M.T.P.: Whale Watching

The last day spent with my parents was hectic, but fun nonetheless. The plan called for another train excursion, this time on the TranzCoastal, a rail line that snakes its way along the coast of Middle Earth, from Christchurch to Picton. Unlike the previous excursion, my parents & I would get off the train at the town of Kaikoura to partake in a whale-watching trip.

As always, the train station was bustling with activity when we arrived in the very early morning. This time, two groups would be coming along for the ride: primary school students, and Asian tourists. Luckily, the students had a carriage all to themselves so no one else had to suffer their overly energetic behaviours. Also, my parents had to bring their suitcases with them because they would continue travelling north, eventually reaching the city of Auckland.

The TranzCoastal ride was better in my mind, not making as many stops as the TranzAlpine. The only difficulty was when taking photographs – timing was important so as to avoid capturing passing by trees and only the majestic coastline.

We arrived at the coastal town of Kaikoura at around 10 in the morning, the weather being a mix of clear & overcast skies, and strong winds. My parents freed themselves from dragging their suitcases around by locking them up at the train station. Despite the presence of strong winds, the whale watching trips were still on but with warnings of seasickness. The warnings didn’t bother me because I had plenty of Gravol pills to combat any nausea. My mother decided to stay behind due to a severe headache caused by the weather.

My dad & I, along with 40 other tourists were bused to the marina where our vessel named the Te Ao Marama was waiting. In case the unthinkable happened, I swallowed 2 Gravol pills just as our ship slowly pulled out of the marina. It then accelerated to 20 knots (40km/h), heading into the open sea searching for the marine wildlife the passengers came to see.

Whale watching has its ups & downs (not referring to the water currents), the kind the wildlife documentaries forget to tell you. Since the whales were not in a zoo, the trained crews had to find the whales using sonar and help from a friendly helicopter circling above. When the captain stopped the vessel for the third time to take a sonar reading, I quietly joked to my dad that we had a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa than any humpback whales. No sooner had I said that, the helicopter above spotted a surfaced sperm whale. We raced over and watched it take on air before diving for another deep feeding, its tail rising in the air before disappearing beneath the surface.

Before the captain turned the ship towards shallow waters, we watched another sperm whale perform the same routine. Upon entering shallow waters, we were greeted by a school of dolphins, happily swimming under the wake of the boat and jumping out of the water. The only way to capture this spectacle was through filming because it was impossible to catch an action shot. We also circled a large rock island, home to a number of seals, and hundreds of birds.

We were supposed to see a humpback whale that had been spotted earlier but time had run out and the whale had done a good of hiding. I would say the whale watching was worth the $150NZD for 2 hours. Just make sure to bring Gravol to combat seasickness.

My dad & I met up with my mom back at the train station and entertained her with our whale watching stories. We spent the rest of the time munching on snacks at the café and walking along the coast, snapping family pictures.

The next thing we knew, it was time for me to catch the train back to Christchurch. My parents would stay behind and catch the train heading north to Picton where they would catch the ferry to Wellington on the North Island. We hugged and said our goodbyes as I boarded the train for a quiet ride home. My parents thanked me for being their tour guide and proclaimed their trip a success.

It was great to see my parents again, the last time being in late June. My parents’ visit also restarted the clock on how long I’ve survived without them. My record now stands at 19 weeks. To break it, I have to last until April 2009, alone. I’m ready.

End of Meet The Parents 5 part mini-series.

M.T.P.: Trains, Pains, & Automobiles

The buzzing noise from an alarm clock breaks the early morning silence in my parents’ hotel room. My body stirs, trying to drown out the annoying sound and wanting to go back to sleep. As much as I want to, I can’t drift back into the dream world because I risk missing the train. My subconscious adventures will have to wait.

When my parents were planning the NZ portion of their Down Under & Middle Earth Tour (DUMET), I had suggested doing a train excursion. They happily agreed, having already experienced several excursions in Australia. A company by the name of Tranzscenic operates 3 excursions: TranzAlpine, TranzCoastal, & The Overlander. For Saturday we would be travelling the TranzAlpine line, Christchurch – Greymouth – Christchurch, a trip that would take us around & through Middle Earth’s mountains for the entire day.

