March 14, 2011 Wellington

Dragon Boating

“It’s true you can’t live here by chance. You have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe. This is the city of action, the world headquarters of the verb.”

So read an inscription on a granite walk on the overhead walkway to the shore from the Civic Square in Wellington. And how true it is. As we walked toward the shore, we noticed high school age girls with paddles (similar to canoe paddles but squared off at the end and a little shorter), wearing shorts and what appear to be rowing shirts. Since it was howling again today, with a steady wind of at least 25 knots and fierce gusts over 35 knots (so strong that it would knock you backward), we thought they’d never get near the ocean today. Wrong. We came up to an inlet in the wharf where the Boat Club is located, a place to launch dragon boats, long, narrow wooden boats that have the shape of a rowing shell, manned by 20 oarsmen or oarswomen, a coxswain seated in the bow shouting the cadence and the coach in the stern standing and steering with a long oar. From this inlet they would pass under a foot bridge into the maelstrom of the harbor, into the whitecaps and gusts of wind, cold waves hitting their low freeboard vessel and spraying them. The safety boats were inflatable dinghies with outboards on them. I told a girl who was dressed for the sport that I didn’t think they would be going anywhere near the water in conditions like this. “Oh yes. We go out every die [day], rine [rain] or shine.” They practice every day and then have their competitive races on Sundays.

Something Sue said leads me to understand that their school year is divided into sections of several weeks duration. And I think this section is dedicated to sport, where much of the day is spent in training for, and competing in, a sport. In this case, about 200 kids were on the wharf waiting for their turn in the dragon boats. Some looked like they were still in grade school. Again, you wouldn’t see this at home. We take our hats off to them. You’ve got to love this country.

We walked miles today and that was our “doing.” Tomorrow we fly to Auckland, and then cross the Pacific landing in LA at 10 in the morning of the 15th, the same day we left Auckland at 6 PM. Say what?

Good night, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, your simple describer