November Reflections

NOVEMBER MOOD

If you live in a true temperate climate, like I did growing up, you might say that the months have personalities.  Personalities influenced by the weather and the holidays.  In November, in upstate New York, it got dark early and then earlier and earlier.  And it was cold.  Often the first significant snowfall put in an appearance.  It was a month that was more somber than joyful albeit punctuated by the warm sounds of gratitude and full bellies around a Thanksgiving table.

In the last years before her death, my mother dominated my siblings’ and my thoughts and concerns.  There was infrequent mention of my father who had died so many years before.  I would quietly think about him each November 6,  the Election Day anniversary of his leaving us.  This year, with my mother gone two years past, I almost missed this anniversary.

My father was a very warm and nurturing individual.  He played board games and Wiffle ball with us kids and invested significant amounts of time paying attention to and being available to us.  I think he was ahead of other men of his generation.

I still recall with fondness the morning he met me for coffee in the W.T. Grant department store downtown.  I was probably home from college or in my last years of high school.  I felt so grown up to be doing this.  Mind you, this was long before Starbucks and a café on every corner.  Dad met me, we sat on stools at the simple lunch counter, chatted, and then we separately left.  He to return to work, and I to do whatever.  I felt that in his eyes that day, I was an adult.

Sadly, my father died far too young at only 48.  On that fateful Election Day eve, we drove hours through the dark, cold, snow-flurry night to say our last goodbyes.  He was the only one who voted (absentee).  He never got to know and enjoy his grandson and granddaughters nor his great grandchildren.  But he left a legacy of caring and warmth that lives on in us as we remember and cherish all that he gave us in that short time.  And, it being November and Veterans Day, he was also a World War II and Korean War Navy vet.

November can be a gloomy month up north, but it redeems itself with thankfulness on a day to draw close to family and friends.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

A very good friend served us these tuna and bulgur stuffed peppers recently, and they were delicious!  So much so that I immediately made a copy of the recipe for myself.  It’s from Melissa Clark at the New York Times.  These peppers are prettier than hers!

Re-entry & Recent Reading

RE-ENTRY

I’ve been back home just a week.  My head is still lingering over some distant ocean, and the time in New Zealand becoming a memory.  The four weeks seemed longer, and now I’m trying to process all that we saw and did.  Probably two things stand out from everything else:  1) it’s an incredibly beautiful country with a range of topography from beautiful seacoast to stunning snow-capped mountains to undulating fields and hills in multiple shades of green; and 2) the people are some of the friendliest and most welcoming I’ve met anywhere.

Beach at Kaka Point

I came to expect that when we arrived at our accommodations, we would be warmly received, but that we’d also get something of the history of the place along with the personal back story of the general manager or host.  Making it from the reception area to our room took at least 15 minutes. Upon leaving Arrowtown, Kathy, the hotel owner, insisted in the nicest way, of bestowing hugs on both of us!

Other tidbits:

  • We frequently saw the exclamation symbol, !, by itself on road signs, where there was road work,  but sometimes just as a warning of an upcoming change in the roadway.
  • With one exception of the last few kilometers into Wellington, all the roads were two lane ones with lots of twists, turns and curves.  Often very winding and narrow.  No interstates to speak of.
  • New Zealand is very environmentally conscious.  There are strict regulations about not bringing in food or pests from other countries (lots of bins in the airports for tossing out food items with strongly worded signs about the large fines for not doing so.)  Recycling and other green practices are a standard part of the culture.
  • Smaller towns were a step back in time to the 1950’s.  No fast food chains, but cafeterias and order-at-the-counter places like the Ten o’ Clock Cookie (love the name!)
  • Wineries all seemed to have their own bistro restaurants and were classy destinations for lunch or dinner—and some of the best meals we ate.

    War Memorial in Oamaru
  • New Zealand lost many men in the world wars, numbers out of proportion to its small population.  Every small town had some sort of WWI monument to fallen soldiers, and sometimes also recognition of those who fought in WWII and later wars.
  • Boarding internal flights in NZ was remarkably egalitarian.  There would be quick mention of premium status folks first, but then everyone just got in line to file out to the tarmac onto the plane.  Not the six levels of priority we see here.
  • I visited bookstores in Auckland, Wellington, and Oamaru, and discovered that most of the fiction on the shelves was from the United States or the U.K. with the U.S. predominating. I  browsed the few short shelves of fiction by New Zealand authors and bought one novel which I started, but didn’t finish and left behind.  It occurred to me that with such a small population, it’s probably not unreasonable that there is not a huge literary output.

