Vacation Update

It was the old boat. I am sure that you are now sleeping better knowing that bit of useless information. And with that said you will be glad to know that we are in Invercargill as I write this, yesterday we were in Doubtful Sound. I wish I was still there.

This vacation has been fabulous thus far!

We started in Barrytown (North of Greymouth) where we stayed at a dump of a holiday park but had a great time the next day at the pancake rocks, and then ... we made a knife. Well three actually, started with a piece of iron inserted into a fire and worked our way through to polishing the wood handle after putting an edge on the hardened steel! Way too cool of a day.

After that we went down to Greytown (Mom and Dad we drove by the hotel we stayed at when you were here) and went down to another holiday park right on the ocean. Dennis had a great time playing in the water (I watched.) Somewhere around 9:30 when the sun was setting we all went down to the beach to watch the setting. And we saw a Green Flash! What an unexpected big of magic that was.

The next day we made our way to the glacers. Fox and Franz Joseph. They looked so awesome. I will post pictures eventually (long story) and I have the best shot of Dennis and Chris walking over some stepping stones on the river on the department of conservation walkway to the glacier. The holdiay park we stayed at was wonderful, a picnick in the shadow of the mountains was to die for.

Unfortunately the next evening was not as nice. We stayed at a DoC campsite where our air mattress failed to inflate, a long night on the ground made for little sleep. Ugh. And the biting flies, well pound for pound I would rather face a swarm of mosquitoes.

We then made our way to Wanaca. When I die i want to go back to Wanaca. There were a few things to do there, most notably the Puzzle Place. A 1.5 Kilometre maze. That was a fun walk let me tell you! the next morning we went ot the Crown Range, this was an awesome ride over the moutains where we saw first saw Queenstown. Oh my I am glad that we are spending Christmas there. This trip we went through downtown and purchased an air matress on sale for $40. Money well spent as the holiday park in Wanaca was $30 more expensive for the room with a bed than the standard tent site.

The next night we went to Manapouri in preperation for our trip through Doubtful sound (http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/Doubtful) That was an amazing journey almost worth the whole trip down here. I loved the place, and Dennis and Chris did as well. Something magical about the place that words (and the 200 pictures I took) do not do justice.

Now it is time to get to bed, almost 10:00pm here and tomorrow we leave at 8:30am for Stewart Island!!

Leaving on a boat

I am not sure which one actually. This is one of the old Bluebridge line.

Or we may be on the brand new (three year old) boat! The newest one in the fleet!

Either way we are going to have a ball on our South Island tour!

Anniversary Dinner

Okay so it is a few months late, sue me!

We went out to a Mexican Restaurant for our anniversary. It was a great time, here we are with the owner.

I liked the action shot of Chris above.

And here is our host El Senior Andres!

Thanks Andres for a great evening.

Everyone else go eat there, details can be found here ... www.lasmargaritas.co.nz

Hills above Heke ...

Taken with a wide angle Cell PhoneTaken with a zoom cell phone

Dennis is a Black Belt

Dennis took his Black Belt test today. I will describe it here but one must watch it to understand the emotion of the event. Five boys from 10-14 took the test (Dennis was the youngest.)

After lining up and introductions the examiner had someone from the audience pick a lad go stand by them and the testers were then told to do as many push-ups as they could do in one minute ... counted. Then they had to do sit-ups in one minute ... counted. Then they had to do squats in one minute ... counted. The numbers were reported to the examiner, and then it got hard.

Next was a few of the forms (there are eleven in all.) Break for some more counted calisthenics. More forms (each one was done three or four times, sometimes facing the front, sometimes facing the back (we usually practice facing the front. Then single out one or two kids for they may not have done it as well as the examiner would have liked, but not to worry the rest of the kids were kept busy doing sit-ups, push-ups, or squats. To break up the monotony the forms were intermixed with power test (that is kicking pads they had about 25 different combinations to execute,) self-defense (oh demonstrate that you can make an attacker wish they had not gotten up in the morning,) pre-arranged sparring (just fun little vignettes to prove competence of basic sparing techniques - these are very exhausting work) and of course all these were accompanied by push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Did I mention that the examiner had them do sit-ups, push-ups, and squats?

Well after about 90 minutes of this hard work the fun began ... sparring.

This was not your average three one minute rounds shake hands and drink a sports drink. This was tough. First round was easy, pair up with another kid. Then they introduced the black-belts, most of which were in their mid to late 20's. The fighting was designed to break the kids and frankly it did. Dennis and the 11 year old lost it. I think the hardest part for Dennis was that he thought his fourth fight was the last, then they called him up for another. He fought well at first, then broke down crying when he was kicked hard in the gut. He rallied himself for another go and did quite well until he was kicked in the face. Then it was very hard for him, to keep on going. But he did get back in the fight.

