Here is me typing at the computer.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Sunny weekend on the Beach
We woke up early Sunday and drove down to Cape Kidnappers again. We arrived at about 8:30 am. What an amazing shoreline. We were going to try and make it all the way out to the tip of the cape but we were warned high tide at three pm and would not be able to make the full trip with the time we had. So we headed up the beach and decided we would go as far as we could and turn back by noon. This time we did get further then the last but there were so many cool rock formations I got lost taking pictures so this slowed a down a bit. We did end up finding a cool dried up riverbed that snuck its way back into the cliff walls. As we walked deeper into the gully we began hearing a variety of birdcalls, one in particular stood out being quite unusual. We stopped and listened for a time as two of the same birds conversed with each other. The call consisted of a high pitch long note followed by a cluster of chatter. Another unusual thing was the sound that was created when this bird took flight. This bird was probably the size of a chickadee but its wings moved at a rate similar to a humming bird making a loud fluttering sound similar to sound you may be create if you held strip of paper out the window of a moving car. We met a couple shortly after listening to the bird and they told us the birds are known as Bellbirds. They told us that we could go a bit further back but if we went too far we could run into a cow corpse. We did not want to meet up with the cow corpse so we went just a little ways farther then had some snacks and meandered our way back to the beach and our car. We made it back by about two and headed home for an afternoon and evening of rest.
Manic Opera and Frantic Gypsy Music
We have been to some good and entertaining show since we have been here in New Zealand. One of which we saw was called Cakesuckers by a group known as Manic Opera. The group consists of three middle-aged women singing barbershop style with they zany flare of Weird Al Yankavich but the sultry stage presents of a lounge singer. Their song lyrics are what got everyone howling, with song titles like “Grandfather’s cock”. And of course at the end of the night we had to get one of their CDs.
The next venue we went to was a said to be one of the oldest churches in New Zealand, Pukehou. The community that lived around this church worked together to restore the church making money by bringing in various music groups for concerts in the church. Vardos, was the name of the group we saw there. This groups performance was a bit frantic but defiantly up beat and yet again was made up of three women but a much younger and mainly instrumental. This group was influenced by Romanian and Hungarian gypsy music. The fiddle player moved aggressively around the stage confronting her band members—accordion player and stand-up bass—through out the songs. I often time had to look somewhere else because her movements were so distracting getting in the way of the music. Between songs the fiddle player gave a short story about the song they would be playing, speaking with a Romanian accent (keep in mind these girls are from Australia). When I was watching the girls play, I could not help but look at their teeth that were gray in color, twisted and jagged (maybe they were also all part of the show). The music was pretty good but I suppose the whole performance has to really captivate you. But we did get to spend our evening with some friends in one of the oldest churches in New Zealand on some of the hardest pews; luckily they handed out cushions, served us warm spiced red wine and assorted biscuits.
The next venue we went to was a said to be one of the oldest churches in New Zealand, Pukehou. The community that lived around this church worked together to restore the church making money by bringing in various music groups for concerts in the church. Vardos, was the name of the group we saw there. This groups performance was a bit frantic but defiantly up beat and yet again was made up of three women but a much younger and mainly instrumental. This group was influenced by Romanian and Hungarian gypsy music. The fiddle player moved aggressively around the stage confronting her band members—accordion player and stand-up bass—through out the songs. I often time had to look somewhere else because her movements were so distracting getting in the way of the music. Between songs the fiddle player gave a short story about the song they would be playing, speaking with a Romanian accent (keep in mind these girls are from Australia). When I was watching the girls play, I could not help but look at their teeth that were gray in color, twisted and jagged (maybe they were also all part of the show). The music was pretty good but I suppose the whole performance has to really captivate you. But we did get to spend our evening with some friends in one of the oldest churches in New Zealand on some of the hardest pews; luckily they handed out cushions, served us warm spiced red wine and assorted biscuits.
