Auckland and the Bay of Plenty
Sunday February 26, 2023
I can't believe it's been three months since I left Toronto. Working remotely makes it feel like the days go by so quickly, and there's been so many things to do and so many people to see that it really feels like I've maximised my time in New Zealand. Of course, there's been a few interruptions - namely some devastating floods and a severe cyclone tearing through the North Island - but on the whole, I kinda prefer that to -20C weather.
I left Wellington and returned to Auckland in time for Chinese New Year. Though my sister and stepmum weren't back, I was able to spend the day with dad, going for a short hike on the Upper Nihotupu Reservoir track in the Waitakere Ranges before checking out Arataki Visitor's Centre and The Olive Kitchen for lunch. No one was more excited to see me than Sam, my sister's cat, who was meowing loudly at 2am because he'd been starved of attention the previous fortnight.
The following weekend we celebrated dad and my nephew's birthdays with a quiet meal at my sister's place, though the torrential rain was already in full force that day. We drove through four rivers on the road to get to her house, we didn't realise how bad it was in other parts of Auckland. I've never seen it this bad before and it's really a wake up call that we should be taking more action against climate change. I continued to catch up with heaps of people over February - too many to list - but there was always good company and good food. I managed to squeeze in a bit of karaoke as well!
I did a road trip with my parents to the Bay of Plenty. That was really fortunate because we were originally planning to go to Napier, since I'd never been, but accommodation was super expensive that weekend due to Art Deco, and it's not really my scene, so we chose to go to Tauranga and Whakatane instead. The weekend before we were supposed to go was when Cyclone Gabriella hit the North Island, causing widespread flooding and damage to the Hawke's Bay. Thankfully the Bay of Plenty was spared heavy damage, and by the time we got there, the sun was out in full force so I could work on my tan. On the Saturday, we drove down towards Rotorua, stopping in Tirau for lunch. We did the Redwoods Canopy walk and visited the Blue and Green Lakes before heading to Whakatane and Ohope where we checked into our Airbnb, right by the beach. On Sunday, we visited the Farmers' Market and walked along the mouth of the Whakatane River. Dad and I wanted to go kayaking so we left my stepmum in town to wander around the shops, but we found out that there weren't any kayaks available, so we went to the Kohi Point Lookout and walked to the edge of the ridge for a spectacular view of Moutohora/Whale Island and Whakaari/White Island. As I understand it, White Island remains closed to all visitors after the fatal tour a few years ago, and even when we were visiting, plumes of steam could be seen rising from the island.
On Monday, we drove to Tauranga, stopping by Te Puke and Kaiate Falls along the way. Though the road to get there was pretty rough, the falls were pretty spectacular and worth the drive. Part of the trail had been washed away due to the cyclone damage, but thankfully enough of it remained for us to walk around. We stopped by Patrick's Pies when we got to Tauranga, who have multiple awards and have been New Zealand's pie winners for several years, and I caught up Andrew and Richard and their families in the evening. On Tuesday, we climbed the Mount - no easy feat for my parents - and then headed back to Auckland.
I've honestly enjoyed my time here immensely. It really did feel too short, and I'm not ready to go back to freezing temperatures quite yet. My next leg of the journey is to Atlanta via Houston, for a work conference, and then back to The Six on Thursday.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:21pm on Sunday February 26, 2023 :: 0 comments :: 
Costa Brava 2
Saturday January 1, 2022
Yesterday (New Year’s Eve) was a gloriously sunny day again, so we went to Calella de Palafrugell, yet another beautiful coastal town with magnificent clear aquamarine waters. It was decently busy with beach goers but we stuck to the coastal walk for the most part. The path used to be a patrol route in the times that they had to look out for marauding pirates but now it’s used by tourists to hike from one town to another. From the path you can see the full glory of the green hillside dotted with white houses with orange roofs.
For lunch, we headed to Doskiwis Brewery, owned by a couple of Kiwis. This was a recommendation by the New Zealanders I met in my last blog post, and both Marc and I were very impressed by the casual atmosphere of the outdoor dining area, as well as the quality of the food and drink. I had a good yarn with Mike, the owner, who was cooking, as well as his wife, who was inside handling the drinks.
We knew the restaurants would be closed over New Year’s so we stocked up at the supermarket and started driving to Far Sant Sebastia, one of Catalonia’s best sunset spots. However, after passing through Pal, we noticed a massive cloud coming in from the coast, shrouding the entire area in dark fog. We quickly reevaluated and turned around, heading north back to L’Estartit where the fog hadn’t reached. We managed to find a small park on the hillside leading up to Castell del Montgri to watch the final sunset of 2021.
