Who made the rules

Kadizzle may have offended some religious friends yesterday.  Kadizzle sincerely asked who made the rule that Jesus had to be crucified to get everyone into heaven? Kadizzle thought perhaps there was an explanation.  Logic says no one but God could have made that rule.  This leads to a puzzle.  Why would God make such a rule.  Would any father say " We can have a party after we kill Johnny".  Makes absolutely no sense.  So many times Kadizzle has sat in a church and the minister has gone on about how Jesus sacrificed for us so we could go to heaven.  Someone made up the rules for football, basketball, and just about every game.  Who came up with the idea that if Jesus gets himself killed in a miserable way everyone gets in free?  How could one hundred people sit in church and not ask that question.  OK, maybe Kadizzle has a solution.  He will Google for an answer.

The Googling is over and it is every bit a confusing as when Kadizzle started. It does not make a bit of sense.  The only possibility is that there is a set of rules, which God did not make, but came out of nowhere.  These rules effect even God.  You know we like to say " No one is above the law".   Apparently neither is God.  Now maybe the mormons have the answer.  The mormons believe everyone can have their own planet and be God of that planet.  This implies there are a whole bunch of  Gods running planets.  That would mean there must be some guidelines for Gods.  Perhaps that is where the rule came from.

A Promise of Sunshine

The sun is making a spectacular show on the Four Peaks.  Perhaps the lord will shine upon us today.  The Kadizzles have been encapsulated in the Earth Module for too many days.  Kadizzle would like to hike up to a waterfall.  The lake we sit by is coming up quickly, and streams are running that have not had a drop in a long time.

Kadizzle has some sort of dread mahooch from the airplane.  Nothing works like an aircraft for mixing up and distributing germs.  First it was in the throat, then it moved down by Little Joey, now it has gone to the head.

Sometimes you win sometimes you lose.  Kadizzles old friend Ken the garage sale magnate gave Kadizzle a Snap on Multi Tool.  The tool became dysfunctional.  Snap On Tool company claims they have a lifetime guarantee so Kadizzle decided to test them.  Kadizzle sent them the broken tool and indeed they sent him one that they have in their catalogue for $179.   The flip side of the problem is the car rental company in New Zealand that charged about 700 dollars to the credit card because there was a small nick in the bumper.  Kadizzle doubts the veracity of this scam, but you win some you lose some.  Life has a constant up and down.  Returning home Kadizzle found a couple of check came in the mail from nowhere for about three hundred dollars.  In a strange twist Kadizzle got four times the original offer for some mineral rights.  The man called originally and offered fifty dollars.  Kadizzle said " Why don't you just make it one hundred" .  They did.  Next they made some mistake in the signature process and Kadizzle had to sign the lease again.  Jokingly Kadizzle told them of the hardship of signing a second time, and thought they should give him another hundred dollars.  They did.

Seems like the Bismarck Tribune has cut back on the number of letters from the gang of three.  That would be Kadizzle and two other liberals that keep the paper in business.  Today they published Kadizzle's letter critical of ministers.  Basically the letter said " You broke it, you fix it".  It was the gutless preachers who brought us Trump.  None of them had the courage to confront the orange nightmare.  Everyone have a good day and maybe next year they will impeach the rat.

You made too good a deal

Years ago when Kadizzle first moved to North Dakota he bought a car in Bismarck.  After purchasing the car Kadizzle heard and add for the car dealer he had just purchased the car from.  The add said anyone buying a car would get  $150 dollars in free gas.  Kadizzle called back the salesman and asked why he did not get the free gas. The salesman told him " You made too good a deal".  Kadizzle called the attorney general and next thing you knew we got a check.  Now United Airlines is pulling the same scam.  Kadizzle went online to see how many miles he got for flying to New Zealand and back.  Two twelve hour flights is a lot of miles, plus two flights to Phoenix.  Kadizzle's eyes about popped out when United said Kadizzle would get about 300 miles for the 14, 000 he flew.  Checking their policy it is the same answer, you made too good a deal.  Live and learn.

Mental Illness Blooming

Honest Omar requested a rant which inspired Kadizzle.  Jasper Littlebottom did not want to make the entire trip to the airport in Phoenix so she instructed Kadizzle to take the light rail as far East as he could.  As Kadizzle boarded the light rail a bumish guy seemed to be saying something to Kadizzle.  Kadizzle could not make out what he was saying.  Getting closer to the fellow Kadizzle could make out that he was saying " Your Santa Clause, your Santa Clause".    Then he said give me something, give me something.   Kadizzle asked what he wanted.  The fellow with his crutches said he didn't care he just like to have people give him something.  Kadizzle had a stash of cookies, instant coffee, some real coffee, and other survival food.  Since the big adventure was over Kadizzle gave the bum everything and he was happy.  It was a long train ride and Mr. Bummore talked to the ceiling for a long way before he got off.  Mr. Bummore acted like he was talking to someone, but no one was there.  This guy had some serious delusional problems.

This brings us to our president.  It is not really that hard to recognize mental illness.  Trump went off the deep end and in front of his cult started ranting about toilets, light bulbs and dishwashers.  Off course all his statements were wrong and untrue, but his cult members just cannot see the man is nuts.

Back at the Earth Module.

Dropped back on the home planet.  From the world of jungle to the world of thorns and cactus.  A slower pace is welcome.  New Zealand was a bit frantic trying to run around day by day finding a new home every night.  Travel does expand the mind.  Large cities are fascinating in small doses, but nowhere Kadizzle would want to live.  Spending so much time in the middle of nowhere you easily forget the beehive atmosphere cities have.  Humans spent millions of years in small clusters in the jungles and forest.  We were not meant to live in hives.  Consumerism will kill us.  People buzzing around buying useless crap.  The marketing of expensive useless crap is amazing.  The sheer volume of potions and creams for sale was amazing.   Somehow time is amazing.  If you have a twenty five dollar watch that tells you it is ten o clock,  and a five thousand dollar watch that tells you the same thing. what is the difference?   How can you make a woman's purse cost hundreds of dollars?  We have become a society of trying to prove how much money we have by spending a fortune on ordinary things that really don't matter.   What is the magic of buying something?  Does it give you a sense of power?  Seeing shopping fever in full bloom is educational.  Back in New Zealand the most expensive stores would not let you in.  No, you had to wait outside in line to get ripped off.  Then the guy dressed very nicely would escort a few people in to rip them off.  Absolutely amazing you are going to shop for a five thousand dollar watch and they are going to make you wait until it is your turn to be robbed.  Being exclusive is so important. 

Back to the desert.  Rain has been pouring down on this desert like never before.  This desert may turn into a jungle.  There is a lot of snow up on the mountains.  The fires last fall mean all kinds of silt is washing down and so much is getting torn up by landslides.  Winky keeps worrying about Peter Bigfoot.  Poor old Bigfoot is getting wiped out by his creek.  The fire ruined so much forest above him the water is coming down in torrents.  Kadizzle would like to hop on the motorcycle and do a survey. 

Two infestations for the price of One

Hop on the bus Russ.  Kadizzle got on the bus and headed for the airport in Auckland yesterday.  Kadizzle was the only one on the bus so he stood there and had a conversation with the bus driver who would qualify as a minority in this country.  As usual Kadizzle made a wrong assumption. Kadizzle thought the odds were slim a person of color would support Trump.  When Kadizzle mentioned what a con man for a president we had the bus driver said " Oh no, he is a good man".  Kadizzle asked what good has he done?  The drive could not answer.  So as we drove to the airport the man gradually admitted Trump might not be so great.  At some point the driver pointed out that he saw on the news where Trump opened a new Apple factory in the U.S.  If you follow the news you know Trump lied about that.

Somehow as the conversation went on the bus drive said he was a member of the LDS church.  Kadizzle suggested he read the book Under the Banner of Heaven, which does a great job of exposing that fraud.  Oh, no the driver said, he would never read anything that disagreed with the church.  So here you have the classic working person that loves Trump being abused by both religion, and the political system.  The driver explained how he used to waste money on things he did not need, but now he is trying to save.  Kadizzle said " but you are giving the church ten percent".  The driver went on to explain that was money he was giving to God.  Who knew God was broke?  Then Kadizzle pointed out all the crooked preachers and mentioned how the LDS was just recently caught in a tax fraud scheme hiding billions of dollars.  Logic was not going to penetrate this man's brain.  How many working Americans are being abused by both religion, and the Republicans?  The real beauty is Trump using religion to abuse the working class, a double whammy.

Republican Jesus

Why not embrace Republican Jesus? Want to take more than your share? No problem with Tumpus of Nazareth. Nazareth is a golf course in Florida.  You like to tell a few lies, or steal from a charity? No problem with Trumpus Christ.  Why bother with that old Jesus that was such a nuisance when you can have Trumpus.  Trumpus is all for you. Take what you want the hell with everyone else. You can be the biggest, the greatest, and have the best words if only you will Embrace the Republican Jesus. Who else would let you grab pussies, insult the dead, and destroy everything you touch.  Yes, his hair might be fake, his religion fake, and every word he speaks a lie, but hasn't he shown you it can work.  Trumpus has performed miracles.  He made all the idiots wear red hats, he turned good men into sorrowful suck ups, he turned water into polluted water.  He loves little children, he puts them in cages.  If the phoney preachers on TV support  him, why can't you.  All you have to do is be born again, preferably into a rich family.

