Canterbury - A Place of Panoramas

For the last ten months I have been immersed in two things - earthquakes and travel guide writing. Both, as it turns out, equally taxing on the body and mind.

I am physically finished with one and emotionally finished with the other. For too long, I have been absorbed by and obsessed with earthquakes and after shocks. My camera is tired of the bleak vistas that Christchurch currently offers. So I am dipping into my photo files to remind myself of the wider beauties of Canterbury - those sprawling golden-green plains that occupy at least 12,000 square kilometers of the province; the spectacular plaited rivers that weave their way from mountains to sea; the tussocky high country with its boulder-strewn foothills and its spiky peaks. It all sounds like such a tourist cliche but it's true - and it's even better in real life. I took these images near Castle Hill, in turn near Porter's Pass in February. That's about 90 minutes or so from Christchurch. I went there to escape the constant after-shocks for a few days. It's a landscape I've always adored and it should have been a perfect retreat - silent, peaceful, remote - yet, like most Christchurch residents these days, I spent most of the time wondering where I would run to if an earthquake struck, which boulders would hold fast, which mountain faces would collapse in an unstoppable torrent of shingle and stones. Five months and many hundreds of after-shocks on (over 8000 since September 2010), it seems a silly self-indulgence and a waste of a perfectly good escape but I suspect if I were to drive up there tomorrow, I would still experience those same thoughts and insecurities. That's the thing about the earthquakes I resent the most - not the obvious destruction, the mess and the physical losses, but the way they have tampered with my own sense of self, my own sense of surety and my normally adventurous spirit. I feel I have grown 'smaller' in the face of this constant shaking and battering, that my urge to move beyond the comforts of home to the unknown and untried is diminished. That bothers me because I want my life to be a panorama, not a vignette. My eldest son from Australia came to Castle Hill too. He knows the meaning of adventure. He knows how to climb mountains - both physically and metaphorically; and as I watched him blithely climbing every rock face in sight while I cowered at the bottom wondering about rock falls, I envied his personal certainty. I know I have that certainty too. It's just been 'smudged and blurred' and tested more times than I can count in the last months. I just have to tease it back out again. I hope it won't take too long. I hope the earthquakes haven't made me less brave, less adventurous. Because there are too many landscapes like these Too many magnificent panoramas yet to explore. I want all the grandeur, all the minutiae the world can throw at me I have always been a person of the land, of Nature. I suppose that's why I feel 'betrayed' by the recent events in Christchurch. Nature no longer seems reliable and dependable. Yet for all that, I think it will be through Nature, through my love of the land, that I will regain my 'larger spirit.' I'm certainly ready for that. "Nature is an excellent sedative. It pacifies, that is, it makes a man carefree. And being carefree is of the essence in this world." Anton Chekhov.

A Note From the Road

As of Monday, I will be travelling the North and South Islands of New Zealand for two months, researching and writing a brand new travel guide, Frommers New Zealand Day by Day 1st Edition. This is going to be a slightly crazy time and I'm not going to have the same amount of time to devote to long posts for this and my other blog, Introducing Maori Lifestyles.

So.......just for a while......my entries may be more photographic than excessively verbal, which may of course, come as a relief to some. So bear with me and I hope you'll enjoy my photographic journey around New Zealand. www.frommers.com

Bird's Eye View

Southshore, New Brighton, Christchurch. Oct. 2009. Ajr

Orange and Blue

Always a striking contrast.

I photographed this guy on Wednesday as he zoomed in low over the stranded whale on New Brighton's Southshore Beach (see whale story below). There's something about the freedom of sails, balloons and parachutes that always sets me to thinking of travel.

Turning on the Lights

Christchurch. September 2009. Ajr

Last weekend I roamed around central Christchurch with a friend for about four hours. It's something we do often, taking in the big and small changes in the cityscape, looking at window dressing design, checking out new products, laughing at billboards and advertising spaces, watching people, looking at artwork, visiting galleries and pausing here and there for coffee and snacks. All this, ostensibly, in the name of exercise. It's a ton of fun and, more often than not, a real education. I don't think nearly enough people roam about their own towns or cities - not with open eyes at least. The multiple layers of visual imagery, the architecture, the quirky surprises that come with people and places - all too often taken for granted and overlooked. I love that 'shining the light in dark corners.' It's how I come to know a place when I travel but just as much, it is how I come to know my own place. Oh....and this cafe? The Contemporary Lounge, upstairs in Ballantynes, where they really do know how to 'shine the light.'

