TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

9:56 AM
Posted by jodi rose

punk rebellion at three

get to the airport way too early saturday morning, and of course plane is delayed by previous flight being late arriving. you would think I'd know by know that the last minute check-in is the best idea, but no. pathologically early. used to arrive at dinner parties at their start time, on the dot, until it was pointed out to me that this was actually terrible manners, and besides which nothing fun would happen for at least an hour. then I went to slovakia and was routinely late, while everyone else got there at the exact time of the invitation.
so, anyway, had a fabulous fun-filled family weekend in wellington, staying with erin, mark, zoe and kathleen. paul, anne, campbell and michelle came over for dinner saturday night, very convivial, laughter and lots of great food, all going well, until..... kathleen climbed up the doorway of the kitchen and announced she had cut shelly's hair. uh-oh, really? not pretend? we all trooped into the bedroom to have a look, and there was michelle, transformed from a 3yr old princess with golden locks to a raggedy urchin with fringed mullet. except for anne being a bit upset, it was very funny. then as erin tried to explain to kathleen that it would best if she didn't cut hair again, as she really hadn't done a very good job, she looked up and said: but she looks like a top model. the hilarious thing was, she did - you could pay $150 for a haircut like that in newtown. I think it's her first punk rebellion, she's going to be a very interesting girl as she grows up.

Next morning, accompanied erin to see uncle jack, who is 81 and lives alone up the hill from karori, and needs regular care visits in addition to the district nurse and meals on wheels. he was in the shower when we arrived, so we retreated to the back yard and admired the cemetery on the next hill, then ventured into the house but unlucky erin had a brief conversation in the hall while he was wearing only a zimmer frame, but managed to convince him to dress before coming into the kitchen. it's sad to see an elderly person become decrepit and lost interest in anything except tv, such a contrast to my grandfather and great-uncle pat (his brothers), jim swam 2km a day at balmoral and was always ready to explore a new restaurant, travelled round australia in a campervan when he retired, went to peru, and loved the company of beautiful women (he was a geography professor - in fact edited the macquarie atlas, so there you go, it's genetic!!). And Pat got up every morning at 4am to milk the cows on the farm in takaka, where I was sent every christmas for many years, only leaving to travel once, but as lively and gruffly affectionate a man as he was all through my childhood. I don't think getting older is any excuse for being lazy or losing interest in the world around you, which only makes you melancholy and self-absorbed. And believe me, I know. It's not necessary either, just met a wonderful man in the corridor at nps, who told me he has a walking stick now, but otherwise sparkly-eyed and very active - the clockmaker who built this house was the man who installed the clock in big ben, and he would get shipped back out to london to do repairs whenever the strike went haywire.

Admired the first two wind sculptures along the bay towards wellington airport, part of a series of eight. One is a huge orange needle, that spins and turns in the wind - echoing the orange wind socks on the runway, but far more elegant and 10 times longer (about 50m). The second is a circle of neon lights, powered by a fan-thing, and as the wind picks up speed, the neon circles light up, going from yellow at the bottom to red at the top - so when you see red, it's a hurricane!
Handed a flyer by a young woman at the railway station in the morning, which I see in the paper today is in direct breach of the court suppression order in a rape case where two policemen who had already been convicted of a previous offence were acquitted in the latest trial (and details/names kept secret) while the woman's past history was admissable as evidence. apparently it's one of new zealand's worst kept secrets, and these men considered themselves immune to prosection - sadly, it seems once again that police really are above the law. similar case in LA where a group of policemen were recently arrested for doing house robberies, dressed in uniform.
Strangely, I often feel outside the law, even though I'm actually doing nothing wrong - except having the temerity to live the way I want do, and being successful at it. Time to stop apologising.
My god, there's a rabbit in the front garden. Woke up this morning to cows out the kitchen window. A striking contrast to redfern. Time now to go meet the anzac bridge I am the inaugural memorial fellow to, which is dwarfed by the new highway and was going to be blown up until kay set up the friends-of organisation to save it.