It seems that people don't feel the cold here as much as we do in Wales despite having somewhat similar climates in winter. We were driving down the road a couple of weeks ago after work (so it was after 5pm) and the wind was howling, there was rain on the floor - if not falling from the sky - and we drive past a guy walking his dog....all normal so far. However, this guy was wearing shorts...not just shorts but SHORT shorts - as if he didn't realise it was winter / cold / July (in New Zealand!) People wear board shorts and flip flops (they find it hilarious when I call them flip flops over here, they're called jandals locally) all year round, even in the frost. It's extremely positive thinking to be fair, I always thought I was a positive person but in comparison I'm not even in the same league.
Talking of the weather, we finally had snow last week - hurrah! It happened a week last Thursday morning and although it was too wet on the floor for it to stick it was just beautiful to see. A few of the roads into Invercargill were closed due to the snow and this caused some issues re: delivery of bread in work but we powered through with wraps and ciabatta and paninis and so on, panic not. After Queenstown not being able to open their ski slopes due to a lack of snow they actually had to close some slopes last week due to too much snow!! One particular report on the news stated that their snow levels had increased from 60cm to 1.4 metres so that is some substantial snowfall! On the topic of Queenstown I have finally gotten round to uploading our video of the snow-free Queenstown mountains during Winter Fest. If you're interested in taking a look (it's only about half a minute in length) then please do at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzvoDMbn6I
Britain was in the news here last week - not just for the whole Murdoch scandal - for the baby naming of the Beckham's new daughter. Gave me an idea...if we decide to actually have kids I might name it after my favourite British mag...yep, Take A Break Thomas does have a certain ring to it ;-)
A week last Sunday we went for a meal with a guy who works with the OH (Other Half) and his girlfriend. We went out to Otatara for a meal at The Cabbage Tree. The restaurant is really lovely and has THE BIGGEST menu I have ever seen - pages and pages of it. If you feel so inclined then take a look at their menu online - seriously they have 13 menus to choose from online!! Admittedly it's not THAT intense in the actual restaurant but there is a lot of choice. The meals were as HUGE as the menu! I had calamari to start - had to just eat the squid and leave the beautiful looking salad as it would have filled me up completely. Then for my main meal I had the fish burger - again, absolutely massive! I had to leave the ginormous bun and just eat the fish and the salad. The food was absolutely gorgeous (as was their pinot gris) and if you're ever in the area you should definitely go there - super recommendation :o)
Something that is blatantly different here to in the UK is at the supermarket: you never pack your own bags - the checkout person does it all for you as they scan. But that's not the huge difference...here the checkout person actually TALKS TO YOU. I know - it's a real novelty. They ask you how you are - but not just as a token gesture - they ask what your plans are for the day / night / weekend and then talk to you about your plans. If you're going anywhere they'll offer you suggestions of places to visit. It's all very lovely, provided you're in the mood for a nice chat after just leaving work...
The kiwis are also very keen on making things themselves. The other day I was talking to someone about my 1st week in NZ - before I was working at the cafe - and about being bored: there's only so much hoovering (read: Mahjong Titans) you can do in one day, and so on. Then the conversation went like this:
Kiwi lady: "Yes, it would be OK if you were living in your own home at least"
Me: "Hm, at least then I could spend the time doing something constructive....maybe decorate or something [clutching at straws]..."
Kiwi lady: "Yes - you can't really make bed clothes or curtains for a home that you're renting"
Me: "[stunned] yeah....."
MAKING BEDDING AND CURTAINS?! Wow, I really need to up my game.
