Kaituna River Kraziness

When I agreed to go whitewater rafting with a group of friends from work I didn’t sign up for torrential rain, and a swollen Kaituna River that was almost bursting its banks.

Still if you’re going to do something adventurous, it’s best to do it at nature’s extreme.  It sounds a lot better to say you went over a 7 metre waterfall in a raging torrent than a mere trickle.

Besides the company we did it with, River Rats, were all seasoned professionals. At one point, while we were waiting to get wetsuited up, there was a pounding deluge of rain on the hut which had us all worried.  But the guides didn’t bat their eyelids ”Yeah all the rain means the river’s running higher than normal out there, should be good” drawled one. 

Another ran through the saftey routine with a sardonic jauntiness that belied the seriousness of the endeavour.  “Don’t put get your foot stuck on the rocks at the bottom of the river, that would be very bad”, “Don’t wind the safety rope around your neck if we throw it to you”, “Try to swim to the boat before we go over the waterfall.  If you do go over make sure you smile for the camera”.

Naturally hearing the worst case scenarios always makes a nervous group of girls even more nervous.  Once we were in the raft and heading downstream we were fine, and front paddling and back paddling like seasoned professionals.  

At one point I wished the river was higher, the boat smaller and there was no guide to tell me to front paddle and back paddle.  Heck I wished I was the guy shooting out in front in his kayak into the foaming froth.

Sky jump next anyone?

$2million Holes Still Won’t Predict Auckland’s ‘Big One’

A study on Auckland’s volcanic activity, involving two new boreholes is planned to cost around $2million (Auckland Now). 

That’s a heck of a lot of money for a couple of holes.  Especially when the results won’t actually predict earthquakes but only “better understand the implications of a natural disaster”. 

The implications of a natural disaster are pretty obvious: disastrous.  I’m not sure how spending $2million is actually going to benefit anyone in this scenario.  Scientists will obtain data which doesn’t actually predict anything, meanwhile the $2million could quite easily go into helping many other areas of Auckland society which sorely need it.

(Or perhaps help the residents of Christchurch still trying to recover from their natural disaster that noone predicted?)

Besides Auckland already has a network of early detection seismometers including six in existing boreholes. So along with all the volcanoes (last count 55), does it really need any more holes?

Staying 4 Star But Still Paying For the Internet

A recent Tourism Review article has criticised luxury hotels for charging tourists for internet access:

“A common issue tourists face during their travels is the fact that while having internet connection is a given for them, many hotels, especially the luxury ones, are charging extra. Many agree this is not acceptable.”

I came across this in Italy when I splashed out and stayed at a 4 star hotel in Ravello.  When you’re paying €290 per night for a room it’s a little surprising to be charged €3 for half an hour’s use of the internet, and more than a little frustrating when it doesn’t actually work.

Apparently the thinking behind this on the hotel’s part is that if you’re rich enough to fork out for a room in a 4 or 5 star hotel, you can afford to pay a little extra for the internet.  Which kind of sux really.  If you’re paying that much for a room, internet usage should be included with the free shampoo!

Things probably won’t change though unless people start refusing to pay and being vocal about it.  And although free internet isn’t on the top of everyone’s priority list when it comes to choosing a hotel, it certainly makes 2 or 3 star hotels with unlimited internet usage more attractive in my book when choosing where to stay.

Take-away Risotto in Amalfi

So I left my hotel in Amalfi at around 7 thinking I would get take-away seafood risotto and just eat it on the waterfront.

As usual, what I want and what Italy wants me to have, are two different things.

I wandered into the Piazza Duomo thinking I’d go up the back streets.  On the steps of the duomo were a beautiful Italian couple just married.  I couldn’t help but take a photo:

Too gorgeous for words eh?  Continuing on up the back streets in search of my take-away seafood risotto got me nowhere.  I almost caved and got a prawn cocktail and a bruschetta, but no, I needed take-away seafood risotto.  I can be stubborn when I want to be.

I walked along the waterfront and spied some steps going down into a back alley. There was a trattoria sign so it looked promising.  Yes, it opened up into a kind of small piazza with lots of restaurants.  I asked one of them if it did seafood risotto.  It did – ‘fisherman style’.  Take-aways were not an option.

I don’t know why I always assume everything is chopped up into tiny pieces.  I should have been warned by the ‘fisherman style’ description, that it was not going to be elegant eating.  One day I’ll learn.  Forty-five minutes later this arrived.

So much for take-away seafood risotto chopped up in small perfect pieces in a plastic container.

After de-shelling my way through this lot I figured what the heck, I’ll have desert too.  And that was even better; a small, round cake with ricotta and pears. Kind of like a cheesecake but not as sweet. I didn’t take a photo because I ate it too quickly.  Divine.

Then the band started playing.

Nearly two hours after arriving I left.

The moral of the story is, never go looking for a quick meal in Italy.  You’ll find yourself eating things you never thought you’d eat, and having a much better time than you expected to have.

And staying in a better place than you thought as well.  This the foyer of my art-deco type hotel which has each room named for one of the planets.  I’m in ‘Neptune’:

And this is where you have to post what you want for breakfast:

Then it appears the next morning in front of you. Just like magic.

Beware the Chair!

From what I’ve observed, Italians are in love with authority.  Nothing makes them happier to announce that something is ‘forbidden’ or ‘inaccessible’ .  However, at times, the rules are not immediately apparent.

In Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, for instance, I went behind a chair to climb up some steps to look out a window.  All hell immediately broke loose amongst the three attendants.  “Signorina no, no!  It is dangerous!” 

Surely yelling at me, and startling me so I nearly fall down the stairs is more dangerous? 

“You should have a rope across there, or a sign so people know not to go up”, I say to one of them trying to regain my dignity. 
“No madam,” he says looking stern, “There is a chair in front and we are here to say ‘no’, “ as if this is a much better system. 

Some shopkeepers also seem to work on the premise that ‘the customer is always wrong and we are always right’.  Which is odd since the customer, especially in the summer months, is the tourist, and it would be a lot more fruitful for them to give ‘service with a smile’, instead of ‘service with a grimace’.

However, it must be annoying for Italians, especially when tourists intrude on their two hour lunch break. A couple of girls at my hostel learnt the hard way when trying to buy postcards right on afternoon closing time.  

They were ‘hummmpfed’ at several times and then smartly escorted to the door by the gentleman concerned.  I don’t think he even cared they didn’t buy the postcards.  Rules are rules after all.