Here we go

Up early and bored already.  Kadizzle is in another little India part of Auckland. The room is very nice with large windows and a little walk out veranda. Kadizzle likes nicely tiled bathrooms, and this place has one.  The tile work seems very well done to the point Kadizzle suspects it may not be real tile, but if it is they did a fantastic job.

The major problem for the next 24 hours will be keeping the mind occupied.  The plane does not leave until three this afternoon.  That means there are about seven hours to do nothing until the real nothing starts.  Going back down town is a possibility.  The fish and chips here are so good it is a temptation.  They must not use carp like the do in the U.S.  An immediate problem is coffee.  The Indian family that lives here does not seem to be awake.  Not sure how this place works.  Does Kadizzle use the rest of the house like it is his? That was how the last place operated.  If that is the case Kadizzle could make his own coffee.  Well Kadizzle will give the Gandi's some time to sleep in.

Everything needs to be fully charged for the long plane ride. This includes the wonderful headphones Sam donated. Noise cancelling headphones are a god send for flying.

Maybe too hopeful a thought but perhaps the brain dead are awakening.  Some publications that have been so gutless are finally coming out against Trump.  Even better are the evangelicals that have regained consciousness.  Trump's war on the environment is far worse the the annual war on Christmas. Now Trump is fighting windmills, toilets, and light bulbs.  The man is simply insane.

The thought " today" just went through Kadizzle's head.   For the first time Kadizzle will fly back to yesterday.  Suddenly the term today takes on a new meaning.  Today is a relative term.  It is Wednesday here, and Tuesday in Arizona.   There is no today, it just depends on where you are.   Everything it turns out is relative.  Nothing has meaning until you compare it to something else.  Now for some strange reason the international date line is not a straight line.  There is a spot if the plane fiies the right route where the plane can fly into and out of Wednesday and Tuesday.  The plane will fly into tuesday, back into wednesday, and finally into tuesday for the last time.  The place is way out in the pacific. Kadizzle will have to look down from the plane and see if he can see the dotted lines that outline the time zone.  You can see them on the map.

Something Left Out

One spout of mental illness Kadizzle left out of his jaunt in Auckland today.  Watching the crowds moving down the street Kadizzle notice a red hat. Looking a second time it was the real thing with an idiot under it.  Looking closer sure enough it said make America Great Again.  This was like an unvaccinated measles person on a plane.  Here was an American infected with idiocy walking down the street in Auckland.  Kadizzle confronted the man and told him what an embarrassment he was to our  country.  We had a brief conversation and it was the old fake news, Trump is great  routine.  The poor man was dumber than a brick that had been raised by a poor family.  It is kind of nice though when idiots self identify and Kadizzle should have realized he could have confronted any fire hydrant and made as much progress as he did with the cult member.  Thankya Jesus this was the only branded American dolt Kadizzle encountered.  Someone said there might be a cruise ship at the dock.  Could have been the S S Alabama. or a Fox News destroyer.

Good day gone bad

Kadizzle was extremely careful with the rental car because of driving on the left.  Now the rental car company is trying to soak Kadizzle for a scratch on the bumper.  Kadizzle suspects someone may have scratched it while he was parked at the beach yesterday.  Like an idiot Kadizzle turned the car in very early in the dark and never looked it over.  The deal is going to be a major paperwork hassle.

OK, now for the good news.  Today's bnb seems pretty nice.  The lady would not let Kadizzle occupy until three so he had to waste a day doing something.  Took the train to downtown.  Kadizzle had written Auckland off as kind of a so, so city, but it was a lot of fun today walking up and down the shopping area.  The streets were bustling with people and the retailing in New Zealand seems explosive.  There are so many shops and they all actually have people shopping.  The selection of stores is amazing.  One striking scene was the people standing in line to get ripped off.  That was at the very high end stores where you had to wait on the sidewalk until it was your turn to shop.  Who would wait to pay five thousand for a watch or a purse?

Kadizzle patiently waited for some street musicians to start.  Will try to post the video. They were really good, had a unique sound including an electronic didgeridoo.  They immediately drew a big crowd.  Some guy who said he was an old bricklayer chatted up Kadizzle.  The guy did not look to bummy, but he intended to ask for spare change with a cardboard sign.  He was such a nice guy Kadizzle gave him a little pocket change.  The guy said he liked Trump so kadizzle had to lecture him.  He agree Trump was a loser, but insisted he had to get some respect for his position.  Kadizzle told the coin collector he would give him twenty dollars if he would walk around with an impeach Trump sign.  The guy really wanted money and said he would do it.  Kadizzle went into the high end store where the street musicians were performing out front. The well dressed young lady at the door said " Can I help you with anything?",   Kadizzle asked for a piece of cardboard to make the impeach Trump sign.  The lady took off in search of the cardboard, but could find none.  That was probably some karma telling Kadizzle to give that idea up.  So sitting with the bum on a nice bench we just enjoyed the music.

Prior to all this Kadizzle sat on another bench to rest.  A young woman was speaking at machine gun speed into her phone in a language Kadizzle could not understand nor guess.  Kadizzle heard a couple of words that sounded a little spanish.  It turned out Kadizzles guess was right.  The woman was from Argentina and we had a good cackle.  Kadizzle said he wanted to visit Argentina. She said it was not a good time to do it you might get killed.  Anyway had a great time wandering the streets.  May also post here a picture of a woman that started dancing in front of the musicians then tossed some money in their pot.

OMG

Hardly a day goes by here in New Zealand that Kadizzle does not shout to himself OMG.  Way back at one of the first Airbnbs Kadizzle was blown away when the host started singing " Halaluja I' a bum".  The next incident just occurred.  Winky you will not believe this.  Kadizzle likes to discuss everything including technology.  So in the midst of a conversation with the guy here who recycles computers Kadizzle said " You would love to watch Uncle Bumblefuck".  Kadizzle about fell over when he said " You mean Avs?".  That is another moniker or the official moniker of Uncle Bumblefuck".  Absolutely amazing to run into another fan in New Zealand.  Very few people in the world would no who Uncle Bumblefuck is.  Anyway a day does not go by here without several wonderful conversations.  Kadizzle loves learning new things, and it is endless.  At the ebike store Kadizzle had a great conversation about ebikes.  Introverts and shy people are cheating themselves so badly.  Right in this bnb there are four interesting people that have a good story to tell.  One thing that almost always comes from some good BS is laughter.  The people locked up in their own world or bubble are missing so much. Engage.

Return to the Beach

The beach will be the last adventure.  Nelson has a huge beach area.  Tranquility abounds on the beach.  Kadizzle sat in the sand and just watched the world go by.  A few fellows were kite surfing.  It will be up very early and over to the airport tomorrow.  Looks like Kadizzle has his last airbnb lined up.  Prior to the beach adventure Kadizzle sat here and had some good laughs discussing the religious goofs in each country.  The one fellow who came to the house to have his computer repaired has been all over the world.  He would never go back to the U.S. he says. Customer went to L.A. and hated it.  Customer remarked that so much is falling apart in the U.S.  So correct.  Our large cities on the East coast are a disgrace.  One thing the U.S. still manufactures is poverty.  Customer never heard of Mormons, but Mr. Electronics knew all about them.  Kadizzle explained to Customer that if you are a Mormon and die you get to be God of your own planet.  Of course Customer never heard about the Mormon's magic underwear.  The fraud committed in the name of religion is world wide.  U.S. crooked preachers are the winners.  No one rapes the ignorant like they do.  There simply is no better tax free fraud than religion.  Seems like a lot of the world is wising up.   Trump is helping in his own way.  Anyone with two brains cells to rub together can see how the old Trumpster hooked the religious into his con.  This certainly drives sane people away.  There is hope.

If the weather is clear Kadizzle may get another good view of the southern part of the North Island.  Will have to awaken very early to catch the 6:00 A.M. plane.  May not need supper those pancakes may have kept little Joey happy.

People are never what you think.

Sitting on the veranda here at the bnb Kadizzle engaged Mr. Electronics in a conversation.  Somehow we got on the topic of quantum physics.  At some point in the conversation Mr. Electronics said he and the other guy often discuss quantum physics on the porch.   Now sizing these two guys up you would think they would be the NASCAR type in the U.S, not two working blokes who discuss quantum physics.  It reminds Kadizzle of his old bum friend who was compiling his own encyclopedia.  Hopefully Kadizzle has finally learned the book and cover routine.  Too many times Kadizzle has been fooled by covers that betrayed the book within.

Bumbling Around Nelson

Nelson, New Zealand is a very vibrant town about the Size of Bismarck.  Seems so strange to see the shops so full of people in the middle of their summer here shopping for Christmas.  Mr Electronics told me where to eat breakfast.  Again he was right.  Kadizzle had the most enjoyable pancakes. Little Joey almost died from ecstacy.  First, they were giant fluffy buttermilk pancakes.  Then came the berries, and ice cream, along with what must have been some sort of custard.  Little Joey has had some memorable food moments here in New Zealand. 

At breakfast Kadizzle sat with a nice guy his age.  Of course we got into the political state of the world and you know who.  The gentleman was intelligent and had a better grasp on U.S. politics than any Republican or Fox News flunky.  The man had a great idea.  He suggested all the other countries of the world boycott the U.S. unless we dump the dolt.  Seems like a great idea.  This guy said it will take many years for the U.S. to restore it's credibility in the world.

