Reflections on an Inclement Day

"The weather is never static here, rarely predictable, and never boring."

-Slipping into Paradise: Why I Live in New Zealand, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (yes, he of the Sigmund Freud Archives contretemps in the 1980's; hmmm, may be connected to the move to NZ).

For the past two days, the weather has, to put it charitably, been less than kindly. But that does not stop Wellingtonians from going about their business, including commuters cycling to work, children playing outdoors at recess, and shoppers on the narrow streets that encircle the harbor. And no one, of course, bothers to carry an umbrella, as it would be useless-- indeed hazardous-- to carry such an object in this wind. However, weather and assorted natural disasters seem to be part of life here. We spent about an hour in the Te Papa Museum visiting exhibits that dealt with various phenonema starting 100 million years ago and barely touching upon the human era. Perhaps that's not surprising for a land mass that has only been occupied by humans for the past 800 years or so. So we were treated to graphic displays of earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and other forces that constantly change the landscape, assuming you take the long term view of such things.

A few basic facts to put New Zealand in perspective. The country was settled by 2 sea-faring peoples, the Polynesians and the British, who had to cross immense oceans in small vessels. It was the scene of prolonged warfare in the 19th century, between European settlers and Maoris and among Maori tribes. However, it was hailed as the "social laboratory of the world" in the 19th century, and was the first country to grant suffrage to women. In the 1930's, with the introduction of 'social security', it became one of the first examples of the welfare state.

New Zealand consists of 2 large islands and a number of smaller ones, with a total land mass of 104,420 square miles-- roughly the size of Japan or the British Isles. It lies on the South Pacific Ocean, 990 miles to the east of Australia and roughly 6,200 miles from either San Francisco or Tokyo. Although Auckland is the largest city, the capital was moved to Wellington in the 19th century by virtue of its central location between South and North Islands, at the southern-most tip of North Island. The population of the country is approximately 4.6 million, of whom 386,000 are in Wellington.

On a more mundane note, have you ever noticed when you are outside the US how different the names of the cars are? In the US, car names seem to promise the great adventure of the outdoors, harkening back to the Wild West (Bronco's; Expeditions; Foresters). But here in New Zealand (as in Europe), the names of car models strike me as somewhat, well, not very car-like. Many sound vaguely Mediterranean, such as the Prado (Toyota), the Almera Tino (Nissan), the Sorrento (Kia), and the Altezza (Toyota). Others are suggestively anatomical, like the Clavia (Toyota) and the Legnum (Mitsubishi). Yet others sound futuristic/sci fi, like the Terios and the Sirion (Daihatsu), the Cultus (Suzuki), and the Astra (Mitsubishi). Others, however, are just plain weird, like the Platz (Nissan), the Vitz (Toyota) and the Getz (Suzuki). But the worst of all, so far, is the Emina (Toyota), which is uncomfortably reminiscent of what gets my vote for worst-car-name-of-all-time, the Probe....

Hey, the sun's starting to come out. Must stand watch over the container ships departing past our window.

(Posted by Joan on Dec. 11).