Hole

Now we’re back in Level One (who knows for how long? There’s already a new cluster developing), we took advantage to go and see Hole at Circa Theatre.

But first, dinner. I tried to book at Field & Green, one of our go-to pre-theatre venues, but they purported to be full. Never mind, we’ll try somewhere new. How about Rock Yard? A Vietnamese restaurant on the site of the sadly now-defunct Muse. Looks good online, so I booked it. We were welcomed and seated in the gallery, and perused the menu. We decided on shared starters of dumplings and spring rolls, then went our separate ways on mains with chilli lemongrass chicken (me) and stir-fried tamarind noodles (Nicola). Both tasty, and substantial servings as well. I washed mine down with a Panhead Supercharger whilst Nicola had a pre-prandial cocktail – The Jasmine – consisting of gin, Cointreau, Campari, lemon and cranberry juice. All very tasty, and we may well be back on another occasion to try further dishes.

We were well in time for the show, so wandered up the street, past Field & Green (half-empty, I noted) to Circa Theatre.

The show, Hole, is the second in the Antarctic trilogy by playwright Lynda Chanwai-Earle. She came out before the show started to introduce the play, and also to invite us to the post-show discussion with some of the scientists on whose work the play is based. The play is also produced completely off-grid, with all the power consumed during the play generated by solar panels and a wind turbine that travel with them to wherever they are performed. The first play, Heat, was similarly powered. The third play doesn’t appear to exist or have been performed yet.

The lights went down, and the action started. I say “action” but it was more a disjointed introduction to the three main characters: Bonnie, a Greenpeace protester from Amsterdam; Stella, a scientist from Wellington; and Ioane, a Navy SEAL from American Samoa. The play is set in 1986 in Antarctica, and the hole in question is the recently-discovered one in the ozone layer.

Unfortunately, the play didn’t get more jointed. The characters are one-dimensional caricatures, and there’s no real plot, just a recitation of their backgrounds. Stevie Hancox-Monk, who plays Bonnie, also doubles up as Ioane’s commanding officer, and as a sailor. Again, to call these cardboard cut-outs is to imbue them with an additional dimension they did not possess. They seem inordinately pleased with their special effects, which are about the same level as one might expect in a school play…and not that good a school. The conflicts between Stella’s relationships with both the other characters went completely unexplored. There was no character development (how could there be? There was no characterisation!) and the ending was entirely predictable and trite.

We didn’t hang around for the post-show discussion. Save your money on this one.

We walked past Field & Green again on the way back to the car. Still half empty. 

Level One

After five weeks of increased Covid restrictions, we are moving down a level to Level One, outside of Auckland, at midnight on Monday 21^st September. Auckland must remain in Level Two for a further two weeks from Thursday, 23^rd September. Face coverings on public transport, and checking into places using the Covid tracer app or Rippl (my preferred app), remain in force.

So we’re back to where we were (almost – Aucklanders are still feeling the pinch) at the beginning of June. Events will again be open to the public – we’ll try and get to some Wellington rugby matches when we can, and we’ll be able to go to the theatre, restaurants etc in a more normal fashion from tomorrow. Which is just as well, as our next outing is planned for this Thursday, and we’ve got a few more events lining up for October.

Why does Auckland have to wait longer? Well, for one, that’s where the outbreak occurred, and there are still 33 active cases from that cluster. There are also 29 in managed isolation and quarantine in various locations around the country (but mostly in Auckland). Saint Jacinda announced that they were able to draft the order to bring the rest of New Zealand down to Level One in advance, but had not been able to do so for Auckland. Why this is the case doesn’t appear to be explained. We continue with a two-tier system that can only cause problems and confusion for another two and a half weeks at least.

Flash Gordon

The Roxy Cinema, our local, has a regular event called Eat The Film. This started as a special event during Wellington On A Plate, but has been so successful that they have started to do it regularly throughout the year. The premise is that you watch a classic film, and are fed and watered with food and beverages either featuring in the film, or based on events in the film, interpreted and brought up to date by the chef at Coco At The Roxy - the restaurant attached to the cinema. We’ve been to a similar event before, when we saw Elvis Presley in King Creole.

