Busy, busy, busy

I can't believe it's been nearly a fortnight since we last posted to our blog. It seems like only a few days ago. The reason time has been flying past is probably because we've been so very busy.

We've finished decorating the sitting room at last, but we won't be posting any 'after' photos until our new carpet has been laid (another two weeks to wait). It looks as if carpet layer would be a good choice of career path for anyone coming over to New Zealand - they seem to be fully booked about a month in advance.

Last weekend we met up with Liz, an ex-colleague of mine from Repton Primary School, and her husband Pat. They've recently retired and are spending six weeks touring around New Zealand. Wanganui was on their itinerary, so we met up. We went for an evening Jazz cruise on the paddlesteamer Waimarie and then for a meal at the Stellar restaurant. We had a very enjoyable evening. Liz and Pat were carrying on to Wellington, and from there they were taking the ferry to South Island. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos of their trip, especially of 'dahn sahth' - it's a trip we're hoping to take at the next opportunity.

On our hectic social calendar for Tuesday was the world premiere of the film The River Queen, which was filmed on the Whanganui River. Seeing as this will probably be the only time that Wanganui will ever host a world premiere, we were going to go along, but it was absolutely tipping it down with rain, so we gave it a miss. We didn't really fancy spending two hours getting soaked, when the only 'stars' to be seen were a few members of the local Maori iwi (tribe) who had been extras in the film, and the NZ Prime Minister.

To read a report of the premiere, click here:
River Queen Premiere Report

For the film trailer, click here:
River Queen trailer

We haven't been to see the film yet, but we're planning on going tomorrow night. It's had mixed reviews so far, so we'll let you know what we think.

Last week was Iain's first week of lectures, and apart from being nervous on the first day, he's settled in well, and is finding it much less stressful than teaching.

The cats are now twelve weeks old. I took them for their first injections this week, and they will soon be ready to go outside. They don't do microchip tagging here, so I decided to try collars and tags, despite my previous aversion to them (collars are for dogs, not for cats). I've been pleasantly surprised by how well they've coped with wearing them - Pookie went a bit mental for a few hours, trying to bite hers off, but they both seem to be used to them now. To get them accustomed to going outside, we've let them into the garden for a few minutes every day this week (closely supervised, to prevent them running off and getting lost in the jungle above the house). They seem to have enjoyed the experience so far, but are much more wary than I thought they would be. They've been moving very slowly, sniffing every square centimetre of the patio, and staying close to us and each other.

Yesterday we went to a barbecue at Iain's boss's house. It was very pleasant. Plenty of good company and lots of great food, but it was very hot, and despite sitting in the shade all the time, I think I must have got a touch of heat stroke, because when we got home I had to spend the rest of the day lying down in front of a fan.

When we went out today I wore my sunhat, and I refused to take it off, even when we were in the car. I might have looked like an eejit, but keeping the hat on seemed to do the trick. I spent hours and hours outside during the hottest part of the day, and I didn't wilt even a little bit.

One of the outdoor events we went to watch today was speed boat racing on the river. It was the time trials for the Hydroplane Grand Prix which is going to take place next weekend at a lake near Cambridge, Waikato, about five hours north of here. It was great fun to watch, and I even managed to get a few decent photos, which wasn't easy given the speeds some of the boats reach (up to 170 miles per hour along the straight).

a powerboat takes a corner on the 1km long circuit

Another place we visited today was the Gypsy Fair, which is a famous travellers' fair that travels all over the country during the spring and summer months. We love the caravans, almost all of which the owners built themselves. The 'open home' is definitely worth a look inside. It's unique and colourful, and much more spacious than you'd think.

open home, gypsy style

live music

I fancy doing a similar paint job on the RAV4...

...and something like this in my yoga room.

We've also been busy taking photos of Wanganui. We're building up an album of photos of the town. To view a slideshow of our Wanganui photos, click here:

Our Wanganui slideshow

Phew, we have been busy, haven't we?

