Jellyfish, yuck!

 Hi there

I trotted down to Hataitai Beach yesterday.  One of the regular guys was there.  "Jellyfish!" he shouted, deleriously happy for some reason.  "They're everywhere!  Let's swim."

"Nope, I'm not going in," I said.  "Never, no way, not at all."  The jellyfish varied in size from tiny up to saucer-shaped.  They were the transparent ones, with a black fringe around their edge.  I knew they were harmless but I hate banging into them when I'm swimming.  I always let out a yip of horror loud enough to be heard on the shore.. 

So, I sun-bathed on the deck instead.  Merry, a friend went for a swim.  She said that once she had reached deeper water there were hardly any jellyfish.  "I'll lead the way through them," Merry said.  "You can follow in my wake."

So, I scrunched up my courage and followed her into the water, real close behind.   Because it was low tide, there was quite a bit of walking until the sea reached up to my waist.  Merry scooped up perhaps thirty jellyfish from either side as she ploughed through the water, and threw each one further afield.  She was like my own personal mine-sweeper (jellyfish-sweeper?).

Oh dear, I am such a wimp...

Earthquakes, earthquakes, earthquakes

 Hi there

I was in bed reading all through last night.  At about 2 30 am there was a jolt of an earthquake.  I stumbled out of bed and raced to under the dining room table, clutching onto the table legs.  As I clutched I was thinking that my clutching wasnt going to hold the table steady because my table legs had castors on them. We are always told by authorities if earthquakes are "long and strong,  get gone".  I deemed this earthquake was short and not too strong.

I immediately turned on the radio and people were already ringing in about the quake.  It appeared most of New Zealand felt it which is highly unusual  because normally our earthquakes are in certain areas.

I live about 400 metres from the sea, on the flat, and now there is a tsunami warning for the eastern side of the North Island of New Zealand. which is a long way from me at the bottom of the North Island, but I'm on standby because any tsunami may reach Wellington.  

Do you remember that I go to Ohope for holiday a lot of times?  The residents evacuated to higher ground in the middle of last night.  Car lines and people everywhere on the hill from Ohope to Whakatane.

There have been further little quakes and a big one in nearby Kermedec Islands....

Later in evening:  everything OK now.  I've come out from under the table ...

My DNA Results

 Hi there

I'd always wanted to know my DNA background so I sent off for it.  I hoped I would have fierce fighting Viking ancestors.  Or proud Cherokee Nation.  Or Maori warriors.

Nope.  What has come back to me is:

53% Irish

24% English

19% Scottish

4% German/Swiss.

Ho-hum.  Nice to know, but a bit boring ...

Vaccinations

 Hi there

I was talking to a younger guy at the beach.  He'd read that we might have to carry a vaccination card around with us once we got our Covid jabs.

He was horrified when I told him that before travelling to England in 1965 I was required to have a smallpox vaccination and a certificate.  I still had the small vaccination scar on my arm and showed it to him.

The vaccination caused many of us to feel slightly off, with an aching arm for a few days, but we world travellers never thought anything about it.

Smallpox was 'officially' eradicated.

The Right Food

Hi there

When I was down Queenstown, I went to posh restaurants.  I got waited on like I was a Lady, or a Dame.  The cutlery was arranged like smart soldiers each side of my plate.   The decor was discrete, the bills were high, the background music was classical violin, and each course was quite small.

On my last day, I threw caution to the winds and rolled up at The Pig & Whistle Pub.  I ordered a pie - 

Best meal ever!

Hydro Attack, Queenstown

Hi there

Over the last few years, when I've been in Queenstown, I've often watched the Hydro Attack 'shark' on the lake.

The shark looks like a jet fighter without the wings.  It sits the 'pilot' and a passenger.  Across the water it has a top speed of 80 kms per hour.  It dives down to 5ft under the water, going 50 kms per hour.  And, oh, it jumps up to 18ft out of the water, rearing up onto its tail.   The shark was invented by a New Zealander, it's sold to very rich overseas people and before Covid-19 lockdowns, several resorts around the world were offering the ride to the public. 

