Wow, that was fun!  Some bug hit me Sunday night (new town, new fauna) and knocked me out of action on Monday.  Tuesday, much better and today (Wednesday) feeling back to normal.  Monday rainy, Tuesday glorious and high sixties.  Today, starting the same.  Watched a lot of movies and today I start the editing on the last part of the novel.

Last night Kathryn taunted me with Monday Night Football.  That was a vicious assault as I do attend church religiously, The First Church of Monday Night Football, having seen probably 90% of the games ever played. Dallas vs. Eagles, not that it really matters who plays, its keeping the faith.  Should we ever move away from the states, a TV provider with the NFL is a must!  Fortunately I don't have to see UCLA dive into the tank although Gary makes sure to rub in every loss.  Oh well, he is a bitter, cold, rain soaked Oregon fan - his sourness is understandable.

Now wasn't that worth reading?

Questions and answers will be posted on a new page.

If you do not use Outlook send them to grant@grantstaley.com or if you do, click on the link. 

I'm sure you've been waiting for the real estate update so here it is:

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The Grant update is less interesting.  I was premature in claiming to be well on Wednesday.  It is now Friday and I survived another night of night sweats.  Feeling okay today so maybe it is behind me.  Mostly, the weather has been very nice with brief showers moving through.  Today is to be another golf day.  This time with two witnesses.

Front page news yesterday: Stevie Wonder to play here on 1 November.  Elton John played last summer.

I found a new cafe that has internet access included with a cup of coffee.  A good place for a long call or to update the website using their bandwidth which is pretty good, not like cable back in the States, but the best so far.

Life has been pretty dull lately.  The weather, a mix of sunny and rainy days, some spectacular some dreary but not particularly cold.  Yesterday was a red letter day for New Plymouth.  Front page news proclaimed that NP is a finalist in one of those 10 Best Lists, in the hunt for "best place in the world" to live.  That's setting the bar pretty high but I'd say it deserves to be there.  While only a small city, it offers a wealth of outdoor activities, fantastic parks, the ocean, and a number of entertainment options (concerts in the park, Davis Cup tennis just wrapped up, rugby, horse racing just a block away....).  The Coastal Walkway here was also named as a finalist for environmentally sustainable project. 

The paper also announced that at least $100,000,000 NZD will be spent here on offshore gas and oil exploration.  Boomtown.  Hopefully the US doesn't decide to spread freedom here too.

Not to be outdone, the country as a whole got an accolade this morning - at least that's when I saw the news.  NZ ties for first for least corruption as perceived by the public.  The US came in 18th.

Last tidbit of information.  About two weeks back (let's say 10 Sept.) the Prime Minister, Helen Clarke, announced that elections would be held on 8 November.  Two months. This is a general election, one goes to the polls.  Two months of political gibberish that has limits on what can be spent. Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh .  It is a Parliamentary system with two major parties (Labour and National- I think I already wrote about this) and a few minor parties.  As such, no one party enjoys a majority (at least not often) so coalitions must be formed to govern.  That means cooperation rather than polarization.  And only two months of campaign slogans, aaaaaaaaahhhhhh.

I'm off to observe an implant surgery at another dentist's office and then my stint in the office for the afternoon.

On Friday, I took a drive to the end of Mangorei Rd. looking for a famous garden and a hike at the base of Mt. Taranaki.  It was a spectacular day and within minutes of starting the hike, I peeled down to a T-shirt.  The rains and the ever-present canopy made for some muddy slogging in parts but the payoff was worth it.  About 90 minutes up the mountain, the tall rainforest gave way to a more alpine fauna - shrubs and undergrowth not more than a couple meters tall.  Spots along the trek were perfect for enjoying the hundred mile views back over the pastures that rolled off the mountain to the city and the shore.

It turns out that the garden, Pukeiti, is a long ways out.  I'll save it for a day after Kathryn arrives.

Saturday started off with gloom but not cold temperatures.  I took a bike ride downtown to snap a few pictures of the CBD as requested by Pam B. 