This was the last fight which was a good thing, as he was crying and could not continue. They had a one minute water break where I spoke with Dennis and through his tears let him know that all the kids were crying. Then the examiner had the boys, and the black belts, line up in a circle. One child was chosen and then the rest of the members of the circle had 15 seconds each to kick the living sh_t out of the victim in the middle. I was weeping during Dennis last two fights, crying during this event and it took quite a bit of self-control not to walk-up to the examiner and stop the proceedings. (The examiner may be a 6th dan but he about half my size and I was sure I could make my point.)

Well it was over Dennis lived through the sparing. I helped him remove his pads as he could hardly stand-up. The 11 year old and Dennis were up for breaking some 18 mm boards (that is a nominal 1" for those in North America.) While the other three kids had one minute to do more push-ups than their last counted minute, then yes the next minute was to do more sit-ups. The examiner told each of them the number they had to beat.

When it came to breaking Dennis broke all his boards. It took him a few tries for one of the kicks but he got through it just fine. Now for him the exam was done. Just sit on the side and watch the other children break the boards. I don't know if the examiner was being kind by not requiring him to do the push-ups/sit-ups or just forgot.

When the boards were all broken the kids lined up again and the examiner told them to do 200 sit-ups. It took a few seconds for the children to register the request, they went down to a person and started doing the sit-ups. The examiner had a heart and stopped them after a few.

The results came in and Dennis was given a provisional pass pending a re-test of the forms. Dennis had made a few very notable mistakes when the examiner had them face different directions and the examiner believes that Dennis would do better if he did not have the distraction of the other kids.

I was very proud of Dennis. He showed amazing fortitude to stay in the test and proved that he has an indomitable spirit.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends on Saturday. Kiwi's are not given the Thursday off of work and it is much easier to snag a few of them for a Turkey dinner on the weekend. The average Kiwi believes that Turkey is a big dry bird that has little flavor. I personally think it is a urban legend that has its roots in fowl envy. And to show everyone I, once again, choose to grill the bird!



The foil wrapped around the grill is to keep the heat an smoke in as the bird itself is too large. I am quite pleased to say that this approach worked like a champ. The bird came out golden brown smokey in color and flavor and was just so very very good. Unfortunately that is the best picture you will get of the bird as I forgot to get the camera out when the bird came out.

I did fortunately take the camera out and get some pictures of our guests. Here is Monique and Gerry getting out of the car, they were the first to arrive which is only appropriate as they live less than a mile away.



As you can tell from the picture it was a beautiful day here in Wellington. Just one of those amazing days where the phrase "You can't beat Wellington on a Good Day" originated. Which was a good thing as like any BBQ in the states the men found themselves relegated to the grill while the woman sat down on the leather lounge set drinking white wine.

Now this was not a bad thing, as you may know Gerry and I have been known to brew the occasional beer together. It is a male bonding exercise that has the added benefit of lowing the cost of beer in both our households. Gerry donated two bottles of Ol' Number 17. This is a Belgian brew we bottled back in August, I matched that bottle for bottle. And I am speaking for everyone when I say it aged very very well over the past four months. The men had no hardship cooling their thirst under the warm sun as we watched the smoke waft up from the grill.

We, the men, were eventually allowed back in the house, but only after we had removed the bird from the grill, brought it in the house to rest, and ran out of beer. And all the women did was drink more white wine, who says life is fair?


The food was served buffet style as packing 9 people around the table just seemed too crowded for the food. Fortunately this house has a buffet ... here you can see some people going in for seconds.

A good time was had by all, I especially liked the end of the day; after desert and cheese were enjoyed, the dishes were stacked; we grabbed the wine bottles, our glass and headed out to the balcony overlooking the mountains. What a glorious time, views of Wilton and Wadestown, the cool evening air, subdued conversation. We chatted until the stars started to appear.

Cold Water Tap

I managed to strip the cold water faucet on the tub last week. Good news is that I had an external spigot handle which worked so there was no hurry. On Friday I eventually got around to calling Richard, the landlord, and asked him if he would like me to fix it or call a plumber. He wisely said I should give it a go.

So on Saturday I went over to our local Mitre-10 and asked if they have any handles laying around as I could not find any in the by all the kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The helpful man walked me to the other side of the store (okay it isn't very big but you get the idea, not by the fixtures and fittings.) And there they were nice metal handles (that would be pressed tin that will rust in two years in our humid climate) for only $84 a set! Sticker Shock! He saw the look on my face, and probably heard the audible grown. And said "We have cheaper ones they are sold out now, but I can order them." He then pointed to the rack of "crystal" handles (that would be cheap chinese plastic) for a mere $75 a pair. As this is a family blog I will not let you know what I said to that.

Knowing that I would not be buying anything (as I did not walk into the store with enough cash I opened the box anyway and noticed something that once again reminded me of how much I love this place. Instead of a dozen different types of handles each with a different type of fitting to the faucet. In the box there were four (well eight) little nylon inserts to fit on the various different types of plumbing around here. I jokingly said to the guy "How much for me to just take this little piece of nylon?"

