Rain in Ngaio - Night 69

We began a completely new project today, one which has yet to see the helping hand of GVN. Our task: weed out a revegatation plot at Ngaio Gorge Park, divide it into 10 plots and do a full native plant survey. The morning weeding session was going along wonderfully as our progress was swift and visual, the sort of positive feedback that is lacking in many volunteer situations. But then the rain came. It hasn’t really rained since I arrived on the Island November 24th, so today’s downpour was more than welcomed. Just too bad it happened on the one day in which everyone seemed to be having the most fun.

Nonetheless, we salvaged the afternoon by making a drive out to Seatoun to visit the soon closing Chocolate Fish Café. Just blocks from the home of Peter Jackson (the LOTR director), the Chocolate Fish was the primary hangout for the cast and crew during the years of filming. However, the much famed café is set to close December 31 of this year, so it was a last hurrah for all of us. Upon arrival we noticed an inordinate number of police vehicles on the dead end, beachfront street, too many to suggest even a donut eating convention. We also noticed a few cars pulling up and taking photographs with expensive looking cameras and few men in what appeared to be Hazmat suits. While we were leaving, Ray flagged down one of the Paparazzi and found out that this morning they had found a dead body in one of the apartment upstairs from the café. Foul play or a hapless death we never did find out, but in a ritzy area such as Seatoun it is hard to believe that anything devious was amiss.

What I Learned Today: Celebrity gossip is sports talk for women. While listening to it still makes me sick, I’ve begun to let it pass as a mere annoyance. Just as men are supposed to know how Tom Brady performed last weekend or what college Rasheed Wallace played for, women simply must be informed as to what Paris is wearing or who Sarah Jessica Parker is sleeping with. Don’t get me wrong, I vehemently maintain the primacy of sports over gossip ( fandom creates community and social interaction) and will continue to follow my teams (The Pack IS Back!)…but the real question remains: What is missing from our lives that we need to supplement it with the exploits of other, unknown people?

written by

exumenius on December 18, 2007 from Wellington, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

Send a Compliment

comment on this...