Pining for Victoria

Rural Victoria, Australia. 2008. Ajr

Every year about this time my head and my heart start yearning for Melbourne and rural Victoria. The first glimmer of spring here in Christchurch and I begin thinking about my annual pilgrimage across the ditch to catch up with family and friends. It’s a time to indulge myself in the pleasures of my favourite Australian city; a time to explore, to wander down lanes and backstreets; a time to leap on a tram or a train and rediscover the sprawling suburbs; a time to lounge about in cafes eating too many too-rich cakes and then walking them off with my camera slung over one shoulder. It’s a time to rev up the car and head out into the countryside to discover what lies down the dusty, gum-lined side roads; a time to consider the fabric of the little communities tucked into those potentially volatile gum forests. It’s a time to be dragged out into the perishing heat on long walks with dogs and rock climbers; and most of all it’s a time for me to once again live the divine pleasure that is ‘the discovery of travel.’ I usually set up my ‘base camp’ in the little town of Woodend, about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne (or a very pleasurable one hour commute on the very efficient train system) and I spread out in all directions from there. It’s not far from Hanging Rock - that eerie little spot made famous by the Joan Lindsay novel, “Picnic at Hanging Rock” – (click on Hanging Rock below and you can read all about it), which is where I discovered Hanging Rock Winery on my 2007 visit (that's it in the top left photo). The nice thing about this part of Australia is that it comes with enough similarities to New Zealand to make it feel very comfortable and easy - familiar almost; and enough differences (like all those poisonous things), to keep you on your toes. I love the big cloud-fileld skies and all those incredibly funny linguistic quirks the Aussies have too. Anyway… that’s all I had to say. Just a little Aussie reverie.

The Collectors - 7

My Place, Christchurch. Jan 2009. Ajr

Among the many odd things I collect my Buddha statues and my Buddhist prayer beads are among my favourites. I've gathered them from far and wide in Asia - a little reward perhaps, after I've climbed over 700 stone steps up a mountain to a Japanese temple; an exquisite little treasure bargained for in a Beijing antique market; a serene carving purchased from a remote temple in the South Korean mountains. All have special meaning for me and each one comes with a special set of travel memories.

Unexpected Discoveries

Shepherds Flat, Victoria, Australia. Nov.2008. Ajr

If you've ever wondered where the wood for Australian cricket bats comes from, I can tell you. Not because I'm a cricket fan; simply because I happened upon it last year when I drove out to Hepburn Springs and beyond on one of my wandering forays into the unknown. There's an Italian family here in Shepherds Flat that still grows the willow trees for cricket bat production. You can call in and see their museum, have coffee and find out all about it. www.cricketwillow.com.au

Airport Conversations

Melbourne Airport, Australia. Nov. 2008. Ajr I love airports. They’re a melting pot of human emotions and tensions, bubbling over with people on the move and people waiting. One of my best-ever airport experiences was over twenty years ago when I spent 11 hours waiting at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. Most people would have killed that time in the city. Not me; I waited and watched. It was amazing – one of my travel highlights in fact (Yes, I know, I’m easily pleased). I didn’t have to wait at Melbourne Airport when I arrived here a couple of days ago, but I was delighted that even on a walk-through, some obliging flight attendant quite unwittingly provided me with a great little photo, as she chatted on her mobile phone in front of these quirky welcoming figures.

My New Main Street

Main Street, Woodend, Victoria, Australia. Nov. 2008. Ajr

Or perhaps that should read my new TEMPORARY Main Street - I'm only here for two weeks after all. This cute little commuter town is one hour north of Melbourne and it has a fabulous commuter train service that delivers me in and out of Melbourne like a dream - right into the centre of the city so I can stagger out of my carriage and stumble into a tram and go anywhere I like. It makes the business of being a traveller very easy indeed. And should I want to stay in Woodend, there is plenty to amuse me here - shops galore, pretty walkways and several excellent cafes with lavish stocks of ridiculously fattening cakes! Who could want for more?

