"I wonder how, I wonder why
Yesterday, you told me 'bout the blue, blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon tree"
-Lemon Tree, Fools Garden
Have you seen a lemon tree? A full-grown tree with ripe lemons hanging from it? I've never seen a lemon tree before. I only see the citrus fruit in the grocery, a lot of times wrapped in individual plastic packaging. When I woke up early in the morning after my first night in New Zealand, I was shocked to see a tree outside my friend's place bearing awfully familiar yellow fruits.
"Are those lemons?" I asked her. She said yes, and was so nonchalant about it that I was caught off guard. How could she easily dismiss such an enigmatic tree? At least enigmatic to me. I half expected the lemon fruits to be wrapped in plastic already.
I would have stared ignorantly at the lemon tree longer if I didn't have a full day ahead of me. I was attending an international research conference in Rotorua, New Zealand but it wouldn't start for another day. I decided to join the pre-conference activities in the hopes of meeting some of the participants before the conference.
Despite it being summer, New Zealand was gloomy and dark that day. Shades of gray colored the morning sky instead of blue. My friend drove me to the Government Gardens, and I saw that the streets were practically empty. There was a school nearby but we saw no students. I've heard of how peaceful and calm New Zealand is but I didn't imagine deserted yet manicured sidewalks.
My friend told me that it was a Holiday, Waitangi Day, an extremely important and historical day in Aotearoa or New Zealand. It was the day when the indigenous tribes and the Europeans signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty meant different things between the two sides. It had two versions, one in English and another in te reo Māori (Maori language). But it wasn't a translation, the two versions contained different things. These differences in the treaty have been the cause of decades of conflict between the two sides.
But I wasn't thinking about the conflict during that day. I was anxious about my activities, the people I would meet, and my clothes. I was going to an Adventure Park in the morning, the celebration of Waitangi Day in the afternoon, and a Maori Cultural Tour in the evening. I hoped I would meet fellow Filipinos at the conference. I prayed the weather wouldn't be too cold for my single layer of clothing and my pair of shorts.
The meeting place for my first activity was in the Government Gardens. It's the center of Rotorua. I've seen countless pictures and videos of it, and I couldn't wait to see it for myself.
The center of attention in the garden was the Rotorua Museum. I felt like I was in Elizabethan Europe while looking at it. Unfortunately, it was still closed due to some repairs needed after being damaged by an earthquake. It was still relatively early when we got there so no tourists were around.
The park was so huge and so beautiful. I wished I had the time to walk every path and see every flower and tree in it. On one side of the park was the famous bathhouse. Rotorua has a lot of geothermal activity, which means having hot pools and spas. The grass in the park was perfect. They were meticulously maintained because people played croquet in them. Tourists weren't even allowed to step on the grass. And the flowers! I can't even describe my joy in seeing them. My mother is crazy about ornamental plants and I was channeling her persona in appreciating the vibrant and colorful flowers around the Government Gardens.
It was difficult to accept that such beautiful flowers were blooming on the day that I was there. They looked like they were plastic plants put on the ground. I had to touch and slightly pinch them to check if they were real. There was a rose garden and it was filled with different species of colors showing their different colors and sizes.
My friend told me that we should check out the lake before my bus arrived to bring me to my first activity of the day. We went back to her car and she drove for a few minutes before reading a small pier. She said she does not normally go to that place before it's where gangs hang out. Rotorua and many parts of New Zealand are plagued by biker gangs that threaten the safety of the people. The police aren't doing a lot about it from what I've heard. It also didn't help that so many homeless people were brought to Rotorua during the pandemic. Anyway, we were safe because there was no one else there but us and a lot of birds.
I walked near the edge of the lake and saw waves lapping against the paved road. Was it high tide? My friend told that it's always like that. She took a couple of snaps of me before we savored the lake. My friend and I have known each other for a long time. We were classmates during grade school and we met again after choosing the same college program. She decided to pursue her dreams of living in New Zealand, and there she was living the dream. But dreams don't last forever, she told me about the downsides of living alone in a foreign land. She felt lonely a lot of times. I was glad I got to shed some of her loneliness during my short time there.
I was trying so hard not to show it, but I was extremely cold with what I was wearing. I hoped the weather would be warmer later in the day because I didn't bring a jacket with me. It was nearing the call time for the bus, so we went back to the Government Gardens.
After waiting for a few minutes, no bus arrived and I started to worry. We went inside the venue of the conference and some organizers were there. I asked about the bus to the adventure park, and one of them told me that only one person decided to join the activity in the morning. I was disappointed to hear it. She told me that she would just book an Uber for me.
My friend looked at me and asked if was going to be okay alone. I told her I was going to be fine and I was going to enjoy myself. My only worry was my clothes.
That's it for now! I'll share with you in my next blog the time I had at Skyline Rotorua where I went on several adventures all by myself. It's good to be able to post more often here in Hive. The semester has recently ended and I get to claim some time for blogging.
See you next time. Cheers!
