MetaChat - Where I'm from

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10 May 2006

Where I'm from I like the bandwagons, ok? Photos I took on my last two trips back to New Zealand.

post by: gaspode at: 09:05 | 14 comments

Can you have an intense aching homesickness for a place you're not from and have never even been?

I want to go to New Zealand sooooo bad. It looks (in those photos) like some kind of genius combination of Hawaii, the pacific northwest and New Hampshire. Good god, I have to win the lottery, I promise to donate to charity and pat every dog I see no matter how funky and rheumy from now on until forever. Double pinky swear!

posted by Divine_Wino 10 May | 09:14

Wow. Those are some seriously gorgeous photos of some seriously gorgeous places. I too must immediately move to New Zealand.

posted by mygothlaundry 10 May | 09:33

Growing up, I would go out my front door, walk about 300 feet and see this scene.

Yours are lovely, 'pode. I would love to go there. . .a friend just got back from surf camp in Ragland.

posted by danf 10 May | 09:57

There's something about sweeping vistas that ping my brain's emotional center. These are fabulous photos, gaspode.

posted by initapplette 10 May | 09:58

Gee, thanks. After seeing those stunning shots of Penguin and Tunnel Beaches, I am now significantly less stoked about my upcoming weekend trip to Padre Island.

*cries*

posted by gigawhat? 10 May | 11:07

Is it wrong that I feel absurdly happy when people think NZ is beautiful? Like I somehow had something to do with it?

gigawhat? those two beaches are in my hometown. Penguin beach has nesting sites for the hoiho, or yellow eyed penguin, which is one of the rarest in the world. They are super cool. Maybe I'll add some photos of the penguins to the set.

danf: Raglan is indeed a very cool surf beach. My mom used to live there in her hippy days (pre-me).

posted by gaspode 10 May | 11:23

Divine_Wino, that intense feeling of homesickness for a place you've never been is a common enough nostalgia in Japan that the word for "hometown," furusato, connotes exactly that longing in art, music, and literature; examples are found everywhere in today's mostly urban and suburban Japan.

And I so want to go to New Zealand, gaspode. Apart from the breathtaking views, every kiwi I know is aces.

posted by Hugh Janus 10 May | 11:54

Marylanders aren't so bad either.

Well, seeing as the mr. and I have decided we're heading back to kiwiland mid-2008, the fact that we have talked about having a permanent guest room set up for visitors may come in handy to y'all. Start saving for your plane fare!

posted by gaspode 10 May | 12:13

My mom used to live there in her hippy days

Some of us have never left those days. . .

*smile*

posted by danf 10 May | 13:08

I won't even tease you with a bad kiwi jokes, gaspode; I'm sure you've heard plenty. NZ is a very special place, and you are from there.

Strut, my dear, you deserve to strut. I turned down a temporary gig in Auckland last fall, and am still kicking myself.

posted by reflecked 10 May | 13:47

NZ is #1 on my list of places to visit. It's sooo gorgeous. And yeah, there are a few photos that remind me of the PNW.

gaspode, you might want to have a whole wing built for your visitors.
;^)

posted by deborah 10 May | 15:13

Lordy, those Southern Alps sure are a sight to behold. I'm moving back to NZ asap too. Yous can come stay at mine if gaspode's guest wing gets full. Although I don't expect to be living anywhere near the mountains.

posted by nomis 10 May | 18:13

Is it wrong that I feel absurdly happy when people think NZ is beautiful? Like I somehow had something to do with it?
Not at all - I feel the same way - even though I have spent the majority of my life in Australia and have not been back to NZ for over 20 years, I am still (and will always be) a Kiwi. I don't know any other country where its people are so proud of the country itself as opposed to the "idea" of the country.

posted by dg 10 May | 18:18

I don't know any other country where its people are so proud of the country itself as opposed to the "idea" of the country.

That sums up my feelings exactly, dg. Well put.

posted by gaspode 10 May | 22:18

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