Next week we're going walking with the tramping (ramblers') club, and at the weekend we're going on a jet boat and canoe trip on the river. We'll try to remember to take the camera with us.

Kiwi Quirks No. 1: bare feet

I've decided to start an occasional series detailing some aspects of life in New Zealand that are uniquely 'Kiwi'. To kick off with, (pardon the pun) I'll start with bare feet.

In the UK, if you go out of the house, you wear shoes. Bare feet are okay in your own home and garden and on the beach, but going barefoot anywhere else is not socially acceptable. If you do, people are likely to assume you are a vagrant or a nutter, or quite possibly both. Barefoot people get given dirty looks and a wide berth.

In New Zealand, on the other hand, going barefoot is neither a sign of abject poverty nor of being mentally unhinged, it's just another clothing option. Whatever the occasion, in any location, in any season, you'll see people of all ages and from all ethnic backgrounds walking around in bare feet.

When we first arrived in Auckland we were shocked to see whole families wandering around the streets of the central business district barefoot. I remember doing a double-take the first time I saw an elderly gent get out of the driver's seat of a car in bare feet. But plenty of people drive barefoot here. Iain has tried it, and reckons it's actually safer, because you can feel the pedals better, but I'm yet to be convinced.

At the school Iain taught at in Auckland, none of the kids had trainers as part of their PE kit. During games lessons and at break time they'd take their shoes off and play rugby and football barefoot. They'd then line up to wash their feet before they came inside.

Last week I saw a well-off elderly lady, hair newly set, wearing a smart blouse and skirt, pushing a shopping trolley through the car park in bare feet. And here's something else we've heard about but not yet seen for ourselves: apparently quite a few hikers go rambling barefoot, too. Ouch!

New Discoveries

Today was a fairly laid back sort of day. Helen had to spend a few hours writing to hit a deadline in the UK, so I got on with a bit of decorating. So far so average. Then we headed out for the afternoon to find some new places nearby.

First stop the Wanganui Botanical Gardens. A very pleasant place to spend an afternoon, must return with a picnic and a good book to read! Then we went to a nature reserve just around the corner for a quick bush walk and a stroll around the lake, finally we went in search of a new beach.

Now so far we've not found anywhere that quite matches the west coast beaches of Auckland, the beach in town is in an area called Castlecliff and is a bit manky. It's fairly industrial and is what the estate agent called "up and coming" i.e. It's a dump. So when we went to the beach there we weren't expecting much, and it lived up to expectations! However it's a very long beach, so today we took a drive a few kms further along and had a look there. Wow! What a spot! Much better, pretty much deserted except for a few fishermen on quad bikes, and absolutely stunning scenery. I couldn't believe all the locals crowd around the grotty end of the beach instead of heading a few kms further up. Their loss - we had the place pretty much to ourselves and it was a gloriously hot Saturday afternoon. Supposed to be a good spot for surfing, but I don't think the world is quite ready for "Iain the Surf Dude" just yet, so I resorted to my Englishman abroad stereotype, rolled my trousers up and went for a paddle instead!

Tonight we're having a barbie and then taking a stroll through the park into town to make sure the local beer doesn't get past it's sell by date. Sweet as, bro, sweet as! (As they say in Kiwi land)

Views of Wanganui

The other day we went up the Durie Hill War Memorial Tower,

Durie Hill War Memorial Tower

a popular viewpoint overlooking the town. It has 176 steps, which is more than it sounds (or maybe middle age is finally catching up with us!).

From the top of the tower you're supposed to be able to see Mount Taranaki

photo of Mount Taranaki downloaded from the web

about sixty miles to the west, and Mount Ruapehu

photo of Mount Ruapheu downloaded from the web

about 50 miles to the north.