He walked down the aisle and pointed to another rack with a bunch of individually bagged nylon inserts for only $3.50 each. Now were talking! Getting down to my price range. And as luck would have it nothing was quite the one that I needed. I imagine what I was looking for was in the sold out rack to the left. But hey after 30 months in the country I have adopted the kiwi can-do attitude (we would call that good ol' Yankee ingenuity) and bought the closest match.

Back at the ranch I confirmed that it did not fit and ignored it for 24 hours. The next day I tackled the job. gathered my tools in this case a hammer and pocket knife. First thing I did was find out if there was a polarity to the insert, and yes it was, it only fit in the handle one way so I marked it and moved on to the fun stuff, playing with knives. I carved a bit of the nylon out of the the insert and gently (very gently Richard!) tapped it on the fixture.

I then slipped the handle over the nylon and screwed it in voila it worked!

My respect for Maori culture grows

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10685215

Chris pulling the trailer

The other day I mentioned that I could see Chris pulling out of the gas station with the trailer in tow. Here it is with maximum magnification from our little digital camera.

In case you missed it the trailer is yellow and the car is green, it is pulling out just at the bend of the major road.

That is the view from my window, of course I am usually looking at the mountains which I had to crop from the photo so you had a prayer of a chance of seeing the car.

My own bread recipe.

I just meandered over to the keyboard to write down the recipe for a new bread that I am creating! Not much of a variation from some of the reliable standard ones out there but still my own recipe.

350 grams 100% Hydration 100% Rye Starter

650 grams Water

1075 grams White Flour

0 grams Salt.

Yes you read it no Salt!

Of course it ought to have 20grams of Salt. I wonder if I should even bake it. Ugh. I was planning on running a loaf to each of the neighbors as a ways of introducing myself tomorrow evening. Maybe I will make a poolish and go to bed!

Hamstrings and friends

Just yesterday I was marveling at how high I could kick in Tae Kwon Do. Then about 1/10 of a second later I was on the floor marveling at how much pain a hamstring can cause the human body. If you have never experienced this unique marvel I would place it somewhere between a back going out and stubbing your little toe. Especially as, for me, the pain was between my waist and heel on my right leg.

The guys had to pick me up off the floor (not easy) and walk me over to the side of the gym. I was fortunate in that a trainer was at there, and even more fortunate, that he spent the better part of an hour stretching and massaging my leg as I educated him to the subtleties of American profanity. At the end of his ministrations I was able to walk.

Fast forward to today, Monday the 25th of October when our new furniture arrives!

I was on point to pick it up from the other side of the bay and lug it into and out of the trailer. But alas my hamstring has tipped the scale in favor of watching the fun. As I type Chris is driving the car, with the very same trailer as we had on move day (I know for I saw her pull out of the gas station with it attached to the car, I can see it from my office window,) to go pick up the lounge suite and bring it here.

Now this is where the friends come in. Two phone calls, two guys said sure. They will be here in about an hour to coincide with my wife's ETA. And to haul the furniture for me.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Why I love this place

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10682269

... only in New Zealand

Views from on high

Pictures never do the view justice. Here is the view from the front of our home. We can see this from our lounge, and two bedrooms.

This it the view from the south which is what I see when I look up from the computer as it is out my office window.

The house sits up on the hill with a pretty substantial drop. The "Front Yard" is 12 feet or so from the front deck. I will post pictures of the house itself and the various rooms in the near future. It is raining now and I am going to go sit in front of the fire and read.

My only regret

is not getting a picture of everyone who helped with the move ...

... Left to right: Chris, Andrea, Dave, Mark, Paul and Elliot

We moved!

The move took 1 hour and 36 minutes. Lunch took about 3 hours! We are in the new house with lots of unpacking to do.

We have gone back to the old house to give it the final clean. Then we are done!

We are tired but content.

PS - No internet or phone at the new house so you will have to call the cell for a few days.

We are moving!

This is the bait I am using

To get everyone to come and work

Today is move day

Musings

I am packing my office getting ready for the move this next Saturday. There is not much to pack as I have not completely unpacked from the previous move. I will have to get some pictures of this place, strategic pictures as I don't want to remember this home with floor to ceiling piles of boxes. :)

Recording our New Zealand adventure seems kind of strange now. We are no longer living an adventure, we are living a life down here. This place is home. Yes I can still recall the first time that I drove down some road or another - for instance just yesterday we were at a TKD tournament (another posting on that will come soon.) and I recall the time we had first gone to that area of Poriarra - but it no longer as the awe and wonder it use to. I expect when I go back to the US I will cringe at driving on the right side of the road and wonder why every business has a back-lit sign.

I will keep the blog name. Life is an adventure and it is good to be reminded of that fact.