RECENT READING

Nonfiction

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston.  Preston’s nonfiction account of the search for what was often referred to as the White City or the City of the Monkey God is an archaeological adventure story.  Except it’s true.  Over a period of more than five years, some determined adventurers who had deep pockets, along with friends with deep pockets, attempted to locate this ancient city in the Honduran rain forest.  With the help of some very sophisticated new technology, they were able to map a potential site hidden beneath thick vegetation.  Once mapped, the plan was to go and spend a couple weeks clearing the rain forest to see what was there.  The challenges included lethal fer de lance snakes, sand flies, mud, the possibility of looting (making it crucial to keeping the exact location secret) and political wrangling of various sorts.  Against great odds, Preston, hired to write about the expedition, and the team of archaeologists, photographers, and others were successful, but not without serious risks to their health and well-being.  (~JW Farrington)

Mystery  

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.  This is the first book by Anthony Horowitz that I’ve read, but I’m a longtime fan of Foyle’s War, which he created, and have also enjoyed the quirky Midsomer Murders (he was one of the screenwriters).  Although it’s a murder mystery, Magpie Murders, is unlike most others.  You have the umbrella story of Susan Ryeland, author Alan Conway’s editor for the mystery series he writes about detective Atticus Pund.  Then you get all of Conway’s latest book, appropriately titled “Magpie Murders,” except it ends without the last chapter and without resolution.  Our fearless editor, Susan, then goes on a tear to find the missing pages while real life deaths occur and mystery fiction and fiction fiction become intertwined.  Throughout, Horowitz has fun with puns, inside jokes about his own series, and allusions to famous mystery writers like Agatha Christie.  If you’re looking for something different in the mystery line, then this might be it. I found it clever and fun.   (~JW Farrington)

 

Note:  Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Book jacket from the web. Header photo taken at Amisfield Winery near Queenstown.

 

Down Under: Parting Shots

NEW ZEALAND VIEWS

Our time here is almost over, and it seems appropriate to gather together some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Note:   All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Ate more chips this trip than ever!
Auckland near lots of law offices
Waiheke Island view
Around Napier
Urban Winery
Oamaru Public Gardens
From the Navigator, Doubtful Sound cruise
Mt. Cook in the background
Sunset over Te Anau
Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu
Arrowtown, historic Chinese Settlement
Arrowtown, Lakes District Museum exhibit
At Arrow Thai, yummy green curry with chicken!
Moeraki Boulders
More sheep!
Picton waterfront
In Wellington
Banks Peninsula
Tussocks, Lake Tekapo
Marlborough region
Queen Charlotte Sound
Brancott Estate Vineyard
Wellington Wharf
The Boatshed, Waiheke

Down Under: Arrowtown

IN ARROWTOWN

We drove from Manapouri on Wednesday, after our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, to Arrowtown, which is about half an hour from Queenstown. It wasn’t a long drive, but it rained much of the way and the last 45 minutes or so were on the now familiar narrow, winding roads around the mountains. A very narrow one lane bridge was a bit unnerving since it wasn’t really clear who had the right away. We arrived in charming Arrowtown and the Arrowtown House Boutique Hotel around 3:00 pm. When the rain let up a bit, we decided to walk into town.  

 

Arrowtown is a former gold mining village and sits in a valley surrounded by more beautiful mountains. The flowering trees, cherry and apple, are in full bloom and many houses have elaborate gardens of rhododendrons, tulips, and, what I would call, wild roses, but are probably just another subspecies of rose.

Many buildings date from the 19th century and are wood framed and well preserved.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
Masonic Lodge

The main street is not that long, but is dotted with plenty of upscale galleries and gift shops, an inviting wine store, a small museum which we plan to explore, and more restaurants and cafes than you might expect in a town this small. There was a mix of people on the street, older and young, walkers and backpackers, and Asian (Chinese and Indian, it would appear) as well as white. There is also a historic Chinese settlement here that we will also visit.

DINING

We dined our first night at La Rumbla, a delicious tapas restaurant where we had fun bantering with our French waiter about the food and what wine by the glass we should choose. For lunch the next day we tried Mantra, an Indian restaurant. 

The interior is beautiful with magenta on the chair seats and wall and pink flowers in tubs.

We opted for the lamb rogan josh thali, which meant the delicious lamb came with basmati rice, lentils, potatoes and peas, raita, spicy pickle, and both poppadums and poori. Some of the best Indian food I’ve had! 

Thursday night, on the recommendation of our hotel, we went to Postmaster’s Residence, a cozy restaurant with a wood stove in its main room. We were the first to arrive, but soon the side room was full of diners old and young. The pan-fried fish of the day (gurnard, I believe) was excellent, served with capers, perfectly cooked broccoli, cauliflower and carrot rounds, and roast potatoes.

STOPPING IN QUEENSTOWN

It is so near we figured we had to make the short drive over to Queenstown. Thursday was sunny and we stopped to take a few more photos of the lovely shades of green on the mountain before going into the center of town to a parking garage. Navigating a tight garage when you have to remember to always be left is a definite test for the driver!

We wandered around Queenstown for about an hour noting how busy and lively it was (especially compared to Arrowtown), the large number of hikers and back packers, and along the lake, the many options for jet boat rides, wind gliding, and other water sports. The skyline was gorgeous on this bright blue-sky day!

The public garden also fronts on the water and we strolled up the hill and immersed ourselves in spring in the beds of bright pink and yellow tulips. We’re glad we made a point of seeing Queenstown, but were very happy to return to our abode in Arrowtown!

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)