Had an interesting and enjoyable visit with friends last night. Val and her husband Jack are visiting New Zealand for a week after spending 2 weeks in Australia. They were in Auckland for the night and called me up so I met up with them and we went for a walk to the Harbour where we had supper in an authentic Irish Pub. Val was one of my better Weekenders Fashion clients, and is a co-worker and good friend of Debbie Sova's. Debbie had written to me about 2 weeks ago to say that Val and Jack were going to be here so I passed along my contact info for her to pass to them. That was the last I heard and then while doing e-mail last evening my phone rang. I expected it to be the dive shop so when she said who was speaking I didn't know who she was at first. Hell, you don't expect to get a call from someone like that when you're in my situation here.
Anyway, it was a great visit. They left today to head north to the Bay of Island and then they'll go to Rotorua to see a real Maori community and enjoy Maori culture and hospitality. They get back here on March 1st so will call for another supper out. We will compare notes on out experiences of the northern part of the north island. I will be a bit further north at Poor Knights' Islands diving this weekend.
I have my class tomorrow night for my PADI Advanced Diver's Certification and will be doing 2 of my 5 required dives over the weekend. Then over the next week I will do the other 3 dives signed off. There are still another 11 dives on the roster to be completed but I will have my Advanced Certification and will be able to flash that around for the job search. Every little bit helps.
Sent out a couple more resumes yesterday. Filled out a couple more online applications. Searched for and researched vessels on the internet. Searched the web for agencies and posted jobs. Found a few.
Gotta go eat lunch now... actually it is getting so late that by the time I get to a restaurant (it is too far to go home) it will be an early supper. Oh, well, it will save money to combine the two.
They are all on the blog again. There are also new Movies along with the Photos of South Africa. Auckland photos... not many right now so I'll wait until I get more to bother asking Tom to run a gallery. It just is not worth the effort yet. Besides, after all the hard work and long hours that he has put in on my behalf lately, it is time to give him a berak. Everyone please say "Thank You Tom" out loud. Hopefully he'll hear you.
My niece, Jennifer, tells me that they have done a new round of professional Photos of Cassandra and I hope she is able to get a nice one to me to carry about showing off.
Hmm, just realized I have no family or friend photos with me. So if you have a recent scanned or digital photo of yourself, please send it so I have a way of remembering all your smiling faces. Prefer JPG format in small size (180 X 240 ish) to save download time. JPG so I can easily manipulate/resize and print a group out on one sheet to save time and money. That way they will be 'wallet' sized too or will fit in a tiny photo wallet. Oooo, more shopping. Wish I had an income so I could do some REAL shopping.
Cheers and thank you in advance for the pics.
Well, I spent all day yesterday doing research about the yacht, Ulysses, and its owner. Researched some of the other vessels in the harbour as well. Still have hope for Ulysses. This morning I went down to talk to the First Mate. Nice fellow. Basically, though, he just took my resume, etc. and said he'd fax it to the Chief Stew who is in Australia working on another project. Fingers crossed. I am guessing that she, the Captain and the Chef are all off the boat and possibly working the same project. The first mate would not normally have anything to do with hiring a stew so he must be in charge of the refit of this boat (not the real Ulysses, but a nice fill-in) for the planned cruise. He also indicated that one of th stew spots was already filled. Argh! I hope I was not too late. That Chief Stew is being too efficient. Hopefully she likes my resume, etc.
Wish me luck, say a prayer or cross your fingers for me. Whatever works.
In the meantime I will continue my active search until I find work. This is me being stubborn. I've decided this is what I want to do and I am not going to let a little thing like a lack of available positions get in my way. There is another large yacht in the harbour and I will try it as well. Not having much luck making contact with the crew on her though. Another walk by today to try again. I'll also check in with the security office at the Viaduct again.
Must get to Broadway Road, the main shopping mecca of this city. Or so it appears from the bus anyway and Elaine confirmed that it was a great shopping district. I have to get better job hunting duds. What I have may get me passed the first mate but not a chief stew and definately not a hotel manager if I have to go that route. So, a nice pair of long navy blue dress pants and a new white cotton girlie shirt should do it. Why navy blue? Because at home I have 3 or 4 pair of black dress pants and I don't want another pair. Besides, navy blue is more nautical. My hair is getting out of control too. I should probably get a trim too.
Well must go and get lunch and get shopping.
So, I had a great day today. Got on the Link Bus earlyish (11am) and got off at Victoria Park. Walked down to the Viaduct Harbour. It is north of the park but here the north end of town where the harbour is get referred to as being the bottom of Queen Street or the street names are things like Lower Albert Street. The suburbs south of the city are on Upper Queen Street or up the road. A difficult adjustment as I always think of north as up and south as down. Here up and down refer to sea level at the harbour (down) and the high steep hills of the rest of the city (up). Understandable but still an adjustment for me.
Anyway... I found the part of the harbour where the largest yachts are and noted the names and approx. lengths for searching the web for them. Got about 6 names.
I also got to have a close look at top British sailor Ellen MacArthur's new trimaran B&Q. It is dry docked in Auckland for some work following testing of the boat and the trip across from Australia (where it was built) a little over a week ago. This young woman is phenominal. Talk about gutsy. She is all of 26 or 27 years old and is about to embark on a solo circumnavigation in this new 75ft. trimaran. She did a solo circumnav in her 60ft. Kingfisher. At just 24 Ellen had become the fastest woman sailor and youngest person ever to sail around the world non-stop singlehanded. Well, it was a bit exciting to stand underneath the hulls of this gigantic boat. It is a modern day marvel of marine engineering with all the bells and whistles and a few new ones.
