Frimpong in New Zealand - by Graeme Arlidge

Pictures by GRAEME ARLIDGE

~~~~~~~~ Here I am! I have just arrived to this place called Hamilton, New Zealand… It’s really New Zealand, boy, this country is in the middle of nowhere…I hoped to find at least a hobbit waiting for me, but this guy who welcomed me at the Post Office (this is another sad story, I had asked clearly to travel by plane, and I expected to have a business class seat, not to be folded like origami and to be put in a small cardboard box!), well his feet were far too small to be a hobbit’s and all the rest looked nothing like any character from “The Lord of the Rings”. We are all conditioned by stereotyped images in our imagined expectations. I was told that all the scenery of “The Lord of the Rings” is in what they call South Island, while I was sent here, to the North Island. Anyway I’m still a little groggy and dizzy after such a long and frankly uncomfortable trip, but I’ll do my best to be your reliable reporter and to describe you what I see.

I cannot get used to living upside down!	Much better now!!!!!	In the B.& B. lounge	Looking for honey
Jaguar and Bear	Frimpong in the middle of nowhere	Frimpong and cows	Frimpong and street sign
"Bear with beer"	Frimpong and the redoubt	Frimpong in Pirongia	Frimpong at Waikato University
Frimpong on the banks of the Waikato River	Frimpong and two Kiwi ladies	Frimpong with Lyla	Frimpong and the rules of croquet
Frimpong in Te Aroha	Frimpong in Te Aroha	Leaving to a new destination...