In the second part of our time in New Plymouth, we don’t do a great deal. This isn’t a slight on New Plymouth, its a conscious choice that we’ve made to not rush around, forcing ourselves into activity. The decision is partly made because relaxing in Jennie’s house is so easy. Many afternoons we sit and read, or work on something. We’re happy with enjoying the sun and taking short walks.
During this period, we use the hot tub, which is an absurd luxury, several times. We’re cashing in on the offer of generosity, making it clear to Jennie to please let us know if we’re overstepping at any point.
On a Monday evening Jennie hosts ‘Round the Table’ where she invites her friends for dinner, trying to fill up all the seats round the table. This evening is made better by Jennie’s excellent cooking, the only dampener being the incredible dull vegetarian conversation Tilly and I endure (which I’m not going to elaborate on because its petty to moan about it here).
On Thursday evening, Jennie is away working in Hastings. We get fish and chips, beers, and Tilly goes for a vegetarian spring roll. We end the evening with beer in the hot tub. Feeling so wealthy and decedent. Embarrassed even.
Most of our work this week has been in Jennie’s gardening weeding. I get a go with a hedge trimmer at one stage, dangerous. On Friday we work at Jennie’s luxury retreat, which is $400 dollars a night, and is stunning. Sweeping sea views on the balcony, open plan kitchen diner with windows allowing you to see the view from any point in the room, a hot tub. Jennie reduces this fee for her friends and anyone that has mental health issues. People in need of rest and recuperation. The initial higher rate balancing out these other circumstances. Tilly and I can’t comprehend having the money to stay in such a place. Not because of the price, actually around £200 a night for a luxury stay isn’t, in the context of luxury stays, that much. We’re just not people to which this level of luxury is meant for. We see this on posh people’s instagram accounts and on TV shows with ‘Design’ in the name. Every now and then I have this thought which says, you know I know its an ethical problem but maybe becoming a war lord or a drugs kingpin is worth it to sit and read your book on this balcony all day. Its a level of luxury which almost contextualises why people don’t really care that they exploit the shit out of things/people/the planet to make big money. Credit to Jennie for not being one of those people.
At the weekend we climb Paritutu rock. Its a stereotyped sunny holiday day, there’s loads of people out on the walkways enjoying the weather. We walk all along the beach front walkway. We talk about how Paritutu is known locally as suicide rock. We talk about how the trip advisor reviews of Paritutu really stress how difficult the last part of it is to climb. We ignore them.
Paritutu rock is difficult to climb, especially the last part. The views are worth it however. Though Taranaki mountain is still under cloud, we take in the coastline until it stretches out of sight, the ocean behind us. The water in New Zealand is so perfectly blue you almost wonder if they’ve added the banned blue smartie colourant to it. We stay up here awhile and absorb it all in.
The reason Paritutu is difficult to climb up , and as we learn, more difficult and even scary to climb down, is its sheerness. The peak has to ascended by pulling yourself up a chain rope, assisting you with the rock climbing element of the task. Going down is far far worse, you’re now rock climbing whilst being confronted with the sheerness. Aggressively confronted, like a big dog is barking at you and you’re not sure how under control it is. We decide to go down abseil style. If we can’t see the drop, it doesn’t have to immediate us. Don’t look into the void approach. Very human approach.
Coming down is made comical when 3 year olds IN FLIP FLOPS overtake us going down facing outwards. There’s a point where it almost felt like a sketch show, that next an Elephant on a tricycle could come past faster. Still we make it down safely and walk back to the house. We hot tub and this time listen to the Lord of the Rings audiobook.
Our last evening falls on a Monday, making it ‘Round the Table’ again. There’s a slight line up change from the last one, another workaway has joined us. She’s vegan AND DOESN’T ENDURE THE SAME SCRUTINY WE DID, due to the other line up change being the main culprits not showing this week. THEY SAID MEAT-ATARIANS. THEY SAID WE’RE MEAT-ATARIANS. THAT ISN’T A THING. OKAY. MEAT-ATARIAN IS NOT A THING. YOU COULD AT LEAST SAY CARNIVORE AND MAKE SOME KIND OF SENSE AND YES I AM THIS PETTY YOU KNOW IT I KNOW IT, IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO HAPPEN.
This other workaway, Jo, is lovely, she’s from Essex, and is somewhere in the late 40s early 50s age tick box. She’s a marine biologist specialising in Penguins, only that’s basically a hobby of hers and her actual career is in education. Pretty elite level hobby that.
This evening Jennie produces a Vegan lemon cake which is so good that I think yeah maybe I could go vegan. She announces to the table that it’s the first time she’s ever made a vegan cake. The cake is so delicious that I almost don’t think about how envious I am of people that make perfect things at the first attempt. Almost.
After dinner Teina shows us loads of videos of the national competition of Maori performance. Sorry if you’re reading this Teina and I describe this poorly. We watch videos as different tribes come together for a competition festival and perform Hakas, routines with Poi (I urge you to watch this on youtube), and other elements of traditional Maori dance/performance/tribal ritual. It’s a performance students dream. I worry a lot that when I’m engaging with Maori culture I’m fetishising it. I’m really fascinated by it and I think its because this is the first time I’ve had the chance to sit and chat with someone who gives you all the sides of it. Not just the government agreed presentation of culture. There’s so many elements of Maori culture that link to how I feel about humans existing in the world but I’m aware that I think these are interesting because they’re not my norm. I’m conscious as a heterosexual white British male to not observe Maori culture as a museum exhibition. To condemn it to history because I want to study it. Instead seeing it as just another culture in our world and not seeing it as some kind of other to my existence as normal. A story in the world as my culture is, no hierarchy. Just existence.
New Plymouth has been such a memorable experience, we’ve loved its parks, its abrupt mountain, town, sea layout. Spending time with Jennie and Teina has opened our eyes to ways to exist in the world that we like. Things we want to take back for our lives at home. We cannot thank them enough for their acts of shifting our perspective. Their kindness, generosity and comfort in sharing different aspects of themselves will be something we hold very dearly going forward.
Denny and Debbie's Little Big Adventure 