After cooking dinner, we watched the festivities around the world and start preparing our own. The Spanish have a tradition where you eat a grape every second for 12 seconds to welcome in the New Year. Each grape gives you good luck for each month of the coming year, and it’s a hugely popular practice for all Spaniards wherever they are celebrating in the world, and this is even a tradition that my Mexican friend practices too! There’s a very particular way it’s presented on television, so I was sure to follow the instructions carefully, lest 2022 be another year of awfulness. We finished the night with some Catalonian sparkling wine, cava!
2021 for the most part has been mediocre. It’s had its highs and lows, and the fact that we still haven’t really beaten COVID19 is worrying. I’ve been quite anxious about the state of the pandemic but thankful that Canada’s rollout of the vaccine and the subsequent booster was swift, even if it was horribly disorganised and chaotic. The chance to travel to Europe, as well as Banff and Jasper earlier in the year, has been a huge boost to my mental health and general outlook on life, despite the complications of doing so. I’m hoping to go back to New Zealand to visit my family sometime this year, it’s been too long, and every expat I’ve talked to has lamented the managed quarantine rules that the country put into place. If not New Zealand, then hopefully Malaysia to see my relatives there. It’s too difficult to plan so far in advance though, so we’ll just have to see how this pandemic works out.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:43am on Saturday January 1, 2022 :: 0 comments ::
Costa Brava 1
Friday December 31, 2021
Marc picked me up from Barcelona airport and we had lunch down by La Barceloneta before heading out to Girona and Costa Brava. Girona has a really cool aesthetic with these narrow streets down by the river, and the Christmas lights are still decorating every alley and bridge that crosses the river. We walked around the walls of the cathedral and castle before heading to the shopping district where I bought some of the local specialities, and then we had dinner at the proper Spanish time of 10pm. After dinner, we headed to Marc’s holiday apartment in L’Estartit.
We had a late start the next day just to keep things casual. As we were grabbing breakfast, I was shocked to see a window with a New Zealand flag and a silver fern flag being proudly displayed, especially since it feels like we’re quite far away from a major city. I had to find out why. I gathered all my courage and broke through my internalised introvert programming and knocked on the door. A man answered with a very confused face and I asked why there was a New Zealand flag in the window, and his whole expression changed to a beaming smile as he said “because I’m a New Zealander!” We proceeded to have a yarn about New Zealand for 15 minutes, it was awesome just hearing another Kiwi accent, and really sweet to be able to talk naturally after so long. Turns out him and his wife moved from the UK about a year ago because of Brexit and now live and work in Costa Brava, and they’re friends with another Kiwi who runs a brewery down the road.
We drove to Cadaques and wandered around the coastline before heading over to Salvador Dali’s house in the evening. The scenery is absolutely beautiful in that area, and as the sun set, the clouds turned a stunning golden orange and pink colour that reflected in the water.
On the way to dinner, we stopped by some old Romanesque fortifications and then an old town called Monells with an empty town square that had a “tio” log, and ended up in La Bisbal for an excellent meal.
Today we were up early to go to Begur, slightly to the south, to take advantage of the glorious warm weather and see the intense blue colours of the Mediterranean Sea against the coast of Catalonia. From Begur we went to El Port de la Selva, and then up the hillside to an old monastery from the 8th century called Sant Pere de Rodes. It was honestly the most spectacular view I’ve ever seen on the Iberian peninsula, it was a full panoramic scene to both the north and the south, where the Pyrenees meet the sea.
Since we were so far north, we decided to hop over to Perpignan in France, a mere hour’s drive away. The city is small but festive with all the Christmas lights still on display. What’s interesting is that the signs are in both French and Catalan. We got some “maxi beignets” filled with Nutella and headed back to Catalonia for dinner. We ended up in Figueres, where the Salvador Dali museum is, and opted for a nice meal close by as well.
It’s been a busy couple of days but the scenery has blown me away. 2022 is fast approaching and I’m honestly so glad to be here, wearing a tank top and getting a sun tan, instead of being miserable at home and in -10C weather.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:08am on Friday December 31, 2021 :: 0 comments ::
Kia Kaha
Monday March 18, 2019
It's hard to articulate what I've been thinking about over the weekend. Much has happened in New Zealand; three days later, the country still grieves for the 50 lives lost in a senseless shooting at two mosques in Christchurch. My heart aches for the loss of these innocent lives in my homeland, especially since the city is still suffering 8 years after a devastating earthquake. I'm angry, I'm shocked and I'm full of sadness, despite being 14,000kms away. Whatever belief there was of safety is gone; we are no longer innocent to violence of this magnitude. The history of the country has changed forever. The road to recovery will take a long time; mental scars may never heal.
