More Wellington
Mar. 24th, 2011 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snousleWow, time is just flying past. Wellington is a highly entertaining place - the downtown area is wedged between steep hills, and is crowded and positively bristling with bars and restaurants. Do people here do anything but eat? Apparently not. Even cheap noodle shops are really quite good.
We're staying at a gay B+B that doesn't see all that many gay guests, so the hosts were quite pleased to have us. Apparently their intended gay clientele refuses to book more than a few days in advance, so despite there being no shortage of gay men who want to stay there, they have to say no to most of them. We, in contrast, had paid in full three months ago. We started off in what we thought would be the lesser location, a little cottage at the top of Cuba St, and moved to their main location, a condo on Marjoribanks St. The latter location turned out to be less charming and, unfortunately, at the top of a very steep hill - not what you really want to face at the end of a long day. Still, it's very nice, and unlike anywhere else I've stayed it's well stocked with alcohol. Not sure if the drink we were offered last night will be reflected on our tab (I don't think that was the intent, though it's happened in the past) but it's interesting that they trust their guests with what must be a hundred litres of hard liquor on the shelf.
I am generally drawn uphill when walking about, so this morning I hiked to the top of the Mt. Victoria lookout. It was a hard, very steep half hour hike through some lovely woods, so I was somewhat chagrined to arrive at the top and find a road with a bus stop. :-P Fortunately, it's a cool, sunny and breezy day, perfect weather for walking. Later, I stopped by a local head shop and dropped rather too much money on a little pipe and some "incense". My previous experience with synthetic cannabis was really quite good, so I'm hoping for a little thrill tonight. The recent ban against this stuff in the US makes it all that much more alluring.
Today, I'm spending a few hours in an Internet cafe, and once I stop goofing off I'm hoping to get some billable hours in. Amazingly, Remote Desktop works very well even halfway across the world. I promised the guys in the Florida office that I would be online, not knowing for sure if it would really be practical, but it's hardly different from being in the States. The place was empty yesterday, but today it's full of girls chatting in various languages on Skype. Hopefully they will leave soon.
Something interesting about local culture: New Zealand has a comprehensive accident compensation program, so anyone who needs medical treatment due to an accident is fully covered, no questions asked, foreigners and natives alike. This changes a lot of things. In the States, property owners face strict liability for accidents on their land, which means that they are obligated to exclude trespassers, and to restrict the activities of invited guests. Here, there is no liability whatsoever, so you can do whatever the hell you want. This probably has a lot to do with New Zealand being the adventure-sport capital of the world. This is one of many ways in which the US merely talks about freedom, while other countries actually deliver it. (The US "bill of rights" is really quite weak, insofar as it only restricts the government, while not addressing private repression at all. Other countries offer much stronger protection for personal liberty in practice, in part by restraining corporate and business activity.) Add to that a liberal attitude towards sex, no laws against nudity, and a strong social safety net, and being here is truly a breath of fresh air. The only downside, for some, is that guns are absolutely prohibited - but given that there's hardly any violent crime to begin with, who cares? It is, without a doubt, the best country in the world to be a gay biker. ;-)
We're staying at a gay B+B that doesn't see all that many gay guests, so the hosts were quite pleased to have us. Apparently their intended gay clientele refuses to book more than a few days in advance, so despite there being no shortage of gay men who want to stay there, they have to say no to most of them. We, in contrast, had paid in full three months ago. We started off in what we thought would be the lesser location, a little cottage at the top of Cuba St, and moved to their main location, a condo on Marjoribanks St. The latter location turned out to be less charming and, unfortunately, at the top of a very steep hill - not what you really want to face at the end of a long day. Still, it's very nice, and unlike anywhere else I've stayed it's well stocked with alcohol. Not sure if the drink we were offered last night will be reflected on our tab (I don't think that was the intent, though it's happened in the past) but it's interesting that they trust their guests with what must be a hundred litres of hard liquor on the shelf.
I am generally drawn uphill when walking about, so this morning I hiked to the top of the Mt. Victoria lookout. It was a hard, very steep half hour hike through some lovely woods, so I was somewhat chagrined to arrive at the top and find a road with a bus stop. :-P Fortunately, it's a cool, sunny and breezy day, perfect weather for walking. Later, I stopped by a local head shop and dropped rather too much money on a little pipe and some "incense". My previous experience with synthetic cannabis was really quite good, so I'm hoping for a little thrill tonight. The recent ban against this stuff in the US makes it all that much more alluring.
Today, I'm spending a few hours in an Internet cafe, and once I stop goofing off I'm hoping to get some billable hours in. Amazingly, Remote Desktop works very well even halfway across the world. I promised the guys in the Florida office that I would be online, not knowing for sure if it would really be practical, but it's hardly different from being in the States. The place was empty yesterday, but today it's full of girls chatting in various languages on Skype. Hopefully they will leave soon.
Something interesting about local culture: New Zealand has a comprehensive accident compensation program, so anyone who needs medical treatment due to an accident is fully covered, no questions asked, foreigners and natives alike. This changes a lot of things. In the States, property owners face strict liability for accidents on their land, which means that they are obligated to exclude trespassers, and to restrict the activities of invited guests. Here, there is no liability whatsoever, so you can do whatever the hell you want. This probably has a lot to do with New Zealand being the adventure-sport capital of the world. This is one of many ways in which the US merely talks about freedom, while other countries actually deliver it. (The US "bill of rights" is really quite weak, insofar as it only restricts the government, while not addressing private repression at all. Other countries offer much stronger protection for personal liberty in practice, in part by restraining corporate and business activity.) Add to that a liberal attitude towards sex, no laws against nudity, and a strong social safety net, and being here is truly a breath of fresh air. The only downside, for some, is that guns are absolutely prohibited - but given that there's hardly any violent crime to begin with, who cares? It is, without a doubt, the best country in the world to be a gay biker. ;-)
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