A lookout of even modest altitude gives you both a sense of perspective about a place. Photo / Roger Viollet, Getty Images
A lookout of even modest altitude gives you both a sense of perspective about a place. Photo / Roger Viollet, Getty Images
Tim Roxborogh on the joys of moaning about your holiday
You've seen one view, you've seen them all
Some people clutch on to truisms so absurd they have no idea there's nothing true about them. Like the time I asked a colleague if they'd be climbing The Mount while theywere staying in Mount Maunganui for a few days. The response sounded like deadpan humour, but they were serious: "I've been up the Eiffel Tower and once you've seen one view, you've seen them all".
Realising they weren't joking, I felt it important to establish just how long ago their conquering of the Eiffel Tower had been. I wanted to comprehend if they'd had a lifetime of views that culminated in a recent view over Paris from the Eiffel Tower of such perfection that it would cause only heartache and longing to see another view again. As such, they'd retired from views and not long ago either. At least that's what I hoped.
"Circa 1975," came the answer. Upon further prodding, the colleague in question — a Kiwi — had never scaled The Mount despite countless visits to the Bay Of Plenty, and yes, Paris in the mid-70s was the last time they'd ever ventured up anything anywhere in the world to check out a view. They were physically fit, claimed to not have a fear of heights and ultimately it boiled down to that very arguable, inarguable fact: "you've seen one view, you've seen them all".
With travel, so much of the joy is in meeting like minds in unlikely places. Likewise, so much of the learning can be the encounters with people who seem so different to you and yet still have some common, unifying threads. And then there are people like Mr One View. A thoroughly decent chap; pleasant even. But this was a mental brick wall for me. There was not one molecule in my being that could understand his point of view, let alone tolerate it.
As in, forget any notion of "each to their own", this was a patently unacceptable standpoint. Fear of heights? Fine. Health or fitness concerns? Okay. But a disinterest in views based on the notion that nothing could beat Paris in the mid-70s, so why bother? I'm forever in search of the next view. I can remember standing on the edge of a waterfall in Kerala in Southern India with an entire forested valley beneath me and knowing it was worth every drop of sweat to get there. Wairere Falls, near Matamata, was similarly thigh-busting and dehydrating, but with that stunning lookout over the plains of Waikato that spanned literally dozens upon dozens of kilometres, again, entirely worth it.
I made a goal to reach the summit of every volcano in Auckland a few years ago and while hardly an achievement of Hillary-like proportions, whether Rangitoto or Mt Eden, or dark horses like Big King or Mt St. John, each view is subtly different and each one rewarding and invigorating in its own way.
From the Rockefeller Building in New York to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur to yes, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and The Mount in Mount Maunganui; whether by foot or elevator, a lookout of even modest altitude gives you both a sense of perspective about a place as well as a sense of achievement. If you've seen one view, you've seen just that: one view.
Are socks and sandals appropriate holiday attire? Photo / Getty Images
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about being in a remote Fijian village and being both a little embarrassed and bemused at someone in my tour group who was ignoring cultural norms by wearing the ol' socks 'n' sandals combo inside a meeting house.
I always love getting feedback and this column was no exception. One reader wrote to me explaining that yes, it may seem equal parts comical and rude, but for those with severe podiatry issues, white socks are both cushioning as well as a deflector of swell-inducing heat. There but for the grace of God go I, so please accept my apologies to all socks 'n' sandals proponents who do so for health issues and not because they're inconsiderate of different cultures. Consider me now educated.
• Tim Roxborogh hosts Newstalk ZB's Weekend Collective and blogs at RoxboroghReport.com.