Wandering down the street Kadizzle paid his five bucks to go into the museum.  The museum featured the history of Nelson, and had a traveling display about the moon.  The moon exhibit was very well done and one of the neatest parts was a scale model of the moon that lit up from the inside. The model was about fifteen feet high and rotated.  Somehow the model was made from actual photos of the moon that some satellite must have taken.  Maybe if the energy comes Kadizzle can post a video.  What really struck Kadizzle in the moon portion was how long ago that was.  Part of the exhibit had you sit in a room with the furniture of the time and listen to the broadcast on the radio.  It was like going back into the twenties. They had some launch equipement there that look like such old technology.  Now this will knock you r socks off.  There were actual moon rocks there you could smell.  They had the rocks crushed up like gravel and then you put a puff of air through the rocks.  Now this will sound phony, but you can swear on Honest Omar's Bible this is true.  The moon rocks smell like cheese.  Unbelievable, but true.  How could a nation that had the technology elect a dolt like Trump?  It is embarrassing to be an American at this point. The guy back at the pancake kingdom said we are going into the dark ages.  He might be right.  The United States biggest export now is waste, right wing stupidity, and greed.  Now someone might be thinking.  Kadizzle, why don't you just move.  Very tempting, but my kids don't have the luxury.  When you get a hole in your roof, you fix it, you don't  move.  Our country has a hole problem.  It is an asshole president.

You never grow up

As a young person Kadizzle thought when you got older things would make sense.  Now that he is seventy he must concluded it just does not happen.  We are all wandering in the wilderness.  Each of us floats in our own delusion.  For some it is religion, for others some insane pursuit of money, and on it goes.  Winky likes bird watching, Kadizzle likes people watching.  The habitats and actions of people are endless.  You have some people infected with thumper.  Of course every country has some thumper people.  You know those people who drive some loud contraption and drive around announcing they are alive.  The IQ on that bunch needs recharging.

Here in God's little paradise you have the wandering lost kids in their twenties.  The world is a theme park to them.  Somehow they manage to mate up.  Among the young you have the tattoo tribe.  That tribe also believes strongly in boring holes in their bodies.  Drilling holes in your body and filling them with rings seems strange to old Kadizzle, but it must bring some mental pleasure.  When these portable junkyards get older will they keep the rusted nose ring?  Tattoos don't look so good once they are subjected to older bodies.  Kadizzle could have had an apple tattooed on his stomach, now it would be a pumpkin.

Life makes no sense.  Kadizzle keeps repeating to himself what Albert Einstein said " Life is not stranger than you think, it is stranger than you can think".  Indeed, indeed.  Life is just plain confusing.  Everyone is searching for something that is just not there.   A lot of people have fun being scared and worrying.  Mrs Karbunckle who runs this place likes to watch crime shows and serial killers.  She brought up an interesting point.  Karbunkle asked why doe the United States have so many serial killers.  Never thought of it, but it is a popular sport in the U.S.  All Kadizzle could figure is we mistreat so many children were bound to have more.  Mrs Karbunkle turned to Willy Electronics and asked him if he could think of any New Zealand serial killers.  He might have been able to come up with one poor example.  Next Mrs Karbunkle remarked about how easy it is to kill your wife in the U.S. where everyone has a gun.  Yup, if the old lady sasses you just shoot her.  Guns are so handy, and such good problem solvers.  We have taken it to a new level when we go to other countries and show them how well we can kill problem makers.   Fortunately here in New Zealand they seem to solve problems rather than shoot them.

Little Joey is up and already thinking about breakfast.  Little Joey want to go out and eat.  The day before yesterday Kadizzle took little Joey to an eating place along a wonderful river in the forest.  Kadizzle was the only customer.  It  was just bacon and eggs, but they did it up right.  The bacon was the Canadian style with a couple large slabs, plenty of eggs, and lots of toast along with some has browns.  It was not the sorrowful looking plate  you would get in our country.  Hard to say our country any more.  Now it seems like it is Trump's country.  A land full of idiots begging to be robbed and exploited.  Got to stop or Kadizzle will go off the deep end ranting.

Oh well, what they hell, just a little rant note.  The simple minded " Christians" seem to be having a bit of an awakening.   A couple editorials by Christians have begun to appear calling Trump into account.  The very best is a rag Billy Graham started had an excellent editorial calling for the riddance of Trump.  This is what we call a self correcting problem.  Christianity is being destroyed by Trump.  It is like rats poisoning other rats.  Does it get any better Omar?

I going to sight right down and write myself a letter.

Remember that song? I am going to sit right down and write myself a letter.  Well Kadizzle is perplexed how to spend his last day on the South Island.  Kadizzle got back to the top too fast. He should have spent one more day at West Port, but the weather tricked him into leaving too soon.  So now for the final day the choice is to either get in the car and drive up to Abel Tasman once more or just flump around Nelson.  Flumping consist of aimlessly wandering around and just letting life take it's course.  For some reason flumping seems appealing.  Amazing how quiet it was here at the flop house.  Kadizzle slept well.  Tomorrow morning Kadizzle has to get up very early to return the car and fly back to Auckland.  If everyone in the U.S. drove these tiny buzzer cars the oil industry would fail in a week. There doesn't seem to be a gas guzzler on this whole island.  At six dollars a gallon only Trump could afford gas here.  However, here like everywhere cars induce a special kind of masculine insanity.  You have to drive fast and act like you control the world.  The New Zealanders will have to lose points for the way they drive.  They are like bees buzzing all over the place.  The roundabouts are like amazing blenders and it is a wonder how they sort idiots at the speed of light.

The beach at Split Apple Rock seemed so inviting that one possibility for today is to go back there with a wet suit and swim.  A wet suit on Kadizzle will fit like a condom.  Maybe Kadizzle could borrow a wet suit from Mrs. Karbunkle.  Now coffee time is near.  Every place in New Zealand has the identical water boiling tea kettle. The thing a ma jig sits on a hot plate and shuts itself off when the coffee is ready.  It is kind of a neat idea.  The British heritage means tea is popular here.  Well maybe some coffee will stimulate the brain into action.

The Airbnb reality show

Kadizzle just finished a long fun cackle with a couple probably in their mid fifties.  The woman could cackle as well as Kadizzle. Now to the point. It would make a great reality show just if someone filmed the interactions in these places.  In a few short hours Kadizzle has had conversations all over the place with what seems like every type person.  There is the owner, Mrs Karbuncle, the guy who lives in the hole in the ceiling, and the other guy who apparently ran away from his wife.  The runaway guy calms himself down by  tearing apart electronic stuff and repairing it.  His room is stuffed with electronics. He has about eight computers, and bins of all sorts of components.  As a hobby he fixes the stuff and sells it.

Mr Computer recycler told Kadizzle where to go for a late lunch.  The meal was very good.  It was some sort of excellent chicken pasta with big noodles, and mushrooms.  It was different, plentiful, and very good.  Unfortunately it was not cheap. It cost damn near as much as the room for the night.  Kadizzle may stay here one more night on the airbnb chisel system. If it goes as planned Kadizzle can stay another night for around thirty five dollars.  Although the place is a mishmash it is clean and some parts are new.

The Bike Ride

At last Kadizzle got to take a bike ride.  No ebike, it is just an old fashioned peddle bike that comes with the bnb.  Nice ride along an old railway they made into a wonderful bike trail.  Ninety percent of the trail is landscaped.  New Zealanders would landscape anything with dirt on it.  They love gardening.  The exercise will do a lot of good for little Joey.  Probably went ten or fifteen miles.  Was going to buzz around downtown, but it looked like rain, so Kadizzled returned. 

The number of ebikes in New Zealand is astounding.  An old guy on the bike path with an ebike remarked how it is getting the old goats going again, so true.  Ebikes make so much sense.  The price of gas here must be between six and eight dollars per gallon.  That is one reason ebikes make a lot of sense.  Eighty dollar fine if you do not wear a bike helmet.

It was bound to happen, Kadizzle met his first Trump supporter.  The lady that runs the bnb say she doesn't read or pay attention to anything, but thinks Trump is great.  Strangely a guy is sitting across from me has his head on right and he understands what a hopeless idiot Trump is.  As Kadizzle is writing this he stopped to talk to Mrs. bnb about guns in America.  Even she cannot believe the gun insanity in our country.   Kadizzle tried to explain to bnb how the politicians play on the gun nuts.  This seems like it will be an interesting place.  Some young guy twenty just came down from a hole in the ceiling.  Apparently he lives up there.  Could save some money staying here, but am tempted to go back to luxury.  Luxury is boring .  The other guy here is probably in his forties and smokes hand rolled cigarettes.  A pack of cigarettes here is like seven or eight dollars.  Mrs Karbunckle does not allow smoking inside.  Little Joey is acting up after the bike ride.  Maybe we can give little Joey a treat if he can hold off until later in the day.