Lost in Translation

Upper Riccarton, Christchurch. Oct. 2008. Ajr

I slammed the brakes on yesterday to photograph this crazy little Korean butchery in Upper Riccarton. “Just little bit English,” as they say in India – which is also where I found a Jaipur jewellery store called ‘Gemkins;’ a vehicle parts operation called ‘Mother India Motor Parts;’ and hotels named Hotel Ladle, Hotel Decent, Sweet Dreams Resort and Motel Ringleader. In Japan there was ‘Hotel New York Dream’ – complete with Statue of Liberty on top; and the hairdresser called ‘Cut House You.’ I love these quirky little linguistic adaptations; I actively hunt them out when I’m travelling and luckily for me, they’re rampant throughout Asia.

This Week's Other Billboard

Billboard, Christchurch. Oct. 2008. Ajr

I was instantly drawn to this clever billboard - each letter a road with cars - advertising Mercedes Benz. Lose Yourself is my core philosophy when it comes to travel and adventures. It would be lovely to have a Mercedes Benz to do that in of course but from my experience, it's entirely unnecessary. For me there is a special magic in climbing aboard a tram, a bus, a train bound for who knows where; or in walking, or getting into your car and turning down random, unknown roads and streets, just to see what's there. Sometimes there's nothing of interest. Other times - especially in foreign countries - it is the way to discover the reality of a place. As long as you know the name of your hotel and you have the money for a cab fare, there's always a way back to familiar turf. And when I can't go overseas, I do exactly the same thing in my own city and every week I discover something new. That's what travel should be about.

Do You Look Like Your Passport Photo?

Dunedin Airport, August 2008. Ajr

I remember reading once that if you do actually look like your passport photo, you probably need the journey. I thought of that yesterday when I sat in - of all places - Dunedin Airport, waiting for my flight home to Christchurch. The thought was prompted by bad weather and a bright, lime green Air New Zealand plane emblazoned with ‘holidays’ sitting on the tarmac outside in the pouring rain. It’s fair to say that Dunedin Airport isn’t exactly a pulsating international travel hub at the best of times; in mid-winter there are ‘empty’ terminals and hints of no-man’s-land…..which is probably why I was thinking of escaping. That said, I only ever need a tiny whiff of engine fuel to start me thinking of packed bags and passport scanning.

Roll on October and the enticements of Melbourne I say!

On a Bus Going Somewhere

North Canterbury. SH1. 2007. Ajr.

Have you ever been caught behind a slow vehicle - unable to overtake - and allowed your mind to wander to its occupants? Who they might be? Where they've been? Where they might be going? And, in this case, why they chose to do so in a wonky old bus? Half the fun of any sort of travel for me, lies in in the unexpected, the unknown and the people you meet on the roads to somewhere. The other half lies in making up my own stories as I go.

Nothing new in that of course.

I'm a journalist after all.

:-)

Meet the People - 18

Top:Skiing in Wanaka. Bottom: Finding a playmate in the Galapagos Islands. Images Supplied.

Another in the series Meet the People – Ordinary and Extraordinary New Zealanders Doing Interesting Things – Brian Savage and Colleen Ryan of Queenstown’s Remarkables Lodge know a thing or two about the adventurous life of the inveterate traveller. They quit their fast-paced working lives in London in their forties – their only plan: to have no plan at all. They set off in their yacht in 1994 and spent the next decade circumnavigating the world, sailing across the Atlantic (twice), the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, the Red Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Having seen so much of the world, they had the rare opportunity of standing back and deciding where they would ideally like to live. They chose Queenstown. “It had an unbeatable combination of assets and a climate we enjoyed; and given the fact that we ski and we sail, it made sense to be near lakes and mountains. And ten years on the open ocean and in remote anchorages gives you a taste for tranquillity and privacy which cities do not deliver.” After all those years travelling, running a retreat for travellers made perfect sense. “Every visitor has a story to tell and in the last year alone, our guests have included a lady astronaut, an Oscar winner, an Olympic gold medallist and someone who has climbed Everest (twice). There’s an energy and a vitality here in Queenstown that we love too. Yes, it’s beautiful, yes it has spirit but Queenstown also believes in itself and we like that.” www.remarkables.co.nz

On Journeys

Dunedin.2007. Ajr

The best journeys are not necessarily the longest, the most testing or the most expensive. For me, a short journey across town can be as exciting and enlightening as any marathon event that takes me to the northern hemisphere. And, as this sign suggests, it’s not just about the destination – it’s about taking ourselves out of our comfort zones; it’s about leaving yourself open to challenge, discovery and discomfort; it’s about opening our eyes and really seeing.