My Big Fat Greek Breadmachine
I found an ad in the Wednesday Mover for a vacuum cleaner so I called to find out where the person that was selling the vacuum lived. The man that I was speaking with could not understand a word I was saying so he put his wife on the phone to give me directions. People around here seem to think I have a heavy accent. They lived on Birdwood Drive not far from our flat so we got in the car and found their house that looked like the set from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. When we came to the door we were greeted with ma and pa dressed in their pajamas asking us “how’d you get dressed so fast” (we had called before coming over and it was about 9am). They proceeded to invite us in asking many questions, “Where are you from?” “Do you fish?” “Do you have any kids?” “Are you pregnant yet?” “Did you bring your fishing gear?” It seemed to continue in this random manor the whole time. Once John, the guy that could not understand a word I said, got me the vacuum cleaner to try out he took Glenn on a tour of his fish trophies that were displayed on the wall throughout the house. While they were talking fish they discovered they both had Greek heritage.
I in the meantime was testing the vacuum and Ma continued to try and get me to vacuum here whole living room as I tried to see if the vacuum suction was working well. In the mean time John was telling Glenn that he would bring him some Trout if he caught one today. Then John came over and asked me, “Do you want it I will give it to you for $50, I also have a bread machine are you interested?” So he ran back in to the garage and brought back the bread machine before I could even say a word. We did not have enough money to pay for both the vacuum and the bread machine but they said just take it and bring the money by later. That evening we had a message from John saying he would stop by and pick of the money on his way out fishing. We were not there but he did call back later that night and stopped over to collect the money just as full of energy as he had been that morning. He told us his day fishing was successful and he caught a trout. But he did not have any for us that day.
I in the meantime was testing the vacuum and Ma continued to try and get me to vacuum here whole living room as I tried to see if the vacuum suction was working well. In the mean time John was telling Glenn that he would bring him some Trout if he caught one today. Then John came over and asked me, “Do you want it I will give it to you for $50, I also have a bread machine are you interested?” So he ran back in to the garage and brought back the bread machine before I could even say a word. We did not have enough money to pay for both the vacuum and the bread machine but they said just take it and bring the money by later. That evening we had a message from John saying he would stop by and pick of the money on his way out fishing. We were not there but he did call back later that night and stopped over to collect the money just as full of energy as he had been that morning. He told us his day fishing was successful and he caught a trout. But he did not have any for us that day.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Monday, September 13, 2004
Wacky Weekend Adventure
After playing and doing creative stuff around the flat on Saturday (we got the car back Saturday night with the lights working), we decided to go and see if we could find some hot baths on Sunday. We did not know the exact location of the hot baths but we heard that they were out Pukitetri Road and we know where that was. We stopped for gas before leaving town and asked a lady working at the gas station where they were she said nonchalantly they were down Pukitetri and that there would be signs.
So we headed down Pukitetri, this is a road that winded its way into the mountains, after an hour of twisting and turning our way through the mountains we saw a girl walking on the side of the road with a pack on her back. We pulled over to ask if she knew were they hot baths were? She told us we were on the right road and they were just further down the road, 6-8 kilometers or did she say 60-80 kilometers? At this point I was searching the map trying to see if the hot springs were mentioned somewhere. I finally found them and realized we had a long way to go. We realized then that she did say 60-80 kilometers.
We had not planned on the trip being this long but we had already gone this far so we decided to keep going. We had some beautiful views of the mountains and countryside along the way but the road was getting worse. At this point the road was a twisty turny, down hill, narrow, one lane, gravel road with a very steep (steep meaning off a cliff) shoulder to the right-hand side. There was no way of turning back now we had to get down this road. We held our breath as we rounded each bend just as we were nearing the bottom we came upon a car that had obviously just been in a wreck. We slowed to see if there was anything we could do and the teenage girl and boy said in a shaky voice not unless you have a winch. They had hit another car head on. There was nothing we could do but it looked like they had called for help because they sat with a cell phone in hand. So we continued to crawl down the road. With our hearts in our throats we made it to a flat ground and a parking area. I am so glad Glenn drove he did awesome.
Once parked we decided it was time to walk, we were close we figured so we could probably make it to the hot springs from here and we both needed to get out of the car and relax. The hot springs were close and it was a nice walk there are times when it feels so good to feel your feet on the ground. It was great to see the mountains and river and soak in the hot spring. There are a few photos for you to see below.
