Farewell to Wellington

I leave tomorrow morning for Australia, and on Sunday I fly to Hawaii to be with Ellen. Life in New Zealand has been excellent. I am on holiday, I am staying with Ellen's family, and it's summer. This has been the best start to a year one could possibly ask for, and flying to Hawaii is only going to improve upon things, so I'll be a jammy bastard then eh? Wellington is a great city for visitors. Full of intriguing shops and monuments, the National Museum is here too, and the centre of town boasts some great bars and cafes.

Although geographically it's as far from England as it's possible to get without leaving the planet, New Zealand is a piece of home. The food tastes better, the skies are bluer, most things are a lot cheaper, and the streets are less crowded; however this former colony smacks of its European ancestry at every turn. That is except for the Maori ofcourse, but some of that culture has mixed sufficiently with the colonist's way of life so as to smooth its pointier edges, and it adds magic to the place, much like the Celtic resurgence does in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Funnily enough it is something of a cliche to say that New Zealand resembles all of these places, which it does, much more than the rolling hills of England. New Zealand is rough cut, fresh, and wild-looking. I think that the strength of the Maori under domination by the British, and their continuing struggle for equal representation, has and will maintain New Zealand in this vibrant natural spirit.

Today I am planning to spend the afternoon at the Basin Reserve cricket ground for the first day of teh Second Test between NZ and the West Indies. It should be a fine day. It is also St Patrick's Day so I will have a look at what the Wellingtonians do to celebrate, and I think I have guessed already.

I would like to give a warm thankyou to John, Joy and Louise for having me to stay.

Postscript

At lunch the Basin Reserve cricket ground is open to the public for games: