NZ return and the horrific atrocity in Christchurch.

Hi to all,

We touched down early at Auckland just before 0500 on the 15th. March after about 3 years. What a day to choose! The PM later said that this day would be "a day that lives in infamy", but the first person to use that phrase was Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 and we don't think the Christchurch atrocity comes close to what happened then with the Japanese treachery at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.The NZ PM is guilty of plagiarism in the most shameful and shameless way.

The other point we wish to make is that terrorism is not new, and perhaps the worst examples in living memory were the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon which resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 people in horrific circumstances and seriously wounded 6,000 more. These attacks were perpetrated by Islamic militants in a blatant and cowardly attack on a Christian country for whatever twisted motives.

The Christchurch atrocity was carried out by an Australian white anti-Islamist terrorist who was able, due to NZ's lax gun control laws, to quite legally obtain the means to carry out his deadly agenda. 

In no way do we denigrate the seriousness and horrific nature of this awful deed, but we do think there should be a balance which needs to transcend the emotion - however understandable. And much more stringent checks of ANYONE who wishes to enter NZ - be they white Australian or any other race or religion.

But this event now appears to have been hijacked by "anti white supremacist" rhetoric from fringe elements who are using the event to advance their own left wing anti white positions. Therefore, in spite of the nonsense being promoted as blaming right wing white supremacists, we need to get some balance here - otherwise NZ will be even more divided along racial and religious lines than ever before. This common sense truism appears to have entirely escaped these activists - or has it? Maybe they are only interested in promoting racial disharmony in the hope that they can sow more seeds of enmity in the hope of advancing their own nefarious agendas.   

We also have to comment on the disgraceful comments in the US fake media. Apparently the NY Times has said the US deserves a leader of the same calibre as the NZ PM. The Washington Post and others are no better. We are sure that when such a thing occurred on US soil that President Trump did also rise to the occasion when In fact when there was an Islamic massacre of Jews praying in a synagogue in Pittsburgh last year, which killed 11 and injured 7. Trump responded absolutely appropriately. Except for the continued inaction as regards prohibition of automatic weapons. We know that this is a much more difficult and vexed problem to deal with in the US due to the 2nd. Amendment and the NRA, but somehow a start has to be made.  

There's another point - some reports suggest that the NZ PM should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize! This atrocity happened on her watch, so how she could be considered worthy of such an award is beyond us. Just appearing at funerals etc wearing a black hijab is nowhere near enough. She has handled the sad aftermath with aplomb and flair but that's just what would be expected of a national leader. She is just doing her job.

And now we read that the German Police have uncovered a terrorist plot in Frankfurt which was to be perpetrated by Islamists and was designed to kill as many "unbelievers" as possible. The opposite murderous ideology from Christchurch, but no less potentially horrific. 

Enough said.

We were somewhat concerned when we discovered the only bag we had checked through from Medellin fully wrapped, had come off the carousel at Auckland without a vestige of the wrapping that we had been very diligent in using. So we took the bag to the baggage "complaints" area and told them the story. We then opened it in front of cameras and it appeared that nothing had been added or stolen. However, this  always a risk and at no stage was the unwrapping explained. Our overall impression though of border security at Auckland was one of a lackadasical attitude - don't worry about it!! Probably after Christchurch this attitude might have changed somewhat?

Linda, Jean's great friend, met us and transported us to her house at Hauraki Corner where we were to stay for the next 4 days. Great to be back and to be able to finally relax. The trip from Medellin had been almost 30 hours to Auckland including layover times at Bogota and Santiago, but that was alleviated somewhat by the fact that we had booked bulkhead seats which made the enforced sitting much more bearable.

Linda had some activities organised for us and the next day we went out to Glen Eden to have lunch with a bunch of older musos and their wives before a nostalgic time listening to old numbers that they had played in their heydays in a number of band groups in Auckland in the 1960's. Linda has had a lifelong association with these guys managing venues etc and it was great for us to relive the past.