Met a Kiwi on the pier who had been out fishing with his mates this morning and was just sitting enjoying a little rest when I came along. I asked him about the harbour and why there were so few boats in it. He said that since they lost the Americas Cup it had been pretty quiet. Mostly local fishing boats, tour boats and local vessels. I stood chatting with him for about 2 hours about everything Kiwi. Stuff like the cost of housing, pay and benefits, the culture and changes in the city and the entire country. The Americas Cup and the effect it has had on Auckland and New Zealand. Life in general in Kiwiland, his life specifically... he's a diesel mechanic who works for the Stagecoach Bus Co., the city buses. He is married, had 3 grown children, the youngest is his 28 year old daughter. He used to play rugby and he used to drink a lot with all his rugby pals. He hasn't touched a drop in 8 years since the doctor said "lose the booze or lose the liver." It was a fun and interesting conversation and I am so glad I stopped to ask that one question.
I walked back along the pier and made a last minute decision to stop for a quick lunch (it was about 2:30) before checking out a couple of yachts. After lunch, I wandered across the road to where a mega-yacht was docked and gave it a long look, noting its name and approximate length (~150 ft. maybe). As I turned to walk back I noticed a fellow (looked like crew on a day off) leaving the boat. I hurried to meet up with him as he came up the ramp and asked to talk to him. A nice, personable fellow. I asked if he was crew, yes he is the engineer. I asked if they needed crew and, (YES, yes) yes, they will be hiring a mate and 2 stewardesses for a cruise leaving in three weeks. He suggested I return on Monday, then said Tuesday morning would be better, to talk to the mate. So, early Tuesday morning I will be there looking my nautical best and sporting a winning, positive attitude. This will be a very busy week. Must brush up on my stew stuff.
After that I walked, with a spring in my step and a smile on my face, over to the other pier opposite. There was an even larger yacht over there. No luck making contact with anyone onboard but I jotted down the name, etc. There was a pram and a couple of bicycles on the dock next to the yacht so there aer probably 2 stews and a nanny on the crew when the roster is full. As I was leaving the pier, I stopped at the security office and asked the guard if she was aware of any yachts being in search of crew. She looked at the notice board over the desk at the far end of the room and said no but she would ask her supervisor for me. I left my name and new Kiwi Vodafone number and asked to have him call me. She was quite nice and I will check back tomorrow.
Took a further look around but it was pushing 5pm so I decided to call it a day. Oh, yeah, I also got a sunburn from standing in the hot sun on the pier. And, no, I don't expect any sympathy from all you Canadians freezing in the cold winter weather. By the way it is summer here again today. Phew! I was starting to worry.
There is a show going on down at the Harbour Front today... drag queens on parade it seems. When I went into the hotel adjacent to use the ladies' I was treated to a preview by some of the girls rehearsing some moves in full costume. Some of the outfits!! Just so wild. When I was out in the crowd I sort of felt out of place... you know, that outnumbered feeling. It was when I went back outside and really looked at the crowd that I eralized why... There were very few actual women out there. Just a few who wandered in, like me. All the other "women" were drag queens, not all in stage gear, either. It looked like a lot of fun and I am going back over after I finish in here. It seemed there were going to be more shows and I hope to catch some of it while having a beer.
Well must get goiong. Some website searches to do then I am off for that beer.
WOW! Tom has got all the photos and almost all the movies loaded onto the blog. YEAH!! I have not yet got them all labelled but will do at my next opportunity. Probably Monday. Have not had a chance to view them myself because this place has a wierd setup for movies. One must "install on demand" the windoze media plodder each time a movie is clicked on. Then it accesses the file across the internet instead of locally. Too strange. Big snore. So I'll wait until I next go to the place on K Rd. (the common Auck name for Kairangahape Road) on Monday. It is too crowded with kids playing video games, screaching back and forth at each other and smoking on the weekends and evenings.
I have discovered another grand idea to be here, maybe my true reason. I discovered heaven yesterday. It is on Parnell Road and it is called the Chocolate Boutique Cafe. They make 14 different hot chocolate drinks, 8 chocolate & coffee (choffee) drinks and 6 iced chocolate and choffee drinks. All the desserts (everyone decadent in itself) are served with hot chocolate sauce or chocolate fudge sauce AND they serve real homemade Italian style ice cream. Is your mouth watering yet. Well there's more. Yes, more. They sell every imaginable form of chocolate decadence and they have a wall of confectioners' delights. All original recipe stuff too including chocolate covered salt licorice.
Bought another gift for Cassandra. For those of you who aer new to this blog, Cassandra is my Grand Niece, niece Jennifer's daughter. The cutest, prettiest little sweetheart human eyes have ever seen. I'll send it next week.
Just had a lovely supper at an upscale trendy cafe with excellent food called TJ's. Still have not celebrated my birthday. Have not actually mentioned it to anyone yet either.
