole in the ozone layer over NZ, no pollution to block the sun, and the incidence of skin cancer is much higher here. Who knew there were good aspects to pollution?

Sharon and I enjoyed our time in Wellington, except for the early morning someone pulled the fire alarm in the hotel and we had to evacuate from our beds rather suddenly. We passed the time having breakfast in a nearby cafe, not particularly looking our best. :) Took Sharon to Weta Cave, the special effects company for Lord of the Rings, Avatar, King Kong, and many more. Also to the zoo, Mount Victoria and other Welly sites. Sharon thinks Wellington looks a bit like a very scaled down Hong Kong (also harbor city with mountains right at the sea).

It amazes me how many visitors I meet from non-English speaking countries who are so very fluent in English. Makes me wish I had studied a foreign language more intensely when I had the chance. Love hearing some of their stories in these brief encounters. We met a Dutch couple, early 20's, on the hike to the Bridge to Nowhere. They had done the Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike 2 days before. That hike is often touted as the world's most beautiful day hike and one we have considered. It's about 12 miles long one way and transport must be arranged at both ends. It's also extremely difficult with lots of elevation changes, including crossing Mt. Doom from "Lord of the Rings". The Dutch girl (who spoke English perfectly) pretty much talked me out of it. She was hiking that day in flip flops because of the blisters earned on the Alpine crossing, and wasn't yet over the terror of the hike. Hey, Ralph and I have bad knees too. :)

Sharon and I met a Finnish student on the bus in Wellington who was traveling with a Finnish family for 5 weeks all over NZ as their babysitter. She was having a rare day off. Also spoke like a native of an English speaking country. And then we met a Polish woman while walking to Weta Cave from the bus stop who has lived in NZ for 65 years. She was taken in by NZ as part of a boatload of orphans shipped out of Poland during/after World War II. She arrived with some siblings and they finished their childhood in an orphanage. Would love to have heard her whole story.

Trying to learn to live with open windows without screens on them! Very few homes, hotels and public buildings are air conditioned here. Can't figure out why they don't put screens on windows, but they don't. Don't like insects hopping around in my house. Oh well. It's either that or suffocate. We have seen birds flying around in a restaurant and no one seeming to care or notice but us. Cities and buildings are very clean, in case you are wondering, except for this little aberration.