The Kiwis on Coronado : Crew Families Adjust to Life Without Vegemite

“The enemy has arrived,” declared TV anchorwoman Denise Yamada as the giant New Zealand yacht challenging for the America’s Cup was unloaded in San Pedro. But a trip to Camp Kiwi at Coronado’s Oakwood Apartments reveals nothing more dangerous than laughing tow-headed children and exasperated mothers surveying toy-strewn apartments.

Apartments, it seems, are just one adjustment the New Zealand families used to homes on quarter-acre lots have had to make as they prepare for the most controversial America’s Cup match ever, now slated for Sept. 7. Independence Day parades, nuclear weapons, cars, driving habits, fears of Vegemite shortages, American politics and aggressive females are just a few oddities they’ve encountered.

With only about three weeks’ notice, the crew, support staff and many families packed up and left their homes for San Diego earlier this year. Houses had to be rented out, pets sent to live with relatives and finances arranged. They were told to expect a five-month stay, but court battles and controversies cast a cloud over Camp Kiwi.

Wives, families and crew members spent the first half of their time in San Diego wondering when they would be able to go home. With no firm date set and the match waiting for a decision from New York Supreme Court Judge Carmen Ciparick, the New Zealanders wondered if they would return in September or if their stay might be extended until next spring.

Those who had rented their homes may not have been able to move back if the judge had decided to delay the race. Others were renting homes back in New Zealand and ran the risk of being moved out if they had not returned in time.

And, of course, the hassles of trying to run two households half a world apart were only compounded by the uncertainty. “We left everything in the hands of our lawyer,” said a smiling Maxine Colman, wife of the challenger’s media relations director. “We gave him authority. We stored our furniture, left our cat with a lovely old person, kicked our son out and sent him flatting because he couldn’t afford what we wanted for rent. Of course, the lawyer has probably sold our house and we’re in liquidation.” Colman’s joke isn’t far off. Prospective buyers have offered to buy their home in New Zealand. Crew members and their wives and families are naturally disappointed at having to race the Stars & Stripes catamaran, but there is a palpable sense of relief now that they know a race will take place Sept. 7.

6-Day Work Week

Once the families were settled into Camp Kiwi, the crew and support staff found themselves working practically from dawn to dusk, six days a week. The schedule has only gotten tougher since the judge made her decision. New equipment has been put on the boat and the crew is working feverishly to put the yacht into the best tune possible. Sure that they possess the moral high ground, they seem determined to make the best showing they can against the Stars & Stripes catamaran saying they will race “to the very best of our sporting ability.”

That fever pitch has left the wives, girlfriends and children to amuse themselves. The New Zealand women see supporting their husbands and boyfriends as their main role.

“The guys reckon that we’re here to sort of keep a bit of sanity in their lives,” said Susie Lester, whose husband is the team’s technician. “After working for 14 hours, Peter can come back and even if the place is in a shambles and the kids are tired, it’s a little bit of a normal life.”

New Zealand has only recently begun to accept mothers in the workplace and although Miriam Rea works as a nurse in Auckland and Maxine Colman operates heavy earthmoving equipment, they left their jobs to come with the challenge.

“A lot of people have given up a lot to be over here,” said Rea. “It’s great to be in someplace new, but it can be hard. But if you want to be with your man, you come.”

Familiar Itinerary

So the women with children spend their days helping each other, watching the children swim and planning group ventures into the larger world. The itinerary sounds familiar: Sea World, Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo. What else have they planned? “You know,” they shout in unison, “we’ve got children. Where do you think we’d be heading? Disneyland!” The only attraction that may not be in their grasp is a trip to New York to see “Phantom of the Opera.” It seems the music and the show’s star are hits in Auckland.

Of course, there is also American television to amuse the children. The 12 channels brought in by cable represent a stunning change from the two national channels in New Zealand. The children have said goodby to sheep dog trials and hello to “Double Dare.”

American TV has also afforded the adults a glimpse of the American presidential election process. However, they confess to being dumbfounded by its intricacies.

Girl Scouts have provided Roewen Colman with a chance to meet American girls and sample more of American culture. She has attended Girl Scout meetings and a cookout where she was introduced to that perennial Girl Scout favorite, S’mores (Graham crackers with melted marshmallows and chocolate bars).

