Week 14 – Fjordland, Aspiring National Park, Westland and Abel Tasman

December 18, 2016December 19, 2016 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

Leaving the very southern tip of New Zealand behind me, I headed west towards Fjordland. This began a leg of my trip with many long days of driving. Getting anywhere in New Zealand takes a while. That’s mainly because there aren’t many straight roads and because there are usually quite a few mountains in the way! On average I think I must have driven four hours each day.

Fjordland

Fjordland sounds like a theme park, and in some ways it is, a natural one. Judging by the numbers of tourists there, it felt like one too at times. The area is very famous for Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. I didn’t make it that far due to time restrictions, but I did explore some of the area. I came across a beautiful meadow area with thousands of wild flowers (see photo below). It reminded me of Tuolumne Meadows in California. I had the place to myself, which was great, as I cannot stand going to overly touristy places with thousand of busloads of Chinese tourists ruining the experience.

I also visited Manapouri and Te Anu, both of which are lovely small towns on two different lakes. I like to go off the beaten track if I can and experience places where New Zealanders live, and not just where the tourists go. New Zealand is much more popular than when I was last here in 2005 and I fear the change is eating away at what made the country great before.

Queenstown, Wanaka and Mount Aspiring

The next day I drove to Wanaka, via the popular mountain town of Queenstown. The two places couldn’t be more different. Queenstown has become a party place, bucketloads of teenagers all looking for their next McDonalds. It is still beautiful, but it’s not for me. I was glad I chose to stay in Wanaka, which everyone says is like Queenstown was twenty years ago.

Whilst there I drove into Aspiring National Park, which is such a great name! Again, I had the place to myself, with great views of huge snow-capped mountains. The town itself has a beautiful backdrop of mountains, see the photo below.

The West coast

Leaving Wanaka I drove across the Aspiring mountain ranges. I stopped at this amazing places called the Blue Pools. Glacial water is fed down into deep pools which are so clear you can see the bottom. Everywhere you go in the South Island you stumble across majestic waterfalls, mountains streams, rolling hills, it almost becomes commonplace!

I then hit the west coast and glacier country. There are two famous glaciers here, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. They were discovered in the mid-1800s and have been tourist attractions ever since.I stayed in Franz Josef town, and you quickly realise what a tourists trap this area has become. Helicopter flight after helicopter flight ferry people up to the top of the glaciers. That really is the only way to see them these days as they both are rapidly retreating. You can only think this is solely down to climate change. You cannot get anywhere near to Fox Glacier due to rockfalls.

I heard that in a few years they’ll both be gone, and then what will become of this area? It is dependant on tourism. Whilst it is interesting, it is nowhere near my favourite place in the South.

One of the things I love about this country is all the diverse wildlife. At Cape Foulwind, near Westport, I saw families of fur seals with tiny baby seals in tow!

The north coast and Abel Tasman National Park

My final stop in the south was the Abel Tasman area. I stayed in a lovely small town call Takaka, and this allowed me to access the park from the least busy side. Driving into the park, I pretty much was on my own. I found a beautiful beach to have my lunch, with white sand and crystal clear sea, it was amazing. I even had a huge skate glide past me! I hiked up to an amazing waterfall in the hills and then walked on the beach in Golden Bay, it was all pretty idyllic. I could’ve been in the Caribbean.

I am flying up to Auckland tomorrow, which I am looking forward to, but I’ll be sad to say goodbye to the South Island. It has been my third time here and it’s as beautiful as ever. If you ever get the chance, come see what all the fuss is about.

New Zealand

Week 13 – Christchurch, Dunedin, the Otago Peninsula and the Catlins rainforest

December 11, 2016December 12, 2016 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

Flying back into Christchurch last week, I was reminded of how much I enjoy spending time here. It is my third time in 16 years visiting New Zealand and I love it more than ever.

