West Coast

We’ve lived in New Zealand for 12 years now, and I’ve never visited the West Coast. Nicola has been here once before, around 20 years ago. The region is known for its wet weather, but we thought we might get lucky. We left Wellington in sunshine, but there was a low brewing in the Tasman Sea…

We decided to use a reward voucher at Wellington Airport to use the lounge, as these were due to expire soon. This provided us with a free lunch, and we then flew to Christchurch. Our accommodation was centrally located on Bealey Avenue, and from there we walked into town for a pre-booked dinner at Twenty Seven Steps. This is in a newly-built area of central Christchurch, and it was noticeable – to me, at least – how ersatz it all looks. All the buildings are new, mostly characterless modern blocks, and some are built in old-style looks, but appear completely fake. I dunno, maybe it’ll look more natural in fifty years’ time, but at the moment it’s ugly.

No matter. Up the stairs (I didn’t count) and we were seated with efficiency, cocktails brought, and food ordered. The food was delicious – grilled sardines, venison and chocolate mousse for me, smoked salmon, hapuka and crème brûlée for Nicola – and the service excellent. Definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

We were up at sparrow fart the next morning to get on the Tranzalpine train at 8:15. I tried ordering a car from Zoomy, having checked availability whilst we were having breakfast. Looked like there were cars in the area around seven minutes away, so it seemed like no problem. When I tried after breakfast, that had gone out to 10 minutes. Then I clicked “book journey”: no cars available. What the actual? Why not? So a bit of a panicked call to a local cab company, who were fortunately able to send a car and got us to the station in time to get the train. Not trusting Zoomy again.

The Tranzalpine does exactly what it says on the tin: it goes across the country, via the Southern Alps. It’s a scenic journey, with scenery, and the train includes an open-air viewing car to be able to take it all in, and take unobstructed photos, as we traversed the Alps. We stopped at Arthur’s Pass and a number of passengers disembarked at that point for a day’s tramping in the Alps. We were sternly admonished not to wander off with these groups and miss the train, as they wouldn’t be checking us back on. We managed to safely reboard. I was on the lookout for kea, but there weren’t any. At Arthur’s Pass they add a few more engines to the train to complete the final incline, then it was downhill all the way as we headed into the West Coast and arrived at Greymouth at around lunchtime. We went and got ourselves a lunch at the Speight’s Alehouse opposite the station, then picked up our hire car for our final journey to the hotel (around 400m away), and checked in.

In the afternoon we had a look around Greymouth CBD. It’s not exactly a tourist town, more a functional place, so there’s not really much to sea. As the afternoon progressed, the rain set in…we dined in the hotel rather than venture out into what passes for dining experiences in Greymouth. Maybe tomorrow night?

 

 

Owls Do Cry

Owls Do Cry is an iconic New Zealand novel by iconic New Zealand writer Janet Frame. It was her first iconic book. She also wrote the iconic An Angel At My Table, filmed by iconic New Zealand director Jane Campion. Have you got that? It’s iconic.

Making a theatrical production of such a work has its challenges. The book doesn’t follow a traditional route, and is informed by Frame’s struggles with mental health, being variously institutionalised throughout her young life. One of the characters, Daphne, reflects this, and another, Toby, is epileptic. Because of this, Red Leap Theatre have decided to do an “interpretation”, rather than just adapt the book into a play. There’s a lot of singing, dancing, acrobatics, lighting effects, and general mayhem, interspersed with moments of lucidity that the ordinary punter can understand.

At the beginning of the performance, the cast handed out copies of the book to all of the audience, and then encouraged us to use the books as percussion instruments – variously tapping on them, banging them, and riffling through the pages. This is supposed to help us familiarise ourselves with the work.

For those of us who haven’t read the book, this performance is a confusing display of disparate elements without a real story to tie it together. Those that have read the book apparently say the same thing. Yes, it’s interesting to go and see new things in theatre; they don’t always work though. This one was a definite “miss” for me.

Afterwards we went for dinner at Field & Green. They’ve changed up their menu a bit to the now-ubiquitous “shared plates” and “we’ll bring you the food when it’s ready” model, which can be a bit tiresome…especially if the kitchen loses your order. After receiving the ceviche fairly promptly, we had a 30 minute wait before the next dish arrived. They gave us a free scoop of their legendary ice cream as an apology, but overall, the concept Needs Work. The food is good, though, when it finally arrives.