But it’s not all play for the Kiwi kids. It’s winter in New Zealand and the school-age children are missing school by being in San Diego. The mothers are determined to minimize the educational setback; school-age children were enrolled in summer school in Coronado. Young Emma Blackman, who turned 5 on June 7, experienced her first formal education by spending a month at the Coronado City Schools. She studied art, math, language and puppets. “We’ve got an awful lot of puppets around the house now,” said a laughing Jo Blackman. Now that summer school has ended, some of the children will continue with “K-class,” informal lessons taught by Debbie Hanrahan, an Australian teacher and girlfriend of a crew member.

In all, there are close to 100 New Zealanders, including families, associated with the challenge. And while their rambunctious children occasionally get a stare in normally sedate Coronado, the Kiwis laud San Diego hospitality.

The acrimony surrounding Michael Fay’s challenge and Sail America’s controversial defense doesn’t seem to have affected the Kiwis’ welcome. Rod Davis, the native San Diegan serving as Fay’s sailing master, “reckons we’re getting a much friendlier and warmer welcome here than Dennis Conner would have had in Auckland,” reported his wife, Liz, a native New Zealander.

Part of Parade

The city of Coronado even managed to wrap up the New Zealanders in that most American of traditions, a Fourth of July parade. According to Andy Szymanski, president of Coronado’s Fourth of July Committee, the invitation to the New Zealanders was the idea of the City Council. To be fair, the committee also invited the Stars & Stripes team. At first, the committee thought the teams’ participation would be casual and voluntary, but the teams soon mounted a friendly rivalry to see which could outdo the other.

“It started out with four or five people as an optional thing, “ recalls Szymanski. “Then the day of the parade, Stars & Stripes had about sixty people and the New Zealanders had about forty.”

A Maori warrior, Wi Haereito from Waitomo, (who is actually a teacher living in Las Vegas) led the Kiwi charge up Orange Avenue swinging a traditional war stick called a Taiaha and issuing the Wero, an aggressive Maori challenge. A crew member in an oversized Kiwi--a flightless bird suit--perspired his way up the parade route and was followed by other team members riding in convertible limousines.

Show of Sportsmanship

In a show of sportsmanship, the Stars & Stripes team stopped at the end of the parade and cheered the Kiwis, as did the spectators lining the route. Flags from both countries were exchanged like Olympic pins. “We were very pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome we got from the crowd, “ said Graeme Colman.

According to Szymanski, the Kiwis themselves seemed impressed with the celebration of America’s birthday. “They wished everybody congratulations on our independence,” he said.

The New Zealanders have not been free from criticism, but they seem able to give as good as they get.

“The chap that was in charge of the souvenir shop in Julian asked where we were from,” recalled Rosalyn Tucker, a quick-witted blonde who laughs easily. “He said: ‘Oh, isn’t it shameful that Michael’s spending all that money on the boat when he could be feeding all Africa?’ I said I thought it was better than spending it all on nuclear bombs.”

Indeed, nuclear weapons and American military might have taken some getting used to. The large keel on the New Zealand yacht has attracted radio emissions sent out from the underground markers used by U.S. submarines. These transmissions have occasionally fouled the sophisticated electronics aboard the huge boat.

Nuclear Weapons Disconcerting

With only three ships in the New Zealand navy and the country declared a nuclear-free zone last year, the Kiwis have found the constant presence of nuclear weapons at the naval bases disconcerting. Susie Lester describes them as “freaky” and the sailors themselves were shocked to see a nuclear-powered sub pass by on the K-boat’s initial sail.

“They watched the sub come up the harbor at half speed so they figured it wasn’t hostile,” Maxine Colman says with a laugh.

But their most serious encounters with the American way have been medical. Early in their stay, Roewen Colman suffered an early-morning epileptic seizure. After a dash to Sharp Hospital in a cab and emergency tests, she was released.

“We had fabulous service and I was totally impressed,” Maxine said.

Bill Was a Shock

But the $450 bill for services and medication was a shock. New Zealand, one of the first modern welfare states, gives comprehensive medical coverage. It also has the tax rates to go with it.

One New Zealander has even donated blood. Barbara Wilkins, who has a very rare blood type, quickly responded to blood bank pleas she heard on the news.

