North Island, NZ: Lakes, Rivers and Oceans

In the end I head

North - past lakes, rivers, oceans

Towards my final flight

Since I last wrote, I have returned to the North Island in New Zealand and bid farewell to my traveling companion Hannah (who had to return to find a job, agh!). Spent the last two weeks soaking up all the beauty the North Island has to offer and meeting up with friends for final farewells before my move to Cambodia.

 

I began by heading north from Wellington (the capital of NZ) to Upper Hutt to stay with my friend Libby, who in is in the military (ANZAC - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) at the base there. I immediately ingratiated myself to the locals by getting kicked out of the mess hall for wearing borderline jandals (flip-flops) and a low cut top without a collar. Yes! Making friends and influencing people (a strong suit of mine apparently).

 

ANZAC is an interesting phenomenon. A ranking military in a classless society; Libby explains it as more like a Peace Corps or UN agency than a military, but it still enforces strict hierarchy in the ranks (and no jandals!).

 

The next day, Libby and I headed an hour north to the Carterton/ Masterton area to have dinner with some other friends we met on the course in Auckland. We had a great time eating, trading stories about our shenanigans over the last two months since the course, and collectively celebrating the fact that we it is over. After gorging out on wine, food and shared relief, we parted ways the next morning and I was off for my interview on a local radio station!!! As I’ve said before, I’m kind of a big deal… people know me.

 

A friend of my friend and host Raewyn has a local area radio show and thought it would be fun to get “Jennie from Kentucky” on the broadcast. I’m unsure whether I ever actually live up to the expectations a rockin’ nickname like “Jennie from Kentucky” promises; no Kentucky accent, no hog rearing/ I’m-my-own-grandpa stories and only a very limited knowledge and experience with Kentucky Fried Chicken. However, I hope they got a different flavor of Kentucky as I told about my journeys through the wilds of the South Island, my impending move to Cambodia and even music from my Choir, MUSE (we played a tune from Zimbabwe that we often sing called “Sayitshaya” on air).

 

After many hugs and promises to keep in touch over the years, I was off, again on my own, heading north towards Lake Taupo (the biggest lake in NZ, surrounding by towering, and active, volcanoes).

In Taupo I stayed with a Servas host named Peter. Peter is a retired art teacher and potter who is Dutch, but grew up in Indonesia. Born in the late 1930’s, Peter was imprisoned in a Japanese prison camp during World War II and I found myself tearing up as he explained the experiences of losing his father and suffering starvation, torture and mental abuse during his time in the camp from the ages of 7-10.

 

As we sat and spoke about Peter’s experiences, I thought about my experiences between the ages of 7-10. Granted, I don’t come from the mythically perfect American nuclear family that is so promoted in American folklore, but my childhood was reasonably smooth and uninhibited. I could not even imagine the effect an experience such as this would have on the human spirit and I couldn’t help but think about the Japanese concentration camps America created during the war, and the effects that our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan will have on generations of Iraqi and Afghanistan youth in the future. 

 

I also thought about our actions in bombing Japan in Hiroshima during World War II and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Americans would totally shit a brick if something like that happened on our soil, and then we would mass produce ‘Merican flag stickers and say things like “smoke them out of their holes.”

 

Or would we? Have we changed enough that we would look at it differently? Is our choice in this new administration, however much it provokes partisan divisions, a step towards listening, understanding and empathy, or a band-aid over the massive fiscal and international relations wound our previous administration created?

 

Over the next day, we soaked in the natural hot springs that bubble up from the underground volcanic activity, and visited the geothermal power plant and the rushing Waikato river, originating at Lake Taupo, which hurls itself along and through the areas hydro-electric dams. We even hiked along the edge of the lake to see some Maori stone carvings (probably about 150 years old), that were most likely created prior to the white man’s arrival, as Maori have many spiritual ties to areas around the lake. 

The next day, I was off to visit my friend Raelene, whom I met while teaching in Japan, in Hamilton. We had a great time re-hashing stories about our time in Nihon and trading info about what each of us has been up to the last 5 years. The next day, we headed out to check out the surfers at Raglan beach on the west coast and do some sea kayaking in the estuary there (rough enough, I assure you, for the preternaturally fit likes of us).

 

The next evening amid hugs and more fond farewells, I continued my journey northeast to check out the wild peninsula of the Coromandel (known for lovely beaches, natural beauty and its rough-hewn and spirited populace).

 

As I wound my little rental car through small, one-store towns and past beautiful beaches and natural caves eaten away by the sea, I realized that I was ready to move on. I know I’ll get tons of flack for admitting this, but I was kind of over it. For one, the last seven weeks have been amazing, but I haven’t slept in the same place for more than two nights in almost two months. Also, the existence of a traveler is somewhat single minded: get up, pack, eat, internet, say goodbye, drive, stop somewhere, get somewhere, do something amazing, unpack, eat, sleep. Wake up and repeat.

 

Traveling can also seem inherently selfish at its core. Although I was going to see and do beautiful, once–in-a-lifetime things and stay with friends I love and care about, most of the time I was just trying to make the most of it and meet my own most basic needs, rather than doing anything of lasting value.

 

As I drove through beautiful towns and past all those breathtaking beaches, I felt rather lonely and disconnected from the world, completely irrelevant to anyone but myself in that moment and bored even with that.

 

And so, a few days later, I arrived in Auckland ready to say goodbye to good friends, drop off my car, give away most of my earthly possessions in order to meet the 27 kg (59 pound, ouch!) luggage requirement leaving New Zealand, and make last minute travel plans.

 

I said goodbye and farewell to my lovely friends Kylie and Rachel (whom I also taught with in Japan all those years ago) and my new friend Courtney (with whom I shared a rockin’ evening of Cold Play and NZ nightlife). I also made a most interesting side trip out to Waiheke Island off of Auckland, where my MUSE choir buddy Sarah and her husband Adam are living and teaching. 

And now, sitting in the Bangkok airport, awaiting my flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia, I am ready for the next thing. I’ll be working for the next four months with my friend Daniella (whom I met on the bike ride in Japan in 2004) and her organization PEPY Ride (a sustainable tourism company which builds schools, trains teachers and generally promotes the positive growth of the Kingdom of Cambodia).

 

All I know so far is that I will be helping to build a library for the organization and also helping with some grant writing for related projects. At some point I may help them take a look at the English language curriculum, but I’ll figure that out later. I also get to stay in the same room! For more than 2 nights at a time! A guilty pleasure, but one I am most definitely looking forward to.

 

Cambodia is a most amazing country. Reading my guidebook ravenously on the 12-hour plane ride to Bangkok, I was amazed at what the people of Cambodia have been through. The genocide of the Pol Pot/ Khmer Rouge regime ended only 30 years ago, and Cambodia is a nation in flux. Working hard to rebuild their culture, infrastructure and national psyche, not to mention the tourist industry, is the order of the day. Everyone who has traveled to Cambodia has told me “You will just love it! They are the most amazing people!” I am excited to bear witness to this culture, and all that I may go through, learn about and question in myself and my culture during that process.

 

Now, three months into my journey around the world, I am at once awed and inspired by the ability of the human spirit to provide hospitality, to endure great sorrow and to see many sides of a seemingly simple equation. At the same time, I see the pitfalls that fear and ignorance create. And again, as I have many times in the past, I see the choices before me and before us all – not just to act differently, but also to think differently and in doing so help to change the world.