sunnyclare

daily poem

2009-05-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

ok, neither this poem nor this blog are actually daily, but they are for today: today's poem, today's blog. dear reader, you may not know it yet and it may come as a surprise to you, but actually i am in ireland, northern ireland, southern ireland, close to in-between of the two actually and presently a little time in each.

mongolia will wait for me, and the yurt and the desert and siberian landscape and orthodox onion-domes; right now it is green fields and stone walls and one or two cups of tea. also, weetabix.

so: here is a poem for today, about a place i (almost) visited today, today while you were sleeping that is. i hope it will make you feel peaceful.

this poem is by WB Yeats.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

everything in between

2009-03-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

dear EVERYONE,

well it has been awhile. please don't think for a moment that i've forgotten about you. to tell the truth things have been busy, i've been here and there, and it's hard to write when there are so many things to see and do... but i hope you'll forgive me and let me tell you a little, little piece of the time in between, which involves the conclusion of my time in new zealand and my recent arrival in laos...

firstly: since last we spoke i have been to the CRATERS OF THE MOON, which i think you should look up in google, because it involves steam and geothermal activity, and also we swam in a boiling hot creek named kerosene and flew high above a volcanic crater suspended from a parachute.

i have been to AUCKLAND and WAIHEKE ISLAND, where we visited the beach and saw many people with black labrador dogs which i am given to understand is critical to the well-being of every upwardly mobile young new zealand family.

i have climbed a volcano named RANGITOTO which had remarkably good cellphone reception (hi, mariam!), and from which i collected one red and one black volcanic rock which i subsequently persuaded myself to discard in the airport in bangkok as it began to seem irrational to carry them around.

having bid a reluctant farewell to NEW ZEALAND, i decamped for the tropical paradises (what is the plural of paradise, please? or can there only be one?), of RAROTONGA and AITUTAKI. in these locations i rode a motorcycle, ate sushi made from a freshly caught tuna, saw a giant clam one metre long or more, colourful fishes and coral reefs, and perhaps most significantly, i saw a newborn palm tree just waking up out of its coconut shell.

after these events i have been to SINGAPORE with which i got along just fine since both of our national pastimes are shopping. here i met my beautiful friend ERIN and my colleague and friend MARIE-FRANCE who negotiated hard by day and shopped with me by night, doing our country proud. we also viewed some canto-pop and i ate a large fish head with my wonderful friend PRITAM who has a shiny new car.

thereafter i have been to BALI with a few Australians and many, many lovely Indonesian people. on the GILI ISLANDS we lounged on the beach, danced to reggae and got stung by sea lice, and in UBUD we learned that traditional balinese dancing involves opening one's eyes VERY VERY WIDE. i think i would be gifted in this regard, given the opportunity, though i might be lacking in the graces required for the other aspects of the dance. we also met some MONKEYS of which i was initially skeptical and ultimately fond.

more recently, i have spent a few days in BANGKOK, ensconced in a luxury condominium with panoramic views of the skyline and a lovely lady name NUI who did my laundry for me, no questions asked, and made omelettes for us every day. in bangkok i met up with the lovely miss MARIAM with whom i am currently privileged to travel, and who as always found a party even on a Sunday night.

mariam and i have since travelled together to RAI LEH, a beach, on which she suntanned and i sneezed and whined my way through a head cold, thankyou for your indulgence miss khan, luckily we had TV and AC, two little sets of letters which help a lot when one is a little under the weather, so to speak.

we have also visited tigers in KANCHANABURI, at a temple in grounds which reminded us more of KANDAHAR than anything else. we rode a night train to nong khai where we visited a little country called LALALAND, which bore little to no resemblance to the country of THAILAND in which we had previously thought ourselves to be located. but we were thrilled to be surrouned by the kind and welcoming people of the MUT MEE guesthouse, particularly ARMIN, NIALL and CHRIS, and i should mention that despite the heat we managed to pack away a few solid meals and rack up a nice bill with the kitchen

and now, LAOS ~ i am in vientiane and as you may be aware i do have a soft spot for the former french colonies of the world, so i am happy here so far. also they have textiles.

... if you asked me which place i like best i would say most certainly my favourite would be all of the above. but i have no time for more as i'm late for a dinner date! i will try to be a better correspondent from now on but i make no promises and until next time remain MOST sincerely your nomadic and ecstatic friend:

clare

finally, a farm...