However, when we went up, the lower slopes of Mount Ruapehu were just about visible with the rest covered in heavy cloud, and we couldn't see Mount Taranaki at all. Mind you, that's hardly surprising. We drove around the base of the mountain a few months ago and we didn't get to see it then either!

We did get a couple of shots of the town, though, so we thought we'd post them on here.


The shot above shows the view downriver looking towards the Tasman Sea. The racecourse is just about visible on the other side of the river, and the big building with the orange facade is our home away from home, Mitre 10.


This shot is looking upriver. You can just see the paddlesteamer the Waimarie docked on the left-hand bank. The green swathe just past it on the right is one of the town parks, which is only a five-minute stroll from our house.

It's a grey, wet day here today, but the next fine day we get, we're planning on taking some more photos of the town, this time from ground level.

New Job

After finishing my contract in Auckland at the end of December, I thought I'd better get a new job in Wanganui. It just so happened that on the day I moved down I noticed a newspaper ad for a college tutor for Teaching Aides (Learning Support Assistants in the UK), so I applied. Just found out I've got the job, which is pretty cool. That's 2 interviews so far in NZ, and 2 jobs!

It seems like a really good set up. It's a government funded private college which specialises in "second chance" learning. Small organisation, very friendly but also very professional and committed to helping people who failed at school first time around.

You'll be pleased to note that I won't be straining myself too much, Wednesday-Friday I start at 1 and finish at 3. Monday and Tuesday are a full day slog though (well, until 3 anyway) but that's because they include 5 hours of non-contact planning time!!! 20 hours a week in total. This should give me enough time to do some more studying through the NZ equivalent of the Open Uni - just got to decide what to do now. Child Psychology looks like a good bet at the moment and may open up a few more career options in the longer term.

Right at the moment, life is looking pretty rosy from where I'm sitting. Wanganui is turning out to be a fantastic place to live and this job is just what I was looking for - a move out of primary teaching, but still making use of my experience and qualifications. Just got to finish the decorating, and all will be right with the world :)

A strange place to sleep

Cats Sleep Anywhere

Cats sleep anywhere, any table, any chair.
Top of piano, window-ledge, in the middle, on the edge.
Open drawer, empty shoe, anybody's lap will do.
Fitted in a cardboard box, in the cupboard with your frocks.
Anywhere! They don't care! Cats sleep anywhere.

Eleanor Farjeon

Pookie attempts to prove Eleanor Farjeon correct

On waking

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning.


I think it's safe to say the cats have settled in!

In the decorating doldrums

That's a real log fire

Coffee table? It's a footrest.

We've spent a fair bit of time decorating our living room over the last couple of days (and even more time avoiding decorating it.) These photos show what it was like before we started decorating. Not too bad really, except for the fact that the wallpaper is brown (our least favourite colour) and the paintwork's in a pretty bad way. We decided to tackle this room first because a) we spend a fair amount of time there, b) it'll nice to have a pleasant living room for when we have visitors, and c) it's the only room for which we've got all the furniture we need, so it's the only room that stands a chance of actually looking good!

After sanding, washing down and other general preparation work yesterday, we started on the painting today. We didn't have a good time. The ceiling is 3.2 metres (about 12 foot) high, and has a raised grid pattern. The paint roller on a long pole just made a drippy, uneven mess, so Iain had to get up a ladder and use a brush. It took him absolutely ages and the finished result was almost as bad as it had been with the roller. We'd bought Dulux ceiling paint because we thought it would be like the Dulux ceiling paint in the UK - very good coverage, and nice and thick to reduce runs and splashes. We were wrong. It was thin and watery, it splattered everywhere, and hardly covered anything at all. We really were arcehtypal whingeing poms today, I can tell you. Iain was doing a very good impression of Victor Meldrew.

We went to the pub quiz to get away from the smell of paint fumes and cat poo and won a prize of a thirty dollar bar tab valid during next week's quiz. So if you're in Wanganui next Wednesday night, we'll buy you a drink!