Our prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, spoke powerful words.
We were not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate. We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we're an enclave for extremism, we were chosen for the very fact that we are none of these things, because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those that share our values, a refuge for those who need it. And those values, I can assure you, will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.
We are a proud nation of more than 200 ethnicities, 160 languages, and amongst that diversity we share common values. And the one that we place currency on right now is our compassion and the support for the community of those directly affected by this tragedy and secondly, the strongest possible condemnation of the ideology of the people that did this.
From this darkness, we can see the true spirit of New Zealand. The outpouring of solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters after the attack, the vigils held in the major city centers, the fundraising pages, the hakas, the placards saying "aroha" and "kia kaha" - it is these images that make me proud to call myself a Kiwi.
I spent the weekend in my friend's cottage in Muskoka. It was good to get out of the city and see the beautiful white landscapes; it's still very much winter up there, despite the temperatures in Toronto rising above 0 degrees. It was a time of self-reflection and a wake-up call on what I should be doing with my life, yet I wonder if I came away with more questions than I went in with.
The past few months have gone by faster than I expected. I felt more alone in last year's winter, but this year I had lots to look forward to and I was more equipped to handle the cold. Instead of fully hibernating for three months, there's been many things to do: I went to the Toronto Light Fest in the Distillery District, we walked around Tommy Thompson Park and learned about the wildlife (and even saw two coyotes!), we chased after some frozen waterfalls in Hamilton and Niagara, and toured a maple syrup farm. I watched the super total lunar eclipse of January 2019, despite it being negative temperatures. There was karaoke and badminton and piano as well.
There has been plenty to eat too, the UbiTO foodie group went to Filipino Kamayan Feast specialist Tinuno, and the badminton crew had three buffets in the space of two weeks. I went for dinners around Chinese New Year and had hot pot and pot luck.
There's lots to look forward to over the next few months as well. I'll be off to the US for a friend's wedding near Atlanta next month. We're planning to go to Quebec City for Canada Day, and to Peru in August. Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory are also on the cards. But by far the most exciting event will be the E3 reveal of our game, and the subsequent release sometime during the year.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:57am on Monday March 18, 2019 :: 0 comments ::
Back Home
Tuesday May 17, 2011
My bottle of Malibu cost NZ$39.50 at Auckland International Airport, compared with US$19.00 at SFO. I think there's a restriction on all carry-on luggage stating no liquids over 100mL can be taken about outbound US planes, so I was advised (quite rudely, actually) by the guy at SFO DFS not to buy it. Oh well... :(
Anyway, I'm back home in Wellington, enjoying the 50km/h winds, using my EFTPOS card, driving on the left side of the road and looking right then left when crossing the road. I just need to sort out my sleeping habits and it'll be like I never left the country.
Work tomorrow.
Photos from Easter and San Francisco are now available.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:09am on Tuesday May 17, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
The Air of Change
Saturday November 8, 2008
As history unfolded three days ago as America watched its first African-American President be elected, so too the winds of change have swept over New Zealand as John Key, leader of the National Party, becomes our Prime Minister-elect. Gracious in defeat was Helen Clark, who highlighted the good nine years of Labour government, and announced her resignation as leader.
But I must say.
The changes don't stop there. We are watching the face of New Zealand politics change like never before, as New Zealand First fail to meet the 5% party vote threshold, and both Winston Peters and Ron Mark fail to win their electorate seats, sealing the fate of the party as it no longer has any seats in Parliament.
I can say only one thing.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:29am on Saturday November 8, 2008 :: 2 comments ::
Epic Olympics
Sunday August 17, 2008
I was up until 2.30am last night, watching Valarie Vili shotput her way to New Zealand's second gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with a mammoth 20.56m throw. I also watched as the Evers-Swindell twins beat out their competitors by 1/100th of a second to grab New Zealand's first gold of the games. The tension waiting for the final result after the photo finish - just epic.
We also watched Mahe Drysdale, Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater achieve their bronzes, as well as Hayden Roulston's silver medal race. Awesome effort from all four guys.
Congratulations to all our medal winners on day eight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics - you've done the country proud.
And if that wasn't enough, I woke up to the news of the All Blacks owning South Africa 19 - 0 in the rugby - huge congratulations to them as well.
Pretty eventful Sunday as well - piano at church this morning, yum char with Laura and her friends at Grand Century and swimming at the Aquatics Center in Hataitai. Wooooo, physical exercise. Yay me.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:26am on Sunday August 17, 2008 :: 0 comments ::