Party

Yesterday we went to a friend's house to celebrate his birthday. The man of honor, Dave, runs our TKD club. They moved houses at the same time we did, which was quite sad as we moved pretty close to their old home! This was the first time we had seen their new place out in brooklyn it had a great view and as to be expected was buffeted by the wind.

All the adults from TKD showed up with plenty of the children and all had a great time. There was no birthday cake, presents or singing, Dave and Kirsten said it was to be very low key. There were two curries (Chicken and Potato) on offer, chippies (that would be potato chips) and dip. I brought over a couple of coffee cakes to share but dug into the Pavlova which was just amazing!

The conversation was riveting, the jokes I really can't repeat in this blog. Everyone had a great time. Chris, Dennis and I were the last ones to leave at 11:15pm. We were there a good hour or so sitting down chatting about differences in life between the US and NZ.

What I left with was there is not much of a difference. Life goes on we are all working to pay our bills and give our children advantages we did not have. But I also left with a closer friendship that I had before.

Chip buddy

Go to your local store and buy a bag of cheap white bread, ketchup and some margarine or butter. Then on your way home stop and get some hot fresh chips - that would be thick cut french fries in the states. (Yes you know where this is going.)

When you get home butter the bread, put a few chips on half the bread, ketchup to taste and fold the bread in half. Eat. You have just had a chip buddy.

I had a chip buddy Friday night after taking Dennis and his friend, Hamish, to the beach and some mini-golf. We went to Hamish's home for fish and chips and where I was introduced to this Kiwi delicacy. Now just to set the record straight it was not Hamish who told me about it; it was Paul, Hamish's father, who not only told me about it but demonstrated it with a look of lust in his eye that, while I enjoyed the chip buddy, I do not quite comprehend.

In fact Paul had been talking all week about the chip buddy as we had planned this event the previous week (Paul at TKD grading partner.) I had no idea what he was spouting on about but just smiled and nodded knowing I was in for another cultural experience. A quite enjoyable one at that.

Go get yourself a chip buddy, I Highly recommend it!

View from Awarua

This is the view down (literally) my road as I walk/drive into town. It was taken one sunny afternoon.

Just an interesting house I saw

The hills of Wellington have an interesting architectural impact. I saw this house while I was tramping through the bush over by Newtown.

Went for a walk Sunday

Took the family up the moutain for a bird's eye view of Wellington and the South Island on Sunday. As Dennis was not feeling very well Chris and I figured we would take him up about half way to Mount Kaukau, and then she would turn back and I would continue the journey.

When we got just short of half-way I snapped this picture, our home is just before the valley opens up. (If you look real close you will see a blue roof our home is the green room just up the hill from the blue roof. Got it?)

We continued to the sign (no picture unfortunately) and I gave my coat to Chris, it had my keys and as it was much warmer up in the sun than I had thought it would be I didn't need it at all. Well she and Dennis turned back to go home and I wandered up the hill.

It is so hard to describe how beautiful it is up there. Once I rounded the bend and went up a wee bit this is what I saw.

Still the picture does not do it justice, even two pictures. That would be 2000 word essay worth cannot describe how it feels to be up here. Notice the South island in this picture.

It is desolate up here, all you really see is pasture, sheep, water, and some mountains in the distance. Turning to my right the valley to the north.

Just to the right of the above picture is Mount Kaukau my destination.

I do wish that I had taken my camera with me as the pictures would have been so much better, but these are not too bad for a cell phone. Plus the cell phone add the extra benefit of not having one of those lanyards to carry it with, so I had to put the phone back in my pocket. This was a good thing, for as I put my cell phone back into my pocket I noticed that I had my keys!

Now you may remember that I gave Chris my coat with my keys in it so she could unlock the house. So here I am on the ridge, Chris expects that I will be two hours behind her; and she has no way to contact me. I may have my phone with me she does not have hers.

So I quickly start to go back to the house. Run on the flat (I don't run downhill.)

I did enjoy the view of the valley on the way down, there were at least two better photo opportunities than the one I took, however they will have to wait for my next trip up the hill as I was in a hurry.

I finally did make it home to an open door and a happy family. Inquiring as to how they entered in the house I found out that my son had crawled through the bedroom window. Few windows here in NZ have screens, so no damage was done. But I was still impressed as there is only about 6" wide opening.

Dennis was quite happy with himself for having crawled through the window, especially given that he had his mother's approval.

Another Ozzy upset

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10677899

... only in New Zealand!

How to Steam Bread

Either turn the computer or your head on its side to get a view of the steaming.

That is a standard sunbeam capachinno machine I picked up on trademe for $50 and a $3 hose from the local hardware store. You can see one of the foil roasting pans $1.50 on the counter to the right (or below) which I put over the bread. The steam hose then goes under the bread for about a minute. Then anywhere from 10-15 minutes later I open the door and take out the foil pan.