Happy New Year

I think I ought to warn you in advance that this post may be a bit odd as I have had a glass of wine. As you may already know, I only rarely drink alcohol and consequently it doesn't take much of it to affect me quite profoundly.

Well, it's late evening on New Year's Day and we've spent a fair chunk of the day making a start on decorating our living room. I've taken some 'before' photos, so I'll post them up once we've got some 'after' photos to compare them with. We lifted up the corner of the carpet the other day and found out that the floor of the living room has the original hardwood floorboards (we think they're oak), so we'd planned on spending the day scraping the old, perished underlay off them before sanding them down. Unfortunately, when we took the whole of the carpet up we found large patched areas in pine and chipboard, so we've abandoned our plan to restore the original floor. As the floorbords are very uneven, we won't be able to lay wooden or laminate flooring on top, so we'll have to make do with carpet (not a popular option). Never mind, at least if we get a carpet, it'll mean less work for us, as we can get someone else to lay it! We've sanded down all the paintwork and now we're ready to make a start on the painting tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to painting the ceiling, as the room is 3.2 metres high.

Last night we went out to the local Irish bar, Rosie O'Grady's, to celebrate the New Year. Considering that we've only just moved here and so don't know anyone yet, we had a surprisingly good evening. We got talking to a local primary teacher whose friend was buying everyone drinks because he was part of a syndicate who owned a horse which had won a race at 29 to 1. We also spent quite a while chatting to a very nice couple from Durban in South Africa who emigrated to New Zealand a couple of months ago.

New Year's Eve is a bit surreal, isn't it? I've never felt entirely comfortable with the New Year's celebrations. The way humans chop up time into organised chunks, as if by doing this they could somehow control it, seems bizarre sometimes. This feeling is most intense at New Year. The counting down to midnight, which in reality is just another moment passing, seems arbitrary at best, but I suppose we need rituals like this in order to give life a semblance of the meaning and order that we crave.

Right, that's quite enough philosophising for one evening. I'm off to bed.

Four photos

I'm posting four photos which I've taken over the last couple of days, chronicling our current preoccupations (some might say obsessions.)

1. Cats

At last, we've got a decent photo of both kittens together. This wasn't easy. Thank goodness for digital cameras, otherwise I'd have run through at least ten rolls of film on kitten shots already!

Pookie (l) and Mo (r)

2. DIY

We've been stocking up on tools, decorating supplies and gardening equipment from the local DIY megastore, Mitre 10. We must have made about a dozen visits in the last week. I'm not joking - most days we've made more than one trip. It's starting to get embarrassing!

The frantic buyout of Mitre 10 is partly due to our decision to start decorating the living room tomorrow, and partly due to Iain's decision to follow in his dad's footsteps and take up woodworking. To this end he made himself a workbench yesterday. Here he is, putting in the final screws. I'm impressed.

He Did It Himself!

3. Exploring the local area

We think we might have found a beach to replace Whatipu in our affections. It's called Ototoka and is about half an hour's drive west of the city. It has a wild, windswept charm with fine, black sand, lots of driftwood, sandstone cliffs and even a waterfall.

Ototoka Beach

Virginia Lake Park is a beautiful area of mature parkland in the upmarket suburb of St. John's Hill. It's easy to imagine Victorian ladies with their parasols taking a leisurely walk around the paths and feeding the ancestors of the current ducks. I decided to take my shoes off and dangle my feet in the lake, unaware that I was sitting in duck pooh. Oh well, with two kittens to look after, my life seems to involve rather a lot of pooh at the moment!

Virginia Lake, Wanganui

Cemetery Race

Super Moto Race

It's Boxing Day in Wanganui, so it must be time for a bike race! Every year folks come from all over the place (including someone from the UK) to ride around the Cemetery circuit, a street circuit which goes through the middle of the town cemetery. It was great fun, if a tad warm, and to follow it up there's a rock concert in the local stadium.

