“In the past, what had mattered most in any long train journey through an interesting landscape was the motion, the privacy, the solitude, the grandeur.” – Paul Theroux, Gravy Train: A Private Railway Car There’s something about the prefix “trans-,” something about the myriad words it often precedes all carrying that same sense of wonder … Read More

“In whatever part of the world they may be, the first thing British colonists think of is to find a habitation for Justice.”   – Frederick Whitaker, superintendent of the Auckland Province, upon the laying of the foundation stone for the present Auckland Supreme Courthouse in 1865 There’s nothing like a prince to draw a … Read More

As a first-year university student, one of the first courses I enrolled in was PLCP 101, otherwise known as Intro to Comparative Politics. Over the course of the semester, Professor Schoppa took us through a study of countries such as Britain, Canada, Germany, and Japan, looking for what their governments had in common, what they … Read More

The famous cities of the world all have their famous buildings, those landmarks so often reproduced on coffee mugs, keychains, and countless other kitsch. Chicago has the Sears Tower, London has Big Ben, and any image of the Eiffel Tower is without a doubt from Paris. And so coming to Wellington, New Zealand, I was … Read More

You’re Wellington’s bit of rough, Somes Home to countless, do you feel used? A shelter, confinement, protector, Story keeper of those who walked your back Trod your surface, changed your skin Ruffled your hair — Robin Naylor, “Somes,” 1999 Ever since starting work at the restaurant, I watched through the windows of Vercelli’s as crowds … Read More

“I love this city, the hills, the harbour, the wind that blasts through it. I love the life and pulse and activity, and the warm decrepitude… there’s always an edge here that one must walk which is sharp and precarious, requiring vigilance.”  – Patricia Grace, on Wellington When you start a new job, it always … Read More

“How hard it is to escape from places. However carefully one goes they hold you – you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences…little rags and shreds of your very life…” – Katherine Mansfield to Ida Baker, 1922 Katherine Mansfield first came to me on a shelf in the Chelsea Public Library in … Read More

wind (noun): 1: a natural movement of air of any velocity; especially: the earth’s air or the gas surrounding a planet in natural motion horizontally 2a: a destructive force or influence 2b: a force or agency that carries along or influences It was an overcast Saturday afternoon in Wellington, rain imminent, plans to take a … Read More