Christchurch

Christchurch is a city that’s still recovering from the huge earthquake that hit the city in February 2011. I last was there in 2005, and returning in 2016 I could barely recognise the place. The city centre was devastated by the quake and one of the main buildings, the cathedral, had it’s spire toppled and is still in a state of ruin. I was surprised how long the recovery work is taking, but it is happening slowly, the whole city is a building site.

The resilience of the people however is amazing, and chatting to them you see that they have optimism that the future is bright. They have created a temporary shopping centre made out of shipping containers which was pretty cool and even built a temporary cathedral made predominately out of cardboard!

The old city is still there is in parts though, the River Avon still flows lazily through the city, and you can still be punted along, it kind of reminded me of the city where I was born, Stratford Upon Avon.

Dunedin and the Otago peninsula

After I left Christchurch, I headed south to Dunedin. Dunedin translates as ‘Edinburgh of the south’ in Gaelic, and it certainly does feel very Scottish. Lots of Scottish place names and British looking buildings. Lots of the south of New Zealand was settled by the Scots, including the other city here, Invercargill.

One of the architectural highlights of the city is the railway station, photo below. It also a great art gallery, a great vegetarian cafe called ‘Pou Pourri’ and I also found a fantastic second hand bookshop called ‘Dead Souls’!

I then headed off on a drive around the Otago peninsula, just outside the city. It takes about two hours to drive around, and it is definitely worth it. I got up very close and personal with some sunbathing seals, spotted an albatross soaring in the sky above me and saw some dramatic seascapes, cliffs and rolling hills too. Oh and I also saw a rare yellow-eyed penguin. There are only 6,000 in the world, so that was a good spot I thought!

The Catlins rainforest

The Catlins sit between Dundein and Invercargill. I don’t think many people know about the area. It is very remote and very beautiful. I saw some stunning waterfalls, remote and empty white sand beaches, three hawks swoop past my car, fields and fields of amazing wildflowers and much more.

Invercargill and Bluff

Invercargill is probably even more Scottish feeling than Dunedin. I spent the night here, and it was blowing a gale when I arrived, so it felt even more than Scottish than I had anticipated!

I drove south to a small town called Bluff. This is the most southerly settlement in the country and probably one of the most southerly places in the world. I arrived there on 11 December 2106, exactly three months since I flew out of London to begin my trip, so it felt a fitting place to mark the milestone. From here on in, the only way is north….

Australia

Weeks 11 & 12 – Perth and Melbourne

December 8, 2016December 8, 2016 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

Perth

Perth is often cited as one of the most isolated cities in the world, and it feels like it. It’s the capital of Western Australia, though everyone just calls it W.A.

Little Britain

It took nearly five hours to fly to Perth from Sydney, about the same flying time as London to Dubai! Perth and the surrounding suburbs are as British as they come. It’s like stepping into Little Britain. I am not really sure why so many Brits have moved here, but it’s kind of weird – in some places you hardly hear an Australian accent at all!

Kings Park

One of the highlights of Perth is Kings Park. It is huge and I am told is one of the largest urban parks in the world. It has some great views of the city, a botanic garden, a outdoor theatre, a war memorial, and art gallery and lots more. I spent a great afternoon there sheltering from the intense sun. And the flies.

Northern Perth

I spent a lot of time up in the northern suburbs of Perth. There is a huge building boom going on, with huge new estates being built all over the place. You really get a sense of how W.A. is booming. There are some beautiful beaches, including a natural lagoon called Yahchep Lagoon.

Melbourne

I love Melbourne! I lived there for six months in 2005 on my working holiday visa and this was my first time back in 11 years. Not much has really changed. It is still very friendly, still has great architecture, and is still a great city to stroll around taking in the sights, which I did for four days.

I stayed on St Kilda Road in the Prahan area, a great location to go south to St Kilda, north to the city and east to Prahan and South Yarra. Christmas preparations were in full swing, Melbourne sure does love Christmas. I saw a great illuminated Christmas light show projected onto the old post office, a clip of which is in the video above.