Have an appointment to open a bank account on Tuesday afternoon, a course on Thursday night for my Advanced Divers' certification, the first 2 of 5 required dives are next Sunday, and I have an appointment for a telephone interview with a Florida Crew Placement Agency on Friday morning. Monday I will find and book into a CELTA (English Teacher) training course. Then get my immigration paperwork done for a student visa, a work visa and a work permit. All just to get work. But I insist on going by the book. Never been tossed out of a country yet, don't intend to start now.
Had a busy day yesterday but a lazy one today. Spend 4 hours doing laundry (mostly waiting for machines to do the laundry) while reading the newspaper from front to back. Then I came into the city centre for this quiet non-smoking internet place and got lots of job hunting done. Applications sent, resumes edited to suit the jobs I'm applying for. I hate job hunting, always have. Is there anyone who does like it? For those of you who don't know this... there is a lot of ageism out there. The New Zealand government blatantly says that you are not welcome here after your 55th birthday unless you just want to come and spend lots of money on vacation.
I am having a bummer day but this too shall pass. I think it is just the weather. I don't know if you guys heard but winter hit here this past week. Not like Ottawa winter with snow and sub-freezing temperatures. Extensive flooding on the West coast of the south island and the south of the north island. The winds have been brutal, the air 6-10 degrees C below normal, heavy clouds and raining on and off. All this since last weekend. It is supposed to be summer here with similar weather to July in Ottawa (+30C every day, sunny skies, blistering heat and sun). As it is I have only one outfit that suits the weather and it is suitable for outdoorsy stuff not job hunting.
Anyway, just feeling a little sorry for myself. The immigration paperwork is daunting, the jobs are not there waiting for me. You know, the usual sort of doubts. But I do know it is temporary and it is Saturday night here.
Gotta run. This place is closing.
OK!! I don't want to talk/write about South Africa anymore. I am now in Auckland and reaklly enjoying it. Most of my time has been spent in internet 'cafes' doing job searches, preparing resumes and filling in online application forms and the like. In a few minutes I'll be leaving here (Travellers' Contact Point) to head up Queen St. to the Immigration office for more information on the ins and outs of work visas. There is apparently a group who have found a way of issuing temporary work visas for 'seasonal' workers. These jobs are all farm/orchard jobs picking, packing and sorting fruit. Sometimes you can work for free room and board and other jobs are longer term with room and board included with cash payment. I have put in my application for an IRD number (NZ version of the SIN) and after Immigration I will be going to the ASB Bank to open an account. I chose that bank because it is my landlady Elaine's bank and I can arrange to have my rent transfered automatically every 2 weeks.
Have had some good feedback from Crew Placement Agencies. Have a phone interview scheduled for next Friday with a Florida based one. They are one of the largest for professional crew placements and handle yachts all over the world. One agency here has suggested I get more training to get the certification but has not been helpful at telling me where there are schools/training facilities for acquiring the certifications. More hunting on the internet required.
Must run now. More later today.
As promised yesterday here is the blurb on Table Mountain. This is an interesting geological feature. The mountain got its name for two reasons: it is as flat on top as a table and is flanked at each end by a peak (like chairs at each end of a table); and there is the tablecloth. Table Mountain and all the mountain chain it is part of are protected National Parks and Nature Reserves. No flower picking, digging, plant harvesting, seed harvesting or disturbing of wildlife... especially no hunting. Poaching has an official penalty of thousands of rands more than the value of the skins, pelts, horns, bones or other parts of the animals. However, I was told the story of one group of 3 poachers who were 'mistakenly' believed to be about to shoot at conservation officers and got themselves shot up (one died of his injuries). Don't know how true that is but the story teller seemed like a reliable source.
The tablecloth is a very unusual cloud formation. When the moisture laden cool air blows over the land from the cold Atlantic Ocean it slams into the back side of Table Mountain. A cloud forms along that backside, moves up the mountain and spills across the table (plateau) and then 'falls' down the other side. From the Cape Town side this looks like a tablecloth hanging over the edge. I took a few photos of it and some are already posted if you are interested in seeing what it looks like. This cloud is extremely dense and comes with some pretty wicked winds. So, when the weather is such that the cloud can be predicted or the wind is particularly strong (same winds that blow 10 ton boulders off Chapman's Peak) the mountain is closed and no one is allowed up it, not even hikers. It is too dangerous because of the winds and zero visibility. The cablecar is, of course, closed when the winds are high even if there is no cloud. But there is rarely one without the other.
The day I went up to Table Mountain was a gorgeous day. I timed/planned it perfectly. Like many places in coastal areas, the weather in Cape Town can change rapidly and almost without warning. I got up one morning, I was staying at Tom's B&B, and decided that in spite of the cloudy, overcast weather I would follow through with my plans to go on a Big Red Bus (double decker bus) tour of the city. The original plan was to use the bus to first go up to the lower cable station on Table Mountain then tour the city stopping in Sea Point to find Johan and a guesthouse/B&B/backpackers. As it happened I had to change my plans due to the inclement weather.
After breakfast I walked down to the SA Jewish Museum to catch the bus at the regularly scheduled stop there. The Museum was closed because it was Saturday (Jewish sabbath) so I just waited for the bus. The bus tour took us all around the city, into the notorious District 6, passed the Parade and all the Museums. It was a good commentary and the guide was knowledgable. We climbed Table Mountain but the weather was still quite cloudy so the tour continued on after a brief stop. We went through several high-priced neighbourhoods along the coast passing the Twelve Apostles Peaks. When we got back towards town I asked the driver to drop me close to the Tourist Info Centre in Sea Point.
