ARROWTOWN, New Zealand – You might call it a double-dose of Middle-earth. For a Tolkien junkie, it’s heaven. Although I don’t fit that profile – Frodo isn’t my go-go guy – I did read J.R.R. Tolkien’s stuff to my kid, and wasn’t going to miss a chance to plunge into the splendors of Middle-earth (aka New Zealand) that Oscar-winning producer-director Peter Jackson, a native, … [Read more...] about FOR ALL YOU TOLKIEN/HOBBIT JUNKIES NEW ZEALAND’S THE PLACE WHERE THE BOOKS AND MOVIES SPRING TO LIFE
New Zealand
A COOK’S TOUR OF THE ENDEAVOUR
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Is Captain Cook receiving visitors today? Alastair Shaw, standing on the deck of Cook’s glorified (nonetheless illustrious) sailboat called the Endeavour, replies, “Sorry, you’re 222 years too late. The good captain departed this earth in 1779. Actually you’ve missed him by 232 years, since the Endeavour reached New Zealand in 1769.” Oh, I knew … [Read more...] about A COOK’S TOUR OF THE ENDEAVOUR
CURING MILLENNIUM MALAISE
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Is there a pill, a vaccine, an anti-inflammatory to ward off or relieve the dreaded plague called Millennium Malaise? Here it is only April, and the toll is horrific. Millions, maybe billions, infected – sick of thinking, planning, contemplating, wondering how and where to deal with distant Dec. 31. Could anyone imagine that Millennium Malaise would … [Read more...] about CURING MILLENNIUM MALAISE
CLIMBING A VOLCANO IS FUN, FOR SOME
WHAKAPAPA, New Zealand – Because it’s there, I know I shouldn’t be. “It” is the volcanic Mount Ruapehu, looming and with the appearance of a gigantic molar with cavities. “Looks like a sweet climb,” enthuses my friend, Aurelio, who would never deny that a mountain goat teeters somewhere on some altitudinous limb of her family tree. Looks like a sweat climb to me. So, … [Read more...] about CLIMBING A VOLCANO IS FUN, FOR SOME
A WISE WAY TO SETTLE THE “GIRL’S WAR”
RUSSELL, New Zealand – An elderly survivor, a 33-foot whaleboat, is cradled in the yard of the local museum, and Russell does have the look and air of a small, unrushed New England whaling town. Old, well-risen-and-wide-reaching trees guard the handsome white frame houses that stand behind whitewashed picket fences lining the quiet waterfront. But Russell, originally known … [Read more...] about A WISE WAY TO SETTLE THE “GIRL’S WAR”