Carmen

After all those long New Zealand posts, which may have tired some readers, this one is very brief.

Three days ago I went to the opera - live opera here in Armidale  - performed by Opera New England. I won't go into the story - that's on the web anyway - but just want to say what a pleasure it was to hear Bizet's famous Carmen performed live on stage in front of me. And it was in a town of about 25,000 people a long way from any large city. The orchestra was local, but I have to acknowledge that many of the singers came from other places.

Anyway, the performance was entertaining, electric, well-staged and lighted, fast paced, and generally well sung by a very young cast of performers at the early stage of their careers. I was completely hooked. The auditorium was almost full and the audience was enthusiastic. See http://operanewengland.com/ and click on an excerpt from the performance.

AS

Around New Plymouth

This is my last post for the New Zealand visit, despite visiting the Waitomo glow-worm caves on our return trip to Auckland. However, photography was more or less banned at the caves for obvious reasons.

During Bec's marathon ascent of Taranaki / Egmont we spent relaxing time exploring New Plymouth. But before I get on to that I simply have to show just a few pictures of that great volcano. Incidentally, Japanese and other film producers have shot films with Japanese subject matter using Taranaki as a substitute for Fuji. I love the first image with the snow-capped summit rising above a misty shroud. The second shows two trampers setting off for the climb - but Bec isn't on of them. And the third was taken from one of the trails ascending the mountain a little further up.

Back to town. I Dot and Max spent some time on the beach - walking, playing with some of the abundant drift-wood, and writing Max's name.

Apart from this, we did some necessary shopping, enjoyed lunch, and visited the Tourist information office where Max could experiment with all sorts of computer game - some produced locally. The next day saw us visit a local prize-winning garden, examine local natural history and Maori culture, do some more walking, and - for Bec and me - hire a bike for a coastal ride. Let the pictures tell their own story. Yes, that's the Italian flag flying in the garden!

I wouldn't want to mix with this cousin of Australia's Great White shark in the water! But I might be able to stroke this extinct flightless bird.

As for Kiwis, we never saw one alive - though the secretive bird can be found in the wild if you know where to look.

The coastal ride took across this artistic modern bridge and here I've used it to frame my now favourite mountain - Taranaki / Egmont some 20 km away.

AS

New Plymouth's Festival of Lights

For almost 6 weeks from the 14th December 2014, New Plymouth celebrated its festival of lights in the lovely Pukekura Park. It's a massive area of parkland close to the city centre, with boating and ornamental lakes, lovely gardens - including a Japanese garden, a large nursery and botanical gardens complex, play areas, performance auditoriums, long walking paths and so on. We visited it every day during our visit to New Plymouth, three times in all, and especially at night when the grounds were excitingly illuminated. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

On the first evening, we headed over to the park at dusk and saw the lights become increasingly pronounced as dusk progressed. Here's on the boating lake we could hire illuminated rowing boats to travel the quite extensive waterway. Adjacent to this was a stage on which quite accomplished jazz musicians were playing and we listened for quite a while in the enveloping gloom. The saxophonist was good and reminded of Bill Clinton, at which point I realised that my American grand-daughter, Ella, was unlikely to become the first female President of the US - a title quite likely to fall to Hillary!

After a quick visit to a very nice ice-creamery, we wander the footpaths to view the excellent light displays. Here are a few.

I managed to get Dot, Bec and Max to pose amidst a stream of people crossing this bridge.

And the next morning we were at the park entrance again, but this time just three of us because we had just dropped Bec off to climb Mt Egmont (aka Taranaki) alone. She in fact did the return trip to the top of the cone in 8 hours of very strenuous and scary walking. The last part in particular was exceptionally steep and not well marked.

In daylight we were able to see the nursery / botanical complex under glass and the show was impressive.

Beyond this complex lay the Japanese garden.

Following the footpath down in the previous slide, we came to a large and well-equipped play areas where Max was in his element.

And while Max played under Dot's supervision, I explored some other paths, coming across this lovely little water wheel.

Fast forward a day, and again at dusk we explored the Pukekura's paths yet again ... after suitably equipped with delicious ice-creams. Again there were masses of illuminations we had not previously seen:

And at the northern end of the park we came across a Rock Concert with no less than 4 bands performing - though we only stayed for one them.

And, finally, a stroll back though the illuminated vegetation to our car.

What a lovely place.

AS

Overture to Egmont

As a fan of Ludwig van Beethoven, I've long been familiar with the famous Egmont Overture. And I've long known that New Zealand's - and one of the world's - most perfect volcanoes was also named Egmont. The photo shows the mountain at dusk after we had reached New Plymouth and were heading to Pukekura park, which is the subject of the next post. The 2500 m (8,125 feet) peak is majestic and has a second official name - Taranaki - which is also the region in which New Plymouth is located.

I had always wondered if Captain Cook, who named the peak Egmont was a fan of Beethoven's but the dates don't add up. Cook named the peak on 11 January 1770; Beethoven finished his work in June 1810, some 40 years later. Back, then, to the drawing board. Well, it seems there may be a link. Cooks' benefactor after whom the peak was named, was John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, He, as First Lord of the Admiralty, supported Cook's trip to the South Pacific. Now, Beethoven's work was inspired by one of Goethe's plays based on the life of a 16th century Dutch Nobleman, the Count of Egmont. And guess what! The English Earl of Egmont claimed family ties with the Dutch Egmonts.- something yet to be proved - and unlikely to be proved since the British line is now extinct.

AS

Stratford on Patea

Australia has a Stratford on Avon and so does England, though presumably the latter came first. New Zealand has a Stratford on Patea with the town's name bestowed because the Patea somehow resembles the English Avon, an hypothesis I was unable to test in  my short time there.

Anyway, I'm sure I've seen the guy in the first photo somewhere else.

And have a look at this! It's the only Glockenspiel in NZ for 5 minutes four times a day it comes to life with words and music from Romeo and Juliet.

An olde worlde map of the town, with quasi-Elizabethan toilets nearby!

And here's the piece de resistance: Romeo and Juliet talking on their balcony to some background music whose composer I could not identify. Alas, the glockenspiel is on the main street and a constant string of heavy trucks and buses passes by, their noise somewhat drowning out the performance. The local council should stop the traffic briefly during each performance.

AS

Forgotten World Highway

Travelling from Turangi to our next destination in New Plymouth, our hosts at Creel Lodge recommended taking the Forgotten World Highway - not exactly the fastest way to our destination, but easily the most interesting. In short the scenery is magnificent, although the alignment of the highway and its surface were difficult. Part of the road was unsealed gravel, and we encountered what must have been several hundred bends! Leave this road alone if you are prone to car-sickness!

On the other hand, the scenery amply made up for these difficulties as the pictures show.

Yes, that's Ruapehu in the distance.

Two-thirds of the way down the highway, we came to a remarkable place, Whangamomona. In the past the town had a population of c.3000, but that has dwindled to 300 even though the town is the only largish one for many tens of km. The cause is undoubtedly the place's remoteness and terrain unsuitable for intensive agriculture. But these difficulties inspired locals to take control in an unusual way. They declared independence from New Zealand and set up their own republic. As you can see,
they've just celebrated republic day. I also learned how to get myself on the electoral role for the next presidential election.

Here's Bec sitting on what may be the republic's throne. And the republic earns badly needed income from stamping people's passports - including, please note, mine.

The main building is the pub where we had a nice lunch and which doubles up as the passport office.

The republic's boundary is clearly marked on the road out of town.

And here we are travelling through some more great scenery.

AS