Does a wonderful job of injecting steam into the oven.

Bread of the month

This months bread was Ciabatta. Every month I am going to make a different bread. The only rules are that it has to be sourdough, and the only reason for that rule is that when you keep a bug going there is plenty that gets thrown away so may as well find a use for it.

I made this ciabatta three times last month, and then again today. Every one of them turned out delicious with a beautiful crumb and excellent crust. These loaves have a wee bit more whole-wheat flour than I had been using in the past. A nod to the general health conciseness of my tasters.

They are cooling as I type. I can't wait to taste them this afternoon!

I found this particular formula on farine's english blog ...

http://www.farine-mc.com/2009/07/tweaked-ciabatta.html.

Home Schooling ...

Check out this info-graphic representation of American Home Schooling results.

http://offers.degreesearch.org/infographics/homeschooling-by-the-numbers/homeschooling-infographic.jpg

Move Party!

Yep once again we are moving on up! This time from 133 meters to 143 meters above sea level!

This is an invitation for you to experience this moving extravaganza first hand. To maximize your day, we have arranged for you to disassemble beds, haul boxes, and clean the old house! But wait there is more! You will also be able to schlep furniture around the new house at my wife's whim! And for the first six who reply - we will let you carry the refrigerator and washing machine up the stairs! (limited to men only ... deal with it)

In our attempt to replicate an authentic American moving party you will have the opportunity to eat some American cooking. Mid-morning snack (available when you arrive) will consist of Coffee Cake and Coffee. Lunch (when the move is done -- around 1:00pm) will be good ol' American Sloppy Joe's, Coleslaw, Potato Chips (crisps,) Beer and Soda.

The fun begins at 10:00am Saturday 16th October at our current residence.

There will be fun for the whole family - we are packing plenty of small boxes just for Children so bring them along!

To reserve your place simply reply to this e-mail today and let us know how many are coming --- Hope to see you there!!

PS - Keep your car trunk (boot) empty as we will load it up with boxes for the journey to our new home.

Update on moving

Hard to believe we have only been here for 5 months and we are moving. The house served its purpose to keep us warm over the winter. The new home has views, wonderful walls of windows, a modern kitchen :) and more storage space.

To help you visualize it follow this link ...

(link removed from trademe :( - will get pictures soon!)

Contract is signed, we are still negotiating the moving date with current landlords. Either way we will be there by the 20th of October!

Baking Class tonight!

I have been pretty silent about my baking escapades these past few months. That is because I have been focused on the class I am teaching this evening. When I was asked if I wanted to show a few people how to make sourdough bread I said "Sure, how many?" They said "Half a dozen, no more than Ten."

Well last count Sunday afternoon there were 24, no make that 25 as someone registered while I was chatting with the coordinator. Assume a couple of no shows, a couple of walk ins and I was told to prepare for 30 and if that is not enough the coordinator and helpers will not knead the dough.

So this morning I have 12Kg of Sourdough starter sitting in a bucket. The day will be fun!

Were moving!

The landlord just called us and gave us our six week notice to move out of the house. So we are off to another adventure!

Underwater petting zoo

Yep you read it right, and let me tell you octopus.co.nz is certainly a place worth visiting, especially on a cold wet Wellington day.

Dennis saw a poster; very similar to this one, at the local library and after asking a few times we scheduled a trip down to Island Bay to check it out.



The trip down there was uneventful. If you can call traveling over the mountains, even ones these small, uneventful. I mean the views alone are enough to take your breath way. We saw glimpses of the south island through the rain, as the ocean was alive with white caps.



Arriving at the building we made a mad dash inside as it was pouring.

<<>>

I did not know what to expect and certainly at the time I would have never considered a petting zoo as one of the options. But there you have it, an aquatic petting zoo. Only in New Zealand I suppose.

The star of the place is a shallow table, elevated to the perfect height for adults and children (if they stand on the many boxes around the table) to see and touch the plants and animals that live in the Cook Straights. Here you see a very happy Dennis holding something very slimy.



All the plants and animals in the petting aquarium have about a two-week tour of duty then they are released back into the cook straights as another batch are brought up for duty. Some divers affiliated with octopus.co.nz go on weekend diving expeditions; I suppose it gives them some purpose to be at the bottom of cook straight.

The water in this aquarium, as well as all the others, is continually pumped in from the straight and drains back into the straight. So the animals are in as close to their native surrounds as they can be, except for the continual “petting” by all the kids (and adults I may add.)

I am sure you are wondering why they call it octopus.co.nz. So without further delay here is one of the two reasons.



I chatted up one of the attendances about the Octopus as it was just sitting there on the bottom of the tank. After a brief discussion about the history of the place he started to get the octopus attention. Thus the picture above, and this one of Dennis enthralled by the Octopus below.



