Zackarate Island

The campaign thus far

2011-11-15T20:57:00.000+13:00

It's been an exciting campaign this election for the Greens, especially to see us climb up and up in the polls! Now we're well into the final two weeks, and we'll be pushing really hard to make sure that translates to many more new Green MPs on polling day.

Today I helped launch the Wellington transport policy, with a press conference on a trolley bus. Then I did some doorknocking in the afternoon.

As the Green Party's list candidate stationed at Victoria University, that was the main focus of my campaign - though with exams over, and everyone dispersing, the campaign has all but wrapped up there. Of course I want all students to remember to vote, and know that they can vote early too!

At Vic we handed out lots of fliers, and spoke to heaps of people; participated in We Are the University demonstrations to ensure education is made a priority at Vic; put on a successful gig; signed up lots of volunteers (I'd like to say it's the most successful year for Greens@Vic ever!); had a sausage sizzle.

And of course we ran the Wellington's Crappiest Flat competition. I recently did an energy audit on the winner's place, and found the unsealed, damp ground the flat was built on was making the floorboards rot, and everything in the house mouldy. As shown in their photos, their drawers needed to be cleaned of mould every month or two, and so their clothes constantly smelt of mould (one of the flatmates saying their friends at uni pointed this out to them one day).

With the subsidy of 60 percent for insulation for landlords with low income tenants (students!) that the Greens got National to fund through our Memorandum of Understanding (and the further 200 000 homes we'd like to see insulated in the next term of Government), I hope landlords like this one see the light and insulate! The mould issues were damaging the landlord's investment, as well as the students' health (with issues like eczema flaring up). Of course, if landlords don't insulate, the Green Party will be introducing minimum standards for rental housing if we get the chance, as no one should be able to rent out unsafe, substandard housing. At least many landlords are convinced by the subsidy, but not all are for some strange reason.

Last week end, before kicking off the final two weeks at a lovely BBQ at Wellington Central Candidate James Shaw's place, we had the Young Greens' online launch which saw us using a Google+ hangout, which was lots of fun. And we also got the many young candidates videoed, talking about why we are standing for such an awesome Party.

My speech from a debate on the Emissions Trading Scheme

2011-07-21T16:06:00.001+12:00

Here is my speech I gave last night in a debate at Vic University about the Emissions Trading Scheme. I like to think I won, so below are my convincing arguments so you can judge for yourself!

Tena koutou katoa.

My name is Zachary Dorner, and I'm proud to be standing before you as the Green@Vic candidate, campaigning for the Party Vote for the Green Party this election year. It's great to see Environment Week rolled out for another year – something I had the pleasure of doing last year when I was Environmental Officer. It’s great to see what an excellent job Haley's done this year. Thanks to VUWSA for organising this important debate about an issue close to my heart.

Emissions trading schemes are a bit like Weetbix. Many people find them bland, they have a complicated structure with many layers, and unless you sweeten them up (and add some milk) they are hard to swallow.
If you add too many sweeteners to Weetbix, and too much milk, you get a sickening mess, and you lose all nutritional value of the Weetbix. And that’s what John Key did as soon as he got into power. He added billions of dollars worth of subsidies (sweetners) to our biggest polluters, put too much milk on the New Zealand economy and environment, and left tax payers to foot most of the bill. No nutritional value, no environmental or economic benefit, just a big, sickening, soggy mess. John Key’s ETS was a failure from the start.

The Green Party has a plan for a smart green economy that works for everyone – the people, the environment and our future.

Although the evidence is all around us, and there’s a near consensus of climate scientist on climate change, that it is real and caused by humans, some people still need convincing. Last year was the warmest year on record – roughly equal to 2005 and 1998. And record temperatures continue. If that’s not enough for year, here’s what the NZ Herald said last Saturday (16 July):

It began with the China floods in May last year, coinciding, in June, with widespread fires and drought in Russia, coinciding with record breaking monsoon flooding in Pakistan that killed 1,500 people and left 20 million homeless. That was followed by a "once-in-a- century" drought in the Amazon - except that the last once-in-a-century event in the region happened just five years before.

In December a million hectares of Colombia was underwater. Sri Lanka had its heaviest rains for 100 years. The Philippines had four weeks of sustained rain in January, Brazil had catastrophic mudslides killing 600 people and then Queensland was inundated - the flood waters covering an area larger than Germany and France combined.

In April the mighty Mississippi and Missouri rivers swelled to record levels causing spillways to be opened and mass evacuations, followed by one of the largest tornado outbreaks in American history. Meanwhile a nine-month drought continues to parch Texas and Oklahoma and China evacuated some 500,000 people in June from floods along the Yangtze River following the worst drought in 50 years.

New Zealand meanwhile has experienced record temperatures, record flooding in Whakatane, and a host of unusual weather conditions, including two tornados – one deadly one in Auckland, and one on the Kapiti coast.

As predicted, climate change is bringing unstable weather, and a climate in which it is harder to grow our food - already raising global food prices - and harder to plan for the future. A future our generation is meant to inherit.

In order to deal with this issue, a research levy on agriculture emissions was proposed in 2003, later ditched due to lobbying from farmers against what they called the “fart tax” (though everyone knows most emissions come from cow’s burps). Then a carbon tax was proposed, and ditched around 2006. This was followed by the release of Al Gore's movie about climate change, which promptly convinced the then Labour Government that something needed to be done – so they constructed a hideously complex ETS instead, which was passed in 2008, with the help of the Greens and NZ First.

We had strong reservations about it, but with just 6 MPs, we had limited sway and felt it was important to get a price on carbon – though not without improving the scheme as much as we could before supporting it, including a billion dollars into a home insulation scheme. It was a start.

Enter John Key's National Government. Ignoring old bowls of soggy Weetbix laying around the Ministry for the Environment, as soon as he got into power, he trashed the ETS. He halved the price on carbon, took the cap out of the “cap and trade” system, and added in billions of dollars of subsidies to our largest polluters, which are allocated via a non-transparent process. Polluters will not pay their full and fair share for their pollution until around 2084 under the scheme. Not very smart when you’re borrowing $300 million a week.

Any emissions reductions achieved in the short run will be negligible – possibly around only 0.7% below business as usual by the end of next year, by which time we should have done a lot more. What the science tells us, is that developing countries need to cut emissions by 25 to 40%, below 1990 levels, by 2020 - which we are already over 20% above in NZ. Arguing with the science of environmental limits is like arguing with an oncoming bus – the laws of physic will win every time.

Meanwhile, an ETS, especially one as weak as the current one we have in place, needs other measures to be in place to ensure emission reductions. John Key instead has decided to commit nearly $10 billion to build just seven new motorways over the next three years, increase our mining on conservation land (yes, he's still planning to do that, just not as bad as originally planned), drill for oil in our deep oceans with little or no regulation to prepare us for an oil spill, and allow some of our best farmland in Southland to be mined for lignite, the most dirty form of dirty coal.

So clearly John Key does not care about the environment, does not care about our generation, and he certainly does not care about our most valuable asset – our clean green brand in our beautiful country.
Luckily we have the Green Party in Parliament – the Party with the best understanding of the economic and environmental situation we find ourselves in. Whether we care or we don't, New Zealand's clean green brand is worth a lot of money. Further, the global economy is going green, with or without us.

The green economic wave is coming, could be worth $6 trillion annually globally already and we can either let it swamp us, or ride it from our prime position. As the new business group Pure Advantage points out, we risk loosing this prime position – slipping from number one in the international Environmental Performance Index, to number 15 last year in the space of just 5 years. The Green Party has a plan for a smart green economy that works for everyone, that will reverse this decline.

In terms of climate change, the Green Party’s current policy is to improve the ETS, though our first preference has always been a carbon charge, recycled into income tax reductions. This goes along with our plan for ecological tax reform – to tax bads, like carbon emissions, and reduce taxes on goods, like income.

We would improve the ETS by putting a cap on emissions, and make sure we cover taxpayer liabilities under international agreements like Kyoto as fast as possible. We will also put a cap on how many international credits can be purchased, so emissions reductions are at home, like Australia is planning. This is important to ensure we move towards a smart, green economy here in New Zealand, rather than paying others to do it for us in their countries.

And of course we need to look at the resilience of our entire economy, to make sure we are the full package – the real deal. So the Green Party will transfer money from motorways into better, faster and smarter public transport, to make sure New Zealanders have choice in how they get around, and that they don’t bear the brunt of rising petrol prices. We will protect our most treasured places, and ensure any mining done is not going to wreck our beautiful country, or our climate. We would clean up our waterways. And we would use our public assets (rather than selling them) to partner with private industry, to develop clean tech and green tech, such as Whispertech’s current partnership with publicly owned Meridian Energy.

By taking these important steps, and having an economic vision for New Zealand, we will transform our economy into a smart green economy. We will be playing to our Pure Advantage and we will be setting ourselves up for future prosperity with a quality of life that we can be proud of.

John Key’s ETS was a failure from the start, and so is his lack of economic vision. Only a Party Vote for the Green Party will ensure a we create smart green economy that works for everyone, so we have a future worth looking forward to.

My campaign opening speech!

2011-07-21T15:50:00.000+12:00

Here it is.

It was a few months ago now, but it feels like the campaign really is heating up now, so I thought it was still a good time to post it. Enjoy!

Kia ora koutou,

It’s great to see so many of you come in support of the Greens@Vic campaign launch party for election 2011! I’m Zachary Dorner, the Greens@Vic Candidate, and I’m excited to be sharing the stage with the awesome James Shaw, our Wellington Central Candidate, and one of our hard working Green MPs, Dave Clendon.

Thanks to the awesome Greens@Vic organising team for helping make this night a success. And thanks heaps to Sophie and the Realistic Expectations for coming to entertain us, and Martin Wilson for providing sound and lighting gear.

The theme of this campaign launch, and of the opening campaign around the country is “What are you looking forward to?” Today at Vic we’ve been asking many fellow students that question, and you can get your photo taken too tonight by our roaming photographer Simon.

We’re asking this question to help us all think about what the future might hold. JS/DC has already outlined what an important year this is for New Zealand, and the question is doubly important for young students like us to ask.

John Key seems like a nice guy and all, and I’d certainly want to have him at my place for a beer and a BBQ. I do, however, have a number of bones to pick with him at this hypothetical BBQ that will never happen.

First question for John – Why did you cut taxes for your rich mates, then cut Working for Families, Kiwisaver and Tertiary Education funding on the grounds of not having enough tax revenue? (You got free tertiary education John, the least you could do is invest in my generation’s education, and our future prosperity.)

Second question – Why do you hate young people? OK, that might be a little bit unfair, but someone looking in from the outside at your policies might conclude that you do. For students like us, if we are looking for a job, we face an uphill battle. (Youth unemployment is at 19%, and even well qualified people are struggling to find work, like you and I should be, come the end of our degrees. That’s a problem with your poor economic management John – not very good for a Party that prides itself on economic management.)

Third question – Why do you hate young people? This time the question is a little fairer. When you grew up, you could swim safely in our lakes and rivers, now you’re allowing this to become all but impossible for us. And when you were young you would have thought the weather came and went, but the overall climate would stay the same. But in the last nine months you subsidised big polluters by $800 million to ensure there will be more floods, more freak weather events, and no stability or certainty left in the climate for people in my generation.

Now, John – I would say – if that is your real name, there are really great ways you could change all this. You could join the Green Party or adopt our policies. The Green Party will create a future we can all look forward to.

By supporting the Green Party, you are supporting tertiary education.

By supporting the Green Party, you are supporting Green jobs for all, and a prosperous economy.

By supporting the Green Party you are supporting affordable, warm and healthy housing – and that includes the Wellington student flat.

And at this point John Key would be like “OMG, that lyk totes makes sense now. After today, which is Friday, I will get straight to work on that Green economic vision that is so much better than my current one, which is non-existant.”

Yes, my friends, that is the type of advocacy I am capable of. And that is why I am your candidate, for Victoria University, and the Green Party, this election year.

I come from a place of social and environmental advocacy that started while listening to Bomber on Channel Z – an awesome radio station, for those of you not old enough to remember. I built up a Green group at school, Onslow College out in J-ville. Now I am studying economics and environmental studies at Vic, I spent last year as VUWSA’s Environmental Officer, and this year I am campaigning for the Green Party through Greens@Vic.

Through my experiences I have worked out a magical formula, which I shall reveal to you tonight. Ready? You can change the world, learn heaps of cool shit in the process, and have an awesome time all at once.

And I can see that you all agree, which is why you are here tonight to have a good time, and start changing New Zealand for the better. So make sure you are signed up, to help the Greens@Vic out, and to help out the Wellington Greens this election year.

You will be able to join us in such projects as: votes and vino – heading out to the Wairarapa to get their votes, and to sample some of their delicious wine. The warm healthy rentals competition, where we try and find the crappest flat in Wellington, to make the point that we should set minimum standards on rental housing. We’ll be enrolling young people to vote, and we are planning on creating a student army in the two weeks after exams finish and before the election on November 26, to paint the town Green.

You can also help us with great election moments such as dressing up in costumes, secret late night missions, putting up and taking down billboards in the rain, and so many other fun fun times.

And at the end of it all, on election night when we get more Green MPs elected than ever before and have a great party, you can think “I was a part of making that happen”. So make sure you give your details to one of the people roaming around with clipboards so we can keep in touch.

We also need money, and lots of it if we are to cement ourselves firmly as New Zealand’s third political Party. We don’t have large corporate backers, so we need everything we can get. So even if you, the poor student, put the $2 you have in your pocket into one of our koha buckets tonight, you are still helping make a difference.

So what I am looking forward to? I’m looking forward to a great year. We will have good times, meet new people, and most importantly, increase the Green Party vote. Then we can get to work on creating a New Zealand we can all look forward to.

Shovelling s**t in Christchurch

2011-07-08T15:50:00.000+12:00

Last Saturday, while visiting Christchurch, I decided to help out the Student Volunteer Army by pitching in on their final push to clear the silt. It's great that the volunteering spirit of helping others really comes to the fore in disasters - I just wish it was like that at all times.

I was assigned, with a group, a few properties along the river in New Brighton. Some of the places there have it really rough, with silt coming into their houses through their doors.

One of the places we helped out had a pile of small concrete blocks in their lounge, which used to make up their foundations. We helped them clear the blocks, leaving a big hole in the middle of the room. We then filled this hole with silt from the street, as it was similar to concrete, and would give them a smooth floor. No point in paying for concrete said the guy at the house, because all the houses in the area were in the red zone, so were due to be bulldozed in future anyway. The plan was to cover it in plastic, and put the carpet back on top.

Let's hope there's no more big ones for everyone's sake.

People in the worst affected areas are still very much doing it tough, still dealing with chemical toilets, a lot of dust, very bumpy roads, very little in the way of entertainment left, and of course fear of more quakes. There's a long road ahead.

The Canterbury quakes have underlined the importance of smart regulation, to ensure the land we build on, the buildings we build and the way we develop take into account more than just the short term gains of a developer. These quakes show how we've done some things right in the past, and other things we need to improve. Let us not forget these lessons.

Greens@Vic launch our campaign!

2011-06-30T15:26:00.000+12:00

About a month ago, Greens@Vic had our campaign launch. Yes, the rumours are true, I am running for Parliament. A great time was had by all, and we raised over $200 on the night, and at the bake stall earlier in the day.

First Green MP Dave Clendon spoke about the importance of being enrolled to vote, and voting yes to MMP in the referendum (second pic).

Then we heard from James Shaw, the Wellington Central candidate (first pic), about how important Greens@Vic are to the campaign for at least 30 percent of the Wellington vote.

Then I spoke about the election, and our campaign at Vic (which you can now donate directly to online!). It will be a great year - an awesome time to be involved.

I will post my speech here next week when I can get access to it (am in Christchurch at the moment). There are more pics from the launch here. I'll also post any updates about the ridiculous ban on "political activity" at Vic - not sure what its meant to mean for clubs, but so far we plan on doing what we were always planning!

So stay tuned to zackarateisland for what will be an exciting campaign.

My submission on why 50 by 2050 is not good enough for climate change

2011-02-15T22:09:00.000+13:00

Make your submission by 28 February on this vital issue. And feel free to steal my points!

Submission on Gazetting New Zealand's 2050 Emissions Target: Minister's Position Paper

1. Summary

1.1 New Zealand should have a stronger target of 80 per cent reductions by 2050.

1.2 As a 21 year old, I am very concerned about the vast amounts of evidence of a worsening global climate change over my lifetime, and that of future generations. The evidence suggests the situation is urgent and developed countries such as New Zealand, with high per capita emissions, need to reduce emissions quickly. Therefore we need a stronger target than 50 by 50, interim targets to get there, and clear policies in place to meet those targets.

2. Stronger target

2.1 Based on the global commitment to no more than 2ºC of warming, which New Zealand supports, developed countries need to reduce their emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. As New Zealand supports this target, we should therefore commit to at least an 80 percent cut by 2050. This is in line with developed countries, such as within the European Union, which intend on doing their part to reach the global target of a 50 percent chance of warming being no more than 2ºC of warming.

2.2 Given that developing countries have an obligation, in terms of capacity, as well as in terms of equity with the majority, developing world, we should aim to reach our target in terms of gross emissions. Failing that, given our unique emissions profile, we should meet this with net emissions, only after trying to reduce our gross emissions as much as possible first.

3. Apples with apples

3.1 Our target needs to be transparent. A transparent target must be set in net emissions, or gross emissions. Gross 1990 emissions to net 2050 emissions is both non-transparent and confusing. Such an insincere target risks damaging our international reputation as clean, green and safe. A large part of our export economy is based on this brand, which is beginning to be undermined as people overseas begin to see us as insincere, given our environmental record. An 80 percent target, which compares apples with apples, will strengthen our reputation rather than erode it.

4. Interim targets

4.1 In order to meet a target 40 years from now, and to prevent runaway climate change, we need to set interim targets to meet our 2050 target. This should include 40 percent by 2020, as this is also consistent with no more than 2 degrees of warming. The Government should clear path to our 2050 target around the 2020 and 2050 targets.

5. Meeting the targets

5.1 New Zealand needs policies in place in order to meet our targets. The Minister's document identifies current Government initiatives. As identified, we need an economic instrument as well as complementary instruments in place to do so.

5.2 The current Emissions Trading Scheme needs to have a cap on emissions, which it does not, in order to meet emission reduction targets. Other complementary measures which should be considered are a moratorium on new coal mines, shifting spending on new motorways to public transport, and a focus on developing the green sector in New Zealand's economy. The large co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as identified in the Minister's paper, should be a strong motivator to reduce emissions and green our economy, beyond the obvious benefits of avoiding catastrophic climate change.

Kindle me books

2011-01-20T12:55:00.001+13:00

I got me a new Kindle in the mail yesterday from Amazon, one of the first of a slowly growing selection of ebook readers. They use E Ink screens, which don't use any battery power until the screen has to change, and are easier on the eyes as they are not backlit like the LCD screens we know and use all the time.

I got one because of the amount of screen time I have at the moment, especially with many of my readings for University being in PDF format to save paper (which is fair enough, especially given some of my courses). I'm also a bit of a techno geek.

So, what's the deal with the Kindle? Well, it's not ideal in many ways, and not necessarily A1 with the Green Party's Information Technology Policy (pictured on my Kindle). That's because Amazon has made every effort to sell their Kindle's to make money of selling ebooks off their website, where you can choose from over half a million digitised books, along with some magazine and newspaper subscriptions. They make it clear they own the software on your Kindle in the terms and conditions, and have programmed the Kindle not to accept the widely used, open source format ePub. This is the format of Google's free books, many of which are free because they are no longer under copyright. As far as I can tell, most of these types of books on Amazon, when available, cost US$0.99, though some are free.

The Green Party's IT policy is all about promoting open source software as a collaborative and sharing alternative to the relatively monopoly of Microsoft's software, which you have to buy a license to use. (For the record I use Ubuntu).

Then there is the infamous (in the US at least) time that Amazon ironically removed copies of 1984 from everyone's Kindle who bought one when it became clear that it shouldn't have been sold by Amazon in the first place. This made many question what owning a Kindle and an ebook really meant when it came to Amazon.

The good news is, that there are converters you can download online, to convert ePub and other formats to Kindle-friendly formats, and upload them to you device from your computer.

So why did I go with the Kindle, when all other main ebook readers available, including the ones for retail sale in NZ (from Whitcoulls), are open source friendly? Cause it's a good deal, one of the best, and has a browser (and I wanted to be able to read the news online for free. I'm a poor student, OK?). It cost me NZ$250, including shipping and an NZ adapter plug for the basic, Wifi model.

And there are always ways around their software trickery...

House sitting and other community-minded things

2011-01-13T17:54:00.001+13:00

For the last week and a bit my girlfriend Raven and I have been having somewhat of a staycation, but not in its truest form. A staycation is really meant to be about staying at home and relaxing, but we've gone one better - stayed at other people's much nicer homes.

First up was my mother's house, a really lovely old sunny villa, with one skittish black and white cat and a small veggie garden to look after. It's always a bit of a holiday looking after the place, giving us a break from our usual student squalor.

Second, where I am now, is one of Raven's friend's place, by the beach on Wellington's sunny south coast. Though we must depart tomorrow, we've had a lovely time watching the southerlies role in, feeding the cat and the chickens. And I've learnt how to handle and feed chickens, which is a great skill for a city boy to have.

While people are away (including at green events like ReGen) those still at home can have a lovely time in their houses, or atleast learn some new skills. But most importantly its about community. Helping each other out.

Sometimes helping others may be an inconvenience and feel like a burden in our busy lives, or at least not seem like it's in our narrow self interest, which our modern economy so tells us should be our main motivation for everything we do. This has meant we really are becoming separated from one another, and that's to our detriment when we need help ourselves, and for our happiness of spending time with others.

So, especially now when you should have extra time, make sure you help those in need, or ask for help if you need it. Just remember to say please!

Last stretch in India plus pics

2011-01-04T17:13:00.001+13:00

The Taj

Streets of Mcleodganj

Raven and a local

One of the many environmental signs (amongst the rubbish sadly)

An auto rickshaw (powered by compressed natural gas) in Delhi

The contrast of Singapore on the way over

The Baha'i Lotus Temple in Delhi

I've been home from India for a while, but only just settled back at home home, in Wellington. Before that I spent a lovely Christmas in shaky Christchurch. Here's the details about the last part of our trip.

Where I last left off, we'd come close to the end of our time in Mcleodganj. It's a great place - the best place we'd been to in India. Next stop was Dalhousie, an old colonial outpost high in the Himalayas - up to about 2700m or something, on a ridgeline. It had good views over to the mountains of Kashmir, but not much else! It was a quiet few days in its low season, but had some good India food, and some good walks.

On from there was a crazy taxi ride to Pathankot (where we almost got into a head on collision with a truck, while overtaking another truck at double its speed, while wearing no seatbelts). From there we caught a train (two tier AC, the highest class, with only two bunks, rather than three, and no crammed seats) to Amritsar.

Amritsar is right on the border with Pakistan, and home of the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh temples. We stayed right around the corner in the crowded streets surrounding it, and I was lucky enough to go all the way inside, after waiting an hour in the hot sun in a cramped line (nothing Big Day Out wouldn't have prepared me for). It's an amazing place - a calm area within a crowded city, complete with free food and free accommodation, anyone welcome.

On our last night we heard arrhythmic deep booms, sounding like bombs in the distance, presumably coming from Pakistan. But without prior experience of hearing these things in peaceful New Zealand, I can't be 100% sure that's what it was.

Next was back to Delhi for our last few days, where a couple of Raven's friends had just arrived. They shared a private tour with us to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located. We were relieved to get a modern car, with seatbelts in every seat and a sane driver for once.

The Taj Mahal really deserves its status as one of the Wonders of the World. The size and stunning appearance are only half the magic - it's the details which really make it. A perfectly symmetrical building and grounds, the place was built in 22 years, as one of the lucky numbers for Muslims. It has 22 steps up to it, and was built by 22 000 workers (according to our tour guide). The details within the white marble are also astounding, with rocks from around the world embedded in floral patterns gleaming in the sun, and still stuck in just as hard as as when it was built. Voices echo for around 22 seconds inside the main chamber, producing stunning harmonies.