There I found, as Tom explained, two huge internet services (not true cafes just big rooms full of computers) and the info centre. The info centre was more of a tour booking service and did not help much for accommodation. So I walked along Main street a few blocks to find Cafe Erte. I told the nice young fellow at the bar that I was looking for Johan and he said I had found him. I introduced myself and he was thrilled to know that I was a friend of Wendy's and asked how she was, etc, etc. I said I was looking for an inexpensive but nice place to stay and he suggested the Stonehurst Guesthouse up the street/hill a couple of streets (blocks) and I went up to book a room. The manager, Roy, a regular at Cafe Erte, answered the door and invited me inside. He took pity on me and gave me a nice room at a good price (R300/day incl breakfast). I booked it for 4 nights starting the next day, Sunday, and bid him gidday.
Back to Cafe Erte, where there are computers, for lunch and an email check. While finishing the email I noticed the sun coming out. So I finished up and headed back to the bus stop where I waited about 20 minutes for the next tour bus to pass and hopped back on. Stayed on, passed the end of the tour and continued on to Table Mountain. By the time we got there the winds were down to a light breeze and there was not a cloud in the sky (see the lovely photos) so up the cable car I went. I spent about an hour and a half up there before riding back down to catch the last Big Red Bus back into town. The driver could only take me to the town centre info office so I had to get a taxi up the hill to the Gardens where Tom's B&B is.
So, about Table Mountain. What a magnificent place. The scenery and sweeping vistas are out of this world. There are marked trails from which one must not stray. This is to protect the flora and fauna. The scrub that is trying to grow on this plateau is challenged enough by the strong winds as are the creatures that call the mountain home. There are gorgeous lillies, bromiliads, succulents and other flowers everywhere. The dominant colours are white, reds, oranges and yellows. Not much pinks and no violets or blues that were in bloom while I was there. The scrubby little bushes and shrubs are course, tough and brambly. Not much there could be regarded as a tree.
The animals were fun. The little dassies (pronounce dossy) was my favourite. Following is an encyclopedia excerpt about them: Hyrax...(h´rks), name for rabbit-sized mammals of Africa and SW Asia comprising the family Procavidae. Although rodentlike in appearance, hyraxes are hoofed mammals, or ungulates (see Chordata), most closely related to elephants and sea cows. The hyrax, also called coney, has a squat, furry body, with short slender legs, short ears, and a short tail. It has small hooves on its toes, and moist padded soles that cling to steep surfaces by suction, making it an excellent climber. There are about 14 hyrax species, classified in two genera. The genus Procavia includes the ground-living species, sometimes called dassies. Dassies are rock dwellers and live in colonies of up to 50 animals; they are found especially in deserts and hills. Hyraxes feed on seeds, fruit, and leaves, and in large numbers can be serious agricultural pests. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Hyracoidea, family Procavidae.
Now you know more about dassies than you ever thought you would, right. Well here is what I saw... cute little furballs that lay on warm rocks in the sun cleaning themselves and climb around the bottom of scrub trees eating the leaves and flowers. They seemed to know they were safe from harm and protected so had no fear of people. They could be approached quite closely and did not seem to care. I was as close as 3 feet taking pictures and they barely paid me any heed. There were even babies in one of the bushes and the Mom did not seem to mind the 5 or 6 people standing around making silly billing and cooing noises at her babes.
There is also a bird in SA that likes to live in the protected zone. It is the Sunbird. A small, delicate looking bird that is very much like a large hummingbird with its irridescent colouring of blues, greens and violets in its wings. It even has a srtonger patch of colour, which varies, on its throat. The beak is long and needle-like for getting deep into the throat of a flower and it has a slight hook down. The Sunbird seems to have a strong preference for the nectar of the lillies. They also fly about in a similar fashion to hummingbirds. For more details visit http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/animalsplants/data/m0049147.html
There were many wonderful things to see and explore on the mountain top and I took several photos and a movie so please check them out when they are posted.
Hello Everybody
I have moved into a new semi-permanent 'home' and this is how you can contact me in Auckland, New Zealand. I bought a Vodafone SIM card for the cell and will set up the GPRS (email and weblink) tonight. In the meantime I can recieve SMS text messages on it, I think. If you must contact me by phone you can but it will now be a long distance call to do so. I have decided not to get a 0800 number services. It is not expensive but I don't think it is necessary as nobody ever called the cellphone before this... so why bother paying for a service that won't get used.
The new phone number is:
country code 27 0211814874.
The mailing address is:
8 Richmond Road
Ponsonby, Auckland
1002 New Zealand
Of course... we never know how long I may or may not be there. I am guessing at least a month to find work and then, depending on the job, I may be staying there or moving on. If I am moving on I'll leave a forwarding address with Elaine (the landlady).
email and website don't change.
As promised...
While in Cape Town, South Africa, I did an all-day tour to the Cape Point National Park and Nature Reserve. It was a very interesting trip. There were 5 of us on the tour with one guide: myself, an English woman on a "SKI" vacation (Spending the Kids' Inheritance), a young Swedish guy (quite nice to look at) and 2 young women from Ireland (the photos will be posted soon girls). The bus picked us up at our hotels and I was last.
