March 1/16: Nelson (a weekend of music)

My goodness, it is already March! My last month here in Nelson.

I have just had a weekend of wall to wall music. Beginning on Saturday night, another concert at Trafalgar Park, this time by a musical trio called Sol3 Mio. They are classically trained and wowed the audience with everything from pop to classical. At points in the evening they had everyone singing along, and almost the entire audience up dancing.  Here is a selfie (copied from Twitter!) they took of themselves, looking back at the audience.


                                    

It really was a magical evening. New Zealanders are very proud of this group.  They are all related (two bothers and a cousin) and grew up in Samoa (once part of New Zealand).  When introducing one song they talked about their roots very fondly but also explained how difficult is was for them to be taken seriously precisely because of those roots. For me, sitting in the audience listening to them, and seeing the hills  around Nelson in the background, it was spectacular.

Here is a link to one of the songs they recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNByjeiimxw

Here is a picture taken at the concert. In no way does it do the experience justice but perhaps it gives you a bit of an idea of where I was.

Event number two was Sunday afternoon back at Founders Park, the park just a five minute walk from me. Another afternoon of jazz, performed by the Nelson Jazz Club. Perhaps more entertaining than the musicians was the little girl in white, who clearly loved having an audience.

And lastly, on Sunday night a fundraiser for the Nelson School of Music, at Nelson's Theatre Royal. Six groups in total performed, everything from African music sung by the choir Mosaic, to folk groups, a string quartet  and some Celtic music. Something for everyone. Perhaps the group that took the prize for strangest name was Django Schmango. Not a big surprise that they played music by Django Reinhardt.

The Theatre Royal is a bit larger and fancier than Wolfville's Al Whittle Theatre (see picture below) but there were times listening to the folk groups when I could have sworn I was back home.

Feb. 17/16: Nelson (Government in NZ)

Today we are having a doozy of a storm, so I thought I'd spend a bit of time gathering some information on New Zealand's government. The short version. And my take on it. Sorry, no pictures!

There are many similarities between the structure of the Canadian and New Zealand  governments. We both operate under a parliamentary  system,  and have a Governor General  representing the Queen. We both have three branches:
- legislature (parliament), with an elected House  of Representatives   (NZ has no Senate);
- executive branch (ministers and civil service);
- judiciary.

The House of Representatives in NZ has about 120 members for a population of about 4.5 million. Canada's House of Commons has  338 members for a population of almost 36 million.

New Zealand has elections every 3 years, rather than 4 (max) for us. The last elections were held in Sept. 2014 and the results were:
- National party (centre-right): 47% of the vote
- Labour party (centre-left): 25.1 %
- Green party: 10.7%
- NZ First: 8.7%
- Maori party: 1.3%
- others: 7.2%

Since 1996, NZ has had  a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system, which means that the proportion of votes  a party gets is reflected in the number of seats they have in Parliament. Each elector gets two votes, one for the local candidate  and one for the party.  This has  increased the representation of smaller parties and made it necessary for parties to work together, as it would be very  unlikely for any party to have a majority of seats. People I have spoken to here have been quite positive about the MMP voting system.

The main parties have long been  the National and Labour parties. The National Party has most often held power  in NZ, although Labour was in power  from 1984-90 and from 1999 to 2008. John Key, the current head of the National Party, has been PM since 2008. He is regarded as  very  charismatic, and still seems to be reasonably popular.

Voter turnout in the last election in 2014 was  78%, higher than in the previous  election in 2011 (74%).   But in the early 1980s voter turnout was over  90%, although it had  fallen to the mid-80s through most of the 1990s. In Canada, voter turnout "ballooned" to 68% in our last  election, up from something closer to 60% in the prior two elections. None too impressive!

NZ doesn't really have an equivalent of Canada's provinces. Instead it has councils: 12 regional ones covering almost every area of the country, and within them, 16 city and 57 district councils. I see different numbers in different places  so these are approximate.

Regional  councils have responsibility  for environmental  planning and natural resources  and the city and district councils look after water, rubbish collection, sewage treatment, parks, street lighting, roads, libraries, and the provision of building and environmental  permits. Much like our municipal governments.

Interestingly, policing and education are responsibilities  of the federal government in NZ, whereas for us they would fall under provincial jurisdiction.

Well, that is enough for now! Let me know if you have other questions!

Feb. 9-15/16: Nelson (Chch quake, Opera in the park)

Sadly, yesterday there was another  earthquake in Christchurch, a week short of the 5th anniversary  of the big one in 2011. Christchurch is 400 km. south of Nelson, so I did not feel it here but it has certainly dominated the news. There were thankfully no injuries  but definitely some damage, particularly near the coast as the epicentre was about 15 km. offshore. But it must be so discouraging for those who remember all too well the last  big one. The Christchurch  Cathedral, which was seriously damaged in the 2011 quake, sustained further damage, but it was very  vulnerable, as no work had been done on it since that quake, pending decisions on its future. Apparently the buildings that had been constructed, or reinforced,  since  the 2011 quake held up.

Christchurch Cathedral (A picture I took

at the end of December, 2015. It must 

look a bit worse today.)

