Pushing Through the Untrodden Forest

Part I

Here I am and we are in Auckland for the last time for a long time. It will be many years before we again taste ‘Goody Goody Gum Drops’ ice-cream or search under silver ferns for a weta. We have collected our tickets to Santiago and will be leaving in two days. What a very strange feeling. As you will soon have the opportunity to discover, New Zealand (specifically Christchurch) has become quite an extravaganza within us. Curious to think of all the people we’ve met beavering away now and forever, just as they were when we were beavering with them – except soon the place where they beaver will be on the other side of the world. My mother informed me this morning/last night (depending on your worldly perspective) that we return to home pastures in 50 days. I haven’t taken the time to check her facts and calculations but she is my mother and it is my duty to trust her.

In the last post I think we had just spent a night at Sumner, a beach on the outskirts of Christchurch and we were on our way to Spreydon Baptist to see what might become of our extra two months in NZ. As I think I mentioned before, we had heard some guys from Spreydon speak at Soul Survivor last year about living in intentional community and had been planning to pop into the church – now we had extra time we went to see whether we might be able to hang around for a while…

Arriving at the 11am service, we found a seat as Sigur Ros played quietly in the background, I was pleased to note. There were two seats empty alongside us which were soon filled by a good-looking couple. After the service they revealed their secret identities to be Richard and Sandra Hellewell. They invited us to follow them home for Sunday lunch, which we happily did. After stopping for groceries they invited us to stay the night, which we happily agreed to and then informed us that they lived ‘just up the hill’, so up the hill we drove. Up and up and up the hill, until we reached a little plateau which we followed a short distance before continuing uphill. When there was little more mountain to mount we turned to the left and descended briefly. We were in an area of Chch called Cashmere atop a hill which would be called a mountain in England. This hill overlooked the entirety of Christchurch, sprawling across a plain at the feet of the Southern Alps which stretched across the horizon and fell into the distant grey ocean. The Hellewells have an amazing, recently built house on the edge of the hill, one side of which is mostly glass opening onto a balcony complete with hot-tub from which the view can be enjoyed. What amazing places we are getting to see through the kindness of strangers. You can always depend on it. After lunch, Richard and Sandra left us alone with a key as they went out for the afternoon and expected us not to steal anything. Of course we did. Their kindness did not stop there – we’d told them that our friend Hannah Ford from the UK was visiting for a week – they offered us two rooms in their house for the week should Hannah not have accommodation. We couldn’t wait to show her where she’d be living.

At Spreydon’s evening service, Sandra introduced us to Ants Watt (one of the guys from Soul Survivor). We’d sent an email to Spreydon which had been forwarded to him so he was vaguely expecting to meet us. As he was in a rush to see someone we arranged to meet him at his community’s coffee shop the next day. The proper bed followed by hot showers the next day were greatly appreciated.

The following day we collected Hannah Ford from the airport, driving past her once not recognising her with her new blonde hair. Incidentally did you know that it is ‘blond’ for a man with golden locks and ‘blonde’ for a woman. French. Great to see her, a familiar face after so long. We went to see Ants at the cafe with Ford as she is living in an intentional community in London and hoping to start up a cafe so interested to hear more. Ants asked us warily what we were doing there and what we were hoping for, fearing we were crazy Pom stalkers. We explained we were interested in what had been said about intentional community at Soul Survivor and were eager to learn from being involved in one in some way. He seemed to relax a little, told us some people it would be good for us to meet, things we might be able to do – Easter Camp which was coming up for example. He invited us to go over for dinner the following Wednesday and we took off into the day.

The Hannahs and I went into Chch to take a look around, had a wander through the prize-winning botanic gardens packed with glorious European trees, planted hundreds of years ago to make us feel at home. We tasted some tasty fudge and drank dark coffees in Cathedral Square where a group of Maoris (indigenous people of NZ) were performing the Kapa haka – a traditional Maori dance. Lamb kebabs for tea.