"I'm interested," I said timidly to the guys behind the counter at the wharf.  I had many worries:  Would I have a heart attack?  Would I faint?  Get claustrophobic?  Die?

It took a while, about twenty minutes of my going and returning to the counter, trying to make a decision, but in the end I handed over my $129 for the maybe-twenty five minute experience.  

My young pilot led me to the wharf edge and I peered down into the cockpit of the shark.  It was so cramped inside.

After half-a-dozen embarrassing attempts I finally - phew! - dropped down into the back seat of the cockpit.  The pilot drew back the hatch cover and we were off -

Wow!  It was fabulous.  We raced speedboat-like across the water and every so often shot, nose-down, under the lake where the water was the most beautiful blue-green.  We jumped up out of  the lake to all but stand high on our shark's tail. 

A couple of times we stopped, and  the pilot opened the hatch for a breather and a view. 

When we returned to the wharf, the pilot hopped out and asked me to hop out, too.

Hop out?  Hop out!  I couldn't.  To all intents and purposes I was stuck in the shark. I'd be there forever.  

At the beach when I'm sitting flat on the wooden deck, I have to turn around and push myself up on all four limbs.  There was no room to do this in the shark.

"I can't do it!  I can't do it!  I can't!"  I couldn't get leverage to pull myself up from the narrow seat.  There was a rope pull attached to the back of the pilot's seat but that didn't work for me either. 

In the end, after about 15 minutes, I pretended  I was in my bathtub at home, gripped the edges of my seat and heartily pushed myself up and out but, oh goodness, I only just made it.  I shudder to think I could have been the first person to capsize the shark  It hadn't helped when the pilot announced loftily that a 91 year old man had had no trouble getting in or out -

 

 

My latest visit to Queenstown

  Hi there

I'm back from a week in Queenstown, down the South Island of New Zealand.

It was very warm.  I swam in Queenstown's Lake Wakatipu for four of the seven days but had to give up because of the sandflies on the shores.  Each day I got more bites on me than the day before. Sigh.

Still, I kayaked on Lake Wanaka, dined at Gibbston Valley Winery, travelled up the gondola to a lovely  buffet lunch and a terrific view, walked the Queenstown to Frankton track twice, and paid $129 for a ride on the lake's Hydro-Attack 'shark' ride (more about this in my next blog).

I went to top restaurant Rata.  I called in upon the historic village of Arrowtown.  While in Arrowtown I  walked the beautiful bush-clad 'loop' walk beside the Arrow River.

When I'd been in Queenstown previously, I'd seethed over the commotion and crowding caused by the overseas tour groups, overseas backpackers, and overseas families.  They were everywhere, and crashing into me, pushing and shouting their excitement and, maybe, up to 100 strong in front of me in the queues for things.   They crammed the footpaths (walking on the wrong side, right instead of left).

The length of time it took to travel into Queenstown along the bumper-to-bumper crowded Frankton Road was horrendous, and the fact that I could never find a park in the Queenstown shopping area drove me almost insane. Backpackers spilled everywhere around the lake foreshore soaking up the sun, playing their drums and flutes and yogi-ing for cash or food.  Cafes and restaurants were always full. The price for a one night hotel stay was, maybe $300 (that is if a hotel had rooms left because all those tour groups were taking up space). When I showed a theatre card at the local picture house or hopped in a taxi, I was always exclaimed over because I was a kiwi. 

But ... on this holiday last week, everything was reversed.  Because our borders are closed, there were no crowds.  The area was as dead as a Dodo, I could park practically anywhere I liked, the road from the airport took me about five minutes driving, the restaurants and cafes were empty.  

I realise now that it was all that previous commotion, and crowding, and pushing, and shouting, and excitement, and backpackers and tour groups, and whatnot that actually made Queenstown, giving it its life.   The overseas tourists give the place a lively vibe, a heart.  Talk about me being contrary because I now want all that ado back.

Covid-19, you have broken Queenstown's heart ...

 

:  

above:  the Queenstown foreshore, usually crammed with tourists, now empty.

above:  the main mall, virtually empty

below: part of the the lake view from my rented holiday home Queenstown balcony.  Luckily, my insurance company have their own holiday homes throughout NZ, very cheap stays.

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