New Zealand trip

Most of you can probably skip this entry as I'm sure you have no interest in the New Zealand elections. My next entry will contain international jowling - so you have that to look forward to.

Elections in New Zealand are going to happen on Saturday September 17th. Two nights ago the leaders had a debate, which was actually really fun to watch. If you're only used to American politics then this debate could only be described as bizarre yet refreshing - it was the most interesting debate I've ever watched by far. Two candidates, no scripts and an audience that each candidate had to talk over to be heard. There seemed to be no crowd control as the audience could clearly be heard yelling liar at the candidates as they made various points.

The moderator would pretty much ask a question and then the candidates would take it from there, only interrupted by commercials - often changing subjects on their own. Both candidates actually had to be good on their feet, quick to respond and able to quickly recite the details of their tax packages (over the protests of the audience).

One of the big issues in the campaign is that New Zealand is nuclear free, which the US doesn't like because it means our war ships aren't allowed in New Zealand waters. To protest it, the US won't give New Zealand free trade status, which is obviously a big issue with such a big trading partner. So will New Zealand remain nuclear free? The conservative running (the guy on the right in the picture above) doesn't want it to, the liberal running (the woman on the left int he picture above) wants to keep it nuclear free. I think most of New Zealand wants to keep the ban in place as well.

Also interesting was there were no social issues discussed besides a race issue with the local Maori's... Abortion, gay rights, evolution in schools - apparently not issues in this campaign. Very refreshing to watch such an open debate and maybe the first real debate i've seen.

We decided to give New Zealand skiing another chance and headed to a mountain on the north island this time. With Queenstown being the self proclaimed ski capital of New Zealand, my expectations weren't too high. I actually thought Mount Ruapehu was better than the stuff we had on the South Island though. More trails were open and they were longer and more challenging than the ones we did at Coronet peak. Ruapehu, as i found out afterward is actually an active volcano. The weather could go from beautiful and sunny to the whiteout in the picture below in a matter of minutes. It was a blast, but could be challenging with such fast changing weather.

(click any to make bigger)


The full ski trip group


Ruapehu is an active volcano so there are hot springs nearby. In the middle of winter you can get in this water and it's almost too hot. I put my feet in and couldn't take it.


Monday was spent walking the coast just outside Wellington. It's a little dirt road that wraps around the coast and past a seal colony.


There are probably over 100 seals in the colony and they just sleep all day. I almost tripped over this one and woke him up.

I just ate Mc Donalds and want to ralph. All the sandwiches around here have this thick layer of butter on them, so i decided to give the American restaurant a shot and they've dissapointed me. I'll stick with Subway from now on (which by the way Elizabeth, if you're reading this, smell exactly the same and just as strong as they do in the US - you can be walking by one with their doors open and even if you didn't notice it, you know you just passed a Subway by the smell). The Subways here seem to use real meat - not the gelatenous slices they put on in the US...

Alright, I'm still in Wellington of course. We've found an apartment and we move in on Monday... Still no jobs though. I actually had an interview today with a cafe, but it would be about a 45 minute walk each way... I just need to decide if I want to do that at 7am or wait for another job. I have another interview in about an hour with a temping agency so we'll see how that goes. Our past two weeks have been spent at the Cambridge Hotel and hostel, where about half the people there are staying long term. We've gotten to know a fair amount of the people pretty well and they're all pretty cool... the nightly game of choice has been mafia, shown below. In fact I think we've played that game every night... Great way to get to know people, but I think (hope) we'll be taking a break from it for a while.


The obligatory Wellington city shot. This is from a cable car I took to the top of one of the mountains surrounding the city.


I wasn't sure how this would go over if I posted it, but its a billboard that's been getting a lot of reactions here in Wellington. Hell is actually a pizza place in town and most of their billboards barely mention the pizza.


It made it exactly one day before this addition was made: