Tea time

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We drove up to the Cameron Highlands last Sunday. The road from Ipoh winds its way up, with the views becoming more spectacular the higher you get. We stopped at the first strawberry farm we came to. Here they grow the strawberries in pots hung from overhead lines. The strawberry farms are covered with plastic roofs, which are very unattractive. I bought a punnet for RM20 (about NZ$8) and have been enjoying them (though they are not a patch on the strawberries from the farm on SH3 outside Ohaupo!) We wended our way through various settlements, most of which are ugly conglomerations of shanties, shops, small eating places and lots of rubbish. There are also smart hotels and a golf course named after the Sultan, who seems to be a keen golfer if the photos in the foyer of the club are to be believed. We then came to the tea estates. We’d heard that you could get a Devonshire tea up here and were looking forward to the scones. The first two tea houses we came across had nothing like that but then we glimpsed a little side road leading to the Boh tea estate. After a hair-raising drive up a very narrow, rutted road, dodging fast drivers coming down, we got to the tea house at the top and there we found scones, strawberry cheesecake and aromatic tea served in pots. Wonderful! We climbed up to the viewpoint above the tea processing factory and I actually put on a cardi – it was only about 21 degrees up there! There was a marvellous view of the tea plants in their bright green rows, following the slopes all the way down the valley. We’ll definitely go back there with all our many visitors.

Thaipusam

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Last Friday and Saturday was the Hindu festival of Thaipusam. There are celebrations wherever there are significant Tamil communities and Ipoh is one such centre. Thai is the Tamil month coinciding with January/February and Pusam is a star, which is at its highest point at the time of the festival. Thaipusam is a commemoration of Murugan, the Tamil god of war, and devotees carry kavadi to the temple in penance and also to entreat the god for good fortune in the future. Kavadi may be as simple as carrying a pot of milk to the temple but it may also involve piercing of the skin, tongue or cheeks with skewers, or pulling a decorated cart by means of hooks inserted into the back. We went into central Ipoh on Friday night to watch the procession of carts. A family sitting on the steps of a bank invited us to join them at this vantage point. They were local Indians – a father, his daughter and twin sons – who had all come into the city on one little scooter. The children were very excited though their father told us that they were Christians. The Hindu people around us were beautifully dressed, the women and girls in magnificently coloured saris and bright bangles, the men in embroidered shirts. The carts came by pulled by men with hooks in their backs, some of whom also had skewers through their tongues and cheeks. They were accompanied by dancers and drummers. It was an amazing spectacle for these two pale Protestant New Zealanders and a fantastic introduction to the diversity of our new home city.

Cornwall Park

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Maungakiekie

Maungakiekie

On New Year’s Day, 20 days (and another life) ago, my daughters and I visited Cornwall Park in Auckland. We recalled the first time we’d picnicked there when they were two and four years old – they are now 20 and 22! We clambered up the circular pathways that lead to the summit, through paddocks of sheep, skirting the archery area, where a lone archer was honing her skills. Half way up a rain squall forced us to take shelter under an olive tree. Then it cleared the way it usually does in Auckland and we proceeded to the top, encountering a traffic jam and scores of tourists. I noted again Sir John Logan Campbell’s grave and thought about his splendid gift of the park to the people of Auckland. We slowly walked around, pointing out landmarks and reminding each other of places we’d lived and the loveliness of the city below, where they both live and where we’ll be returning when our work in Ipoh is done.

Sheep may safely graze

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We left New Zealand a week ago. After the shipping agents had packed up the belongings we are sending to Malaysia, we spent two days clearing out our little house in Ohaupo. We took several loads to the recycling centre and spring-cleaned the house. Lunchtimes were spent in the empty living room, sitting on the floor eating our sandwiches and fruit, looking out at the trees and paddock beside the house. This spring we’ve had calves as company but last spring there were lambs in this paddock. It was a delight to wake up and see them standing on their mums’ backs, hoping this would induce the ewes to stand up so they could have their first drink of the day, tails wiggling furiously. In some ways, it seemed the quintessential New Zealand experience and we were so lucky to have it.

Coffee at the lake

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Lake

University of Waikato lake

Yesterday was my last day at Waikato University. At morning tea, I and my colleagues had coffee at the lake. We do this fairly regularly, particularly when the sun is shining. One of them shouted me a coffee (thank you!) We are a disparate group, varying in age, backgrounds, work experience and family lives. But we work together extremely well and conversation over coffee is stimulating, wide-ranging and certainly never boring. It has been great to be part of such a successful team and I will miss it. Hope 2014 goes well for them all.

Sunday morning at Raglan

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View of Raglan

View of Raglan

We drove from Ohaupo to Raglan early on Sunday morning, which was calm and clear. As we went over the hill, this is the view that greeted us. Although we’ve done this trip scores of times over the last few years, my heart never fails to lift when I see the blue of the harbour and the sunlight shining on the bar. Jim went into the surf at Manu Bay and I did my customary walk up the hill and into Bryant reserve. I had the lookout, from which you can look back at Manu Bay and out along the main beach, to myself. I sat there for a long time – this may be my last visit for a while! A group of four shags flew by at eye level and then settled on the water just beyond the surfers, who were waiting for the next set of waves. The line “Earth has not anything to show more fair” went through my head, followed closely by “Look thy last on all things lovely”. Clearly I was on the verge of becoming maudlin. I got up and walked briskly back down to Manu Bay, picking up several discarded beer cans and drink bottles on the way – a sure way to banish any sentimental thoughts.