In the 21^st century, a vacation just isn’t complete without several ‘bumps’ along the way. Simply put, I’m talking about annoyances. No matter how good the plan looks like on paper, the experience can be completely different. Despite arriving at the train station in the early morning, there was already a queue to the check in desks. Typical. The senior guy behind the desk accidentally wrote our seat reservations in reverse, telling us to go to our return trip seats. We were greeted by a group of British tourists who looked as confused as we were. After the mix up, we were in our proper seats and on our way.

The train left Christchurch at a moderate speed and travelled across the Canterbury Plains. Memories of travelling to Temple Basin surface in my mind as rolling grass fields fly by. Minus the hordes of sheep, my parents agreed with my earlier observation that rural NZ is similar to Canada. There were many breathtaking views of mountains, plains, and deep river canyons. While gazing at the river canyon below, I imagined flying within its walls in a fast commercial helicopter. The train carried two viewing carriages – standing areas with no windows – giving tourists the freedom to capture the magnificent landscapes on digital cameras.

The TranzAlpine had to stop several times to unload & take on regular passengers, meaning slower speeds and waiting times. Despite the stops being brief, they stretched out the ride to 4 hours in both directions.

For the hungry & thirsty few, there’s a café carriage selling various non-alcoholic drinks, and snacks. My mom bought a cappuccino & a mediocre muffin to keep herself, my dad & I awake during the slow portions of the ride. This came in handy when the train crossed the mountains via a 9.6km tunnel. A dark black void surrounded the train for 15 minutes. Quite the quiet experience.

The train rolled into Greymouth at lunchtime and we had just one hour to explore the town before catching the return train. We settled for a small hotel restaurant near the station and enjoyed fish & chips. On top of that, my mother was impressed with the amount of artistic preparation put into the cappuccino she ordered.

The return trip was uneventful but more relaxing because our carriage was only half filled, allowing us to claim a 4 seat cubicle for ourselves. Overall, I give the TranzAlpine day excursion 3 stars despite the logistical problems we encountered. The quality could be improved if the issues of café quality, train speed, and logistics are addressed.

To Be Continued . . .

M.T.P.: Golden Year

My parents & I paid the Arts Centre another visit on Saturday, wanting to check out the weekend market. Every Saturday, hundreds of vendors assemble on an outdoor plaza behind Dux de Lux bar & restaurant to sell their goods to curious shoppers. We spent some time squeezing past prospective customers and glancing at what was on sale: summer & winter clothing, jewelry, various drinking glasses, candy, pottery, and food. A passerby summed up the market as ‘over hyped & overpriced’ to his friend. The only stall that caught my attention was the one that sold contemporary NZ wall tiles for houses & apartments. In the end, we only bought a bag of nuts from an Egyptian vendor.

We progressed to the Christchurch Public Art Gallery, intending to see its immense collections of art. The main lobby is immense and well lit by natural light that shines through the large curved glass windows. The stairs leading up to the second floor are decorated by hundreds of multi-coloured cards. The galleries on the first floor contained the contemporary . . . um, ‘works’. I’m using quotation marks because I wouldn’t call them works – they’re orderly messes.

I don’t want to rant but I just can’t walk by and say nothing. The first gallery contained several sculptures that are fine except the artist decided to showcase them on top of white beams that stretched to the ceiling! You could barely see them! Another mess was displayed on a digital screen in the main hallway and all it showed was three guitars slowly falling to the floor in succession. That’s art!? In another gallery, there were two explicit ‘works’ involving tin, and glass balls, thus convincing me that both artists should be registered sex offenders. A corner in the same gallery is occupied by a collection of stacked cardboard boxes with yellow plastic fruits littered amongst them. My dad quietly and accurately commented, ‘It takes no talent or thought to put that together.’ And don’t get me started on the cleaning detergents encased in an empty fish tank. I’m a liberal person but even I know the difference between art and garbage being passed off as art. There’s already a showcase for the latter; it’s called the dump.