Life on an Island

New Zealand is two big islands.  The people know they live on islands.  When you live on an island you quickly learn you only have so many trees, so many places to put garbage, so much coal, and you have to live within limits.  The Earth is an island, but the majority of souls operate as if it can tolerate endless abuse.  Once New Zealand saw that it's trees were all going to get chopped down.  The New Zealanders awakened and did something about it.  New Zealand had a gun nut incident. They awakened and now the government is buying back guns and looking for people with illegal guns.  Living on an island creates some sort of unity.  You don't have the divisiveness here that plagues our country.  One thing the people of New Zealand learned a lot about was invasive species.  The introduction of rats and a few other animals did massive damage to their pristine ecosystem.  Televangelist rats have sprung up in New Zealand.  Kadizzle has noticed some of those simple minded people who have to drive around in loud cars roaming the streets of Nelson.  A boom box car guy went by yesterday.  However,  on an island like Kadizzle said you notice things.  When the island is quiet and tranquil you notice a change quickly.  My guess is they will do something.

New Zealand is the cleanest well kept nation on Earth.  New Zealand has conquered plastic bags, junked cars,  and smoking.  It is almost comical to see the smokers here getting stomped out.  New Zealand has made smoking so expensive and socially offensive that the smoker have to roll their own tiny little cigarettes.  One pack of weeds cost clost to thirty dollars so the weed dogs roll these tiny little cigarettes and carry them around in a little baggie.  The people here are so conscious of waste.  You notice it.  The worst invasive species is the one that infects the brain.  You know that brain infection where you believe the Donald Trump fantasy.  That disease has not struck these islands and it may cause a massive invasion of Americans.  The lady from Montana who moved here said when Trump got elected she applied for and got here citizenship in New Zealand.  Were it not for our wonderful children and grandchildren the Kadizzles would move here in a heartbeat.  Winky would miss the desert, but we could transplant some prickly plants here and make them suffer like we do in the desert.

This gets us to the last amazing thing about New Zealand.  When you go in the woods there are no snakes, no bears, or any animal that will look at you as dinner.  There are no thorns here, not kidding. Kadizzle has not seen any plants with thorns.  Even the weeds seem to be in short supply.  The grass is actually greener.

Spending two weeks in New Zealand would be a good delusion buster for any American who thinks " Were number one".   We are number one in war as someone here pointed out.  At the outdoor store yesterday Kadizzle got into a discussion about health care.  The people here are just amazed about how Americans refuse to take care of each other.  The lady at the outdoor store who moved here from Montana told a story about a young American girl who died because of American health care.  The girl had cancer, and when she was no longer able to ride on her parents health care she died rather than bankrupt her family.  Meanwhile pick up the paper and read about how Billy Graham's old religious rag spoke out against Trump.  Then read how all the crooked preachers stood by Trump.  What in the hell is wrong with people?

A little boredom set in

A little boredom set in so Kadizzle drove down to the marina.  As always there was someone to chat up. Guy A told Kadizzle to talk to guy B.  Riki was selling a forty three foot boat. Kadizzle wanted to get an idea what boats sold for so off we went to look at the boat.  It was an 80's something Hershoff.  In its day it was probably a pretty fancy boat, but it looked like it had been rode hard and put away wet as they say.  Ricki said he had been living on the boat with his wife and two kids.  The boat needed a lot of work, but you could probably get it for 25,000 American.   However, there is no way Kadizzle would take on the fixup this thing would require.  It has seen it's day.  Riki came across a deal he could not resist on a bigger boat so now he is in a pickle with two boats to feed.  The whole experience was good for Kadizzle.  It was a great reminder of how many headaches a boat can create.  You could see on Ricki's boat that one cobbled together thing led to another.  If Kadizzle bought the boat he would rename it the Mayday.  In summary the best boat is one that belongs to someone else.  We will try to live by that as long as possible.

Nelson, New Zealand

Another incredible drive from Westport to Nelson, New Zealand.  Just finished a walk about town.  The town is bustling with Christmas shoppers. So very very strange to be celebrating Christmas in the New Zealand summer.  The towns of New Zealand have a certain flavor, hard to describe.  The town has some wonderful landscaped parks.  The people of New Zealand take gardening very seriously.  At the end of the main street is the Cathedral.  In the church they were having a contest for the best Christmas tree.  Some older gentleman was playing the piano.  Kadizzle requested Amazing Grace, and We Shall Overcome.  The fellow is a damn good jazz piano player and knocked out two interesting jazz interpretations.

The simple minded guys in loud cars are less in number here, but of course they have to have some dingers running about.  Because of poor planning Kadizzle has ended up staying in a nice hotel of sorts. It is right on the little river that runs through Nelson.  For one hundred dollars Kadizzle got a very nice room and the hotel is nice.  With the exchange rate the hotel will be only 66 dollars, which is a good deal.  Last night Kadizzle got his room for 33 dollars American by paying cash.  They like cash here.

Nice day here and Kadizzle should be up in the Able Tasman Park area, but rest is needed.  May go up that way tomorrow.

The Stoat Trapper

It is early and Kadizzle is up with the first cup of coffee.  All the woofers are asleep but the stoat trapper. Kadizzle met the stoat trapper in the kitchen.  Like every person in New Zealand if you do any kind of work outside you wear bright safety clothing.  Kadizzzle spoke with the stoat trapper for awhile yesterday and tried to convince him to join our trail crew in Arizona.  The trapper loves outdoor work and wants to be a park ranger.  New Zealand has an ambitious program to eliminate invasive pest. Stoats are one of the pest.  Stoats look like weasels.  You know the kind of animal Trump is.  Just like Trump stoats are a major pest.  As Kadizzle has walked through the forest here he has noticed traps all over the place. The stoat trapper must go around and gather up the stoats and reset the traps.

Kadizzle has no clue of where he is going, or what he is doing today.  It looks like the sun is finally out so driving to Nelson will be the main goal. If Kadizzle can get a room there at a previous bnb that will be great.  Kadizzle may be able to get a bargain on the room.

Interacting with the woofers here has been fun at the hostel.   They are an interesting group of kids stretching their wings.  They are working their way around the world and learning a lot.  Meeting these kids gives Kadizzle a lot of hope.  They seem to be ambitious, talented and hard working.  It will be hard for the Republicans and Fox News to fool them.  It is interesting to see these kids cook.  They all seem to have good cooking skills.  They make healthy meals and start with the raw products.  The great banana bread experiment the Canadian did turned out well.  Kadizzle feels like a rich old bum among these frugal kids.  Just about every one of them has purchased a car.  New Zealand seems to have an easy way to do the transaction.  You go to the post office and do some simple posting and the car is yours.  There is no lengthy registration and so on.  The kids buy a car and sell it when they leave and it is cheap transportation. 

What a strange twist.

Kadizzle for some strange reason just decided to check his readership.  Before the second most popular country reading the blog was Russia.  Now, out of nowhere Russia has gone to third and Ukraine is in second place. Before there was no one in Ukraine looking at this blog, now it has come out of nowhere.  Are these people googling Trump?  Very strange.  According to the statistics if you combine readers from Ukraine, and Russia it equals the number of Americans.  Who in the hell would read this crap from anywhere is amazing. Maybe computers are monitor the bullshit factor.

The young travelers

OK, Kadizzle discovered woofers today.  What in the hell are woofers? Woofers are young people who travel by working for a place to stay.  There are twelve woofers here.  Kadizzle has had a great time talking to two of the woofers. Both young men are good looking and would make nice mates for some nice young girl.  The one woofer wants to be an architect.  So we buzzed about that for awhile.  Then Kadizzle suggested to him, as he did another young guy the other day that he bum rides on sailboats.  He liked the idea so Kadizzle gave the second sailing lesson of the day.  The first lesson was to a computer programer young guy who is taking lessons at the pie shop to carve wood.  You have to admire these young people.  They all are just experimenting with life.  Woofer number too has been wandering for five years. He is doing his first attempt at making banana bread.  The bread should be ready in twenty minutes and of course Kadizzle managed an invitation.   Kadizzle suggested he throw walnuts into the mix, and he liked the idea.  Kadizzle hitch hiked across the country twice.  Never did any woofing.  It is good for young people to get out and taste the world.

Staying at this hostel has been fun.  Met both the owners and they have been very nice.  Have not seen the girl from the Shetland Islands for awhile.  Need to talk to her some more to see how we can go there.  90 percent of people are wonderful, then you have Trump and his gang.  Thought I might not bring it up eh?   These young people are very conscious about the environment, which is a good sign.  Of course you have the other simple minded idiots with the big pick up trucks roaming the streets of Hazen.  In the end Kadizzle is betting on the intelligent to overcome the mass of idiots that have demonstrated their presence in the U. S.   Have met so many nice people and really enjoyed talking with them.  Now Kadizzle has to google woofers and find out more .

Ok, checked on Woofers.  Seems like a great idea.  Look it up.  Kadizzle has been telling the woofers they can come to North Dakota and clean for us.  It would be a great deal for a woofer.  We would gladly feed them if they acted like servants for a few hours per day.  It appears woofers are expected to work four to six hours per day.  Kadizzle would settle for two hours.  Just do the dishes, empty the garbage, and do what Winky says a few times. You might have to help cut the grass.  Any woofers reading this please apply.  We will have many fringe benefits like wine,  ect.

Today's Report

You can watch the two videos below. That is where Kadizzle was today. Then the commentary is farther down.  Neither of the videos does justice.  A warning siren is blowing right now.  If it is a tsunami, it has been a great life, and can not think of a better place to end it.  Well it must have  just been a test.  On this west coast when the big one hits it will be hopeless.  This whole town will go under.