Interestingly the four minarets surrounding the Taj lean slightly outwards, a design feature incorporated by its Turkish architect to prevent the minarets falling inwards during a large earthquake. And yes, we did get a photo taken on the seat where Princess Diana had her famous photo, and where Sarkozy and Carla Bruni had their photos taken about a week before.

Our last day was spent negotiating Delhi's many touts and auto-rickshaw drivers who wanted to take us to stores we didn't want to go to so that they would get commission. We finally made it to the Lotus Temple, of the Baha'i faith. I like the Baha'is, their religion is about bringing people together, peace and open dialogue, and I have met some really nice ones in Wellington over the last couple of years. The Temple was quite amazing, made out of Indian white marble, like the Taj, but with even more incredible acoustics, which rang with the many harmonies of the prayers being sung as we entered, reminding me of a piano with the damper pedal depressed.

So that was our trip. India's a crazy country, with many place left undiscovered for us (such as the deserts of Rajistan, where we were constantly told to go). To top it all off, we arrived home with a good dose of campylobacter. Luckily we recovered in time to eat all the delicious dinner and desert for Christmas.

Ancient wisdom

2010-11-28T00:58:00.000+13:00

Since my last post I've been chilling out in Mcleodganj, current home of the exiled Dalai Lama. Although we spent some of our time her being sick (a sad but almost inevitable part of travel in a country like India) we've had some great times too, stationed in the foothills of the Himalayas (or Himalaya, as I've heard is more correct).

On the way back from the doctors there we got a stunning view of the Himalayas (Himalaya), rising like a white jagged wall, the tops piercing an emergent full moon. It was beautiful. We also had our first car accident - a low speed one at what seemed to be Saturday rush hour, where a car was pulling out into a busy street and hit my door as we drove in front of it. He'd be clearly at fault in NZ, but after some yelling outside our window, some hand holding and calming down, our driver moved on; it seemed it was declared that neither were at fault.

On one of our first mornings back into a little better health, we took a walk, thinking we were headed to the Dalai Lama's residence. We decided to go down the path where everyone else was going, mostly murmuring old Tibetans, hunch over, and prayer beads slowly filtering through their fingers. It was a magical place. A slight mist, piles of white painted rocks, carved rocks with Tibetan inscriptions, and hundreds of prayer flags in the trees. A truly quiet place for contemplation.

We rounded a corner, and there were monkeys, birds, cows and dogs; it felt like the Garden of Eden. we kept walking, past beggars, past mantra wheels, and back into reality. We walked passed a temple which we were unsure about, and went back up the hill. We missed the Dalai Lama's, but found a surprising place which was almost worthy of the millennia-old Tibetan culture.

The next day we set out again, and this time we found His Holiness's residence. Right at the end of the path, where we walked past. Inside were people lining up with green passports, getting large pink ballot papers, and placing them in big green metal boxes. The Tibetan Government, in exile after the Chinese took over around 1950, was having primary elections.

Inside the temple were mantra wheels, statues of Buddhist deities, and hundreds of volumes and ancient science, wisdom and scriptures. I always enjoy temples and churches, no matter which religion they are from. They are great places for contemplation and stillness, something we desperately need in modern, Western, atheist lives. If I could, I'd have my own local place, which I could go to every morning, or every week, and just do some meditation. Although the meaning and my knowledge of so much of this stuff is so limited, these places do inspire something deep within you - and it is especially amazing to see so many exiled Tibetans, striving to minimise suffering of themselves and others, but suffering so much under the Chinese rule that has tried to crush their culture, and take their land for its incredible natural resources.

It's also inspiring to see so much ancient knowledge and wisdom in a place like that. So much knowledge, unknown to us in the West, in New Zealand, and yet so much value in it. Maybe it possesses answers for us all in the modern age, an age when we desperately need to change course and stop taking from future generations. The Dalai Lama certainly thinks so.

From economics to harsh reality: my last week

2010-11-19T23:05:00.000+13:00

So I finally have a chance to post - would love to show you my pictures, but will have to leave it till another time. I write from northern India, Dharamshala, where I find myself and my girlfriend Raven, after a week of travelling.

Since my last post I finished exams (just found I got an A+ in one of them, which is awesome), went to a Ecological Economics conference run by the Green Party of Aotearoa, and then shipped off to India (OK, flew. Sorry future generations.)

The Ecological Economics conference was an interesting way to spend time the day after my last exam (on more conventional macroeconomics) but I couldn't pass up the chance of seeing David Suzuki speak. He's an inspirational speaker, and started the conference with putting us within a bio-centric perspective. Instead of the economy, society and the environment being three interlocking, equally-sized circles, a more accurate model, he suggested, was one big circle, signifying the biosphere, and thirty million circles within it - one for each species. The human one though, takes up 40% of the area, and is rapidly expanding. Population and consumption of resources by humans has sky-rocketed almost vertically and many times in just 200 years - a tiny blip of time in the 150 000 or so years of modern humans. Although lost on some other speakers in the conference unfortunately, Suzuki also pointed out that 80% of resource-use is by the wealthiest 20% of the worlds population - a fact no leader of a wealthy country will freely admit. And so a few days later I was off to where the rubber meets the road in this reality - India.

India is one of the great emerging economies, with a high economic growth rate, a poor population overall, around one billion inhabitants, and an emerging wealthy class, taking more than their fare share. I arrived late at night in Delhi, after a day tour around Singapore, which also has a high growth rate, but is more wealthy overall. Four million people situated on a tiny island, with 90% housed apartments in the sky through a government scheme. It's a very clean and wealthy city, with a mind-bogglingly busy port, and an ironically interventionist, single-part government; ironic given it's incredibly high rate of economic growth. It was a great juxtaposition from the city we were about to find ourselves in.

We had heard Delhi was a horrible place from many different people before we got there, and we arrived a quite Indian man from our hotel to pick us up and take us there. The ride from the airport felt like a destruction derby - with less destruction, and more derby, but the car with the front bumper hanging on by a couple of screws, squealing around beside us, certainly increased the destruction side of things. They are incredibly skilled drivers, as we were to discover, weaving in and out of optimistically-painted lane dividers, fitting in as many vehicles into a small space as possible, and beeping to say "I'm coming through!" rather than relying on the silent and leisurely indicators we use in the West. Our room was nice - three star, and we quickly fell asleep.

Our first day was a bit of a walk to get orientated, around Conaught Place, near our hotel. Dogs, dirt, and toilet smell all through the street. Many an eager rickshaw driver, tout and salesman tried to sell us something, or convince us to use a "Government" tourist bureau. Lots of people complimented my beard before trying their tricks - the next day it was Raven's Indian dress she bought the day before to fit in more appropriately with the culture. Despite our best efforts we were screwed over a couple of times - something that gets easier to avoid the more time you spend in a place. I thought this was free market capitalism at its best - game theory of each person trying to screw over the other, especially as they don't think they will ever see you again in the vast city of millions. Needless to say it was quite horrible.

We got to the Red Fort and a Muslim temple on day two. It was also the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, where they sacrifice animals (best to read the link to get a less simple an naive account...). Coincidentally there were lots of goats being traded that day, and lead around the city to people's homes or wherever. We ate some spicy food and gave ourselves horrible stomach pains, and the next day got the hell out of there, to our relief.

Yesterday we flew into Dharamshala, and got a taxi to just north of it, Mcleodganj. Here the Dalai Lama resides, we're at the foot of the Himalayas, and everything is Free Tibet. It's a nice quiet place - slightly spoiled by all the rubbish and fast traffic through its narrow one-way roads - but it's great to be here. We're here for at least the next week, and the internet is surprisingly good, so you'll hear from me soon!

I'm back!

2010-11-02T23:08:00.000+13:00

So there's been a break in my blogging this year, but I'm back in action and hopefully more regularly! I'm going to India shortly for six weeks of awesomeness before Christmas, so shall endeavour to blog from there to tell you of my wonderful adventures.

I also went to Leonard Cohen's concert on Halloween in Wellington (recognise the faceless man in the low quality cellphone picture?). The third row seat was pretty sweet, but it didn't quite reach the heights of his first concert. Nevertheless, it was another amazing night from an amazing man!

Anyway, to celebrate nice weather, poetry, a new beginning and the shaky isles, here's a poem I wrote a few years ago:

Here's to another night

She's preparing for the night
A flash of her peach pink underwear
As she changes into a black dress
And puts on her yellow pears which hug a circle around the harbour

Houses clutched into her bossom
Hollowed into her mangled hills
She shows off her curves
Draped in seductive black against the grey blue sky

Her streets are crumpled
Cracked and peeling like bits of skin
I trust her - my friend, my lover
Walking on her solid, moving ground

Birds chirping, a still night
The smell of a breeze in the air
Relationships drifting together, apart
Around like evaporation

A strange day, drips of time
Leaking on people, on love
Thoughts winding through stars
Through lives going on

Wellington! she shouts
Then she grumbles at a passing aeroplane
The night takes all with it
We celebrate with a glass of harbour champagne

No-Hopenhagen? COP-out? The UN FCCC-ed up?

2010-01-25T13:49:00.007+13:00

It's now just over a month since I got back from Copenhagen at what was the experience of a lifetime. The COP15, the event that was built up to be where world leaders decide whether to save us all, or sign a suicide pact. So, I've had some time for reflection.

Here are the main things I learnt from the mad house of the UNFCCC:

1. Every country is in it for themselves - they just have differing analyses of what that actually means. In the case of China, it appears they believed their economic growth to help them become a superpower in the future was more important than the climate which that will be based on. The US was similar in terms of the minor cuts they were willing to commit to. And countries like the Maldives realised that they needed a deal in Copenhagen to stop from drowning under rising seas. Capitalism is no small player in creating these differing world views, and as always the poor and vulnerable loose out, the rich and powerful who win, no matter how stupid they actually are. We need to keep pushing for a recognition that the collective good being put first will increase all our prosperity.

2. The UNFCCC process could work, and work well, if countries were not subject to the gross illogicalities I just described.

3. Carbon trading is worse than I thought. It could work well if it wasn't subject to the political process - but that's the case with most things! There are so many outs for rich but selfish countries like New Zealand to exploit (Clean Development Mechanism, REDD, and other such flexibility mechanisms) depending on the system (ie the one that the current NZ government supports) emissions could continue to sky rocket. No wonder Minister for Climate Change Issues Nick Smith is so keen on many of these things.

4. The solutions are out there, but it's up to the people to lead. And they are. This is too big to give up on, so lets keep working towards climate justice, and keep coming up with ideas. We're closer than we think, and there's a massive global movement on what Desmund Tutu called "the winning side" - the side where we get to keep a stable climate, and make a more equitable world! It was fantastic to see so many thousands of young people and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Copenhagen supporting this winning effort.

5. There's a lot of smart people out there, but there's also some wackos... Climate change deniers can join the many other crazy conspiracy theorists and retire to their tight-knit communities of nonsense!

6. The Copenhagen Accord said and achieved very little. However, it is political will that is most important if we are to ever reach an agreement for a stable climate. Is there political will? More than we've ever seen. Is this enough? No.

7. But, with the Copenhagen Accord being the only thing to come out of Copenhagen, there seems to be even more uncertainty than there was before Copenhagen - and that was a huge amount. This uncertainty is bad for the climate, bad for us, and bad for business. Who knows what will happen this year?

8. The Green movement is needed now more than ever before.

I leave you with some pictures which contain memories which I will always cherish.

Don't allow factory farming of cows in NZ!

2010-01-16T15:46:00.005+13:00

Hi Nick,

It was nice meeting you in Copenhagen as part of the New Zealand Youth Delegation. Being there made me realise how important New Zealand's reputation is overseas. People were surprised when I told them how polluted our rivers are, and how we are one of the worst countries in the world for per-capita emissions. At least we still have free-roaming grass-fed livestock here though, and that was always reassuring. Let's make sure our vital image doesn't fall over by allowing factory farming to occur here!

Yours Truly,
Zack

PS To my blog readers - you can send Nick an e-card like mine from here!

PPS To my blog readers - sorry I haven't done a post-COP follow post yet. I'll try to soon, after a lot of reflection time, I tell you what.

One more day to go for the COP15

2009-12-18T09:26:00.004+13:00

Hello people,

Just thought I better give you all a quick update.

It's very cold. Snow starting falling on Tuesday, and it hasn't let up much since. It's -4 with a windchill of -11.

Went to Sweden today as we've been completely locked out of the conference. They accredited 45 000 people with entry for a venue with 15 000 capacity... Welcome to the UN. Long queues, chaotic, hard to figure out what's going on. They started limiting numbers on Tuesday, with our delegation of twelve being allowed to bring in 5 people. Then today NGO numbers were limited to 1000 (allocated through constituencies - my one being YOUNGO or Youth NGO, and I don't think NZYD got any. There are nine NGO constituencies) Tomorrow they are limiting NGOs numbers to just 90 people, with 10 going to each constituency, because of the shear number of world leaders (120 to 135ish, including Mugabe) and their entourages who are going to be at the venue. So many NGOs are very unhappy. There was also a protest going on yesterday, which was my last day at the venue, where they tried to storm the building (without hope - there were so many police, and Danish police are very brutal, so we've steered well clear of them, and kept our conference badges well visible. They did manage to arrest a French Green MP, who they released once they realised who he was.)

Anyway talks don't sound like they're going too well... We'll have to see what world leaders can do when they talk tomorrow. Did the march last Saturday with about 100 000 people at it. It was an incredibly uplifting experience, and we carried the massive NZYD sail (signed by young Kiwis about what they think about climate change) the whole 3 hour walk, which gave us a great reputation - see the photo.

Other things we've done is hijacked the NZers in Copenhagen party when we presented the NZYD sail to Ministers Tim Groser and Nick Smith, and then gave a long speech that really challenged their policies (not being cute youth as they were hoping we were). There we met Simon Upton and Major Kerry Prendergast too (though she didn't react much to the speech...). We got a really long applause at the end though, even though the crowd was a mix of Kiwi NGOs, business people and delegates.

Other famous people I've seen include Desmund Tutu, Senator John Kerry, Helen Clark and almost Ban Ki-Moon (but he couldn't make his side-event due to negotiations). Also went to a Global Greens talk and saw a bunch of cool people talk including Elizabeth May (Canadian Green Party Leader) who absolutely rubbished the Canadian Government (which as of yesterday had the most Fossils of the Day, slightly ahead of the US). The current Canadian Government - which does not have majority support at all but is in power due to First Past the Post - is absolutely abysmal. She also said "Things may be better now that the US has a new administration, but unfortunately they are still the United States," to rapturous applause. Good ol' Canadians...

For the last day we will continue to send love letters to John Key, and try and get a meeting with him. Let's hope he commits to stronger targets - a conditional 10-20% by 2020 is not good enough - especially considering the strong conditions will not be met (such as other developing countries committing to stronger targets...). Plus we're trying to get the message out that the new Emissions Trading Scheme is crap - contrary to what our Government is saying, given it has no cap on emissions and thus will allow them to increase...

Anyway, it's being a crazy ride, and can tell you other things later, but should probably go. Will have to see how the final day of the talks go - which are likely to continue into Saturday before they wrap up - for better or for worse.

Fossil of the Day number one already...

2009-12-11T23:56:00.003+13:00

New Zealand Youth Delegation

Press release

Fossil of the Day spoils youth day for young Kiwis in Copenhagen

10 December 2009

New Zealand’s first Fossil of the Day award in Copenhagen came at the worst possible time for the New Zealand Youth Delegation (NZYD) after enjoying Young and Future Generations Day. They spent their time united with global youth by supporting a joint declaration calling for strong action on climate change. They also all wore bright orange t-shirts asking “How old will you be in 2050?”

“After such a positive day focused on young people and solutions to climate change it was a huge blow to hear that New Zealand received a Fossil of the Day Award,” says Zachary Dorner, a 20 year old NZYD Delegate from Wellington.

“We're surprised that John Key has reaffirmed New Zealand's position of a conditional 10-20% emissions reduction target for 2020 even though he also confirmed that other countries will have to make much deeper cuts to avoid dangerous climate change and pick up the slack.”

“Although John will be 89 and in his sunset years in 2050, he should be committing New Zealand to a 40% target for his children and grandchildren.”

Over 1000 global youth are participating in the UN summit, and they used Young and Future Generations Day to focus negotiators' minds on the importance of reaching a strong deal.

“Amongst all the madness and complexity of the UN, there's one striking contrast. The young people here seem to get down and work together in a positive manner to achieve things for the greater good.”

“On the other hand, it seems some developed countries like New Zealand are dragging their heels, trying to get the most out of the talks for themselves.”

“It'd be great to put young people in charge to see what we could come up with. After all, if the world doesn't take strong action in Copenhagen, it will fall on our generation to clean up the mess anyway.”

ENDS

See stuff for some of the coverage this picked up.

Radio NZ interview

2009-12-11T00:21:00.003+13:00

Myself and fellow delegate Chelsea were interviewed for morning report this morning (though it was broadcast last night Copenhagen time). You can listen to it here (here if you're awesome like me and use open source software). It gives you an update of what we're up to, and in the process we teach Geoff Robinson about "electronic communication".

Flight of the Kiwis

2009-12-09T09:03:00.001+13:00

“New Zealand stakeholder briefing meeting number one. Negotiators?”

“Present.”

“Stakeholders?”

“Present.”

“Right. Item one. What should we talk about?”

And thus the first New Zealand briefing of day two of COP15 began, just like an episode of Flight of the Conchords. Small office, laminated sign, faded flag, not many people. The only thing missing was a poster saying “New Zealand – ewe should come,” or something of the like.

New Zealand really shows its importance at the UNFCCC by having a tiny office positioned strategically in the far corner of the delegation offices (and being told to pay $24 if the wanted another chair). The stakeholder briefing meeting I went to this morning was small and informal – but should get bigger and more detailed as things go on. Nothing much has happened at COP15 yet, just openings of negotiations. The meetings really are a great opportunity though; an incredible advantage of coming from such a small country that basically all Kiwis are welcome to come and talk details with the bureaucrats about what's happening, and even argue about policy every day.

But we do have to remember that we're not that big a player, but we can have a great positive impact. However, currently our 10 to 20% emissions reduction (below 1990 levels by 2020) targets will not help the developed world reach the 25 to 40% cuts necessary to stop dangerous climate change – and they are highly conditional.

For New Zealand to go to a 20% target, it wants to see global targets set at a level where temperature rises are limited to 2°C (which New Zealand itself wont be going far enough to reach). There are four other demands, including wanting to be able to purchase offsets to be able to reach most of those emission cuts off shore – meaning we'd be paying others to do what we don't want to do, even though ultimately everyone needs to substantially cut emissions. We also want to be able to grow lots of trees tat home to achieve these offsets. Without these, and other conditions being met (many of which having a low level of probability of success) New Zealand's target will be much lower than 20%.

So New Zealand is very demanding for such a small player. In reality we should actively be a positive voice for climate change to protect ourselves, our Pacific neighbours who are drowning under rising seas, and everyone else from the worst effect of climate change. There is so much more we could do, and that would be a huge business opportunity for us – already being well and truly seized by countries like Norway who have experienced strong economic growth recently, and plan to be carbon neutral by 2030. What ever happened to Helen Clark's desires for NZ to become carbon neutral too?

There's so much we could do, we've got a really talented negotiating team here, and New Zealand has a good reputation of purity to live up to. Let's hope John Key has (another) change of heart and directs the New Zealand Delegation to push for a deal we could truly be proud of. That's what COP15 should be about for the humble but talented Kiwis.

Staying COY about COP in Hopenhagen

2009-12-08T09:53:00.001+13:00

Right now I am sitting in an apartment in Copenhagen where I arrived, along with the rest of the New Zealand Youth Delegation (NZYD), just under a week ago! And what a week it has been.

First off, it's quite an adjustment to make going from almost summer to almost winter. Cold, grey and very little sunlight, making the jet lag real lame. Second, so much to do, so little time (and so much of that time spent sleeping!). We've been getting our bearings, setting up our base camps, and at the weekend we attended COY5.

COY5 stands for Conference Of the Youth number 5, and is where all the young folks meet to learn and scheme before the UN climate change conference begins (which was today!). The photo above is of four of the lovely NZ Youth Delegates walking around coldly in the square outside the old and very detailed building in which it was being held.

Then today we had our first day at the UNFCCC COP15 (the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Yeah, that's right, the freakin' UN. And I had me a pass to get inside. The United Nations, full of important people. Such as myself of course.

I didn't go until the afternoon, as the morning was just a welcome ceremony and then plenary sessions - which means a massive room full of people from all over the world talking about how great their countries are (well, at least on the first day, before negotiations start in earnest). In the afternoon I went to a couple of very interesting "side events" where people pontificated about interesting climate related stuff.

So I've had my first taste - and it was such a busy taste. It will only get busier from here on in.

What's everyone doing at the COP15 you may ask. Well, the countries present are trying to reach an agreement on what to do about climate change. People like myself are here because we Hopenhagen that a deal will be reached, will be legally binding (so that no one can get out of it) and will mean that our climate that we so rely on is kept in a stable condition. And we will damn well do our best to pressure countries to make this happen.

There you have my last exciting week, concentrated into a sweetened form, like condensed milk. From here on in I will be blogging more regularly about more detailed and serious stuff, and you may even catch me on the news as the NZYD spokesperson.

The first week will be where we find our feet, the middle weekend should see huge demonstrations as the pressure mounts, and next week is where the magic will happen. Almost a hundred world leaders set to arrive at what is the most important and unprecedented meeting in human history. By 18 December we want them to have wrapped up a deal and make sure that this two weeks ensures the safety of our climate for all generations to come. Let's make sure they do it.

I'm going to Copenhagen!

2009-11-19T13:41:00.005+13:00

Kia ora everyone. Long time no post, I know. But you know the deal with these things.

Quick update since we last spoke: Haircut, university, got elected Environmental Officer for VUWSA (the students association at my uni), continued Co-Convening the Young Greens and now I'm off to Copenhagen next month.

Copenhagen? Yeah man. Copenhagen. It's where world leaders will be deciding the fate of the world, trying to get a global agreement on climate change, after commitment period number one of the Kyoto Protocol, which ends at the end of 2012.

Why you going, bro? Because world leaders need all the pressure they can get to make a deal that will lower the worst impacts of climate change from happening to us. I'm going as part of the New Zealand Youth Delegation (NZYD).

How can I find out more about this whole thing? Well, here's an article I wrote a few months ago for the student mag at Victoria University.

Can I give you money to help you get there? Yes please! We need lots of money to get there and pay for accommodation and eats. Go here now. Cheers! If you are in Auckland you can also go to our fundraising auction, where you can buy re-usable shopping bags painted by famous people like Robyn Malcolm - who will actually be there! Details are hmmmere.

And how can I keep up to date with your shenanigans at this insane event? Right here at zackarateisland.blogspot.com, where I shall be pumping out the posts again to save the world. Also through NZYD's website, Facebook... you know the story.

My cousin's even famous-er-er - therefore so am I

2009-04-13T17:11:00.004+12:00

Kia ora whanua. I know it's been a little while since we last spoke, but I've been busy with university and Co-Convening the Young Greens you see, among other university shinanigans. However, I cannot honestly say I've been more busy than my cousin Phil.

No, that's not me on the unicycle, but yes he is a good looking guy. He's my Canadian equivilent, but is cooler than me. You see Phil Schleihauf is currently unicycling accross Canada for the charity Invisible Children which is dedicated to freeing the child soldiers who make up 90% of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, who are fighting in the longest running war in Africa.

Now, for those of you who don't know, Canada is a small country above the United States of America. Small in population that is, but large in size - the second largest country on Earth, after Russia. So it's a massive distance Phil will be riding, a lot longer than riding the length of our fair nation of New Zealand. So freakin kudos to him.

So follow his website if that kinda of thing floats your boat, but most importantly read about the Invisible Children. I had no idea about them, and I bet most of you (as informed as you are) wouldn't have heard of them either! And, of course, if you can, give them money. But at the very least learn about their story, and tell others that even though our corporate media ignores them, we will not.

I'm famous-er!

