The people next-door are getting their house painted so I can hear the workers from time to time, a lot of ‘Mate, can you pass me ?’ ‘Thanks Mate.’ ‘That looks cracker’ ‘You beauty!’ A very friendly, happy group. Like at home there’s lots of construction going on, down the street someone is redoing their front yard, and the construction crew has a small dozer and digger. It amazes me how they can get work done in these small very, steep spaces.
This morning at a café, I heard a North American accent, wasn’t sure if it was American or Canadian. At the table next to me there was a work group having afternoon tea together. They seemed to be mainly Kiwi’s, but also a couple of people with accents like mine. It was like a scene out of my own life 30 years ago.
I stopped at the local New World supermarket to pick up some Fresh Up, which is a combination of apple and orange juices. I first had it when I came to New Zealand and loved it from the start. I had to laugh at the sign in the car park (parking lot) that indicated they weren’t responsible for any damages to cars. It started out with the word ‘Sorry.’ I definitely couldn’t imagine seeing that in the US! After I finished my shopping, I headed over to Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. Crossing the street I noticed there were different sorts of pictures in the pedestrian crossing lights, instead of the usual stylized man in red or green, this time they was a Māori man in a haka stance for stop and a Māori woman in a dance pose for go.
Across the street from the museum was what used to be called the Michael Fowler Hotel, then it was the Hotel-de-Wheels, because when they were getting ready to construct the museum they had to rotate and move the hotel across the street from where it originally sat. Loads of people turned out to watch the progress over the weekend the hotel was shifted, many doubted it could actually be done.
At Te Papa I was particularly moved by the Waka exhibit – wakas are traditional Māori canoes. The photos of the 80th anniversary sailing of a waka that was originally launched in 1940, the 100th anniversary of the signing of the of Waitangi, in February 2020, were very compelling, partly because many of the canoes held women in them, something that definitely was not done in 1940, also because early February 2020 was just when the pandemic was starting to take hold and at that time we had no idea what was ahead of us. The room that held beautiful carved paddles and played a song related to the waka was very moving.
There was also a section with photos of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paddling in a waka, and had reflections from two of the students who were part of the group that had invited her to participate. It’s obvious that she was thrilled to be there, and the other participants were honored that she was part of the celebration. I don’t know if I could see the same thing happening in our country, in New Zealand I see how much Jacinda Ardern is appreciated. And like the woman I bumped into in the park, the quote on the wall referred to her as ‘Jacinda’, she’s just a normal person like everyone else. Isn’t that what our leaders should be in order to understand what it is that people need?
There is a cross-section of New Zealand artwork in the museum, including a painting by Goldie, probably the most famous artist who painted Māori elders. His detail is incredible, even when you get very close his paintings still look like photographs. One part of the exhibit allows you to look at different paintings and zoom in on places, and when I zoomed in on the hair in one of Goldie’s portraits I still couldn’t see the brushstrokes. In this exhibit you could actually look at the back of the paintings as well to see if any changes have been made to the canvas or frame.
One of the tour guides with a traditional Māori full face tattoo showed me where I could sit to charge my phone, an area with a beautiful view of the bush garden area at the museum. He asked where I was from, and said that he used to live in Oakland, what a small world. As I was outside in the bush walk, I could hear a bagpipe player nearby, and later a group of school kids doing the haka, the Māori war dance. Later I saw a group of women dancing to The Hustle in front of the Marae (a traditional Māori meeting house). What a wonderful juxtaposition of cultures!
I watched a really cool film that highlighted seven different “ordinary“ New Zealanders and their involvement in their communities. There was a woman in her 70s who is photographing the impact of climate change on the land in Northland where she lives. The site of her high above the ocean, on a towering cliff was breathtaking. There was a young man, a beat boxer in a working class area of Wellington, showing his skills in an abandoned bunker. A first generation Chinese immigrant who is the mayor of his small town, and the only mayor in New Zealand fully fluent in the Maori language. A family that have been sheep farmers in the far south of the South Island for generations, and were having to change their way of life because of the Department of Conservation taking over some of their land. They were incredible landscapes in all of these places, and even though they were only three minutes long each, told so much about these people and their lives.
One of the things I really like about Te Papa is that they are very careful not to have too much on display, the collections are well curated so you can look and learn and not feel overwhelmed. They also have a lot of fantastic interactive areas specifically for kids. I still only saw 1/2 the museum today and was there for over 4 hours. I’ll come back next week to see the rest and perhaps to revisit some areas. Did I mention that it’s free for anyone to visit?
Annemarie told me about the Wellington Advent Calendar, where every day during advent a different business in Wellington will offer some kind of a special deal, and if you sign up to get the advent calendar you can take advantage of those deals. The first deal was two for one admission at the Wellington zoo, which is just down the street from where I used to live (sometimes we could hear the lions roaring and often the chimpanzees!). I might have to check it out before I leave.
