Tuesday 16 April 2019

In Godzone - for the duration!!

Hi to all, and hoping you are all "in the pink" as usual,
We won't be commenting any further on the massacre that occurred in Christchurch, except to say that the latest lunatic suggestion is to change the Crusaders Rugby team name - because of the association of the name with the Christian Crusades to the Middle East which occurred centuries ago. It is considered by some misguided people that the name will offend and be offensive to Muslims. This reaction, plus all the other apologetic grovelling is dividing NZ more and more - just the opposite of the presumed expectations of those promoting such harebrained ideas. Just another example of New Zealand's cultural cringe, which we had erroneously thought to be a relic of the past. NZ has always been divided along racial lines to a greater or lesser extent and sadly this overdone apologetic attitude is just exacerbating the situation even more. 
Our time in Whangarei has mostly been head down and other end up sorting through our last possessions in NZ. At first it did not look too daunting, but as we began delving, the scale of the task became starkly obvious. Jim had held fond hopes of sending to Colombia the last of 2 family paintings which came from his mother's family, the Owens of Owens Rd., Epsom, and a ship model referred to in the previous blog, but the cost and risk involved are just too high. So, sadly on one of our trips to Auckland we delivered said items to Cordys (antique auction house) where they will be sold at their monthly auction on the 30th. This is an emotional wrench for Jim - not as bad as leaving the yacht in Turkey - but these emotional decisions have to a greater or lesser extent been a facet our time here. But the really time-consuming part has been going through 50 years of correspondence and other papers, most of which is going to Colombia and will be properly catalogued after we have returned.
Still, we have to remember that we have made a new life for ourselves in Colombia now, so all these relics of the past need to remain there. Doesn't necessarily make it any easier though.
So far we have also had a second trip to Auckland with what turned out to be 92.5 kgs of books, papers, photos and other memorabilia. All packed in 4 cartons and which will be airfreighted to hopefully more or less coincide with our arrival back in Medellin. Other items have been left with Linda at Hauraki Corner pending final delivery to either Amanda or Jim's brother, Alec!! We're sure they'll be delighted!
One very disappointing aspect of all this is the loss in value that has occurred over the last 20 years or so of items which did at one time have reasonable value. Fine china which, unless it's dishwasher safe, has relatively little value - and the list goes on. It seems that people would rather pay $1200 for a piece of junk furniture made of some sort of veneered chip board rather than a lovely solid English oak table and chairs. But that's what we have become - a society obsessed by having the latest plastic rubbish and disdainful of anything worthwhile which will last.
Then there is Jean's camphor-wood box which was made in Singapore in the early 1970's while she and her then husband and Perry were up there as part of NZ's deployment of an Air Force Skyhawk squadron. It is exceedingly well-made and heavy, so, once again a non-starter for Colombia. But it seems that Jiveen and Jenny are keen and, if they return to Glasgow, the box will have a new life in Scotland. These things only have a maximum value here of perhaps $250, but it could take months to sell.  
We have been looking after the finca at 97A Old Parua Bay Rd., where there are 2 Dexter steers, 2 dogs and 2 elderly cats. The dogs are Molly, a young Whippet cross and Winnie, a terrier type crossed with something else! The cats are Blackie ( a very fussy eater who drives us mad with his continual whingeing) and Mozart (Mo) who is very old and took a while to get used to us, but now seems quite at home. 
The weather has been variable with periods of rain but that hasn't really worried us as all our work is in Hamish's big shed and we can drive the vehicle inside for loading. We must again make mention of Linda's hospitality in Auckland and that of Hamish and Sara, in addition to the use of Perry's and Tracie's Vitara without which our job over quite a few years would have been much more expensive and difficult to accomplish.
Whangarei seems quite quiet after the vibrant places we have spent time in and also where we are living now. The streets, even during the week seem almost deserted and there are many retail vacancies. That's in spite of an increase in population with cashed up baby boomers leaving Auckland buying much more cheaply up there. A repeat of a common pattern happening in many countries, including N Americans coming to Colombia, these days. And all the good eateries in Whangarei we used to know from before we sailed are now usually owned by orientals who just buy them to get residency and really have little or no interest in maintaining standards. Almost without exception the few that we have been into are appallingly bad. Soda in Kamo is a stand-out in that regard. We used to go there after doctors visits in Kamo and undo all the good advice we had been given (!), but now would never go back. So sad. We well remember going to the vibrant farmers' market in Whangarei all that time ago in 2008/09 and then on a cold winter's morning going to Caffeine (now Salt) and having beautiful mushrooms on toast with all the windows covered in condensation. Great memories, but unfortunately these cannot be re-created because they simply do not exist now. 
On our most recent trip to Auckland, we went to a BBQ at the home of one of Jim's ex-work colleagues and had the most wonderful evening. John Bassili is Lebanese and is married to Maureen - a retired anaesthetist and they prepared wonderful food. Another ex work colleague, Graham Pearce and his wife, Carol were also there so there was much to talk about. We had also arranged to bring Linda with us and she thoroughly enjoyed the company as well. All in all great food and company and the conversation just kept flowing until around 1 in the morning!
Then back up to Whangarei again to see Hamish and Sara after their recent South Island sojourn and to collect the remnants of our bits and pieces. Great to spend time with them before we finally left for Auckland on the 14th. Very sad to say goodbye as at our time of life we may never come back, but they will come to Colombia in the not too distant future.
We've also seen a bit of Andrew and Caroline Corsbie - Andrew is a cousin of Jean's. They have 3 delightful children and we had dinner with them one night. Then there was Elizabeth (married to Colin) who is another of Jean's cousins. They live very near Waipu Cove with  a great view of the Hen and Chickens Islands. Unfortunately Colin wasn't home when we called, but Elizabeth was and we had a wide-ranging chat, including about her time in Chile at the time of the CIA backed overthrow of the Allende government in the 1970's. As she is fluent in Spanish, she was subsequently employed by the NZ Dairy Board and interacted with clients from S America - including trips back there. She was reading a Spanish language book she'd got from the local library when we called. Way better than our so far feeble attempts at speaking Spanish!!
On the way back to Auckland we spent a night in Wellsford with Jean's brother, Keith, in his little house which is on skids to avoid the pesky resource consent costs and associated nonsense. Had beautiful fresh fish which had only been caught the day before. Keith, who is 75, probably has the near perfect retirement with working part time as a farm consultant and fishing whenever the mood takes hold.
Now back at Linda's at Hauraki Corner and organising our last days in NZ. People to see and things to do. Great to be here and remote from the on-going frustrations up north!! But we have to say again that staying at Hamish and Sara's was very pleasant and enabled us to complete the sorting of "things" in a reasonably leisurely fashion. Looking forward to returning to Medellin with Linda who is spending some weeks with us there. We are hoping to explore the areas near to Medellin - most of which we haven't seen ourselves yet. And seeing other of our friends and family who may wish to explore the delights of Colombia. 
Cheers and lotsaluv from us...............................
Jim and Jean
  


  


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