The guide gave us a running commentary as we went and often stopped for us to take photos and get out for a stretch.
First major stop was at Hout Bay. There we climbed aboard a boat with a large crowd of other tours and were taken out of the bay to Seal Island. Yes, this is where we saw hundreds of Fur Seals. It was fun to watch them playing in the surf, sliding down rock 'slides' into the rough water, diving, jumping and frolicking. But most were lazily dozing in the sun on the warm rocks, lolling and slowly rolling about like tourists on the beach. I got lots of great photos and movies of them, to be posted soon.
Next stop was at False Bay for a photo of the stretch of silver sand beach that stretches from St. James to Fish Hoek. Then a lunch stop in FishHoek for lunch at a restaurant on the beach there. The Austrian family from my guesthouse were in the restaurant at the same time with their German tour. The English woman braved her way to the waters edge where German tourists in bathingsuits only were braving the water for a full-in swim. She returned to report that the water was freezing cold. This is a spot where the water is considered the warmest on the cape (before, of course, you get to the Indian Ocean).
On we went after an hour there to Boulders... the town that the Penguins decided to moved into. There were hundreds of them in this relatively new colony. And they are so cute but reportedly dangerous. Not that I noticed. I went off on my own away from the crowd to another observation platform where there was only one other person. It was here that I got my best photos. It is also here that I found the rookery. There were several penguins sitting on nests both manmade (for the purpose) and penguin built. It was along this path that I got some great close-ups of these lovely little guys. They did not seem to mind at all that I was there taking their pictures. Some even seemed happy to pose. I was so close to a couple of them that I could have reached out and touched them. But that would be wrong as touching them can damage their protective coating opening them up to parasites, bacteria and other infectious threats. I also heard that they have a nasty, sharp beak and have been known to snap at and bite people.
Got a pair of sterling silver penguin earrings at the gift shop on the way out. Yes, they are both the same but for those who were wondering about that you also know that it will change. The rest of you... well, I am known for wearing mis-matched or non-pair earrings.
On our way through the Nature Reserve on the way to Cape Point we passed a couple of groups of baboons. Excellent name for them. The first group was a nice little family of three (pop, mom and babe) and mom was grooming the little one (picking off gnats). Then a female gave out her scent nearby and the male caught a wiff... well the movie I got tells it all. Bad enough that I saw and photoed these behaviours, I won't write about it too. The second group was large with a large number of tiny babies. The babies were leaping into trees and swinging on branches, jumping on the adults and wrestling each other.
We continued on to Cape Point where we witnessed silly tourists not paying attention to the warning signs about the baboons. While searching in the boot (trunk) for something, a man had left both rear doors of the car open while his 2 companions sat waiting in the front seats. A baboon jumped into the back seat and when we stopped to shout warnings to the hapless fools, the baboon took off out the other door. They were lucky we came along as baboons are very dangerous, agressive, strong and have extremely sharp teeth.
We arrived late to the Cape Point funicular (vertical railway) so had to hurry to get up to the lighthouse before the last trip down. I would have walked down if I had know it was such a short trip. One of the Irish girls stayed down below, the other walked up with the Swede and the English lady and I took the funicular. The view was stupendous and I took many photos and movies (again). It was quite a thrill to know that when I looked out over the water here, I was looking at Antarctica. Couldn't see it of course (darn curvature of the earth) but I knew it was out there and not far away, in relative terms. This is the most southwesterly corner of Africa around which many explorers sailed over a period of more than 500 years. Out there are many sunken vessels and many sailors died trying to find 'the new world' and the fastest route to the East. Quite impressive. The air felt 'different' the sky is a different shade of blue as is the water here. We met our guide at the bus waiting for us at the bottom, watched the 'baboon patrol' trying to control a couple of large males (they throw large nuts at them) and headed out again.
As we headed for the Cape of Good Hope we saw a herd of Ostrich grazing at the side of the road. Then a little further along we saw a lone Bontebok (colourful antelope) that was grazing in a field.
Next stop... Cape of Good Hope. The large cliff you will see behind me in the picture of me at the sign is the Cape of Good Hope and it blocks the view. But now I can say I was there. On our way back up the peninsula we spotted a group of 4 zebras coming through the high scrub to a clearing with a watering hole. We were so lucky to see them less than five minutes after the guide said he had never seen zebras on one of these tours.
The drive back took us to Chapman's Peak via Chapman's Bay and Long Beach (14km) before we were on the Chapman's Bay Driveway, one of the most dangerous stretches of road in South Africa. The rocks are blown off of the cliffs and peaks by the gale force winds and onto unsuspecting drivers, cyclists and runners on the road below. The government has been trying to build protective barriers and rock 'catching' nets. The barriers are iron reinforced concrete canopies over sections of the road that are most notorious. Along other sections are steal cable nets on 1 foot iron/steel poles embedded deep into the ground. It is a wierd and eerie sight. We stopped for photos at a spot at the top of suicide cliff. Guess how it got its name. From here I also got a great shot of the Sentinel, a mountain sized rock at the entrance to Hout Bay.
The rest of the drive back was full of excellent discussions about politics, socio-cultural affairs and the concerns of the people of this country in transition. There was lots of great scenery too.