Then we made our way back the twisty turny road. Singing songs like the "Ants go Marching" to keep us relaxed. We had guests over that night for dinner and laughed about the adventure we had that day.
So we headed down Pukitetri, this is a road that winded its way into the mountains, after an hour of twisting and turning our way through the mountains we saw a girl walking on the side of the road with a pack on her back. We pulled over to ask if she knew were they hot baths were? She told us we were on the right road and they were just further down the road, 6-8 kilometers or did she say 60-80 kilometers? At this point I was searching the map trying to see if the hot springs were mentioned somewhere. I finally found them and realized we had a long way to go. We realized then that she did say 60-80 kilometers.
We had not planned on the trip being this long but we had already gone this far so we decided to keep going. We had some beautiful views of the mountains and countryside along the way but the road was getting worse. At this point the road was a twisty turny, down hill, narrow, one lane, gravel road with a very steep (steep meaning off a cliff) shoulder to the right-hand side. There was no way of turning back now we had to get down this road. We held our breath as we rounded each bend just as we were nearing the bottom we came upon a car that had obviously just been in a wreck. We slowed to see if there was anything we could do and the teenage girl and boy said in a shaky voice not unless you have a winch. They had hit another car head on. There was nothing we could do but it looked like they had called for help because they sat with a cell phone in hand. So we continued to crawl down the road. With our hearts in our throats we made it to a flat ground and a parking area. I am so glad Glenn drove he did awesome.
Once parked we decided it was time to walk, we were close we figured so we could probably make it to the hot springs from here and we both needed to get out of the car and relax. The hot springs were close and it was a nice walk there are times when it feels so good to feel your feet on the ground. It was great to see the mountains and river and soak in the hot spring. There are a few photos for you to see below.
Then we made our way back the twisty turny road. Singing songs like the "Ants go Marching" to keep us relaxed. We had guests over that night for dinner and laughed about the adventure we had that day.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Thanks to the purple eared lady....
Well things have been going as things always do around here. Today we are relaxing at home somewhat intentionally somewhat due to lack of vehicle. We planned on going down to Hastings today to enjoy the Spring Festival and parade that is happening there this weekend but due to lack of transport and laziness we are home in our flat enjoying doing little projects such as washing clothes. Washing clothes is a new experience here, because the washing machines are little and we do not have a drier but be have sunshine an a clothes-line in our backyard. Doing the wash has become more of a ritual and we are actually enjoying shacking the clothes out and pinning them up on the line in the morning air as the sun lingers it way across the sky.
Why do we not have a car today you might be wondering?
Here is the long version of the story it may sound like a tangent and that it maybe but you will get your answer eventually. This week has been a rough one that is on my knees and elbows I have fallen off my bike three times this week thats right three. You may not count one of the tumbles a real fall because I never actually contacted pavement but there is reason for that being a railing. Yes, a railing. While crossing a bridge I decided to stop and admire the view which was quite nice I must say but when I tried to get going on my bike again I realized the stopping may not have been the best idea. At this point I must describe my bike a little. We decided to purchase cheap bikes you know in the ten to five dollar range our logic being they would be good to get around town on and we would not have to worry about locking them up. The bikes we got are not bad but the tires lets say are a little skwishy and there are some rattling noises and rusty parts they also take ample amount of space to get started on. Thus as I was trying to get the bike moving while I was on a bridge were I had a little more then shoulder wide space to move I had some trouble getting going. On my third and final attempt I fell into the railing causing a sharp pain in my left upper arm it was at this point I decided I would be walking my bike the rest of the way accross the bridge.
The second fall was happened in a parking lot. We decided to go to one of the local bike shops and look at the cheaper new bikes they had available. They let us test ride a few of the bikes out in the parking lot behind their shop. Silly me I was wearing a hat with a front bill not good when you need your peripheral vision and just as I was starting round the corner I realized a car was pulling into the driveway. This gave me a bit of a shock because I did not seem him turning in, so I fell.
