Saturday, 2/23/2008 Potential Newspaper Headline

in NJ in April when Hepner returns. “Rain follows NJ man as he travels the Southern Hemisphere. Amazing that he didn’t drown.”

What do you do when it rains and you’re willing to wait on line? You put on a pancho and aim for the closest museum or the closest hill. The Auckland Museum is closer to the B&B than the volcanic hill. The history of the people of all the South Western islands north of New Zwaland was revealed in its artifacts: from the peoples’ crafts to their means of survival, food production, and defense mechanisms. The the Maroii people had a show sharing their language and customs through song and dance. Although the museum building is no architectural phenomenon, the ‘domain’, park, it’s on is green and large. Cities in Australia and NZ evidently have opened space for spacious parks. That’s so people friendly.

Friday, 2/22/2008 Tree cutting

There is a park nearby called One Tree Hill. There had been an immense old tree on this sheep laden undulated mountain for hundreds of years. Last year, wandals cut the tree down. None is being replanted because the community council has not been albe to agree on what find of tree should replace the old standby.  The walk to, around, and up the park and hill was a welcome departure from a lot of sitting. Seeing all of Auckland in spite of the mist made the climb worthwhile. (The tree cutting reminded me of a more important faux pas the Icelandic people made when they first discovered Iceland about a thousand years ago. They needed homes and fuel so proceeded to cut all the trees down. Those actions are regrettable to this day. It changed the ecology of that island so much that many died and for a while the island became uninhabitable.)  Another more important issue that came to mind was the table’s shape that was argued about during negotiations to end the Vietnam War.

Wednesday, 2/20/08 some rest but not from Bolero

I took care of some business; sent some relatives some souvenirs again so I wouldn’t have to shlep the stuff. There’s no point buying inexpensive stuff; shipping it costs more than the stuff. It probably would feel better if I tried to buy expensive souvenirs; then I wouldn’t buy them and it would cost nothing to ship. Boy, you can take him outta the Bronx, but you can’t…

I went to the Australian museum without checking what was playing. Skeletons of Kangaroos and the history of Kangaroos in Australia. But they also had a film of the danger the apes are faced with in Africa. Well done by the BBC. Some valiant efforts being made by too few people. They almost seem to be endangered. There’s speculation that some breeds might have no place to live within twenty years with some of the deforestation going on. An interesting display of minerals in Australia. Beautiful colors, and an example of the largest gold nugget in these here parts. I couldn’t afford it so I took a picture.

Since I had unexpected extra time before going to the Opera House to see Bolero, I elected to walk to yet another Harbour. I should have known that without a relief map I’d wind up having to walk forever and uphill. I was so exhausted by 6pm that I stopped for a beer at a pub. Being a novice at this, I don’t quite know how one saves an outside table for oneself and go inside and get a beer. My knapsack had all my valuables, so I couldn’t risk leaving it on the chair I wanted to save, and it was so lovely out. I ran in. I run quickly even when I’m tired. But by the time I got the beer: thirty seconds, four people had jumped on the seats. Oh! That’s how, go with someone else.

After a steak dinner, which I needed to get some strength back, I went to the concert. Bolero was played magnificently. A bit brassier than I would have liked, but the tempo and the final emotional outburst were excellent. What a good way to complete an all too short stay in Australia.

Thursday, 2/21/08 Booking flights – Hello New Zealand

king gratutious comments about women, people of color and quotations on rides. My ride to the B&B in Ellerslie was to have cost $25; it became $28, then $29, and wound up costing $32.

Ellerslie is just west of Auckland . My house should only be as clean, comfortable and come with such a nice breakfast as this B&B comes.

Tuesday, 2/19/08 Max’s birhdate- “No Worrie”

Still fighting the cold so I just hung out and took care of finding some places to stay at in Santiago, Patagonia and Buenos Aries. By afternoon, I was restless so I headed up the coast due north for a ninety minte bus ride to of all places Palm Beach.

When I got off the subway to find this special bus, I asked an attendant where to find the bus;he and three other bus people sent me to three different places. Everytime I thanked them vigorously as the day was slowly disappearing; each time they said, “No Worries.” You see, that’s how Australians, for the most part, say you’re welcome. Each time I worried more; of course they had no worries.

Of the 21 million Australians, sixty percent live on the East Coast. One town filtered right into the next. I wasn’t until Palm VBeach that it became less dense. One seashore city followed another. It could easily have been an American coast line. But Palm Beach gold Club was the entrance to the mountain. I climbed to reach a beautiful light house 350′ up that permitted one to view the ocean and the bay that bordered the peninsula I’d walked on to reach the rocky steps. Although I struggled a bit climbing those uneven rocks, I felst I’d doen well until ten steps from the tops when I thought I heard running footsteps behind me. I t humbled me as I let that not-so-young-man pass me by. “Thank yo,” said he; “no worries,” said I.

Monday, 2/18/08 Back to Sydney

The flight to Sydney took one hour twenty minutes; the shuttle connection to the hostel took two hours. The walk to the Sydney Harbour Bridge helped the pins and needles I’d accumulated sitting forever.
I saw a David Hare play “The Vertical Hour,” principally about individuals’ responsibility when governments make decisions, which has been his theme since Vietnam. Poor acting didn’t help, but the message needs repeating since we’re in Iraq and hardly said “boo” for six years. I got tickets for a Ravel concert at the Opera House that to my surprise will include one of my favorite pieces, “Bolero.” That will be my final evening in Australia.

Meanwhile I discovered that the Harbour Bridge has a starcase that one can climb on to reach the top of the metal truss that frames the bridge one thousand feet up (I think it said 300 meters). It’s only $179 and three and a half hours of walking. Lets see if I have the economic and acrophobic courage to do it.

