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'Baby' World Tour - Part 4
The 'Baby' World Tour (Part 4)
Life In Wellington
Hi everyone. I've just been sitting having a tea in Cuba Street on a breezy Sunday Morning at a place called Mr Bun. I like it because it's run by friendly Chinese and it's dead cheap!
I'll give an overview of the last week. Firstly let's see what's in this local newspaper. What have we got here (Sat Jan 27) from Wellington's Dominion Post
Carter Sharpens Whaling Knives:- New Zealand is sharpening diplomatic knives over whaling with Conservation Minister Chris Carter accusing Japan of being aggressively nationalistic by killing whales in the Southern Oceans
What else:- On page 2 there's a nice photo of Comet Mcnaught taken from down South in Dunedin.
Political rivals Helen Clark (Labour) and John Key (Nationalist) finally agree on something - they expect the same horse to win the Wellington Cup
Christians are calling for New Zealand to declare itself a Christian country prompting opposition from atheists. (Apparently in the 2006 consensus, 53% - 2.4 million people - listed their religion as Christian).
This one looks quite funny. "Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is due in court in Sydney next week, 2 years after allegedly refusing to sing with Australian (mullet man) John Farnham".
I don't honestly think you can knock her for that.
The Weather:- Pretty shit for summer. 'A complex trough is gradually retreating to the east of the North Island allowing a narrow ridge to build over central districts'. I don't really know what that all means. Wellington was nice yesterday but has been pretty changeable on the whole. It's about 18 degrees at bottom of South Island and 23 degrees at top of the North.
In the Sports section - Auckland are to hold the world netball championships in November.
Nathan Astle - the long serving Kiwi cricketer is to retire from international cricket.
Here's a humiliating headline. 'AUSSIES CRUSH ENGLAND'
'Australia heaped more humiliation on England with a 9 wicket victory in their tri series one day cricket international at Adalaide Oval where England crumbled to 110 all out'.
You know, I was reading about Steve Harmison the other day, one of England's top pace bowlers in 2005. His heart is clearly not in it. I think the New Zealand sports writers have been astonished by the apathy shown by Harmison who appears to be homesick and going through the motions. It's not just Harmison of course. The whole team are down. Amazing how things change in the course of 18 months. To be homesick is fine, but when representing your country surrounded by team-mates. Surely that's enough to get you fired up. I caught a picture of Andrew Flintoff in one of the NZ newspapers. He looked a slightly bedraggled figure. His eyes were saying, 'I've had enough of this, get me out of here.'
Mind you, those Ozzies can't do nothing wrong at the moment. I don't know if you saw that massive six hit by Gilchrist off Flintoff into the stands at Melbourne. There was a chap on his mobile (probably asking his wife to get the evening meal on a little earlier) who caught the ball with one hand! Very stylish!
Fri Jan 19th - Sat Jan 27th
Fri 19th - I had had to leave the National Park hostel at 5am while it was still dark. Ran over a rabbit. Get the car back to the hire centre in Wellington just after 10am. They don't charge me extra which I'm relieved about. I want to go busking later in the afternoon but feel so knackered after the long drive south i crash out on my new top bunk. The German girl seems to have moved on. Maybe she's had enough of the bed shaking!
Sat 20th - Feel a bit more lively today. Hit the streets of Wellington early and make 100 bucks. A strange thing happens. A chap (who I later found out was a lad called Dan from North London) passes me seemingly miles away listening to his ipod. He stops in his tracks. Takes his headphones off and approaches me. "That's weird" he says. "I was just listening to 'Rubber Soul' by The Beatles and had 'Norwegian Wood' on, and you were playing in exactly the same place in sync with the recording. I couldn't work out whether I was listening to the recording or you". Spooky eh!
Sun 21st - Have a look round Te Papa museum in Wellington, a huge place built in 1988. It's a very interactive museum with earthquake simulators and lots of good stuff on New Zealand Natural History, Geography and Maori Arts and Culture. At midday i meet up with a lovely dark haired kiwi lass called Delis at 'Parade Cafe' which is just across the road from one of Wellington's man made beaches. I first met Delis at Bec and Daiman's wedding. After a bite to eat we head up to a big wind turbine perched high up in the hills above Wellington. The views are extensive. You can see the planes landing and the ferries moving out into The Cook Straits.
While we're driving up to the wind turbine I ask Delis about the relationship between the UK and New Zealand and the influence of the 'Mother Country' over New Zealand, and whether a growing republican movement is erasing this influence.
Delis explains that unlike Australia where a republican and independent style of thinking has taken hold, New Zealand people are happy to let the process "evolve" naturally and in its own time. Here's what the 'RG' says about it:
'Despite the mix of peoples, New Zealand has traditionally taken many of its cultural cues from Britain. It was always one of Britain's most loyal ex-colonies and while the "Little Britain of the South Pacific" tag might seem a little tired these days, New Zealand certainly has more in common with Britain than any other nation. But while the Queen remains as head of state and beams out from the $20 note, New Zealand identity is not immured in an idealized vision of old England. New Zealand unilaterally abolished British knighthoods in 2000, replacing them with the Order of New Zealand honours system. Three years later, the govt brooked no debate when it came to abolishing the right of final legal appeal to London's Privy Council (New Zealand's Court of Appeal now takes that role).