The next day Brown expertly cut my hair before we drove over the hill on which the Hellewells live to Lyttleton harbour. A stunning drive with views of the edge of Banks Peninsula, a small nubbin of land to Chch’s South-east – an area of beautiful hills, valleys and bays dotted with pretty little towns. Ford was desperate for a boat ride so we took one across the water to Diamond Harbour. Not much there except a lovely little hotel/restaurant with a pretty garden. The sun was beating down so we sat amongst the agapanthuses and drank L&P (“World famous in NZ”) – tastes like lemon sherbert. The Hannahs shared a big slice of lemon meringue pie. I think ordinarily people take the ferry in the opposite direction so we caught the next one back and wandered around Lyttleton. We looked around galleries and then entered a dairy for an icecream. A fresh faced young man greeted us with a face like a lion. Ford noticed the lack of flavour identification at the counter and inquired whether he knew them all. He threw back his leonine mane with a deep laugh as he revealed, a gleam in his eye, “but of course I know. This is my domain” and with a flourish of his hand he unleashed his frozen-goods knowledge upon us. The double-flavour single-scoops were the biggest we’d yet seen. The next time we went to Lyttleton, this shop and it’s young salesman no longer existed. As if it had all been part of a beautiful dream. Brown allowed Ford to cut her hair when we got home. Brave Ford, funny to watch. For dinner we had NZ fish and chips – red cod! The popular NZ way is crumbed not battered so we got one of each to share. Interestingly it is unthinkable to have a fish cooked when you are not watching. Injected with truth serum I would admit that the crumbed cod tasted better – like a giant fish finger – but it felt wholly wrong. When he was packing up the chips we asked for vinegar and he paused, slyly looked from side to side, reached under the counter and pulled out a large bottle of the dark fluid. He gave a few quick shakes over the packet and exposed us as British.

The next morning brought rain which we watched glide down from the hill across the centre of town and into the distance. We decided to visit the art gallery. There was an exhibition on William Sutton’s watercolour paintings of his travels in Italy. Incredible. Well worth the free ticket. Stunningly detailed pencil drawings with simply (simple) brilliant paint on top. At the ‘Arts Centre’ (an old stone building, something to do with the college?) we had big bowls of chilli soup which warmed us up on the chilly day. We bought some fudge. The lovely old fudge ladies were surprised that us “young people on gap years” wanted to taste the hidden ginger fudge – apparently shouldn’t be to our taste. In the evening we went to Addington – the area where the community in which the Watts live is based. We were there for dinner. Ants is Married to Sandy, they have two kids (Hanna 7 and Olivia 5) and live with Bruce, Harmony, Josh and Ty. Next door are Mike, Matt (Belly), Matt (Barus) and Jared. This group comprised one ‘hub’ of the community. Others were situated in the area (similar distances to the Flowers Estate, Southamptonians). For dinner about 15 people sat around a table in the garden. A few more were there than live in the two houses as Bruce was going to Australia for a month. Kiwi Pavlovas were presented for pudding as Bruce’s treat. We were made to feel very welcome and had lot and lots of fun.

Wednesday nights are small-groups nights and we somehow got roped into playing indoor netball. Conveniently the Hannahs were wearing inappropriate footwear so only I was forced onto the court. As a boy, this was my first opportunity to play netball and I knew no rules except that it was basically a lame version of basketball. We entered the custom-built building where endless rotations of games were played. Our group had put their names down the week before and would be playing a team decided at random. Grumpy umpires and coloured vests were provided and we hit the courts. I had little idea what I was doing and spent my 15 minutes chasing the small girl I was ‘marking. We lost 15-29. It was surprisingly enjoyable.

Thursday with the Hannahs was spent at New Brighton beach, complete with pier but lacking a burnt-down one. We ate pies and gormet sausage rolls under the library by the seas and drank large banana or raspberry milkshakes. We then spent the afternoon cooking the most definitely amazing chilli ever concocted with dark cocoa powder and beef skirt. For pudding we had meringues with raspberries. Ford created a dark chocolate and fresh ginger sauce that, combined with the raspberries was quite the flavour implosion. The Hellewells ate with polite concern.