2009-03-11T23:43:00.004+13:00

This blog has been mentioned on another great blog by an awesome Global Young Green (GYG) from Deutschland called Georg (which has now appeared in the blogs that I like box to your right). I suggest you take a look, especially if your interested in active GYGs from around the world.

The GYGs will be having a meeting in Graz, Austria in August. This conference follows the founding conference in Nairobi in 2007, and the less official meeting in conjunction with the Global Greens Congress last year that I went to! Go to their website if you are interested in attending (and contact someone on the steering committee about it as there doesn't seem to be conference info up yet) to find out more. I wish I had the funding, time, and justification of the carbon emissions for a whirlwind trip to Europe to go...

Atleast I get to go to the exciting local Greens Policy conference all the way over in Silverstream this weekend - my first as the Co-Convenor of the Young Greens! Needless to say there will be plenty of discussion about economic issues.

Fantastic.

Hey John. And Roger.

2009-03-08T23:04:00.004+13:00

On the eve of my second week of University ever, I believe it's time to reflect on my first week of University ever.

It was a week of excitement, a week of administration, a week of disappointingly little partying, a week of heaps of free time compared to what I'm used to (meaning I could focus on the more important things in life, such as cleaning my inbox, my room, and constructing a composter) and finally, of course, a week of meeting new people and getting stuck in with the Greens@Vic.

And, just so you know, I am doing a BA, but in really useful stuff - environmental studies and economics. It's going to be a packed three years of geekily exciting learning.

As I start my life of debt, of borrowing to live, I say hey John, I think it's about freakin' time you give students a better start to life. Especially given the ecological debt you're burdening us with by your disregard for the environment on which we depend.

I also start with contemplations of a $100 minimum wage... Come on Roger, use your influence in the new Government!
Disclaimer: For the record, I don't know why ACT on Campus thought the $100 minimum wage speech bubble (plus their other mildly sarcastic signs) was so clever. A $100 minimum wage is just as ridiculous as their desired no minimum wage let the market take it's course. That's not sarcasm, that's irony!

Dear mum, I'm having a great time at camp!

2009-02-15T22:20:00.006+13:00

This last week's been a pretty crazy, full-on one, starting with Waitangi weekend. It was the second annual Young Greens Summer Camp at Jeanette Fitzsimons' farm and it was awesome.

The camp was an action pack time of meeting load of cool people, having workshops on many interesting topics and making decisions about the future of the Young Greens. We came from all over the country, ranging in ages from mid-teens to the "old people" who tagged along and it was great to be on the same wavelength with everyone and to have all our massively intelligent brains working together in harmony. Over the weekend we talked about topics ranging from taking a shit and watching the sun set in the brilliant three-sided composting toilet that looked out over the river (and was still very private) to economics and politics to the meaning of life. Our constant interesting conversations started in the medium hours of the morning (8am) and went till the small hours of the morning (3:30am for some).

Then we got down to business. After probably the strongest election campaign for the Young Greens ever we felt we really needed to build on that momentum and get something concrete down for the Young Greens. So at our AGM on the Saturday we decided on a structure for the Young Greens which will see us moving forward at a brake-neck but environmentally sustainable pace. We now have a Young Greens Executive, which has a representative from each province and is headed by two Co-Convenors. As a particularily inovative feature anyone who considers themselves a Young Green is welcome to attend the conference calls which it uses to meet - even those who are not Green Party members. How's that for oppenness and inclusiveness! The first meeting of this Executive happened just a few hours ago, and went really well. Anyone interested in becoming involved check us out a little more at www.younggreens.org.nz, and/or email me at zachary.dorner@younggreens.org.nz.

Why email me instead of someone else I hear you say? Well, although we elected our first two Co-Convenors ever at the last camp (before we had our Executive) we now have two new Co-Convenors - and I am one of them. It's quite exciting, but a lot of work. A Co-Convenor is like the equivilent of President of the Young Greens, but power hungry people need not apply. It's the Green Party after all, and we believe in real democracy! So it's more of a facilitation role than a "this is how it will be. The end." role. The female Co-Convenor is Georgina Morrison and she's way cooler than I could ever hope to be.

So to end this post a big thank you to all that made the camp awesome, especially Jeanette and Harry who gave us their camp ground on their farm for a few days, and to Gareth Hughes who organised the whole freakin' thing, both this year and last. It was free, which was great, and it's made the future of the Young Greens solid like a tree.

(Photo explanation: I was too busy having a good time to bother taking photos. So out of the twenty I took this was the best one. O well! At least they're gorgeous people.)

Planetary alignment

2009-01-25T20:12:00.006+13:00

What a great week I've had, peaking in a 24 hour period that I will never forget.

On Tuesday night the man whose work has had such an influence on my life, yet who I never thought I'd get to see, played in Wellington. Tickets sold out in just a few hours (which must be some kind of a record for an old person's concert) and from experience I was there right when they went on sale to get the best seats I could get - and they were pretty decent. Leonard Cohen was in town, and received a standing ovation as he energetically ran onto the stage, defying his age.

The concert was profoundly beautiful. I laughed, I cried, and the whole time Leonard kept us in a place where the tempo was slightly faster, the mood more joyous and the pitches more harmonious; it was Leonard Cohen-land. The almost three hours were about giving - Leonard gave the crowd his beautiful music and words, he gave his musicians lots of space to play, and he thanked the audience for keeping his work alive for so many years. He was so incredibly humble. I've never heard his back-up singers sound so sweet.

That night the pinnacle of the concert was reached. Reviewer of everyone who's anyone that comes our way Simon Sweetman put it best in his article:

It's hard to put this concert into words, so I'll just say something I have never said in a review before and will never say again: this was the best show I have ever seen.

The next morning I woke up and due to the intense emotional experience of the night before (and possibly the Webb sisters who made up two of three of his back-up singers) I felt like I was in-love. My radio was switched on automatically to wake me up to news of the new President of the USA. He may not be perfect, but Obama is a unifier, and most importantly he's not George W Bush. The world breathed a joyous sigh of relief.

In Leonard Cohen's words in the song Anthem:

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.

Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Eventually I made it out of bed and onto the seat of my bike to get to work. Though every day and mundane, I new the day was a special one, and nothing could spoil my mood. Drifting in and out of thoughts and hazards along the waterfront a group of people standing by Frank Kitts Park bumped into my attention. Three of them were dressed normally, but one, an older man, was dressed in a fine suit and hat. I knew straight away the only person it could be, and that I had to stop and say hi. The only time our paths will probably cross. I don't like stopping famous people, and I know the conversation is usually short and light, but I couldn't miss this chance. When the other fans stopped pestering him I went up to him and said hi.

"Hello."

"Hey man." I Shook his hand.

"How're you?"

"Good."

"I saw your concert last night."

"I'm glad you could make it."

"I thought you were so sincere and humble."

"Thank you!"

"I hope you enjoy your time in Wellington."

"Thank you!" And then he (or should I say He) continued on his lonely walk.

As I recovered from being star-struck I knew that though I could not see them, the planets on that very moment were certainly aligned.

After a break I'm back with a vengence

2009-01-10T12:28:00.003+13:00

Kia ora 2009 and readers of my blog - whom I hope will grow in numbers, both through word of mouth, and breeding. I hearby commit to you that 2009 will be a year of regular - though not neccessarily prolific - blogging. I will continue to cross-post onto g.blog where I see fit.

A couple of thoughts to start the year from my new years road trip, which took me to Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne, and north to the Coromandel afterwards.

1) We have a serious drug problem in this country in many ways (and remember, when I use the word "drug" when referring to recreational drugs, this always includes alcohol, which is the worst of the worst.) Having travelled around quite a bit last year, I saw that it's the same in many senses in many countries, but stastically we are one of the worst countries in terms of alcohol abuse. We just drink so much so quickly, and among many people, we lack the ability to have a beer or two or a glass of wine for the enjoyment of it. It's all or nothing. Many of us - especially of my age, but definitely not exclusively - also lack the ability to think beyond drinking as the only option for a Friday or Saturday night. I have my own opinions about how to deal with this - and raising the drinking age is not one of them. We need a shift in our thinking, especially in seeing alcohol as the harmful drug that it is. We should have fun with drugs, expand our relationships and our minds, but not over-indulge.

2) Greater wealth and the accumulation of stuff is the driver of so many people - Whangamata being case and point at this time of year. It definitely is not the driver for me, but drives our current economy. We need to snap out of the dream and focus on what's really important, and realistic. Our environment is in dire straights, but there is currently enough to go around. So freakin' share already!

(The picture above is at Whangamata harbour. What is it that you desire in the photo - the jetski and the "biscuit", or the pristine environment, and the protection of the rare and sensitive ecosystem below the water? What do you think we'll be thinking in 50 years time? It's about having fun, but not over-indulging.)

(Due to a lack of enthusiasm for photography this year, above and below are from a year ago at BW Campgrounds, where my friends and I stayed again in Gisborne for Rhythm and Vines. It was pretty much the same though. Above is New Years day and one of the casualities recuperating from the night before. Below is the workers, paid about $14 an hour this time, predominently brown, many quite young, cleaning up mountains of waste for rich white folk).

Disclaimer: I go to Rhythm and Vines because it's such a huge gathering of my friends and people I know. There's good music and lots of good times. But I ache when I see the mountains of waste from our throw-away existence, even if I may not show it so much at the time.

May your 2009 bring you greater consciousness in your relationships and your understanding of all those things that are bigger than us.

My relationship with 2008: A spiel from the heart

2008-12-21T21:21:00.007+13:00

And so it is that the year 2008AD was coming to an end, with just a few days and several traditional celebratory days remaining. That space in space around the sun beckons again which some cultures chose as their time for new beginnings and reflections. So, in that spirit, I shall now do what all good bloggers do, and blog.

How does one sum up a year? Well, for myself it has been a year of self-discovery, and discovering just some of what the world around has to offer. I have had no formal education whatsoever, but learnt so much. I've worked full time in an office. I've travelled alone, and travelled with strangers who quickly become new friends (significantly bulking out my friends list on Facebook). I've run for Parliament, learning a lot from New Zealand masters of Green politics.

One thing my cousin taught me while I was in Canada - one of those important things that you never forget, rather, dwell on at length - was the way the indigenous people of Canada measure individual success. For me it sums up two things really well. It reminds me that there are so many different ways of viewing the world out there already, let alone new philosophies to be thought up. It also, I feel, sums up well the way I think our culture needs to re-jig our priorities. My cousin told me that indigenous people in Canada use one's relationships as a measure of "success" - compared with our measure of money, stuff, and career success. Relationships with those around you, and also the world around are of huge importance to everyone's wellbeing. I have learnt a lot about relationships this year, of all types.

In terms of international affairs 2008 has been a particularly dramatic year. I remember thinking in 2004 that it was, for New Zealand at least, the year that I will see as the start of major weather events increasing in their ferocity. It was the year that we had all that flooding in February, and sure enough, plenty of extreme weather keeps coming. Two thousand and eight will certainly be remembered as crunch time. The sky-rocketing price of oil can not be ignored as a sign of intense pressures on our resources as we really start to live beyond our means. This being a failure of free-market capitalism, helping trigger another failure. Individuals running a system do in fact act with short term self interests as their primary concern, rather than for the greater good, even if the greater good will, eventually, advance their self-interests much further. Cue global financial crisis.

But, with the election of Barack Obama, there are signs of hope. No more Bush has got to be good for the world - he's done pretty well at screwing up as much as humanely possible. Now, I don't see Obama as a saviour, but I don't think anyone could possibly have been elected in that country and been able to make the changes we so desparately need. Not at the moment anyway. I think in Obama we got about the best we could possibly have hoped for. For me, the fact that he's black doesn't really matter so much (having grown up in an almost colour-blind environment). It's the fact that he's so multi-racial, and has had so many different experiences in his life. This seems to instruct his politics. He realises that if you want to move forward, you have to bring everyone forward, no matter what viewpoint or religion or philosophy they subscribe to. That is vitally important if we are ever to make the changes that really need to be made. Obama is ultimately going to be a failure - he wont enact a policy in the Middle East that is fair, he wont reform the US economy to a "New Green Deal" of the type that we really need, and he most certainly wont please everyone. But I do think that he will make significant progress on all fronts, and that's what we need not just in 2009, but long beyond that.

And so to my beloved New Zealand. What are we up to? National and ACT running the country? (With some Maori Party flavour in there.) So far all that that has meant is some very rapid backwards-running. I know I'll have to continue to invest in my future by investing my time with the Green Party. If right wing politics is the politics of fear, than Green politics is the politics of inspiration and vision, and that is what (with the help of Mr Obama) we need to use to continue to fight the good (non-violent) fight.

As for me, 2009 will be a year of more learning and growth (jeeze, is that all us young folk do?). I will be starting at university, most likely studying Environmental Studies and Economics (so watch out, I'll be able to spa it with the Business Round Table and people with similarily decrepit views and shatter their very reason for being). I'll also be moving out of the nest (yay!).

So to everyone who's read this - thanks! For those of you who flicked through to this final paragraph - go back and read it all! For my supporters on Facebook - thanks for continuing to grow in numbers. My ego needs stroking every now and again. For everyone - over the next couple of weeks, make sure you reflect, philosophise, and most importantly, work on your relationships. With friends, family, loved ones, yourself, your enemies, your garden, your cat and anything/anyone else you see fit. And make sure you do something a little crazy. Two thousand and nine is going to be a long year.

Getting it off my chest

2008-11-25T23:17:00.006+13:00

It has now been about two weeks and three days since election night, so plenty of time to reflect, recuperate and ignore my blog. It really is time to do what I've been avoiding and record my post election-musings.

First things first. Me. It was the first general election for me that I could vote in (after having made up my mind a long time ago) and the first time I ran as a candidate. I felt it had to be done. Not to get into Parliament - it's far too soon for a serious run like that - but to increase the Green Party Party Vote, creatively vent my frustration at lack of youth participation and representation in politics, and I guess have a good time, learn a lot and see whether it was a role I could see myself in in the future - as either a lowly-ranked candidate again and/or a serious candidate.

I felt I did make a difference, and most importantly for myself, felt I did as much as I could have hoped to do to increase the Green's Party Vote. I had a good time. I learnt things across the board, from creating event ideas, organising them and organising media to honing my public speaking skills (something I really enjoy) and talking to strangers one on one about issues that they're passionate about, and I'm passionate about. I'll tell you the biggest thing I've noticed since November 8 though. I thought that I might burn myself out on the election trail and then go on hiatus for a little while afterward. But that's not the case. It's put a fire in my belly that's stronger than ever before, and it's not going out. And every time Rodney Hide says climate change is a hoax, or John Key champions the free market over simple social and environmental logic it will only get stronger. Because if there was ever a time to dither over climate solutions, it is not now - I think there's been enough of that since Kyoto was signed in 1997.

Which brings me on to my next subject for my pre-bed muse. The election result. Boy was I nervous on election day - the worst I'd felt the whole campaign. I'm learning to trust my instincts a little more now, and my nervousness gradually morphed into the inevitable disappointment as the results rolled in. I said a few months ago that I would be disappointed with anything less than 8% for the Green Party, and so I was disappointed. I also wasn't expecting the result to be so decisive for National.

So what happened? Well Labour were punished for running such a crappy campaign. Weren't they watching the US elections, and seeing how John McCain was punished for running such a negative campaign against someone who was running such a positive and inspiring one? Labour gave us plenty of reasons not to vote National, and to vote for Labour in the last three elections, but I still haven't figured out what they would have done if they were elected again (other than go into coalition with the Green Party and implement a whole bunch of our brilliant ideas because they had none and ours are so intellegent and needed). Nationals campaign wasn't very inspiring either, but at least they offered something, which was change, some positive messages and a nice guy as their front man. Since Brash disappeared, Key got better and better at saying either "Don't worry, we'll keep what Labour did" or "We'll keep what they did, just change it a bit" which completely took the wind out of Labour's sails. Then he just had to come up with a few issues that struck a chord with the public and voila, he romped home in the end.

As for the Green Party, I think we can count it as a pretty successful campaign. It's so difficult to sell our message when we got so little media coverage compared to the big parties, given that our message is a whole new way of looking at things. But of course, it is a very necessary and logical way, we just need to keep working on getting it accross. We had by far the best billboards and advertising campaign, which got to the heart of our message and our voters. And so we increased our vote against what was a big swing towards a National-led Government. We now have 9 MPs, solidifying our place in Parliament as the third largest Party and a major political force. This is a great base to build on. But the challenges ahead are immense - for both the Green Party and every citizen of Earth. We, along with all the groups and individuals fighting on our side, are the only ones that have the solutions for the future. But we do have the solutions, so we're half way there. All we have to do is make sure the left side of the brain wakes up the right side so that we can all move forward - not just those with the same ideologies. We're all in the same boat.

In the meantime, ponder this: What were those things that National promised to do before the election again?

(PS As for the future of this blog, I think I shall keep writing, though less frequently. And I shall keep cross-posting where relevant to g.blog, which still seems to be going quite strong. Let's build on this momentum!

PPS You're hoping for an explanation about the photo right? Well, on the final day of the campaign we had a bit a fun with some sumo suits. Can you guess what their underpants might be a symbol of? Anyway, after the two fought it out in many battles it turns out they both fall over time and time again whenever faced with a challenge. When it comes to having a positive long term vision that everyone should be a part of, the Green Party was the winner of the day - the only ones that could stand on their own two feet. Below is some more of the action.)

Final campaign shots and MAKE SURE YOU VOTE!

2008-11-06T21:56:00.007+13:00

I'm back, and with some pictures to prove I'm still alive! No posts of late as a) I've been very busy and b) things such as modems tend to decide to die just when you need them! But never fear, the last campaign shots are here, as are my final words. So firstly enjoy student debt-monster day at Auckland University, as Xavier Goldie is saddled with the weight of it all.

Next is Jeanette Fitzsimons doing what she does best - convincing one voter at a time, but always...

...because she has one eye on the future!

This campaign has been a lot of fun, and there's only one more day to go - and it will be a very busy day. So make it a Green day, and show your support. Because with record highs in the polls (9% on TV1 and 3) we can have a much more Green Parliament for the next three years. But most important is that you turn up and vote! If you can't get to a polling booth on Saturday, vote tomorrow at an advance polling booth and forget about it. And if you can, check out www.voteparty.co.nz to find out how to celebrate democracy in NZ.

The change we need is Green!

Freakin' sweet!

2008-10-28T23:26:00.003+13:00

A brilliant website has emerged out of the Green Party campaign, and I must resist using it too much. It is voteforus.co.nz and allows you to create your own billboard. The image I chose was the closest one of myself to the image our star girl Aila, but unfortunately at the old age of 19 I don't quite have to appeal of a child anymore. I'm glad they didn't choose this design.

Incidentally, that's me in the Amazon, with the Rio Negro behind me. So not quite a kiwi background either, but one that is definitely under threat, and one that we definitely need to protect with the help of the Greens.

Party in Hamilton

2008-10-28T22:14:00.005+13:00

On Saturday night I was lucky enough to be in Hamilton where a gig was organised to promote the Green Party. All I had to do was help set up a bit, and speak. The bar, called Altitude, sure was pimped out in Green paraphernalia and although it started off quiet, by the end of the night it was teaming with dancing bodies wearing "I only date boys/girls who vote Green" stickers. Nice.

Above is one of the musical performances of the night. She was pretty damn good I must say. Big thanks to her, the DJs, the local organisers and the bar for a good night out.

What I'm up to tomorrow in a formal sorta way

2008-10-24T13:30:00.002+13:00

Youngest Greens to young workers: you CAN take a paid break to vote

Media Advisory 24 October 2008

The Green Party’s youngest candidates are teaming up this Saturday to tell young workers that they CAN take the most important break of their lives.

Zachary Dorner (Pakaranga) and Gareth Hughes (Ohariu) are visiting Hamilton to mobilise young people to vote on November 8.

On a tour through the CBD, they will be visiting young Saturday workers in food outlets, shops and cinemas to tell them that they have a right to take a paid break to go and vote, if they have to work on Election Day. The young Green duo will be at the Ward Street crossing, outside the Village Cinemas and Centreplace, in Hamilton, at 11:30am for about half an hour, before walking through to the Southend.

“It’s vitally important young people who work Saturdays know they are entitled to time off work on November 8, so they can have their say. Educating young workers about this little-known fact may boost the tragically low youth-voter turnout,” says Zachary Dorner, the Party’s youngest candidate at just 19.

“With the global financial crisis and the need for urgent action on climate change, this election is critical. This is especially true for young people, who will have to face the future consequences of how these challenges are handled,” says Gareth Hughes, who at No. 11 on the Green Party List, could make it into Parliament if enough young people Party Vote Green.

“The Green Party has a good range of quality young candidates, because we believe the Greens are the Party for the future, and for young people.”

All workers are entitled to be released no later than 3pm for the rest of the day if they have to work on November 8, if they have not had a reasonable chance to vote before they started their shift. If they have to work after 3pm for essential work, their employer must give them two hours paid leave to vote at a reasonable time earlier in the day.

Dorner and Hughes will be then speaking on Saturday evening at the start of the Greens' Party at Altitude at 8pm.

What: Young Green candidates Zachary Dorner and Gareth Hughes touring youth workplaces to inform young workers of their rights
When: THIS Saturday 25 October, from 11:30am
Where: Meet at Ward Street crossing, outside Village Cinemas and Centreplace in Hamilton
For further information contact: Zachary Dorner 027 374 5144

Getting stuck in with the big shots

2008-10-21T15:58:00.003+13:00

Here's the profiles of the candidates in Pakuranga that I am running against (though of course only running for the Party Vote). My first of two debates against them is on Labour Day, though I'm sure by the end of it it will be more of a Green Day. It will have a Christian focus, but should be fun.

This one's for the workers

2008-10-21T15:08:00.003+13:00

Another weekend's wizzed by, and now it's only two and a half weeks to go! This weekend I spent with fellow young candidates Gareth Hughes and Xavier Goldie. It included handing out fliers, trying to get the media's attention and another pub crawl. The above picture is some hard working women wearing our "I only date boys who vote Green" stickers and serving sausages to the hungry partying masses on Saturday night.

On Saturday we, with the help of another Young Green (and tireless campaigner called Alexis - he always hands out way more fliers than anyone else!) went around downtown Auckland. Our main focus was, as pictured above, handing out our leaflets aimed at young people, and especially Saturday workers (with Gareth on the left). We wanted to inform them of their right to paid time off work on election day to vote if they don't have another reasonable chance. No one knew this fact that we came across, and they were grateful to find out. More info at here if you or someone you know is in that boat. Don't let anything stop you from voting!

That night we did the pub crawl. Although we were few in numbers we had a good time and got a very good response from everyone. It's a great way to campaign.

The next couple of days consisted of more leafleting and trying to bait the media (with some small results, but no big fish).

The next few days I am catching up on some work, then next weekend the Young Candidates are hitting Hamiltron! After that the last two weeks will be the final hard push. So stop watching the American elections (what a bore, a forgone conclusion) and get involved in what is by no means a done deal. The Greens have shown yet again that we are the only fully-honest Party in Parliament, so we will see how that plays out.

And remember, every vote counts.

Pimp my bike

2008-10-16T18:03:00.003+13:00

Today the Auckland Greens on Campus, complete with two young candidates showed cycling, though currently dangerous, can be awesome. Courtesy of some spray paint, plus a collection of cool accessories, we pimped bikes. The above was one of our beautiful creations, though the owner did the spray painting himself. Ah, the beauty of cheap bikes and the willingness to decorate that goes with them.

In this photo is myself, fellow young Candidate for Te Atutu Xavier Goldie and committed Young Green Ruby Haazen with some of our beautiful cycle/bumper stickers at our stall table. A lot of such stall attending has been going on the last few weeks, but with exams coming up they will have to take a back step. But never fear, highly ranked young Candidate Gareth Hughes is coming up to Auckland on Saturday for some media events, some more pub crawling, and some more bicycle pimping. Should be a great weekend!

If you're interested in coming on the pub crawl on Saturday night just drop me an email, zachary.dorner@greens.org.nz.