The last and greats fall happened yesterday on my way home from Napier. I decided to try biking into Napier to see what the ride was like by bike it took about thirty minutes for me to get into Napier from our flat. After doing some yoga I got back on my bike to make my way home. As I was crossing a street a car started turning toward me so began moving over a to the left. There are these curb like thing in the road around here in places such as cross walks or when the road changes from asphalt to coblestone. There just happened to be one of these little curbs where I was moving into and it caused my body to move left but not my bike. The final Crash of the week! I was a bit shook up and feeling home sick this week so I started crying as I picked up my bike and pushed it along the sidewalk. Sheesh! Just then some people were pulling into the KFC (there is one Kentucky Fried here in Napier) driveway. They yelled out their window "Are you alright?" I tried to just wave them on but a woman got out of the car and came over to me trying to find out what happened. The next thing I new a young guy with Robo-cop sunglasses on and oiled down wavey hair was putting my bike in the back of their SUV. They told me they would take me home. I got up into the passangers set next to the woman with purple ears. It looked as though she had recently got her hair dyed dark black because the dye around the edges of her face and ear stained her skin a nice violet. Her name was Susan and the guy with the greased down waves was Peter, Susan's nephew visiting from Auckland. We then went through the KFC drive-thru they ordered some food for lunch insisting on getting me something Susan ordered a snack burger for me. We chatted and ate our KFC snacks as we made our way back to Taradale. After unloading my bike Peter told me to put some ice on my knee and take it easy. I waved as they drove off.
My body was a little ache that night so we decided to take the car up to Napier to the Ocean Spa, were the life guards wear snow jackets and beanies. We soaked in the warm baths and sweat in the sauna for a few hours. My body was feeling better. We started off to home when a cop flagged us down and told us to pull over. Our lights were not on. I got out and sure enough the front lights were burnt out. He asked us if there was someone we could call and have pick us up but we did not have anyones number on us nor could we remember the road that Glenn's teaching partner lived on. So the cop said well I guess I will have to take you home because he did not want us driving with out lights. We got in the cop car and he drove us approximately nine miles to our flat.
That is my story of the purple eared lady and why we do not have a car today.
Smiles
Why do we not have a car today you might be wondering?
Here is the long version of the story it may sound like a tangent and that it maybe but you will get your answer eventually. This week has been a rough one that is on my knees and elbows I have fallen off my bike three times this week thats right three. You may not count one of the tumbles a real fall because I never actually contacted pavement but there is reason for that being a railing. Yes, a railing. While crossing a bridge I decided to stop and admire the view which was quite nice I must say but when I tried to get going on my bike again I realized the stopping may not have been the best idea. At this point I must describe my bike a little. We decided to purchase cheap bikes you know in the ten to five dollar range our logic being they would be good to get around town on and we would not have to worry about locking them up. The bikes we got are not bad but the tires lets say are a little skwishy and there are some rattling noises and rusty parts they also take ample amount of space to get started on. Thus as I was trying to get the bike moving while I was on a bridge were I had a little more then shoulder wide space to move I had some trouble getting going. On my third and final attempt I fell into the railing causing a sharp pain in my left upper arm it was at this point I decided I would be walking my bike the rest of the way accross the bridge.
The second fall was happened in a parking lot. We decided to go to one of the local bike shops and look at the cheaper new bikes they had available. They let us test ride a few of the bikes out in the parking lot behind their shop. Silly me I was wearing a hat with a front bill not good when you need your peripheral vision and just as I was starting round the corner I realized a car was pulling into the driveway. This gave me a bit of a shock because I did not seem him turning in, so I fell.