A road trip on Friday took us an hour and a half North to Hamner Springs where there is a popular spa harbouring several naturally heated pools at a variety of temperatures. Before we entered we had a picnic on the green and climbed nearby Conical Hill. There was a great LOTR view from the top of rolling forested hills and grassy plains. We met some older ladies at the summit who were wearing delightful hats and seemed to put on BBC accents when they heard where we were from. We spotted them in the spa a little later on and took turns on look-out duty to escape from them slapstick-style. At the spa there were 4 pools at 38-39 degrees, a series of connected rock pools at 35, a chlorinated pool at 27 and three small unfiltered pools at 41 degrees. All except the chlorinated pool were spring water but only the hottest was full of bits and stank of sulphur. We spent a couple of hours moving from hot to warm, warm to hot to unbearable. Ford has a fear of wrinkled feet. If you ever get a chance to show her one, it is well worth it. We ate the famous NZ ‘lolly cake’ at a bakery and did not enjoy the experience. Back in Chch that evening we had a curry at the Raj Mahal which was DELICIOUS!! Second best curry I’ve ever had and only a tenner each!

The next day we treated ourselves to another road trip and drove deep into Banks Peninsula to Akaroa, another harbour town. It is a wonderful drive full of rivers and bridges and green and hills and forests and plains. Pie and chips for $4.50 on the way at Little River. Akaroa is a funny place which thinks it is French due to it being the spot where the first French settlers landed all those years ago. It attempts to affirm its identity by selling berets and hosting sporting events and calling them ‘Le Race’. This event (a cycle ride from Chch to Akaroa) was conducting its prize ceremony as we arrived. As about 2000 competitors and families were seated on the village green the loudspeaker announced the arrival of the final contestant – a man of considerable age who raised his fist to the cheers of the seated throng as he passed, followed closely by an ambulance. Finally the organisers could begin dismantling the lines of orange cones. We had a stingy ice-cream from a grumpy, creased teenage boy. Back in Chch we went to a posh-looking pizza place called The Bicycle Thief, mainly because Hannah liked the name. Good music and pear & gorgonzola pizza. One of the nights we did use the hot tub at the Hellewells and spotted the Southern Cross from our bubbling seats.

On Sunday morning we deposited Ford at the airport before church, sending our love with her to England, sad to see her go after a fun week with the Fraudster. We had Sunday lunch at another Addington hub where Ants told us he would look into finding somewhere for us to live. We stayed another couple of nights with the Hellewells before going to stay in the caravan in the Watts’ garden. Ants and Sandy had invited us to stay and made us feel very welcome. We began having our dinners at the Watts’ from that moment on. As the Easter holidays began the caravan owners needed it back and we were offered an empty house in a street nearby. We stayed there for a week or so with a guy called Jolian. Our days were filled at this time by painting a shipping container in the warehouse behind the coffee shop with Adam Rossiter (part of another Addington hub). The container had been insulated, fitted out with a descending bed and a kitchen. We arrived just as it needed grinding, priming and painting and the bathroom fitted. That is what we spent the next week or so working on. Mike and Ty were also painting. Hannah helped Adam with the shower and chiseling the bathroom door. She has learned many sweet new skills. A perk of all this was as much coffee as we could drink and half price food. Great because they make amazing coffee and ridiculous food. I recommend the field mushrooms and the porridge. Great fun working on the container – Josh lives in it now and rightly says it is the best room in the house.

One Sunday was spent dismantling the garage in the Watts’ garden using sledge hammers and crowbars to make way for the lorry which brought the container to the garden. Ants was working hard to get the garden looking good before Bruce returned from Australia – he and Ty rotovated the garden and scattered grass seed.

On Wednesday the 31st March we visited Hagley Park nearby Addington with Ants – full of kingly oak trees. We discussed living with others and problems and delights it creates. Netball was played for the third and last time. The previous week we had been winning the entire 30 minutes (first time the group had done it) until we got complacent and found ourselves giving a few points to the opposition until the score was 24-24. Ty had been consistently scoring baskets each time he was passed the ball and managed to once again but there was some kind of foul. Still 24-24. He was passed it again in the dying moments, leaned back and tossed it in as we the spectators screamed silently from our angst-strangled throats…the buzzer went and there was a moment of confusion before we found out it had gone while the ball was still in the air. We ended with a draw, still a happy result. Because of this we were incredibly eager to win the last night. Unfortunately we lost 10-38. Ouch.