Sidecars in the Cemetery!

Big boys toys!

Christmas Day

Primitive Kiwi bloke discovers fire

The weather's been a bit grey and overcast here today, but we went ahead and christened our barbecue anyway.

This morning one of our neighbours called round bearing a card and a fruit cake, which was a really lovely gesture. The cake's pretty lovely too!

After lunch we went for a two-hour walk along the river and around the town, and since then we've just spent some time chilling out and sitting down with our feet up, something we've done precious little of in the last few weeks.

We've given ourselves an enforced day off today, but it will be good to get back to 'work' tomorrow, on our continuing quest to get the house shipshape. Jobs we've pencilled in for tomorrow are sorting both our our hobby rooms and buying some essential gardening equipment. We're also planning on trying to catch the boxing day 'Cemetery Circuit' motorbike race, even though we don't know when it starts. The whole town is closed to traffic and they race through the streets which surround the local cemetery. Sounds fun!

Helen & Iain

An eventful trip

After lunch today we set off for a forty-minute 'pleasure drive' to the edge of Wanganui National Park. When we'd gone as far as we wanted to we had a bit of a leg stretch, took a few pictures, including the one above, and set off back home. A typical day out for a pair of 'old duffers' in training.

However, about ten minutes down the road, we came across this. A landslide, which must have happened some time in the previous twenty minutes, had made the road impassable.

We eventually got back home four and a half hours later! The diversion wasn't all bad, though. We got to see some beautiful countryside we'd never seen before, including this stunning view of Mount Ruapehu (in the foreground) and Mount Ngauruhoe (the conical mountain in the background). Yes, they are both volcanoes! Mount Ngauruhoe stood in for Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.



We also discovered a great cafe called Angel Louise in Raetihi, about an hour and a quarter from Wanganui, where we had a very enjoyable evening meal. Iain plumped for the venison burger, while I had corn beef and kumara (sweet potato) cottage pie.

I started to worry about the kittens as we'd been away so long, but they were absolutely fine. Life's okay as long as you have a playmate, a litter tray and a bowl of food!

More moggie pics

It's only day two of cat cohabitation, but already their distinct personalities are becoming apparent.

Mo

Mo is very laid back and soon discovered the laundry basket, where she's been asleep for most of the day.

Pookie

Pookie is very lively and inquisitive. If she's awake, she's moving. This is the only photo I got of her today that was in focus!

I'll try to find the time to put up a 'proper' (i.e. not totally cat-obsessed) post tomorrow.

Our new kittens

Pookie practises her pounce.

Mo's not that keen on being picked up.

Mo, aspiring Curtaineer

We visited the SPCA today and we couldn't believe our luck - they had exactly what we were looking for - a pair of 7 week old female kittens from the same litter!

We rushed out to buy catty supplies and then rushed back to collect them and take them home. We've named them Pookie and Mo.

The woman at the shelter said for the first few days they will need to be kept in an enclosed space, so we've put them in the sleepout, which is where we're storing all our cardboard boxes from the move. They've been in kitty heaven, chasing each other in, on, around and under the boxes.

We've had a go at taking some photos, but the kittens have been pretty tricky to keep up with!
Will post more tomorrow.
I probably shan't sleep very well tonight - I'm too excited!

Getting sorted

getting ready to unpack the van in Wanganui

I had planned to take a photo with both van doors open, but everything was balanced so precariously, Iain daren't open the second door without my assistance. I had to lean heavily against the bike to hold it in place while Iain extricated the stuff around it. To make things more interesting, it started to rain moments after this photo was taken.

We had to leave quite a lot of things behind in Auckland for Iain to bring in the car when he comes home on Wednesday because we just couldn't shoehorn anything else into the van. We began to wonder how we've acquired so much stuff, (especially since we arrived in New Zealand with just two rucksacks each!) but we haven't really got that much - it's just that when we've moved house before we've done at least two or three trips back and forth - this time, with an eight hour journey, that option just wasn't practical.