The weekend's events in Nelson were much cheerier. Saturday night was Opera in the Park. Not the usual  setting for an opera, but this was Nelson's version of opera. Complete with fireworks, and Darth Vader lookalikes conducting and performing. The programme included mostly popular opera pieces  by the likes of Mozart (from the Magic Flute) and Rossini (from the Barber of Seville) but there was also some more serious opera, as well as a few popular songs. And of course  there was some Maori music, performed by the Modern Maori Quartet. Check out this selfie they took at the event. I am sitting very near the front, but not visible  here.

And, a few pictures I took there.

Darth Vader's contribution

Hard to see, but the stage just 

as it was getting dark

The Modern  Maori  Quartet  

Sunday morning I did a two hour shift as greeter at one of the area's earliest grand homes, Isel House, built in 1849. Guess they aren't concerned that I have a Canadian  accent! Takes close to an hour to cycle there, almost  the whole way on cycle paths. This is such a treat. A few final pictures, for this post.

Isel House

My stop on the way home, at

Tahunanui Beach

One of the route maps

Almost home. The house I'm living

in is straight ahead.

Feb 1-8/16: Nelson (Waitangi Day)

February 6th was Waitangi Day, and that was decidedly the highlight of the  week.  So this will be a wee bit of a history lesson. February 6th was also the Chinese New Year, and Bob Marley's birthday.

Waitangi Day is New Zealand's birthday, the day 176 years ago, in 1840, when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the Britsh Crown  and about 500 Maori chiefs. New Zealand  then became a British  colony, and the Maori British subjects. In theory the treaty was supposed  to protect Maoris and their land but this quickly came into dispute. Only in 1970 was a tribunal formed to resolve breaches of the treaty.

 Waitangi Day was celebrated on February 8 this year (creating a long weekend) and in Nelson the celebrations took place  at the annual Kai Festival. Kai means food in Maori so that tells  you something about the nature of the festivities.

The festival took place at Founders Park  (just a few minutes from me) and the neighbouring Maori Whakatu Marae. A marae is the focal point of a Maori community, the courtyard in front  of the meeting house.

Marae in front of the meeting

house (wharenui in Maori)

The day started with greetings and speeches  from local  public figures. The introductions  took place largely in Maori. The crowd - and it was large - lined up for the traditional Maori greeting, the hongi, touching  of foreheads and noses.  Didn't get any pictures  of this!! I did get one of the lesson that followed this however; pakeha (non-maori) being taught how to do the haka, the ancient war dance which is now performed by the All Blacks. Every sound and movement has a meaning.

Haka lesson

Although  this was New Zealand's Day, it was shared with festivities for the Chinese New Year, and food from around the world.

Apparently the first chinese

 dragon in Nelson!

Jan. 25-31/16: Nelson (week's highlights, coffee)

It's February!! I've been one month now in Nelson and still feel I could not have chosen a better spot to stay. Since I'm settling into a routine of sorts and not taking very many pictures, I thought I'd briefly show you the highlights of my week and then try something new, a theme for the week. This week I'm starting with coffee, because it is such a big part of life here in New Zealand.

To start , some pictures of the week's highlights:

Mullet man, one of the entertainers

at the annual Buskers Festival

A concert at Fairfield House,

one of the city's historic  houses.

The group: Richter City Rebels,

a 9-piece band playing New Orleans

style music

A walk on Tahunanui Beach

on the other side of town.

And this was on a Sunday!!

And now for coffee. I'll start with the coffee menu from one of the local cafes. Most cafes here are independents, and also serve fantastc food. I'll get to food another week. And unlike  home, no matter which cafe you go to, the coffee types all have the same names. How sensible is that.

Yello is the name of the cafe

In case you didn't notice, filtered coffee does not appear on the list. One website said you couldn't  find drip coffee (other  than in your home) if your life depended on it. Too true. The coffees are all expresso based, and most often between $4 and $5. And if you want decaf and soy, add $.50 for each of those. Important to remember that  tax is included, and tipping not expected. The Canadian and NZ dollar are close. $1.00 Canadian =  $1.10 NZ.

Last year I had never heard of flat white, but when I got back to Canada, there  it was, at least in a few places. New Zealand claims  to be the creator of flat  white, but so does Australia! My extensive research tells me it is the most popular coffee here. It's certainly  what I most often hear ordered.

Here's a brief primer on NZ coffees:
- short black: single shot of espresso served in a demi tasse;
-  long black: single or double  shot of espresso OVER hot water although  sometimes the water is served separately. Apparently an Americano is quite different as the espresso  goes in first, then the hot water. Could one really tell the difference?
- cappuccino: shot of espresso with equal parts steamed milk, and a cap of foam;
- flat white: more milky than a cappuccino. One-third espresso and two-thirds steamed milk, with a touch of froth;
- latte: the milkiest. A shot of espresso with lots of hot milk and little or no froth.

The websites I looked at went to some length to describe the process for steaming the milk and creating the froth but by that time my eyes were starting to glaze over.

That's as much as I think I will ever need to know about coffee. Hope it helps you too. There are other types but I can't absorb any more,  and they are the fringe coffees, as far as I can tell.

By the way, Starbucks is here. I've gone in only to find out that they use New Zealand coffee terminology, and not the names they use back home. Yeah, New Zealand!!!