Picture Postcards

This week has not held a great deal of adventure, but we have been doing a lot of reading (we joined the local library as guests),


walking on the beach with a very few locals (this little girl reminded me of our Jessie),


and exploring the Saddle Creek that runs at the bottom of the property here.

We did visit the Waikenae garden of Maggie Smith, who has created, instead of a rockery, a pumice-ery with the local stone. Cool plants, and her husband is a cabinetmaker, so Frank made a friend, too.


Yesterday,we went into Wellington. First we stopped at a suburban (1/5 acre) garden that was listed in my 10-yr-old Gardens to Visit book. Fortunately, Arnold and Ruth Dench, now approaching eighty, were still there and welcomed us very warmly. In this tiny, steep site, they have created a marvelous collection of rare NZ native plants ranging from ferns through alpine daisies. We spent a wonderful hour learning all about some of these treasures, and have arranged to go back next week to see the rest! What a passion and dedication these lovely people have, and how pleased they were to share their knowledge. It was a real treat.


Next, we carried on further into the city to have a gorgeous lunch with Wendy Wilson's sister Linda Burgess (a well-known and talented writer), and her husband Robert ( a former player with the All-Blacks, NZ's world famous rugby team, but now with the Tertiary Education Commission, and a great contact for my work for Fanshawe here). They have a wonderful home high on the hills overlooking the city, and we had a great time together, meeting their grandchildren Lucy and Max, and their daughter Gemma and her husband Joe, as well. Linda kindly gave me an autographed copy of her book Allons Enfants, about the 18 months she and Robert lived in France with their children, then young teenagers. I sat up most of last night reading it! Great story.


Afterwards, we drove up to the top of Mount Victoria, a great green space in the middle of the city, and went looking for the sites where the hobbits hid from the Black Riders in The Fellowship of the Ring. Despite having the locations guidebook, I am not convinced I found the exact spots, as they are not marked--but I got near, anyway! This road scene is (I think) where Frodo delivered his famous "Get off the road!" line. I also saw where the hobbits tumbled down the hill on a shortcut to mushrooms, and the tree roots (supplemented by a model to make the overhang deeper) that sheltered the four hobbits while the Black Rider sniffed above them--spooky! It is amazingly quiet and isolated in those woods, even when you know that Wellington is literally a stone's throw away. Quite an atmosphere--until the trail bike lads come whooshing out of nowhere and fly past you with a rattle of stones and a fleeting "Sorry!".


At the top of the Mount is a memorial to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty--something I have never given much thought to. Here I am pondering the significance. That's Admiral Byrd in with me.


We ended our day with a walk along the Oriental Parade (no Asians in sight--no idea why the name) and watched the local Wellingtonians enjoying the warm sand and surf that edges their city, including an impromptu haka (a Maori chant that the All-Blacks have made famous) by a group of young men on a raft mid-harbour! "Ugh, we don't know them!" exclaimed an embarrassed young Maori woman on shore--but we loved the joy and sheer energy of their display. I especially liked the rhythms of the beach huts beside the harbour, as you can see below.


Wellington's architecture is quite amazing, built on the sides of the steep surrounding hills, AND having to be prepared to weather the earthquakes that are frequent here. We had a good fish dinner beside the sea, and came home content.