Takin' one for the team

2008-10-16T16:52:00.005+13:00

You may have already seen the (slightly inaccurate) article in todays Herald, but yes, I did dress up as a daredevil to highlight how unsafe cycling in Auckland is. Fellow Green Party Candidate (placed seventh on the list, so a very likely future MP) Kevin Hague joined me on my ride from Newmarket, along with four others.

It was before the launch of the Auckland Transport Strategy the Green Party has put together, putting much more cost effective and sensible options on the table than any other Party to date. It can be seen here. All our MPs and a number of candidates made a Green pilgrimage to Britomart due to the importance of getting Auckland moving to our economy. Each MP used a different non-car method, including walking, cycling, ferry, bus and train, and tenth place candidate David Clendon rode an electric scooter.

An integrated and affordable public transport system, based on three major rapid transport loops around the city, plus much better connections and more frequent services will be money much better spent than on a couple of new roads to nowhere. Plus safe walking and cycling facilities. So let's go Green!

Meanwhile, unfortunately you have to be a daredevil to cycle in Auckland.

PS take this weeks poll about public transport.

The only Party you can live with

2008-10-11T22:06:00.003+13:00

On Friday the Greens on Campus were at it again, setting up a lounge suite (from my flat) so that visiting Green MP Metiria Turei could make herself comfortable, and students comfortable too, with our tertiary policy.

We want to make sure that education is free, like it should be, and that students don't have to be the only section of society forced to borrow to live. That is why we want a Universal Student Living Allowance. Why do I have to currently wait until I'm 24 until my eligibility for a Student Allowance is no longer income tested on my parents income? How condescending and wrong. It's crazy that at a time when we have more money than ever before (minus the current financial crisis and minor recession) education is more expensive than ever before. It should be paid for by the Government. That, plus a better quality of life, is what's needed to keep so many kiwis from flying away from this beautiful country. It is also needed to stop the declining rates of people on low incomes taking up tertiary education, which makes it so much harder for them to break out of the poverty or near poverty trap.

That is why the Green Party is the only Party you can live with.

Financial crisis explained with lines

2008-10-09T10:13:00.003+13:00

Confused about the financial crisis? Never fear, this slideshow is much more authoritative then anything I've seen so far (warning, contains rude words).

Of course this is just a small glitch compared to the problems the global economy is beginning to face due to more and more scarce resources. Could the price of oil have helped to start this financial crisis (even though it was pretty inevitable by the sounds of things)? And, as the Green Party has been saying, we need to use the lowered prices of oil, caused by recessions, as a window of opportunity to invest in sustainable infrastructure, such as better public transport, so that we are insulated from the next, inevitable rise.

It's funny how now that financial markets are plummeting, everyone's forgotten about the record high oil prices earlier this year.

I'm on Alt tonight!

2008-10-08T15:04:00.003+13:00

I'll be on Greencore at 8:00pm either on Sky channel 65 or streaming live on their website. Check yah there.

Yes ladies I am single... But I only date girls who vote Green

2008-10-06T21:33:00.003+13:00

On Friday 26 September the Young Greens of Auckland embarked on one of the most epic and original nights of campaigning this country has ever seen. We went on a pub crawl.

The popular feature of said pub crawl was our "I only date boys/girls who vote Green" stickers, coasters and badges. Yes, that's right, it says "I only date girls who vote Green" not a girl. Hence the above photo...

We had a good team, shown in part above, though some other left early. We had a good reception overall as well, though of course it depended on the venue. A few drinks and people can get quite rude and direct! We went around about 12 or so bars. We our message out, and had some good conversations in the process, in some cases changing perceptions of the Green Party and winning over voters.

So we got our message out, and had a whole bunch of fun doing so. Perfect. Thus, this week's poll is about the effectiveness of innovative campaigning. Do you think it makes more of a difference if it's clever and fun? I believe it made one for the above backsides and their respective partners, if any. They are sporting our "I only date boys who vote Green" stickers.

Keep your eyes peeled for more great Young Green campaigning coming very soon to a place near you!

Meat anyone?

2008-09-29T21:24:00.003+13:00

So, another week and another poll on the beautiful Zackarate Island. But what's this? A gruesome photo? SHOCKNESS!

Yes, the topic we were talking about is related to the killing of innocent animals and no, I am not a raging righteous vegetarian. The poll question was would you consider/do you eat less meat for the environment? The first point I would like to make is less related to the environment, and more to decaptitated cows. I believe that if you can't handle the truth about where meat comes from, then you shouldn't be eating it. That point alone has created many a vegetarian. It also graphically illustrates the fact that city slickers have become quite withdrawn from where there food comes from. Put someone like myself (who has only lived in a city) on a small organic farm on an island in the middle of nowhere with all the food growing that I could need, and, within a year, I would probably starve to death. Thus, even city slickers should be brought up with the knowledge of how to grow food, making us more in touch with our diets, more likely to grow some fantastic home vegies, and thus lead more healthy and sustainable lives.

Back to the poll, when talking about climate change, especially in this country, we happily look at transport and say we can cut emissions here, here and here. The energy and industry sectors come under the same scrutiny, in general terms. But never do we seriously look at agriculture (unless you're in the Green Party of course), writing it off as a necessary evil when it comes to emissions and environmental impact. Of course that's true, to some extent. But the fact of the matter is that we eat too much meat, both from a nutritional point of view and a environmental one.

Simple physical principles come into this whole meat business. According to my year 12 biology text book (so it must be true!) plants take 1/100th of the energy out of the sun that hits their leaves and turn it into biomass (stored energy to make things simple). In turn, herbivores and omnivores eat the plants and take 1/10th of the energy out of them, which they turn into biomass of their own. Omnivores and carnivores can eat this meat and again take 1/10th of the energy from it. So, no matter how you calculate the end result (whether by over-simplifying or not) you need a lot more resources and space to grow 1kg of meat than to grow 1kg of veggies. With veggies you don't need to grow food to feed them, they make their own. Besides that, plants take carbon out of the atmosphere when they grow, animals put it back in. Cows especially produce a lot of methane, which is a gas with roughly 20 to 25 the warming potential of carbon dioxide when talking about climate change.

In an ideal world we would all be vegans (and be happy about this arrangement). But in reality, even if we wanted to, not everyone could become a vegan. Everyone's bodies work differently, and it's about finding the right balance for you. If you can be a healthy vegan, and are happy with that, fantastic, big ups to you. But if not, don't sweat it. It's not worth putting your health on the line for. But in general we eat too much meat. Eating too much animal protein can cause kidney damage, probably among other things. As with everything, moderation is the key.

And as for those nay-sayers who say Greenies are only about less less less in a more more more culture, thus being killjoys who will never win much support, I say SHUT UP! We are all in the same waka, and if we don't start taking sustainability seriously, we will all drown together (though the poor ones on the bottom of the heap will drown first of course). By framing sustainable changes positively, we will do much more to steer ourselves towards sustainability. Who doesn't want to eat more healthy, therefore live more healthily and be happier with more energy? You can count me in.

As for myself, you can put me in the I consciously eat meat less category. Depending on my living situation, I try and eat meat no more than twice a week (including fish). If you don't want to go vegetarian, I suggest you try setting a reduced meat quota. It's amazing how little you notice the lack of meat! And if someone said to me I had to kill the next animal I ate meat from, I would have to. Otherwise I would be a complete hypocrite. But I would be thankful that it gave it's life so that I could be healthy. Such is the circle of life.

(Photo by 10b travelling)

I've been selected!

2008-09-24T23:00:00.003+12:00

Youngest candidate receives Pakuranga electorate for his 19th birthday

Tonight Zachary Dorner officially became the Green Party's candidate for Pakuranga, four days before his 19th birthday. At that age he is easily the youngest candidate in the country out of the established political parties.

On becoming the Green candidate for Pakuranga, Dorner said “I am excited to be able to represent the Green Party in Pakuranga. I am seeking the Party Vote, which is the most important. I want everyone in Pakuranga to know that we in the Green Party have practical solutions in our approach to the big issues of our time. I am positive about the future, creative ideas and a ‘can-do’ approach is abundant in New Zealand."

Although Zachary Dorner's chances of getting into Parliament are slim, the lack of representation for young people in Parliament was a major motivation for standing. Mr Dorner does not rule out a serious attempt at becoming a young Green MP in the future.

“Young people are a glaring omission from the so-called 'House of Representatives.' I want more young people to follow in my footsteps by standing and participating in the democratic process. The Green Party is the only Party that truly represents a youthful perspective at the moment, and I see no sign of that changing.

“In an election supposedly about trust I want people to ask themselves who they really trust. Who do they trust with taking serious action on climate change? Who do they trust to provide New Zealanders with safe, sustainable and healthy food? Who do they trust with their children's future? Their best answer to that question is for them to Party Vote Green on November 8.”

Happy Earth Overshoot Day!

2008-09-23T23:00:00.003+12:00

A day after Car Free Day it's Earth Overshoot Day! This is the day that, according to Global Footprint Network data, we have used all the natural resources that earth will generate this year, and from now on this year we are getting ourselves into natural resource debt. As has been the trend for many decades, we are borrowing more this year than we ever have before, now requiring 1.4 planets for our current consumption rate.

There's many more interesting things for you to read about on the link above, but I will mention this. The first year that we were in debt was 1986, which was one day of overshoot. This year it is about 98 days of overshoot. At 18 I have never lived a day of my life in a year that we used less than the earth provided for us. Given that next year I may have to take out a student loan, and my parents have always been in debt to pay for our housing, monetarily I have also never lived free of debt. Why must our economy run like this? Even though GDP has grown, can we really say quality of life has improved, or do we perhaps need to measure a lot more than just money?

On a related note, an interesting discussion has been happening lately about food and it's impact on the planet. The chairperson for the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has come out and said we need to eat less meat. This has had varying reactions, including people like Ken Livingstone (Mayor of London unfortunately) coming out strongly for the carnivores, advocating, if anything, an increase in the consumption of meat. More on this interesting topic later in the week, but in the meantime you can vote in this week's poll.

Have you decided who you will give your party vote to yet?

2008-09-23T21:58:00.004+12:00

The results of this weeks poll. Obviously not a scientific one... I hope more people vote in my one for this week, as do I hope there will be a good turnout come November 8. But, as I said when I started this blog, internet polls don't show anything statistically sound, unless they have a very high number of voters, in which case they are a general indication only. I use them in this blog to raise issues.

I hope the voters who have decided in this poll are all voting Green... I do have a feeling there is an ACT voter who voted in the poll though but no matter. They are few and far between at the moment luckily.

Real freedom = freedom from cars!

2008-09-23T20:50:00.006+12:00

Yesterday was Car Free day, and it was celebrated by the Green Party in style.

Above you can see what they did in Wellington as they launched the Green Party Transport Policy for the election. After convincing 48 Greenies to drive their cars (no small task) to the waterfront they got a very graphic example of why bussing is so much better for the environment and eases traffic jams so much. One full bus is so much smaller! Especially when you add the space between cars that you get when driving. Of course I would generally put myself in the bicycle crew at the front because it is far more fun, especially in hilly places like Wellington and Auckland (downhill of course is what I'm talking about!).

The Green Party transport policy would see the funness of cycling made much safer and, as I said in my previous post, a funding role reversal. No longer would transport funding be so weighed in favour of dirty cars, but weighed in favour of public transport, cycling and walking. Let's free ourselves from cars and make our cities more liveable!

I'm also very keen on the $1 off-peak travel anywhere for two hours for public transport, and the half price fares for senior citizens, children and, most importantly, students. The poor beggars (of whom I will be one next year) currently have to pay through their teeth and fork out full adult prices! Mental considering how poor they already are.
As for myself, I walked to university in Auckland with three others. We wore visibility vests, had music pumping from a wheelie bin (courtesy of Greenpeace) and spread the word and love, handing out Green Transport Policy leaflets.

Next major car-related day is Free Car Day. Look for ACT and National in particular to be capatilising on that with their transport policies. as free cars will be the only thing that makes driving cars everywhere affordable in the near future.

Let us get across!

2008-09-21T16:41:00.005+12:00

This afternoon I attended a gathering of about 400 or 500 cyclists (from my rough estimate) beneath the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The gathering was in favour of a cycleway and walkway being added to the bridge when maintainence is carried out on the bridge clip ons in the next year or two. It is an excellent opportunity to do this, but is at this stage by no means a closed deal. At the moment you can't walk or cycle over the bridge - which is absolutely crazy. Nor can you scooter. What do people do who don't have a car, or want a more sustainable option (besides bussing)? Estimated cost of the project is between $20 and $40 million, which "chicken feed" compared to the billions that go into other roading projects, as Keith Locke put it.

Above is me and Xavier Goldie, who is another young Green Party Candidate in the Auckland area.

At the event Keith Locke announced parts of the Green Party transport policy for the election. We want to change the ratio of funding from 5 times as much being spent on roading compared with public transport, walking and cycling to a reverse situation where we spend twice as much on public transport compared with roading. That will ensure that we never have to fight another battle to get a very sensible cycleway built. We also will become more sustainable by using the roads we have much more wisely, rather than spending billions on new ones - which never helps ease congestion, it just creates more.

RIding whales before they become extinct

2008-09-21T16:08:00.002+12:00

As I failed to tell you in my last post, the awesome candidate who is now standing for Maungakiekie for the Green Party is Rawiri Paratene, who was in Whale Rider. Like a number of Green candidates (including yours truly), he does not want to become an MP, but is giving his name and time to try and get as many Green MPs in the next Parliament. As he put it: "My message to people is to party vote Green, I say to people `Vote for your kids and your grandchildren – they will thank you for it." So to all of you who do party vote Green, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Auckland!!!!!!

2008-09-20T20:51:00.004+12:00

Yes, that's where I'm at now. I've popped up again in Auckland, land of plenty (of people and stuff). On Thursday I came up here, and that evening I attended the Auckland Campaign launch as an Auckland candidate. Thus, I will now be hanging here for the next seven weeks.

It was a great night at the Safari Lounge in Ponsonby where we proudly announced the 21 candidates in 21 electorates - the first time we've had a candidate in every electorate. My one will be Pakuranga after my official selection evening coming up this week. Apart from the other excellent candidates there's also a very high profile candidate who has leant his good name and time, and will be running in Maungakiekie. So watch out.

Most important of all we have an undeniably strong message, summed up perfectly by our much-praised billboards. Which political party would you most trust with your children's future? I know I'm hedging my bets to ensure maximum Green representation in the Parliament.

I'm gonna be having a good time getting out that message in Auckland, so see you round.

Have you decided who you will give your party vote to yet?

2008-09-16T22:15:00.004+12:00

With newly invigorated blogness happening, time for a new poll - which will now be renewed weekly. I promise.

This one's a simple one. Have you decided who your going to vote for? I know I have...

With all the madness of silly season almost in full swing it's interesting to take a look at how many people decide who to vote for (and sometimes also whether to vote) over what happens during the next 52 days (and counting). And with MMP that can have a huge impact on governing arrangements after the election.

On another similar note, a general whinge about the importance placed on polling data. It becomes an obsession in the media, and leads to what Nicky Hager calls "horse racing politics". It is a week to week commentary about who did what and how that effected their polling (even if it is relatively unreliable data), rather than the analysis we so desperately lack about what each party's policies are and how that will effect the country. But of course an election campaign focused on policy would be too much to ask for...

And, back to the matter at hand, maybe some of you undecideds are waiting for more policies to be announced perhaps?

Sorry! Just hit me on the head like a whack-a-mole

2008-09-15T23:19:00.000+12:00

Monday, 15 September 2008

My dearest blog readers,

Please accept my sincerest apologies. It has now been a month since I last posted which is nothing short of embarrassing. This last month has been an abysmal effort on my part, and for that I am truly sorry. I can only hope that you will forgive me.

In my defense I have been busy and been thinking of you often, even if I haven't been communicating that with you. After the Guelph by-election campaign I traveled to my hometown (named with the very original name London, Ontario, Canada), the city where my dad was born and grew up (Windsor - accross the river from Detroit) then on the train all the way to Quebec (which took a complete day), then to Montreal to see what all the hype was about and then back to Ottawa. This was quite rushed and, just like my last sentence, was done all in one go. In Ottawa I hung with my fan-dam-ly some more and eventually ended up in a place called Shelter Valley for a folk festival by the same name. This was an excellent way to end my big trip, and the festival itself turned out to be a great example of a positive grassroots community doing good stuff, which had developed over the last five years. It was mainly volunteer run and, as a volunteer myself I was thanked many times. That made me feel guilty as I was really just putting in my 12 hours for the free entry, free camping and free food. From there I was on a plane, spent two days in Hollywood (like the start of my trip) and then back to home turf aka Wellington. Since my arrival I've been extremely busy sorting out my life again and helping out the Green Party who are to be a major feature of my life for the next couple of months.

Next I will be disappearing like a whack-a-mole in a few days, only to pop up again somewhere else. But, just like a whack-a-mole, I'm not going to tell you where or when - haha.

But I will promise you this. Things are serious now. The election date has been announced and as a candidate it's going to be exciting and I'm going to be working hard to bring a much greater representation for the Green Vision in Parliament. And during the next couple of months I will keep you up to date as best and often I can. So sorry again, from the bottom of my heart, and talk to you soon.

Love from Zack

I guess Guelph's going Green

2008-08-15T15:56:00.003+12:00

Well, what an inspiring weekend I had last weekend. I went to Guelph in Ontario, Canada to help out with the campaign to elect the Green Party Candidate Mike Nagy there, and what a pleasant surprise I got. It is a by-election campaign, and the Canadian Greens think it's their best shot ever at getting a Green MP elected under their First Past the Post (FPP) electoral system (the poor things). I must admit, I was skeptical about whether they actually had that good a chance before I got there, but now I'm sure they have a damn good one.

Firstly, the campaign has gotten off to the best start ever for a Green Party campaign in Canada. They've already had many volunteers, including about thirty Young Greens the weekend I was there, with four weeks of campaigning remaining. They've had many people getting Mike Nagy signs for their lawns, and a lot of support coming in.

Guelph is a green city anyway, with, most notably, a fantastic farmers market. It is also a university town which, as we all know, means plenty of Green supporters as the Green Party is the Party for young people. In a riding (electorate) in London Ontario (my birthplace), some polling booths at the last Canadian Federal Election in the University there polled as high as 80% Green. Furthermore, Guelph is on track to have the highest amount of Green support ever from Green Party canvasing.

Then there are the stories. Firstly - the campaign office. It is an ex-car rental lot on one of the most busy corners in Guelph, with excellent visibility. All the other major contenders for Guelph contacted the owner about leasing the now empty and awesome place, but the guy wanted Guelph to go Green, so he gave it to Mike Nagy. The other campaign offices were barely visible, so Guelphites know that the Greens are serious contenders. You can see the sweet location above, with it's sweet signs beneath the other sign - the beautiful rainbows on the Saturday night. Now, I've seen many rainbows in my time, but never one as full and vivid as that one, and it's second shadow rainbow. And they are rare in Guelph apparently. It seemed too coincidental to be just a coincidence...

The other thing I was very impressed with was the energy and excitement that was there. It feels like the Canadian Greens have momentum and are on the verge of breaking the deadlock that is created by being in an FPP environment. The best result they've ever had was in the Ontario Provincial Election last year by the awesome Shane Jolley (who I was lucky enough to hang with while in Guelph) who scored 33% of the vote and a disappointingly close second place. This is consistent with the upward trend they've been having in certain areas, and it's about time they break through. Once they get an MP, everything changes. They are no longer seen as unelectable, and their leader Elizabeth May gets to participate in the televised leaders debates in the next Federal Election (ie. shatter the old white guys who lead the other four parties in Parliament).

So from the weekend I was inspired by how the Canadian Greens are doing, and i will take their energy with me back to New Zealand to help with our election campaign. It also serves as a good reminder that New Zealand should never abandon proportional representation. A Party with as much support as the Greens in Canada should have fair representation.

So will Guelph go Green? Time will tell. Do Guelphites ever want me to return to their lovely township? Time will tell. I for one hope they do, because that would be fantastic. Mike Nagy has an excellent chance, and so do the Greens in Canada for their future. It is time.

I will be following the campaign and checking the results after September 8.

A video in which I partially explain myself

2008-08-14T17:15:00.002+12:00

Here is a video from the Youth Campaign Launch that happened in Wellington on August 1. My insiders tell me it was awesome, but of course I knew that as I attended in spirit. It explains partially why I am running this election and I "made" it in my sister's apartment in Mexico (ie recorded the sound and someone way better than me made it look pretty).

Canadian press release

2008-08-08T08:06:00.006+12:00

I released this press release in Ottawa this morning (with some help from the local Greens - thanks). It remains to be seen how interested they are in the story, but I hope it gets out there and convinces some New Zealanders over here to party vote Green.

Eighteen year old New Zealand Green Party candidate hits Canada

6 August 2008

Late last week a young New Zealand Green Party election candidate, Zachary Dorner, arrived in Canada. He is here because of family, but also has a more serious goal.

“With oil prices going through the roof and carbon emissions desperately needing reduction, I want to see as many New Zealanders who can vote in the upcoming national elections use their Party Vote for the Green Party,” said Mr Dorner.

Under New Zealand Electoral Law any New Zealand citizen who has set foot in New Zealand during the last three years, or any permanent resident who has visited New Zealand in the last year is eligible to vote. They can go to elections.org.nz for more info.

As New Zealand has MMP, every Party Vote counts towards the number of seats a party gets in Parliament.“The Green Party in New Zealand has always done well with the overseas vote. In fact, it was the overseas vote that got us over the 5% Party Vote threshold for entering Parliament on our own for the first time in 1999. Furthermore, every citizen of the world has an interest in all Governments taking issues like climate change seriously, no matter where they currently live.”

At just 18 years old Mr Dorner is taking this year off to travel and campaign for the Green Party.“I decided to run in this year's election because I can see that the Green Party is the only political party with positive, practical and principled solutions to the major issues of our time. As a young person these issues are all the more urgent.”

Zachary Dorner will be in Canada until 1 September, and will be back in his home town of Wellington on the5th. He will stay mostly in Ottawa, though plans to do some travel around Canada and help local Greens, including with the Guelph by-election campaign.

The New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has yet to announce the final election date, which must be on a Saturday no later than November 15.

I repeat, I've made it to g.blog!

2008-08-07T17:55:00.005+12:00

The new kid on the block in the blogging world is the awesome g.blog. Rising rapidly in popularity, there is definitely more coming - so watch this space by going to this link: greenvoices.wordpress.com.

G.blog is a blog that any Green Party member can post on, as long as they follow some basic rules, which can be found on the blog itself. A great idea I thought, so I have decided to contribute (mainly highlights from Zackarate Island). Anyway, check it out, and you can view my first post here (the original I've made it to g.blog post).

I guess I'm going to green Guelph!

2008-08-07T16:46:00.008+12:00

So, to update you on what I'm up to in Canada. Going to Guelph evidently. For my first few days in Canada I've been hanging out with family (and some Canadian Young Greens who I met at the Global Greens Congress in Sao Paulo). I still have many more things to do and people to see, but on Friday I'm going to Guelph.

Guelph? you may ask. Yes, Guelph. It is a city in Southern Ontario that is about to go Green. There is a by-election happening there on September 8, and a very strong Green Candidate is running there called Mike Nagy. There is a big push on to get him elected as the first Green Party Parliamentarian in Canada. They have FPP (First Past the Post) you see, so even though they have polled quite high in the past, they still have yet to break through in to Parliament. So, this Friday a bunch of Young Greens are heading that way to help with the campaign. My cousin and I are tagging along. It should be fun, hopefully will help, and maybe I'll be able to get some campaigning ideas well I'm there. So watch this space to see whether Guelph will make and name for itself and go Green.

Should countries be responsible for "exported" emissions?

2008-08-05T06:44:00.002+12:00

33% of China's carbon footprint blamed on exports

19:00 28 July 2008 NewScientist.com

Economists now say that one-third of China's carbon dioxide emissions are pumped into the atmosphere in order to manufacture exported goods – many of them "advanced" electronics goods destined for developed countries. "Export goods emissions" account for 1.7 billion tonnes of China's carbon dioxide. That represents 6% of total global emissions – the equivalent of Germany, France and the UK's combined emissions. A large share of these emissions – up to 25% – has been blamed on China's ever-growing export market, but this has not been quantified until now. Now Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues have shown that the figure is larger still. Weber's team used a standard model of the Chinese economy, produced by the Chinese government. This model, which operates on the same principle as others produced by every national government, reflects how money has flowed in and out of different sectors of the economy since the 1980s. Matching the model to the dataset allowed the team to calculate that, in 2005, export sectors generated 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – 33% of China's emissions.