While in Cape Town I became somewhat of a regular at the Cafe Erte where Wendy's friend Johan works. I met and became chummy with a couple of the staff and regulars too. The owner, Susan, was born on February 12, my birthday (but about 14 years later) so we exchanged notes on being Aquarian and found that we were like minded on a few issues. After my membership expired at the Internet Junction down the street (very slow and MS terminal on a remote ISP) I started using Cafe Erte as my internet cafe. Much more pleasant place, nicer people, vegetarian food & drink on hand and slightly faster connections through Linux boxes. It was sad to say goodbye to Johan.
Johan had taken me along when he and a couple of friends (Laura and Denise) were going to Observatory (a suburb of CapeTown) for the Holistic Fair that is held every Sunday. That was a great day. After the fair closed Johan and I helped the Hari Krishna guys carry their stuff (they do a great vegetarian food stand) to their truck and then got a lift to the temple for satsang. It was OK but I did not enjoy it or find it as spiritually uplifting as I did the Sivanada Ashram's satsang. I found that the Hari Krishna's are very secular and men and women segregate during ceremonies, even when eating after. It is a very patriarchal organization and it was mostly women (though some of the younger men helped) who served the food. The chanting is monotonous and uninspiring, as was the speaker. But it was a good experience and the food was excellent vegetarian fare. Afterwards, Johan and I took a long walk along the Ereste River that took about an hour or more. We walked up a Main Street through another suburb passing the Mendala Estate along the way. We arrived at a shopping and restaurant strip and it was here that we were to meet up with Laura for a lift back to Cafe Erte on the other side of town. We were early so we sat for a half hour and had a coffee/tea in another cafe and waited. Laura drove us back and I had a drink while checking my email before returning to my room. I really enjoyed that day.
I had 2 Boewen Technique treatment from Debbie (wife of the guesthouse owner Jan) while there. It is a very interesting technique and I enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend this for destressing and getting rid of aches and pains. It is great for headaches too. I had never heard of it before but will investigate further and keep an eye open for other practitioners.
Well, that is it for now. I am starving and it is 7:40 pm and I only had a light lunch at 12:30. Next time I'll tell you all about Table Mountain.
Just moved to the new 'home' today. Took a taxi because of the 2 huge pieces of luggage but it only cost NZ$10. Everyone was still in bed when I arrived at 9:30 am. So I just dropped my stuff in my room and went for a long walk to check out the neighbourhood.
When I got back I met 2 of the other flatties (flatmates). The couple I met briefly yesterday, Frederico and Julie. He's Italian and she's Irish (not Chilean). Got a great deal of their story. The other flattie is David, a workaholic geek who rarely comes home. Elaine, the landlady, says he's quite nice. Her son, Christpher (25) was still in bed sleeping after a night out all last night. Elaine took me shopping with her and I got a great tour of a large chunk of the city as a result. Was also able to get lots of groceries in because we had a car to put it all in.
I will stop this update now because this is the noisiest internet cafe that I have ever been in. There are a group of kids playing games together across the network and they are screaming and screaching at each other across the room.
... is just like Valentine's Day in Canada but much warmer. Young (and old) lovers can stroll through town, have a picnic in the park or snuggle under a canopy of lush green leaves. And they do, everywhere. I have been too busy to really notice or care. The one thing that made me remember what day it is was the frantic, even panicked looked on the face of one young hopeful gentleman as he tried the door tof his local florist to find it locked. Poor sweetie looked downright devistateded as he paced around outside the darkened store in cicles before trying the gift shop next door and then the confectioners' next to that. All closed. He was totally perplexed. Well an hout later I saw this same young lover-to-be getting on the bus 2 stops down with a fetching young pretty on his arm who was carrying her bouquet of red mums. She had a look on her face that said she knew that mums were lots cheaper (and what they erally meant) than roses or any other flower he would have been better to choose. Worse still, she is oriental and there is a thing (can't remember what it is) about mums being seen as bad to orientals. If anyone erading this remembers or knows what I refer to please reply to me with details. Anyway, it did not seem like he was going to have the luck he was hoping for.
So yesterday and today were spent in desperate search of a place to live. Saw three places today. The first... no good for many reasons. It was a one hour trip on 2 buses out of the city centre and with a day pass it cost $8 for the round trip (full fare would have been $10.40) which is costly. Even if I only went into town 5 days a week that is $40 per week in transit fares. It was a 6 minute walk down the hill from the bus stop and 10 minutes up the hill. It was also not a very well kept place and they did not even try to cover that up by tidying up. I apologized to the fellow for taking up his time and explained that spending the money and time to commute was too much for me. He was quite nice about it.
Second place was great in what has become my favourite community so far, Ponsonby. It was a clean, bright, nice room in a modern building. The fellow who owns it is very nice and has great taste in furniture and seemed quite nice. BUT he wanted to have another few people go through and then he'll review all applicants and make up his mind tomorrow evening. OK, fare enough. So off I went to the third place.
Third was an interesting house owned by a 'now single' lady and she lives in as well. She has a young couple in one room (he is Italian and she is Chilean) that are here on a working holiday for a year and her son Christopher just recently returned home to start his career in TV and film. She has a big old dog, Skippy, who is the sweetest old dear, totally deaf, half blind but perfectly healthy otherwise. He has a good, healthy bark but is as gentle as a lamb. She wanted an answer soon as I was the first to come see the place and she had a bunch looking for appointments to see the place.
