Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Wellington: April 15
This morning we took the Wellington cable car up to the botanical garden, walked about the garden a bit, and then drove down to the harbor to spend some time in Wellington’s famous Te Papa (national) museum. This museum has wonderful Maori exhibits, as well as excellent representations of European settlement and of the hybrid culture that has evolved in this country. Here I was finally able to find, with help from the staff of the museum gift shop, a couple of excellent recordings of traditional Maori music, performed with traditional instruments and accompanied by historic Maori chants and songs.
Midafternoon, we left the museum to greet two Keene émigrés, David and Dana Orsman. Dave worked in the College Relations office at KSC, where his job of writing about and photographing professional activities and cultural and recreational events took him into every office and dormitory and allowed him to become one of the most widely known (and admired) individuals on the campus. He’s a native Kiwi who had lived in Tonga in his childhood and, after developing a passion for mountaineering and climbing, had spent considerable time in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, where he met a lovely lady climber from Connecticut. Dave and Dana (a Boston University graduate) were eventually married in North Conway, New Hampshire, and after living for a while in New Zealand, returned to New England so that Dave could work at KSC and Dana could pursue a master’s degree at Antioch New England. Both are thoughtful, articulate, warm, interesting, and immensely likeable people, and their departure from Keene this past fall caused widespread regret. Both Dave and Dana are far more physically active than either of us, and New Zealand is obviously a good place for people with such enthusiasm for the outdoors. On Sunday, Dave was planning to run for about 3 hours along a ridge-top path above the city in preparation for an upcoming marathon; Dana would accompany him on her mountain bike. Both of them appear to miss New England, however, and both suggested that they might return to the States within a few years. We walked about Wellington, where Dana teaches Maori and Samoan children and Dave works for Land Transport, a Crown (national) agency. They showed us some of the major new developments in the waterfront area, including some public artwork, and took us to a city museum where we viewed paintings, photographs and sculptures by an eccentric Australian artist. We drove up a remarkably narrow road to the summit of Mount Victoria, highest point in the city, to enjoy a panoramic view of Wellington’s many hills and harbors, and then drove to their home suburb of Tawa, where we ate at a Thai restaurant and visited with them (and their cat) at their comfortable home. Our return to the Mecure was quick and uncomplicated, and when we tried to watch a movie on television, we both promptly fell asleep.
Midafternoon, we left the museum to greet two Keene émigrés, David and Dana Orsman. Dave worked in the College Relations office at KSC, where his job of writing about and photographing professional activities and cultural and recreational events took him into every office and dormitory and allowed him to become one of the most widely known (and admired) individuals on the campus. He’s a native Kiwi who had lived in Tonga in his childhood and, after developing a passion for mountaineering and climbing, had spent considerable time in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, where he met a lovely lady climber from Connecticut. Dave and Dana (a Boston University graduate) were eventually married in North Conway, New Hampshire, and after living for a while in New Zealand, returned to New England so that Dave could work at KSC and Dana could pursue a master’s degree at Antioch New England. Both are thoughtful, articulate, warm, interesting, and immensely likeable people, and their departure from Keene this past fall caused widespread regret. Both Dave and Dana are far more physically active than either of us, and New Zealand is obviously a good place for people with such enthusiasm for the outdoors. On Sunday, Dave was planning to run for about 3 hours along a ridge-top path above the city in preparation for an upcoming marathon; Dana would accompany him on her mountain bike. Both of them appear to miss New England, however, and both suggested that they might return to the States within a few years. We walked about Wellington, where Dana teaches Maori and Samoan children and Dave works for Land Transport, a Crown (national) agency. They showed us some of the major new developments in the waterfront area, including some public artwork, and took us to a city museum where we viewed paintings, photographs and sculptures by an eccentric Australian artist. We drove up a remarkably narrow road to the summit of Mount Victoria, highest point in the city, to enjoy a panoramic view of Wellington’s many hills and harbors, and then drove to their home suburb of Tawa, where we ate at a Thai restaurant and visited with them (and their cat) at their comfortable home. Our return to the Mecure was quick and uncomplicated, and when we tried to watch a movie on television, we both promptly fell asleep.
# posted by Ken @ 10:50 PM 