Come Out and Play

I’m a big Paul Theroux fan. I especially like these words of his: “True travel is launching oneself into the unknown. There is no excuse for it, except that one offers oneself in the spirit of excitement. To me one of the most compelling trips holds the prospect of the unknown near home.” It was in this spirit that Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism rolled out the red carpet in The Square this morning to encourage locals to discover their own city. Along with Maori performances and displays by Canterbury tourism operators, The Square was filled with kids, visitors, assorted ‘human’ animals, the obligatory stuffed kiwi, local dignitaries,’ flower costumes and a whole lot of warm autumn sunshine. Come Out and Play is a terrific initiative. Let’s hope the idea catches on because I for one, never cease to find exciting previously undiscovered corners in my own patch. It’s a fallacy that you have to leap aboard a plane to have travel adventures – excitement is as close as the other side of town. You only have to look.

Nude Flights Anyone?

Here's a novel idea - nude flights. An East German travel agency has unveiled what is believed to be the world's first nude airline. The flight is to be part of a summer day trip, which flies from the East German city of Erfurt to a popular Baltic Sea resort. Passengers can strip off on board but will have to get dressed before disembarking.

Waste Not, Want Not

Here’s a travel opportunity adventure freaks won’t want to miss – a guided tour along the Golan Heights Sewage System in Israeli Occupied Territories - and you thought you’d seen everything. It seems the Golan Regional Council has decided the region’s drainage system can potentially become a bonafide tourist attraction. I received the press release this afternoon. I don’t think I’ll be signing up any time soon – despite promises of innovative sewage processes, an insight into the production of electricity from cow dung and the use of purified sewage water to irrigate the area’s fields.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I was a little hesitant about the overt self-promotion inherent in mentioning the latest 5th edition of Frommers New Zealand but as a friend commented, the guide is such a major part of my life it would be odd not to mention it here. Certainly, receiving my pristine new copies in the post is always an event laced with disbelief, satisfaction, wonderment and relief – relief and amazement that I have somehow achieved such a massive task again. In conversation with another Frommers’ writer recently - American-based Bill Goodwin, author of at least three Frommers guides (the man deserves a medal) – it was heartening to know that I’m not the only one to look upon my travel guide life with a degree of astonishment – the endless hours of travel, the constant bombardment of people, the endless eating and hotel-hopping followed immediately by the total opposite: months of total seclusion and removal from ‘real life’ as you write and write and write and wade through a mind-boggling array of facts and figures - all 532 pages of them (this year for the first time, complete with a photographic section) to meet what always seems like an impossible deadline. Sometimes I think it is a wonder I emerge sane. Perhaps I haven’t. http://www.frommers.com/

On Travel

I had an interesting discussion about travel yesterday with an American visitor to New Zealand - why we do it, what we get from it, what challenges us and to what degree in fact, the average traveller even welcomes any degree of challenge. Travel of course, is different things to different people. It can be motivated by anything from pure escapism to self-discovery and education to something that resembles 'another acquisition' - the ability to be able to come home and say you've been to Rome, Paris or London in much the same way you might tick off the purchase of prime real estate, a luxury car or designer labels. I like hearing the stories of travellers who have thrown themselves unwittingly into the unknown; travellers who have extended themselves and who have made their way, surviving on their wits and spontaneous responses to unforeseen circumstances, to the unpredictable and the unplanned. That's the way to do it. Not for me the endless comforts, the group outings, the soft-seated bus tours or the 'safe' restaurants. I want travel to teach me things about myself I didn't know and didn't know I was capable of. I want travel to expand my horizons, to force me to make contact with others who don't speak the same language and I want it to leave me exhausted, over-stimulated and begging for more. Why else would you bother?