Denniston

Coal From The New Zealand Alps, 1950s

OMG

Oh my God, Oh my God.  That is the OMG kids text now adays.  Every day here Kadizzle cannot help saying it to himself, and even out loud.  So much of the scenery just blows your eyeballs back in your. Head.  Up the west coast Kadizzle went.  The owner of the bnb recommended a hike to a huge waterfall.  That did not work out. It really made no difference.  Something else Kadizzle wanted to see but did not was a modern strip mine on the top of the mountain.  So what did happen? Kadizzle saw signs on the road for home made pies.  How could you go wrong with a home made pie? Visions of various berry pies with ice cream danced in his head.  So little Joey was brimming with joy.  At the pie place it turned out New Zealand pies are all filled with meat.  Breakfast was a meat pie, and it was pretty good.  The pie lady was very nice and suggested Kadizzle go up the mountain to the historic mine.  The mine and the history of the mine were amazing.  Someone had the insane idea of lowering the coal down the mountain on the steepest inclined railway in the world.  This all started back in 1878 when a coal seam was found on top of the mountain.  Apparently they ran the place until the sixties.  May have to post a video about the place.  When you see what they did you just have to do an OMG.  With certainty Kadizzle can assure you there is no more scenic place to mine coal on Earth.  The coal mining town had a spectacular view of the ocean and mountains.  They also had some spectacular accidents.  It was extremely dangerous moving coal they way they did.  When one car went down it pulled the empty one up.  It was a complicated process because the incline went around a curve about halfway down.  People were not supposed to ride the cars because of the danger, but it was the only practical way to get up and down to the town.  Of course some cars got loose and the wrecks must have been very exciting.

Back down the mountain and another stop at the pie shop.  Some older fellow had a hat on that said ban 1018.  Kadizzle asked him what that was about and he explained they drop some sort of poisen from helicopters to kill certain animals.  Of course they end up killing things they never intended to. All over New Zealand you can see traps in the woods where they are trying to get rid of invasive species.  It is sort of working.  Well this chap and his old buddy invited Kadizzle to sit at their table.  It happen some young American software programmer was sitting there also .  We had an absolutely wonderful hour long conversation about the state of the world and of course politics.  The old fellow used the term Reaganised.  He talked about how New Zealand got Reaganised.  It is the same process the Republicans use to destroy our country.  Lower taxes on the rich and destroy unions.  You know the game.  The fellow was a journalist and he wrote a book about a local coal miner he used to talk with.  Kadizzle got the name of his book and it will be fun to find it and read it.

The pie lady suggested a trip down the road to a waterfall, but with some of the landslides it was just not going to work, so Kadizzle took a trip to another old mining camp.  Not much was left of the place, but the bathouse was unique by American standards.  The entire showers were cast like little caves in the side of the wall out of concrete.  Looked like each man got his own shower.  When old Kadizzle was a miner everyone showered in one giant room with a bunch of shower heads.  Did the laundry this morning, a great accomplishment.

The beauty and scenery of this country is never ending and it would take a long time to see it all.  Kadizzle has to burn up some more time and make go back to the Able Tasman park area.  May get brave enough to swim this time or may be able to bum a wet suit.  Meeting the people is half the fun.  As Kadizzle said before they have outlawed meaness.  At the pie shop had a nice conversation with a truck driver.  Driving a truck here is equivalent to doing surgery.  The roads are never straight, always narrow and it is just hard to see how these guys do it.  Not only do they do it, but they go pretty fast.  The trucks are different.  They have two steering axels in the front.  An American truck will have a crash with a car every ten minutes if you tried to go around a turn with the trailer length of a U.S. truck.  Kadizzle told the truck drive he saw no trucks with sleepers, but the trucker said he had on on his truck, which happened to be an American truck.  You see very few American trucks.  Almost every trip a drive does he can get back the same day.  Hearing the different terms for things in English is also interesting.  Trails, are tracks, hiking is tramping, and Kadizzle will have to check with Mrs. Shetland Island to recall her expression for saying 7:30.  OK, the fingers need a rest.  May post the mine video if I can find one.

A new kind of Leftist

About to get in the car.  Always have to sing the left song.  Driving on the left can be tricky so first thing to do is sing the leftist song.  The song has the word left over and over.  Kadizzle has always been a leftist, but never had to drive as one.  Intersections are the real challange.  In your mind you have to pick out where you are going to go.  One great trick is to follow another car.  Of course if it is another American maybe two car wrecks will happen.  These little buzzy cars are kind of nice to drive.  They handle very well on the narrow roads.  Driving a large truck in this country must be insane.  The way the trucks are configured is different from American trucks.  All these trucks pull trailers  that are short, but hooked up in a way to make them stay in their lane.  Even given that it is always scary to meet these truck on the narrow winding roads.  This hybrid car is a fooler.  It makes no noise when it is running on battery.  The rental lady warned Kadizzle to make sure the car is shut off.  Yesterday he left it running for about two hours while he hiked.  Since it is electric it did not use any gas and even if the batter started to run down the car would start the engine and charge up by itself.  It also leads one to park with the car in gear.  Overall the car is nice and has got Kadizzle thinking it might be good to have one.  Honest Omar, if you are reading this these little cars would be great to pull behind Gus.  Was gus the boat or the RV?

The Old Goat

There are 52 young people probably around twenty years old wandering around this hostel like bees.  All these kids are cooking and doing their own laundry.  It is good to see the countries getting mixed up.  Their might be a family on the Kiwi bus traveling with children, and one young football fan said he is traveling with his dad. They love American football.  If old Kadizzle was young Kadizzle the Kiwi bus might be a good place to find another Winky.  At least these kids have a sense of adventure.  So many people have been so nice on this trip.  The girl from the Shetland Islands who runs the office has been fun to talk to.  She has a certain mannerism that must be peculiar to their country.  I think Christine is her name.  Kadizzle told Christine we could hike to the waterfall together. One problem, she is supposed to work today.  If Kadizzle sees the boss, who is a very nice man, he will ask the boss to give Christine the day off.  She has only worked here a month and has not seen much in the area.  Traveling sure refreshes the mind. 

This reminds Kadizzle of an older couple we met in the campground at Windy Hill.  The man was a nuclear physicist. With his wife they lived most of the year in a small van.  They did a lot of reading. The man told me that every year they take three months to visit a different country. He said one requirement is that the country does not speak English.  That is a good plan to experience the world.

Seven minutes until the dryer is done.  Maybe one more cup of coffee, the instant coffee is not that bad.  Soon will have to get out of my fuzzies and let the day unfold.  If the damn weather will cooperate should be a good day.  It was nice having the rain on the roof here.  This place has a bizzare system of roofs and the water runs through a maze to get to the ground.  Looks like the Kiwi bus is getting ready to blast off.

Awakening on another planet

To his amazement Kadizzle slept clear through the night. Could not believe the clock said 6:52 when he awakened in hippie paradise.  Today is laundry day.  Three out of four washing machines are broken and the same holds with the dryers.  With a need to regroup Kadizzle will spend one more day in hippie heaven.  The cash chisel worked.  Kadizzle asked the owner how much it would cost to stay if he paid cash.  The owner said " What do you want to pay?".  Kadizzle replied " Nothing".  The owner said they will not work.  Kadizzle then offered fifty dollars, which is about 35 real American.  The owner accepted, so here we are.  Looks like a dreary day.  Cannot decide if ebike rental is in the cards. The owner just stopped by seems like a very nice person.  He said he was in coal mining in Australia.  Kadizzle told him about his coal career.  This is a coal area so the owner told Kadizzle how to take a neat coal mining tour.  Also he said there is a magnificent waterfall hike.  The hike may take two hours so maybe Kadizzle will get going and do the hike.  After talking to the owner it seems there may be some good things to do around here, so here we go.

Kiwi Bus Arrived

Old Kadizzle is sitting here contemplating his pizza and garlic bread. The Kiwi bus just pulled into the hostel.  The bus unloaded 52 wandering youth. Not sure how this works, but it seems the bus wanders around the south island riding itinerant kids with backpacks.  There must be a lot of dorm like spaces here.  There are multiple kitchens, showers, and other facilities cobbled together in a strange fashion.  The whole thing is reminiscent of the 60's.  The place is done in hippie art deco with murals, strange signs and a bizarre floor plan.  There are signs around that say " We sell sleep" .  The signs warn people to be quiet.  It will be interesting to see how that works out.  No drinking after nine.  If all these kids are going to feed themselves it should be an interesting mess.  At home when Winky mixes up some strange concoction for dinner we call it guample. This group looks like a bus load of human guample.

Kadizzle may have moved a little too quickly and has to burn up about four days on the South Island.  So will have to do some planning.  Again if the weather holds may rent an ebike and check this town out.  There seem to be a few seedy characters on main street.  It is raining, and that is not a good sign for tomorrow.  Today was pretty active and it is nice just to rest.  Have enjoyed meeting new people as much as the scenery and countryside. Life is what you make it.

