Last leg

Vancouver-Wellington

My stay in Vancouver was just perfect and returning home on the inaugural Air New Zealand Vancouver - Auckland direct flight was a great finale. With a specially decorated entry to the check-in facilities combining scenes from NZ and scenes from BC, New Zealand greeted us from the start. Beyond the formalities of security and paperwork, it was party-time at the departure gate. Unlimited Lindauer bubbly, lamb kebabs, up-market fish and chips, amazingly thin nachos in three colours (corn, spinach and beetroot) to go with the hot dip of spinach, artichoke heart and cheese (and maybe some leek) and a few other offerings. Maori action songs for entertainment. A small speech or two.

On the plane a gift of various creams to help us through the flight, a special menu and the best champagne I have ever had in flight, (Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Reserve - didn’t get the year at a glance!) Luckily there were not too many takers and there was enough for a refill…Leaving at 8pm (7pm in their winter), the flight is timed to give people time for a meal, some leisure time and a good sleep before breakfast, arriving in the early morning. Maori welcome party in Auckland but no time to stop and enjoy it with a connection to make. By 10.00 am (roughly) I was sipping coffee with Rodney and Thoron at Simply Paris. And sharing a pain au chocolat and tarte au citron. Robin arrived in record time as well. How nice to have friends! Last lunch in Vancouver? Quiche and salad with Diana and Susan at La Petite France. I may have left France behind but there are still traces!

You will see from the photos that I am in Wellington now. (Even if the signs look familiar, the background is different and the cars are driving on the left!) There are also photos of Robin,Thoron and Madeleine (with Rodney), at Leuven , for those of you that know them. The Kelburn photos are taken from the house that Madeleine is staying in at present. Fantastic view! We watched the Guy Fawkes firework display over the harbour from there, the night after I got back. And you will also see Millie, who has followed my travels enthusiastically from the beginning and is staying a few days with us now. The first opportunity for me to be the giver of hospitality after such a long time receiving.

Thanks to all who made this trip so amazing. You are all fantastic people.

Photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/LastLeg

Merci à tous! Et au revoir!

Museum of Anthropology

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

At last a museum where you are encouraged to take photos! Not too much flash, but that’s okay. In a museum whose architecture reflects the post-and-beam structures of Northwest Coast First Nations, is a collection of articles from many different cultures, used for teaching purposes. Those on display in the main halls are from the areas closest to Vancouver (coastal British Columbia) and represent three main tribes. There are lots of carved poles (cedars), as they were used in housing, inside and outside the house, which may have had 50 people living or gathering there. In addition there are burial poles and totem poles. The poles generally have a life of about 70 years, after which time they are allowed to return to nature and a carver is commissioned to do a new one, which will be installed with ceremony. House poles generally tell you something about the people in the house but only the carver and the family know the story. The rest of us have to surmise, even the experts.

Bentwood boxes were also on display – they are the ones that are made out of a grooved plank which is steamed and bent, so that you have an insect-proof, waterproof box, which was used for storage of blankets or clothing or even for cooking. They sometimes have lids. The bottoms are pegged in and the fourth side sewn with fine tree roots. There is a photo of the volunteer guide holding up both a flat plank and a box. There are photos of the boxes as well.

From 1884 to 1951, if I have my dates right, ceremonial dances were banned. These ceremonies were at the heart of the culture and celebrated important milestones such as the birth or naming of a chief’s child, the passing on of traditional rights, the equivalent of unveiling a headstone a year after the death, a marriage and other such events. The languages were outlawed and children taken away from their tribes and educated in institutions far from home. The culture, of course, still continued, whether against the law or not but it was certainly a huge knock-back for the people. The renaissance of culture and language came just in time for the younger generation to earn from their elders before they died. Sound familiar?

There are also examples of modern works, such as those of Bill Reid (http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/reid/reid02e.html) and woven mats by the current generation of women. The research collection is extensive, with many different kinds of masks, musical instruments, boxes and other artefacts from many different places.

Anyway, have a look around at your leisure.

