Ginis Chronicles: Auckland Adventure

Last Friday we enjoyed a very pleasant ferry ride home. The sun was shinning, the water was calm and we met, and talked to a young couple the whole way. They were interesting to talk to for three reasons. First, since the boat had arrived relatively early, they managed to sit right in the middle of where the 'regulars' sit. Kathleen and I were in stitches watching the faces of these people who, without fail, sit together everyday. We take great interest and amusement from this group, and one person in particular who has to be the first on and off the boat. Once off the boat 'passenger number one' (as we have named him) practically sprints across the street and off to work. Kathleen, being the curious researcher that she is (some might call it nosy) decided to follow him. To our amusement she discovered that he runs to a café about 10minutes walk up the street; sits down and starts reading the paper. If you could see how eager he is to get off the boat; and with what pace he moves through the morning crowd, you would swear that he was late for work. But I digress...back to the young couple.

Passengers #1, and the rest of the regulars, were in a dither trying to figure out what to do. You see, in the 8 weeks that we have been taking the ferry, nobody has dared to sit amongst the group. It was hilarious! This prompted me to let the young couple in on the joke. We laughed again and then started talking.

This led to the second reason they were interesting to talk to. They were on their way home (actually her parent's house) from a job interview. The interview was for employment on a yacht as crewmembers. They had sold their charter-boat business, their home and most of their stuff and decided to be crew members for a person who spends most of his time sailing around Asia and the Pacific. When I asked them how long the tour would be, "Three months or three years, depends on the owner." was the response. They were not that young, my guess was between 27 and 32, but they still packed-up and decided to sail for a living. I often wonder if I would have what it takes to do something like that... take my wife, cash it all in and go! But then again, I am writing this in Auckland!

The third interesting item was a story the couple told us about the 'pillboxes' from WWII. It seems that these pillboxes, which we can see on the side of a big hill as we pass by on the ferry, were military observation posts with gun instillations. They were a form of early warning system for the harbour, as well as a line of defense. I always found them amusing as I could not figure out who would want to invade New Zealand; and if they did, what these pill boxes would do! Apparently, Japan did have eyes on New Zealand during WWII, and it seems that Japanese submarines were seen in Auckland harbour on more than one occasion. The male half of the young couple, we can call him Tom, (we did not get their real names - not because we did not introduce ourselves, but because when they told us we did not understand what they said) went on to tell us about a Japanese soldier who wanted to surrender in Auckland so he decided to walk up Queen St. (equivalent of Yonge St. in Toronto) with his hands in the air. Several people ignored him until finally some Kiwi's invited him into the pub and bought him a pint. They have been welcoming Asian peoples to Auckland ever since. Today, the pillboxes sit empty; like concrete holes in the side of the hill; a monument to Kiwi paranoia and to Japanese desire for a real pint.