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks & Blowholes, Big waves (HD)

Day packed full of wonders

New Zealand just keeps out doing itself.  Pretty sure New Zealand wins for most scenic country on Earth.  The U.S. might have a bigger variety, but New Zealand has a lot packed on two islands.  The coastal highway north of Graymouth is incredible.  Put it on your bucket list and start filling your bucket.  First Kadizzle stopped at the pancake rocks blowhole.  It is just an ocean and rock scene beyond belief.  Will have to put a video on here of it when Kadizzle gets rested.  The ocean waves, which were huge today, bust into, under, over, and around these rocks in the most spectacular fashion.  Can not think of a natural wonder to compare.  After that a short way down the road hiked up an amazing river canyon.  Each hike makes Kadizzle think how nuts Winky would go hiking here.  The hike was amazing. It was like the Grand Canyon with jungle.  The trail went along a nice river where some people were trying to kayak upstream.  It seemed like it would be best to just carry your kayak up as far as you could and come down.  It would be a lot of fun.  Kadizzle hiked maybe two or three miles up the canyon.  Some other hikers said there was a walking cable bridge, but Kadizzle must not have gone far enough.  It seemed there was less problem with stuff overgrowing the trail here than in Arizona.  This South Island would be a hikers paradise and New Zealand does a great job with their trails.

Now here Kadizzle sits in some strange hippie surfing hotel or whatever it is.  The girl who checked Kadizzle in is from the Shetland Islands and has only been here a month. Winky wants to go there so Kadizzle has to interview here extensively.  She said a big busload of people is coming tonight.  They are going to have wood fired pizza and garlic bread. Kadizzle may eat here.  This place is combination hotel and dormitory done in sixties style confusion.  The room seems nice enough and they said they would rent an ebike for thirty dollars per day, which is real reasonable.  May do that tomorrow.  Almost forgot two exciting things on the trail. First was a real live wild Kiwi that walked right up to Kadizzle.  Got a video of it.  Now the second surprise almost required fresh underwear.  A sign on the trail said no stopping, falling rocks.  Kadizzle thought if a rock is going to fall on you what does stopping have to do with it, beside who the hell are they to tell Kadizzle he cannot stop.  So Kadizzle stopped to look around.  Now how in the hell the rock knew to fall is a real mystery, but a huge rock fell from one of the cliffs and hit somewhere in the jungle.  The sound scared Kadizzle the idiot badly. It had to have been a substantial rock.  The strangest thing happened moments before this rock came crashing down. Kadizzle just happened to wonder what this place would be in an earthquake.  It is a huge canyon with very high rocky walls. So right after that thought down comes this rock.  After that lesson in humility Kadizzle moved through the rock zone quickly as told and thanked the sigh after he apologized to it.

Harbor Master's House

Old Kadizzle slept well in the old Harbor Masters house.  Sitting here perched up on the side of the hill the Harbor Master was in a good place to see what was going on.  The house was built for that purpose.  The builder must have known about Tsunamis.  It appears most of the town would be wiped out, but the Harbor Master might make it.  You can see those big waves breaking from here.  The waves were so impressive Kadizzle went back two times just to gaze.  A British lady is also staying here.  She did some sort of psychological work for British children on British military bases.  Went to dinner with the Brit and had a nice conversation with an intelligent woman.

Meeting people from all over the world has been a joy.  The is a current going through the world.  People are sensing something has to change.  There seems to be a looming economic crisis. The world is not going to put up with a few people running off with everything.  For the times they are a change ing.

Kadizzle will head up the coat from Greymouth.  Should be some wonderful scenery.  Yesterday's plan was to do some ebiking here today, but the weather looks lousy.  Greymouth is an old mining town that has gone bust.  The town is pretty run down. 

One common theme among the rest of the world that is developed are social safety nets.  Keep thinking of the Germans yesterday discussing the mom of an American friend in Nevada. They just could not believe how our system bankrupted the lady because of health care cost.  Traveling confirms Kadizzle's deep belief that there is plenty of everything for everyone to be comfortable, in fact very comfortable. It just simply comes down to distribution.  When a few are allowed to rape the planet for their own benefit we have a problem.  It goes back to the pyramids.  One guy needed or thought he needed a pyramid.  Everyone lived in shacks and built him a pyramid.  Nothing has changed. The old Egyptians used religion to fool simple minded people, and today the Republicans have teamed up with the religious to do the same thing.  Kadizzle read this morning the Mormon Church has been caught stockpiling a hundred billion dollars.  Apparently they have violated some tax laws in the process.  What insanity that religion is the biggest con game in our country.  Churches steal tax free and we don't have health care?

Made it Greymouth.

What a drive.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.  Stood right there about three hours ago. Winky sent me a link from the NYT about the drive Kadizzle took today NYT Article.
The drive was stunning. After Kadizzle got to Greymouth he realized he could have made the trip by train.  The British guy Kadizzle met way back in Kerikeri told him about the train trip, but it did not register correctly.  If you really want a good description read the NYT article.  Will just say it may be the most wonderful drive you could take mile for mile.

At Arthurs pass there was a German couple trying to take a selfie with both of them in it. Kadizzle did the picture for them.  Next we engaged in a long conversation about the American political situation. Like everyone Kadizzle has met on this trip from other countries they were just amazed that Americans would elect an idiot like Trump.  So many people have told the same story.  On election night they went to bed thinking the country was safe, but awakened to find out the stupids took over.

There seems to be a worldwide trend where the rich have figured out how to exploit the working class and the ignorant.  The same mess seems to be happening everywhere.  However it seems people in other countries are fighting back harder.  My German friends told me how they have a huge protest every week.  Our discussion was very enlightening.  It is good to see how other countries view the Trump mess we are caught in.  A lot of people ask if Trump will be re-elected.  It is a scary question to answer.  No one predicted the power of ignorance the first time around so who can say this time.  Hopefully those who can read and think will get out and vote.

Kadizzle managed to work the airbnb chisel once more.  If you book one night and the next night is not booked you can get a big discount by going around airbnb. Often the host will give you a nice discount if you pay cash for the second night and leave airbnb out of the equation.

Tomorrow the plan is to rent an electric bike and pedal down the coast on a neat trail.  Have not yet check to see if is the trail in the NYT article.  If it is that will be a nice surprise.  The place Kadizzle will bed down tonight is the historic harbor master's house.  It has a good view out to sea.  A British woman is also staying here.  Perhaps when Kadizzle wakes up at three in the morning he will work on the update more.  Will try to add some pictures.

Three in the morning awakening

Here it is three in the morning, and the usual wake up.  Hope Kadizzle can fall back asleep.  Spent some more time walking around Christchurch.  Had a great sandwich at the market.  Will have to go there and get a morning treat of some baked good.  The retailing is insane here.  Shopping is like wandering through a maze of brand new shops. Judging from what they sell people must have some cash and fashion must be a big deal.  Wrote to Megan and told her Anthropology could do well here.  Women's fluflule fluffle seems to be the rage. So many stores selling women's war paint, clothes, and even the men must be very fashionable.  One thing that caught the eye a couple times was men dressed in very nice staid British clothing riding the little scooters that now dominate every big city.  Seeing guys that look like British Butlers very dignified riding a green Lime scooter just seems like such a contradiction.

It is amazing to see an entire brand new downtown.  Perhaps some American cities could be bombed and started over.  The earthquake here was turned into some very nice real estate.  This time around it looks like the New Zealanders are ready for the next earth quake which will surely come.  If you look at the buildings you can see they are designed to take a shaking.  All over New Zealand you see signs preparing for a big emergency.  Gathering points are posted.  Along the coast they are ready for a tsunami.  In Karikari Kadizzle was walking in the forest and heard a warning siren.  At first he thought it might be the big one, but the shortness must have meant it was just a test. 

Hope the weather is better today. Winky sent me an article from the NYT on the very trip I will take today.  It is very scenic.   Did a lot of searching for a place to stay.  You never know what you get with these airbnb deals.  Some are a little sketchy and there is some puffery.  The bell hop showed me something maybe most people know.  Kadizzle boiled a half dozen eggs and put them back in the carton.  Though he had a system for knowing which were cooked, and an which were not.  The bell hop could tell by spinning the eggs which ones were boiled.  It worked.

Now it is time to sleep for a couple more hours, hope it works.

Brand new City

Kadizzle sits in the most modern hotel imaginable.  It is reasonably priced all things considered.  You have to use your room key to keep the lights on.  No waste allowed her.  The room is very small, but has adopted so many ideas Kadizzle has always had about how a hotel could be made more effectively.  First there is not one useless double bed like so many American hotels.  Also no simple minded bath tub, which saves space and reduces cost.  The best thing is you are not paying for a lot of useless space you do not use.

Of course the drive here from the barrel was very scenic.  All of New Zealand is.  Christchurch is very interesting.  Will try to post some pictures when they are loaded.  Got to the hotel to early to check in so had to wander around downtown.  Need to do some history on the earthquake they had here.  Judging from all the new buildings it must have been a doosey.  They have a memorial wall of all the people that got killed along the river . Very nicely done.  Something like the Vietnam memorial.   As a result of the earthquake almost every building is brand new.  Note to Winky, if you are reading this:  Christchurch has a modern version of the market we went to in Philadelphia.  Wish so much Kadizzle had not shopped yesterday.  The food choice at this market is beyond belief.  The place is sparkling clean just like the rest of the town.  It looks like a lot of people are out Christmas shopping. More later, need to relax.

Slept in the Barrel

Old Kadizzle slept in the barrel last night.  It was a very nice and cozy place to sleep. It seems like a great idea. There is a barrel bedroom on each side of the main little cottage.  The main room has a shared kitchen, bath, and sort of living room with TV.  Nice set up and an idea that would be great back home.  Now for some bad news.  Had the absolute worst hamburger in my life.  Bought some premade hamburg
ers and cooked two to make a sort of taco.  Had the worst fire belly imaginable and had a hard time sleeping until Kadizzle took a world record four Tums.

