As Matt set about packing up I debated staying put for a day over heading on to National Park. It's a 20km walk but a lot of it on good track or road and so perfectly doable even with a late start, and despite my big day yesterday I was feeling pretty refreshed and up to walking if it was necessary; but I don't need to be in National Park until tomorrow. Taylor and I are going to meet up there or in Ohakune the day after tomorrow to go food shopping and make final arrangements for our canoe trip, so even if I walked to National Park today I'd just have a day to kill there...and it's cheaper to stay here and more likely get a room to myself than at the YHA there, and it's a nice spot here in the trees at the foot of Mt Ruapehu. Plus I could use the day to rest, have a wander round...and catch up on some blog entries! So while Matt began packing up all his gear into his panniers (to be slung either side of his bike) I showered, dressed and wandered off to reception to book another night's stay at the Lodge. Terry wasn't working but a nice girl took my booking and payment. She was obviously new and had some trouble getting the system to work so I half-wondered if I should keep my receipt as proof of payment, but thought 'nah, it'll be alright' and binned it.
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| Outside Whakapapa Holiday Park--not a bad spot |
I had a quick look around the Visitor's Center before joining Lars and Romena at Fergusson's cafe across the road for brunch. We were soon joined by one of the Israeli brothers (I'm sorry I can't remember his name--I'm sure one of the brother's was Avnul, but I can't remember which!); he's suffering from shin splints so whilst the other three are walking out to National Park today he's going to hitch and meet them there. We four sat in the sun swapping stories until everybody had drunk and eaten their fill (my hot chocolate was alright but the spinach and feta filo decidedly average) and then went our separate ways: hitchhiker to the highway, walkers to the trailhead and slacker (me) back to the holiday park.
In the kitchen I tried and failed to get the wireless code I'd been given to work on my phone. In the end I gave up and just sat typing offline and connecting to mobile data to upload when I'd finished a blog entry. There's no computer for guests to use here so I'm still typing out longwinded blog entries on a battered iPhone 4--a tedious process, but I did promise to do it, and if I'm brutally honest, I enjoy writing up. It's fun reliving your adventures and trying to turn them into a string of text that faithfully records what happened in an attempt at an entertaining manner. Whether or not anyone reading this finds it enjoyable (but I know for a fact at least a few of you do--thanks for the feedback guys!) I hope this will all be a good (if verbose) record for me to refer back to in my...ahem...later years...so I can relive my adventures, and no doubt have an amusing snapshot of myself in my late twenties!
While typing I got talking to a late middle-age Canadian couple, Adrian and Maya, who are spending the day planning the next leg of their trip. They come to New Zealand a lot by the sounds of things (and would have moved here if the prospects for retirees hadn't been better back home in Canada), so it's a delicate balance for them to find places they've not been to before and/or wouldn't mind seeing again. They were interesting people to talk to: he's a geophysicist and she's a geoscientist currently doing data management for trace elements in soil. Seeing me tapping away furiously on my phone Adrian was kind enough to lend me the detachable bluetooth keyboard off his tablet when he was finished with it. It took a minute or two to get used to the new configuration but soon I was furiously typing away twice as fast as on my phone. Thank you Adrian!!
I managed to get a few entries done by 6pm when my stomach started growling so I returned the keyboard and went to fetch my dinner. As I made pasta (again) the kitchen began filling up and I got talking to the tall 40-something woman working the hob next to me. Her name was Yettie and she's an environmental scientist from Holland out here exploring New Zealand on a solo car-camping adventure. It turns out she is also a musician so I asked her if she wanted to check out the live piano music at the Chateau down the road with me after dinner. Matt had told me about it last night and said it was worth a look. I had been hoping to go, but couldn't really be bothered now...unless of course someone else wanted to come too. Yettie was keen so after dinner we reconvened outside reception and set off on the short walk down the street to the Chateau.
The Chateau is a large 4-star hotel built in the style of a European castle/country manor that dominates the small skyline of Whakapapa Village and was apparently a gift to the daughter of a wealthy Malaysian family from her parents. Obviously it's a fairly exclusive spot (by NZ standards) but they have a public lounge and bar with live piano music played every night. After briefly stopping at the wrong place, a restaurant built into the side of the building, we went around to the main entrance (up a vehicle ramp) and soon found ourselves in a large lounge area, complete with comfy seats and chandeliers. Near the middle of the room a grey-haired man was tickling the ivories of a shiny grand piano and just happened to be playing 'Memory' from Cats as we walked in. I couldn't resist singing softly to myself as we sank down into armchairs nearby (it was probably going to be the comfiest seat I'd have all trip so I was intent on making the most of it!).