Sunday, 2/17/08 Dog Day Morning; is it euphoria

I had to do something to get rid of my unwelcomed cold, so I hung out in the Southern section of Melbourne. That means the Jewish section and StKilda beach. The esplanade had many booths of crafts done by individual artisans. The beach seem well maintaind\ed and I’d worn my uncomfortable bathing suit underneath hoping to rest on the beach, but it was so hot that I had to stop and rest several times before I got there. I decide that even my special sun-protective clothing wan’t enough to ward off the sun, so I just rested for a bit and continued on until I stumbled on the Melbourne Jewish Museum, nowhere near as charming as Sydney’s but friendlier. I must have looked a sight,, for the museum receptionist insisted on driving me to the deli. “You have no idea how hot it is, ” she explained. It would have been rude to refuse.

I was having a kosher hot dog, pastrami, salami withdrawal symptom, so I bought 250mg of ‘wursht’ that looked like salami, spinach garlick dip, and humus. I loved m private dinner but it must have been naussea that ensued, not euphoria. 

Sunday, 2/17/08 Hot Sunday, Is it euphoria

I had to do something to get rid of my unwelcomed cold, so I hung out in the Southern section of Melbgourne. That means the Jewish section and StKilda beach. The esplanade had many booths of crafts done by individual artisans. The beach seemed well maintained and I’d worn my uncomfortable bathing suit underneath hoping to rest on the beach, but it was so hot that I had to stop and rest several times before I got there. I decided that even my special sun-protection clothing wasn’t enought to ward off the sun, so I just rested for a bit and continued on until I stumbled on the Melbourne Jewish Museum, no where near as charming as Sydney’s but friendlier.

I must have been a sight, for the museum receptionist insisted on driving me to the kosher deli. “You have no idea how hot it is,” se insisted. It would have been rude to refuse.

I was having a kosher hot dog, pastrami, salami withdrawal symptoms, so I bought 250mg of “wurst” that looked like salami, spinach garlick dip, and humus. I loved my private dinner but it must have been nausea that took over, not euphoria.

Saturday, 4/16/08- “You can’t go home again!” He always wars white but I can’t remember who I’m quoting.

I went to meet Oscar at his “flat” for most of the day and later to meet his wife, who’d made dinner for us. I’ve forgotten most of the people I knew in Belgium 58 years ago, but somehow I always remembered how sad I was that Oscar moved to Melbourne. I also remembered that I was annoyed all these years that he’d promised to write and never had. Well, I had the right name, I had the right person, but he left Belgium in 1952 and I left in 1950. Guess who didn’t write?

Although I remembered knowing him and he vaguely remembered black-haired-Albert from Anderlect ( before I became this sultry silver-haired beauty, I was always a blond; I wouldn’t have had it any other way) it might as well have been two total strangers meeting. Through the day, as we shared ideas, values, and experiences, I was able to guess which characteristics must fave been prevalent for me to have liked him well enough to remember his name all this time.

It was both an awkward and metacognitively strange day, It was the kind of day I’d never want to repeat but that I wouldn’t want to have missed for the world. (That’s all I’m going to say in this public blog on this.)

I hadn’t specifically thought that in all my travels I wouldn’t see apartments, except when I start using B & B’s, but I did get a sense of middle class ‘flats’ in Melbourne, which are not much different from the ones in the States.  I often feel a bit empty when I leave a country and realize that I was never in anyone’s home. Can I really make a judgement about the people without experiencing their immediate, chosen environment.

This was a memorable day for me!

Friday, 4/15/08 Midnight in a closet

I’d thought I wouldn’t write anything about Friday because it’s better not to remember useless and inevitable pain but realized when I’d rerad my journal, I’d think I’f vanished on 4/15.

I called Oscar, who asked we meet Saturday instead. So to make use of the new-found-free-time, I called the airline to change my itinrerary. From NJ in August, I wasn’t able to get a flight from Auckland direct to Santiago. I settled for Auchland-L.A. (Yes Cal.)-Buenos Aires, which is roughly 32 hours of flying in a 37 hour period.  bullet through the brain is likely less painful! (It brought to mind a Pan American 747 pilot that used to be a customer of mine whn I was in the tool Business and was young enough to think how glamorous and romantic his life must have been. He’d visit my tool store between round trip flights , JFK to Bombay, to buy cutting tools for his side-line gunsmith shop. I told him how envious I was of his romantic flying adventures. “What’s romantic,” he asked and proceeded to describe the non-stop 10-12 horu legs. “Pretend you’re in a dark closet in the middle of the night, sitting on a chair, with a vacuum cleaner roaring endlessly, and every few hours the closed door opens and a flight attendant hands you a tepid cup of coffee to make sure you’re still awake. That’s what flying  747 is like.” I dropped ‘romantic’ from my flying vocabulary then.)

After 80 minutes of waiting on the phone and gettind disconnected, I got a more reasonale schedule, Auckland-Tahiti-Santiago, where I’ll recover , go to Patagonia and then on to Buneos Aires.

I rejoiced by walking through some of the Roal Botanical Gardens, the massive Shrine of Remembrance, a huge monument to the people who’d served in all the Austalian campaigns. I’d never realized in how many skirmishes and wars Australia has participated. How unfortunate; I wonder if it says something about the Australian people. Then again I don’t like war.

A wonderful Malaysian dinner and an expensive play, which was so bad I left during intermission. I called Amy because I finally figured out that midnight in Melbourne would be 8am the previous day in NY. Now I see why I shouldn’t have written about Friday.