Melbourne art

I also visited a fantastic museum and art gallery in the city. The National Gallery of Victoria is wonderful and has a great permanent collection of 19th and 20th century Australian art. The collection is split into two galleries, one international, one Australian. These are some of my favourite painting from the collection. Similar to most galleries in Australia, it is all free too!

Julian Ashton, The Corner of the Paddock, 1888

Tennis, tennis, tennis

Anyone who knows me knows I love tennis. I therefore had to do a guided tour of Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open. I went into the men’s top 100 changing room, saw Andy Murray’s locker too! We got to go onto Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and saw the men’s and women’s champions trophies. It’s a great tournament and I only wish I was there in January to see it.

Australia

Week 11 – Sydney

November 23, 2016November 26, 2016 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

One of the things I love about travelling is visiting all of the amazing museums and art galleries around the world. One of the best I have visited is the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The history of Austarlian art is more varied than you might think, with Aboriginal art only really coming into its own in the 1970s, and white Australian art finding its voice in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Here are a few of my favourite pieces from the gallery.

Untitled (Jupiter Well to Tjukula) by Uta Uta Tjangala

Angry young girl by Charles Blackman (1958)

First-class marksman by Sidney Nolan (1946)

Shopping day by Russell Drysdale (1953)`

Australian beach pattern by Charles Meere (1940)

The spirit of Darwulmu at Guruwana, a scared place by Mungunu (1959)

Sydney skyline

The skyline of Sydney must be one of the iconic skylines in the world. I have been here three times over the course of 16 years and have never failed to be awed by it. The opera house was very controversial when it was built, it was over time and over budget built it is now firmly one of the iconic buildings of the world. And what a view!

Here’s my videologue of the few days I spent in Sydney.

Friends reunited

I’ve also had the great joy of meeting up again with two friends, who I met in very different ways! I met my friend Amy on New Years Eve in Sydney in 2004, both being rather the worse for wear with alcohol! But we hit it off & stayed in touch ever since. I’m greyer and Amy is married with two kids but we haven’t changed really.

Louisa used to be my manager when I worked in Lewes in Sussex! But a professional relationship became a friendship and when she moved back to Sydney we stayed in touch. It’s been great to see both again.

Australia

Weeks 9 & 10 – Queensland

November 23, 2016November 23, 2016 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

One of the daily tasks of travelling is finding free wifi, and lately it hasn’t been very easy! However, I am currently camped out in the cafe of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, using their free wifi and enjoying their fantastic aircon too! I am sure the art is very good too, have yet to look round.

The video below shows some of the highlights from my trip to Queensland,

Brisbane

I touched down in Brisbane on 2 November to some serious heat and humidity. I also met up again with my good friend Austyn, who used to live in Brighton but now lives in Brisbane. I stayed with Austyn for a just over a week and reacquainted myself with the city, which I last visited in 2000, 16 years ago. And boy has it changed. It really is a booming city, with office and apartment blocks springing up all over the place.

However, I think it is a city without a plan as the motto seems to be ‘anything goes’. Development seems haphazard and the historical soul of Brisbane is being crushed in the process. However, the area I stayed in is called Teneriffe (deliberate spelling with two ffs) and does have lots of renovated wool stores, old Victorian warehouses now converted with apartments, which gives the area a lovely historical feeling.

Art galleries and museums of Brisbane

Brisbane has some wonderful museums and art galleries. Plus they all have great aircon too! I did a guided tour of the Brisbane Art Gallery and learnt about the origins of modern aboriginal art. An American expedition to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory in 1950 came across a community in Milingimbi, and they gathered up a series of their bark paintings. The bark paintings were then offered to Australian galleries, who had previously never exhibited aboriginal art.

Then, in 1971 in the central Australian community of Papunya, a new artistic movement began. The artists began to document the unique qualities of their homelands, which they had long been displaced from. Previous to then, aboriginal people drew their art in the sand or on bark, it was never intended to be sold. The community in Papunya heralded the beginning of the entire modern aboriginal art movement that we know today. Top aboriginal artists can sell their paintings for millions of dollars.