A great Canadian example would be a painting that’s on display at the National Art Gallery (NAG) in Ottawa. NAG bought the ‘work’ for $1.76 million and all it contains is 3 vertical stripes: blue, red, blue. Two words: Rip Off!

However, there was one contemporary work that I found innovative. The artist had collected many various paper currencies, glued them in their groups and drew intricate natural leaves on them to create a flora.

The second floor contained mostly classical & romantic paintings that were very soothing after seeing the first floor. Here, you knew what you were looking at and admiring. I pointed out a particular portrait to my parents and jokingly remarked, ‘Now that’s a painting I’d wake up to!’

Instead of lunch, we decided to have a light wine & cheese snack at the wine bar named The Alchemy, happily established within the Art Gallery. It was the perfect way to start a Saturday afternoon break as well begin celebrating my dad’s birthday. We emptied a bottle of rose sparkling wine and cleared a plate decorated with various cheeses, crackers, fruits, and breads.

We journeyed back to the Arts Centre to check out the Ernest Rutherford museum. Rutherford was a New Zealand born physicist, known as the father of nuclear physics. He taught at Canada’s McGill University for 8 years and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.

After spending a portion of the late afternoon in an Internet café and watching Kiwis play a large game of chess, we went to Trevinos again to continue celebrating my dad’s birthday. I was thankful that I had made reservations a month ago because a business club of some kind arrived, took over the other half of the restaurant and turned it into a drinking and karaoke party. As well, the restaurant happened to be understaffed that night and when that party started it was tough for staff to sort out all the meals. The understaffing only affected us when it came to ordering dessert – at least we were full with our main courses. My dad enjoyed the Fish of the Day, my mom had Chicken Curry, and I settled for a Salmon Steak. Trevinos is definitely a restaurant worth visiting.

Saturday night was spent at my parents’ hotel room because we would be getting up bright & early on Sunday to catch our train for an all day excursion. The Roma Hotel on Riccarton has a 4 plus star rating, despite the washroom doors not having locks. We settled into our beds early in the night to get much needed rest for tomorrow. What a train ride it would turn out to be.

To Be Continued . . .

M.T.P.: Arts & Gardens

Friday happened to be Show Day (coinciding with the agricultural festival at the time), meaning there were no classes, and I was able to spend my freedom with my parents. I arrived at their hotel room in the early sunny morning for breakfast consisting of fried eggs, orange juice, and buttered toast, homely prepared by Mom. Once our appetites were satisfied, we set off to explore the city of Christchurch. Although I mentioned the festival, my parents instead chose to explore Hagley Park and the downtown Arts Centre.

My parents were surprised at the size and well kept appearance of Hagley Park, with vast fields of green grass and tall trees. I led them to a crossing bridge over a small river, one of the many entrances to the Botanic Gardens. The river we crossed was filled with many ducks swimming upstream and competing for pieces of bread thrown from human onlookers. The gardens were bustling with tourists and Christchurch residents, enjoying a quiet section of land not consumed by urban development. My mother was impressed with the large variety of plants & flowers, professing that my grandmother (her mother) would be in heaven. My dad on the other hand was awe struck by the mammoth trees growing into the clear blue sky. We spent quite some time photographing flowers for memories and to send to friends & relatives.

Along the way, we visited a small art gallery featuring glass works by New Zealand artists. Like I mentioned before, too much space and not enough works. On the plus side, two contemporary glass works greatly impressed me (I wasn’t allowed to take pictures though): an aqua green curve and a black & silver glass tower. I was shocked when I was informed that it would cost me $40,000NZD to buy both works. And you thought gas prices were too high?

After the gallery came the Canterbury Museum, a large 19^th century looking building containing many exhibits on Antarctic expeditions, pre-historic to modern New Zealand, Maori culture, famous people, and of course, the gift shop.

Wanting a break, my parents & I had a light lunch at Le Café, located at the Arts Centre. The Arts Centre used to be a girls college in the late 19^th century. The campus buildings remain, but various shops, restaurants, and two theatres currently occupy the rooms. The food was well prepared, the three of us splitting a large Caesar salad, 4 small bacon club sandwiches, and a bottle of white house wine.

