January 16, 2006
Last Day in New Zealand
We arrived in Auckland at about noon and headed straight to the place where we were finally going to get our computer screen fixed. Toshiba USA has agreed to honor the warranty internationally, even though technically it is only good in the U.S. I've been corresponding with a technician at a local shop and it looked like everything was ready to go.
We dropped off the machine and headed out to grab some lunch. When we returned the new screen was on the computer and it looked great, but they informed us that there was a problem. Toshiba Australia, who the shop would need to go through to get paid, said they would not cover the repair because the screen was physically damaged (it is hard to believe that this thing broke back on a bus in PERU!!!) and not faulty. More frustrating was the fact that while it is Monday here, it is Sunday back in the US so we couldn't contact Toshiba USA to resolve the issue. In the end the new screen came off, and the broken one was replaced. Depressing!!! Now we'll have to wait until Sydney to get it fixed.
We then drove to the Hides where we would be spending the night. Rodney wasn't home but Jiuan and Li-wen where there to get us settled after the long drive. Em and I decided to take a walk and explore the beaches to stretch our legs a bit after being in the car for basically two days straight.
On the walk as Em was picking up seashell off the sand we heard some one yell "Hey, you can't take shells off this beach!" I thought we were getting busted by some beach security guard but when we turned around we saw Rodney heading towards us. He's seen us walking on his way home and pulled over to give us a ride back up. We had to go one-at-a-time though as Rodney was driving his new Smart car that is quite a sight to behold. Check out the photo of it here.
Back at their house Jiuan made a great stir-fry dish for dinner and we had a great time talking economics and philosophy. Rodney introduced me to Menken's book Chrestomathy, which we were only torn away from when Jiuan suggested we go on a tour of the city before it got too dark.
It was a great last night in New Zealand and the Hide's are people we will definitely keep in touch with for years to come.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:22 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 15, 2006
Meeting Roger Douglas then Driving up the Coast
This morning Em and I headed downtown to meet Roger Douglas, a Finance Minister of New Zealand from the 1980s who was the driving force behind the free-market reforms of the period. These reforms, which included the liberalization of trade, elimination of business subsidies, and deregulation of the labor market are to this day extremely controversial.
We talked for a little over an hour and I left quite impressed with the man. Regarding the reforms I was particularly interested in the fact that the Labour Party (i.e. left-of-center) had put them through. It is obviously a question he gets asked about frequently. In summary, the principle he embraced was to remove privilege from the government's operations. But it required doing it across the board, rather than inadvertantly picking and choosing winners and losers. He also stressed that it was easy to get into office and to stay there forever by telling people what they wanted to hear. It was another thing to go in and push for real and positive change, even though it might be politically costly. Another point that he repeated about the reforms was that "Speed doesn't kill, uncertainty does." He stressed that while people have since embraced the new system introduced by reforms they had implemented in entirety (i.e. such as the elimination of farm subsidies and accrual accounting for the government's books), other reforms that went only half-way are still riddled with problems (i.e. health-care).
In terms of future reforms he recommended his book Unfinished Business. He also passionately discussed reforms specifically in health, welfare and particularly education. Several times he took away my notebook and to scribble down notes and examples to make sure Em and I were following him. All-in-all it was a great discussion and I'll have more on it at a later date.
Next up we headed to Budget Rent-a-Car where we were able to get a great deal on a car. There are so many people that rent cars in Auckland and drive them Wellington that they need people to drive them back. For this we got a nice car for $20 and we could return it with an empty tank, provided we got it to Auckland in 48 hours. Since our flight leaves in about 42 hours it works out perfectly.
We picked up our stuff at Edy and Wayne's and then hit the road. Wayne reminded me to stay on the left side of the road on our way up to Auckland. We encouraged them to come and visit us in California in July. And with that we were off.
The drive up the north island was beautiful and we pulled into Rotorua around 9:30pm where we had reserved a room at the youth hostel. After dropping off our stuff we headed to the thermal hot springs the town is know for which were open to 11:00pm. Once were in Em noticed that our $8 silver wedding rings from Tijuana had turned green and gold. I thought they would permanently stay that way and in a way it added to their character. But we showed the attendant of the springs and she had a remedy all ready to go as tarnishing of silver and copper is a frequent occurrence in the mineral rich waters. Tomorrow we head to Auckland where we will be staying with the Hides before leaving for Sydney on Tuesday morning.
Posted by Peter Mork at 10:18 PM | Comments | TrackBack
January 14, 2006
Wellington and the Beehive
Today Wayne and Edy gave us a walking tour around the city after breakfast at their house. Downtown we walked around the botanical gardens, saw a cricket game being played (and Wayne got me up-to-date on the rules of the game), checked out the Natural History Museum, and we even took a tour of Parliament and the Beehive. Quite a full day. Check out the pictures on our photo site.
Tonight, Wayne made a huge salad for dinner and we ended the night with a game of Chickenfeet that Wayne dominated and I came in last place. Tomorrow we'll be renting a car and heading back to Auckland after meeting with former Finance Minister Roger Douglas. It should be an informative meeting and we've gotten to discuss a bit of some key issues I'm interested in with Wayne and Edy to get some perspective.