The web site is

http://www.moa.ubc.ca/

And my photos are at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/MOAVancouver

Maritime Museum et al

Vancouver

Vancouver Maritime Museum houses an entire ship. True. They brought the ship up into a specially prepared dry dock, put an A-frame over the top and then restored the ship to the condition it had been in 1944. This is the St Roch, used by the RCMP (Mounties) to service artic outposts from 1928 until retired in 1954. When the ship was blocked in by ice they patrolled using dog-sleds. During the war (1940-42), the ship did an east-west crossing of the Northwest Passage. It took several years, as the ship was trapped by ice for two winters and had to wait it out. In 1944 it did the first east-west crossing, taking only 86 days, by a more northerly route. A video recounts the story, after which you are allowed to roam over the boat for 20 minutes. For a New Zealander used to tales of the Antarctic, this was a new angle on polar journeys, which I found very interesting.

In the photos you will see a tent erected on the deck. This was where, in 1944, for the west-east crossing, a family of Inuits travelled with the crew to help out in the areas of their experience – very necessary. The family consisted of a husband and wife, their 5 children and the children’s grandmother. All these people in one small tent, on deck where temperatures could get down to minus lots and lots. One night, in the fog, when the captain had no idea where they were, the grandmother was summoned to the bridge and was able to tell them exactly where they were – checked out by the sailors with their instruments the next day, when it cleared. I guess the ship is interesting but the stories attached even more so.

That was only the first part of the museum. The rest dealt with the maritime history of Vancouver, including the ships that used to link Vancouver with Japan and Hong Kong (a nice link here with the St Nazaire virtual trip to Yokohama), a section on pirates, a lovely hands-on section for children, which attracted several young men while I was there, and some amazing model ships. The latter were sometimes made by prisoners of war. One was finely carved in bone and detailed down to the last centimetre of flaps opening for cannons. Quite amazing.

To get around I took a daypass on an aquabus, little vessels that ply the waterway, stopping every 5 minutes or so. During the course of the day I saw a seal and two more bald eagles which have a nest in a tree near the Maritime museum. One came to rest on a pole and the other on the top of the A-frame of the museum. I started my water journey at the Granville Market, which is a covered market, spreading over several buildings. One has mostly produce, while the others have crafts, books, toys, clothes, and even a shop selling mostly rubber stamps – a huge variety. Halloween is everywhere, especially in the ‘goodies’ area but also in the shop windows and decorations in general.

From the Maritime museum it was a half-hour journey to the end of the line, where I decided against Science World (head too full of the Maritime museum). Instead, I took a couple of trips on Skytrain, a driverless system which links the city and suburbs and is currently being extended for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and walked to the Chinese Garden. This seems smaller than the one in Sydney but has been constructed with the genuine article, imported from China – even the pebbles for the courtyard. Chinatown also houses a big Chinese Cultural Centre. There are many Chinese in Vancouver. (Wikipedia says about 30% of the population.)

The photos are in two sections, the Maritime museum and the rest of the day, which includes the Chinese Gardens, a lot of photos from the waterway and some of Granville market. Science World is the big round building seen from the waterway (False creek).

Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/MaritimeMuseum

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/ChineseGarden

Halloween

Vancouver

Halloween is in full swing as I write this. It will be over when you read it. There are goodies in the shops, both to eat and to give away, decorations everywhere – witches, broomsticks, spiders and their webs, black cats and, of course, pumpkins. House fronts have been decorated, at least those houses which will welcome the trick or treaters, pumpkins have been carved.

Here we have David, who has carved some pumpkins beautifully and also brought home from the office a magic nylon 3-tiered pumpkin which not only turns on a light when you plug it in but inflates itself as well. Such are the benefits of modern technology! This lighted pumpkin is the welcome for people at the bottom of the drive and a series of carved pumpkins with candles inside lead them to the front door where they will get their candy to fill their (orange, possibly pumpkin-shaped) bags and run happily down the drive to the next welcoming house.

Costumes are very varied. The kids wear them to school during the day so you get to see quite a few if you are on a bus at the right time. Among others I have seen a scarecrow, quite a lot of witches, a black cat, skeletons, Goths of various sorts, princesses and animals. In the hallway are boxes of candy and we turn out the light and make scary noises when we see someone coming. There are a few photos of children at the door in their costumes.

The other photos are of some of the goodies in the market shops, David and Susan (Diana’s sister) carving pumpkins, the dining room set for a special Halloween meal, the first little ladybird (18 months) to be welcomed, and pumpkins on the driveway. The last 5 are David’s pictures, taken with a tripod and SLR. Thanks David!

Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/Halloween