But the process is a slow one, and the kind of republican rabble-rousing championed across the Tasman largely falls on deaf ears in Aotearoa (New Zealand). There has never been a plebiscite on severing the final ties, but some are ken to replace the flag. Many find Britain's Union Jack in the top left hand corner an irrelevance, but few can agree on what might replace it. Many of the most popular suggestions are based around the silver fern emblem used by Kiwi sports teams, or the unfurling fern-frond koru symbol of Maori iconography. The possibilities are seemingly endless and the lack of any consensus looks set to stymie any change in the immediate future'.
Mon 22nd Jan
A group of approx 15 Indonesians sing along with me on Lambton Quay. They are all smiling and enjoying singing along to the music, especially one chap called Sedit. Sedit picks my tamborine up and joins in. Big beaming smile. I am outside a shop called 'Sommerfields' that sells paintings, cards, greenstone and paua shell carvings. Fortunately the girls in the shop like my music so they don't ask me to move on. It's good because the front of the shop has a covered area creating a natural echo.
It gets even better when the Indonesian group buy 2 CDs and later on the girls in the shop ask me for a CD.
Tues 23rd Jan
More busking. Start 9.00am at Cuba St. Sing Bill Withers 'Lovely Day'. Always makes me feel happy and gets me in the mood. Optimism is in the air. The smell of Mr Bun's bakery wafts in the morning breeze. It's good to be alive.
I hear some quiet gentle, almost timid plucking in the distance. There, 20 yards to my left, is a stooped man playing banjo. He must be at least 80. I ask him if he minds me playing so close by. He says it's fine, though in all honesty i doubt whether he could hear me anyway. I wouldn't have set up so close but didn't see him around when I was setting up.
Turns out, the chap (didn't get his name unfortunately) is Dutch and moved here in 1952. He has been busking for 55 years! Wow. That's a long time.
Wed 24th Jan - While I am playing a bandana-wearing piss-head who is off his face approaches me. He flexes his muscles as if showing off in a body building competition and points to a name on his bandana, as if saying, "I'm in a gang so don't fuck with me". Weird thing is he doesn't say a thing. Everything is in a weird sign language. He then takes $2 from my case. I don't respond. He waltzes off into the distance to join his other pissed up mates further up Cuba St. I don't bother chasing him. Best left me thinks.
Thurs 24th Jan
I go and see The Wellington National Ukulele Orchestra in Wellington's amazing Botanical Gardens. The orchestra are excellent. They put on a great show. In the group are 8 ukulele players and a double bassist. Included in their set are covers by David Bowie, a great version of 'Don't you worry 'bout a thing' by Stevie Wonder and New Zealand favourite Dave Dobbyn's 'Whaling'. The gig is part of a series of concerts put on by Wellington city council that run every night through January. This gig is extremely well attended. The place is packed in fact. The gardens have to be seen to be believed and are beautifully lit up at night by glitter balls, lamps and glow-worms. Native ferns and many other tree species abound in this magical place. What a place to have a gig!
Free summer concerts in Wellington's Botanical Gardens.
A full house. The audience wait in anticipation.
Quite a sight as the light goes down.
Fri 25th Jan
A long day's busking again. Am invited to dinner at Delis' along with Bec and Daiman. Delis cooks a lovely lasagne. It pisses down later on.
Sat 26th Jan
Weird and amazing things happen when you travel! I am playing outside Sommerfields when two girls stop. One of the girls is a Kiwi lass called Jacinda. We both recognize each other pretty much straight away. Jacinda used to work at the 'Old Fighting Cocks' in Arnside, Cumbria, a pub I have gigged at just down the road from where I live in Milnthorpe. Turns out Jo, her friend is over here from Grange Over Sands, also very near where I live.
Jacinda is originally from New Plymouth but has lived in Wellington for the last 3 years.
She says her and Jo are going to the Botanical Gardens to see the NZ student jazz band. I meet them at 7pm. We sit near the front. Kindly they have a picnic hamper and Jacinda offers me a glass of wine. Later on we drive in Jacinda's car to Lyall Bay to look at the Comet. Unfortunately it's hidden by cloud.
Sun 27th
A hard day's busking. Only make $60. Not bad. Wellington is pretty quiet. Bump into Rob, a Scottish chap in his 50s - 60s who busks accordion. Originally Rob is from Paisley who came over here in the 60s. He is quite a character. We get talking about the pros and cons of performing on the streets and about the 'purple patch' moments when coins and notes seem to rain down from heaven, and quieter times when you are completely blanked.
In the evening i meet up with Jacinda and Jo at the Botanical Gardens for the final gig of the January free concerts. I bring along 6 cans of Tui (a popular beer in NZ). Jacinda has kindly cooked me a potato and pea curry. Very nice too!
There are people everywhere with picnic hampers. In fact the place is absolutely heaving!! The Kiwi band is called 'Little Bushman'. They play a good psychedelic set. Original stuff too. Would liked them to have cranked the tempo up a bit at times, but they were all good musicians.
Where we are sitting there is a strong whiff of Marijuana in the air. We are amazed at the amount of people here. Up on the banking. In the trees. After the gig i say goodbye to Jacinda and Jo and head back to the hostel. It absolutely hammers down later on.