Of course, the New Zealanders have fears about America. They seem surprised that American policemen really do wear guns. Colman was initiated quickly when she landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

“There was this guy toting guns and we walked out the entrance where all of a sudden there were these limos and flashy cars. A blue-rinse, gray-haired lady with tremendous butterfly-wing glasses was in one. I thought, ‘Welcome to America.’ ”

Child Safety Concerns

The women with small children were especially concerned about child safety. They had been told to be extra careful because of the high rate of child kidnapings in the United States. Frequent junk-mail flyers advertising missing children have heightened fears.

Naturally, the food here took some getting used to. The New Zealanders find American ice cream excellent, but don’t like our bread. The wives were pleasantly surprised to discover that almost anything, even “good Kiwi tomatillos” were readily available from the Alpha Beta across the street from their apartments.

The main surprise was the size of the American servings.

“The servings are so much bigger than we would ever see,” Rosalyn Tucker said. “We go out as a family and now, after several weeks we have learned to order three meals between the five of us. We put Rob on cleanup, so he just eats what everybody else has left.”

Hot Dogs Disappointing

Hot dogs proved to be the only junk food disappointment. Hanrahan, a softball afficionado, found her way to a Padre game.

“The sausages really weren’t very good there,” she said, adding that she was disappointed in their lack of spices. Once the differences between hot dogs and sausages were explained, she seemed to accept the lowly dog for what it is.

One of their biggest worries was the availability of Vegemite, the apparently addictive yeast goo that New Zealanders and Australians slather onto morning toast. Happily, the Coronado Alpha Beta was found to carry the small jars and a Camp Kiwi crisis was abated.

The local liquor store has been busily supplying the Kiwis with their home brew, Steinlager. The owner’s sales have jumped from “about a case a week” to “sold out.”

Mexican Food Familiar

Thanks to a successful Mexican cafe in Auckland, Mexican food is familiar to the adults. The children, however, are another story. At a recent barbecue, Emma Blackman, pressed to chew her first steamed tortilla, adopted a worried look. “No mummy, this bread’s stale,” she said, begging for relief.

Mexican food vocabulary has also been a problem. Nine-year-old Roewen Colman, describing a Mexican chicken dish, tells of a “red, tomatoey, chili-ish sort of sauce in a bowl.” The concoction is known to locals on both sides of the border as salsa .

Wives, girlfriends and female workers with the challenge have all taken advantage of low American prices. High interest rates, import tariffs and inflation have raised prices considerably in New Zealand.

“For a plain sweat shirt in New Zealand you can pay up to $80 (the equivalent of $53 American),” laments Susie Lester. “I went down to the tourist spot near the landing and saw one for $24 and a lady said, ‘Don’t buy it here, it’s too expensive.’ ”

“I go to a shop and see something for $2 and it’s just so cheap I have to buy,” says Jo Blackman. “Doesn’t matter what it is!”

Local Malls Popular

The local malls have also been popular. Hanrahan tried Mission Valley Center where, she said, she delighted in having “lost myself in there for about three or four hours.”

Transportation has been one major obstacle the families have overcome by buying used cars. American cars held a fascination for the New Zealanders and upon arrival, Peter Lester discovered his dream machine, a 1974 Cadillac Sedan de Ville purchased for $650.

“It’s the only thing around here bigger than the K-boat,” Graeme Colman said with a laugh. The car was so big, the Kiwis held a formal measuring. Now the race is on to see who can come up with an even bigger one.

Indeed, they seem a little disappointed that Americans now drive the same Hondas and Toyotas they do. They had been looking forward to traditional American “Impalas.”

Besides American cars, the New Zealand sailors are impressed with American women. They claim they don’t know quite what to make of them.

“You ought to see the women hang around these guys,” said Rea shaking her head. “They go up to the door of the dock and they’re wearing next to nothing.”

The men say that American women are definitely more forward than New Zealanders. Even veterans of Kiwi campaigns in Perth, Australia and Sardinia say the American women are something completely different.

“If a girl at home were to ask you out,” said Allan Smith, “you’d really take a step back for a moment.”

Perhaps better to fit in with American women, the New Zealand sailors have been working on their own bits of Americana. They’ve learned to shout “Hey, dude!” almost as well as any surfer.

Managing life in San Diego has been exhilarating and occasionally frustrating thanks to the legal battles surrounding the cup. Parents have had to stuff families used to quarter-acre plots into small apartments. News from home has been sparse. Now, the Kiwis will have to sail against a boat they have little hope of beating. But the Kiwis have a saying best articulated with a shrug of the shoulders and a nod of the head. “She’ll be right,” they say. “She’ll be right.”