I also saw the first aboriginal piece of art ever to reference western art (Michelangelo’s creation of Adam), as 99% of their art only references aboriginal stories and history only.

Brisbane Museum is great too, and I learnt about the history of the city – which is very young in fact as it was only founded in the mid 1800s.

Koalas, kangaroos, emus and lizards

Australia has some pretty unusual wildlife! It lurks around every corner. But to get a full picture of it all, I headed back to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which I first visited in 2000. I got to hold a beautiful koala, walked amongst kanagroos and wallabies, saw a huge monitor lizard and two sleeping wombats and countless other unique Australian animals.

Tangalooma island

Queensland has a beautiful coastline and has many islands to visit. I spent the day on Tangalooma with a group of friends. It is about 90 minutes by boat and has beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water, as you can see from my photos below.

Cairns, Cape Tribulation and Far North Queensland

After visiting Brisbane, Austyn and I flew up to Cairns and stayed for a week in Palm Cove. It’s a very small place with a stunning beach, but a sea you cannot swim in, due to the presence or marauding crocodiles and deadly jellyfish! Strictly look but no touch. We did a great walk through the Daintree rainforest, in a great place called Mossman Gorge, owned and run by the local aboriginal community which was great to see.

One of the best things we did was a day trip to Cape Tribulation. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, and we had the beautiful beach below virtually to ourselves. You really can’t go much further north than this, without having a 4 wheeled drive vehicle. We hoped to the local bird called the Cassowary but it’s pretty elusive so no sightings. No croc sightings either, but that was probably for the best!

Chilln' in Palm Cove — Chilln’ in Palm Cove

I also snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef. I saw some stunning corals and colourful fish too. The reef is definitely in trouble, and I did see some bleached coral. Hopefully all the efforts of the locals can help stabilise it and bring it back from the brink.

New Zealand

Week 8 – New Zealand, Part Two

October 29, 2016January 29, 2017 Ben Hills-Jones2 Comments

I’ve nearly completed my second and final week of my trip around the North Island of New Zealand. I have loved the time I’ve spent here, travelling all the way down to Wellington in the south and back up again. I’m coming back in December to travel around the South Island and to visit Auckland, can’t wait! Have put together a video with the highlights of my trip if you should so care to watch!

Windy Wellington

As soon as I reached Wellington, the capital city of NZ, the weather took a turn for the worse. Wellington has a reputation for that kind of thing. However, it did not spoil my time there. I started by visiting the national museum ‘Te Papa’, which is is well worth a visit. It has some great social history exhibitions including a great one on immigration, as well ones on earthquakes and Maori culture. It is all free too. They also do great vegetarian sushi in the cafe! The setting is fantastic too, right on the waterfront.

I then took the cable car up to the botanical gardens and I also drove to the top of Mount Victoria, which has spectacular 360 degree views of Wellington Bay.

One of the most interesting things I did was tour the NZ parliament (free). I learn that NZ has a proportional representation system which gives smaller political parties more chance of being represented in parliament, which seems entirely sensible to me (unless it were in the UK whereby the hideous UKIP would get more seats)! I also toured the iconic ‘Beehive’ extension, added in the 1970s and designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence.

I stayed with an old university friend which in Wellington, Richard. We had a fun evening reminiscing about uni life and looking at old photos! See the photo below, we barely look older than the day we graduated 😉

Me & Richard twenty years after graduation!

Whangaui

One of the things I love about travelling is discovering towns and places that aren’t necessarily on the tourist trail but are interesting in their own right for what they show you about life in that country. One of these places is Whanganui.

