Off to Tomorrow Land of the 1980's: April 2019

View of Rangitoto Island in Hauraki Gulf from Kohimarama Beach, Auckland

As promised at the end of the previous blog, I'll fill in some details from before and after my sisters' visit. The Wallace sisters left us in Wellington and headed north via train. The first stop was in Tongariro National Park, where Athena and Margaret did the famed Tongariro Alpine Crossing. (I was fortunate to do the walk in 2014 on my third attempt.)

Athena at the Emerald Lakes

From Tongariro they headed to Auckland for a few days of R&R on Waiheke Island before returning home. They stayed with the same friend of Athena that she and Cheryl visited in 2010. His name is Cyril and he installs large artworks, a vital task for the Biennial celebration called Sculpture on the Gulf, the 9th edition of which was about to open. Fayne and I stumbled across Sculpture on the Gulf 2011 during our first trip to Waiheke Island.
It so happened a few days after they left we went to Aukland for a medical conference and a little extra fun. Virtually everyone who comes to New Zealand will pass through Auckland, but it takes a fair amount of time to appreciate this sprawling amalgam of neighborhoods and cultures, home to 1.7 million people or 1 in every 3 New Zealanders. The top photo is from one of the nice gulf-side communities about 20 minutes west by bus of the Central Business District (CBD). We were on a mission to eat at Der Metz, a German restaurant touted as probably the best in New Zealand by my Teutonic colleagues. The beers were big and the schnitzel and spätzle filling. We would go again if in the mood or if Germanophilic friends were visiting.
Tuesday March 5 was an ideal day to take the ferry to Waiheke to see the sculptures. I will take you through pictures of many of the installations, with occasional comment. Four were just outside the ferry terminal, starting with the fierce bronze warrior Te Werowero- The Ongoing Challenge-2018/19 by Chris Bailey.

Jae Kang's Inoutin

It's not an abandoned vessel, its art: Rebecca by Jeff Thomson.

Not ashore, it's a "shack" afloat in Matiatia bay, more art: Euan Lockie's meditation on global warming, Future Failings.

Round and Round-Leon van den Eijkel

This bronze representation of the seed of the kauri tree is meant to draw attention to the spread of kauri dieback disease.

Sally Smith- Kākano – Seed

Kazu Nakagawa and Pacific Environments Architects- Kæ ́muə Kæ ́muri

The one piece I would most like to have in my backyard is Phil Price's Liberace. Here are two perspectives what the program describes as "Somewhat flamboyant foliage often described as having a candelabra-like structure".

Here is another set of images, this time of a work called Pen to Peace to Peaceful Pen by Anton Ford. Up close it is confusing, wooden posts with some kind of Do-It-Yourself audience participation element.

However, from over the hillside you can see more clearly that the posts are forming crossed feathers which represent the peaceful protests for Maori rights.

Papua Whenua (wreath and shield for the land)-Mandy Cherry Joass

Putting Your best Foot Forward- Paul Dibble

Rolling Reflections- James Russell

Penguins taking a Selfie-Jay Lloyd

Brunel's Kingdom-Jon Hall

Seven Sisters- James Wright

The Pool- Natalie Guy

Towards a Better World- David McCracken

TABW- Closeup

Kereama Taepa's Whuture Whakairo, 2019 was supposed to be next. What we found was an empty sandbox with someone in an orange vest sitting nearby. Since several of the 29 featured works were quite conceptual I wasn't sure if the man was part of the artwork. The description in the program explained that this was to represent an archeological dig with faux Maori artifacts but someone had let their children play in it. The "artifacts" were gone but currently being restored. I asked the gentleman if he was the artist. He said no, he was the installer. A light bulb went on in my head, and I asked "Do you know my sister Athena?" He was stunned, and said "yes; how did you know?". This was Cyril!

Cyril & Me

Overlooking Maitiatia Bay, Waiheke Island

Most of the rest of out time in Auckland was spent at the annual IMSANZ (Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand) meeting. The Thursday night dinner is always special, and this time it was held in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Club in the shadow of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Squadron is the current home of the America's Cup trophy.

On our final night we ate at one of our favorites, the Federal Delicatessen in the shadow of the Skytower, and we were amused to see a large billboard touting Timaru! Apparently the city is trying to attract Kiwi home-buyers 1,200 Km south away from the astronomical home prices in the City of Sails.

Before signing off .......
I just want to add some random odds and ends from December and January, NZ and USA.
We were in Timaru through the holidays and enjoyed some Kiwi festivities. For 105 years the Christmas Carnival has been held at Caroline Bay in Timaru. It is low-key and fun in an old-timey way.

A nighttime view of Caroline Bay

A British tradition familiar to Kiwis but foreign to Yanks is the holiday Pantomime, or Panto for short. It is a musical comedic holiday treat for the whole family, usually based on a familiar fairy or folk tale. Frequent features are costumes and cross-dressing, double-entendres, general British silliness, and in bigger venues (i.e.: London) UK celebrities. Often referenced on British chat shows, it has intrigued me. A local amateur group put on their version of Camelot.

Another annual holiday event in hospitals in the UK and the Commomwealth is the Christmas Quiz, wherein the weekly Medical Grand Rounds is turned into a trivia contest with yule-themed medical and non-medical questions. For the last two years, I have put this together for Timaru Public Hospital.

TPH Winning Team + Quizmaster, 2018

Even the Sail and Anchor Pub, our home for Wednesday night quiz honored the regulars with an invitation-only event with treats. Even more cherished was to have our group, Team Leon, presented with our personalized reservation plaque!

TL enjoying lollies

It speaks for itself

I also have to mention several highlights of our month back home in California. First stop was LA and Sofia & Family to celebrate several birthdays, but unfortunately I don't have any great pictures to share this time.
It was wonderful to meet the new addition to out Fort Bragg neighborhood, Haley and Nathan's little Bijou.

We hosted three generations of Bijou's family to a dinner inspired by our recent trip to Sicily. I worked on a traditional cassata cake, with ricotta, marzipan, and candied fruit. What it lacked in presentation was made up for with sincerity, calories, and I hope deliciousness..

The last blog and this one has had a lot of cake talk, but the undisputed cake-meister in the family is sister Athena. For my birthday she made a marvelous Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Buttercream frosting, as beautiful as it was delicious.

Even more special was to be able to share it with family and friends at the Nestler's house in Watsonville with Emma and her clan. Everyone should be so blessed!

I also had a very nice visit with the rock of my former medical office staff, Judy V., at her new home in Yuba City.

Judy & me

And for one last piece of exciting news from my world, after years of waiting, regular ferry service from Richmond to San Francisco finally started in January, 2019. This means we can more easily take day-trips from our Richmond Marina Bay condo to SF.

On the first opportunity we ferried across the bay for a day of walking around SF with dear friend Karen K. Our stroll took us by the Palace of Fine Arts.