There are two of them in the petting zoo. The other one was enjoying a crab dinner while we were there. Nothing graphic about this just sitting on the bottom of the tank tentacles wrapped about the crab in a death grip.

Now is a good time to explain a bit of the history of the place. A bunch of Italian fisherman settled Island Bay right after WWII. This building was where they would clean their catch before sending it off to the Wellington market. After years of the neighbors complaining about the smell the fisherman moved the cleaning station to another location and over time the building was abandoned. Well someone got the idea of the petting zoo and managed to pull together the required support (and funding.)

From the start this project was supported by the local fisherman. For some reason or another they loved the idea and donated their old tackle to the effort. And to this day they support octopus.co.nz by donating fish.

In addition to the odd octopus that gets pulled up in their nets there are native fish that are generally not on the supper table so they donate them to the museum. I wish I had taken a few more pictures of the inside of the place. Oh well next time, but one last picture for now ...

Dennis petting the octopus.

A4

A4 is the New Zealand equivalent of Letter size paper. Today I was printing from a new application on my computer and the printout did not look right in preview. I was going back to the document trying to figure out what was wrong for about five minutes when it dawned on me to check the format. Sure enough the printer was setup for letter, quick change and all was well.

This got me to thinking ... yet another way I have become acclimated to this life down here. When I first arrived the A4 sheets looked strange to me, now they are normal, and when I see a Letter page I am wondering what is wrong.

The transformation continues ...

For land and women men will die.

That is an old Maori saying that greets you as you walk into the War museum in Wairou.

The museum is very well done! It has exhibits covering every war that New Zealand has been in sense the europeans arrived, and even a few prior to that.

The whole family enjoyed some aspect of the museum. Dennis had a great time dressing up and running out to shoot Chris and I.

Chris enjoyed the Anne Frank exhibit for which I do not have a picture. It was hard for me to choose my favorite exhibit. I really liked the Sherman tank they had there. It was a working Tank you could tell from the big garage door right across the hall from the tank and the oil leaks under the tank. But even more than the tank were the motorcycles, or more specifically another sign that you will only find in New Zealand ...

Yummy!

Only in New Zealand ...

Took the Stair Challange!

Today at lunch I went for a short walk just to get out and enjoy the
sunshine.

I am working on the 6th floor of a building in the Central Business
District (CBD) here. It sits between Lambton Quay and the Terrace.
If you check out a google map you will see that the two streets more
or less run in parallel (as much as a curved line can run in parallel
with another.) In the distant past Lambton Quay was the Quay, that is
the wharf, for Wellington. Then a major earthquake occurred and
Wellington gained a few square miles of land. The Terrace on the
other hand was the start of dry land, more or less, above the clift.

My office building has an entrance on Lambton Quay (Floor 1 mercifully
as opposed to Ground which they do here from time to time) and an
entrance on the Terrace (Floor 4.) I have been taking the stair
challenge this month and avoiding the elevators at all cost. To enter
my building from Lampton means I have to walk up three additional
flights of stairs where as if I walk around the street I can enter
from The Terrace and only walk up two flights. It has the added
benefit of walking outside which is usually cooler than the building
itself, and a gradual slope is easier on the legs than the stairs.

Well today at lunch when I went for a short walk I was coming back
from the south end of Lambton Quay, and instead of walking around the
block which means going north of my building and doubling back I
thought I would take one of the passageways between the two streets.
Finding the outside stairwell I walked up 71 steps (two at a time) to
get to The Terrace. I then went to my building and walked up 38 steps
(two at a time again) and made it to my floor.

I would like to say I didn't even realize that I walked up 109 steps
upon landing on the 6th floor. But that would be not quite right, I
counted each and every step and I was, well not heaving, but breathing
heavily and glad to be done with the climb.

As I contrast this 109 stair event (okay a three minute breather where I

S..L..O..W..L..Y walked to my building) with one of my first stairway

encounters in Wellington I realize that this move has definitely been a

good for my health.

-----------------------------------------------
Tom Weber
Wellington, New Zealand

+64.220.576.376
www.stratd.blogspot.com

Day 2 - The Rock Garden

Now if you were going to name a ski field would you choose "The Rock Garden." As that is more than likely not a situation you would find yourself in how about this question instead. If you were a beginner skier would you choose to try out your new found skills in "The Rock Garden?"

In case your wondering I would answer yes to both. For when I was in the ski lift over "The Rock Garden" I understood why it was named thusly and panicked. Being about 100' over the rock garden gave me a wonderful perspective on those boulders that the little dots were moving around and caused me so much angst and vertigo I couldn't get the camera out of my pocket to snap a few shots for you.

Suffice it to say that "The Rock Garden" is beyond my limited skiing ability. In fact getting off the ski lift at the lofty height of "The Rock Garden" was beyond my limited skiing ability. I ignobly fell off the lift chair, ducked the chair behind me and while still on my knees begged the operator to let me take the next chair down. As I stood up I did compose myself and presented a choice to them. Either send me down to my death on skis or a put me in a chair and avoid all the fuss. I am glad to say that I got the ride.