Easter Camp Two Thousand Ten run by churches in Chch began the next day. We had met one of the camp organisers Arnika previously and she was our boss for the next few days. EC was situated about 30mins outside of Chch at Spencer Park. We arrived early afternoon and parked at the end of what would soon be a sea of blocked-in cars and headed for ‘regos’ where we would spend the next 8 hours registering the 4000 youths and leaders attending the camp. We were fed with crisps, coke and fish. Somehow we had wangled a cabin and found out we were sharing it with a couple of the speakers – one of them a comedian (Dave Wiggins, www.davewiggins.co.nz check him out!). They were both cracking jokes about the British all evening – our rooms separated by a wall which ended a couple of feet before the ceiling. When Hannah’s alarm went off unexpectedly and woke everyone up by screaming “It is seven thirty! Wake up!” they complained of the British being selfish and controlling. Dave Wiggins ran through his current material on ‘Googling God’ which is great. We got talking and found out some of the only people he knows in the UK are Andy and Lindsey Morgan – part of our home group!

Our role at EC was as ‘Activity Volunteers’. Each morning after the meeting in the big top we all met up and were told our roles for the day. One day we were put in charge of ‘slippery soccer’, mostly because of our nationality. This involved laying a huge sheet of polythene (partly downhill), throwing many buckets of water on and then a couple of litres of pink dishwashing liquid. Participants were found, a ball tossed in and hilarity and pain ensued. The teams grew large and little attention was paid to any rules (which we didn’t know anyway). Another duty was to make gunge with flour, water and paint for a crazy game. Gunge was to be carried on competitors heads from one end of a field to the other, where it was emptied into a barrel resting on a pallet of bricks sitting on lines of logs. Once this was filled sufficiently it was to be moved to the other end of the field by rolling it on the logs. Hannah ended up getting caught between the winners and the revenge-fueled losers carrying a bucket of gunge. She even got it in between her teeth. One of our least favourite jobs was ‘pash patrol’. We stayed for pack-down on the Tuesday, there were a lot of marquees to dismantle and countless bins to collect.

For the rest of that week we stayed at Andy and Pauline’s house (part of the Spencer St hub) house-sitting whilst they were on holiday on the West Coast. They have double-glazing, a real treat in NZ where central heating is unheard of. An EC reunion at the Addington Coffee Co-op at the end of the week involved sweets and crisps and hog roast. Very good times.

We had met the wonderful Di Sargent at Spreydon briefly once and she had heard our time at the Dumbleton’s was up. She phoned us and told us we were welcome at her house should we ever need it. We took her up on it and stayed for a week. We’d have loved to stay longer as she is probably the most brilliant person ever but another place in Addington (where we were spending all our time) became available. When we arrived at Di’s there was a large bed and folded towels topped with two creme eggs. This made us instant friends. Twas great living with Di, she is a lot of fun. She would leave us notes saying helpful things like ‘Welcome to Wednesday’ ordering us to something outrageous or brilliant. When we had told her about our plans to Skype our housemates Steve and Mel in the evening, we returned to find sweets, drinks and party poppers by the computer and various fancy dress items hidden under a towel on the floor ready for our ‘Skype Party’. Hannah chose wonderwoman pants, a hat with wobbling ears and a nose & glasses combo. I chose a blond wig and a red feather boa. Great to talk to Badger and Mel, they are bold and brassy.

During our stay with Di we helped out at another camp, this one for ‘intellectually disabled young people’. We had been asked at the last minute and so only able to stay one of the nights and had to leave on the penultimate day. Our days were spent playing tag, what’s the time Mr Wolf, etc. outside, board games/dvds indoors, eating breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. There were also exciting activities like raft building and sailing (in 1 foot of water!), rock climbing, orienteering and rope swinging. The idea was to give the guys an opportunity to push their boundaries and experience something new, even if this was just one foot on the climbing wall or even just putting on the climbing harness. We fell in love with the guys in the short time we were with them, there was an unbelievable amount of joy there. The Tuesday evening we left to go to the cinema with Belly and Mike, where we watched Kick-ass. Wednesday we stayed in the dorm with the campers – lots of snoring and sleep talking but felt adventurous! On Thursday we said goodbye to everyone. All the Addington hubs were meeting up for a meal at a local Chinese restaurant – about 50 people there. This is where we met Joan Davidson for the first time and she offered us her house for three weeks when she went on holiday.