As I walked along Ponsonby Road I made up my mind. No to the first. No to the second because I would have had to buy too much furniture (bed and everything), the cost was higher and did not include 'expenses' which is what the kiwis call the utilities (water, electric, phone, gas) and I felt Simon was stupid to not just at the great opportunity of having me as a flatmate.
So I called Elaine and told her I would take the place. Walked back with a deposit and got the key. There is a very comfy, new bed in the room and Elaine sid she would supply linens and find a small bedside lamp for me. I move in tomorrow at my leisure as she and her son are off to visit her niece who has a new baby and want to leave in the early am. As I was leaving I saw a garage sale next door and checked it out. There was a perfect bedside table they sold me for $5 and the woman had her boyfriend carry it over to the house and up the stairs for me. So now I know the neighbours already.
It is a great neighbourhood. Very eclectic, artsy and trendy. A fab variety of architecture: old (as old as 200 years) and brand spanking new and everthing in between. The main road, Ponsonby Road, is lined on both sides with cafes, bars, little shops of all sorts, small green grocers, designer shops, art studios and TV & film production companies. Every Real Estate company in New Zealand is represented on Ponsonby including (knock me over with a feather) Reimax. One has a different name but the exact same logo as Royal LePage. Coincidence?
In Ponsonby, as in the rest of Auckland, one must go up and/or down a hill everywhere one goes. The people are friendly, polite and helpful. The population is a mix of eccentric artists, yuppies, students, middle-aged professionals, retirees and old folks of every shape, size, colour and nationality. People here have pets and walk the dog in the morning and afternoon. And the piece de resistance... there are street names like Sussex Street, Byward Ave. and Clarence Drive. My new place is on Richmond Road. So I feel very at home in this neighbourhood. If I have to I can walk to the Westhaven Marina but the Link Bus will get me 3/4 of the way there and the rest is just about a 10 minute downhill walk.
The Link Bus is actually a pilot project. It is a bus system entirely on the GPS tracking system. The buses are constantly tracked by GPS satellites and their location is updated and relayed to receivers along the line every 90 seconds. A display at these receivers (at about 75% of the bus stops) shows when the next three buses are due. They have recently decided to expand the system to the entire bus system of Auckland. It seems to be working very well most of the time. Of course the displays will eventually tell you what the next three buses coming are too. Right now the Link does a circuit around the city in both directions. It goes up and down Ponsonby and the nearest stop is at the corner of Ponsonby and Richmond less than a 2 minute walk from my front door. It is cheaper than the Stagecoach lines also.
Well I must go for supper now. On Monday the job search starts in earnest. Got to get my resumes ready to send out and fill in a bunch of applications I got last week. Tomorrow is a big day as I will be moving to the new place. Oh, yeah. The rent is $165/week. All rents here are weekly, even apartments and houses. The cheapest places are $120 but they are 'student' residences and usually advertise the friendly atmosphere or easy going attitude. They are almost always in a 'backpackers' and have a loud, smokey bar as a front lobby.
Must run.
OK! I have had a nice long afternoon nap (3 hours) and feel refreshed. I just noticed that the "posted time" for these entries is in Ottawa time. So it is worth noting that I am 6 time zones west and 18 time zones east of Ottawa. So I am 18 hours ahead of the time posted. So if you are reading this with your Friday morning coffee at 8am, I am sound asleep at 2am on Saturday morning.
It is now 8:45pm. I have not had my supper but am not yet hungry because I had a large lunch at 2:30. Getting my body rhythm in synch will take time. But I'll get some food soon.
Tomorrow will check out new accommodation and look for a room to let for a few weeks here while I job hunt. Today I made a lot of phone calls to Marinas, crewing employment agencies and boat charter companies. Spent last night and this morning checking the career section of the paper. There are hundreds of ads for real jobs (as opposed to telemarketing and 'spam' work) and lots of good high end positions. Everyone here has been saying that the Kiwi economy is in a boom and the job listings prove it. Lots of jobs in Engineering and Technology, IT, Medical-Dental professions, building trades and site management, Architectural disciplines, manufacturing trades, and on and on.
So there are lots of alternatives for me. Of course my focus is that stewardess job on a yacht. On a large sailing yacht preferably. Even the tourist info had a list of places that I can go looking for work on boats.
It will be a very busy week for me. After I get settled I can start doing some touristy stuff. But first I need to get my luggage and a cheap place to live.
Tomorrow I will do a South Africa update. I did have a good time there despite the many set-backs. It is not my nature to let all that bad stuff interfere with my fun. So through it all I went off having a bit of fun here and there and met lots of good folks along the way. So more tomorrow.
Well, now I'm in Auckland, New Zelaand.
The trip was relatively uneventful except for the luggage problems.
Took the shuttle bus to the Airport at 1:00pm on Monday. At the airport they wanted to charge me for overweight luggage because Nationwide (S.A. airline) does not allow extra for sports equipment. I got around it by getting a woman who had no checked luggage to let me put one of my bags through on her ticket. That was actually the suggestion of the desk clerk at the check-in counter. I did not think it would be allowed because of the 'match luggage to passenger' rules. When I got to Johannesburg I got my bags off the carousel. After that there was only about 45 minutes left to get through check-in. When I got there the line-up had about 300 people in it and was moving very slowly. When my turn came, they told me I could not put my luggage through under the 'piece rule' because my flight was not to North America. The 3 months in New Zealandwas a problem but more so because to and from New Zealand were on seperate tickets. I got around this because a seperate sports equipment bag is permitted. Thankfully all my scuba gear (except the fins) was in one bag.