An interesting study, and the focus of this week's poll. This issue was looked into at the Global Young Greens conference I attended earlier this year.

With huge amounts of products primarily consumed in developed nations now being manufactured in developing nations, this of course equates to an "exporting" of environmental impacts from the developed nations on to the developing nations. Should, in future global agreements on cutting carbon emissions, nations be responsible for emissions created from products they import, and not for products they export? Would this make things too complicated, in a field where it is already impossible to calculate exact carbon emissions? And, of course, the manufacturing nations benefit (to arguable extents) from the manufacturing being based in their countries. Should this be taken into account?

A very complex issue, but give your brains a bit of a stretch and vote in the poll to the right now.

Should you give money to beggars?

2008-08-03T06:45:00.004+12:00

An interesting poll this (last) week. Seems the viewers of my blog were split on this moral issue which has no clear answer.

In my opinion of course you can't give a definitive answer that fits with every case. Of course the best thing you can do to help their situation is give them a way to improve their situation greatly, and I'm no expert in this field. But it obviously varies from situation to situation what that might be - some of them have mental and drug problems, others are just simply poor and don't have a place fit in in this world. So I would say it depends on their situation whether you should give them money or not, but if you want to save your resources for more structured programs than that's not a bad thing - as long as you follow through. It's just difficult to judge when the situation presents itself raw in front of your eyes to know what's best. Unfortunately, especially in the countries I've been visiting, there are far too many people like that. Responsibility to do something has to fall on Governments and communities - but in some countries they have many problems of poverty to deal with.

My previous post discussing this issue is here.

Surfin´ like a pro (pretty much)

2008-08-01T13:20:00.005+12:00

So, it´s all coming to an end - and it went out with a very relaxing bang. Three full days living on the beach, swimming, surfing, reading, walking. It ´twas the life. And now I have just a few hours left in Mexico, as I leave early tomorrow morning to Canada. It will be sad to say good bye to my sister and her boyfriend, but happy to see family in Canada again.

In San Blás, where I´ve been hiding this week, things where sweet. Above is me surfing. Or what it would have looked like - I was too busy surfing to take pictures of myself. It was my first time and I got a 1hr lesson during which I stood up four times - and for much longer than the alleged "good surfers" pictured above. Surfing is good fun, though I think I need to build up some more upper body strength to do it more - and the waters around NZ need to build up heat. But I hope they don´t actually, because that kinda thing screws round with things (heavy carbon dioxide emitters take note).

Above is where I stayed. A little "cabin" shack thing on the beach. It was actually very nice inside, and the roof was impressively waterproof, as I discovered on the third night. That night there was a lot of rain, and thunder and lightening. The thunder went overhead a few times and sounded like a nuclear bomb going off. I wasn´t scared though. Anyway, apparently scenes like the one below are normal in rainy season (which it is currently). Most of the year it´s dry, so they obviously don´t feel the need to put in drainage systems. It was like that all over town. It was also very hot and humid.
San Blás was a nice little town, and it wasn´t high season tourist-wise, so not too many people either. Supposedly San Blás is realitively untouched by tourists, but I would disagree. There are many hotels by the beach, some of which have been abandoned and now are ghostly crumbling wrecks. I guess other places are more touristy than San Blás.

And that wraps up my Mexican adventures. For more on the next and final chapter of my trip, tune in again to your favourite blog Zackarate Island.

Tequila! It makes me happy

2008-07-27T08:02:00.000+12:00

This week´s biggest travel story is that I went to Tequila! It is a little bit north of Guadalajara, and is the place where the popular drink is named after. There´s lots of touristy stuff related to this - including ridiculous looking vehicles to take people on tours, ranging from trains to barrels in shape. I didn´t go on them. What I did do though is take a tour of the first (and still functioning) Jose Cuervo factory, and also go to the Tequila museum where the above photo was taken. So much tequila, and no way of getting at it...

Tequila is produced only in certain regions around the country (by law) where the Blue Agave plant can be cultivated properly. The Blue Agave looks like a cactus, but is really a bulb, in the lily family. After 6 to 12 years of growth it is mature enough to be cut out of the ground and cut up as shown above. All the spikey bits are chopped off, and then the heart is cut in half for the baking. The heart is basically all starch, but once baked it becomes sugary sweet, like sugar cane.

After it becomes sugary sweet like sugar cane it is fermented, then distilled twice. It is then aged, either for a short time in lightly charred oak barrels (no more than a month) to make silver tequila, or up to three or more years in heavily charred oak barrels to make amber stuff, of the kind you would only drink straight.

After the tour of the factory I was (because I paid enough money - not that much though as Mexico is cheap) given a lesson on how the Tequila Masters taste Tequila. So don´t try and pull one over me - I know my stuff now. And I also now have developed a taste for Tequila, which was never there before. Damn capitilist pigs with their tours making me like Tequila.

The rest of the week I´ve been hanging with my sister really, and her boyfriend. That is because tomorrow I head to the beach (called San Blás) for a few days, returning on Thursday and flying to Canada on Friday. So don´t be surprised if you don´t here from me for a week. Tequila sunrise here I come!

Hmmm... toxic gas eh?

2008-07-25T05:03:00.003+12:00

In April I blogged about a protest action against the spraying of Methyl Bromide in Wellington to fumigate logs (and of course, in other places around the country) due to the potentially severe impacts the gas can have on the health of those living around the ports where it is sprayed, and the impacts the gas has on the environment. Well, after protests by the Greens, lead by Sue Kedgley and Steffan Browning, it seems the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) will finally be re-considering its usage - though judging by past decisions it is hard to say whether they will take the environmental and health impacts seriously or not.

After the first stage of the review (approximately 18 months) then you will be able to make your submission about what you think. Meanwhile, whilst they are spraying, I suggest you wear similar apparatus around affected areas - especially close to ports - to that modelled by my model (and childhood teddy bear) above.

The Olympic´s Legacy (Banners)

2008-07-23T13:07:00.003+12:00

Speaking of events in Wellington coming up that I can´t attend (like in my last post), here´s another one. It´s about the Bejing Olympics, which are coming up very very soon, and there will be a lot of noise being made about China´s human right record.

So, in my place please consider attending the SIGN THE OLYMPIC LEGACY BANNERS event, 12pm - 2pm Tuesday 29 July, Manners Mall, Wellington. They will be hand delivered to the Chinese Embassy 3-4pm.

Just reading another recent example of what the oppressive regime in China might try and get up to while the Olympics are on (TV Signal Cut Under Pressure From Chinese Regime - Epoch Times). It will be very interesting to watch what happens, and fingers crossed this focussed campaign on Chinese human rights will help make a positive difference - combatting the net negative effect the Olympics have had on Chinese human rights so far as they try and "clean up" any dissent before the world´s media decends on China in earnest.

Launches, links and Little Bushmen

2008-07-23T10:59:00.010+12:00

Meanwhile, back at the campaigny ranch, some developments in the basework of my online campaign and the youth campaign in general.

Firstly, I am now on the Green Party website, with my candidate bio. So check that out, if you wanna find out a few more details about me and why I´m running as a candidate this election. Also, my Facebook page is getting more and more stuff on it, so check that out too if you haven´t already.

As for the Green Party youth campaign - which I will be heavily involved in upon my return to New Zealand on 5 September - it is about to kick off, and in style. Put August 1 in your diary, as it is the launch of the Young Greens Election Campaign, starting at the Wellington Opera at 6:30pm and then continuing with the Phoenix Foundation and Little Bushmen gig at 8:00pm. The gig side of things is also on Facebook. I wish I could be there, but Mexico´s pretty cool too. Attending will be Young Green and highly ranked awesome candidate Gareth Hughes, and MPs Co-Leader Russel Norman and Metiria Turei.

So with enough links to keep you occupied for a while, I will leave you there. But seriously, the gig should be good - and a may or may not be making some sort of a special appearance maybe perhaps.

The news has broken

2008-07-23T10:52:00.003+12:00

In one of my most recent posts from yesterday the breaking news was that I was going to the beach today. Well, to explain why I´m still posting, and not sitting on the beach: I´m not at the beach. I decided things would work out better if I go on Sunday. So I´m in Guadalajara this week, then off to the beach, and the day I get back is the day before I leave for Canada.

There´s your broken news.

Should you give money to beggars?

2008-07-22T07:49:00.002+12:00

For this week´s poll another issue more focussed on developing nations.

In the last three months I have seen more beggars and street people than I have in my whole life. I must say, I think it was worst in Brazil, where they have serious inequality issues, though Mexico, especially Mexico City (when compared with Guadalajara) has its fair share. So, should you give them money when they hold out their hand in desperation?

Some things to think about. There are many enterprising people in the countries where I´ve been, earning money how they can, given their situation (educationally and so on). There are so many shoe-shiners, food stalls, CD stalls, newspaper stands and people selling things on the metro and busses, all doing what they can to make money. Not an ideal situation, but teach a man to fish... you know how the saying goes. Perhaps money is better spent on good projects, rather than just handing out money to the individual, so that these people can become self-dependant. A tough thing to think about though when you are confronted by those looks - looks you don´t want to have to get used to.

Another thing, from the point of view of a visitor. One example that illustrates this point well is when I was asked for money by a kid in Sao Paulo who looked perfectly clean, healthy and well-fed. Tourists are seen as a way to make money, nothing else, and people in certain areas have been trained to approach them to make money - whether by selling them something or just begging. Again, not a nice situation, and how can you tell whether the person needs the money more than the next?

Furthermore, how can you tell what they are going to spend the money on? A good case example was Salvador in Brazil. There is a horrible problem with crack there from what I heard, and you can definitely see it in the eyes and health of some of the street people. If you just hand them money, are you simply supporting their crack problem? With structured programs at least you can tell what you are putting your money towards. The other option is, of course, giving them food (and watching them eat it, incase they swap that for drugs, which is not unheard of according to Lonely Planet).

Then there is judging it on their situation. In Mexico City I saw a few people holding out drug perscriptions for them or their children which they claimed they couldn´t afford to fill. There are also many old and disabled people who possibly wouldn´t be able to get employment, and if they can´t get a benefit they have no other choice. Compare this to people who look more like they can make money themselves. However, many street people have problems greater than meets the eye - mental problems, drug problems. But of course these people are probably better in some sort of care to help them get better.

So should you give beggars money directly? A head versus heart question, especially when the situation is infront of your eyes. Or should you just save your money and time for trustable programs, and political action, even though you know that they wont reach every individual, and every situation, and wont help the person in front of you right then, and maybe ever. Being one person, where are you best to place your eggs ( if you indeed want to give any away). So have a think, and move your mouse to the right to vote now.

Developing nations and sustainability

2008-07-22T07:15:00.003+12:00

With the latest poll result for this week in, it appears my blog readers who decided to vote agree with my opinion. Yes, everyone does need to play their part in becoming more sustainable. The living world is in a dire state, and as we just continue to produce so much pollution and waste and use up so many resources, things have now reached tipping point. So rich and poor nations alike need to do a lot more, no matter what the state of their population´s living conditions are. Environmental wellbeing and quality of life go hand in hand.

A good example of environmental health and human health from developing nations is a major thing that I didn´t touch on in my last post on the issue. Water quality. Besides the undrinkable tapwater of everywhere I´ve been (which creates extra waste in the form of many plastic drinking bottles), in the Amazon you could clearly see one of the major reasons why the water is so sick. Sewage; raw and untreated. Unfortunately there didn´t seem to be any adequate sewage facilities at all for the people who lived along the Amazon. I saw long drops that were actually a very short drop, straight into the river below. The numbers of people who live along this river can be having no small impact on the health of it, and therefore no small impact on themselves. Perhaps one example of a simple sustainable development for them is composting toilets - dealing with the sewage, and providing the locals with fertiliser for their food crops.

Which brings me to another point in this complex issue. Developed nations, being disproporionately responsible for the pressing current environmental issues such as climate change, have something they can do to help the future of all humanity. Help developing nations develop sustainably by sharing sustainable technology they have developed - which will improve the quality of life for everyone involved.

There are of course many other issues to work through, from liability of developed nations, to the best way to share technology and transform the global economy. The greatest issues of our time, but with care we have the ability to improve the quality of life of everyone and become more sustainble and equal. But the urgency of the situation can not be exaggerated, especially not by scientists who almost unanimously agree it is very urgent. And if we do nothing, who will loose out the most? The poor, of course, especially in poor nations.

Latest photos and breaking news-style update

2008-07-22T06:35:00.005+12:00

Here are some photos of Mexico City. In my last few days there I did some walking and shopping, taking advantage of the cheap Mexican-made clothing available (not sure about the working conditions, but atleast their locally made. I´m hoping the conditions aren´t too bad). Of particular note was the Mueseum of Modern Art. There were two really good exhibitions on - one was an overview of some of their collection of Mexican modern artists, and the other was of a painter called Remedios Varo. Her paintings were enchanting, and I highly recommend you check them out if you are interested in philosphy, dream theory, literature and art. So basically check them out, they´re awesome.

On the Friday night I attended the McCoy Tyner Trio + 1 (Ravi Coultrane) performance I had stayed to see. The venue was really nice - the seats were around tables where drinks and food were served before, during and after the performance. A great place for jazz. And the jazz was good too, of course, what with jazz greats playing it and all. Unfortunately everyone except for Coultrane were old, so the performance was only just over an hour, which was a little disappointing. I was also hoping for some latin-style jazz, but none of that either. Still, it was good to see them play. The audience enjoyed it too (though they obviously also wanted more). The audience was very European - not everyone could afford the 1000 peso (NZ$120) ticket price.

The above photo is of a blessing ceremony in the main square, the Zócalo, in Mexico City.

This is me at Teotihuacán on top of the Pyramid for the Sun, which is taller than the Pyramid for the Moon, behind me. The climb was very steep - stair technology has come a long way in the last few thousand years.

This is a section of the main mural in the National (Presidential) Palace on the Zócalo by Diego Rivera. It depicts a history of Mexico, and in the centre of this photo you can see Rivera´s sometimes wife Frida Kahlo. She is beneath the socialist movement section of the mural, showing that she was an important part of the grass roots of the moment, amongst all the other ordinary people.

This is one of the many benches to be found near the Angel of Independence statue, all very original and different, with varying degrees of comfort for the sitter.

My next movement is probably tomorrow, but as this is breaking news, I don´t have all the details at hand right at this moment. I am heading to the beach, probably a small town called San Blas, and will be there for maybe three full days before coming back to Guadalajara to spend the rest of my days in Mexico (about six by that point). So wish me luck.

That bloody squirrel...

2008-07-17T09:50:00.002+12:00

So back on the road again with my travels, though less travels this time, and more roads. Mexico City from Guadalajara was my last destination and, well, I´m still here. I´ve taken some nice photos too, but they will have to wait a few more days.

My travels here started with my sister and her boyfriend. We left on Thursday night for a Friday morning arrival, and our feet barely touched the ground between then and their departure on Sunday for better(/worse) things ie work.

We arrived, negotiated the packed rush hour metro with oversized bags (by no means feat, which included a few angry locals) and arrived at our hostel. We dropped off our bags, and then were on to it, fitting in as much Mexico City as we could.

Day 1: We started with breakfast, then moved on to nearby and massive Chapultepec Park. Walked a little bit, then continued on down the massive boulevard, past some Paris-esque roundabouts to the Berlin-esque Angel of Independence statue - a stunningly gold topless angel on a big concrete post. From there we Metro-ed to the Zócalo, a Madrid-esque square, surrounded by some old Government buildings, and some old places of worship. These included a tilting cathedral (due to the sinking nature of Mexico City - very common to see them spilling in all directions) and some remains of the city the Spaniards crushed in order to make way for Mexico City. Then onwards on our madness after lunch to Léon Trotsky´s old pad. He was exiled from Russia after being wanted for opposition to the Stálin regime. He eventually ended up in Mexico, working hard on political stuff with people like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and then was assasinated in his own house on the second attempt by some other artists. From there we went to the nearby "Blue House" where Frida Kahlo spent many of her later years. It had many paintings and artifacts of herself and husband Diego Rivera.

Day 2: North, to Teotihuacán, the well preserved ruins of the massive city present during the Mexican classical period. It includes two massive pyramids for the Sun and the Moon, as well as many other fascinating features. I got sunburnt, expecting rain as it is the rainy season. On the way back we dropped by a cathedral for the Virgin Guadalupe (the Mexican version of the Virgin Mary) and saw a 15 year old girl having her birthday celebrated in front of many onlookers. Fifteen is a big age for girls here, and is thus treated. Every year over three days in October about eight million Mexicans drop by the cathedral too as part of some sort of pilgrimage.

Day 3: After a couple of unmentionable incidents the night before (incidentally a Saturday night) I met my sister and co. outside Chapultepec Castle. It is now a museum, but was previously home to Maximillian, some Austro-Hungarian guy who wanted to rule over Mexico. He was suitably removed in due course. Half the museum is for special exhibits - we saw some Buddhist stuff there. Then it was bye times, and I continued my perusement that afternoon, this time of the fascinating and huge Museum of Anthropology, which is nearby-ish.

So I was on my own (except for the friends I had at the hostel where I was staying) in a massive city once more (previously being in Sao Paulo. Both cities are roughly 20 million, give or take a few mil, and ensuring it is known that Mexico City is generally considered larger).

On the Monday I slept in, then took another walk around the Historical Centre, starting again at the Zócalo, but this time taking things more slowly. I went into the Presidential Palace, which is on the Zócalo, and as far as I know houses the Executive Wing of the Mexican Government. There were some amazing Diego Rivera murals on the walls. Then I went into the leaning Cathedral I also mentioned before, and prayed that it didn´t fall and my head, nor on the heads of all those also inside. I then walked some more, and ended up in the Legislative Chamber of the Mexican Government in a different part of town, not completely by accident. At the musuem in the same building I asked if I could see it. Through shaky English they thought I said "sanitários" (toilets) rather than "Senators", so on my way we took a detour to the bathroom. We eventually worked it out, but I am still undecided whether there´s much of a difference. Needless to say one of the rooms was cleaner, but that could be because the Representatives or "Deputies" are on summer holidays at the moment.

Yesterday I did more walking. I walked around the Pink Zone (Zona Rosa), which is a cultured area with many shops and cafés. There is also a Ripley´s Museum of believe-it-or-nots, and a wax museum, but I decided against paying for those. Instead I bought a stack of CDs, to help me nurse my squirrel wounds.

Oh yeah, that bloody squirrel. A few seconds on his part for a wasted morning on mine. Bastard. All I was doing was innocently sitting in Chapultepec Park after lunch (and before my Zona Rosa experience) eating some scrumptious popcorn from one of the literally hundreds of vendors in the park. Then that bloody squirrel came up to me. I had noticed the squirrels before, and how I thought they were unusually brave when it came to approaching humans for food. Indeed, I had observed one not less than half an hour ago eating right out of the palm of someone´s hand. Still, I thought if I ignored that bloody squirrel it would eventually go away. Meanwhile, somehow a crowd of expectant summer-holidaying families had gathered around me, expecting a show I guess of me feeding that bloody squirrel. But I wasn´t going to give in. Then, out of nowhere, from its perch beside me, that bloody squirrel leaped onto my partially-exposed leg, and then off again, as in some futile attempt to get at the scrumptious popcorn (even though I had accidentally dropped some by my feet that it could have easily gone for, had it a brain larger than a nut). And with that, that bloody squirrel left me with some scratch marks, and a morning mission today. After negotiating the mainly Spanish-speaking health system here I am left with a sore arm, but reassurance that I will get neither rabies nor tetanus. Incidentally, squirrels don´t transmit rabies to humans, but nevertheless you should wash any wound for atleast five minutes in soapy water before disinfecting it with some alcohol-based solution. And also, tentanus injections are free, even for foreigners.

Next major stop is an awesome jazz gig this Friday night, which I am very excited about (also in Mexico City, hence why I´m stuck here). It is featuring jazz piano Great McCoy Tyner, and also Ravi Coultrane. Then on Saturday back to Guadalajara, where I will probably go from to a beach town nearby (so to speak) sometime next week.

Hasta luego!

Announcing my candidacy

2008-07-11T06:03:00.004+12:00

The other thing I promised to tell you about in a previous post was how I was keeping myself busy in Guadalajara. Most of the time, hangin´with my sister of course, but the rest of the time I was on the internet, catching up with emails and the state of the world. Although I would have liked to have done this on some big American talkshow, this will have to do for now.

I am announcing that I am running for Parliament in 2008 for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand as a list only candidate.

More to come on this in due course, but in the meantime you can become a supporter of me on Facebook. The page is still in its infancy, but sign up now to become one of my first supporters! Then you can keep up to date with further developments in the 2008 election campaign.

As always I´ll keep you posted, and talk more in future about why I´m running.

My next move

2008-07-11T05:58:00.004+12:00

So I don´t leave you in the dark about my next move, and so you don´t wonder why I´ve had a posting frenzy and then gone quiet I again, here is my next move:

I´m going to Mexico City tonight with my sister and her boyfriend. They are staying their until Sunday afternoon, but I am staying longer. Not sure how much longer, but after Mexico City I will probably travel elsewhere before returning "home" to Guadalajara. Perhaps Guanajuato is on the horizon.

So that´s my next move, and I´ll blog about it in due course my avid readers.

Should developing nations be doing more to become sustainable?

2008-07-11T04:59:00.005+12:00

As promised yesterday, getting back into the issues with a new poll (finally). This weeks is about developing nations.

Over the last two and a half months travelling around Latin America I have seen first hand what some (admittedly overall realitively wealthy) developing nations are like in regards to the environment. Brazil, for example, has a reasonably strong Green Party, and is a world leader in production of ethanol-based "biofuels", or "agrifuels" as the European Greens insist they are called. However, it is also one of the worst offenders in deforestation in the world, behind, only, perhaps, Indonesia (if memory serves me correctly). Although there were signs of an increasing environmental awareness (demonstrated by some advertisements playing up on people´s want to do something for the environment), there were many signs that Brazil was far behind my experiences in New Zealand, which I believe still has a long way to go as well. Plastic was one of the things that pained me most. Plastic bags handed out with everything, even if you were buying a single bottle of water. I learnt pretty quickly how to say "No bag thanks" in Portuguese. I also endured very strange looks from a supermarket bag-packer when I gave her my own reuseable bag (yes, you should take them travelling too). They also use plastic cups for everything, including beer, and piles paper napkins at all but maybe the fanciest restuarants (I´m assuming, as I never went to one that fancy). There were streets that looked like rubbish tips, and especially in busy cities, people handing you fliers at every corner. Furthermore, a city like Sao Paulo had public transport, it seemed, more out of necessity, rather than out of a Government preference for the more sustainable option. Cycling is a bit of a death-wish, and cars always have priority over pedestrians. You often need to be fast to cross the road.

Brazil is similar to Venezuela and Mexico from what I´ve seen. Except cars are bigger in Venezuela and Mexico, presumably because the two countries have lots of oil. Speaking of oil, and turning to other developing nations, the US Government in particular is pointing at countries like India and China for their skyrocketing emissions when nations are debating what to do about lowering emissions. They are also being partially blamed for record-high oil prices due to their increasing thirst.

The argument over consumption of oil though boils down to an important point. Developing nations are still significantly (and very significantly in many cases) poorer than developed nations, and as such have a lot more poverty. Lower incomes = a lesser impact on the environment through less use and wastage of resources. So even if attitudes to the environment are probably overall behind (though not necessarily that far behind) developed nation´s attitudes towards the environment, per capita developed nations still have far less of an impact on the environment than developed nations. Their priorities lie with economic growth far ahead of environmental protection. Shouldn´t they be allowed to develop so they are on par with developed nations, and can the world cope with the increased use of resources? Do developed nations have any liability for the damage already done, and to help distribute resources more fairly?

