A few short notes on ANZ.

As I transited in Addis Ababa beginning a new journey, jotted down a few light thoughts on our New Zealand trip. I am no stranger to these countries - I have been here on various occasions with my family. But even if i was revisiting places that have welcomed my footsteps previously, a journey always brings new light and inspirations to the traveler. This was especially so for one who has just crossed the big 3 mark in life, and relatively newly married.

1. Toilets: Zlavoj Zizek famously theorized the relationship between toilets and ideology, citing differences between how French, German and American toilets are designed and thereby reflecting complex ideologies at work. I was reminded of this as NZ and Aussie toilets made an impression on me. Upon flushing, toilets there had a strong continuous splash from the front toward the back for a good few seconds, like a waterfall, followed by a swirl whose power is relatively dwarfed. The front waterfall is so strong which at times even splashes water droplets out of the toilet bowl. Before the flush, excrement floats and is clearly visible. In comparison, Singaporean and Indonesian toilets that I later observed have water coming down all sides of the bowl with a much more gentle front to back waterfall and a gentle whirlpool. If this were to mean anything, it perhaps represents a certain loud thoroughness, a willingness to confront an issue upfront, and apply force to flush it right down. Perhaps this mirrors the many homages paid to early European settlers combating the harshness of the country when they first settled. Subtlety is not invited - things are to be explicit.

2. Tandem Skydiving: a game of thrill, with timing and luck as main ingredients. Interesting to find that New Zealand was the birthplace of tandem skydiving and bungee jumping. Knowing that adds deeper meaning to it - what better than to practicing something in its origin country? Luck is a big factor - we went up land landed twice before making a successful jump on the third flight, because the clouds were too thick and the tandem masters couldn't see through to jump. Apparently this year the weather had been particularly bad. My master told me last year during the same time they were doing 45 jumps in every two week pay cycle; this year they were doing 15.

Thinking in other terms, it's not bad to have an equivalent of two extra scenic flights which would have cost an extra thousand dollars - a matter of perspective that would have covered for the disappointment had the third flight not been successful. For the masters, it was a different story. They only get paid if they jump, but whether to jump is the decision of the pilot. It's a chain of command and balance of responsibilities that is what drives behavior and keeps the machine going - the masters are responsible for their clients' lives; the pilot is responsible for the lives of the entire flight personnel. Wonder if the packers of the parachutes are also responsible for anything; given the meticulousness of the system i’d imagine parachute and packers are recorded in logs in case if anything happens (that no one hopes for).

The jump itself was exhilarating. As my lady advised, losing eyes for a few seconds outside would be good to feel the free fall. The goggles weren't of much help as during free all the cold air was dashing straight through to the eyes bringing down tears. It was a nice feeling but much of the scenery was blurred pieces of green and blue until the parachute was released. The rest should just be personally experienced.

3. Airbnb: a mode and lifestyle of traveling. As a long time couchsurfer, I've always appreciated crashing into others' couches, enjoying the interaction with hosts embedded in residential neighborhoods, directly experiencing how one lived locally. Opening up your place to stranger travelers also entails a certain camaraderie and community spirit that is quite irreplaceable. Airbnb however opens up new doors and a whole new type of hosting - the money part adds a little extra incentive for more hosts to open up their homes. Through this one gets to sample a different group of people - Airbnb hosts are generally more established households offering more catered accommodation more mirroring that of a bed and breakfast. In Airbnb you would get a room and bed instead of a couch in the living room in Couchsurfing. These are homes and neighborhoods that you would otherwise not see in one's travels.

NZ and Australia are pretty ideal places for Airbnb across the country, but requires one to be self driving as they are often more difficult to access. They are generally cheaper than traditional motels or hotels, and represent a bit of each host's unique touch. Some are more welcoming and are willing to strike up a conversation, while others are more into the personal touches of the space. We've stayed on a farm that raised race horses, also a trailer flat that is very cute, and many other places that were simply gorgeous townhouses.

4. Land and people: so much land and so sparsely populated. NZ in particular feels isolated and pristine.  We kept calling it a blessed land given its resources, though in hindsight, like all countries they also faced their fair share of problems. Time and again we wondered about the people's agenda. What life choices do they make? Do uni graduates go to the city to work? For more rural villages, how do villagers take care of life necessities - petrol for cars and doctors? Does the quality of doctors really get affected because of a smaller sample size or patients to treat? Driving through farm after farm on state highways, these thoughts naturally arise. 

5. Climate effects are cross-country: for a while in Rotorua, skies were light red and greyish - the effects of Australian bushfires. We were feeling it even without being close to where it's happening. Much has been said, just wished for this natural disaster to curb soon and wildlife can be saved. 

6. Dangerous driving reporting line: On Christmas Day, I suddenly received an email from my car rental company, saying that there were sightings of me driving dangerously, that the police were hunting my car down and would take it away from me if they find me, and urged me to return the car in their nearest branch in Queenstown. Deeply bothered, I immediately called the car rental agent who sent the email. It was apparently "multiple incidents involving tailgating, speeding, overtaking in blind bend." He also insisted police would only call him if there were multiple instead of a single incident. Scratching my head, I couldn't think of but one incident that could have constituted dangerous driving - when I tried to overtake in a bend which I could see through due to angles (though in retrospect i could have made a better decision).

Following advice I headed to the next available police station in Wanaka. To my slight amusement the station was closed and they struggled to find a police officer on duty. What would people do if they needed a police officer?

After 2 hours one available officer finally called and we met to discuss. It turns out there was only one incident, and it was originally classed as P1 incident as there was no available police officer in the area when I was reported. It was now in P4, a much lower priority category. Police had no authority to take the car off me in such a case. I was let off with a warning. 

Apparently it is easy to report any dangerous driving behavior, and many do it. The worst part however is we had a sticker logo on the car indicating it was a rented one - not the best of situations as it just helps stigmatizing car rental drivers, when in fact as we have experienced on the roads, many local drivers are ones with more questionable driving behavior. It is not difficult to imagine however - in a country where driving is such a necessity, the driving population naturally forms a higher proportion of the whole population and, therefore, driving behavior is more varied.

7. Maori Village Experience: we went to Tamaki, which was known as one of the “better” villages. Being the second time in such a village, I still found it interesting to learn about certain traditional games in village, different symbols, how people lived, etc. We both felt, however, that a show/play with more substance would add more charm to the entire visit. Instead of a show of music, dances, games, and traditional houses, we would have enjoyed a narration of history, a story in the myths of ancient Maoris, that would tell us more about who these people were and where they came from.

8. Been traveling with the lady to different corners of the world, but this trip was particularly refreshing. Perhaps it is due to lack of work planned ahead and no work messages to answer to. It was also thanks to a well planned and executed, albeit tight, road journey, which was thoroughly enjoyable. One thing was for sure, as we traveled together more often, we have built more tacit understanding of each other’s likes and dislikes, while riding on our deep joy to explore a new destination. Every moment was savored, and it made this solo journey that follows slightly more difficult. The beauty of the countries help with the feeling.

To more journeys to come!