Yawn

.. good morning everyone.. Or should I say: Ladies, good evening. Gents, good morning...
well, I had taken all these pretty notes on the landscape of New Zealand, the houses and the stories they tell, patati-patata, but I'm not sure I'm up for that (I'm not sure you wanna hear it ;). therefore, I'll do what I do best: random waffling.
Wellington, where I am now, is windy and famous for its cafes; Mainly, there is one street that doesn't follow the "Gloria Jean" trail. two of their individual and sweet coffeeplace even looked fucked up Berlin-style. I got homesick for our sweet stinky grungy city for the first time.. The newspapers are abysmal. I'm trying to develop a theory on this: is this the secret to Kiwi happiness and their amazing un-aggressiveness? Does that come from being so detached from the rest of the world (after a repeated search, I did find a "world" section), unlike the hyperactively nervous Europeans?
New Zealand is still amazing to me. Every piece of land is tidied and dolled up, the whole COUNTRY looks like a Lenne garden, a romantic English pasture, a Scottish moor. soi wild soi gentle: always beautiful.
In Napier, slow town at the ocean (with a pebbly beach and stunning views) this neatness applied even to the buildings. Napier is part of the NZ winetrail (so you know what I've been doing..); its other tourist attraction are the "old" houses (almost 80 years!) in Art Deco style. Kiwis seem quite proud of this "heritage" thing. The 100-year-old bathing house in Rotorua which is now a museum was intermittendly used as a nightclub, as the guide disdainfully explained. must have been a heck of a nightclub.
The only drawback so far is the fact that theplace is crawling with young narcistic Germans: Man spricht deutsch. people don't evenbother trying to include the sparse non-Germans (mostly Asian chicks with sparse English). Hopefully, our presence won't spoil the insane hospitality here. When the bus back into town (from wineries at the other end of Napier town) failed to stop for me, within five minutes two people had offered me a ride. "Kindness to strangers" fast became a hot contender for my New Year's Resolution Top Five (I'm not done yet). how are yours doing? happy new year...