Christmas in Edinburgh

We're in Scotland for the Christmas season, and we arrived in Edinburgh and got to spend a little time enjoying the Christmas markets and good weather.

One of the many rows of market stalls.

Edinburgh is really marketing themselves as a Christmas destination, and the whole enterprise is definitely a lot bigger than when I lived there six years ago. It's a little cheesy but certainly an enjoyable experience - it's hard not to enjoy a trip to Edinburgh.

Victoria Street.

Headquarters of the Bank of Scotland. Look at the sky! Hard to believe it's December in Scotland.

The Dome in its Christmas apparel.

Not much else to report - I hope you all have a merry Christmas!

New Zealand, Part 4

We have been back in Paris for two weeks now, and after our glorious time in the natural wonderland of New Zealand, I am starting to feel the crowds of people and the endless buildings of the city pressing in on me, making it hard to breathe. I yearn to see trees and hills and a distinct lack of people once more. Fortunately, we're travelling to Scotland next week to spend Christmas with Rory's family, so I can get my fill of hills and sheep and sparsely populated land.

I will wrap up our stories of New Zealand with my solo trip to Dunedin, which happened over three days while Rory was hard at work at the University of Canterbury. This trip was mildly significant in that it was the first time I'd ever been in a foreign country without any companions. I've travelled to many different countries--Thailand, Costa Rica, Italy, Belgium, Canada--but I'd never had to be self-reliant. Now I was all alone. I was going on an adventure!

So I eagerly anticipated my 6-hour bus ride to "The Edinburgh of the South", and in the spirit of exploration, I decided not to make any lodging reservations. With a backpack on my back, I walked from the Dunedin bus station to the center of town and found a youth hostel called Hogwartz. Admittedly, I had looked it up beforehand, checked the reviews, and found it on the map, but still! No reservation! I was living on the edge!

Hogwartz is a friendly, spacious, and sparkling hostel and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in Dunedin. Although it's not particularly Harry Potter-esque, there were rooms labelled Gringotts, Dobby's Room, and 9 3/4. I stayed in a dorm with five other girls from France, Germany, and the US and enjoyed hearing their stories. The only downside to Hogwartz is that it's located on a very steep hill (much of Dunedin is unbearably hilly), so in the summer heat I was panting and sweating by the time I climbed back up to the hostel.

The world's steepest street is in Dunedin. Sorry, San Francisco.

Dunedin was settled primarily by Scottish settlers in the 1840s, hence the name, which comes from "Dùn Èideann", the Scottish Gaelic word for Edinburgh. In fact, Reverend Thomas Burns, the nephew of the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns, was the spiritual leader of the new settlement and one of the founders of the university there. The settlers obviously wanted reminders of home because many of the streets have the same names as in Edinburgh, and the architectural style looks distinctly European.

The train station platform

Outside of the train station

Although there is a lot of nature to be explored around the Dunedin area and the Otago Peninsula (hiking, biking, wildlife tours, etc), it helps to have a car. Lacking one, I opted to stay closer to the city and take in two tours, a museum, and a concert while I was there. I first went to Larnach Castle & Gardens--New Zealand's only "castle". It is a gorgeously ornate and over-the-top estate situated on top of a hill overlooking the peninsula. It was built in 1871 by a fabulously wealthy man with a scandalous past, and it was interesting not only for the history of it but also just to enjoy the serene location.

New Zealand's only "castle"

Beautiful gardens surround the castle

The second tour I took was of the Olveston Historic Home, an upper class family's home that has been preserved just as it was in the early 20th century. It's a beautiful house with incredible art and furnishings, and it was fascinating to see how they lived back then. By the way, if you ever go to New Zealand, be sure to check out bookme.co.nz for really great discounts on a bunch of sightseeing activities. I got many tickets for things at half price.

The Otago Peninsula--viewed from the castle tower

The Otago Settlers Museum is also excellent--brand new and free! And finally, I enjoyed a performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and the Walton Cello Concerto by the New Zealand Symphony. Definitely not free, but a good concert nonetheless.

Despite the 12 hours on a bus, I really enjoyed my time in Dunedin, exploring on my own, following my whims, making new friends. All in all it was an excellent adventure.

New Zealand, part 3

We're back in Paris safe and sound now, but we still have a lot of pictures and New Zealand-related stories to share. Here are a few of them.

(See parts 1 and 2 of our journey to New Zealand, and Talia's writing.)

In case you forgot the backstory, I was invited to the University of Canterbury by a former colleague to finish up a linguistics project we've had going for several years. It had stalled and delayed, but setting aside some time to work together intensely on the project was a fantastic idea. This arrangement meant that I was working at the university most of the time, with free weekends to travel, while Talia amused herself around Christchurch and other places.

You may have heard of Christchurch as being the location of a devastating series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Around 185 people died, and the historic centre of the city lost over a third of its buildings. The effects of the earthquake still loom large in the city. The centre of the town was basically closed for over a year, while workers destroyed the damaged and dangerous buildings. Many of the eastern suburbs, built on marshland, underwent liquefaction and became uninhabitable. The consequent loss of homes, plus the influx of aid and construction workers, lead to a housing crisis. The city is still rebuilding, and even now there is construction all over the place.

The current state of the Christchurch Cathedral.

One of the first weekend trips we took was out to Akaroa, a beautiful seaside town on the Banks peninsula. Akaroa has a curious history - it was originally settled by French colonists. In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, which established all of New Zealand as being under British sovereignty. A few weeks later, with news of the treaty not having reached Europe, a group of French colonists (and a few Germans) set sail for New Zealand, hoping to establish an outcrop of the French Empire. When they arrived, 5 months later(!), they learned the islands were now British. They decided to stay anyway, and form a little French village.

The local butcher's shop.