These are some of the issues in a very complex one. So with the above (and more) in mind, please vote in this weeks poll.

(The photo with this post was taken in the Gran Sabana, Venezuela. It is a national park in which only indigenous people are allowed to live, and was outside a settlement that tourists have to walk through to get to one of the many waterfalls in the areas. It is a sign meant to demonstrate how long it takes different types of rubbish to break down.)

While I´m at it...

2008-07-10T06:13:00.003+12:00

...I thought I might finally continue with the tradition that I started when I started this blog, and get the whole poll thing rollin´. So this is my last poll. It had the longest ever running time of about a month, and, well, the people (15) have spoken. I am loved. And, authentically, the stuff at the bottom of the poll is in Spanish as I am in a Spanish-speaking country. Nice. Next poll up soon.

Travel musings. Yes, I´ve had a lot of time to think lately

2008-07-10T05:23:00.003+12:00

I think, after so long travelling and just recounting my journey, it´s about time for some philosophical musings, if you will.

So it seems I´m anti-tour. I went on the 42 day Rio to Caracas tour two months ago with that mindset, and still appear to have it. Once you have a position it´s sometimes hard to change it. So why do I take this position?

Firstly, I guess, I´ve grown up with romantic ideas of what travelling really should be. Hitchhiking, roughing it on a very tight budget, stretching out of your comfort zone to make you quite a lot more tough and worldly in your outlook. But, because of it all, having great experiences and doing amazing things. Perhaps more like Motorcycle Diaries. Quite far from what I did, and far from the norm of travelling in this age. The world is much smaller now.

Touring is very padded, even on the cheapest and most basic ones like I did. Everingthing is pre-organised for you, so the sense of adventure is diminished. And you can do things for cheaper, but you would end up taking a lot longer going to the places you can on a tour because you´re more or less making it up as you go. Tours give you a lot more security (especially for a young, lonesome traveller as myself), but you can easily end up hangin´with all the whities, rather than adventuring out as much. However, that can happen anyway I suppose, at a hostel. But at least your not stuck with the same people if you don´t want to be or don´t like them. Then again, it´s up to you what you do, and I made some great friends on my tour. I found, though, that tours seem more based on going to the destinations, doing the best activities and quickly moving on. This can get tiring and old after a while.

And now, to step back further. Travel. What´s that all about. Seeing amazing new things, meeting new people, getting to know new cultures. Excellent times, and very addictive. Also, in these busy times, taking a break to recharge one´s batteries.

At the start of my tour I started reading Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder (and highly recommend it). But it put me to shame. It is a real life account of a doctor called Paul Farmer who has devoted his life to curing patients in very poor countries, and trying to stop the inequalities that make countries like Haiti (his true home) so poor, when the US is so grossly wealthy. It made me resolve that future travel I want to do with more purpose. I like to have concrete reasons for going to places. These range from helping local people to going to Global Green congresses, to seeing family. So I guess on this current trip I´ve had the latter two purposes, among others.

But that leads into the fact that travel is very resource intensive by it´s nature. Carbon emissions are a big one, even if you do a lot of land based travel whilst at your destination. (Incidentally I looked into travelling by cargo ship, which produces far far less carbon emissions, from Canada to NZ on my way back, and it turns out it is much more expensive than flying, even though/because it takes like a month). Other things range from food-related waste if you eat out a lot, and room cleaning if you´re shifting hotels a lot. It depends how you travel. It´s also a very difficult balance to strike between helping local communities with your business, and ruining their local environment with your waste and travel, even if it is unintentional. It´s important to remember, especially as a New Zealander, that you have a magnificent backyard, and an excellent way to clense the soul is to use that backyard sustainably. It is far better for the environment, and get´s you closer in touch with what you loose out on living in the city (ie. go tramping!).

So, before this gets too long, I will sum up this mish-mash of thoughts. Not many people have the money to travel internationally, and there aren´t enough resources in this world to sustain the current style of travel. So if you´re lucky enough to do it, enjoy it as I am, but don´t forget the true cost, and be conscious of trying to travel as lightly as possible. Also learn from it, use it to develop your worldview. There are many other reasons to travel, other than just to see things and do activities, you just have to find them, and judge their merits for yourself.

I´m having a great time and learning about what developing nations are like. New Zealand is still very much my home, but maybe next time I travel I´ll be doing it very differently.

(The picture with this post was taken between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches in Rio de Janeiro. Although it looks like it´s raining in the background, it was a very sunny day. That´s smog).

The last hurrah

2008-07-09T06:07:00.005+12:00

For the last hurrah of the tour I was on (for a total of 42 days in the end) we went to the beach. It was on the Carribean coast, and was very nice. Above is sunset after we arrived on the doorstep of our hotel.

The town we stayed in was called Santa Fe (unrelated its namesake "venue" in Wellington). It was another small finishing village with the familiar story of people from the outside discovering how nice it is, and then tourist numbers gradually growing. The tourist industry is still in its infancy though, with only a few hotels and restuarants. This means it still has the remote charm, and is still very cheap. Our hotel even came with lots of little crabs walking around the rooms.

With the one full day we had there myself and several others went on a snorkelling trip. It was a great day, and only cost about NZ$15 each. Fantastic. It was on a local fisherman´s boat, who seemed to do both snorkelling trips and fishing, though not at the same time.

Firstly we went to the snorkelling spot, which was a shallow reef between two islands. The water was very clear, and there was a rocky outpost with an abandoned building on it. After getting used to the breathing apparatus arrangement I saw colourful fish of all sizes (though not too big), and coral of all shapes. Then, on the way back to the boat I struck it lucky. A little octopus on the sand at the bottom, oozing it´s way along. Even the GAP tour guide (that had accompanied us the whole trip) who was from Venezuela and had done a lot of snorkling in his time had never seen one.

After snorkling we went for some more creature-spotting. We saw some smelling sea birds on a large rock, and then continued to some more open seas. I was distracted watching some birds diving, when there was some "ooohs" and "aaaahs" coming from my fellow passengers. What could possibly be so enchanting? Dolphins! A group of them, some big, some small. They were leaping out of the water and performing syncronised swimming for us. The little ones even made it all the way out of the water. We got pretty close to them several times, and they looked white as they dived underwater. Man dolphins are cool.

After all the excitement we made it to the above beach. The red boat is ours (not the fancy white one). There we had a nice lunch - I had calamari - and then sat away the rest of the day, looking at crabs and iguanas. Then it was back after a great day, and such a damn good price.

The next day we left for our final destination - Caracas. There we had our last supper as a big group (though we had already left two behind at Santa Fe) and attempted unsuccessfully to attend a volleyball game between, ironically, Brazil and Venezuela. Brazil won. The next morning our "dad"/tour guide was gone, and slowly all the others followed. I stayed one more night, with a group of four others (and luckily I managed to change my flight to 30 June as my leaving day to Mexico, otherwise I would have been stuck alone for a couple days. Although my impressions were different, many people said Caracas can be a bit of an "ass crack"; very dangerous at times. Where we went in Caracas there was always a good atmosphere though, but a lack of alcohol outlets - due to the fact we were in town. Just bars and stuff).

So the tour was over, and to my new good friends I said goodbye. It was a damn good experience, and I got to go to many places I otherwise wouldn´t have made it to on my own, with no local knowledge and very very little language. I still don´t like tours however. I felt too isolated from the local culture, as it was so much easier just to hang out in the group. Some of the other things felt too padded too. There are other reasons, but I will go into them in more detail in a future post. Although I will try and avoid tours in future, I had a damn good time and am glad I did it.

That concludes that section of my trip - a little late, but now it is done. I have had a good week in Guadalajara, Mexico hangin´with my sis, and keeping myself busy with other things. But more on those later...

The falling angels and sandalias

2008-07-04T06:13:00.004+12:00

I hope you enjoyed the pretty pictures of my last post – and so I’ve included some more for your viewing pleasure. Above is the “Angel Falls”. It is the highest free-falling waterfall in the world at 976m, with an uninterrupted drop of 807m.

From the last place I blogged about, Ciudad Bolivar, I forked out a pretty decent sized wad of cash to get on a small plane for an hour. Twas quite fun, with beautiful views of rivers, trees and mountains. After a sharply-banked turn we landed safely in Canaima, a small town that seems to be half tourist resort now.

In Canaima airport we were met by our guide – Freddie, though of course he had a real name, which was in his native tongue. It meant something about running with fire. He took us to the lodge in which we weren’t to stay that night, then we were lead to a motorised canoe. (Oh joy. More pain in the backside from hours of hard seats). The five people (including myself) from my tour were joined by an Italian, Brazilian and Columbian couple. We were all there to brave the rain and high prices to see the natural beauty of the area, climaxing with the incredible “Angel Falls”.

At first it wasn’t raining, but the changeable skies of the start of the wet season were looking ominous. Four hours in a canoe. After walking around the rapids, and stopping for lunch and a swim, it started raining pretty much straight away. It rained hard, and barely stopped. My new jacket, for a second time (the first being in the Amazon) was proven to be not so waterproof – though it was a lot of rain. There were many rapids along the way too, which were difficult to navigate, and made us wet anyway. Between the clouds we got peeks of the beauty of the area – massive cliffs with hundreds of waterfalls. And just as we were near our camp, the clouds parted. We saw the side of the “Angel Falls”, and then it was gone again.

We arrived at our “cabin” to discover someone had forgotten to put in walls and decent toilets. This was no matter, but I wouldn’t call it a cabin, unlike he who sold us the tour. We ate like kings and associated important people, and slept in hammocks.

The next morning we awoke with the sun. That’s right, sun. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Down by the water you could see a golden “Angel Falls”, lit up by the sun. After breakfast we climbed to the viewing point, and already they were being hidden intermittently by clouds. It was very beautiful and spiritual to be next to such an awe inspiring sight.

The guide told us how the “discovery” of “Angel Falls” by Jimmie Angel about 80 years ago had ruined things for his people. They have their own name for the Falls, and a legend about how they were formed. They are very important and spiritual for the people in the area.

After the morning of awe (and luck at clouds not ruining our experience) we were back in the ass-wrenching canoe for our downstream travels. Though it seems to be nice when we got up, sure enough it was raining again by the time we were on the river again. Wet for the second time.

We got back near Canaima, and did the other highlight of the trip. We crossed the top of a waterfall so that we could go behind it on the way back. It was pounding next to us, in our hovel in the rocks that allowed us to walk through. Then we were back to the beautiful lagoon, which is fed by a steady diet of waterfall (above), to go back the next day.

And where do the sandalias fit in? Well, day two was a dark day for jandals (or flip flops for those who don’t speak kiwi). Firstly, in a river crossing, one of the fellow tour people lost her jandal. The river fed straight into the main river, and we got into the boat straight afterwards, so the guide got us to have a look for it. It was to no avail, and the others in the boat sang out “sandalia!” to mourn the loss of an old friend. Then, another sandalia deathtrap. The waterfall crossing. I had taken mine off, but the person in front of me left hers on. Just then, a cry for help – another jandal sailing away! Quick witted and heroic, I did the only thing a man could do, and dived for it. Splashing water and manly movements ended in probably one of the greatest rescues this summer, and you wont find this one in cinemas. But after the struggle was over, I turned around, and what should I see, but one of me sandalias sailing down the waterfall. “Noooooooooooooooooo!” I screamed. Somehow I let this one slip out of my fingers, and it was gone. May God have mercy on my sole, and all right-footed jandals.

Disclaimer: The above story about sandalias may have been edited for dramatic effect.

Latest photos!

2008-07-03T04:12:00.004+12:00

After a bit of a gap I'm back in the saddle, and have some photos related to previous posts to share. I am now safely in Guadalajara, Mexico, and in due course I will update you about the last ten days or so. But first:

Above is someone throwing Amozonian locals clothing from the river boat that took us from Belem to Manuas.
A picture of me (because aparently I need to prove I was there) with giant lily pads in the Amazon Jungle, off the Rio Negro.
Rocks in Venezuela's Gran Sabana, with Nipple Mountain and a table top mountain behind.
An incidental frog in Canaima, near Angel Falls.

The big nipple of the Gran Sabana

2008-06-23T01:45:00.003+12:00

A final update to update the updates so that they are currently up to date. Except for the photos, because I forgot to bring the right gear, even though the internet here is fast. Sorry.

We arrived at the border crossing between Brazil and Venezuela sometime around 1pm, checked out of Brazil, and then had to wait till siesta time was over to get into Venezuela. We also put our clocks back half an hour due to a change in January brought in by their "crazy President" Hugo Chavéz.

We checked into the hotel in Santa Elena, ate some edibles, and had a relaxing day. The next day was a full day of sight seeing around the Gran Sabana, which is in a massive national park the size of Belgium. It features rolling hills, and extremely old mountains, that are now table-topped because they have been eroded away. Most of the area is grass land, mixed in with some tropical trees. There are also many many waterfalls. Only indigenous people are allowed to live in the area, in their huts which feature roofs made out of palm leaves. The roofs are waterproof for at least seven years (which is good, considering how much it rains), and take three months to make. We visited some waterfalls, got bitten by possibly some of the most annoying bugs on earth, and marvelled at the table top mountains. There´s also one that looks like a "finger" (but it really looks like an erect nipple to be frank).

The next day, yesterday, was a chilled out day. There was the option of going on another tour with the very nice tour guide we had the day before, to see the gold and diamond mines. You can get diamonds very "cheaply" in Santa Elena - the mines are still very much being used. Around the area is also where the largest diamond in the world was found, at a mere 156 carats. I didn´t go, and just chilled instead, but apparently it was good. There wasn´t much in Santa Elena, but I had a walk around and saw what was in the town. Then last night we got on our final night bus for the trip, on Venezuelan roads. Which, in simple English, means that they have been maintained, and therefore there are no potholes.

One last thing before I tell you about what my future holds. The petrol prices here are mental. I´d heard it was cheap, and that Venezuela was oil rich, but nothing prepared me for the disbelief of seeing something so unbelievable. There were lines about 200m long outside the gas station in Santa Elena, filled with people from Brazil, trying to get some of the limited ration of petrol allowed to be dished out each day. Naïvely I thought that was strange, until I saw the price. About 0.074 Bolìvares per litre for 91 unleaded. That´s about NZ$0.03, and the Venezuelan Bolívar is quite high at the moment. Insane. It´s about the same price to fill up a small tank as it is for one litre in most places at the moment. Lots of people own big cars here.

Now I´m in Cuidade Bolívar, which is our guide´s hometown. From here, those that can afford the unmissable and expensive trip to see the Angel Falls will fly out tomorrow morning for two nights in the jungle beneath the Falls. The Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world, with the water free falling from a height of 976m. It should be spectacular.

In the jungle, the mightily diverse jungle

2008-06-22T04:11:00.009+12:00

Getting back to jungle-mania...

We arrived in Manuas from the Amazon river boat, left our stuff in the hotel where the people who didn´t want to go into the jungle were staying, booked a trip, had breakfast, packed our stuff, emailed loved ones to tell them we were still alive and got into an old car that took us to port again so we could get on a boat to take us to our jungle-destination. All in about two hours. Busy busy, and back onto water after very little time on solid ground.

The boat first took us to where the rivers Rio Negro and Rio Sallamon (I´ll edit the spelling of that one later) mix. Or rather don´t mix. There is a clear line where the black Rio Negro hits the brown water of the other river. Quite strange looking, and it goes for a long way. It´s tanins - like in tea - that make the Rio Negro black, and it really does look black.

From there we continued up the Rio Negro to a souvenir shop, where there were also giant lily pads. They were well over a metre in diameter, and were used by bugs and birds alike as landing pads.

We then continued, stopping at animal abuse point. Three people - two of whom were children - jumped onto the boat to show the tourists their animals from the jungle. It made me very uncomfortable to see people paying them to have their photos taken with animals like that, so needless to say I didn´t participate. They had a baby anaconda, a sad looking sloth, and a baby monkey. The boy carrying the sloth bandied him about like a teddy bear, and the poor thing obviously just wanted to get back into a tree, as they are made to cling. The next worse off was the baby monkey, which was tiny and clinging to the little girl´s arm. He/she needed its mummy! The anaconda was the one I felt least bad about, as there is the possibility that they can be brought up as pets and cared for alright, given the right person. Of course it was impossible to judge whether this was the case, but it could well have suffocated it´s captor if it really wanted to. It was only eight months old, so just a baby, and obviously raised from small by humans. It was still massive though.

After that it was lunch on the boat (more boat food - yay! Though not half shabby this time) and then we made it to our floating log cabin (another night on the water). There we met our guide, and soon were out piranha fishin´.

As the river waters were quite high, we were surrounded by half-submerged trees. We had to go through these many times - difficult, and sometimes painful. Piranha fishing was no exception. The rods were made of sticks, with nylon string tied to the ends. The bait: fresh meat. We got a few bites, but nothing too exciting. It was quickly clear we wouldn´t catch enough for dinner. Our guide finally caught a baby one, but it still had very sharp teeth. We threw it back. I was the next closest to catching one, pulling one up several times. One big one I almost had, but I didn´t lift him far enough out of the water in time. Damn.

That night we went alligator hunting. Alligators, pirranhas, birds, monkeys, snakes, jaguars, panthers, so many plants. You don´t know the true meaning of biodiversity until you´ve been to the Amazon. It was astoundingly beautiful and infinitely fascinating. Anyway, baby allis. Our guide spotted one quickly in his torch light, with the charateristic red eye reflection. He jumped out of the canoe, and was back in five, holding one. It was about 30cm from head to tail. I was the only other one to hold it. Better this time as we weren´t harming it, and releasing it again once we were done. From counting the rings on its tail, Charles (the guide) determined it was 12 months old. It eats mainly insects - poisonous ones. This causes problems if it bites you. It had long been set free by its mother; left to its own devises. All the older, larger alligators aren´t around that area when we was there, so just babies. The one I held will grow to be about three metres. A lot smaller than the largest species, which only grows to eight metres.

The next day we went to a nearby village. We were greeted by a very old woman, who was the mother of pretty much the whole population. She was very nice, but spoke to us in Portuguese and expected us to know what she was saying, no matter how many times we told her otherwise.

The village was small, but full of a huge variety of plants. We saw vegetables growing that we´d never seen before, plus many old favourites like bananas (smaller than us westerners are used to), passionfruit (slightly bigger, and yellow-skinned, used mainly just for juice), avacados (massive - more than twice as big as in NZ, and delicious) and other favourites. We also saw acaí berries, which have only recently become popular all over Brazil. You can only eat the skins, as the rest is seed. The skins are boiled to make various things like ice cream, an acaí mash thing and jam. The seeds are used to make jewlery as they are very hard. Acaí berries supposedly have many health benefits. They are a deep purple, and have quite a distinctive flavour.

That afternoon we went for a paddle through the trees in our canoe. Lots of bugs, and we eventually saw monkeys! All around us, in the trees above. Scurrying around, but obviously quite curious.

In the evening we went to a native dwelling, near the village, to stay the night. There was a mother and father, with most of their nine children, plus some others, like a nephew and a granddaughter. It was a wooden building on stilts next to the water. Very basic. The family obviously had it set up so visitors could stay in hammocks. A bit of a money making venture for them. We couldn´t communicate well unfortunately though, due to the language barrier. They had chickens, dogs and cats. And a pre-emptive rooster.

Next day it was jungle trek day. And what a beautifully overcast day it was. By the time we got to the track, it was raining quite hard. And then we had to paddle up it for about 20 minutes till we reached land. It was hard rain, what with us being in a rainforest and all. Still, it was great to be walking through the Amazon, with someone cutting our path with a machete. Charles, a Native from north of Manuas, had an extensive knowledge of the plants in the jungle. Whilst we have an extensive knowledge of how to operate in our environment of cities and so on, so do Natives know how to operate in their environment. It´s astounding that their isn´t more outside interest in the huge range of plants in the Amazon, with their many uses.

Firstly, he showed us the Amazonian panadol. You make the leaves into tea, which lower fevers and reduce pain. We bit the leaves, and they numbed the tongue. He would just stop at a tree or a vine, recognise it straight away, and show it to us. There was the vine quinine, the cure for malaria (and used in some malaria medications that we´re familiar with too). There were ants that you get to climb on your hands from their nest. You can then squish them, and rub the scent all over your skin. Natural mosquito repellent. You can also make them into tea, which supposedly cures peoples´ vision problems that we generally correct with glasses and contact lenses. There was a vine that you can cut and place on insect bites, which makes them go down. You can also dry it and smoke it to "help relax". There was a tree that produced a smelly resin. When out in the jungle, hunters use it´s inflammability to light fires. They also place it around their campsite in a circle. Its unpleasant smell keeps out everything from insects to jaguars. We saw a rubber tree. The dried line of sap on the outside was far more stretchy than a rubber band. Charles coaxed a couple of tarantulas out of their holes for us to see. They were massive, and not fully grown. Frightening for some. There was a small plant whose roots are extremely toxic. You can kill someone with them, or grind them, put them into water, and kill all the fish. Easy fishing, but now highly illegal. It sucks the oxygen out of the water, so kills everything. There was a diarrhea cure as well as other things he showed us, but I think you get the idea, and I´m having trouble remembering them all. Lots of teas though.

After a freezing and extremely wet boat ride back to the lodge, we got ready to go back to Manuas. The rush was not over. We had to take a speedboat back to get there in time. Then we had an hour and a half to get ready to leave. We had another night bus, that would begin the long and massively potholed journey from Manuas to Santa Elena in Venezuela, where I currently am.

A very busy, and very exciting end to my stay in Brazil. After almost two months there, it was sad to see it go. I´ve learnt a lot about Brazilian culture, a little Portuguese, and had a great time. Bring on Venezuela and it´s confusing Spanish.

Amazonia

2008-06-21T11:12:00.003+12:00

Ah, finally back to civilisation and my beautiful blog. Here´s what I´ve been up to.

A lot.

Firstly, the night bus from Sao Luis to Belém on the mouth of the Amazon. Remember in my last post how I said the duration was dependant on the road conditions? Well, you haven´t seen potholes until you´ve been to Brazil. Potholes, swimming pools, what´s the difference? You certainly notice the difference when you´re on a bus. Anyway, they slowed the crazy driver down, and perhaps should be credited with getting us there alive.

Once we got there it was straight to the port to find out when our boat was leaving. It was a small boat - which, according to our guide, was better than a big one. It still held 150 passengers though, plus a lot of onions and beer. It turned out we had the whole day to explore Belém.

Belém is a mixed bag, like many a place in Brazil. From the private port we were at to the city we drove through slum-like areas that were literally swimming in rubbish and filth (as it was in the water all around them). Then we got to our destination, which was a very upmarket complex where an old part of the main port used to be. Very expensive and nice food. From there we walked through the town, with busy streets, old churches (half done up, half not - one literally half and half) and a market. There were places filled with rubbish, and nice parks. There were so many spices, potions and different foods at the market. We were definitely on the Amazon.

After a brilliant last meal it was on to the NM Nelio Correa, our home for the next six days. It was dark when we left, but exciting. Belém was lit up, as were the many boats that ply the Amazon.

After being told the boats go down the middle of the Amazon, I was pleasantly surprised when we got up the next day. We could see so much, and were so close to the shore. Evidently, when you go up the Amazon, you go up the edges - I think the current is weaker there. There are so many islands breaking it up you never get a sense of how massive it truly is - but you know that it is truly is massive. There were houses with people all over on the first day, and they were all out in their canoes - their main transport. People throw them clothes and other things, as they are very poor and don´t leave their areas much. Some hitch to the boat to sell things like shrimp and the berries Acaí, others hitch a ride. But mostly the children yell and wave - actually signally to get stuff thrown to them. They love riding the boat´s wake.

The atmosphere on the boat was very laid back - loads of time to kill. I didn´t envy those in hammock class, who were the vast majority of people, and they were extremely cramped. I did however feel bad that I was in a cabin, tiny as it was, as I was betraying the true backpacker and Amazonian experience. I didn´t protest however, and it turned out to be a blessing. On the third night I came down with a fever, again, followed by the shits. Luckily though it was the same thing as last time, and I knew what antibiotics to take. Someone had some extras and gave me them (thank you very much!). I was cured within twelve hours of taking them. However I missed our longest port stop in Santarem, the largest city on the way to Manuas (about 250,000). We spent the whole day there, and I spent the whole day in bed.

