2004Journal

March 16, 2004
We are spending a lazy day at a backpacker’s hostel on the Island of Waiheke. Shiangold is doing some water colors while I am passing the time at a coffee shop, which has a beautiful view of Oneroa Bay. I always look at the real estate ads to get a feeling for the house market of an area. Modest houses here are in the range of $400K to $600K-NZ. I am learning a bit about airlines. They have rules and restrictions that would make the IRS jealous. Yesterday I visited an Air NZ office in Auckland to see about moving my return flight ahead to a later date. The travel agency issuing my tickets said that would not be a problem. The NZ office said they would have to check with the LA office if that could be done. Also, since my return flight mirrors my original flight, I said I would not show for the Christchurch to Auckland leg, since I would return from Australia to Auckland and then to LA. They said that if I am a no-show for the Christchurch to Auckland legs, the Auckland to LA leg will be canceled (?) they also asked why I was a no-show for my inbound flight from Auckland to Christchurch. I explained it was their fault because the LA to Auckland departed 2 hours late because of maintenance problems and they themselves had put me on a later flight at Auckland. Needless to say, I showed my displeasure. They will be getting back through Tony Kang while I am out of Auckland. I am already thinking about my next bike trip to Europe. I would like to do it like a group we met just outside the town of National Park here in NZ. 11 cyclist had rented a van for 50$NZ a day. it carries all their stuff and they took turns driving and the cost per person is just 5$/day. You just have to get 5 to 10 compatible people together. I think I will start working on this when I return. Maybe a trip starting in Northern Europe in summer, ending somewhere on the Med. by winter.

March 17, 2004
Another easy day, after Shiangold cooked breakfast at the backpackers’ hostel we walked into Oneroa. I again sat and talked to the locals at a coffee shop. the locals were telling me how Waiheke Island isn't like it used to be. 10 years ago you could stop your car in the middle of the street in the middle of town and carry on a lengthy conversation without impeding traffic. You sure couldn't do that today. The island grows olives and has many vineyards. Its year round population is about 8,000. This swells to around 25,000 during the summer. I was told the average home sells for about $350,000NZ with homes topping out at about 6 million $NZ. There are lots of bays with large beaches. The island is said to have a Mediterranean atmosphere. I got lots of facts about the island from a local tourbus driver who was having coffee while his group of seniors from Australia was having lunch at a fancy restaurant. In the afternoon we took the catamaran back to Auckland. Again we stopped for coffee. This time it was a starbucks in the center of the city. It was at a very busy intersection and we could view 100's of people getting off from work. You could almost count on one hand the overweight people you saw. There were none that were obese. The few who are heavy were usually mauri. I also have never seen a black person since I have been here. Again, a good 50% are Asian. We caught the commuter train back into the Ellerslie section of Auckland where Tony and Mei live. Before returning to their house we stopped at the "Cock and Bull." it is an Irish pub and was full of people celebrating St. Patrick’s day. I had a pint of Guinness to celebrate.

March 18, 2004
Half of today was spent trying to understand New Zealand air's policies. Thanks to Tony and Mei being great hosts, the arriving at an answer to the question about extending my return flight was made considerably quicker. Although it says on my ticket that date changes are OK with a $75 fee, I did not get that fact verified when I asked NZ air. At first one person didn't think it was possible. Another said I could possibly only change to an earlier return, but not to a later. Finally they said only the LA office could determine the answer. When I went to a NZ air office near the house, the attendant said she had never seen a ticket like mine. Needless to say, I was very confused and a bit unhappy. I find you can get put on hold on the phone here just as long as you can in the US. Their phone menus (*) can be just as frustrating. Finally, after talking to many different people, I got multiple cell phone calls saying that, yes; I could extend by return flight, just like
I had assumed it said on my ticket. The total elapsed time from my first question to the final answer was around 4 hours. Tony and Mei took us to an authentic Cantonese restaurant for dinner. I now have experienced an authentic Chinese dinner. Shiangold and I packed our bikes for the flight to Australia on Saturday. His bike will stay here, to be brought to Taiwan when Tony’s daughter goes there later. Mine will go with me to Australia. We will stay in Sydney for about a week. Shiangold will then tour by bus and I will start biking either south or north, depending on what I learn in Sydney. How long I stay in Australia will depend on how much I enjoy it there. When I return, it will be to Christchurch, and then back to Auckland and home. I have found out that all airlines require you to show for every leg of a trip, or the next leg will be canceled. I asked if this is due to airline safety; they said the requirement was in place long before 9/11.

March 19, 2004
Our last full day in Auckland. Tony and Mei took us to a new shopping center that looked like a duplicate of one of ours in the states. Tony and Mei's daughter Lotti was preparing a birthday dinner for their nephew, who was turning 13. I was very impressed by the culinary skills of Lotti. She presented an authentic Chinese meal of many dishes that would be hard to find at a 5 star hotel. I managed fairly well with chopsticks but Tony got a spoon for me to finish the rice. Shiangold ate like there was no tomorrow. He said it made him homesick. Before we retired for the night we watched a video of Tony and Mei's son Hau at a ballroom dancing competition. Tony and Mei have a young Fred Astair for a son. We will truly miss the wonderful treatment we received from Tony and Mei.

March 20, 2004
We are now in Australia. We’ll have to drop our Kiwi ways and see how the Aussies live. I don't think there is going to be a lot of differences. We are staying for 2 days at a backpackers camp in Bundi Beach. It is near downtown Sidney and as the name implies, is a beach resort with a very large beach full of hundreds of people trying there hardest to get skin cancer. I have learned that New Zealand and Australia have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The intensity of UV radiation here averages 12 while in the northern hemisphere is 4. That means you can get burned 3 times as fast here; or done correctly, you can get tanned with much less exposure. I was pleased to find that I confused the immigration officer when I entered Australia this morning. He requested to look at my passport a second time. He felt there was an error in the age shown on my passport. He asked me what year I was born. When I said 1932 he shook his head. Now I know what it is like to be "carded." I tried to sell him some of my supplements. You have a different type of youth at the hostels in the city than you do in the country. There is much more smoking and partying. In the country they are more athletic, they retire earlier and are up early tramping, rock climbing, etc. even when socializing, they are quieter than those in the city. We will be setting our clocks back this coming Sunday. We will stay in Bundi Beach tonight and tomorrow night. We will then move into downtown Sidney and take some tours. Shiangold will go by bus. I will ride my bike. That may be somewhat challenging with their lack of bike lanes and lots of roundabouts, not to mention the steep hills. I was told Australia was flat here they lied.