On the way down I thought about taking a picture of the little dots circling the rocks and as I lived through the ride up the mountain I figured I would live through the ride down the mountain so fear was not all consuming. However I had my skis in my hands and thought that dropping them on one of the little dots would be in bad form so I simply enjoyed the view of the plains running to the Tasman sea, the houses built into the side of the mountain and wondered how I was ever going to get off the ski lift at the bottom.

I am happy to report that I was able to get off the lift as my skis were not attached to those boots. So I spryly got off the chair and was promptly lectured by the operator at the bottom on how to ski down "The Rock Garden." Like I was going to go back up there!

So I made my way back to Happy Valley where the hills are the size of a bunny, and the skiing is safe (except for the sheer drop at the end of the valley just after you get on the chair lift.)

One last thought the reason why I thought I could give "The Rock Garden" a go is that it was the next slope moving up in difficulty from Happy Valley.

Day 1 - The Meadow

We went skiing at the Meadow which is, as near as I can tell, the smallest and easiest field in all of Mount Ruapehu. I gave up after about four hours with my feet in those sadistic boots designed to make you lean forward 15 degrees. Which of course meant I had enough time to get a cup of coffee and then take some pictures. Here is Chris sking down the Meadow...

Dennis on a snowboard

Dennis had a ball on in the snow. He even got a private snowboarding lesson as all the other beginners choose to eat over lunch as oppose to take their lesson like the three of us did.

Sitting around

NZ take on Soccer

Turn back the clock!

As the jokes says. "Welcome to New Zealand please remember to turn back your watch 20 years."

In the same vein Dennis was part of a production called "Turn back the clock." A play about life in small town New Zealand. This was his first real performance and he did great!

He had a few lines of his own, and picked up a couple from performance to performance when his peers were out at previous commitments.


It was hard work. He had four weeks of practice, with two of those during school holidays where he was at practice six hours a day.

There were four performances of the play. Chris and I went to the first dress rehearsal together. Chris went to the second performance, and I to the forth. It was fun to watch how the play improved from performance to performance and see the children's confidence increase.

A great show it was!

Kiwi's

Yesterday my cell phone started to fail. Could no longer recieve text messages and if you lived down here you would know just how bad that is.

So I walked into the store that I purchased the phone (owned by a mate I may add) and as my friend was in his office door closed on the phone I walked in and spoke with the staff. I explained the problem and they spent 20 minutes getting it all working again. I was quite pleased with their willingness to help and work through the problem.

Now as the owner was my friend I more or less expected that treatment. However when I got home I saw that this is typical.

Our refrigerator, which we had purchased used from a company in Lower Hutt that refurbishes such things, was not working right. It took us about a month to figure out that something was wrong with it at which time we called the company we purchased it from, and we called them again, and again ... spoke with someone ... nothing ... then called again and again ... then the manager came by the house one day (Saturday prior to the big soup I recall because I was kneading bread when he arrived.) The manager took five minutes to tell us it is more than simply replacing the gasket we need a new fridge as this one is not working right at all. Then he left with an apology for not getting back to us sooner.

Then we heard nothing until today, well yesterday but Chris didn't tell me.

A new refrigerator showed up. 100% money back on the other one we had purchased just paying the difference as Chris wanted a bigger one now that she has had three months living with her first choice. :)

There you have it my experience of Kiwi's. They are good for their word, no reason to put it in writing their yes means yes, their no means no. I remember choosing not to ask for it in writing, to trust him. As my upbringing in the states makes me want to get it in writing. I didn't do that am am very happy that I came across as one who went with the flow and trusted.

At the end, after waiting two months for the new refrigerator when the old one was no longer under warranty, it was done with a smile.

Old friends

Today I got together for a coffee with an old friend Chris from the Ministry of Health ...

Has anyone else noted the irony in that? Only been here two years now ...

Chris and I meet at a training session for Managers in the Civil Service about NZ Law (note word 'Law' not something mamby-pamby such as 'rules and regulations') for purchasing goods and services. That was the Wednesday of my second week at Health, so 30 April 2008 I met Chris.

Now he is an old friend. I was musing on that as I made way home today and saw all the familiar sites and sounds of Wellington this new city is no longer new. My new friends are no longer new. I am making the transition to home here.

Chris is still at the Ministry of Health, which is going through yet another restructure, this time Chris is 'affected.' (for those with a short memory, or recent readers of my blog, this means Chris is out the door soon unless he can land another role.)

I feel for him having been there very recently. And more importantly I feel for him as Chris was one of the few guys who made a point to stick with me as I made my transition from Health last year about this time. He has been a real friend for me, I hope I can do half as much for him.