The Amazon was quite high when we were on it, but it didn´t rain extraordinarily much. There were always many types of clouds in the sky though, and often lightning that you could see at night. It was usually raining hard somewhere. That didn´t stop the perils of navigation in a basic boat though. On the second night, whilst I was on the top deck, we were siting and talking, feeling the boat rock back and forth as we steered through the tricky channels. All of a sudden, the boat rocked wildly from side to side, and a few people started screaming and rushed for the life jackets. Then the engines cut, but the rocking settled. Finally they went back on, and we continued merily on the way. Sandbank.

On the third night I didn´t get much sleep as I had a fever. So inevitably I was awake when it happened again. We had just left another small port, after stopping for about half an hour. We were steering back and forth - slightly more nerve-racking in a cabin after the first sandbank experience, and when you´re wired from lack of sleep. Then, the engines slowed again, as if we were coming into port. I knew something was wrong as we´d just left somewhere. We were still steering, slowing, and then the whole boat came to an abrupt stop like a car. Not a good sign. I was really wired now, and my already fast-beating heart was going crazy. I got my torch, and went outside.

It´s always a good sign when the locals aren´t panicked, and most people were just casually standing on deck bored, and tired I assume. We were definitely well beached though. I stayed out and watched as they attempted to reverse off. I was worried we were stuck for good. After maybe fifteen minutes though, we finally wiggled our way off.

There was lots of napping, some drinking, lots of reading, lots of looking at scenery and reflecting on the way things are. Not much of a party boat, but watching a DVD of people getting injured running from bulls in Spain provided an hour of entertainment for some. Meal time was exciting, but bland by the end, and potentially sickening. A good time to meditate - I very much enjoyed it. Finally we arrived in on the morning after the sixth night. Obviously there were a few delays as we were almost a day later than we expected. From there, for the game, it was straight into the jungle and out of civilisation again that morning for another two nights. Obviously I was very keen.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, but this internet connection is insanely slow. I will post them when I can. I am now in Venezuela as of yesterday - insane after almost two months in Brazil. The tour is coming to a close, but the prospects of Mexico and seeing my big sis again soon are exciting.

I will finish the run down of my time in isolation soon.

Beware of falling sloths

2008-06-10T07:34:00.004+12:00

I am currently in São Luis, killing time before a 12 to 14 hour night bus tonight (depending on road conditions). It will take me to Belém, where I will be straight onto a boat, that will depart sometime during the day. Five nights up the Amazon to the central Amazonian city of Manaus. From there I will complete a two day expedition into the jungle. So you may not hear from me for a while.

In the meantime though, the hotel we stayed in in São Luis has a sloth! Look at her, with her three toes and slow movements. She lives in a tree in the middle of the hotel, and though she's quite high when sleeping (about 20hrs a day), she comes down very close to the third story balcony when feeding.

Yesterday though, she disappeared. Everyone was wondering where she went. A couple of the tour groupies went downstairs, and saw one of the waiters carrying her. She had fallen, near a group of French tourists (I think). She, bruised and battered, managed to get herself back up into a low palm tree. The waiter had to get her down, carry her back up to the third story, and dangle her on the end of a broom to put her back into the tree. Poor thing. Apparently it happens from time to time though, so beware. I imagine she also goes to the toilet from time to time...

São Luis is the only colonial town in Brazil with French roots, so the buildings here are all old and French looking. There is of course the new town, and slums, but where we are it's Frenchy. It's also supposed to be the Reggae capital of Brazil, but I didn't get to hear any sadly. I bought a hammock though, for the Amazon boat and beyond.

Above is where we went in Barreirinhas. Some national park whose name I can't be bothered looking up right now. It's about 30% low bush, and 70% dunes, with lagoons in between every one of them. There are about 20,000 lagoons, and the dunes stretch for about 40km from where we were on the edge of the bush to the sea, and 120km along the coast. It was very beautiful. The water was so blue. The tour guides also do camping trips in the high season, which are amazing apparently, as there are millions of stars which light up the reflecto-sand to the point where you need no lights.

The trip there and back was exciting too. We were on the back of (another) 4wd, which went through many many water crossings on the track to get there. Some were very deep, and in one we very nearly tipped. Luckily though the jesus mudflaps saved us, and we came right.

Barreirinhas was a nice town on a river. There seemed to be perpetual lightning in the distance one night, which was very beautiful, lighting the clouds in flashes. The first night we went to a bar with dancing and music. It was on the waterfront. The next night some went to a "Reggae" party, hold the Reggae. It was just a DJ playing extremely loud Brazilian hits. So no Reggae for me this time either. The best part of that night was going to and from the party on mototaxis - aka motorcycles that you pay very little to ride. A five minute experience of being in a motorcycle gang.

That's all for now - so I hope you don't miss me too much (though the poll indicates otherwise. I'll get round to updating it soon, but let's just let it sit for a little longer).

Tour pics

2008-06-10T07:05:00.005+12:00

I do believe I haven't posted any pictures since I started the tour. I am finally able to, so here are a few.

Firstly, above, is sunset in Salvador. The building you can see is the art deco lift that goes from the old town down to the busy port. It is a steep cliff, which is why Salvador was considered such a militarily strategic asset when it was build in the 17th and 18th centuries, or thereabouts.

In the above picture is the main street in the beach town of Praia de Pipa.

Capoiera on the beach in Forteleza.

Crossing the water by barge with pole power on the way out of Jercoacoara.

The adventures of Nowherenowhereland Pt 1 - Very sick in Jeri

2008-06-06T05:57:00.005+12:00

It's been over a week, so I guess I should update ya'll.

Next stop after my last post was Fortelezza. This involved a bus to a night bus, then a night bus. Fortelezza was a Maimi-esque city, but with a little more prostitution - unfortunately including of the child variety. It was really just a small stop so we could get our transport to the very remote Jericoacoara. The food across the street was delicious for lunch though - massive portions, supposedly for two, but really for four. Then we walked along the beach - full of sewage apparently, but nice to look at. For dinner I just had a side, still recovering from lunch. "Spanish potatos", which turned out to be a bowl of potato chips. A very expensive one too. And then, soon after, the stomach pains started, and that night I was up with a fever and aches. Could it be the Dengue...?

Next day we took a six hour bus to a small town, and from there we got on a big 4wd to go to Jeri. Still feeling unwell, it wasn't as enjoyable as it could've been. We had to drive through remote back roads for about 20 minutes, then along the beach for another 20 to get there. It's a touristy town, surrounded by sand dunes, with unpaved sand streets. It used to just be a fishing village. Now there is horse back riding, dune surfing, the beach... all of which I heard about, from the safety of my airconditioned room. I had a high fever - that was the main thing - and so stayed in all the time and rested, except for short excursions for food. I didn't think I had Dengue, which is a mosquito-borne illness with no vaccine or cure. Most people get over it, but it is really bad when you have it. I decided to take an antibiotic for a gut thing instead. And luckily started to feel better for the onward journey.

Onward it was, and a lot more exciting than the journey in. Small 4wds, which went over the beach, over dunes, and over rivers. This was the most exciting of all - we went on tiny barges - twice. There was a whole system set up to get from Jeri to the next place, including a boy who ran through the water in one part infront of the jeeps to show the driver the shallow part. Oh yeah, that's right, "driver". It just so happened our one decided to get stoned half way through the journey whilst driving. His co-driver assured us though that the weed was "muito bem, very good", thus relieving everyone of their worries.

Next stop was Parnaiba, for two nights. I went to the doctor, and got two blood test which showed I might have Dengue (though they can't actually tell, and it may have been because of the antibiotics). But to be honest I feel better because of the antibiotics methinks, and that's that really. If I had Dengue there's nothing I could do, and I would probably be feeling much worse. So I had my (probable) food poisoning for the trip. No more sickness, knock on wood, ever.

In Parnaiba we went on a boat cruise through a lagoon. We watched the fishmen and the tide go out. There were crabs, mangroves, iguanas and monkeys. And the sand had more consistancies than I thought possible - from condensed milk to concrete. It was very serene and quiet.

From their we took a "crappy public bus" to Tutoiha, a small stop off town, with about two hotels. Most people got smelly rooms with smelly beds, but luckily myself and my roomie got a room in the new part, with new beds. And we only had one frog in the bathroom in the morning. Our group were the only gringos in town, so we got many stares. Gringos don't frequent these poverty-stricken and remote parts of Brazil often. This area is pretty much just run on fishing and some farming.

This morning we left Tutoiha to Barreirinhas, on another 4wd. This time it was four hours, the longest thus far by far. It was literally driving through Nowherenowhereland, passing the odd village, full of piglets and semi-starved cows. It was very bumpy and there were lots of holes with water - which was not unknown to come inside when it was very deep. At least I wasn't crammed outside on the back...

So there's your update. We have about five nights before we get to the mouth of the Amazon, and we are getting to less remote areas now. I've learnt the meaning of being out in the middle of nowhere, but still being close to somewhere. In the Amazon that will all change. I'll try and post before then again, so talk soon.

Beach time beyatch

2008-05-28T03:50:00.002+12:00

Onwards north from Salvador, and the equator is making it's presence more clearly felt.

The night bus to Olinda wasn't half bad actually - for me anyway. I slept like a baby. I can sleep pretty much anywhere if I'm tired, including standing up in line one time.

Anway, Olinda is just north of Recife, a large coastal city. Recife is a bit of a skyscraper-land, but apparently quite cultural once you get to know it. I didn't, so it remains skyscraper-land in my mind.

Olinda is a bit of a town, with more old buildings, like Salvador. There are registered "guides in training", who don't really speak english, but really want to show you around. Well, they really just want to take you to all the churches nearby. They are free (plus a tip of course, so not free at all), but we decided against using them and their enthusiasm. Anyway, by the coast the pace of life is getting more and more laid back. And the humidity and the heat is increasing. I spent the afternoon sitting by the water watching the boats and people fish, whilst drinking beer and eating ridiculously cheap crab - R$2.30 (about NZ$1.80) for a whole one!

The next day we continued our journey to Praia de Pipa, a beach town that is very popular with tourists, as well as holidaying Brazilians, but being the low season it's not too busy. It was about three and a half hours from Olinda, and it is hotter and more humid. It's a village with lots of restaurants and shops, and beaches galore. Beautiful beaches.

The beach nearest is a little rocky, but still really nice, with bathwater pools at low tide. There is a bus that is really cheap and goes to other beaches nearby. I went to dolphin beach yesterday afternoon and had a really nice swim - the water is so warm here. We saw really only one dolphin properly, teasing us with flashes of fins and small splashes. The best time to see them though is in the morning when they feed in groups, so methinks we will be checking them out tomorrow.

This morning I and five others went a little further than dolphin beach to a river that mixes with the sea. We went kayacking in amongst the mangroves and jumping fish, and went swimming - whether we liked it or not. It poured with rain for a bit, but it was just warm enough for it not to matter. And the water for swimming was nice and warm too, with black squishy mud that sucks you in to your knees. And I can also confirm that if you rub it on your face you look like Rambo.

The temperature is quite amazing for this time of year, but being so close to the equator now and all, winter really doesn't exist. According to my own measurements, at the beach yesterday it was 37°C+ in the sun, and 30°C in the shade. At 10am yesterday it was 33°C, with 93% humidity. So it's "pleasantly" warm, and warming up today now that it's no longer raining.

Tomorrow night we move on, to Fortalezza I believe, on another night bus. We stay there only one day, then go to Jeri-something, which is a small fishing village, now being tourist-ised with lots of activities available, such as surf lessons.

Life is hard, but someone has to take one for the team and spend some hard hours in the sun on the beyatch.

Dancing in the street, and other such daily activities

2008-05-24T04:29:00.004+12:00

Forget Rio, Salvador is party central.

Since we last talked, I was in Rio de Janeiro, and had a lovely walk around Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, sipping out of a coconut. Then I joined the GAP tour that I'm now on, and flew to Salvador (and yes, I'm well aware flying is incredibly bad, but it's the first and last flight on this tour).

Salvador is quite amazing. We're staying right in the old part of town, with most buildings and the cobblestone streets dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. It's a port town, and back in the day it was the main hub of colonial Brazil. It's now a UNESCO world heritage site, with bars covering the basement windows of many buildings where they used to keep the slaves. (Sorry I have no pictures as it would be a nightmare to upload them on this connection.) It's surreal, with people going about their day to day lives in this blast from the past. Most places don't look like they've been painted for a while either... Restoration work is ongoing.

The first night here we realised how sweet our hotel is - equiped with a pool and bar, and definitely the most modern- and comfortable-looking building in the whole of this part of town. We also realised that we had a great group of eleven people - all good people, and also a mix. Two couples, four people twenty and below, and the others high-twenties and up. We also have an awesome Venezuelan guide who's done this trip 17 times now, after being a detective, electrical engineer, motocross champion, marine... He also guided John MacBeth (some NZ sports commentator apparently...) around Venezuela for the TV show Intrepid Journeys.

Anyway, that night (Tuesday night - one of the main party nights in Salvador, along with Sunday - some African influenced thing) we had dinner, and then went to the main square and listened to the drumming, and watched the dancing in the street. There was also singing, and lots of stalls selling beers and caiparinhas. Some got into it and danced, meeting a really good local dancer - but more on him later. Some also got money stolen straight out of their hands. Salvador feels dangerous at times, especially at night. There are lots of homeless, and lots of crackheads. It's very sad. And when you travel in groups of white people speaking english, your a huge target for beggars, and people trying to get you to buy things, or trick you into buying things. They put necklaces around your neck as a "gift", then demand you pay them money for it. They also tie things around your wrists for good luck, which are meant to be free, but you have to be very wary of their true motives.

Wednesday day we sat by the pool, then walked around the town - splitting up into various groups. There is a handicraft market, but most things are very similar to a point, and though I've been offered many things, I haven't felt the urge to buy anything yet. There are also lots of jandals for sale - the big brand is called Haviana and the local ones are made in Brazil.

That night we went to an amazing dance show that demonstrated about six different kinds of dances. There were dances about gods, fishing, harvesting and capoeira. The fire dance was amazing, so was the end of harvest one - with knives sparking as they "fought" with each other. But the most impressive was, of course, the capoeira. The guys were better than olympic gymanists, pulling of amazing flips with no protective mats - just as many do on the streets here, but better. Slavador is truly the dance capital of Brazil.

We then went out for nibbles and drinks to celebrate someone's birthday, and during met our dancing friend again. He sells things in the street, and it turns out he lives just a few doors down from our hotel. He offered us dance lessons for the next day. I went. He took us to a place with a view of the amazing harbour at 4pm, and we danced in the street for a good hour and a half or so. Tourists were taking pictures and the locals were laughing, but it was good fun. The sun was setting infront of us (it sets quite early this time of year). I learnt some afro-Brazilian moves, and I reconfirmed that I cannot dance. I got blisters on my feet as I had to be barefoot so sayeth tradition.

That night we went to an amazing restuarant, with local dishes - especially seafood. They make their portions huge here. The dishes are meant to be for two, but three could happily share one. There was more dancing in the street, more drumming, and music in cafes and bars. It's the tourist low-season here, so the people going to these things are mainly locals. Do they ever work?

This morning I tried capoeira - much more physically demanding. It involves kicks and blocks - a form of dance, but also a way of training fighters in disguise. We learnt the basic moves, and I learnt that I have bad coordination and balance, and reconfirmed that I am fit, but extremely inflexible.

In some ways I don't like the idea of being on a "tour" - it would be much better to be more free and true to the traveller's way. But the places you get to go on this type of tour would be hard, if not impossible to do on your own, and the huge advantage of having someone who knows his stuff book everything, and suggest things to do is invaluable. As is making new friends - both local and on the tour. It sounds like the GAP guides are mixed bags, but our one is definitely one of the best, and very experienced.

Tonight we take a night bus - 14 hours, joy! - to Olinda, the shark attack capital of Brazil. It's nice sticking to the coast, and going more and more remote.

PS I hope you NZer are enjoying Budget time!

When in Rio...

2008-05-19T14:30:00.003+12:00

So I've been doing what one has to do when in Rio - and there's lots that fits that description. I visited Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), or Turisto Redentor as it seemed to be today. He watches over Rio, and so I did too. (It was a nice day, but look at the haze. Bloody humans and their cars).
I've also partied in Lapa for two nights - Thursday and Friday. On Friday, after drinking on some plastic tables and chairs outside a couple bars, we went to a really good and old Samba club, with live music. I think it was the first in Rio, and the building atleast was build in 1867.

I also walked around the centre area of the city, Centro, on Saturday. It was very quiet. Most people must just work there, and then stay in their neighbourhoods at week ends, which is understandable. All the shops that you need are nearby, and all the (wealthier) neighbourhoods are very nice. Centro has old buildings dotted in with new. There's a new Cathedral I went inside of that looks like a starwars parliament building from the outside - not too pretty, but inside is very different. Very peaceful, and powerfull, with an extremely high roof and beautiful stained glass.

Above are steps near Lapa, which are paved with tiles from some old artist. One day he just decided that they were his project, and now they are filled with tiles from all over the world - including one of a Tui. He's a bit crazy, apparently, and every picture he personally draws features a pregnant black woman as the main focus. The steps are always a work in progress - he smashes some tiles and replaces them, though he seemed to be taking Saturday off.

Above are the arches of Lapa. They are an old aquaduct that now support the tramline that runs to Santa Teresa, which I visited on my first day (see earlier post).

After visiting Jesus and the neighbourhood below it today, I strolled along Copacabana beach and watched the sun set. A very romantic moment with myself.

Tomorrow I will probably visit the beach again more properly, as I haven't done so yet and it's my last day. I move to a hotel nearby to join the 42 day tour I'm doing, which takes me to Salvador on Tuesday.

Favela

2008-05-18T09:37:00.006+12:00

Yesterday I did a Favela (or slum) tour, with Marcelo Armstrong`s company. He was the pioneer of the Favela tour, but now there are many companies that do it. Marcelo`s tour takes you to the biggest Favela in Rio (and second biggest in the world - with 60,000 inhabitants) Hocinha. It`s above Ipanema beach area. It also goes to a small Favela, with only 3,000 people, called Villa Canoas.
The whole notion of a Favela tour in the first place can seem a little bit wrong. In a friend`s hostel, someone wrote "It`s not a zoo!" on an advertising poster. However, apparently the communities were consulted before they started getting big, and they decided that they wanted the tours. They bring money, and change people`s perceptions. The first stop, for example, had a small market of local artist`s work to sell to tourists. The tour I went on partially funds a "school" - though really it`s a place to go outside of the short school hours to get fed, taken care of and have extra academic help. I certainly learnt a lot more about Favelas and what they`re actually like.

Favelas are a huge part of Rio. They are unusual in that they are scattered through out the city, instead of being on the outskirts (as they seemed to be in Sao Paulo). Some now famous people - such as sports stars - grew up in Favelas. They are also the driver that started Carneval in Rio, and apparently have the best after-parties. There are about 160 in Rio, so a large amount of people live in them.

On the way to Hocinha there was a graphic illustration of the appalling wealth divide. We went past a private school and saw all the cars and their chauffeurs waiting for the students to come out. Then, just around the corner, we hit the main (and only proper) road in Hocinha (shown in the first picture).

It was different from what I imagined. There`s all the problems you hear about - the low standard of living, the fact that organised crime units run the place and that police are actually worse than the drug dealers who keep the law and order and the buildings that are erected out of the materials people could find, with no building codes adhered to, and no meters attached to the web of power lines. (The gangs are only really are violent over drugs, and if there`s a war between them and another gang unit, or the police. The police on the other hand are lowly paid and corrupt, even robbing a bank not long after in opened in Hocinha). But the reality is they are the same as any people - clean, dressed in normal clothes, and going about their daily lives. There were shops, banks, buses, cars and bikes. They just earn a lot less, are less educated, and live in much more crowded conditions (though things are pretty crowded all over Rio, being a big city and all).

The second Favela, Villa Canoas, was a little different. It was sandwiched between wealthy houses and a golf course, again showing the wealth divide and the integrated nature of the Favelas. But it was small, and more like a labarenth. The houses were a few stories high (some piled on top of each other), and the "streets" were only just wide enough to fit two people across. The buildings closed in above, limiting the penetration of natural light. It was very strange, like walking through a dungeon, but with peoples` houses and even shops on either side. A very claustrophobic existence.

Villa Canoas, being so small and manageable, has had some reforms put in place. There are meters for power, street names, and a sewage system (I think). The federal Government is planning to put this kind of infrastructure in all Favelas - which is very ambitious, and will take some time (of course, being run by the Government) if it happens at all. It`s a trade-off - the people will have more regulation, paying for power and probably taxes too, which they don`t now, but then they get important and vital infrastructure in return.

A great experience, I learnt a lot.

Last night in SP, and first day in Rio

2008-05-17T10:52:00.006+12:00

For my last night in São Paulo, a friend told me about what seems to be the premier Jazz bar, called Teta. I went there for dinner with some other friends - more people I met through the Global Young Greens - and there was quiet and live jazz playing. We waited around for who we were there to see, which were a really good Brazilian trio, with a promising, and happy young drummer:
Sorry I don't know any names, but they were good, and fushion-ish.

The next day I had a final lunch with a couple of friends - one Brazilian, one Sri Lankan. The place was a typical (but nicer than usual) self-serve weigh-and-pay Brazilian place. The downstairs area was very novel. You could watch the chefs make pasta and other pastries from scratch, and, if you so pleased, who take a nap on one of the lavish beds after your meal.

That night, after a very smooth bus trip, I arrived in Rio, at my hostel in Copacabana. The next morning, after sleeping in as usual, I discovered my cellphone had gone missing. I HATE loosing things, and that was number three, though easily the most expensive (number one being my Onslow leavers hoodie, and number two my plastic soap holder - very handy, and is being sorely missed). No luck with finding the phone yet, but the delay sorting it out allowed me to be around long enough to get a phone call (to the hostel) from yet another GYG who is still hanging around Brazil. The Green invasion is still not over.
Anyway, that ended me up in Santa Teresa, which is kinda like the Kelburn of Rio (for those of you that know Wellington). Very laid back, old houses (and very old tram), and really close to town. Fancy restaurants and nice shops dotted around too. It's a nice place.

That night I joined with more Aussie Greens, plus some other travellers and a local, to party in Lapa, the night club live music area. The main party nights here are Thursday, Friday and Saturday - so I better start working out how to party tonight. There were parties spilling onto the streets from venues, and a place that sold R$1 (about NZ$0.70, US$0.50) beers in the street. It was a very free, and slightly disorganised feeling. We also got to witness a fight about cocaine near the end of the night. Not pleasant, but it seems violence about drugs here is common, but doesn't cross over to general violence so much, luckily.

'Tis all for now, but there's so much to do in Rio I have lots more to tell.

Pictures! (Finally)

2008-05-17T04:05:00.007+12:00

Good evening all. I finally managed to get some pictures for you - and there will be more to come in future. Though I am now in Rio, here are some retrospective shots that I promised you. Firstly, a shot of a (small) part of São Paulo from some big park which I don't remember the name of. It is looking towards the wealthy area of town, with the main business street, Av. Paulista, at the back. I stayed near there, to the left a bit, for my last week in SP in an area called Jardins.
Some Capoiera entertainment on the first night of Global Greens. It is a dance mixed with a martial art, developed by the African slaves in Brazil.
The powerful New Zealand delegation at the Global Greens.
Some intense thinking and discussion at the Global Young Greens meeting, on the second, more formal day. This is in the basement of a church on Av. Paulista.

And finally, one person from each country at the Global Greens doing a hello, and stading on stage. In this picture there are only about two thirds of the total countries on stage.

So there you have it, some pictures to satisfy your visual cravings. I am in Rio now, staying in Copacabana, but I have to go now, so I will leave it at that. Some more pics and updates to come.

The questions you're dying to ask answered

2008-05-12T10:17:00.003+12:00

How's the weather?

