http://flatwhite.net Ponderings and Banter from New Zealand and abroad... Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:58:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://flatwhite.net/2009/12/namibia-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98god%e2%80%99s-own-country%e2%80%99/ http://flatwhite.net/2009/12/namibia-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98god%e2%80%99s-own-country%e2%80%99/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:33 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=506 ]]> http://flatwhite.net/2009/12/namibia-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98god%e2%80%99s-own-country%e2%80%99/feed/ 2 http://flatwhite.net/2009/10/venture-to-the-interior/ http://flatwhite.net/2009/10/venture-to-the-interior/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:30:59 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=484 There is nothing quite like the silent appearance of a crocodile alongside your makoro to make you realise the totally futile presence of a thin piece of wood lying between you and the jaws of one of the most efficient predators of all time. The yellow eye gazed unblinkingly at me in my seat at the bow of the makoro whilst the tip of its tail beyond the stern of the boat propelled it with consummate ease as our guide paddled frantically for the bank. With a languid indifference our pursuer disappeared below the murky waters to reappear a couple of seconds later with a metre long barbel clasped between its jaws. Bad news for the barbel but good news for us - I retain enough composure to reel off a couple of photographs as the hunter thrashes its prey to death in the water beside me.]]> http://flatwhite.net/2009/10/venture-to-the-interior/feed/ 0 http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/east-of-the-limpopo/ http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/east-of-the-limpopo/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:57:29 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=461 “You want how much?” I ask incredulously. “70 South African Rand for each vehicle that wants to cross.” I am not unused to paying a toll to cross a bridge. It costs about the same to take a car across the Severn Bridge in the UK. Granted this bridge does not have the same amount of traffic but after a brief glance at the structure, neither did it require the same amount of engineering or cost to put it in place.]]> http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/east-of-the-limpopo/feed/ 0 http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/across-south-africa-in-a-%e2%80%98bakkie%e2%80%99/ http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/across-south-africa-in-a-%e2%80%98bakkie%e2%80%99/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:21:09 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=438 Darkness. The ink black sky punctuated by a thousand crystal gems. Silence, I check the time and realise it is too early for the dawn chorus. I slide into the driver’s seat of my Toyota 4WD pickup - or bakkie as they are affectionately known in this country - and take my mother’s pounamu from Aotearoa and hang it from the rear view mirror. We are ready now, her and me, mother and son about to embark on a road trip through a country she loved.]]> http://flatwhite.net/2009/07/across-south-africa-in-a-%e2%80%98bakkie%e2%80%99/feed/ 0 http://flatwhite.net/2009/06/there-was-a-christian-a-muslim-and-an-agnostic%e2%80%a6/ http://flatwhite.net/2009/06/there-was-a-christian-a-muslim-and-an-agnostic%e2%80%a6/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:02:21 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=417 http://flatwhite.net/2009/06/there-was-a-christian-a-muslim-and-an-agnostic%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 http://flatwhite.net/2008/12/surfing-in-samoa/ http://flatwhite.net/2008/12/surfing-in-samoa/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:39:32 +0000 Nick http://flatwhite.net/?p=88 http://flatwhite.net/2008/12/surfing-in-samoa/feed/ 0