Topp Twins and Hot Beaches

Albert Park with SkyTower in Backround, Auckland

We were back in Auckland at the environs really for the first time since we arrived in New Zealand on Anzac Day. The goal was to go to a medical meeting on asthma and allergies and the visit more of the country we hadn't yet visited. My house surgeon Florry O'Connell referred to it as a "conference" (with air quotes) to impugn my motives, which in all honesty were not purely academic. Medical contracts in NZ have very generous allocations for Continuing Medical Education, up to $20,000 per year, and if you don't use it you lose it. The meeting was held in an impressive hall at the University of Auckland, and presented data from a 20 year world-wide study, done by very dedicated people, ISAAC- The International Study of Allergies and Asthma in Childhood. I won't try to summarize.

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We made time to visit the Auckland Museum again to see the fantastic collection of Pacific/Polynesian artifacts.

It was interesting to return to Auckland after nine months in the rest of the country. It really is a world apart. The central business district really isn't very pleasant, difficult to navigate on foot or by car, sliced up by access roadways. You might think the waterfront would be the natural gathering place, but that's not the case. There are some restaurants, cafes, hotels, a Seaport Museum, but locals don't really hang out there, and there are few natives around. There is a definite shortage of parks and open spaces. Were it not for the iconic Sky Tower, you would be hard-pressed to know where you are.
Everyone agrees the thing to do is to get out of the CBD and go to the neighborhoods, or better yet take a short ferry ride to the Gulf Islands, so we did, specifically to Waiheke Island. Just one big problem: the approaching Typhoon Wilma. We tucked into our postage-stamp sized room in time for the deluge. We spent the night bemoaning our tiny quarters until we found out the grander unit next door flooded over night. Dodged a bullet there! The next day the rain stopped, but we side-stepped multiple rock slides to tour this jewel. Most tourists were scared away, so we had the hop-on-hop-off buses almost to ourselves, a private tour really. We saw the beautiful beaches
 
and the 100 year-old house that slid down to the sea.

We also saw some very strange looking creatures that our guide explained where genetic hybrid between a sheep and a giraffe,a "sheeraffe"if you will. They certainly look strange, and he may have been right, but I have been unable to verify it at this time, and alas I have no photographs. (I believe he was misinformed or it was a ruse and they were really sheared alpacas.) It was unexpected and delightful day, highlighted by a nice lunch at a beachfront café.

The roads and pathways had cleared enough on Sunday that we were able to enjoy the Headland sculptures on the gulf, an event which occurs every other year for four weeks. Artists have the challenge of preparing sculptures and exhibits that are scattered along the trail on the West Coast to the island overlooking Hauraki Gulf across to Auckland. Below are several examples of the more interesting artworks. The first photo actually contains two works of art, the first is a construction of firewood, steel, and fencing wire entitled "Sunday Afternoon" (by Marcus Tatton), and a more conceptual piece entitled "aendaenti" (by Kazu Nakagawa) in which trail walkers are urged to carry umbrellas (I think of it as sort of being a Christo-lite).

A pile of wood and an art lover/work of art

Fletcher Vaughn-Collapse

Chris Bailey-The Anchor Stone of Waiheke

Chris Meder-The Cheeky Moa

Look carefully at the names on the signposts. They all refer to the famous works of art throughout the world.

Matt Akehurst-You Are Here

This is a family group of Viagra, Ritalin, Prozac, Halcion, and other commonly prescribed drugs. Can you name them all?

Paul Radford-Prodigal Child

A kind of the fish/submarine thingee.

David McCracken-Washed Up On Waiheke

All-in-all, a unique experience, and lots of fun.
Next up was the real reason for our excursion to Waiheke: to see the World Famous in New Zealand fabulous Topp Twins , who have been described as the World's only comedic, country singing, dancing, and yodeling lesbian twin sisters. Sort of Malvina Reynolds/Indigo Girls/Hee-Haw meshugas. We became acquainted with them via the Kiwi documentary Untouchable Girls, highly recommended. We missed their Hoedown near Timaru over the holidays, so came up to the Cable Bay Vineyards in Waiheke. The concert was delayed one day due to the cyclone, but by Sunday the weather was fine. I can't really explain their act and the Hoedown. See the movie.

Lynda Topp wandering through the crowd as Camp Mother and with Jools as Camp Leader

The Twins as Ken and Ken

The whole troupe on stage

It was a pleasant evening on the lawn, and afterwords we took the ferry back to the city center, surprised to see performers riding along with us (not the twins, alas).

The postponement of the show meant we had no place to stay on the island, and delayed the next leg of our trip to the Coromandel Peninsula. This also was fortuitous, as we would not have made it to Coromandel Town due to a large slide blocking the road. Many Kiwis and visitors have said the Coromandel is their favorite place in all of New Zealand, an unspoiled area two hours from Auckland with quaint towns, pristine white sand beaches, and plenty of tramping paths through rainforests. We had only the briefest peek at those splendors. The first stop was in Thames, a gold-mining center in the 1860's and home to the Thames School of Mines. A museum, historic stuff, old labs, local guides......we are NOT going to pass this up.

And we did not.
Time was short. It was Tuesday, February 1st, time to head back to Timaru and work, but not before a visit to Hot Water Beach. This is such a cool place. Hot springs empty out under the sand, and at two hours on either side of low tide you go down with a rented shovel, dig a hole, and sit in your own personal spa. Be careful, because your tush can get quite heated.

I have read about it since before I came here, and didn't realize what a beautiful spot it was.

Just a short bit up the road is Cathedral Cove, but we couldn't walk up to it due to, of course, a slide from the cyclone.

Then drive to the airport and back to the South Island, for a final 3 1/2 weeks.