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