Elad’s blog

Napier was totally destroyed in an earthquake at the early 1930’s. They had to virtually rebuild the entire city from scratch, and they did it with the high fashion of the time - the Art Deco style. Today it does have very nice buildings. However, it felt odd going on a guided tour looking at them, as us three lowered the average age of the tour by at least 30 years; indeed it looked as if the architects that designed the city went to participate in that tour with us.

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Just some pics, courtesy of Shlomi and Gilad. You can see more such pics at their photo album, use the link I added on the side bar of this blog.

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The last two days were in the shadow of one missed activity: the skydiving.
We were supposed to do it yesterday morning, but it was cloudy. So it was postponed to yesterday afternoon, then to today’s morning, and when it was finally held - this afternoon - I didn’t attend it, after all.

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After paying a visit to Hobbiton, it was only expected that I would climb Mount Doom, which indeed I did today. It has a special maori name (Nghusomething, the official treck is called the Tongariro Crossing), and held a special surprise for me; however, this was only on the second day of my current visit to the realms of Vulcan, and I should first write about the first day.

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My tour to Hobbiton, earlier today, showed me just how much New-Zealand was captured by the Lord Of The Rings.

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A few years ago I read a book about evolution. I was surprised to find there that the closest living animal to an elephant is actually the rabbit. They have exactly the same structure and originate from the same ancestor - the only difference is the scaling: elephants grew large while rabbits became small. It can easily be seen in every zoo: look at the profile of an elephant, remove its nose and ear, and you receive an exact head of a giant rock rabbit. Just the same as the similarities between a Kiwi and an Emu.

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“This is doubtless a bay”, wrote James Cook in his captain’s log at one of his more inspired moments, thus giving Doubtless Bay, at northern New-Zealand, its peculiar name.

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Yesterday morning started with an extreme luck. I started with a few arrangement - picked a parcel from the post (thanks for my parents and my sister), went to a barber, and then went to the DOC office and managed to book for all the walking trecks Shlomi and Gilad booked in July, at the same dates. Including the Milford.

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When my hangover passed, I decided I really like Auckland.

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I love the excitement that preceeds arrivial to a new country.
Around a day before the flight, I start to feel it - things get sharper, and I get more concentrated. It helps me to enjoy what I do (in my previous work also, I always liked the feeling that things are ‘on the air’, and worked better when under a little stress), and indeed the past two days - my last day in Australia and my first day in Auckland - where most pleasant.

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