March 13-15: Northland, Auckland, homeward

This is our last blog post before we start the homeward journey.

March 13-14, 2023

We’ve been up to the Whangarei area for a couple of days.  The main route here is still partially closed due to cyclone damage.  We were able to take a slightly faster route than the first time we drove here, because the road (State Highway 1) was opened to northbound traffic.  It was quite sobering to see that there was not any road where the southbound traffic would normally go.  The amount of damage suggests that it may be quite some time before the road situation is back to normal.

We’ve had a good time visiting with Frances’ niece, Lizzy and her sister, Helen. Lizzy really spoiled us with excellent hosting skills.

Frances tried out as Helen’s farmhand again.  She should probably hold onto her day job.  Farm work is quite hard.  Helen and Frances attacked some carrot weed on a steep slope.  Helen has declared carrot weed to be public enemy number one. She is determined to eradicate it from her farm. A single plant can have 10,000 seeds, so best to get it before the flowers go to seed.  Carrot weed is a relative of Queen Anne’s Lace.  Helen has nothing good to say about it.  Helen and Frances spent an afternoon pulling up plants – which have to be burned.  Helen also fixed a few fences, replacing insulators and tightening wires.  Frances’ job was to hand the right tools to Helen, and to hop on and off the bike to open and close gates.  It was great exercise, and by the end, Frances had figured out how to hook and unhook an electric fence without getting shocked.

Calving season is beginning.  Helen has some adorable new calves that she and Katy (Frances’ niece) are rearing.  The cows are in the process of being ‘dried off’ as they prepare to deliver their calves, so Helen is milking fewer cows than usual.  Helen’s cows all have names and each seems to have  a unique personality.  She has several dogs, lots of cats, with exciting names like grey kitty, and black kitty, and an army of Guinea pigs and ducks,who seem to roam quite freely, miniature horses, donkeys, pigs and sheep too.

After milking, Helen and Frances went to check on the digger, Nick.  Helen has Nick and his digger cleaning up the storm damage and building a new track for the animals and for her to drive her ATV.  (The track she had was partly eroded by a hill landslide caused by the cyclone.)

Too soon we were on our way south to Auckland.  We called in on Jo for a cuppa and a chat and then landed with Caryll and Des for our last night.

March 15, 2023

This will be a really long day, since we will arrive in Los Angeles before we leave NZ (because we cross the international date line).  After a great night’s sleep at Des and Caryll’s, we woke to a picture perfect Auckland day -sunny and not windy.  After breakfast we caught the (electric) bus into Auckland city and were treated to a guided tour of the waterfront area and the CBD.  Des and Caryll told us about the buildings and frankly, we were impressed with the city, which seemed more accessible and walkable than we had previously experienced.  We even bought an AT Hop card which will allow us to ride Auckland Public Transport on our next visit, so we are almost locals!

We ended up at the Auckland Art Museum where we enjoyed looking at a few portraits, affectionately known in NZ as ‘Goldies’. Charles Frederick Goldie (1870 – 1947) was a New Zealand artist, best known for his portrayal of Māori dignitaries. They are beautiful portraits conveying the emotional depth of the subject. We hadn’t seen them before.

Another image in the exhibition that struck us was a photo of an activist and presenter, Victor Taurewa Biddle, of the Māori TV show, Takaatapui, the world’s first LGBTTQIA+ series. He is shown dressed in 19th century attire.

The image, ‘Dandy’, was inspired by Biddle’s findings that Takatapu, (intimate friends of the same sex) were sent by chiefs to make first contact with European arrivals to NZ in the 18th century. It was thought that they might better navigate the challenging encounter because, “takatapui are mediators of their own spiritual knowledge, having insight into ways of thinking that is less limited by traditional norms. The forthright gaze and upright posture assert a sense of power and preparedness to address the visitor on behalf of their people.”

We are posting this from the Marriott at LAX – so we can confirm our safe arrival back in the US! We had a fantastic trip of friends, family, and sightseeing. We will miss everyone and miss NZ – and of course we are glad to be (almost) home! Thanks for following along.