The other bad news is Kadizzle is probably driving through some of the most scenic country and the world and it is rainy and foggy.  New Zealand must hate bridges.  On the rural roads the bridges are one lane.  Just came across a site where they are building a new bridge.  Of course they make it as narrow as they can with two lanes.

Amazed how clean the country side is.  If only Kadizzle could show the Hazen city commission it is possible to live without junked cars and slum trailers.  Don't know where the poor people live here.  All the homes are well kept.  Since they pay people a decent wage maybe there are no poor people.   There also seems to be a lack of bums. 

Kadizzle is in some little town called Waiau.  The city park has free wi-fi.  Got to see some seals with their pups resting by the shore yesterday.  The drive down the coast is pretty spectacular.  A young Australian couple shared the barrel homestead with Kadizzle last night.  We had a little discussion about which is the wrong side of the road.  Of course the way we do it in the U.S. makes our side the right side.

New Zealand seems light years ahead of the U.S. socially.  Morning TV was all about the gun buyback program.  When they have a gun problem they do something about it.  New Zealand also is proactive on climate change.  Living on two large islands sharpens the mind.  It is like living in a small house, you have to be neat, and keep things clean.

Kadizzle has been driving a hybrid car.  It is interesting and of course it goes forever on a little gas.  It is wonderful to hit the brake going down a mountain and know you are charging the battery.  Do not have a place booked to stay in Christchurch, so it may become interesting and expensive.

Glamping

Tomorrow will find Kadizzle glamping. This is the new trend of luxury camping.  The place and setting by the ocean and mountains looks pretty nice.  It is a little pricey, but you only go around once.  The plan is to rise and get going early to a place called Kaikoura.

Wet Underwear

Just realized the undies are wet, then it hit Kadizzle why.  Riding out to the marvelous Abel Tasman National Park Kadizzle took a short ride to Split Apple Rock.  Someone said it was well worth seeing.  Indeed it was.  Down a winding stairway through the tropical forest and onto an amazing beach.  Cannot think of a nicer little cove anywhere.   People came in kayaks and large canoes with outriggers. The water looked just too tempting, but Kadizzle had no swim wear.  After the crowd left Kadizzle stripped down to his undies and went in.  The water was just a bit too cold for total immersion, so the little dip did not last long.

Next Kadizzle went over to the official part of the park.  The girl that served him beer had him fooled.  She spoke with a good New Zealand accent, but said she was a teacher from New Hampshire.  Had a very nice pizza there then headed out for a walk.  After moving along the tidal walkway Kadizzle came to Porter Beach.  A nice looking backpacker was napping against a log on the beach.  That inspired Kadizzle.  With the help of the beer and pizza Kadizzle took a pleasant little nap in the sun on the sand.

Winky, listen up.  The hike in Abel Tasmen has it all.  You go up into the mountains, along the beach, and the scenery is terrific. Met a lot of backpackers doing multiple day trips.  As Kadizzle was having his beer some young hiker noticed Kadizzles hiking stick.  Kadizzle had just randomly picked up a stick along the trail.  The young hiker said Kadizzle needed a better stick and gave him a much nicer, stronger, straighter hiking pole.  A short lapse of memory just about got Kadizzle T boned, but quick response saved the day.  Left hand driving is not for amateurs or Americans.

Back here at the ranch it may be time for another nap.  Still have not completely adjusted to the time change.  Need to do some planning for how to go tomorrow.

Doing the drive around.

Kadizzle just got back from his buzz around Nelson.  Like most New Zealand towns it is clean and pretty.  Also has the bonus of being small enough you can get around.  In the course of the drive Kadizzle had to stop at one more incredible harbor.  Boats, boats, boats.  For a sailboat guy you would never get done here just ogling the boats.  As Kadizzle walked toward the docks he saw a guy down on his boat working on something. The thought occurred to Kadizzle how nice it would be to see the inside of this 70 ft sailboat.  Finally after a little stroll Kadizzle started chatting the guy up.  After a little chat Kaddizzle asked if he could see the interior. of the boat.  The sailor granted permission.  If you are a sailor and your viagra doesn't work for you the beauty of the inside of this boat should do the trick.  After the tour Kadizzle asked what the guy was up to.  The owner explained he was preparing to go to the fjords on the southeast side of the island.  Kadizzle volunteered to be crew, but was turned down. He already had crew lined up.  Note to Winky, if the guy had said yes Kadizzle would go in a minute.  The shipmaster described the fjords and it was indeed like going to heaven.

The day has gone pretty well.  Spent hours in the airport, but almost enjoyed it.  So many nice people here.  The car lady was fun, but the hybrid would not go into reverse.  Of course this happened right where Kadizzle would block everyone from leaving the parking lot.  After some confusion we figured out the problem.  The little so called cabin Kadizzle is in is a discount version of where he was two days ago. A vast improvement from Mao Tsi Tungs place last night.  Kadizzle got up at Mao's and tried to make coffee.  The plunger style coffee machine shot coffee all over Kadizzle when he pushed the plunger.  No coffee.  The plane view down had a pretty good view of southern New Zealand from the sky.  For dinner Kadizzle decided to have fish and chips which were very good, except they wanted to charge for the tarter sauce and ketchup.  Had to explain in the good old U.S you got all you want for free.  The lady wanted sixty cents for a spoonful of sauce or ketchup.

Think one more day here is justified for rest and planning.  Next may head down the coast on the west, over the mountains and back up.  Wish had flown farther south.  There is a railroad that has been changed to a bike path that sounds great.

A nice guy about fifty is staying here.  He is doing some kind of sales to fishermen, but is by profession a biologist.  We had a great discussion about the environment and the peril we are in. He is from Australia and says they are getting hit hard by climate change, but of course they have their deniers just like we do.

Being the political addict Kadizzle is he cannot resist talking about Trump to people from other countries.  The whole world is looking at the U.S and wondering.  The same disease of idiocy does seem to be spreading over the planet.

My Buddies from Fiji

Kadizzle cannot resist playing with kids.  With coins in his pocket Kadizzle had no clue what they were worth, so we played a game.   If you guessed the right hand the coin was in you got to keep it.  The little girl got it right every time and so did her brother.  Such nice kids.  They are from Fiji and heading home to be on the beach at Christmas. What is a person from Fiji?  A Fijadinian?

Minority for the first time

Kadizzle has a lot of time to kill.  Just had breakfast at the McDonalds in the airport here at Auckland.  Looking around Kadizzle is about the whitest guy in the crowd.  The DNA here is like scrambled eggs.  Seems like the first time ever Kadizzle felt like a minority.  The airport seems to cater to every nationality.  This airport has the best thing of any airport anywhere.  They give you free, free carts to move you crap around. It is so handy and makes so much sense.  It looks like some company sponsors the carts for the ads on them.  It would make life so much easier in the U.S.  You can pop your crumb grinder on the cart with all your luggage.

Of course Kadizzle cannot resist playing with little kids.  So some kids going to Fiji were playing games with Kadizzle.  Will post a picture later perhaps. The dad gave Kadizzle a certificate for $20 worth of free food.  Very nice people, but according to the latest in North Dakota they probably would not be welcome.  Kadizzle has found over, and over that if you treat the world nice, the world treats you nice.

Samoun GPS

Up early and drove the maze out to the airport.  The GPS in the cheap car is out of date, so that always makes for more fun. Forgot to fill the car with gas before dropoff.  Had a hell of a time finding a gas station.  Came across a bunch of Samouns.  That is people from Samoa.  Anyway they were standing by the road drinking beer after work.  Convinced a very large fellow to hop in the car and show me where the gas station was.  The man was huge.  He said he would only come if he could bring his beer.  Would have been a strange explanation if Kadizzle got stopped with the guy and his quart bottle of beer in the car.   Anyway the rental car has been a hassle.  The lady yesterday did not explain Kadizzle could have left the car at the downtown place and taken a shuttle to the airport.  So forty bucks sort of went up the chimney.   At the airport way to early so will have to burn up a whole lot of time.  Had to reshuffle luggage to avoid another charge.  One bag had to be under 7 kilograms. 

The Day took a turn

Morning started in the best of times, and evening is ending in the worst of times.  Had a nice drive along the East coast.  Scenery was spectacular with amazing beaches.  Then the navigation confusion set in.  The GPS navigator has a NZ accent.  This is confusing in and of itself, but Kadizzle also ran the Google version on the phone.  Now add to this some dinger tailgating the slow American and you have what almost turned out to be a disaster.  Kadizzle turned right into the right lane towards a car coming head on.  The accident was averted, but the other drive must have given Kadizzle the NZ finger.  It was some hand signal that signified Kadizzle was an idiot.

Somehow the navigation confusion ultimately led Kadizzle to a place he had considered going down the West coast.  So that part worked out.  Then it occurred to Kadizzle that there would be some problems returning the rental car.  This led to the mother of all navigation mistakes.  The car GPS led Kadizzle through a frustrating maze of Auckland streets.  Auckland is a very big sprawling city, and it is laid out in the most confusing fashion.  Mrs. British accent GPS was either saying B or D and that is a real mess when those are both choices on the large motor lane where Kadizzle had all sorts of problems.  The road signage makes it even worse.  At several intersections you could go right or left to Auckland. Kadizzle was trying to find the car rental place.  After Kadizzle finally found the place the woman there was so busy on the phone that she put people on hold and tried to talk intermittently.  So to solve the return problem it is an extra $40 dollars to leave the car at the airport.

