Time Travel
This crossing-the-international-dateline event is new for us. We had no Wednesday, having departed Tuesday at 10 PM and arriving on Thursday at 8 AM. I wondered if we could travel into the future. I knew we could look into the past. We do it every time we look at the moon (looking back 1 plus second), look at the sun (8 minutes, 20 seconds), the closest star (4 years plus) and back billions of years with the strongest telescopes. But can we look into the future? How did we go from Tuesday to Thursday and only travel 12 hours? What happened to my Wednesday? Where did it go? And who has it? Was it just a fiction? Maybe it’ll be returned to me when we return to the US.
The Trip
We each received emails from Peter and Ursula advising us to get to the airport early. We did, arriving at 4:45 for a 10 o’clock departure. After checking the bags, getting our boarding passes, and going through the “new” patdown at security, we hiked down the corridor, past the Starbucks and up the stairs to the New Zealand Business Class lounge. What a shock, from the hurly burly of the downstairs, the McDonalds and Starbucks, and everyone running to and fro, to the serenity of a 100’ by 30’ lounge of easy chairs, a buffet with soup, crab legs for a cracker topping, all sorts of crackers and cheeses, salads, meats and breads and condiments for sandwiches. In addition, there were large refrigerated cabinets of soft drinks, beers, wines, and then bottles of hard liquor on shelves, all help-yourself service. And I did, immediately making a strong Jim Beam drink, and Sugar grabbing a glass of wine. Then we started in on the food. It was a real treat and we enjoyed the time to write emails and check the news on the free Wifi. They also had all sorts of newspapers, magazines, plugin stations for your computers, an area to watch TV. It was all very relaxing - there were only 4 or 5 people there when we arrived, and the number increased as our time for departure approached, finally filling most of the seats. At 9:15 PM, they advised that they would usher us to our gate, and off we went, walking by the economy class passengers (guiltily I might add), and passing to our accommodations in Business Premier Class.
The plane is a new Boeing 777-300 with a new passenger configuration. In Business, our seats were slanted toward the center, facing to the front of the plane. We were immediately offered champagne, orange juice or water, and given an antipasto. The seat, when we were en route and ready for bed, converted to a bed. Push a button and the seatback comes forward and keeps coming until the seat straightens out upside down, then a mattress is put on it, you get two pillows and a quilt to cover you. I slept or dozed from about 11 to 7 or 8. It certainly made our 12h 30m flight much shorter. Breakfast, followed by a movie, and we were touching down in Auckland. We are now in our hotel, the Rydges Harborview, having taken the Super Shuttle here ($37 for two, being NZ Dollars) from the airport. Bay, you would have loved the trip, with your eye shades, ear plugs, little socks, skin conditioner, all “essentials” provided to us in Business Premier Class.
The Earthquake and Bob Parker
The news coverage is constant. And the pictures and films are heartbreaking. Cathedral Square, a center for tourists, is empty, cordoned off by the military, no trolley cars running as normal, just a lone newsman with a cameraman, shooting pictures of the damaged buildings, from the art center to the cathedral and buildings in between, one leaning over so badly, it looks like it could go with the next aftershock, 21 of which have occurred in the past 12 hours. Some areas were badly flooded by water running from broken water pipes, so they have had to shut off the water supply and they have to supply those remaining behind with water tankers. All water has to be boiled, even the water being distributed. And to boil the water, you need gas lines and many of those have been broken, causing fires so those lines have been shut off too, and tanks of gas are being distributed as well. 80 % of the residents are without water; 40% are without power. Travelers are trying to leave with only the shirts on their backs, some having lost their baggage and passports which remain in their hotels to which they have been denied access for safety reasons. The Government is offering $50 flights to anyone wishing to leave Christchurch to anywhere in the country. We are told the best way to help is through donations at the Red Cross or at banks. The Hotel Grand Chancellor is leaning and could collapse. As one administrator stated, “The damage and loss of life are catastrophic.”
And the mayor, Bob Parker, is wonderful, reassuring and giving simple suggestions of how to get through this. So, when he tells his citizens to be sure to boil all water they get, due to the risk of crosscontamination, he notes that it may be difficult for those who don’t have power. He recommends that you seek out a neighbor with a gas grill, and that the entire neighborhood meet and discuss what each has and can share, and how each one can help his fellow neighbors. Choose a leader and work together so that no one suffers unduly. Simple advice, but powerful. In times of trouble, be there for your neighbor as he is there for you. Then he tells how those who don’t feel comfortable and safe should, if they have a place to go, leave Christchurch after notifying their neighbors where they will be going, and to take their valuable papers, photos, and valuables. And on and on for every imaginable issue that this catastrophe has raised. He is a wonderful leader and seems to be in the right place at the right time.
We bought the paper this afternoon, with its huge headline, “FACES OF THE LOST” and its thumbnail pictures of some of those who have died, and a large picture of two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, being comforted by a policeman after being told that there is no hope that their mother will be found alive in a collapsed building.
Harbor Cruise
After a nice lunch at the Harborview Restaurant in the old Ferry Building on the harbor, we took a 1 hour 45 minute harbor cruise, stopping at various islands, most, if not all having been created by the 57 volcanoes that are evidenced here. It’s a beautiful harbor, with the bay running east and west, and islands, large and small, sprinkled from one end to the other. It’s very warm, in the mid-70’s, and windy. I guess that’s why they call these latitudes the “Roaring Forties.” We also booked a 2-hour trip tomorrow on an America’s Cup boat. Tonight, they have a 3 hour match race from 5:30 to 8:30 but after a 12 hour flight and all we have done this afternoon already, that seemed to be too much. So, after a beer in the bar, we are in our room getting ready to go to dinner. We are so relieved to be here, and are looking forward to all that NZ has to offer.
Contrasts
I can’t close without mentioning the inner conflict felt from our experiences we have already had on this trip. Those that come to mind are: the beauty of San Diego and the wonderful tour we had, contrasted with the numerous homeless we saw under one particular overpass on that same tour; our Business Class experience, and the 14 million people who are unemployed at home and all those in need; our enjoyment of being here and our anticipation of our America’s Cup sail for example, with the pictures in the paper and the knowledge that so many people here don’t even know where their next meal will be coming from, or whether their loved ones are still alive. So, know that all those homeless, unemployed, and devastated Christchurchians are on our minds as much as the wonderful experiences we are having even though I may not be writing as much about them.
All our love, Nat and Sugar
PS If you find our Wednesday, see if you can get it back for us.
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