Getting used to being in town and in a new home - last week we were planning on watching a DVD but noticed that the DVD player was set on the timer to record something on TV. Eventually - after much confusion - we found the information regarding what channel it was recording and how long it would record for...2 hours. So we decided we'd put the DVD on when it finished recording so that we didn't disturb the recording for the owners of the house. This meant that we couldn't watch the DVD until 10:30pm which is quite late on a Friday for putting on a 2 hour film but we waited, and waited, and waited. Then eventually half past ten came and it stopped recording. So we ejected the DVD to put the rental in and the DVD tray was empty...after much more confusion we realised it had been recording to the hard drive all along and thus we could have watched the DVD earlier...Grr
I had a lovely start to my weekend last weekend. First off I celebrated the fact that it was Friday by polishing off a heated brownie with yogurt after lunch from work. It was absolutely amazing! Chocolate and raspberry brownie - my 1st ever (!)....mmm mmm mmm. Then Friday night the OH went out and I was going to go into town but instead I stayed at home with some fish n chips, a bottle of shiraz cabernet and my good friend YouTube. After looking up the usual: cute kittens; horses; Adele; laughing babies, etc etc I decided to move onto Welsh themes. This was somewhat prompted by Doctor Who being filmed in Cardiff Bay and hearing the beloved Welsh accent on the TV. I started with a commendable Newport Ymerodraeth State of Mind - if you haven't seen it then you must! Followed by a 'male voice choir' search and the Welsh national anthem (I had started to spiral at this point). So I then felt inspired to make some Welsh cakes for the 1st time in my life. I ate one while they were still warm and I must say the wine definitely improved my baking skills as they were delicious! A little taste of home....albeit made from New Zealand butter, New Zealand flour, New Zealand raisins and New Zealand egg. Still - divine :o)
I have made them once more since then and my 2nd attempt was not quite so successful. I had been cooking with chillies earlier on and couldn't get rid of the chilli from my hands (they're v strong here!) so I inadvertently had Welsh cakes with a hint of chilli. I took some into work and Kate asked 'do they have chilli in them?' so I had to come clean and admit that they're not supposed to - but they were a hit nonetheless. They liked them in work but they also abused the humble Welsh cake...they put creme fraiche / cream cheese on them!! Ach y fi!
Saturday we went down to Bluff which is only 20 mins away from us and it's the Southern-most town in NZ - right on the tip of the country. You see lots of signs in shop windows advertising the fact that they sell 'Bluff oysters' so it was nice to go there and take a walk around. We walked up to the Gun Pit which was really interesting and had absolutely breathtaking views across the ocean. It would be amazing to go there in a storm and watch the sea in all its glory crashing up against the rocks. You can also see Stewart Island from Bluff and we plan to visit that sometime soon for an over nighter. On Sunday we ventured into Dunedin - a student city (due to the university there) about 2 hours away from us. So many people had told me how grey it is and I'd never been - the OH had been briefly when he was here in November - so off we went. It was an absolutely glorious day - blue skies and sun shining - and the city looked lovely. I think your impression of many places is dependent on the weather / season when you go there. Needless to say I liked it. Don't get me wrong, I felt a little old what with the majority of the population seemingly in their early twenties but it has some good shopping facilities and we had a great day.
Highlight of last week: Someone came into the cafe and told me I look a bit like Catherine Zeta-Jones. I don't look like her but it was a nice thing to hear nonetheless! Makes a change from being called Charlotte Church anyway.
This week has been much of a muchness, work was a little quieter at the beginning of the week (still not 'quiet' by anyones standards!) but more than made up for it on Thursday & Friday when my feet were aching by Thursday lunchtime...not a good sign. I went out on Wednesday evening with 3 other girls to a pub quiz at Invercargill Workingmens Club which was good fun. Now you guys at home will be thinking of Llanyravon Social Club or the Nalgo in Croesyceiliog when I say Workingmen's Club but it was far from it. It was a HUGE hall with a bar at the end of it. Absolutely gigantic. All the tables were set up like a bingo hall and there were 48 teams!! It was a one off fundraiser and each team had their own table. Us 4 called ourselves 'The Biggest Losers' (Thanks for that one Sarah!!) and although we didn't win we didn't do too badly either. It was quite a tough quiz with 5 rounds and the 1st question was 'name 3 consecutive days of the week without using the words Sunday, Wednesday or Friday' now don't ask me how I knew the answer but I did - it was 'yesterday, today and tomorrow' and it just came out of my mouth...amazing. So my team members thought they had a good quiz master in their midst....oh how disappointed they were as time went on. There was a whole section dedicated to The Who (seriously) and some really hard questions overall. Still, we stood our ground to some degree and didn't come last (unfortunately, as they actually won a prize!) which was a nice surprise. I also got the right answer when the question was 'in which area of London would you find the department store Harrods' (Knightsbridge) and we overheard another team saying 'where are all the poms??'. Last night (Friday) we watched the All Blacks vs. Fiji game with friends at their house. It was a good night and the All Blacks slammed Fiji but the commentator still felt the need to say "I expect Wales will be nervous after that performance by Fiji"...I think not. Talking of which I bought tickets to the Wales vs. Fiji game in the world cup for me and the OH for his birthday. Even though it's not his birthday until September I had to tell him as he would have found out via our bank statement!! Lol. Couldn't risk waiting because I had to book flights and accommodation too so it had to be done asap.
Today we have had a nice day out and about in Invercargill - we went to look at a house earlier on and then went car hunting. Took a lovely Subaru for a test drive and were very impressed by it (insert 'Impreza' pun here). I'll keep you posted on that one!
Hope all is good in God's land, I miss you all.
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