I started by shouting the coffee.

Late

Well it is late here in New Zealand. I am very very tired after a long weekend. After Dennis Soccer Game Saturday morning in the rain I spent the rest of the day hanging around the house with him. We played a few games together but mostly I found myself cleaning things up and getting all those typical weekend chores done, including ironing (I hate ironing.)

I had to pack everything in on Saturday as I was at Tae Kwon Do for a good six hours today, Sunday. I had a pre-grading practice in the morning and my red belt grading in the afternoon. Boy was today ever hard. Five 2 minute sparing rounds do take the wind out of you. Not to mention having to roll-dive over some unfortunate kid (he was shaking as I was running towards him.) Forms galore, power tests, self-defense, and pre-arranged sparing. Oh my it was a workout.

I also baked two batches of sourdough bread this weekend, made dinner both nights. Grilled a Chicken Saturday, and made Pizza today both were good if I do say so myself. And I made breakfast today, sourdough pancakes (they are the best I have ever tasted - I am liking my sourdough starter.)

So now the house is clean, movies have been watched, bread has been baked, and the kitchen is a mess for my wife to deal with in the morning.

I am going to bed. Have to get up and mosey into the client bright and early in the morning.

Maybe we will post some pictures on the blog again soon. I think our camera broke when my wife tried to take a picture of me sparing this afternoon. Probably just as well as there is now no evidence of the event!

Fourth of July

Dennis and I went to Island Bay on the 4th of July. We had some time to kill between Church and going over to a friends house. I thought that Dennis would like to through some stones into the ocean and I wanted to see the snow topped mountains on the South Island. So off we headed South!

The trip to the southern shores of the North island took a wee bit longer than planned (mostly because I made a wrong turn.) So I got out of the car at Island bay.

You can see above why it is called island bay, there is a wonderfully small island, this picture does not do it justice at all. This being wellington I ran into Stuart Marshall, someone who use to work for me at the Ministry of Health. Stuart and I chatted for a while and Dennis finally asked me if I was going to stand there and talk, or go with him. (A very forward question but handled quite well.) I asked Dennis what we would do and without hesitation he said.

Make a SAND CASTLE!

So we did.

That last picture I gave my little cell phone camera to a passer-by. And after this wonderful picture was taken I retrieved the phone only to find out by the daughter of the photographer that this picture was taken by a professional photographer.

Only in New Zealand!

Auckland

I went to Auckland this past week for a couple of days. The trip was chocker full of work and I did not get out to see the city at all. It was airport-cab-office-cab-hotel-cab-office-cab-airport.

I really enjoyed the flight home. My seat was taken by Patrick which was find by me as I was able to take the isle seat (so much better than a window.) The good new is that this started a conversation which lasted the entire flight home. Patrick is an English immigrant who has been here five years longer than me. We compared notes about culture and ended up on the topic of home ownership where we compared and contrasted customs in three countries. Quite the interesting conversation.

This particular flight had the added benefit of a couple of amazing flight attendants even by New Zealand standards. I generally are impressed with how personable people in are here in general, flight attendants in particular, but these two were just great. They had me laughing throughout the flight, I suppose it helped that I was sitting in the front row and talked to them a bit more than the average.

Here they making everyone's trip more enjoyable during takeoff.

Rose Garden

On Friday we, the family, got together for lunch at the Botanical Gardens. As you may remember our first home was quite close to the gardens and we spent quite a bit of time there. For Chris and Dennis this was a drive back to the old neighborhood. For me this was a short walk, Kilometer, up Bolton street.

The Botanical Gardens are at the corner of Bolton, Salamanca and Wesley Roads. My client is in Pastoral House top of the The Terrace at Bolton St.

Go ahead and use Google Maps to find above intersection, and then see the quick walk I had. Alas the deception that is Wellington! Here is the view of the harbor from a well bit up the hill from the same location.

You can see Pastoral House, the white building directly at the bottom of the street. The one with the water over the top, in case you are wondering the one that is about 20 stories tall. I took a walk up the hill

Rose Garden - 2

But it was certainly worth the walk. Lets face it nothing is better than the beautiful rose garden. Unless it is enjoying a meal with your family in the garden!

Oriental Parade early in the morning

I generally ride the train downtown in the mornings, and take the bus home in the evenings.

Wellington Metro trains are so very old. Yesterday on my way into town (ironically on the bus - long story) I was talking to a long time wellintonian about the arrival of new cars on the Johnsonville line (my line) I was wondering why they were replacing perfectly serviceable trains abet old.

He informed me that recently Kiwi Rail approached a local museum to offer to refurbish one of their cars on display.

Of course there is a catch.

They needed to put the car in service for a few years as there is a shortage of cars and spare parts to operate them.

The museum piece was too tempting to pass up all its spare parts laying there unused for 20 years or so.

New cars are on the way they are wider but I expect still will not have any leg room.