New Zealand - October 2009

Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

(Click image above for the photo album)

I've been lucky to have hosted Amanda for MLX a couple of times and she had extolled to me the virtues of the Big Band Festival in Christchurch, & it would be great to catch up with some of the other Kiwis I'd met around the place, and flights were so cheap! I booked a week there - 21st to 28th October. Flying in, my first impressions were (as expected) of some pretty stunning mountains, but also an inordinate number of horse training tracks - seemingly in every 4th paddock. It was neat that the terminal was adjacent to the hangers/depots of various nations' Antarctic programs (I'll get there one day!). Once in town I found my billet accommodation - thanks Andrew! Dinner was with Canberrans and Swedes and then off for some dancing - firstly the workshop, then to the Yellow Cross pub in the slightly-artificially-cool Sol Square. The band was placed on a balcony running around the dance floor, which gave an amazing stereo effect. There were some young Japanese tourists looking very intrigued by all the swing dancing, and were delighted when I taught them a few steps.

From Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

On the Thursday I met up with Angeline at the Bus Exchange (almost a tourist attraction in its own right) for a trip to the International Antarctic Centre, which was fun - we got to hoon around in a Hagglund, and I got pecked by a penguin during the 'backstage tour'. It was a little bit overpriced perhaps, but pretty interesting. I caught the suburban bus ride back into town along with a group of Italian high school boys that were tossing a rugby ball around. I dropped in on Ernest Rutherford's Den at what used to be the University of Canterbury, and the neighbouring Botanic Gardens weren't on my to-do list, but were actually really good; there was a great sundial and a Japanese Peace Bell. On my way back to the house I bumped into Andrew going the other way, and realised I was running slightly late, so we headed straight down to Laser Strike. It was a lot of fun, and I am very suspicious about my low placing. Then back for some music and dancing at the Sol Square - Fat Eddies. I had met some of the guys at MLX or other places around the world, or at least had knew a lot of mutual friends, so it didn't take long to find plenty of people to dance with. There seemed to be a lot of Americans for some reason.

From Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

Friday morning I met up with Suzanne and Angeline for a gourmet brekky down on High Street, followed by shopping for props for that nights GI Ball at the Army Disposals store, and then tackling the big tourist attractions. We went punting, and since I was carrying my ukulele I was encouraged by my fellow passengers to have a bit of a quiet strum; this made a passenger in a passing punt very excited, and when we returned to the bank he caught up with us and introduced himself as Wesley, the owner of the punting company and a ukulele (and penny farthing) buff. He offered me a lift to the ukulele singalong in New Brighton that evening. Meantime, back to the sightseeing, and the obligatory tram journey, and then Suzanne and I went to check out the gondola. There was a marginally lame multimedia 'train' journey up at the summit, but the views were fantastic and it was great to get amongst the volcanic terrain. Suzanne enjoyed a snooze on the bus back into town before we met back up with Angeline, and then I went off to the ukulele night. It was great to meet everyone there - it was a bit more of a casual sing-along compared with MUK, but they asked me to sing a number so I hit 'em with the extended version of Slow Dance Baby. Many of the group knew of MUK and had relatives in Melbourne. Leslie announced that the next song was in the key of J, with the chords Jay, Say, Eff and Day. Back to the swing event - the GI Ball - and I made it just in time for the performances and supper. Incidently mid-swing supper is a great institution and there should be more of it.

From Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

The sun shone bright on the weekend - and I discovered that swing was not the only dancing that was to be found in town; there was a bunch of people acting out Michael Jackson's Thriller video in front of the Art Gallery. There was a great atmosphere in & around the craft market & I had a good poke around the Art Centre. In the evening we headed over to the Big Band Cabaret Ball - most of the bands were fantastic (there were a couple of exceptions) - I was very impressed that there were a whole lot of songs the MUK play, being performed by the big bands - including, strangely enough, Knock on Wood. I had a dance with Ruth which was quite an experience; it was remarkable how she could get from place to place, seemingly without passing through any of the intervening points. I also took the chance to sample some local beers; they were all quite tasty and went down very quickly what with all the dancing and supper.

Much of the weekend was spent doing dance workshops (I really must review my notes/videos to re-learn some of the moves) which were a good challenge; I found that despite expectations I was able to maintain concentration through to the end each day when a few of the others started to drop off, though I'm sure they all had me covered in actual skill! And my legs were seriously starting to sieze up, and my shoes were starting to disintegrate. The last workshop on the Sunday was a little bit late in starting so I serenaded the waiting dancers with Ghost Tram and All My Favourite Bits (they wanted a couple of fast ones) which went down a treat. Into the evening & more dancing and mingling - given the Hawaiian theme I was hoping to give the uke a bit more of a strum but I couldn't really compete with the DJ's sound system.

From Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

The Recovery Day was a great idea and I think that it was the event that I was most looking forward to! A busload of swing dancers headed north, via a generous brunch and a wine tasting, to Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools. It would have been nice to spend another hour there... although I probably would say the same thing regardless of how long we'd spent there. They were wonderfully therapeutic and I found that many of the swing people went very quiet in a relaxed kind of way. On the way back into town we stopped at Prenzel for some liqueur tastings, then pizza at Yellow Cross. I was still finding new people to meet, but as I started to wind down my fingers started to itch and I found a quiet corner to have a bit of a strum of the uke. Unintentionally I drew a small & enthusiastic crowd - it was a nice way to wind down the festivities!

From Christchurch (etc) Oct 2009

I went on a daytrip on the last full day - the tour to Mt Cook wasn't running due to insufficient numbers, so instead I did the 4WD/Arthurs Pass tour. Many thanks to Melissa at The Adventure Centre who organised the booking with aplomb, despite having had a long day; and she even chased me up the street with my tickets when I left them on the counter. Anyway - to the tour. I have since theorised that the tour guide (who bears quite a resemblance to sports reporter Mark Beretta) didn't realise he was rostered on that day, so we started a bit late and I had to wait for half an hour in miserable weather. While I'm grumbling, what was promoted as an adventure tour was mostly full of retirees; but I guess they were pretty good value. And the tour guide's jokes weren't as lame as most. And the weather cleared up beautifully. We did some basic 4WDing around a farm in the foothills near Springfield, and then headed down to the river for a spin in the jet boat - good fun. Then up to the mountains to Arthur's Pass, just in time to meet the TranzAlpine for the trip back to Christchurch. The scenery was fantastic - the freshly-snowed-on mountains and braided rivers were astonishing. Back in town & I shouted Andrew dinner at Strawberry Fare - when I first heard the name, I thought it was called Strawberry Fear which would have been pretty good as well.

On the way home I had to get up at Stupid o'Clock for a 7am flight (ie 5am to the airport, ie 4am shuttle pick-up, ie 3:30am wakeup, ie 1:30am Melbourne time), but it was a spectacular morning and the Southern Alps were stunning. Landing was a little bit delayed and we had a bit of a slow tour of South Gippsland (good views of the Prom & the power stations; Melbourne was blanketed by cotton wool, with Mt Dandenong a prominent island).

Thanks to Amanda, Andrew and all at Hepcat Swing for hosting a great weekend, and thanks everyone for all the dances and I'll catch you all soon!

Next time: Mt Cook, the Pacific, perhaps the rest of the TranzAlpine.