 

The Wasp

This week’s entertainment was at Circa Theatre, to see The Wasp. Normally we’d go together, but on this occasion, Nicola went and saw it a day early as she was auditioning for a part at Circa. The part for which she was trying out was not, alas, on the stage, but as an usher. Yes, she’ll be getting in to see some of the shows for free from now on (assuming she’s accepted!) whereas I’ll have to remain as a paying punter. On the downside, you don’t get to choose which show you have to ush (is that a word?), so may have to take the rough with the smooth.

As I was on my own I decided to try out Circa Theatre’s in-house food offerings. They have a short menu, from which I selected the dumplings. These were tasty, but somewhat overpowered by the chili sauce, which they were served in, rather than on the side.

The play is described as a thriller, and is a two-hander with Miriama McDowell and Bree Peters, both of whom we’ve seen before at Circa, notably in Burn Her. Heather and Carla were at school together, and meet again twenty years later. Their lives have diverged somewhat since school, and the meeting has been initiated by Heather, now living a comfortable middle-class existence, compared to Carla’s poverty. The difference between the two is not only class, however: there’s also the matter of babies. Heather has so far failed to conceive, whereas Carla is pregnant with her fifth. This becomes a crucial issue as the history of the two characters unfolds. Normally, I’d say “spoiler alert” but the play was first performed in the UK in 2015, so you may know how it ends. It’s also “in development” as a film, which means it may or may not come to fruition in the next twenty years.

As ever, the production is excellent, and the details are fascinating – down to Heather’s fluffy slippers. The ending is unexpected and shocking. Go see it!

Postmodern Jukebox

Postmodern Jukebox are a cover band. They do versions of (mostly) modern pop songs in various jazz styles, sometimes re-writing them so much that they’re almost unrecognisable from the original. What’s not to like about that?

First, of course, we went to dinner. Having been disappointed by Floriditas last time we went out, we decided to go whole hog and just do Logan Brown instead, which is always top quality. They, too, have been affected by inflation, and their three-course dinner is now $89; but even so, with cocktails and wine, it came to about the same as Floriditas, but with Logan Brown food. So guess where we’ll stick to next time?

 A short walk down Cuba Street took us to the Michael Fowler Centre, where we took our seats in the circle. The band came on, and played a load of mostly American hits – Thriller, I’ll Be There For You (the Friends theme song), Last Nite, Seven Nation Army, and All About That Bass were notable numbers. I’d post the entire set list, but setlist.fm don’t even acknowledge that the gig took place (although they do recognise Auckland’s), let alone remind me what the songs were.

At the beginning of the show, and in direct contravention of the usual rules applicable at Wellington venues, the MC explicitly allowed us to take pics and video, and encouraged us to post them online with a #PMJ tag. I’m sure there were a few pursed lips from venue staff who usually police the “no photography” clause with neo-nazi ruthlessness.

The songs are performed by various singers, sometimes solo, some duos and some in three-part harmony. Also included in the entertainment was a tap dancer, who tapped his way through a couple of numbers…fortunately not too many, because tap dancing, for me at least, wears thin pretty quickly.

Here’s a sample of them in action:

The party went on quite late, and we stayed up past 11 o’clock!

…Thursday Night, ‘Round Ten

You Am I have been around the Australian music scene for decades. Somehow, I have six of their albums…I think I bought the first one from a bargain bin because I vaguely recognised the name. It turned out to be You Am I’s #4 Record (that’s what it’s called) and contains, amongst other gems, the seminal Heavy Heart. They’ve never really hit the big time, but they’ve always been part of the background. They announced their tour of New Zealand in 2020, so you can imagine how that went. Yes, after two postponements, they managed to finally get to play at the San Fran in Cuba Street on Thursday.

The San Fran is one of those trendy places frequented by young people – you know, the ones who stay up past 10 o’clock. Doors opened at 8pm, so we decided to go for dinner at Floriditas first. We’ve not been there in a while, so thought we’d give it a go. The food was good, but not great. The price, however, was great, but not good. Yes, I know we’ve all been suffering from inflation, but frankly, we could dine at Capitol or Logan Brown for that…and the quality definitely wasn’t up to that level. They’re good for daytime café stuff, but won’t be going there again in the evening in a hurry.

We were amongst the first in at San Fran, so managed to secure that rarity – a table! The support band came on at around 9 o’clock, a local outfit called Voodoo Bloo, who play a kind of alternative rock/punk style, with a bass player whose energy, frankly, was exhausting just to watch. I googled whilst they were playing, and found out that their singer was called Rory. When they finished, they headed back out to the audience, so I introduced myself to him…us Rorys have to stick together! We had a brief chat, then he went to join the rest of the band. 