We would return to the Arts Centre later that evening to watch the funny/serious Israeli movie The Band’s Visit, recipient of many international film awards. The movie is about an Egyptian police band being stranded in the Israeli town of Beta Tikvah for a day because the band’s ‘playboy’ mispronounced the town they were supposed to perform in – Peta Tikvah. Lucky for the strict conductor, the performance wasn’t until the following day. I won’t go into details as to what happens but it’s a film I would definitely recommend to anyone.

Before the movie, my parents paid a last visit to Cathedral Square, the city centre of Christchurch. They were impressed with the layout of the cathedral whereas I felt uneasy seeing swastikas painted on one of the mural walls. I’m well aware that in ancient times the swastika was a symbol for good luck but a well known event spanning 12 years in the early half of the 20^th century has me thinking otherwise.

With evening approaching fast, my parents & I made our back to the hotel and stopped into a bar & restaurant named Soho! for beer and a light dinner. Soho! is managed by the Parkview On Hagely Hotel.

Now that I think about it, my parents saw a lot in one day and walked several kilometres in total. There would be much more sight seeing on Saturday.

To Be Continued . . .

Meet The Parents

The Year End Parade (YEP) of the City of Christchurch Cadet Unit (CCCU) turned out quite well on November 10^th, displaying the many talents of young Kiwi teenagers. The CCCU hosted its parade at the Wigram Airfield, located in a neighbourhood called Sockburn. The YEP program ran parallel to cadet parades in Canada: there were inspections, a march past in column of route, advance & review order, and an awards presentation, just to name a few. Since the corps did not have a band, the parade was eerily quiet while the Reviewing Guest, a member of parliament from the region, inspected the cadets.

Unlike Canadian cadet parades, the majority of cadet awards were presented after the parade. Many male & female cadets were rewarded for attendance, leadership, dress, drill, deportment, and corps activeness. After the awards were handed out, families, friends, and officers were treated to a light supper with many tasty delights for the taking. Surprisingly, I was included in the corps photograph despite attending only three training nights. My inclusion spawned many curiosities, leading me to introduce myself to the members of the Parental Committee and visiting officers.

Overall, it was a fun & interactive night reminding me of my cadet experiences back in Canada.

As mentioned in a previous post, my parents began a Down Under & Middle Earth Tour (DUMET) in late October for the purpose of visiting their two sons, revisit the Australian outback, and travel to New Zealand for the first time. They arrived safely in Christchurch this past Thursday and made it to their hotel despite enduring the long queues through Middle Earth Customs. My parents happened to be visiting during an agricultural & horseracing festival, meaning every hotel in the city would be full.

We greeted each other with open arms, having not seen each other for 5 months. After the formalities, we spent the next several hours conversing about life in Middle Earth & back in Canada, and how my parents were enjoying their vacation.

For dinner, we paid a visit to a nearby restaurant named Trevinos. Because my parents were not present on my birthday in October, they decided to use this occasion to celebrate it with me. Since my parents were paying, I decided to go all out by ordering a nice juicy steak which tasted great, as well as enjoying the white house wine. Living on a student budget makes it a challenge to afford such fancy meals so this was one opportunity I wasn’t going to pass.

Night had settled over Christchurch after dinner, and we decided to get much needed rest because tomorrow would be a busier day. My parents went back to their hotel room and I returned to my residence at the university. Tomorrow would be a busier day.

To Be Continued . . .

Week Of History

The last week has been quite interesting and it goes without saying that many people, not just myself, will remember it for as long as we can remember. But before I talk about the world stage, I’ll start with my stage.

Study week has been active since it’s beginning, with me sitting at my laptop completing unit plans, which are due shortly. They look good to me except I wanted to test them in a real classroom setting, in order to detect and correct any mistakes before handing in the final copies. I seek perfection.

