Part 10 - Happy Birthday Mum

We all remember the pop man don't we? The little pop van that used to peruse the streets when we were kids, selling bottles of Corona with pimpled glass at the top of the bottle...yes? With me? You remember...you used to get 10p back for every glass bottle returned to the pop man. Yes - you remember! Well...not in New Zealand apparently. We we running low on soft drinks so I innocently asked "when does the pop man come?" and hilarity ensued. The barista had no clue what I was talking about and continued to paraphrase me as the day went on - asking other members of staff "when's the pop man coming?" When he asked Kate, she too laughed. After being asked what pop is I was informed that it's just called soda here. So I said "oh, so you just say the soda man?" to which I was told, no, not really. When I probed - well what do you say then? I was told it's simply "when's the Coke man coming?"...well deary me, no pop man, no kitchen roll - whatever next?!

A couple of weeks ago the OH (Other Half) and I had a Saturday night out in Invercargill. We intended to go and see a band in a place called Tillerman's which was reopening. But we started off at a (very nice) bar called The Kiln and had a few drinks in there (cocktails 2 for 1 from 9pm - midnight...get in! Cosmos for me) and were surprised to see a police presence in there. I'm not entirely sure what they were doing in there - just being present I think. They were wandering from table to table and having nice little chats with the people who were out for the night. New for me to see, but good I guess. We then went on to Barluca for one drink...it's not really the OH's scene - it's quite RnB focussed with the majority of residents being under 25 so we didn't stay there long. All in all it was a lovely night though :o)

That night was full of other surprises as I wasn't ID'd for the 1st time since being here. It seems that just like in the UK I still don't look old enough to be drinking alcohol, despite turning 30 in less than a month (!). One bar even took it a step further as they wouldn't accept my UK driving license as proof of ID! It's all part of a new initiative as part of the Rugby World Cup...they won't be accepting any forms of ID other than passports or NZ driving licenses. It's not the best of plans I personally don't think...if all foreigners need to carry their passports around with them then I expect there will be several lost passports when it comes to flying home time. Still, there must be some method to this madness. It's just inspired me to change my driving license over sooner then I had intentioned!

We went to a fabulous 'Beat the Clock' sale the other week. Basically a large store opens one night from 6-9pm and has huge reductions on their stock for this time period only. They also have end of line items and last in stock for greatly reduced prices. We intended to go along and 'take a look' and came away with a new TV unit, a big table lamp, rechargeable batteries and a charger, a hairdryer and some in-ear iPod headphones. It was a very good result for us and for the store in question I think!

Last Friday we went back to Riverton for a night out with Tim as Bernie is away working. It was open mic night at The Globe and the owners were also leaving after many years of running the pub. It was a lovely night, lots of good bands (many of which we'd seen at the RSA when we were living in Riverton) and the night was only enhanced by a drunk guy at the end of the night deciding to put a stool over his entire body and promptly getting stuck in it. You know the chairs I'm talking about - a tall stool with 4 long wooden legs and a round seat at the top. One can only wonder why he decided it looked like a fashion accessory but he did nonetheless and left many people helpless with laughter as he tried to wriggle free. Some people managed to help him and eventually he freed himself but I for one couldn't stifle my giggles. It was hilarious...my friends Amy & Jo would have been beside themselves! I wish I had been quicker off the mark in getting my camera out and filming it as it would have been a HUGE hit on YouTube.

Two weeks ago the OH's work had their time trial for the Harrex Corporate Pursuit at the Velodrome. The fastest time was 1:16 and they came in at 1:21 so they made 1st division again (it's on YouTube if you're so inclined to take a look). Then last Sunday they had a full day at the Velodrome for the finals. There were over 200 riders in all and around 36 teams! The OH was reserve (as was I) but we didn't ride as they were doing so well! They came in 4th out of the whole lot and have made me determined to be on the winning team next year. It is such an adrenaline rush to be part of it - just being there was quite inspiring! After a few hours at the Velodrome I made my way back to the house as there were things I needed to get done in preparation for our move 3 days later. I also decided to go for my 1st run since being in NZ and it was an absolute delight! I mapped my run - only 3.5 miles - to ensure that I didn't get lost and I had a moment of indecisiveness as I selected my running partners: iPod - definitely; Asthma pump - definitely; then it was phone (I could ring the OH if I got lost / in any trouble / mauled by dogs) or map (I could find my way home if I got lost) and the map won hands down. So - armed with no phone I went out for my run. I have never fully appreciated how flat NZ is (where I live anyway!) - it was lovely and I felt very refreshed indeed. Later on we went to the Corporate Pursuit awards dinner which was nice and then it was back to work on Monday (the weekends go just as quickly over here as they do over there!)

This week we moved house to our final house sit. We are also looking after 2 cats - Charlie and Lucy - as part of our stay and they are just delightful. It's so nice to have cats again. The house is absolutely gorgeous and we have a Yunca fire (log burner) which keeps the house warm and cosy. It reminds me so much of staying at my nan's house when I was a child as mentioned in a previous blog post.

Today we have been car shopping and have found a potential (don't want to jinx it!) and house shopping (I bought Pyrex dishes, ergo I am old) then went to Pita Pit for lunch. I'm not sure if you get them in the UK - it's basically a SubWay but so much nicer. They have pita breads that look like naan breads and they slice it sideways so that it forms a pocket. Then they stuff it with whatever you choose from the menu (felafel is definitely my best). It is scrum-diddly-umptious.

It's Saturday night here and we have a long night planned - the All Blacks are currently playing the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations. The Haka was pretty intense and the game is the same (competition-wise it's like Wales playing England; skill-wise it's nothing like that). I am determined to learn the Haka by the time I come home in April...I might even do it at Jo & Jerry's wedding if they're lucky, that'll look lovely in my bridesmaid dress ;-) Then we're going to watch a film and then (speak of the devils) Wales play England at 1:30am our time so we're planning on staying up for that. We've got all the ingredients in to make Moscow Mules so I'm hoping that will keep me awake (the UK'ers know my track record....I'm no good past midnight if I'm at home!)

It's my mum's birthday in the UK so I'm sending her HUGE love, kisses and cwtches for her birthday! It's times like these - and when family members fall ill - that make being so far away from the UK the most difficult. But we soldier on and keep our eyes on the prize - being here is something that we've both wanted for so long...I just wish I could have packed up family and friends with me!

I had my 2nd reference to Catherine Zeta-Jones in work this week...I'm going to start keeping a tally and continue convincing myself she's not the only Welsh female celebrity they know with dark hair...