Um, yeah, so I just filled in my census form online, even though census night is tomorrow. I wasn’t expecting it to let me do it, but I appear to have successfully given them all the information about myself (Other; pakeha) and my dwelling (rented).
I only hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow so I do get to walk and not take the bus. Goodness know how that would screw up the transport plans for the Auckland region in the year 2030.
My favourite webpage du jour is the police blotter of incidents attended by the Espanola city police and New Mexico state police, as published in the Rio Grande Sun.
I have selected my favourites. It’s been an eventful week for the good folk of the Espanola police.
Wednesday, February 8, 12.46 am.
An Allsup’s clerk said several individuals entered the store, one opened a bottle of Excedrin and emptied half into his pocket, and then the subjects left yelling, “West Side Locos!” The individuals were arrested minutes later for possession of cocaine and heroin.Thursday, February 9, 8.31 am.
Autozone reported a shoplifter running around the parking lot in baggy pants. City police chased the man from there to the old Taco Bell and then to Las Lomas Apartments. The man clothes-lined himself on the staircase and was arrested, police reported. Police asked the fire department to come wash the man’s blood off the stairwell.Friday, February 10, 1.43 am.
Several patrons at Club Tropicana were afraid to go outside because some men they were arguing with earlier were sitting in the parking lot waiting for them, the club reported.Saturday, February 11, 1.01 am.
A man said his wife was trying to convince him to kill someone. The person she wanted him to kill had killed her brother in a car accident, he said. His wife said that if he would kill that person, then she could have closure, the man said.Sunday, February 12, 10.12 pm.
A Las Lomas Apartments resident said she had evicted her roommate but he was back at the apartment and was drunk. She had taken away the knives from the kitchen but she didn’t know what he had in his bedroom, she said. He liked to threaten people with his walking cane, the woman said. The man was taken in for detox.Monday, February 13, 2.31 pm.
A Chimayo man said he wanted to file a report on an incident that happened the week before in which he was humped by two males along the side of the road. Dispatchers later corrected that report. The man said he was jumped, not humped.Tuesday, February 14, 9.42 pm.
A man said someone stole his goat. He’d had problems before with his neighbor’s stealing the goat and had fixed his fence, he said, but now they had evidently found a new way to get his goat.
Ashura666 desired to go diving during his time in Aotearoa New Zealand, so me and Teh Matt decided to come along for the ride, so we turned it into a road trip. We hit State Highway One and headed up to scenic Tutukaka.
(Ha! That sounds so easy, like we didn’t spend a good day panicking because every rental car in Auckland was already rented, but eventually fate smiled on us when a car rental place a block away from Matt’s bachelor pad had a car available.)
Monday
Conclusion about the trip from Auckland to Whangarei: Very scenic. Roads not as windy as I expected.
Conclusion about Whangarei: The less said, the better. Pak’n Save was particularly forgettable.
Conclusion about the trip from Whangarei to Tutukaka: Windier than I expected. Ngunguru was very scenic. I still can’t pronounce Ngunguru to a pleasing enough degree.
Conclusion about the accommodation in Tutukaka: Clean and tidy, with splendid views and a delightful piece of folk art made from old wine bottle corks.
Conclusion about dinner at Schnappa Rock: Rather good. Crazy Emma recommended it to us (true), but we would have gone there anyway.
Tuesday
Ashura-san got up early and went diving so Matt and I were lazy arses and slept. When we finally awoke, we drove along the coast and hung out at Sandy Bay, a surf beach. Matt went swimming, while I took some photos along the beach and read “Collapse” by Jared Diamond, because that’s the kind of krazy stuff I do on holiday.
(This omits the part where I got up early to to drive Ashura to the marina, but the car wouldn’t start. It turned out the bumpy road to the cottage had shaken the battery cable loose.)
Fish n chips were acquired from the Ngunguru fish n chip shop. They were all right, but their paua fritters scared me with their greenness.
Wednesday
Matt decided to go out on the boat, leaving me with the car for the day, so I decided to explore historic Northland.
My first stop was Kawakawa, formerly known as Train Town, now known as The One With The Toilet. Yes, I visited the Hundertwasser toilet. It’s all that. I was going to say it’s a pity there isn’t anything more to do in Kawakawa, but maybe it’s a good thing that the loos are the best thing about it.
I continued further up north to Paihia and then Waitangi. I was last in Waitangi about 20 years ago. I went to the Treaty House because, like, that’s the birthplace of the nation.
I’m not sure, but I might have been the only New Zealander amongst the visitors. A quick glance in the visitors book revealed very few mentions of New Zealand.
The Treaty House was kind of strange. Part of the display was dedicated to factoids about the construction of the house itself, but it’s not the house that’s important (and it is a rather unremarkable house – not like Pompalier House across the harbour in Russell, or nearby Kemp House or the Stone Store in Kerikeri). It’s what happened in and around it in 1840 that is. The treaty signing itself happened in a tent, and you don’t see 19th century canvas manufacturing techniques being examined.
I was hoping that the Treaty House would give me some insights as to what it means to be a New Zealander. All it left me was wondering why the house needs to be “restored” every 30 years or so, and what present-day ills would be corrected at the next restoration.
I much preferred the big lawn area over looking the Bay of Island, surrounded by the Treaty House, whare nui, and flagpole. That says something to me about being a New Zealander.
Passing through Whangarei on the way back, I stopped off at the Countdown to get some provisions. I had to end my visit prematurely because I was so grossed out by the suburbanness of the supermarket. The checkout lady wanted me to look at a dress some lady was wearing in the next aisle. It was a really ordinary looking flowery dress. “Mmm, it’s nice,” I said, nausea welling.
On Wednesday night, I saw the Milky Way for the first time ever, and it was magical and special.
Thursday
One more set of dives for Ashura, so Matt and I again hung out at Sandy Bay, where I read more of “Collapse”.
Ashura, Matt and I all have Canon cameras, so there developed a competitive spirit to take the most excellent holiday snaps. It wasn’t enough to take one picture of a nice sunset. No, we would be mucking around with exposures and making panoramas and comparing results. I think I totally nailed the Tutukaka sunset:
Then it was time to head back down to Auckland. Delightfully, some clever person had skilfully changed a number of Warkworth road signs to read Wankworth. Ha ha!
A splendid few days were had. Of course, I’m still planning on doing a comprehensive exploration of historic Northland, but that’ll be a while off.