Kia Ora from Featherston

         

Kia Ora from New Zealand!

If you're wondering what those two words mean, it's simply, "hello!" in the Maori language. Maori, is one of the three official languages in New Zealand, two others are English, and sign language. 

         Bit by bit, I am learning something new about New Zealand from reading books, magazines and newspapers. Also, by watching their television news broadcast, observing and interacting with people I meet, and not to mention learning from the most credible resource person on hand, my Kiwi hubby. 

         It may interest you to know that this country's livestock outnumbers its people population: NZ sheep, as of June 2003, totals 39.7 million while cattle numbers 9.7 million heads. Cattle are divided into two categories, the beef cattle, 4.6 million and the dairy cattle 5.1 million. (Info from the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry website.)

         In contrast, New Zealanders who, by the way, fondly call themselves Kiwis after the Kiwi bird -- the country's national bird and emblem, managed to reach the population of 4 million in 2003. This number consists of different ethnic groups with the two major ones being the Pakeha--who are of European descent and the New Zealand Maori--who originated from the Pacific. Other groups include the Pacific Islanders--Samoan, Cook Island Maori, Tongan, Niuen, Fijian. The Asians--Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Cambodian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Japane--and several others. 

         These are only some of the few general information I gathered about the country of Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings" director, who incidentally was filming the remake of Kingkong in the Wellington area on my first few months here. 

         Glad to tell you that finally, the sun is shining! Well, at least these past few days after weeks and weeks of missing the warmth of the great energizer. David says this is so because wintertime is at its end and springtime has just made its entry felt. I still don't know what to expect from spring, although early mornings now are a cacophony of joyful sounds from tuis and fantails, both native New Zealand birds, and several other birds I only hear in the morning. 

           Trees stripped of leaves in  winter, and as such seemed lifeless to me (well, that was this "promdi's" first impression), when I first arrived here, are now beginning to show signs of life with new leaves sprouting. Also, dormant plants that slept during the winter are now emerging with new growths and buds in the countryside, farms are bustling with activities, and everywhere we see tiny lambs leaping on the grass tailing their moms, while calves explore the paddocks. 

         I don't know what else to expect from springtime as it is yet to disclose itself to me, but what I do know and can tell you now are my winter experiences, which, as a whole are not really that unpleasant. 

 

Featherston

Featherston

Home to us is a 120-year-old cottage-type house located in a small town called Featherston, one of the town in the region known as the Wairarapa.  An hour away by car from the capital city of Wellington, Featherston has around 2,500 residents, ten of which are Filipinas. You guessed it right, I just recently made it a perfect 10. 

To get to Wellington from Featherston and back, we have to take a twisty road (mentioned earlier) called the Remutaka Hill Road which as the name implies, runs through several hills, the highest of which is 550 meters above sea level. This winding road is much like our zigzag road going to Baguio City, only probably longer, and as hills are wont, are also prone to landslides (which they call "slips" here), during really heavy rains.   
Featherston is close to Lake Wairarapa, the biggest wetland area in the lower North island (New Zealand is divided into two major islands - the North and the South, plus several other islets), which also offers picnic areas and a venue for yachting bird watching fishing and game shooting. The area is also significant for native and migratory birds. 

         Our town is home to two museums that have no counterparts anywhere in New Zealand. One is the Fell Engine Museum, which houses the only fell engine in the world, the sole survivor of the rolling stock of the Remutaka incline and the only rail route into Wairarapa until 1955. The museum also contains an incline Brake Van working models and items of railway memorabilia. The other museum is called The Featherston Heritage Museum., which commemorate the Featherston military camp from World War ll.     

         No doubt, this Kiwi country is peaceful and beautiful not to mention bountiful, but still, nothing compares to waking up to the smell of freshly baked pandesal or fried dilis, fresh tomatoes and steaming sinangag for almuchaw. Yum! 

Wintertime

It's as cold as can be! Especially during the early mornings when there was frost on the ground and the temperature dropped to as low as negative three, which almost always happened if the sky was a clear blue and the atmosphere was peaceful, meaning; no wind, no rain the afternoon and night before. 

A rain of hailstones was a different wonder. You'd hear noise on the roof as though there was a heavy downpour, but instead of rainwater, there were stones the size of mung beans bouncing on the roof, on the pavement and everywhere. After which rock salt-like hailstones covered the ground. 

And then there was the gale force wind. Gale, I learned are a common occurrence here as evidenced by trees growing only in one and the same direction, that is, the wind's direction. The last one that blew in some parts of New Zealand last August, was at least 155 to 180 kph. I imagine, if one day, nature gets really freaked out with us Pinoys, because of our consistent bickering and just blows wind of this magnitude at our directions, we would all wake up sans roof over our heads, but that would be if our houses are still standing and in one piece by then. 

         Then of course, that white, flaky magic snow! Thank God it didn't fall on our area. But it did on the Remutaka Hill Road several times, so thick, that it became dangerous at one point for motorists to take that route, so for a time, it was closed to traffic. David made it a point that promdie me would  experience snow for the first time by driving me over the hill, one snowy morning. Indeed, the cold was biting, but the novelty of the experience of touching snow and making a snow ball for the first time was incomparable. Just wonderful! 

    If it's any consolation, the Philippines is not alone when it comes to experiencing natural calamities. In recent weeks, NZ was pounded by heavy rains, landslides and flood, causing damages to infrastructures, properties, livestock, and worse, claiming people's lives including that of our kababayan who had been living in New Zealand for 16 years.