So onto the airplane I got. We arrived in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) as the sun came up over the desert. We were due to take off 2 hours later. I had a good long walk around the airport after clearing customs and security. Then boarded the airplane. Made one small mistake at check-in... did not check on my luggage. Got lucky on seating. I had the window seat (as per usual) and there was a nice fellow (from New Zealand) in the aisle seat. There was nobody in the middle seat.
The flight from Dubai to Aukland made 2 stops... one in Singapore and one in Brisbane. In Singapore I took a long walk around the aiport. Got back on the plane. Early in this leg of the journey the attendant came by to serve drinks. I ordered my usual red wine & tonic spritzer. A few moments later the guy in the seat in front of me decided to throw his seat back, knocking over my mini wine bottle and I was covered in red wine. Thanks to the quick thinking actions of an attendant I was able to remove the wine stain before it was too late.
The Kiwi sharing my seat section got off in Brisbane so I had the entire 3 seats to lay out on. Needed it to lie down because my ankles were severely swollen. First time for me.
Arrived in Auckland, went to get my luggage after clearing immigration. The dive gear had made it but not the bag with all my clothing, walking shoes and electronic equipment rechargers along with all my other metal and sharp gadgets. So I did not get out of the airport until after 5:00. Took a shuttle into town to the Aspen House. Not much of a place... too much money for what I am getting. But I'll stay there again tonight while waiting for the luggage. will look for something else for tomorrow night.
It is raining on and off all day today. Of course all my rain gear is in the lost luggage.
Today is my 50th birthday. Wanted to go diving up at Poor Knight's Islands north of here as my birthday present to myself. Not until I get the luggage with the bathing suits and fins and camera marine pak, etc. I'll celebrate later.
Gotta go now. The jet lag has me severely out of whack. I am falling asleep trying to write this.
Hello Everyone
The BLOG is back. One quick posting here just to test the site, really. The archives still have to be rebuilt but that is something that can wait. Tom has been working long, hard hours to rebuild and make a few changes to my blog website. It is time to give him a break from it. So the archives can be done slowly at his leisure.
I cannot emphasize enough my gratitude to Tom and my brother Ron for all the effort they both put into this rebuild. I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for the site to be ready. I did get everyone's messages of concern when the site was not available and answered many of them individually. If I missed you, I apologize but it has been a very hectic couple of weeks for me.
Tommorrow at noon I will be checking out of my room at Stonehurst Guesthouse and heading to the airport to catch my 3:05 flight that starts my journey to Aukland, New Zealand. I arrive there on Wednesday at 13:45. So with the 11 hour time difference the actual travel time is 35 1/2 hours with a flight change in Johannesburg (2 hour stop) and another in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (3 hour stop). The rest of the time is spent in the airplanes. I will be a zombie by the time I get to Aukland. I will find a private room with ensuite for my first night to ensure I get a good night's sleep. Then on Thursday I will look for cheaper long-term accommodation for a month.
Then the job hunting begins. My first choice, as always, is a stewardess or deckhand job on a large sailing or motor yacht. I refuse to look at the other alternatives until I have exhausted the sailing possiblities. I have not totally ignored the fact that New Zealand is in active search to bring the IT geniouses of the world into the country. There are also several postings with a variety of agencies for Electro-Mechanical Designers, other technical disciplines and construction technology, draughting and design. Along with several other technology fields there are several other job postings for which I am qualified. So I am fairly confident of my chances at finding work. Then there will be the getting of the work visa/permit to go with the job.
Once I have work, and depending on what and where that work is, I will look into the accommodation requirements. Of course if the job is aboard a yacht I will be living aboard. Another reason that the yacht job is preferred... it comes with a place to live. I will start by going around to all the yacht crew agencies with my resume and letters of reference.
IF I HAVE SPENT TIME ON YOUR BOAT IN A CREW CAPACITY AT ANY TIME, PLEASE WRITE A FAVOURABLE LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FOR ME AND EMAIL IT TO ME. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. The agencies like lots of letters of recommendation.
I will write more details about my time here in South Africa once I am in New Zealand. I am getting tires now and want to get back to my room for an early night. I also have lots of sorting packing to do. And the one thing I don't like about Cafe Erte is that they permit smoking in here so I am always being assaulted by cigarette smoke when I am in here.
Said my good byes to Johan today. He has been sucha good temporary buddy while I've been here. I hope we get to see each other again in the future. Thank you Wendy for putting me in touch with such a kind and gentle soul. In fact, thanks to Wendy my time here has been so much more pleasant.
I'm off now. The guy beside me is one of those who don't actually smoke. He just holds the cigarette away from his face... into mine... and lets it smolder. Yuck!
As many of you noticed, my website was down (but not out) during the past week. The problem has been corrected and all will be back to normal soon. Some of the photo galleries are now back on-line and the blog archives have also been restored. Some additional tweaking is needed to get the blog database itself up and running but I expect that everything should be back in place along with some new blog updates sometime this weekend. ...stay tuned!