Monaco to Haast

Posted by Prof. Brian Stoddart on November 15, 2013 · 6 Comments 

From time to time there comes a point when I realise just how lucky I have been to do and see some wonderful things.

One of those times has just arrived, and struck me on the road between Wanaka and Haast amidst the spectacular scenery of New Zealand’s southern lakes and mountain country. That road is the Haast Pass that connects Central Otago to the West Coast, threading through the Southern Alps to the south of Mount Cook and onto Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, across the Cardrona and into Queenstown. At its western end it goes through some of the world’s great remaining wilderness rain forest, and is a very special place.

It is also hazardous. Currently, the road is closed overnight following a large rock slide several weeks ago, and at that spot, in some tight and towering valleys, narrows to a one lane track perched on the edge of the top of the Haast River. Not far along from there and just a couple of weeks or so before the slip, a young Canadian couple died when another rock fall swept their car into the river that was in full flood.  http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/9250764/Mourners-recall-Canadian-couple     Chance and fate are with us always, and you think about that more as you get older: of all the thousands of tourists who go through the area every year, why was it that pair with so much ahead of them got hit during a trip that was doubtless one of the highlights of their lives?

Just five days before Sandi drove me back to Haast amidst this grandeur, I was in the south of France in Nice enjoying time with our daughters, Kirsten and Laura. An invitation had arrived a month or so before, asking me to moderate one and appear on another panel at the 2013 Peace and Sport Forum to be held in Monte Carlo. http://www.peace-sport.org/en/   That in itself followed the week in Kuala Lumpur that led to my previous blog post.

Monte Carlo is one of the great if odd experiences a traveller might have. The tiny principality now led by His Serene Highness Prince Albert is best known by most for being home to Grace Kelly after she married the previous monarch, Prince Rainier. Home to one of the best known casinos anywhere, itself the site for some of the early Bond movie scenes, much of its wealth comes from being a tax haven. That leads to a paradox. Only a few square kilometres in size and perched on the side of cliff faces, Monaco also hosts a legion of up-market car shops (one hesitates to call them “dealerships). My favourite, perched in among the Porsche, Bentley and Rolls Royce outlets was the McLaren. http://cars.mclaren.com/home.html    Named after one of New Zealand’s best ever racing drivers, Bruce McLaren (Denney Hulme and Jim Richards followed) who also designed the original models, McLaren is one of the ultimate road cars. They are not cheap. http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/car-news/new_car_sales_price_mclaren_mp4_12c   Yet Monaco has no roads, to speak of.

The harbour is the same. It is tiny but crammed with marinas that host the “yachts” of the rich and famous that are really small versions of ocean liners. An entire world industry is fuelled by these vessels with thousands of Kiwis and Aussies finding work or support on board, and many of them end up in Monaco.

As befits such a location, the Forum never ceased to surprise. The opening session, that I moderated, was attended by Price Albert which meant that my opening remarks began with “Your Serene Highness”. That was followed by “Your Royal Highnesses” to honour the presence of several royal princes from the Middle East. Then came “Excellencies” for the host of Ministers in attendance from all over the world. What else could be left but “Distinguished Guests” for those left among the 800 in the audience?

My session members were Young Sam Ma, South Korea’s Ambassador for Public Diplomacy; Stanislas Frossard from the European agency keeping track of constituent’s sports policies (with the wonderful title of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport); Levan Kipiani, Minister for Sport from Georgia who announced that his country would not be boycotting the Sochi Winter Olympics, seen as a highlight of the week; and Memli Krasniqi.  https://twitter.com/MemliKrasniqi    He is the young Minister for Sport in Kosovo who is a graduate of the London School of Economics and, among other things, one of Kosovo’s leading rapper/songwriters.

This was a panel like no other I have handled, and we discussed the idea that sport and politics might be separated as part of using sports policy as a lever to create better social cohesion. That was a theme for the week and, essentially, the clear position is that by definition sport and politics are intertwined where policy is concerned, with a lot of discussion about the effect on policy of short term political regimes

That political theme ran through the week, culminating the final panel in which I participated. It was chaired by James Dorsey, the controversial freelance journalist who is now focused on the political dimension of Middle East football.  http://mideastsoccer.blogspot.co.nz/   The other panellists were Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch who raised the darker sides of the Sochi Games,  http://www.hrw.org/bios/minky-worden    and Professor Margaret Talbot who is a long term researcher on the sports/development paradigm.  http://www.sportanddev.org/en/connect/userprofile.cfm?user=2552    It was a lively and provocative discussion that raised a lot of comment to finish up the week.

At the last minute, though, a Vice-Minister from North Korea gained a visa and was allowed to make a presentation, on the condition that there be no dialogue with South Korea. I last saw Young Sam Ma walking back to the hotel while the North Korean delegate made the presentation. The world of sport is never dull.

The opportunities were endless. At the reception on the first night at the Monaco Opera (where somewhere this season Max Emanuel Cencic, one of my favourite countertenors will appear) I turned around, saw a man alone and went to introduce myself. He turned out to be Zivko Budimir, the President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, so I had thirty minutes discussion with a head of state. https://www.facebook.com/zivko.budimir    Where else but Monaco?

Later that evening I said to someone else that he looked familiar. It was Bernard Lappaset, President of the International Rugby Board who on the Friday left for Paris to watch Les Bleues play the All Blacks. We had about an hour to discuss the relevant skills of both sides, including on a walk back to the hotel. Where else but Monaco?

I thought of him the following Saturday evening as the All Blacks held out against a spirited French side. But he had confessed to being as great fan of AB rugby, so he would have appreciated the display if not the result.

There then followed a weekend of walking around the old town of Nice, and finding some great restaurants, bars and antique shops – luckily, the latter were closed. It is a lovely city. The highlight was dinner at the Ark, a restaurant on Promenade Des Anglais on the waterfront found by Kirsten who spent an afternoon there on the balcony working on a script. Its food and drink were excellent, as was the service when the staff discovered that Laura is a fluent French speaker. That time at the restaurant was a life moment for a host of reasons.

Then, about thirty hours of air travel later and half a world away from Monaco and all that, I am among some of the world’s great scenery, with Sandi and about to eat a locally caught crayfish washed down with a Kiwi sauvignon blanc while looking out on the ocean with the Southern Alps behind.

There are times I am incredibly grateful for the life I am able to lead.

Filed under Haast, levan kipiani, memli krasniqi, monaco, Nice, sport and peace 2013, Uncategorized, Young Sam Ma