Of Auckland and Yarpies

Hello, hope all is well with everyone back in the States. Tuesday ended with an Indian meal prepared by Rob and Kel - 'Money Bags' which are chicken, garlic, coriander and black pepper twisted up in filo and dipped in a vinegar, sugar, garlic and chili sauce, Tom Yum soup, which is chicken, lemon grass, Thai ginger, chicken stock, mushrooms, etc., and Feijoa wine. A bit of spice but also heavenly. Sleep came too quickly and it has been difficult not to fall asleep around 10pm and wake around a quarter to 5.

On Wednesday we cruised around Auckland. First though, I accomplished one of my goals - eating and enjoying marmite and vegitmite. That is what was for breakfast. Rob and I out, booked a dive at Poor Knights, ate some sushi, stopped at Border's book store where I was able to get a star planisphere of the southern hemisphere, walked through Victoria park which was reminiscent of Pike's Place in Seattle, ate a fish pie and drank some P&J lemon drink at Jester's, a little fast-food type shop and eventually met up with Rob and Kelhi's friends at Occidental, a Belgium restaurant which served Leffe beer and Green-Lipped mussels! A big ol' pot I had, seasoned in garlic and onion.

Some observations: Auckland seems a bit like Seattle, both in climate (at this time of year) and in the general demeanor of the people. You see mostly white Kiwi's, also known as Pakeha, many south and east Asian's and smatterings of Mauri and other islanders. In conversation with some Kiwi's you also get the ethnic classification I've seen to be a trait of many Anglo's. One of these tensions is between 'regular' Kiwi's and what some call 'Yarpies' or the South African's, which account for the largest immigrant population to New Zealand. Needless to say, such classifications carry on into other groups as well.

Well, I will update more later. Today, we are headed out to find Weathertop! This location was used for the Watch Tower of Amon Suil in the Fellowship of the Ring. In actuality it is just a limestone out-cropping in the middle of farmer's field. Nonetheless, the adventure will bring us out into some real New Zealand outback. Somewhat uncertain on how we will identify it once we get there, but here we go nonetheless! Cheers!