2009-02-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

bonjour mes ami(e)s! i have to tell you about something quite special and exciting so get ready. ready? ok.

well as you know when i left for new zealand i was determined to work on a FARM and in particular to visit a sheep farm which would have been something like a dream come true. however the best laid plans etc etc particularly where i am concerned, and i abandoned my farming ambitions in favour of fabulous adventures with katie, damian, lucy, dan and laura as described in my missive of jan 23 last.

all well and good, you might well say, but how am i supposed to meet My Future Husband, the new zealand sheep farmer, if I don't visit a real sheep farm?

indeed. i thought just exactly the same thing. (i'm glad we are on the same wavelength dear reader.)

well - LUCKILY - wouldn't you know and AS it turns out my new friend LAURA grew up on a sheep farm on the north island, and last weekend she generously invited katie and i to stay with her family (eat it up, heath!). can i please tell you, we had a wonderful time! her parents are the nicest people you can imagine, on top of which her mom is an amazing quilter and knitter and made us the most delicious food you can possibly imagine. their farmhouse is historic and beautiful and feels like such a warm HOME i can't even say. by the way I ate ostrich which has been a lifelong dream but of course it was not from their farm which as i may have mentioned is a sheep farm.

laura took us for a tour of the property. we visited laura's dad's lovely brand new SHEEPYARDS which are revolutionary in design but I can't tell you the secret. the sheepyard is where you corral the sheep before shearing or maybe (not sure) before they go to THE WORKS (aka to be killed). the shearers had been in the day before and we could touch the freshly-shorn wool in the woolpress. it was soft, oily and clean on one end where it was cut from the sheep and a bit yucky on the other since i guess sheep are out in the dirt all day.

driving all over the farm, katie drove the ATV at first but she taught me and laura to drive it as well thereby completing laura's repertoire of skills as a kiwi farm girl. i am only beginning alas but i think it's a pretty good start. vroom! LUCY and JESS the sheepdogs came with us, to see Jess control the sheep with her eyes and make them run was pretty interesting, I am thinking i may like to perfect my gaze for better control over friends, colleagues etc.

i also wanted to mention that we had a little nightswimming in the pool and although it was chilly i would say definitely worth it!

finally i am sure you are all curious: although laura's little brother is a lovely young man i did not meet my future husband on this particular farm. well neil you might be paying out that bet after all :)

so endeth the blog entry related to the sheep farm. but i think it should really endeth when i say THANK YOU so much to lovely laura and her family, and to katie for the driving. Thank you all!

signs of life from the south island

2009-01-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

greetz everyone! well I didn't think i would be a very good blogger and i guess i was right. but now that i'm here i guess i better tell you what i think which is that nz is awesome so far.

since last we spoke, new year's was spent with the fabulous and beautiful katie, laura, damian, lucy & dan at dan's cottage on the ocean... good times & delicious food & of course my favourite, the SPA POOL which is what they call a hot tub here and is so much as good as it sounds. at midnight and despite the neighbours we LEAPT (leaped?) into the new year, Danish-style, off the dock and splat into a mud flat. but we ran into the water and if you look up, it's true that i have never seen so many stars. at the same time under the water we could see the phosphorescence of tiny little sea creatures who of course did not know it was new year's eve. afterwards on the dock my MEC flashlight created a scenic strobelight for one minute of dancing.

new years intact and celebrated with appropriate levels of joy, we went to THE SOUNDS aka marlborough sounds, look it up on the map, i can't tell you how nice it is but i recommend that one day you find out for yourself-- and Katie's parents' beautiful cottage and a sailboat! more swimming and lying around and i ate 6 pieces of toast for breakfast 2 days in a row.

next i made my way SOUTH, stopping in lovely SUMNER outside of christchurch which you can call chch if you prefer, i know i do. i had a wonderful time staying at damian's place and chilling with his roommate and random family visiting from england. everybody was on holiday and we watched a documentary about dolly parton. of course there was a BEACH and d & i even did a little walk so which made me feel a little athletic for approximately one minute.

further south to DUNEDIN i went on a wildilfe tour with Jose from the netherlands and an american couple who live on a yacht in alaska in the summer and in nz/malaysia in the winter, an enviable lifestyle if that is your cup of tea which i suppose it might be. we saw some fur seals, some sea lions and many many PENGUINS cute as can be making their way up the beach and climbing a hill to be with their tiny fuzzy babies. c'est magnifique.