It was meant to only be a stop on the way to getting somewhere else, but I really liked this place. Set by a wide river, it is a quiet town (most NZ towns are!) with not much traffic and leafy parks. I stumbled across a cultural festival which was a real highlight. Groups from various cultures, such as the Cook Islands, India and China were performing music, singing and dancing. It was so great to watch, particularly the Pacific Islanders dancing and singing, all very colourful!

I also got to sample some great Sri Lankan curries and got chatting to a boy about how great it is to be vegetarian! He was so happy to meet another veggie 🙂 Go veggies…!

I also got the weirdest underground elevator to the top of Durie Hill, apparently the only example of its kind in NZ! It was so old and shaky I feared for my life :-0

Me in the tunnel leading to the Durie Hill creaky elevator

Taupo

Taupo is situated on a large lake in central North Island. Famous too for adventure stuff like skydiving and white water rafting – neither of which I came close to indulging in.

I did however visit Huka Falls, an impressive huge torrent of water created where the Waikato River is funnelled through a narrow opening of rocks. The video at the top has some footage of the falls, here are a few photos too.

I also drove past the impressive Mount Ngauruhoe and the famous Tongariro crossing. Mount Ngauruhoe is an active volcano and apparently was the setting for Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings.

Rotorua and the geothermal highway

The geothermal highway connects Taupo to Rotorua. Along it’s entire length there are loads of geothermal sights to see. I chose to go to Wai-O-Tapu. Quite expensive to get in but well worth it. There are loads of things to see, including the famous ‘Champagne pools’, which are multi coloured pools, the colour being caused by mineral deposits from underground coming to the surface.

The whole place smells of rotten eggs (the sulphur) so takes a while to get used to that. I also saw some amazing mud pools bubbling away. I kept wondering what would happen if there was some big eruption (answer – I’d probably die). It was very interesting to walk around, there are a few photos below plus some footage in the video at the start.

The Devil's Bath, Wai-O-Tapu geothermal park — The Devil’s Bath, Wai-O-Tapu geothermal park

Champagne Pool, Wai-O-Tapu geothermal park

Rotorua itself is a lovely little town, also on a lake. The Government Grounds house the impressive looking museum and are sacred to the Maori people.

Some thought on New Zealand

During my two weeks in NZ, I have noticed a few things about the country and the people…

Kiwis drivers are some of the worst in the world! I’ve never seen so many overtaking attempts on windy roads. I even asked some Kiwi friends who agreed! Slow down people, what’s the hurry?
Kiwis are also some of the friendliest people in the world. Everyone says hello, which can be disconcerting at first to an introverted Brit like me!
There are loads & loads of German tourists here. Not sure why they love it here particularly. I even asked a German girl and she did not know why either. I’d say 50% of people in hostels are German.
Wellington has it’s own weather system. The rest of the North Island was glorious. Wellington, not so much.
The Coromandel Peninsula is stunning. Why it is not world famous beats me. But heh, I like it quiet so don’t tell anyone else.
Maoris have a very proud and strong culture and they seem pretty integrated into Kiwi life, a lot more so than when I was in Australia and witnessed the dispossession of the Aborigine people.
Kiwi food is pretty good, very fresh and the coffee is ace too!
New Zealand has some great small towns, off the tourist trail. I’d recommend anyone to adventure further off the tourist map and see the real NZ.
New Zealand TV – I tried it for ten minutes and gave up.
The nature, the wildlife, the emptiness. If you want to go somewhere that is beautiful and where you can lose yourself, you couldn’t go wrong with New Zealand! And to top it off I’ll be back in December to do it all again…

New Zealand

Week 7 – New Zealand

October 25, 2016January 29, 2017 Ben Hills-Jones2 Comments

So, I finally made it out of California! I was really sad to leave it behind, but there’s a whole world out there!

The Coromandel Peninsula

After a mammoth 13 hour flight from LA to Auckland, I (perhaps unwisely), decided to jump straight in a hire car and drive up to the Coromandel. I have visited NZ before, but had always wanted to visit this part of the country, and boy, was it worth waiting for.