I've spent the last few days getting the house as sorted as possible, and I'm pleased to say I've felt really relaxed and at home here - even though I've been on my own, which I don't like much, and the place has been in a muddle. The only thing that I'm still adjusting to is the toilet being located in the lean-to next to the kitchen. I keep going into the bathroom when I need the loo - I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.

Because it's a single storey building, like most Kiwi houses, and I like to sleep with the window open, one of the first items on our list when Iain and I go to the DIY place on Thursday is window locks. In the meantime I'm taking my chances on getting burgled! Actually, this morning I was woken at 7 am by a banging sound coming from the bedroom window. I thought a burglar was trying to force his way in, so I took a big breath and opened the curtain, ready to confront some spotty yoof planning to make off with the non-existent telly, and came face to face with...the black kitten from across the road. What a great way to be woken up! We had a chat and a cuddle and she had a bit of a purr, and then I sent her on her way. We've met a couple of times before, but she's been too scared to say hello, so I'm glad we've made friends now. Hopefully we'll soon have a couple of cats of our own that she can make friends with.

The end of a long day

This post is going to be short and probably not very coherent. It's ten past eleven at night and we've just done the move to Wanganui. We hired a van and were our own removal men, which was hard work, but with the help of a sack truck which we bought from the local DIY store, we managed to do it without hospitalising ourselves, which has got to be a bonus. The van was absolutely jam packed - I've taken a photo which I'll post up here tomorrow (or whenever I get a spare minute in the next couple of days).

It took us six hours to load the van up last night, and eight hours to drive down today. We got a bit of a fright about three quarters of the way here when the van started skidding - we would have gone off the road and careered through a barrier and down a hillside if Iain hadn't managed to get the vehicle back under control. We think it was a combination of the steep downward slope, the poor road surface, the wet weather and the heavily laden truck that caused the skid - we virtually crawled the rest of the way. It really put the wind up us.

Having taken six hours to load, it only took two and a half to unload the van, which was a relief. When Iain looked inside our letter box (an external one like they all are here) he found a lot of post (thanks to everyone who sent us a Christmas card by the way! ) and an ants' nest. Sorting that out is a job I'll have to tackle tomorrow. Iain's off first thing tomorrow morning to drive back to Auckland. He'll be camping out in the empty flat, which won't be much fun, but at least he'll have the telly and his computer. He's got three more days' teaching until the end of term, and then he'll be driving home on Wednesday evening.

I'll have to go now - the words are jumping around on the screen. I'm off to try to ease the knots from my aching muscles with some gentle yoga before collapsing into bed. Good night all.

Pohutukawa Festival

This is a Pohutukawa tree. AKA the New Zealand Christmas tree. It blooms, rather spectacularly, around about mid December and in order to celebrate the fact, the good people (hippies) of Whitianga hold a festival.

Carin & Jim won a weekend away, complete with tickets to the Pohutukawa festival, and invited us along. Pretty cool eh? We stayed in a beachside bach just outside the village and had a jolly time at the event, which was a combined food & wine show and a folk concert with the kiwi band Goldenhorse headlining. It was boiling hot, suitable amounts of food and alcohol were consumed and a generally relaxing time was had by all. The Coromandel is a beautiful spot, lots of golden beaches and stunning bush covered hills as a backdrop.

Goldenhorse on stage

Back to work today however - 1 week to go and we've started the packing. We're hoping to move all our stuff to the new house at the weekend, then I'll head back to AKL on my own for the last 3 days of work.

New concept in diet foods

I noticed these discarded items at the checkout of our local supermarket.
I've heard of portion control, but this is taking it a bit far...

Morning surprise

We woke up this morning to discover a stick insect hanging off Iain's bedside table.

Our unusual overnight visitor reminded us that we're living in one of the few remaining areas of temperate rainforest in the world.