furter and further south i spent a strange few days on a farm and saw newborn lambs, arriving late in the season since it's high summer here. they were yellow and grey with afterbirth but eventually the mom licked them clean and they looked more like a lamb from tv.

further south still, as far south as one can go really, i met LUCY on STEWART ISLAND, a remote outpost of native new zealand bush but we did not see the elusive kiwibird despite an ambitious overnight hike. we did however meet some locals and got invited to a partay which as always was good times. on the hike we stayed in a hut with brave or foolish american boys doing a 10-day hike, hope they're out of there by now, and visited a windswept beach far from civilization which was also good for swimming if a bit cold.

north this time since there was no more south to go: met DAN in te anau and had a little roadtrip and many goodtimes, especially when the stereo was working, and saw some nz scenic sights indescribable in six words or less. camping is fun but it's better if your LILO stays inflated, either way we roughed it in a tent and don't tell anyone but i'm pretty sure we didn't shower for four days. most beautiful scenery of all, fjords, waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, flat and also windswept lakes, farmland, forest, rivers, gorges, mountain passes and mysterious tiny goldrush towns, sandy beaches with not a soul and achingly cold clear water for swimming as often as possible in lieu of showering.

back north, north, some epic driving by dan and got dropped off in TAKAKA, hippie town, saltspring island styles, stayed at a backpackers' where the door stayed open all day and all night and the proprietor spent his free time watching conspiracy-theory documentaries about NASA and MDMA. missed out on the pupu springs but my new canadian friends ARLENE and KEVIN showed me a picture so it's almost as good as the real thing. caught a ride back to nelson with team canada - cheers bro, sweet as, heaps good to meet you - and we ate a falafel as well i took them swimming at cable bay. later on you can be sure nelson nightlife did not disappoint and we met up with dan for too many beers, just enough jaegermeister and some rad dancing until it was time to go home.

the hospitality of kiwis knows no bounds, currently i am resident CHEZ ellenas, Katie's parents, which is so generous of them and i am happy to be back in pretty nelson where i made my last blog entry. wednesday i'll be in wellington and then north island something something til february 13 at which time i will be seeing you in RAROTONGA, cook islands, if you can make it that is, i guess it's unlikely but you never know and of course it would be lovely if you could join me on our tropical adventure in the south pacific

(give it some thought and let me know.)

peace love and rock n' roll dear readers! i miss you and i have to tell you one more thing which is that the sun shines here every single day.
c

Kia ora!

2008-12-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

... That's New Zealandish for "I'm a huge nerd." Actually it's New Zealandish for "hello" (I think). Anyway - hello, faithful readers (hi mom)! Here I am in New Zealand.

I arrived in Nelson this morning around 11.00am. Which is 4.00pm last Sunday Ottawa time and 7.00am next Friday Newfoundland time. Or whatever. What day is it?

Anyway - my friend Katie's mom, Hilary, who is possibly the nicest person ever (besides my own mom, of course), came to pick me up at the airport. I kid you not. I have never met this person before. I have in fact only met Katie once. And yet her mom came to get me at the airport! I believe this anecdote provides empirical evidence for the assertion that New Zealandish people are super, incredibly nice. As if this weren't enough, following the pickup Hilary drove me to their super-nice house in Nelson and made me a delicious pizza for lunch. Hilary, if you ever read this, THANK YOU! You are so kind. Please come visit Newfoundland and my parents will take care of you :)

In conclusion, a few observations on NZ so far:

1. It is beautiful and warm here. The air smells like flowers. There are birds singing everywhere, multitudes of trees and everyone is wearing flipflops.

2. All the flight attendants on Air New Zealand's transatlantic service were burly middle-aged men. One of them was named "Guy." What's up with that? And, is "Guy" pronounced "gee" like in Quebec, or "geye" to rhyme with "eye"?

3. Cars drive on the left here. Note to self: Do not get hit by car.

That's it for now. Keep it real dear readers!
xoxo
gossipgirl

2008-12-27T12:26:00.000-08:00

hi people who read my blog - ok, at the moment there may not be very many, but perhaps there will be more to come! anyway, i am leaving tomorrow morning for new zealand. very exciting! i have lots to do tonight to get ready and am supposedly going to my 10-year high school reunion later on, ha ha. anyway i just wanted to make my first actual blog entry before i go - i'll update when i get to Nelson, NZ on Tuesday or so!