In São Paulo, not as nice as many Global Green attendees were hoping - I mean, it's Brazil, right? Well as far as I'm aware yes, it is Brazil, but Brazil is a big country. So it's been Wellington-ish actually - if you know what I'm talking about. Cool at nights - 10 to 14°C and cool during overcast days - maybe no more than 18 or 19°C at most, with a cool breeze. On sunny days though it's been warm in the sun - low twenties, but feels hotter in the sun. Rio should be quite a bit warmer though. Can't wait.

What's the food like?

Well, there's a lot of places, being such a huge city and all, but mainly it seems to be pizzerias, sushi bars, buffets (with local type food I guess - salads, roasted and grilled meat - very popular) and snack bars, with pastries and the like. They love their fruit and their sugar/sweet things. They also love their meat - a problem for the many Greenie vegos. Often chicken isn't considered a meat, and something as simple as a "cheese sandwich" on the menu can include big slabs of ham in reality. That's the other thing. Loads of cheese - especially melted. You can even buy fried cheese on a stick.

Drinks?

Lots of fruit juices of all varieties, usually freshly squeezed or from a can - which tastes pretty real too. Beer is very popular too, as are spirits. The most popular are made from sugar cane and the bog-standard cocktail is the mighty caparinha. The caparinha is kinda like a metaphor for Brazil itself. Sugar cane-liquor, ice, lots of sugar and lots of lime. It tastes sweet and citrus-y - you can barely taste the alcohol a lot of the time. So though it is tasty and easy to drink, it can go straight to your head.

And btw, what're doing next?

Rio! In the next few days to check it out. I'll probably have about five days there before I start my tour, which will take me first to Salvador on Tuesday, 20.

And what've you been up to?

Not a hell of a lot. I've been recovering from the previous week(s), which left me with a cold and sleep-deprived. So I've been sleeping a lot, walking around, going to parks and museums and getting more confident ordering at restaurants where no one speaks English. I went to university with my friends on Thursday - which was interesting, but I was still very tired and therefore quiet. They have one class a day for three hours in the morning in a high school-style setting. I haven't managed to see them as much as I would've like, but that's life. It's Mother's Day in Brazil today, so it was quiet comparatively. (Happy mother's day mum).

A GYG is coming back from Rio tomorrow, and I should be seeing another local then too. So things should be picking up again, and then I'll be off to Rio! Hopefully my health will be back to normal by then, as I feel the smog hear is delaying a full recovery.

And, PS, hopefully at the next hostel I will be able to post photos and avoid such bland pages full of text, which are a crime against the internet these days.

The Second Global Greens Congress 2008

2008-05-09T12:33:00.004+12:00

After a great warm up with the Global Young Greens meeting (see post below), it was on to the official Global Greens Congress. Set up in 2001 as the first truly global political movement, with a unique philosophy and a common Charter, it was high time these pioneers met again to regroup and strengthen their global movement. The congress was a chance to make connections and networks, share ideas and to come out with something official and concrete to take the Global Greens into the future that so desperately needs them.

Day one, 1 May, started off with talks and discussions sponsored by the Heinrich Boll foundation. It then moved to the official opening ceremony in the evening, featuring a hello from each of the 88 or so countries present, as well as one from Brazilian President "Lula". We also were entertained by a local Capoeira group - with their music and their dance-fighting.

Day 2 started on a more sombre note, with a presentation dedicated to Ingrid Betancourt, who was a Green Presidential candidate in Columbia until she was captured by FARC rebels almost seven years ago. Still in captivity in the jungle, but with failing health, she is a inspiration, and her speech to the 2001 Global Greens Congress in Canberra was replayed. There was also a very moving speech by someone who was only recently released after being captive for four years. He had seen Ingrid, and tried to escape with her. They swam at night down a river for six days until they could no longer, and had to give themselves up again. The rebels chained them to trees day and night as punishment.

After this we got into the swing of the serious business. More discussions on the big issues (sustainability, climate change, biodiversity and so on), workshops to improve the many resolutions we were working on, as well some workshop to share ideas about more specific issues. I went to one to improve our resolution on post-Kyoto negotiations, and also one about online campaigning. The Canadian Greens are apparently a huge success story in this area, getting more votes in the whole history of their Party in one election, with funds and membership numbers increasing many times over. I took notes.

Finally, on the morning of Sunday 4 May, delegates voted on the main resolutions and their amendments. For those who made it, I'm sure it was riveting - but I was confident that New Zealand's sole delegate, Keith Locke, did an excellent job voting for us. They passed the 21 action points for the 21st century - which was an extensive statement on what the Greens want to see happen. The other most notable resolution was a plan to establish, by next year, an International Global Greens Secretariat - probably in Canberra - that would greatly improve the co-ordination of the Global Greens. There's so much information-sharing potential, and it really needs to happen!

Some videos and information about what happened at the Congress seems to be slowly appearing on the Global Greens website.

It was amazing to be mixed with so many different people from so many different countries, who were all united in our philosophy - best summed up with the word "Green". We want to see a fairer and more sustainable world - not just out of love for people and the world around us, but also out of necessity. There were the European Greens, who have representation not only in many of their countries, but also internationally, in the European Union Parliament. This contrasted with the Green Parties of Africa, many of whom were in their infancy, and struggling daily with the very real and very local issues that are beyond belief to westerners. There were Green Parties from oppressed countries - such as China - and Green people from countries where Green Parties have yet to form. There were Members of Parliament, Local Body Officials, Leaders and people such as myself who can't claim any title really. Their were some indigenous people, people who spoke English, and people who didn't. It was truly inspiring, and a hard-hitting reminder that we need to act now to save all these beautiful people.

Global Young Greens meeting!

2008-05-07T14:19:00.006+12:00

Now for the first informal report about the important meetings.

The Global Young Greens were established in January 2007 with a founding congress in Nairobi, Kenya. We have our own charter, a sweet logo (above) and our own organisational structure. Official congresses are the only body that can make binding decisions, and they are held only once every three years - so the meeting on 29 and 30 April this year was more of an informal sharing of ideas - and contact details.

April 28 saw a lot of the Young Greens arriving in the São Paulo Hostel Downtown - run by the YHA, and near the defacto centre of São Paulo. It was great having everyone in the same place - and I knew straight away that I struck lucky with my roomie. We met a few of our new friends, had a few drinks, then slept off the jetlag.

The first day of planned activities was 29 April, and we got a room in some local Government building. We did introductions with those who were there - and quickly found out how many Taiwanese had come (over 20). There were people from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and other places - but this was only the first group. There were more to arrive for the second day, and unfortunately not many Africans were there as they were having important African Greens meetings - though there were a couple represented. And of course we had lots of brilliant Brazilians showing us where to go. This day was really just workshops - sharing ideas, facts and thoughts on things such as Carbon Trading, deforestation, indigenous rights and so on. I took notes if anyone's interested.

That night about six foreigners, and like all the young Brazillians went to Bar Brahma, for dancing to live music and drinking.

Next day saw us move to the basement of some old church building on Ave Paulista (photos are ready to put up when I'm able). This day had more people and was more formal. We even got to start wearing the interpreter headphones, which magically translated any foreign languages. We shared what we are doing in our countries, our opinions on certain issues, and then crafted a draft point for the Global Greens 21 actions for the 21st Century about young people. It was a crash-course in consensus decision making (of which I have mental notes that I can share if anyone's interested) and we came up with something pretty good in the end.

After another fast and busy day, we went back to the hostel and then went to a Samba club, which I blogged about in my last post. It was on this day and night that friendships really started to be consolidated - after only about two days. It's so great that people from all over the world can become friends so quickly - and share a similar, but equally diverse view of the world. We were definitely a shining example for the older Greens.

Speaking of which, the next day we started to mingle with them. Some of us were delegates, others merely representatives supporting our delegates (such as myself) or people with other groups. But we always had each other to rely on for friendly conversation, and scheming plans. And to party with. And therefore to be late to the conference with the next day. We even shared a cold amongst most of us!

The Global Young Greens meeting itself wasn't the most organised affair in the world - but given the distances involved in communication, and the fact that it was all free and all organised with voluntary labour, those involved did an amazing job and I'm eternally grateful to them. However, any lack of organisation should be a cry out for those who are interested to get involved in a fledgling but immensely important group. You make amazing friendships, learn a lot, and most importantly can contribute to the change in the climate politics and the global paradigm shift we so desperately need. Just remember that "Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Everyone must play a part." (Thanks Gil Scott Heron for that quote).

I will blog about the Global Greens side of things another day, as it's getting late and I'm hogging the computer.

Impressions of São Paulo

2008-05-07T13:13:00.002+12:00

Ok, I finally have some time again to catch up with sleep, eats, emails and blogging. And what a week it was. I'll make this post about the São Paulo experience so far, and what my future plans are. Then I'll blog about the Global Young Greens, and then the Global Greens and all the amazing people therein.

So, São-freakin'-Paulo. I think I've already articulated that it's quite big. And crowded. However, there's only one place that I know of (besides within one of the many helicopters - the unsustainable transport-method of choice for the rediculously rich) that you can see the whole city from, which is some Empire State Building wannabe. Otherwise you're just looking at another corner, with more cars and people and high-rise buildings. (I'd love to show you some pics, but unfortunately this computer doesn't seem to like my camera. So you'll just have to put up with boring latin characters for now.) Very confusing, even for the locals. The only way you can tell it's really huge is when it takes ages to get somewhere, even though it looks like it should be just down the road on the map. The city is constantly moving, people are constantly getting in each other's way, and beeping at each other. There seems to be no consistancy at crossings other than pedestrians walking out at bad times and car drivers - who seem to have priority - getting pissed off. There a good metro system, an OK bus system, but way too many cars. Some people think in about two years people will drive to work one day and never return because the traffic will be stuck in a standstill for eternity.

The Brazilians in São Paulo are just as much party animals as they probably are in Rio, just maybe they are more subtle about it. There are bars and clubs everywhere, and many of them go well into the morning on any night you feel like dancing. And, just like with most other things here, if you know where to find it, you can find clubs of all shapes and sizes. On the second night of the Global Young Greens (30 April) we went to a traditional Samba Bar which was packed on a week night, with live music starting about midnight, and continuing, I'm sure, well after I left at about 4am. Those who were game enough (not me) ended up being taken to a line-dancing country and western club the next night, which was also packed on a week night. It sounded like it was more Texas than Texas, with people dressed as cowboys and everything. Some unsuspecting Europeans also ended up in a gay bar one night, only realising that it was when they went to the toilet and... well, I'll leave the rest up to your imagination.

There's the Japanese quarters we went to on one of the last nights - which helps make up the largest Japanese population in a city outside of Tokyo. I didn't particularly notice so many Japanese, but everyone here is so mixed race (and therefore beautiful) it really doesn't matter who or where you are. The Brazilian people are so nice and welcoming, but also seem disorganised sometimes from my impressions at the conference. I think, however, that that can be put down to a confusing city and large groups of "intellectual" Greens who never seem conscious of what's going on immediately around. They also have a culture of lateness in a sense - extended lunch breaks, which lead to late dinners and a late start to the partying...

Of course there's a huge problem with the wealth divide - the sky scrapers of the wealthy Ave Paulista, mixed with the beggars, dirty street kids, and people with strange jobs that must not pay much - such as the guy who sat in this lift pressing the buttons, which one of my Canadian friends accidentally led me and two others on to. There are also literally hundreds of thousands of police officers, judging by the numbers that are around. Some look busy, others just standing around. And very few people speak English. This hasn't been to bad a problem so far, but now that I'm more on my own I'm starting to learn the language. Of hand signals.

Anyway, that leads nicely into my current plans - or lack thereof. There's a couple of incrediby awesome locals that seem to have taken me under their wing, which is more than fine with me. I met them at the Global Green congress - they were volunteers, and are both about my age. They go to the local university, studying first-year International Relations. I've moved to a boutique bed-and-breakfast hostel near where they live (pretty much just around the corner from one) which I found through the power of Google. It's in a more wealthy part of town - so I guess a safer one too. It's still not advisable to be out late alone though - although most streets are busy and safe all times of the day. And there's music shops (mainly with shiny guitars) by the buckletload just down the street. They've asked me to come to one of their classes on Thursday, and I'll probably stay the weekend here too. It sucks having had to say goodbye to so many new friends the last couple of days. I want to put off saying goodbye to these two a while longer.

Once I finally do say goodbye, methinks I will just hop on a bus straight to Rio and spend a few days their before my mamoth tour starts on the 19th.

I´m still alive

2008-05-02T13:48:00.000+12:00

Hey friends, family, and people who get here by accident. I am still alive, just very busy - hence the lack of posting. Everything is going well, and the Global Greens Congress is an amazing experience. After just Young Green meetings, the Global Greens congress officially opened today, and so that will keep me occupied for the next few days. I will post properly about the details, and hopefully with some pictures for you after it´s all over and I have time to breathe.

Peace.

The world´s most AMAZING mazes!

2008-04-29T14:13:00.000+12:00

Bom dia from Brazil - São Paulo to be exact. With up to to twenty million people, this is the world´s third biggest maze, and possibly one of the most confusing. It´s crazy. It was built in an ad-hoc fashion, so there´s no logic or land marks to fall back on, and to top it off, almost no one speaks english. Thank god I had some one to pick me up from the airport.

It is late now, and I arrived in the morning. I´ve spent my day taking ages doing everything, including transport, eating, sleeping, and trying to open and close my freakin´bag (which is no easy task). I´ve been for a walk, and what a crazy place. You could be annoymous so easy in this place - especially if you only knew about two people, like me (both of whom I only just met today).

Anyway, more tales of insane amounts of traffic - including foot, motorbike, bicycle, bus, trolly bus and, of course foot - to come. I mean, during the day the population of Wellington is probably within about a one or two kilometre radius of me. Tomorrow I start early, kicking off the Global Young Greens meetings, with plenty of discussion about things that matter, and partying, which matters a lot too. So for the next week it´s all about Green and São Paulo insanity. I´ll keep you posted.

Old polls make Zack a happy boy, even if no one cares enough to vote

2008-04-27T17:54:00.001+12:00

The poll that I put up two weeks ago I never commented on. But then again no one voted.

The question was how happy are you? Something to mull over in your own time perhaps, and you can read about some of my views on happiness in previous posts. But basically it comes down to contentment. To be happy most of the time you need to be content with whatever your circumstances are (which of course can discount certain major traumatic events, but after they happen, you should be able to become content again, after accepting the past). So whether your in Wellington, as you have been most of your life, or your all alone in some random place on the other side of the world, try and be happy with the moment that you have been given. It's simple once you get your head around the idea, it's just in the practice that counts. And I'm relying on that philosphy to get me through the next four months without any major emotional hitches. Good luck Zack. Thanks Zack. So alone.

This weeks poll is, well, a little special. And I will leave it up for longer than a week as I probably wont have time to change it much over the next wee while. And it is a bit of a special poll.

They built this city on rock n' roads

2008-04-27T16:56:00.001+12:00

Good evening all. Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but I was very busy getting ready to go to:

Yeah, that's right, I'm staying in Hollywood. For the night. And then heading on to Brazil tomorrow. I'm sorta on the hillside below the sign at someone's sweet house.

So it is that my big OE trip has commenced.

Prior to my departure, besides not blogging, I was very busy. Workin' full-time, living alone, and getting a lot of man-love (and a little woman-love too, but not so much) saying good bye to everyone - some people prematurely, meaning I said good bye to them several times over a couple of weeks. But that's all over now, and after some stressful packing I was on the plane all to Auckland, and there was nothing more I could do. (By the way, that guy from that band followed me from Wellington all the way to LA, but I can't remember what band. And I don't know that guy's name. I'm pretty sure they're well known around NZ and Australia though! Yeah, that's right.)

But then my worst nightmare struck. Fatigued, but in cramped stuffy conditions on the flight to LA, I decided to read some of my travel guide to both become more informed about Brazilian culture, and also to hopefully be put to sleep. Was I ever misguided in that belief. Just out of interest I decided to flick to the "do before you go" section - specifically the part about Visas. Much to my horror, it said NZers and Canadians (I have dual citizenship) both need Visas!?!?!? Noooooooooo! Because I didn't have one. And I still don't. Those lousy Lonely Planet liers gave me a severe case of in-flight panic, and for nothing. New Zealanders DON'T need a Visa for stays of up to 90 days in Brazil. So thank god, but never trust Lonely Planet. Ever. Even if the guide is up to date to only a few months ago as mine is. The End.

Disclaimer: Lonely Planet offers quality travel guides, with plenty of information in them. I'm sure they try to be as accurate as possible, but inevitably there will be some mistakes. Otherwise I wholeheartedly endorse the guides, unless something bad happens to me on my trip due to the information contained within the aforementioned guide book series. Then I will reconsider my position, and talk to my lawyer. (Jack, I'm counting on you).

The other scary moment was some severe turbulence in the middle of the night, which woke everyone up from their slumber, including "sob lady" who lived roughly two rows back from me and decided to sob and scream the whole time. But I wasn't even scared even.

And so I made it alive to the city of many wide streets - Los Angeles. Beneath the smog it was a beautiful day. After deciding American TV is just as crap as most of NZ TV (that is, because most of NZ TV is American TV), but manages to be crap over hundreds of channels, and after a snooze and a shower, I went for a walk to get me some American Eats, and see the Hollywood.

Above is the Capitol Records building in the evening sun, as I walked over a bunch of names in stars (though didn't really recognise any of them...

And that's the smoggy freeway that runs by Hollywood Boulevard, along with some tall smoggy buildings in the back.

I better sum up for now, but I am enjoying this free internet access - a luxury I will have to live without.

In conclusion, being in LA is like being in an American movie, without any action. And you can smell the air and taste the water, which you don't have to put up with in a Cinema in Wellington. And Fox News is just as unbearable yet strangely addictive.

PS If you still don't know about my trip, or have only just come accross this blog, please refer to this previous post.

Get out and vote!

2008-04-16T23:21:00.003+12:00

C'mon guys, get out and vote. In my poll this week. And in the general elections too - especially you young people who tend not to. It's so important! And it makes a huge difference. But more rants on that another time.

As for my poll, it leads on from my post a few days ago about sustainable happiness. Are you happy? What makes you feel that way? Is it because you have lots of time to socialise and generally hang with cool people? Is it because you work hard, but then have heaps of money to spend on new shiny things? Do you feel crap for the above reasons, or because the above aren't true for you. Are you naturally positive or depressed.

Place votes now!

Do I support the fair trade deal with China?

2008-04-14T20:46:00.002+12:00

Well, what a week. What an overwhelming response to the poll. But it ended up with a 50-50 split between the yes camp, and the no camp (and I know who both of you two are methinks).

Anyhow, I'll just give my opinion now.

No.

The toss up between money and morality is such a despicable one. Do we need the extra money? No. Do the Tibetans and the Chinese people need their freedom? Yes. It's a very simple equation. And, of course, with peak oil and climate change looming we seriously need to reassess our ability to provide for ourselves (including food an clothing) as a very geographically-isolated nation. When will oil prices rise so much that it's more economical to produce clothing in NZ than important the goods from China? It's anyone's guess whether that will even happen or not, let alone when, but it reinforces the issue of sustainability needing to be the bedrock of any economic policy right now. We need to be asking the question - is this deal moving us further towards economic sustainability, or further away? Because if the answer is the latter, then we should not be going down that road. And though I cannot hope to do in depth analysis on the fair trade deal with China, I very much doubt that it is moving us any closer to being sustainable, even taking into account the "environmental" parts of the agreement (which are, in my understanding voluntary and potentially completely undermined by other parts of the deal which may prevent us from increasing our own environmental regulations).

And as for the human rights question: the argument for the deal is that staying in good relations with China is the only way that we can hope to have an impact on their human rights situation. That might be case, given that they are so much larger than us in every way, but since when has entering into a preferential trade deal been the way to keep up relations with a dictatorship? And what parts of the deal, specifically, are engineered to improve the human rights situation in China? Time and time again it is proven that you can justify anything as long as it is not directly morally repugnant on the grounds that it will help the economy. Furthermore, it is scary the types of underground ways the Chinese Government has started to infiltrate other countries in an attempt to silence its critics not only in China, but also abroad - Amnesty have uncovered some examples of these tactics (though you can search for that info yourself because I can't be bothered).

And, interestingly, a vigil outside the Chinese embassy in Fiji lead to the participants being arrested. Fijian government also snuggling up to China? Because, don't forget, we deal with the bad Governments in those two countries in completely opposite ways. One, we stand next to proudly in their country as we join our two economies in holy matrimony. The other we impose trade sanctions on and turn our backs, plug our ears and say "nanananana we're not listening".

Sustainable happiness

2008-04-12T16:07:00.003+12:00

A couple of days ago on Afternoons on National Radio (I only listen to it at work to keep myself from turning into a vegetable) on the Panel one of the people on it (I'm real bad with names) said she was sick of Greenies telling her not to use her spa etcetera. She thinks that environmentalism equals going without, which means going without pleasure. Well, if that's the way many others think too, we're doomed.

So many people equate material things with happiness. I can't have pleasure in my life without my spa. In my opinion that's an extremely narrow view on the world.

The nature of happiness is something that everyone understands because it's so simple and logical, but not many truly apply the philosphy to their lives. Happiness is a state of mind where you are content, if not overjoyed with the way things are right now. I've had a really good day - I haven't done anything special and, indeed, minimising my impact on the environment has been in the back of my mind for everything I've done. I've been alone, and done menial tasks. But it's a nice day and I'm happy to be alive.

If you believe strongly enough that material pleasures equal happiness then you may well be happy, but that attitude will cost us the Earth. However, lots of people fall into the trap that pleasure equals happiness, and thus gradually become less and less satisfied as you want more and more pleasure. Happiness is loving yourself, loving life and loving those around you. It's not letting the small things get to you, but letting the small things make you happy. You can be happy about reaching your measure of success, happy getting there or happy with things just as they are. Happy because you know what it's like to feel really low, and glad you have little reason to feel that way now.

The real reason why the aforementioned anonymous panel person doesn't like environmentalists telling her what to do is because she doesn't like being told what to do. She doesn't like being told that her way of life, which is what she knows and how she lives, is bad. People naturally respond to criticism and being told what to do in a negative way. And major change is often resisted. But it all comes back to what is truly important. Those around us, ourselves, and therefore the environment on which we depend.

Environmentalists don't want everyone dead because people are intrisicly bad for the environment (as she suggested). We just realise that if we're to stick around we need to live sustainably. But if we're ever to get there, we need to look at the positives as we slowly, but surely, move in that direction.

$10 billion? What the hell man, what the hell.

2008-04-11T20:18:00.002+12:00

What a nerve the free-riding generation has. First they get an almost-free education. Then they screw up the planet for us and get rid of our free education. Then they allow housing prices to skyrocket and do nothing, and finally they get to retire for free too. Student loans have now totaled $10 billion! What the hell man, what the hell?

Our economy is larger than ever before, and we are far wealthier than ever before overall. But getting an education is more and more expensive. Why? Eight and a half years of Labour and all they've done is give us measly interest free loans - already late in the game too. If we'd wanted unsustainable economic growth we would've kept National in power.

A couple of shocking facts:

There is a significant reduction of university enrolments from students from poorer backgrounds, down from 15 percent in 2004 to 6 percent in 2007.

Average student debt has risen 54 percent in the period 2004 to 2007 to a disturbing $28,838

(Source: NZUS Income Expenditure Survey 2007, wording from Young Greens $10 billion debt day leaflet)

So the income and education gap is growing between rich and poor, and the mountain to climb to reach a debt-free life for all is growing too. No wonder so many people are moving off-shore. It's like we're forcing them out.

We need free education and a Universal Student Allowance so we can live. Everyone will be richer for it. Education is fundamental to quality of life and advancement of society.

I'm not looking forward to starting my life of debt when I start studying next year.

I'm sorry TV3...

2008-04-09T22:46:00.002+12:00

It would appear I was wrong in my 5 April post about the Methyl Bromide protest when I said TV3 didn't run the news story about it when they sent cameras. They did, I just couldn't find it. However, I'm still mad at the Dom Post. It was a local story to Wellington - where was the freakin' article?

By the way, I'm not one of the people in white suits - I missed out. I'm a blackish blob in the background with a gas mask on. I'm famous!