After playing a faithful rendition of the song first the pianist then played a jazz version which was unexpected and very cool indeed. He then moved on to some Beatles ('Hey Jude' and the like--one Asian guy got up and requested 'Let It Be' and stood, one hand on the piano, obviously in raptures as his favourite song sprang forth), before playing some more musical numbers (including 'All I Ask of You' from Phantom of the Opera) and then moving on to popular Christmas songs and carols. Yettie and I knew most of the tunes and sang along quietly to several songs in between sipping our beer and cocktail (respectively). We sang quietly so as not to disturb other patrons, most of whom were dressed at least to the eights (if not the nines). In younger days I'd have been completely intimidated sitting there in my thermal top and cargo pants, and have been far to self-conscious to sing (though I would have sorely wanted to). I reflected that this thru-hike has been wonderful for developing my 'don't give a damn' attitude that enables me to be myself even if people are likely to judge me for it. There's something about walking the length of the country that make you feel entitled to be able to sit and listen (and sing along) to nice music in a swanky lounge even if you're under-dressed and not able to afford anything the place offers besides what's on the drinks and bar snack menu. Having company helps and if Yettie hadn't of been there too I may not have been bold enough to sing along...so I still have some way to go before I become a complete weirdo don't worry (once I get to Bluff perhaps?).
I liked the songs played solely by the piano the best; some were with a pre-recorded backing track and weren't as good, and after an hour or so the pianist took a break. In between sips and songs Yettie and I discussed music (she plays saxophone in a duo called Ladies in Music), and then she asked me the very simple and at the same time infinitely complex to answer question: "So, what's New Zealand like? What's it's situation?". We had nothing but time so I thought about my answer before explaining about a number of the wonderful things there are here (friendly people, beautiful landscapes, laid-back lifestyle etc.), whilst also tempering them with several of the decidedly not-wonderful things (binge drinking culture, generally bad driving, high family violence and child abuse rates, uninspiring politics, overpriced locally grown foodstuffs etc.). I covered the little I knew about recent events included the TPPA and flag referendum, not sparing Yettie my immensely negative opinions about both. Understandably Yettie was interested to know if we have similar immigration problems (crisis) to that currently being experienced by Europe. In short, I answered that no, we absolutely do not...yet. Our relative geographical isolation has spared us up until now (I think), and may do so for a few years yet, but I think anyone of sense will see that something that is only getting steadily worse around the world will eventually have severe ramifications for little ol' NZ [insert startling, ironic but not unreasonable parallel to Hobbiton and the troubles of Middle Earth?]. As more people from underdeveloped or war-ravaged nations, the vast majority of whom simply want to establish a safe and secure living for themselves and their families, see people from other countries living it up with all the mod-cons and, quite understandably, want to have all that themselves and decide to up sticks and move (if they have not already been forcibly displaced), it's only a matter of time before the unresolved conflicts resulting in other areas make NZ a desirable destination despite its isolation. One of the side-effects of globalisation and modern international media: everybody can see just how green the grass is somewhere else. While our news media numbs us to the atrocities occurring elsewhere and we think 'thank goodness it's not us', people in such places must see coverage of political stunts, sports games and pop-concerts and think 'there's a chance for a better life. A life not in danger and fear and uncertainty, but a life where you don't have to fight for basic necessities, and people have time for comparatively frivolous, enjoyable things'...is it any wonder they'd want to chase that chance? Wouldn't we all??
Trouble is, Europe, New Zealand, the world cannot absorb everyone who's going to want (or be forced) to move and resettle elsewhere, and the cultural clashes that are already resulting are going to make it very difficult for both new migrants and the communities that receive them to preserve their own colourful (wonderful!) cultural distinctions without instigating mistrust and fear of each other. It's not a nice thing to say but unfortunately that's just how human beings seem to work. If it were me and it was New Zealand I was having to flee from I'd do so very reluctantly--New Zealand is my home! If a faltering NZ could be restored to something vibrant and functional I'd much rather stay and I'm sure most other people feel the same way about their homelands. Consequently the obvious solution is to help people restabilise their own countries so that they don't feel like they have to leave in the first place...but I don't think bombing the bejeezus out of them is going to do it (quite the reverse!).
Sorry for the tangent; I know this is a blog about hiking Te Araroa which, you might think, should have absolutely nothing to do with issues such as immigration and global politics...but I would argue that it does. One of the wonderfully unexpected things about doing this hike is the variety of people I've met from all over the world. How ignorant and arrogant would it be to share in their adventure exploring our (mostly) lovely little country without stopping to ask about or reflect on where they have come from and the problems they face. This is true whether it's a local hunter concerned about 1080 poisoning local kiwi populations, or someone from Europe experiencing a snowballing immigration crisis. I love how this hike has reintroduced me to (I like to think I'm at least vaguely aware of important things going on around the world...) and got me seriously thinking about important issues both here at home and abroad. It's doing it in a way that is interesting, interactive, and not overly negative (unlike watching the news!), a way that makes you think, having met people directly or indirectly involved or affected, that although it seems tough, individual people are for the most part reasonable human beings and that there might be, there must be, an answer. That gives me hope and it makes me want to help...I don't know how and I don't with what yet, but maybe that's something I'll discover as I go along. I hope so!
After an in depth discussion, a cocktail and a couple of sets of live music Yettie and I set off into the darkness and newly settled mist back to the holiday park. We wished each other safe travels and I went to bed in my dorm room all to myself, brain buzzing...and still quietly singing to myself.
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