Getting to the airbnb involved more maize work and an American pissing off a few more NZs.  About to explode from frustration Kadizzle finally made it to the airbnb.  Now the next surprise.  No mention in the communications that the home is hidden behind several others down a narrow driveway.  Thinking Kadizzle had the right place he banged on the door.  Nothing happened.  Now what in the hell do we do.  It sounded like people were around somewhere so Kadizzle whistled and shouted hello.  Finally a Chinese woman appeared at the door and indicated this was the place.  Mrs. Chinese person speaks nor understands much English.  So she calls the owner on the phone to be an interpreter. Kadizzle wants a glass with ice so he can have some cold water.  Moa's wife gives Kadizzle a glass measuring cup with ice in it.  The place has no provision for 110 American plug in so the phone and laptop will go dead.  Ah, almost forgot, the Chinese lady has a barking  rat dog.  Now for the dinger.  The place does seem to be very clean and Mrs. Moa made Kadizzle take off his shoes and put on sandals.  This seemed great until we walked through the living room and there were the dog droppings right in the middle of the floor.  They have since been removed.  Now I see why you have to wear sandals.

As if the day could not get worse Kadizzled decided to check on his plane ticket for tomorrow. It turned out something went wrong.  There was no ticket purchased.  Kadizzle had to rebook the whole thing.

Two strange things registered with Kadizzle as he drove.  The young school children everywhere go barefoot.  They all wear uniforms, which apparently do not include shoes.  Seems strange to see even older kids with no shoes.  The next strange sight was what appeared to be civilians moving a modern tank down the road.  With no warning here is a tank half on and half off the road.  Who knows what that was about.  Tomorrow the adventure heads to the south island.  May the day go more smoothly. 

Stunned

Sitting here where Kadizzle just discovered there is a washer and dryer here.  So need to burn up some time while the laundry gets done.  This calls for a rant of sorts.  If you don't like rants read the story below. 

People from other countries look at the U.S in amazement.  They are just stunned about the idiot we have as president.  Kadizzle likes to wander around marinas and look at the boats.  The boats in New Zealand are over the top.  There is enough money in boats tied up to eliminate poverty in most of the world.  What has that got to do with Jesus.  Well, government is about society and taking care of people. Income inequality, Republicans, and religion are the three curses that make so many people so miserable.  If the rich would only take a little less all could do well.  The real amazing sadness looking at all those boats is they do not get used.  How can every marina be full if people are using the boats? So what we have is a society working like crazy to build boats that do not get used.  Of course the same is true with homes.  How many second homes sit idle most of the time.  Just how much does one person need.  A confession, Kadizzle would like to have a nice newer boat.  Back to reality.  A recent study showed that after an income of about 70,000 people do not get much happier.  The amazing thing is money just becomes chips in a poker game.  Look at the idiot we have for president.  He could just be out golfing all day, but he has to grab for power.  When you see people who have the cheese to do what ever they want, you see the money doesn't work for them.  The billionaires don't enjoy their billions.  They have to compete, they have to have more.  How much good could they do?

On television the other  night they had some company that handed out ten million in Christmas bonusus to ordinary employees.  They made a lot of ordinary people happy.  When you live in a world where people are happy you always feel better.  Living in a world where you force people to steal and scrape does not work for anyone.  This is so obvious why can't people see it.  Look at churches.  They set the pace for insanity.  Instead of building homes they build outrageous edifices.

The silly think is how hard people work to get so little.  The real pleasures of life do not come from a bigger home, a bigger boat, or the biggest income.  The best part of life comes from a small bit of happiness.  Yesterday Kadizzle enjoyed sitting under a tree with a glass of beer.  Watching the young boys being boys was a joy in itself.   Watching Evie, and Sylvie is a joy.  It does not cost a billion dollars.  Children are innocent.   They have innocent fun.  Slowly we corrupt children until they become miserable rodents like Trump.  Maybe if Trump's father had not been driven wild by greed he would have spent some time with Donald and made a decent man of him.  Instead Trump's dad sent Donald to boarding school where he learned to be a jerk.

Worn Down

Took off toward the Old Stone House.  Had a beer to prepare for the long hike to rainbow falls.  The incredible plantlife in New Zealand is endless.  Now for something amazing about how much the people here care about the environment.  When you enter a forest here you have to wash your shoes going in and out.  As the walk began Kadizzle came across a man repairing one of these wash stations.  There is some sort of disease they call die back New Zealand is trying to stop.  The spores are carried on you shoes.  A lady, Kadizzle, and the repairman had a little conversation about the chemical they used.  It is a clever little device that you step on and pump the cleanser on your shoes.

Up the trail Kadizzle sat down to rest. Along came the same woman at the cleaning station.  She talked about some form of Japanese relaxation.  Reki it is called.  Had a nice talk and moved on.  Came to the first waterfall and had to decide if the hike to the second was in order.  After three or four miles made it to the second waterfall where some families were swimming in the pool.  On the way back Kadizzle saw some boy that looked about sixth grade jumping from high rocks into the river.  It looked like great fun. Later the same boys were jumping from the boat dock back by the stone house.  The four boys looked like they were having a great time just being buddies.  This was childhood as it should be.  The fact that their faces were not plastered into computers was so refreshing.  Kadizzle watched these kids jumping from about twenty feet up off the dock while he had a beer. 

Kadizzle had to burn up some time waiting for the supper portion of the little restaurant to open so he had a very pleasant sit in the shade with his beer.  In need of another beer while the hamburger cooked Kadizzle got up to get one.  When he returned to the table two men were sitting there.  Kadizzle accused them of stealing his seat and asked if he could join them.  The two friendly guys agreed and we had a nice conversation.  A few of there friends came by including a woman who raised Kiwi fruit.  No one had seen the insane hamburgers they serve.  The waiter came to the table with Kadizzle's burger.  No exaggeration it was at least eight inches high, maybe more.  It had a fried egg on it, beets, an onion ring plus the very thick burger.  Although it was impossible to eat Kadizzle managed. It was very tasty.

The people here are so friendly they just don't seem to have the hassle of our country.  Free health care seems to relax everyone.  People were having Christmas parties around us.  So strange having Christmas in the middle of summer.

With little Joey more than happy Kadizzle set off a little drunk back to the bnb.  There was the stream to cross which is a bit of a balancing act on the rocks.  Made it without wet shoes.  As Kadizzle walked up into the magnificent yard of the host there they were.  These two skinny people had been working in the hot sun steady for hours planting palm trees.  The work was paying off the place has the feel of a tropical garden. 

Well it is off to Auckland and on to the south island.  It should be an adventure.  The traffic is bad here on the main road and Kadizzle does not look forward to being in a midget car Nascar race.  So at twelve forty two A. M. maybe sleep will come.  Over and out.

Half the Day done

Hopped in the red bug and drove to Piahia.  At least that was the plan.  Drove too far and ended up at the ferry to Russell.  It turned out to be a good mistake.  Wandered around the humongous yacht basin.  In the course of wander Kadizzle figured out he could take the car ferry for a dollar.  Seemed like a great way to get out to sea cheaply.  After boarding the ferry Kadizzle asked one of the attendants how far the ferry went.  " Just over there"  was the answer.  The attendant said " You could swim".  It was a short ride, but enjoyable.  Kadizzle asked one of the worker bees about the tides.  He said go up and ask the Captain.  Kadizzle went up to the ship's helm and had a nice ride with the Captain.  After some chatting the two way trip ended.

There is not a straight or level stretch of road in this who country.  As you drive you are either going up, down, or around.  The revised plan for this afternoon will be to wander down the stream behind the bnb and walk to another waterfall.  Might find a good lunch place, wait there is a good lunch place by the Stone House.  So walk, eat, walk back.

Sitting here with the big sliding doors open.  No flies here.  Mark Twain hated flies.  Twain would think God finally got it right. 

At the marina Kadizzle checked into hopping a ride to Samoa or Tahiti.  Nope, the lady said it is the wrong time of year, all the boats are coming back.  The bad weather hits there now.  Maybe next year.

Today's Plan

Long ago and far away a member of our old yacht club gave the financial report.  All she said was money came in and money went out.  Well this morning money went out.  Hope some money comes in.  Kadizzle booked two more airbnb, and a plane trip to the south island. 

Today Kadizzle plans to walk back down to the Stone House. The oldest house in New Zealand.  From there he will hike up to a waterfall.  That is as far as the planning goes.  Tomorrow drive to Auckland. Looks like it will be a very nice day here.  Slept like a rock, but woke up at three. 

A surprising thing here are the pheasants.  Have seen a few.  There are no grain fields so what the hell do they eat?  Some other strange birds appear now and then.  May go down town Kerikeri later today just to see what the shopping is like.  The ATM gave me some New Zealand money.  The airbnb people like to get cash so they can avoid paying the commission. 

Notice on television the same crooked preachers we have in the U.S. bilking the innocent.  Apparently they have a bad Mormon infestation here.  Of course the Mormons pick on the natives.  Waiting for it to get a little warmer before Kadizzle sets out.