CBD	On a Nicer Day	CBD	CBD	CBD	Puke Ariki Museum

I wanted to get back to the cottage to witness the Presidential debate from Oxford, MS.  I just got SKY TV in my place (thank you Judi) and now had maybe a hundred channels at my disposal.  I even get a college game on Sunday, one NFL game on Monday, and Monday Night Football on Tuesday afternoon via ESPN. But first, I had enough time to take lunch in Pukekura Park. 

I got a waterfront table where I watched a fleet of ducks suddenly take off towards the bridge at a good clip. Tracking straight up the lake like they were in a yacht race, they creased perfect Vs into the glassy surface behind them.  One duck trailed leisurely, possibly the race official looking for an infraction of the rules. 

The bridge over the lake reminds me of a famous painting by Monet.  It has been the inspiration for many other works by many other artists.  At least that is the polite way of saying that they paid homage to Monet, the other is that they plagiarized his work.  Monet would have done well to have used this body of water and this bridge for his inspiration as a lovelier setting is hard to imagine.  Six blocks away from my cottage and about the same from the CBD sits this incredible jewel of a refuge.  As lunch ended, rain drops began to fall and it was time to return for the debate.

I couldn't watch it.  I tried and turned it off three times in disgust.  I even agreed with George Will, a person that I never find agreeable.  He said that the two went on and on about a few billion that Obama had voted for (and so apparently did a majority).  As the country closes in on pouring a trillion dollars into a hole in the middle east, billions that actually went to something for people doesn't sound too bad.  As Will said, billions - that's a rounding error in the budget.  Nero fiddled while Rome burned...  Maybe they need a duck to raise the penalty flag.

Sunday (the 28th) was another perfect day after a soggy end to Saturday.  Daylight savings started at 2A this morning so I am one hour earlier to mis amigos in the states.  After a lazy start and cooking a big breakfast, I watched Ivon from the office race his kart.  About twenty minutes from the city, a kart club has a fantastic track that I mention in an earlier post.  Today was race day for the club and it was very well attended.

After the races, I explored the area briefly finding a very well tended golf course and a fairly nice village called Waiara.  Lunch was at a sidewalk cafe in Strandon, a beach neighborhood of New Plymouth, followed by a walk on the sand.  As mentioned before, the beaches here are nearly black.  That and the enormous quantity of driftwood washed ashore makes them fairly unattractive for those of us used to and appreciative of light colored sand.  But the panoramas up and down the coast are very beautiful and it is so good to have the ocean nearby.

When people have asked, back in the states, why I like NZ I always speak of the "homogeneous" society.  What I mean is that most people are more or less in the same economic stratum.  Sure there are the very rich and also some near poverty.  But with the support provided by the government, mass poverty as in the states does not exist and neither does living without health coverage. Most of the population falls into the middle class.  So I read with interest the article of one of the political parties here who's position is that if you come from a culture of castes and oppression of minorities and women, don't think of immigrating to NZ if you want to bring those exclusive tendencies with you.  Apparently, homogeneity not only refers to economics but also to cultural values in this part of the world.

Monday started beautifully but turned stormy. Today (Tuesday) was bright and clear. 

It seems like the conservative vs. liberal tug of war in NZ mirrors the same struggle as in the states minus most of the vitriol.  But it is every bit as serving one master over another.  I just read an article about Labour's mandating that bio-fuels make up a whopping 2.5% by 2012.  However, it appears the more conservative party, National, will win the next elections so the oil companies are hoping that after 8 November the law will be repealed. Just as in the states, there is a good deal of rhetoric about being energy independent and using sustainable fuels but when next quarter's corporate revenues come into question, the rhetoric and the environment get tossed in the dust bin.  Should National (or Republicans) win in November the scoreboard will read:  Business 1 - Environment 0.

Today is the last post for this page and the end of month two.  Kathryn arrives in three days!  Oct 1- Oct 15

Down the Coast

Kiwi greens keepers

Koi in Pukekura Park