I’ve started getting involved with the City of Christchurch Cadet Unit, hoping to improve the Kiwi cadet experience with a Canadian twists. Unfortunately, the army corps isn’t big enough to support it’s own band so I’ll be focusing on General Military Training (GMT). Everything will be in full swing in the New Year because I just started the application process at the end of the year. The corps has an End of The Year Parade (called Annual Parade in Canada) on the 10^th, and from what I observed during the parade practices, it’s going to be quite a show! On a side note, I’m surprised that New Zealanders (Kiwis) refer to November 11^th as Armistice Day whereas it’s commonly known as Remembrance Day in North America.

On the 5^th of November, Kiwis celebrated Guy Fawkes Night by launching plenty of fireworks into the night sky. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic ‘terrorist’ who unsuccessfully tried to blow up British Parliament in 1605 with barrels of gunpowder, known in history as the Gunpowder Plot. NZ TV humourously debated whether the Day was to celebrate the terrorist plot or give Kiwis an excuse to fire off explosives.

History is filled with such funny oddities. Adolf Hitler started the Olympic ‘Running Of The Torch’ back in 1936 and it still continues to this day despite his crimes against humanity. Canadians celebrate the 1867 creation of Canada, not its independence in 1931. NASA spent $20 million to create a pen capable of writing in space while the Russians used a pencil. And Scottish men wear kilts (male skirts) in a country where the thistles are waist high, and no one has invented pants.

On the world stage, I was ecstatic upon hearing Barack Obama, a Democrat senator from Illinois, winning the presidential election, thus becoming America’s first Black President on January 20^th, 2009. I’ll be celebrating 2 things that day, the other being my older brother’s birthday. I knew it would happen during my lifetime but I didn’t think it would happen just 138 years after the end of American slavery. If Hillary Clinton had won, she would have become America’s first female President. America could have had both if Oprah Winfrey had chosen to join the race for the White House. The next 8 years (yes 8, not 4, he’ll be re-elected) will be a historical experience for Americans as he repairs the damages brought by the previous Republican president.

New Zealand is also in the midst of a federal election and the race is pretty tight with the National and Labour Parties being the main contenders for the Beehive. The Beehive is the slang term given to the New Zealand Parliament building in Wellington – its design resembling a beehive, except that no honey is produced and the Queen resides overseas.

At the end of this coming week, my parents will be coming to visit as part of the last leg of their Down Under & Middle Earth vacation tour. Several family activities are planned, so expect quite a bit of writing & pictures in my next entry.

Birthday & Such

Well, I turned 23 on October 29^th . . . twice because of my location in the world. Turning 23 stretched over a two-day period, explaining the flooding of birthday wishes from my North American friends on the 30^th (the 29th in their timezone).

Another week has passed and the month of November has arrived. I find it surprising that in just two months, 2008 will be over. Feels like just yesterday I finished high school and moving on to my first year in university. My, how time flies when one is not paying attention. Weather speaking, it’s warm during the day and cold during the night. There’s also roving periods of overcast clouds, and minor showers. Because of the warm weather, all the tanning people are out sunbathing. Despite my previous attempts, I still can’t understand the joy of barbecuing oneself with dangerous ultraviolet rays.

The program is coming to a close for the students who began their education studies in January. They are currently scouring NZ newspapers and the internet, searching for employment at secondary schools. So far, one woman got accepted for a math teaching position and a man got accepted for a social studies position. For the mid-year students, such as myself, we can apply at secondary schools and receive employment on the condition that we receive our teaching qualification. Normally, I would choose to wait until I have my qualification, because if I didn't receive it, the school I applied for conditional employment would be thrown into disarray & have to find a replacement. But then again, I can't risk waiting until the very last minute to apply. Life is about taking risks.

The assessments don’t stop when you graduate from the College of Ed. New graduate teachers wishing to start their careers in Middle Earth will be supervised and graded during their first 2 years of professional teaching (and I thought 14 weeks of teaching practice was a lot). If all goes well, you officially become a certified New Zealand teacher. Of course, there are those people who choose to start their careers from their home countries. I’m still unsure whether I’ll stay or immediately fly back to my Canadian homeland.

Aside from that, it’s been pretty much work, work, work. Got to complete all those unit plans before the summer arrives. For a teacher, half your time is spent on preparation and the other half is spent on teaching.