When The Roxy announced that they would be doing Flash Gordon as an ETF event, we naturally jumped at the chance, and booked tickets immediately. When I say “immediately”, this was in February 1PC (Pre-Covid), for an event initially scheduled for April. But, you know the story from here…

The event has been moved twice, and they finally decided to go ahead with it on 20^th and 21^st September. As we are still under Level 2 restrictions (although they are due to be reviewed today) they split it into two sessions so that they could distance the seats, having people sitting only in alternating rows.

One of the advantages of the delay is that they were able to use a new, digitally-remastered version of the film, upping the quality (of the image) substantially. Sadly nothing could be done about the quality of the acting, with such luminaries as a pre-Bond Timothy Dalton, Topol, Max Von Sydow, and Brian Blessed amongst the supporting cast.  

We showed up half an hour early, and whilst waiting in the upstairs lounge they screened one of the first episodes of the original black and white serial, starring Buster Crabbe, from 1940. It was hilarious! This was followed with screen images of various comics, books, and other products available through the years, showing the history of Flash Gordon.

At 6:00 we filed into our designated social-distanced seats. Each seat was furnished with Ming’s Magnificent Mezze, and accompanying cocktail of Hot Hail. Whilst we tucked into this, the cinema manager gave us a brief introduction into how Eat The Film works, and also about the film, after first establishing that there was a considerable proportion of people who hadn’t (a) been to an ETF event before, and (b) seen Flash Gordon before. The menu is shown below. As you can imagine, a considerable amount of glassware and crockery build up during the performance, so a bag is provided to stack your used implements in.

Ming's Magnificent Mezze

The film is, of course, completely hilarious, and we were able to laugh, join in at appropriate moments “Gordon’s ALIVE?!” “Open fire! All weapons!” Dispatch war rocket Ajax” etc etc. All good fun, and tasty food and cocktails, as befits Coco At The Roxy’s chef and barman.

Training Day

As the first day of spring has passed, Zealandia is gearing up for the summer season. This is unlikely to be as busy as last summer’s touring and guiding, as there are unlikely to be a huge number of tourists visiting from abroad, and there is still a total ban on cruise ships entering New Zealand waters. However, there will probably be more people about the sanctuary in the summer, and so, in common with previous years, a new cohort of volunteer guides has been recruited and is in the process of being trained. That’s where I come in.

As an experienced volunteer and guide, I have been co-opted on to the Visitor Experience team to help with training these “newbies”. Last Saturday, I turned up at the sanctuary at 8:45am, in time to start welcoming the new volunteers to the sanctuary. The first week is a general introduction to the valley, and a walk around the “Red Route” – a misnomer as it’s no longer marked red on the maps – which is the main route where we walk and interact with visitors. Before setting out, I thought I’d gauge how familiar they were with the valley.

Volunteer #1: “I’m a foundation member”

Volunteer #2: “My parents are foundation members”

Volunteer #3: “I’ve been coming here for several years”

Et cetera. All were from Wellington. This is to be expected, but is different to previous years as obviously some people were here from abroad on working or temporary visas, looking to gain experience by just working the summer. There’ll be none of that this year, methinks.

Out we went into the valley, and walked along the main Lake Road, observing the wildlife and generally familiarising them with what we need to point out, where the signs are kept, how to spot a tuatara, that kind of thing. The two hours flew by, but fortunately my experience last summer as a tour guide came in handy as I’m used to being able to get people back to the Visitor Centre in time for the bus, so we were back pretty well on the button at 11:00. The next stage of their day was to listen to Jim Lynch’s presentation about the founding of the sanctuary, which I stayed on for to hear.

In the afternoon, I was on duty as usual as a volunteer guide, so I had my lunch then signed in to do my shift.

Next week: Health and Safety.