I cannot overstate it enough how beautiful it is. I would have to say it is one of the most amazing places I have ever visited in the world. I drove up the west cost of the peninsula, from Thames to Coromandel town, then across to Whitianga where I spent two nights. The drive is spectacular, and I had the place virtually to myself. Parts of it looked like a set of ‘Lord of the Rings’, parts of it stunning vistas that would not look out of place in the Caribbean.

Coromandel Peninsula

In Whitianga, I got the ferry across to a small place called Ferry Landing, and walked across to Mercury Bay, a place where Captain Cook anchored on 15 November 1769 and observed the transit of the planet Mercury, and subsequently named the bay Mercury Bay. The beach there is out of this world, and as I was there at 9.30am I had the place to myself, save for a few seabirds. Heaven. Another couple of beautiful beaches are Lonely Bay and Cooks Beach, see photo below. I also walked up to Shakespeare Scenic Reserve. Apparently this is where William Shakespeare used to vacation. True story.

The other cool thing I did whilst there was visited Hot Water Beach. Wondering what the people in the photo below are up to? They are digging into the sand to create their own mini hot tubs! This part of the beach has geothermically heated water bubbling up.

Whakatane and the Maori people

Whakatane (pronounced Phak-Are-Tar-Ney I am reliably informed) is a lovely little town on the east coast. It also has a big Maori population. I visited the ‘Mataatua Maori Marae Experience’ and learnt all about the house that came home. A marae is a meeting ground, and they build a carved house as a place for community celebrations, funerals etc.

In 1870 the house in Whakatane was taken away to Sydney as part of an exhibition, then travelled to Melbourne, London, Dunedin and finally back home over 100 years later after a lot of negotiating It is a beautiful building and was fascinating to hear about its story.

Gisborne, Captain Cook and the first light of the new day

So Gisborne was my next stop, and as it turns out, it is rather an important little place. It is the first place in the world to see the light of the new day. It was catapulted onto the map in 1999 when the hype around the new millennium reached fever pitch and thousands descended on the town to see the light of the first day of the millennium. Apparently Dame Kiri Te Kananwa performed and everything!

Gisborne is also the place where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand.

I also visited a lovely little museum there too and saw some beautiful Lalique glass bowls and vases.

Napier and the beauty of art deco

The town of Napier in Hawkes Bay was virtually destroyed by fire and earthquake in 1931. This meant the town was then rebuilt in the height of the art deco period and the town has benefited from having some great examples of art deco architecture. Spent a lovely afternoon strolling around admiring the architecture, a few shots below.

I am not even halfway through my tour of the North Island yet (south island to come in December) but am loving my Kiwi adventure so far!

Books

‘The Girl on the Train’, ‘The Light Between Oceans’ & ‘When will there be Good News?’ – recommendations for holiday reading

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016 Ben Hills-Jones1 Comment

Travelling gives me the time and space to do the things I always think I haven’t got the time to do. Like reading. Thought I’d do some quick reviews of the books I’ve read so far, in case anyone is looking for some ideas for books to read.

‘The Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins

The term ‘page-turner’ might’ve been invented for this book. I read it in 24 hours. I loved the book and can understand why it has been such an international best-seller.

It has recently come out in the cinema, with Emily Blunt in the main role. So as a quick precis of the plot, the main character is an alcoholic, divorced, London commuter. Sound fun so far? Well she loves to look into the houses by the railway line on her journey to and from work. One house she becomes particularly obsessed with, especially the couple who live there, who she imagines have a perfect marriage, a life she wants for herself following her recent divorce.

One day she thinks she sees the woman kissing another man, and this starts a chain of events, involving her ex-husband, his new wife, the police and the couple themselves, that quickly snowballs out of control.

It’s a really fast-paced novel, with twists, turns, unlikeable characters and bucketloads of suspense. Hence why I couldn’t put it down. I’m seeing the film tonight at the cinema, am hoping it’s as good as the book, though having seen the trailer, I see it has been relocated to the US, which is a shame.