Harmony who lives with the Watts has two kids who stay every other weekend. The Friday was Keira’s birthday and we had a little party in the morning.

Other things we’ve/I’ve done over the last 2 months:

- Dug a shallow grave at the side of the cafe for a grease trap – filled 5 small wheelie bins.
- Worked in the cafe (clearing tables, running food, making smoothies, rolling cutlery) – Hannah did this more often.
- Bruce returned and was immediately whipped away by the Watt girls, his biggest fans, mostly hoping to find presents.
- Bruce and I went on Liv’s class trip to the botanical gardens (which began, of course with morning tea). I was put in charge of photography. The teacher told me to make sure I took plenty of pictures, the pressure was on. Each of the ‘parent helpers’ was then assigned a small group of kids to take around the gardens collecting leaves, measuring tree trunks, bug hunting, oak spotting, etc. a LOT of fun. I had three excited and energetic 6 year old boys. The day continued with lunch, playtime on the park and activities arranged by the ‘environment education officer’ which included me wearing flowers on my head.
- We had a number of coffees and dinners with Maurice and Nola Gardiner, a great couple who took good care of us and we will miss a lot – they are good friends with my old boss back home, a funny day when we found that out!
- Joined in with making a breakfast for kids & parents at the primary school Hanna & Liv go to – bacon and pancakes!
- Took a trip with Bruce and Belly to a small coffee shop in a little isolated Autumnal valley and walked along an old railway track. We then went over to Magazine Bay near Lyttleton, Belly showing us secret places we would never have found. We searched out ice cream in Lyttleton, now the old ice cream shop had evaporated.
- Had picnics with the Watts and Harmony and Ty, often rubbing polystyrene on wet glass to attract the attention of little birds
- Went to court where lawyers don’t turn up or ever meet the defendant and still get paid the same amount.
- Enjoyed endless fried chicken at KFC for Josh’s birthday
- Went to the dawn service in Cathedral Square for ANZAC day (like Remembrance Day) mostly so Hanna could get the Brownie badge. With porridge at Geoff’s afterwards.
- Been amazed by the Chch evening clouds – long dangerous looking things often.
- Constructed fences and ‘laced’ gates with Maurice on his friend’s farm. Also watched him shave the bottom of a sheep to rid it of the hundreds of maggots eating its flesh.
- Took a trip with Ants, Harmony, Nation, Keira, Josh, Lis and James to Le Bons Bay, a remote bay on the furthest point of Banks Peninsula where we stayed at a bach, went for walks, collected fresh mussels (after fighting off rabid seals and surviving mega-waves), sharpened sticks to use as spears for catching eels at night.
- Cleaned out the warehouse whilst drinking hot chocolate and pausing to eat porridge.
- Visiting Chch’s rival cafes (like C1) with Hannah Dunlop (as if there weren’t enough already).
- Began attending the new Wednesday night groups, I chose the cooking group which was a lot of fun – last week we nearly burned down the cafe.
- Morning tea with Di at Joans, where we feasted on scones and meringues and listened to enforced Bob Dylan.
- Explored magical secondhand bookshops on Manchester Street.
- Attended devotions at the Watts’ every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8am!
- Borrowed surfboards to use at Sumner.
- Ate toast at the Viney’s with Adam and Caleb.
- Attended a day’s workshop at Spreydon led by Dave Andrews entitled ‘Life Together’.
- Visited C1 again, this time with Alanna, Sam, Adam, etc. drank a very poor hot chocolate with a tasty Kiwi chocolate fish.
- Ate German pizza at a little secret pizza place with Hannah Dunlop and her housemate Jonny.
- Played in the big cave at Sumner beach with Hanna and Liv as Ants and Sandy chilled on the beach.
- Watched DVDs and drank coffee with Mike.

That is a very brief overview of two brilliant months we have spent with a large group of brilliant people who have taken us in and treated us like family. We will truly miss them all and like I said, how strange to think of all those people we know carrying on on the other side of the globe as we leave…

Brownout