The last and greats fall happened yesterday on my way home from Napier. I decided to try biking into Napier to see what the ride was like by bike it took about thirty minutes for me to get into Napier from our flat. After doing some yoga I got back on my bike to make my way home. As I was crossing a street a car started turning toward me so began moving over a to the left. There are these curb like thing in the road around here in places such as cross walks or when the road changes from asphalt to coblestone. There just happened to be one of these little curbs where I was moving into and it caused my body to move left but not my bike. The final Crash of the week! I was a bit shook up and feeling home sick this week so I started crying as I picked up my bike and pushed it along the sidewalk. Sheesh! Just then some people were pulling into the KFC (there is one Kentucky Fried here in Napier) driveway. They yelled out their window "Are you alright?" I tried to just wave them on but a woman got out of the car and came over to me trying to find out what happened. The next thing I new a young guy with Robo-cop sunglasses on and oiled down wavey hair was putting my bike in the back of their SUV. They told me they would take me home. I got up into the passangers set next to the woman with purple ears. It looked as though she had recently got her hair dyed dark black because the dye around the edges of her face and ear stained her skin a nice violet. Her name was Susan and the guy with the greased down waves was Peter, Susan's nephew visiting from Auckland. We then went through the KFC drive-thru they ordered some food for lunch insisting on getting me something Susan ordered a snack burger for me. We chatted and ate our KFC snacks as we made our way back to Taradale. After unloading my bike Peter told me to put some ice on my knee and take it easy. I waved as they drove off.
My body was a little ache that night so we decided to take the car up to Napier to the Ocean Spa, were the life guards wear snow jackets and beanies. We soaked in the warm baths and sweat in the sauna for a few hours. My body was feeling better. We started off to home when a cop flagged us down and told us to pull over. Our lights were not on. I got out and sure enough the front lights were burnt out. He asked us if there was someone we could call and have pick us up but we did not have anyones number on us nor could we remember the road that Glenn's teaching partner lived on. So the cop said well I guess I will have to take you home because he did not want us driving with out lights. We got in the cop car and he drove us approximately nine miles to our flat.
That is my story of the purple eared lady and why we do not have a car today.
Smiles
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Friday, September 03, 2004
For the Wine-athon Gang!
This is for the Wine-Athoners!! There are so many wineries here you all would love it for the next wine-athon.
A few shots of our Flat
Hello here are some shots of our flat. I tried to take some inside an outside so you could get an idea of what it was like. Pretty small but it works great for us just the right size. We have had a great week. Last weekend as I said before we went to the beach what a nice trip. The rainbow was incredible I do not think I have ever seen a rainbow that lasted so long. It was even glowing as the sun was setting. This week I have been busy taking the bus around and visiting places to see about getting a job and a studio space. On Wednesday I went down to Hastings and Havelock North to talk to a lady about a studio space that is there called Keirungha Gardens it is a very nice space with a variety of arts happening from pottery to theatre very cool. It is an older crowd because most of the activities happen during the day when others are working but the ladies I met were very nice. There was a quilting group that was meeting the day that I was there and when I walked into their little cottage space I felt like I was walking into a movie. There was just a gaggle of women sitting around in a circle chatting way as they worked on their projects. It gave me a nice warm feeling inside to just be around that type of energy. The other place I went to that day was this funky clothes shop I have been their so many times since we have been their it is funny. Anyway their clothes are very colorful and playful just my style so I was looking around again and the lady that was working, one I had talked to before, asked me if I was still looking for a job--because if so they were hiring someone for part-time. Ya-hoo. I went and talked to the manager we had a nice conversation so she took my number and said she would give me a call when they figured out the schedule better.
Wednesday night Glenn met me in Hastings and we went out to a place called the Cat and the Fiddle. There we played music for a few hours. A guy named Peter, who is a bee-keeper, let me play with his drums he even taught me how to play the bodharan--it is a different type of sticking then snare but I was getting the hang of it toward the end of the night.
Enjoy the photos hope to hear from you all.
Smiles
This is our flat with a nice little front yard and we have a nice little backyard as well.
Posted by Hello
Wednesday night Glenn met me in Hastings and we went out to a place called the Cat and the Fiddle. There we played music for a few hours. A guy named Peter, who is a bee-keeper, let me play with his drums he even taught me how to play the bodharan--it is a different type of sticking then snare but I was getting the hang of it toward the end of the night.
Enjoy the photos hope to hear from you all.
Smiles
This is our flat with a nice little front yard and we have a nice little backyard as well.
Posted by Hello
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