The next day - St. Patrick's Day - we went to Hogans Bar in the Viaduct Basin and enjoyed the music and atmosphere. Must say though that we balked somewhat at the cost of drinks - $10-11 for a beer or cider. In Medellin in a restaurant that would be in the order of $3 maximum.

Then on Monday we picked up Tracie's car and that process all went well. The car was in perfect condition and we went shopping in preparation for the journey north. Very much appreciated.

We'd have to say at this point that we have been gobsmacked at prices for just about everything in NZ. Jim met a NZ'er in Countdown Whangarei who had lived most of his life in Canada and he said every time they returned to NZ they were horrified at prices and how they had always increased. Our perception is that Colombian cost of living generally is about one third of NZ's cost of living. We don't know how the average family survives here.

We drove north on the Tuesday and had a Jester mince pie in Wellsford (COP 11,130 in Colombian Pesos - nothing exactly equivalent in Colombia, but an equivalent cost would be COP 3,000 - NZD1.43 for a papa renella)  This was our first mince pie in a long time, but the cost so stands out to us. Once again about a third. We then arrived at the country property (Finca in Spanish Colombian) of our friends, Hamish and Sara at Old Parua Bay Rd.. As usual they are hospitality personified, as is Linda in Auckland. We are very lucky. 

Since then we have been in Whangarei starting the process of sorting our possessions and looking after 2 dogs and 2 cats. Not depressing from the animal perspective, but generally it's somewhat depressing - at least for JIm - as he would like to bring a couple of family oil paintings to Colombia plus a 1.5 metre half model of a ship which was used by his family in their island trading business in the late 1800's.. But none of it is practical to take to Colombia - it's all possible but the cost is problematic - mainly on account of whatever duty might be levied at that end, which is completely unknown. But there are many smaller items which will likely see us with 4 x 23kg suitcases between us when we eventually leave. So, it's a matter of sorting which items to sell and which to give away and which to take with us. Not easy, but we will get there as this could well be our last visit to NZ - depending on age and finances. It's not cheap to travel between S America and NZ.

Visited the Whangarei Farmers Market (Mercado Campesino) last Saturday morning but we were disappointed to find it a shadow of its former self. We well remember going there before we sailed away in 2011 in the middle of winter at 6 am. when it was still dark, very cold and raining heavily  - all dressed in our wet weather sailing gear to buy beautiful fresh veges and fruit. But it's nothing like that these days. We bought some things but now the mercado campesino in Medellin beats it hands down - and not just on price! But it was great to again meet Mrs. Joosten - who is now well in her 80's and who still mans a stall with her daughter. She is a Dutch lady who we knew well all those years ago. And Ursula - a German lady who with her husband runs an organic beef farm in the Hokianga. So good to make these great people's acquaintance once again. They are an asset to NZ and have been for many years.

Well, that's all for now - there will be another blog before or as we leave. Great sadness once again for the Christchurch horrific events.

Lotsaluv from us in Whangarei.........................

Jim and Jean

www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Introspection and summarising of our feelings in respect of experiences during a traumatic 2018

Hi to all,

As usual we hope that everyone's still in the pink.

Now that we've been in our Jardines de la Maria apartment for just over 4 months, we felt that some soul searching in respect of 2018 would be in order.

We never want to repeat a year like that - it was truly our "annus horribilis" year. But definitely a highlight was obtaining Colombian residency.

It started in Langkawi, Malaysia when we finally decided to ship TT3 from Phuket, Thailand to (first choice Genoa), but then fatally changed our minds to go to Fethiye, Turkey. We had been trying to sell the yacht for about 2 years, but even with substantial price reductions, nothing was happening. Living mainly on Langkawi was becoming somewhat boring and too "easy" - even the occasional visa runs to Thailand were becoming old hat. So we decided we had to try and make things happen - hence the decision to ship to the Mediterranean where we had (correctly) deduced that the market was somewhat better for classic wooden yachts.