Voodoo Bloo

At around 10 o’clock, You Am I came on. They played a long set, maybe 90 minutes, of which I knew about a third. They’ve been busy releasing albums since my last purchase, which was Convicts in 2008. Guess I’ll have to go shopping again – their latest, The Lives Of Others, came out in 2021. They played a good mix of old and new, and generally rocked the house. I was a little surprised at the size of the audience – they’re an established band, but even playing a small venue like San Fran, the crowd was only about 200 or so (the capacity is 500)…this despite Wellington being the birthplace of bassist Andy Kent. Last time we were there was for The Muttonbirds, and the place was packed. 

Tim Rogers

They didn’t play an encore – as Tim Rogers explained, he considers them condescending. Around 1130 they finished up, and we headed home.

 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the title of this post: ...Saturday Night, 'Round Ten

That's All, Folks!

It may surprise you to know that New Zealand is still operating under the Orange traffic light setting for Covid 19. Where nearly all other countries have dropped any kind of restrictions – as was evident on our recent trip to the UK and Europe, where there was very little, if any, mask-wearing in evidence – New Zealand still has restrictions on people entering the country, and requirements for testing upon entry. 

At least, up until yesterday. At the stroke of midnight, all restrictions for people in New Zealand, and those entering, were dropped. This brings us into line with…er…most of the rest of the world. There are some exceptions (medical facilities and aged care in particular), but we are now free from requirements to wear masks on buses, planes etc, and can come and go as we please from other countries. The government, rather than moving to the Green setting on the traffic light system, has scrapped the system completely. So poor Green never saw the light of day, it was only a theoretical setting.

So that’s it, until the next one.

 

Midnight Oil

Spring has sprung, so naturally the night we went to see Midnight Oil was the coldest night of the year. So far this winter has been warm and wet – the wettest on record – in New Zealand. Why am I telling you this? It’s a matter of gig logistics. Going to any kind of performance is easier in the summer, you just rock up in your t-shirt and shorts. In winter, you’re going from an extremely cold environment to one that gets extremely warm very quickly, as the heat thrown off by thousands of bodies, and also the lighting rig, heat up the interior. How to dress for that? Fortunately we were seated so could put our coats under the seat, but many people were sitting in thick outdoors coats throughout, and as for those downstairs in the mosh pit, what did they do?

This gig has been rescheduled twice. Originally planned for September 2021, then for May this year, it has been affected by the country’s Covid response. Also, fortunately, the venue has changed to the Michael Fowler Centre, which has much more comfortable seating than the Opera House. Just as a reminder, New Zealand is still officially in Orange traffic light setting, so we were supposed to wear masks throughout the performance. Ha ha, didn’t happen. We arrived in plenty of time, queued to buy a new t-shirt, grabbed a drink then found our seats in the upper gallery.

First on was support act Liz Stringer, who also sings as backing vocalist to the band. She’s released 6 albums in Australia, but only broken through with her most recent, First Time Really Feeling. She does a lot of explaining her songs, and the songs are quite long, so she only played four. And that was quite enough for me.

Liz Stringer

At 9 o’clock, the lights dimmed a second time, and the Oils came out fighting with King Of The Mountain, to get the crowd going. The set list contains a lot of new material, as they’ve released two works over the last couple of years: The Makarrata Project, a mini-album featuring collaborations with First Nations artists; and Resist, their final(?) album, released earlier this year. They also played some obscure album tracks from earlier in their career, so the set was very different from last time we saw them for the Great Circle tour in 2017, where it was all pretty much Greatest Hits. Also, we had a much better view of the stage this time, and were able to fully appreciate Peter Garrett’s trademark manic, spasmodic dancing style. Halfway through the set, Rob Hirst came out from behind his drum kit when they slowed down for a couple of acoustic guitar songs – In The Valley and Luritja Way – and the band performed from the front of the stage. We had a little dramedy for Blue Sky Mine, as MOGP* Dan was pulled up on stage…he’d been holding a sign that said “I’m a drummer, can I come and play drums on Blue Sky Mine?” They didn’t let him drum, but they gave him a tambourine and gave him strict instructions to stay in time!

The main set finished with Beds Are Burning and Forgotten Years, then a three-song encore ensued, starting with We Are Not Afraid, from the latest album, then Read About It and Hercules.

We finished up and re-donned our outdoor clothing for the walk to the car, and got home about 11:30. Is this the last time we’ll see them? They’ve packed it in twice before, and come back twice, so maybe not?

 

* Member Of (the) General Public