‘The Light Between Oceans’ by M.L. Stedman

This is another book which has been a big seller around the world, and which has also been made into a film. Like ‘The Girl on the Train’, I also could not put it down, and read it in just a few days.

It’s historical fiction, a genre I admire, as an author has to work so much harder to get the facts right so that the feeling of the book is authentic. The main narrative of the book is set after WW1, in rural Australia, specifically Western Australia, and more specifically on what I think is a fictional island called Janus, on a remote lighthouse.

I won’t give too much of the plot away, just to say that it focuses around a childless couple who have their prayers answered one day when a baby arrives on their island. The couple then have to decide what to do with the child. The plot is really interesting and unique, and I loved all the historical detail that’s included, particularly the insights into how returning soldiers from WW1 coped with the trauma they witnessed.

‘When Will There be Good News?’ by Kate Atkinson

A mother and her young family are ruthlessly and inexplicably slaughtered one day, and only one person survives, the youngest daughter. This is how the novel begins, and it then jumps ahead in time, weaving together a series of what seem like random storylines, that all become entwined.

There’s Dr Hunter and her teenage mother’s help, Reggie, her small-time criminal brother, Billy, recently married Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, recently separated private detective Jackson Brodie and a whole cast of supporting characters. What at time seem like disconnected events all culminate in a spectacular finale.

I have never read Kate Atkinson before, but had heard of her award winning novel ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’. She is a great writer, spinning out her characters with great depth, and pushing the pace on so that you can’t wait to find out what happens next, and what became of the survivor of the original murder.

California · Laguna Beach

Week 6 – Pumpkins, Mexicans and Trump

October 14, 2016January 29, 2017 Ben Hills-JonesLeave a comment

Pumpkin time

Pumpkin time, otherwise known as Halloween, is big business here in America. Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin latte. If you can or drink it, chances are someone is serving it pumpkin-style around about now! Halloween is so much bigger here, it is like Christmas, in fact I think it is bigger.

I arrived a month ago and preparations were in full swing then! So to get into the pumpkin spirit I decided to try a pumpkin spiced latte today, see photo below. Well, apart from being extraordinarily sweet, it was kind of nice, in a weird sort of way! I won’t be here for the actual day, which is a shame as I think it would be crazy/fun/scary/bemusing.

Buy the best you can be

California is the home of the body beautiful. There is every kind of treatment here to make you thinner, improve your skin tone, give you shinier hair and permanently tattoo on your makeup. An interesting place I saw today was a flotation tank lounge. I laughed as it reminds of the episode of Ab-Fab when Edina buys one and gets locked in!

There are many women here in Orange County with bad plastic surgery, huge hair and bulging purses, looking for something to spend it on. So I guess flotation spas probably do pretty well!

El dilema Mexicano

The Mexican dilemma. You can’t go anywhere at the moment without someone talking about Mexicans in America. It seems to me that America has a somewhat conflicted relationship with the Mexican people living here.

Donald Trump brought the whole issue to a head when he called for a wall to be built along the Mexican/American border. Hispanics in America are an increasingly important voter block, and how they vote matters. One of the things about California I love is the Mexican influence. The food here is great, I went to a great place called ‘La Sirena Grill’ today, and had the best veggie burrito. The business seems to run entirely by Mexicans which was good to see.

However, I then turn a corner and see some wealthy white woman tearing a strip off some Mexican workmen, shrieking at them in an entirely patronising manner. It would be hard to argue that there a significant percentage of white Americans would be perfectly happy if American Mexicans carried on being their gardeners, their waiters and their builders. It is so apparent when you look around how Mexicans seem to be treated like second class citizens here, it really is quite shocking. I can only hope the politics of fear that Mr T. spouts out on a daily basis are rejected by the majority of Americans and that the politics of acceptance and inclusion win out. That goes for the rights of women and the LGBT community too!