Today, the village is very proud of its French heritage, with the French tricolour flying all over the place. I think they also play up the French connection as a tourist attraction, a quaint little slice of France on the other side of the world. We actually heard a lot of French being spoken, too, but it was all from tourists. The main vestige of the French origins of the town is in the street names.

It's like we're back in Paris!

The Banks peninsula, where Akaroa is, was formed by a series of volcanoes, and has very dramatic hills right beside the sea, leading to a beautiful landscape. The gentle turquoise colour of the sea also adds a lot. It's easy to see why this is a popular holiday destination for Kiwis, and why so many people have second homes here!

The view from the top of the Akaroa lighthouse.

After our trip to Akaroa, Talia went to visit Dunedin, the south island's second largest city, often called "the Edinburgh of the South" for its strong Scottish connections. I'll let her write that post in the future.

Finally, we took a trip out to the west coast. This involves driving through the Southern Alps to emerge at the rainforested area on the other side. The mountains act as a rain trap, apparently, keeping the west coast very wet and the area east of the mountains relatively dry. Our first stop, in the foothills of the mountain range, was Castle Hill, a set of large limestone boulders arrayed around some hills, which from a distance resemble a ruined castle. The area of is of spiritual significance to the Maori, and apparently the Dalai Lama referred to it as the "spiritual centre of the universe".

Limestone rocks.

On our way through the mountains, we were lucky to spot a wild Kea. These endangered birds, unique to New Zealand's south island, are the world's only alpine parrot.

You can't see it in this picture, but it's actually perched atop an informative sign saying "Protect our Keas!" with information on their habitat and instructions not to feed or disturb them.

We finally reached the west coast, greeted by roaring waves (really really big waves) and a beautiful sunset.

Getting close as we are to the southern hemisphere summer solstice, this picture was taken at about 9:40pm.

The next day, we visited the Pancake Rocks, named because they look like stacks of pancakes. The ocean runs around and through these rocks, leading to some "blowholes" where water just bursts up into the air from a surging wave. It's really very spectacular.

No maple syrup, unfortunately.

 Later that day we made our way back to Christchurch. The rain prevented us from getting good pictures of the mountains, but I'm fairly sure they were still there.

The pictures we've shown here have been mainly of the landscape, but the people and culture of New Zealand are very agreeable too. They're very friendly and in no danger of taking themselves too seriously, which I think is by virtue of being rather a sparsely populated country, like Scotland. There also appears to be a lack of regard for traditional barriers like class and religion - people are people - that reminded me of some of the attributes I like about the USA. Still, it's not reducible down to simply attributes of other cultures; New Zealand culture is fiercely unique and it's clear that they are proud to be who they are, living in a beautiful country in the south Pacific.

New Zealand-inspired writing

The calm and peaceful atmosphere I found in New Zealand made it easy for me to write, something that I've always enjoyed doing but have put off for many years because my life felt too harried and busy. So it was wonderful to be surrounded by nature with my notebook in hand, being able to examine my thoughts and reflect on the world and my experiences therein. Below are two short products of my time spent in parks in Christchurch. 

Not your average university park

I'm sitting on a tree-shaded bench, staring at a barely moving, bog-like stream. The warm sun is streaking through the leaves, but its heat is tempered by a mild spring breeze. Bird song swirls around me like surround sound, and in the not-too-far-off distance, I can hear cars and construction equipment. In front of me are huge globe-like ground plants that look like Albert Einstein's hair with static electricity running through it. On the other side of the stream, bright green dinosaur-sized kale-shaped leaves hang on thick stalks over the water. Fern trees and pale pink rhododendrons round out the menagerie of unfamiliar plants. Apart from the blackbird hopping about inquisitively near the water, I am entirely, gloriously alone.

If I could block out the sounds of the construction crews, it would be easy to forget that I am on a university campus. In fact, I would surely be unaware that I am in the most populous city on New Zealand's south island. Rather, I would be quickly convinced that I had stumbled upon my own peculiar, quasi-tropical island, and I would feel as though the rest of the world never existed. New Zealand does that. It has a way of kindly but dramatically introducing you to the glories of God's earth and persuading you that none of your petty concerns really matter. Even with all the madness in the world today, I find an unflappable sense of calm and contentment here. The world keeps turning.

Roses were out in full bloom. I made a point to stop and smell them frequently. They were divine.

This side of the earth
I'm sitting on a park bench in Christchurch
feeling the sun and the warm spring breeze.
I'm surrounded by birdsong and roses
and the leaves that are dancing on trees.

How incredibly lucky I must be
to experience two springs in one year,
when back in my hometown of Paris
a cold gray winter is near.

But it's not just the seasons that changed
when I came to this side of the earth.
A calm and serenity found me,
helped my soul to a joyous rebirth.

Not so for the people of Paris right now
whose grief and anger are clear
at the act of hatred and violence
that sowed seeds of terror and fear.

I admit I'm relieved to be sitting here,
to feel safe and protected and free,
but I ache for my friends in the city
who don't have such a luxury.

Yet the news shows us flowers and candles,
Parisians lending each other a hand.
Fighting violence with love and compassion
and showing kindness to their fellow man.

Quelle surprise! I quietly think to myself
as Paris is known for being rigid and cold.
When people don't smile or even look at you,
treating strangers with love is quite bold.

But that's the norm in New Zealand it seems.
Here they're generous and friendly and kind.
Being surrounded by nature will do that to you,
clear your spirit, your heart, and your mind,

So with a clean slate I'll go back to Paris,
which has changed in both bad ways and good.
And I'll try to hold onto this calm I've found
when passing soldiers in my neighborhood.

I hope we will help and support one another
to rebuild and find peace once more,
since it's unity that will heal the world's ills:
At last a cause worth fighting for.