Memories of Tauranga

When I was little we used to go camping on a regular basis to Tauranga. It was a different place back then, simple and much less hyped up tourist-commercial. We would put up a tent outside my great grandparents old house, where my dad used to spend many summers growing up, and he would revel in our terror as he recounted his own personal ghost story from when he was young. It was where he was born, and so for that reason, when i moved there 6 years ago it felt like i was going back to my roots. Not really "home" but to a place that I had a connection to.

I went back a couple of days ago, but for a different purpose. Catching up with friends was part of it, but it turns out my ties with this place are much more far reaching than I had imagined. My 3rd great grandparents emigrated from Ireland in 1875 and settled temporarily in Katikati before moving to Tauranga where they lived, died and were buried. I found their headstone two days ago, the place where their mortal remains are, and had a strong sense of something hard to describe, possibly kinship.

Their daughter youngest Mary Ella married the son of a military man, Captain Archibald Turner, who is buried in the old mission cemetery overlooking the harbour bridge, ocean and Mauao. Archibald was a military brat, raised in canada, married an orphaned french girl and dragged his family off to this new country, initially serving in the Maori wars and becoming a surveyor when he was off duty. His oldest son Charles followed in his footsteps, becoming a surveyor and was in the tour group that went to see what remained of the Pink and White terraces after they were destroyed in a volcanic eruption.

While i was in the Tauranga library I noticed they're having a writing competition, called Memories of Tauranga, for true stories to be included in an anthology of stories about Tauranga. I'm sure I could write something decent, since i feel so strongly connected to the place, both on my white and brown side. So the above is some initial thoughts that I have put down as my "pre-writing" phase before I get down to the actual essay I'm going to write. I wish me luck.

Christchurch

I always thought Cathedral square would be easy to find, you hear so much about it on the news. One hour of wandering around the central city and I never came across it. I guess I should take my map book next time. Or maybe ask someone. I did see a lot of old churches though, and some of the old fashioned Dr Who phone boxes that you don't see so much anymore. The river is beautiful, even though the trees around it are leafless and brown, and theres an old fashioned dandelion type water fountain that reminds me of the ones I grew up with in Hamilton.

I want to go for a tram ride. I think I'll do that sometime tomorrow. And I want to go check out the canterbury museum, I hear good things about it. If i had more time and a car I would go see Hamner springs. Its cold down this way but not a chilling pervasive windy cold like Wellington. More of a slow steady cold, if you can describe cold as a movement rather than a temperature. I'm only here for a few days, but so far I'm enjoying it.

The Beauty of Language

I think that it becomes easier to appreciate the intricacies of language once you start learning a second or even a third one. Trying to express oneself in a medium other than ones own native tongue can be frustrating, distressing and hilarious (for the listeners that is). It can also open one up to have empathy for others who may be struggling with english. For me I was grateful I learned english first because its probably the worst language (with the possible exception of certain asian or scandinavian languages) to learn as a second or third language. All the rules that we break in every other sentence. At least french sticks to its rules 90% of the time.

When my brother hit teenagehood he and his friends began warping our native tongue to use words in ways for which they were not originally intended, sort of twisting words into sentence structures you wouldn't normally hear them in. It was intriguing listening to them, I wish I could think of some examples of the words that they used, but I can't. One day I attempted to bring it to his attention... "You know, when you and your friends talk, you use ordinary words in really different ways..." He looked at me blankly. I looked at my sister to help me explain, she did a much better job, I think she actually thought of an example. Then he got what we were talking about. He moved out of home not long after so I couldn't keep listening.

But thats what I like about english. A person can do their own thing with the language, and most of the time people (provided they're not english teachers) will get what they're on about. Next thing you'll hear people mimicking them all over the place. Young people like to be different, and ahead of others, and language is just one of the ways a person can do that.

Weta Cave

I went to see the Weta cave on saturday. I heard it was just a store before I went, but it was much better than I thought it would be. I spent the whole time we were there taking photos of LOTR figurines. I especially liked the little Hobbit leaf brooches that they had on their cloaks, and the Arwen necklace. They showed a video of the creation of Weta studios and some of the movies that they had helped work on. I didn't even know they had helped with King Kong.

Then we drove around and our friend pointed out the top secret Weta studios which have no signage on them, I think for security reasons. I guess its a good idea. We looked around Miramar and Seatoun and drove around the coast line. Its good when you're in a car and not outside in the blowing wind.

I went to see a movie at the Embassy theatre today. I highly recommend going there just for the experience. Beautifully furnished everything, very old fashioned, very well put together. Transformers 2 wasn't bad either.

The Tenth Insight

I really like books, people and things which/who stimulate my mind and get the mental juices flowing with ideas, thoughts and memories. 2 days ago i picked up a book off the shelf which I bought 10 yrs ago and never read - maybe the time wasn't right then. The 10th insight by James Redfield. I read its prequel The Celestine Prophecy 10yrs ago and watched the movie for it last year, but only just got around to this one. and coudln't put it down. Its quite rare I come across a book i can't put down because I'm quite fussy when it comes to reading in general, although I do sometimes just read a book so i can get to the end and know what happens in it.

I was thinking last night about how much i loathe book reviews and the snotty way in which most of them seem to be written, and asking myself what i would prefer to see in a book review. Personally i think i would like to know what someone else got out of a book, what insights they gained. Even though anyone reading a book would get something different to what someone else would get, I think for me, that would be a good measuring stick to use in determining whether or not I want to read something else. I like taking other peoples book recommendations.

This book provoked alot of curiousity in me. No doubt i will write more than one post on what i learned. The first thing that got me was the discussion of the birth vision.

What if i could remember why i chose to be born at the era that I did, the country I did, the family unit i did and especially the unique combination of parents I did? What if i specifically chose those two individuals to help me on the path I needed to follow in life? A mission only I could accomplish? What if i intended into my life, people whose personalities and characters would help me overcome my own natural tendencies to shut myself off from the world and avoid people in general?

If i could remember the mission I came here to perform, would it make my life easier or harder? As a child I definately felt that there was something I was here to do here on terra firma, yet 20 years on I still don't have a clue what.

The birth vision is a remembering of the choices we made before we came here, our glimpse of the best case scenario for our sojourn on this planet, even choices that don't make sense here on earth, such as coming into an abusive or violent family situation.

Heritage

I had the opportunity a couple of days ago to look through a box of my grandpa's old things. Having never known my grandfather, he passed away even before my mother got married, I was curious to see what was in there, especially not really knowing what sort of person he was, except for the odd comments from my mother. My grandmother never really mentioned him to me while she was alive.

The box contained a lot of ribbons he had won from keeping pigeons. Also a diagram of a saddle that he designed, which his employer got all the credit for. And among many things, letters he had written to my grandmother while she was away. I don't know why she was away, somewhere with the children, but he sounded lonely. It was saddening to read the letters, and wonder why they were separated and why there were no replies from my grandmother. Did they even get along at all?

Mum said they were originally set up on a blind date. Grandpa apparently had a thing against red heads. Grandma was a redhead. Obviously he liked her anyway because he talked her into marrying him. Apparently they lived some distance apart, and grandma went down there to tell him it was all over between them, and on that same trip that they ended up getting married. Go figure.

But I wondered at the end of going through the box... 30 years after I'm dead, is that all my life is going to be reduced to? One box of things to show my sojourn on this planet earth. Just a few papers, momentos and nicknacks? What else could one leave on the planet that would prove one had led a useful and meaningful life? The answer eludes me for now, but I'm sure i'll figure it out eventually.