All the details are in previous blogs, but we sailed to Phuket in late January where we prepared the boat for shipment and awaited the arrival of the m.v. Annegret. Apart from some annoying delays to the loading process, the experience with Seven Star Yacht Transport was perfect and all happened as it should.

However, our woes were just about to begin when we hauled out at a recommended boat yard in Fethiye, Turkey. This has all been well documented in previous blogs so we are not going to bore you with the details, but things became so bad with the Turkish yard owner and his English female partner side-kick that we felt forced in a terrible emotional state to make the very difficult decision to leave Turkey and abandon our home of the previous 9 years. Among other things, this involved several early morning dawn visits to the yard to remove personal possessions before the yard personnel arrived, because we did not want them to know what we were contemplating. We simply could not see an end to our enforced captivity by the yard, and in the meantime we were continually incurring more yard costs, accommodation and car hire, with no end in sight. It certainly crossed our minds that the crooked yard owner was scheming to steal the yacht and, if that was the case, he very nearly succeeded. Jim's brother, Alec, had organised listings for our old girl on Trademe and Ebay which in the end sadly did not result in a sale but happily though, due to a short article Jim wrote on the Cruisers and Sailing website, we made contact with a 2nd British buyer who visited Turkey and made the decision to buy her. The deal did not give us much money, but did involve him in meeting the yard costs and getting her seaworthy enough, after the hull had opened up during a punishing Turkish summer, to get her to Crete, where she is presently lying. We felt so relieved that it seemed as though she would receive the TLC she needed - hopefully that is about to happen right about now. Barry is knowledgeable about planked wooden boats and is another wooden boat enthusiast. He has an excellent wooden boat at a cheap price, but also got us and the old girl out of a nasty hole in Turkey.

We have mentioned him before, but must again express our gratitude to Murat Toplak, a yacht broker in Bodrum, without whose help TT3 would never have left the yard. Murat is a great guy and with great integrity.   

In the meantime (early June) we decided to return to Colombia much earlier than we had intended, but we were now homeless!  We had let our apartment in Medellin and it appeared that the earliest we could legally move back in was early November. We travelled via Werneck, Germany - just 2 hours SE of Frankfurt by train - to spend 2 restful weeks staying with Jean's old friend from Hong Kong days, Josie and her retired schoolteacher husband, Reinhart. A tranquil and most welcome respite after the events of the previous 6 months recovering from our emotional and financial scars. Their breakfasts are legendary - hams and wonderful German bread!!

We then flew from Frankfurt to Madrid which was really just a stepping stone for Medellin. We spent a day and a half and toured central Madrid, before flying on to Medellin direct by Iberia - arriving early July. It really felt like coming home when we flew in and were met by Mauricio - our property manager, Noelia's driver. Jean had contacted an agent we had previously met (David) who at very short notice had organised a one bedroom apartment in the Suramericana district. We stayed there a month and enjoyed the extremely eclectic neighbourhoods around there. By this time we were starting to feel a little more "normal" - whatever that is. In the meantime we had been invited to stay with Janet in "our" building as her husband, Hugo, was permanently away working in New York. Many Colombians live, or have lived in the US. During our time with Janet things were starting to move in the boat sale department - some morning emails were very discouraging, but then success at last. We can only wish the new owner the best of luck with her. We feel confident she is in good hands and maybe in the not too distant future we may see them in Cartagena when they come to the Caribbean. Jim's emotions in particular were fluid to say the least during this period and it all took its toll.

We must make mention of all the help we received once we were back in Colombia. Astrid, our lawyer was wonderful in assisting us with our Cedulars de Extranjerrias which means we now have 3 year's residency which we can renew at the expiration of that time. This process also involved a trip to Migracion Colombia in Bogota, which was a welcome diversion. Astrid also helped us in opening a local bank account with Bancolombia, which was an experience indeed. Of course the language issue doesn't help but the convoluted way in which these banks operate on-line is something to behold.

Then there was Noelia who continued to manage the apartment until the new expiration date for the lease, which would allow us to move in. The tenants (a Dutch couple) were exemplary and it was just as we had left it. Somewhat of a relief. Noelia also helped us to set up the ability to pay various utilities on-line - again what a performance! They seem to delight in making Colombian websites something of a maze!

Medellin is such a friendly city and so many pleasant people. Even the 24/7 security guards at the building's porteria and we must make special mention of Jimenez who is always unfailingly cheerful. He tries his limited English on us and we respond with the same level of Spanish. Can be hilarious at times. All of this certainly helped our spirits. We are getting to know many of the stall holders at the Mercado Campesino where we go every Sunday morning to buy fresh provisions. The guy who sells jellied collagen for the knees - Jim always enjoys practising his Spanish there. And the young lady who has beautiful homemade Basil pesto and Hummus plus an array of other items.

We met our friend, Monica, there and she has lived in the US for a long time. She has come back to Colombia to care for her ailing father who is in his late 80's. Family ties and obligations are very strong here. The other day we went with Monica and her father to a clinic where they specialise in IV treament with vitamin C and other vitamins and additives as they deem necessary. Yours truly didn't avail himself of the treatment having had less than fond memories of the antibiotic IV's in Vietnam and Thailand where, without the prompt treatment (thanks to Jean), there was a reasonable chance of losing his lower left leg due to Cellulitis and Gangrene in a relatively short time. However, they all said they didn't feel a thing, so, in spite of not believing them, he'll probably try the vitamin IV when we return. Jean has been very sick with what turned out to be a bad case of H-Pylori infection and which was diagnosed by an Endoscopy. She'd also suffered 2 bad falls when out walking and hurt herself quite badly, so she's been in the wars. She had to go on a course of strong antibiotics but a subsequent test showed that she thankfully is now free of the pest. Jim had the same test and he is free of it too. She was still feeling rundown after probably months of having had it and the effect of the  antibiotics themselves and so decided to have the vitamin IV treatment and she says she feels like a different person. Dr. Mauricio Arias at the Clinica Las Vegas had been very attentive and organised all the HP tests we had done. Clinica Las Vegas is a modern hospital with an international office where they steer you through all the difficulties associated with an alien language. On that note, after 8 years out of NZ, we have finally organised some health insurance to cover against hospitalisation and/or surgery so feel a little less vulnerable. But since we are over 70, there is no cover available to us except through a local company (Sura), but it seems OK and Sura is part of a very major commercial group in Colombia. 

After staying with Janet for August and September, Jean travelled to Miami to see her family there and Jim went to Santa Marta to check it out. Then after 2 weeks Jean came back to SM from where we eventually returned to Medellin. A short stay in a hotel in Itagui (which raised some eyebrows amongst our friends and acquaintances!!) and we were once more back in apartment no. 804, Jardines de la Maria 1. 

One more problem started raising its ugly head - we had some Sterling investments, but with Brexit being such a shambles, we felt it would be prudent to sell. We haven't regretted that decision. Then there was what appeared to be something of a melt-down on US markets, so we sold all those assets (such as they were after 9 years of international yachting!). Unfortunately we sold at nearly the bottom, but at least we can sleep at night. We are now all cashed up (apart from the Medellin apartment) and looking for alternatives. The greatest difficulty now is trying to predict future market trends. Some commentators, with some justification, say there is a greater crash than the GFC of 2008 coming; others say the good times will keep coming. In the meantime we are just biding our time. A tax change in Colombia has all but ruled out further investments here, which otherwise would be a good investment. Interest rates are higher giving better returns and property values are buoyant, but the change to the Colombian tax regime has caused us to revise our ideas.   

That more or less covers our 2018/19 experiences and we are now looking forward to seeing friends and family in NZ. More blogs to regale you with all the fascinating details. We leave Medellin in the early hours (0400) of tomorrow and arrive in NZ on the 15th. via Santiago, Chile.

Lotsaluv from us in Medellin (for now)......................

Jim and Jean

www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com