Monday 22 October 2012

Part 20 – Sun, Surfing & Snow-Capped Mountains

Can you believe it’s October already??! It’s surreal. I am sure that when we emigrated we also went into some sort of time travel tunnel because the days, weeks and months seem to go so much quicker over here! It really is crazy.
 
The Asset Sale Protest in Auckland
 
The Asset Sale Protest in Auckland
 
We have lived on the North Shore for around 4 months now and still absolutely love it. Somehow the weather always seems to be better here than in the CBD (not that we ever lived in the CBD, but I work there). About a month after we moved we headed to my work’s ball...the theme was the Diamond Jubilee and it was held in the viaduct at the events centre. It was amazing – loads of British themed things, like 2 London guards on the door, an amazing brass band, the colours were red and green and everyone got dressed up in fancy clothes. It was a great opportunity to dress up nicely, it’s widely known that they don’t really do pomp and circumstance here...you fit in whatever you’re wearing – a Saturday night out can be had just as easily in flats as it can in heels. It’s probably more dressy up in Auckland than where we used to live – Invercargill – but nothing like in the UK where if you were out for a big night with the girls you went all out in dresses and heels! I like that you don’t have to get dressed up if you don’t fancy it but the ball was a great excuse to go all out.
 
Diamond Jubilee Ball
 
Diamond Jubilee Ball
 
The day after the ball the OH (other half) had gone to pick the car up and I was relaxing on the sofa, sleepily easing off the effects of the night before when I decided to look up pets on the SPCA website (those who know me in real life, know that this wouldn’t be an unusual thing for me to do!) Then I decided to take a look on TradeMe to see if there were pets on there (TradeMe is NZ’s equivalent to eBay...we have eBay as well but TradeMe is HUGELY more successful here) and sure enough there were lots of pets on there. So I started to look through and found 2 beautiful long haired cats...I had a feeling our landlady would be fine with us having a cat as there’s a cat flap in our front door (something of a giveaway), so I waited for the OH to return and broached the subject with him. He was all for it so I sent a text to our landlady who was happy with it too...yey!

One of the cats had only been listed that same morning so I contacted her owner and sure enough she was still available so I arranged to pick her up the following day after work. I was like a child at Christmas on the Monday....so excited about getting her. We went to get her and she was so beautiful, I picked her up and she was more than happy being cuddled so we took her home. It turns out she was originally a rescue from the SPCA and was given to a child for her birthday present, but then the family had to move house and couldn’t take her with them so they gave her to their neighbour (the people we had her from), but their cats just hated her. They’d given it a few weeks but said it was unfair to her and the other cats so had to re home her. She was 2 years old and her name was Alice...well that felt a little weird to me as I have a friend called Alice and didn’t think it really suited her so I renamed her. Her full name is now Princess Tigerlily but you’ll be glad to hear that we have shortened it to Lily, she loves her new name :)

Apart from miaowing a lot at night (just getting into a new routine, I guess) she had settled in well and was using the cat flap to come in and go out as she pleased. About a month after we took her in we went out for the evening, leaving her on the sofa and when we ended up staying at a friend’s house. This isn’t a big deal as she only eats dry food so wasn’t reliant on us for feeding. When we got home the following morning she was out, this wasn’t unusual. But as the hours went on it was very out of character for her not to come back at all. Day turned to night and she still wasn’t home. Naturally, I was very worried about her. As the days went on I shed lots of tears and was hoping that some old dear had just taken a shine to her and she was living in the lap of luxury. I listed her as missing on a website called Pets on the Net, also put her on TradeMe in the Lost & Found section, printed A5 flyers and posted them in 80 houses in the neighbourhood, contacted the 2 out of hours vets locally and registered her as missing with them, rang around loads of the rescue places and sent them pics too – just in case she was picked up as a stray....I just did everything I could think of. I even called the local council and asked if they’d picked up a deceased cat which matched her description. Luckily they hadn’t – and I had a gorgeous lady from the council call me regularly from that date on, asking if she’d come home. I’ve never experienced customer service quite like it!

Then a week after she went missing I found her collar out on the road at the end of our drive which was odd – it had been ripped off which made my imagination run wild and I was convinced she had had a scare and run outside her territory so didn't know how to get home. Throughout the whole time she was missing I also had a feeling that she was stuck somewhere.

Then...12 days after she'd gone missing we went to bed and the OH literally leapt out of bed after 20 mins or so and was listening by the window...and there she was...in the garden miaowing. She crept in and was really timid and flinching at loud sounds, looked quite thin and I could feel her bones in her neck & hips, also had a broken tail – it was all limp and hanging down so she looked really sad! :( But she was home and that was the main thing :)
 
Lily - when we first had her...
 
...and now....sans tail (still just as beautiful!)
 
I called around local vets who quoted me everything from $600-$1000 to have her tail amputated. I don’t usually focus on price when it comes to vet services but this seemed very very extreme to me: it's not an essential limb and she had no feeling / pain in it so it wasn't a necessary operation, I just wanted it out of the way as it was a dead weight for her. Finally I had a quote from a vet who said $280-$380 which was much more reasonable. I went to the vets and was surprised at what I found, they had a couple of their own cats wandering around, even a dog came in too at one point...and I started to wonder if I’d made a mistake. The vets I have always been to have been extremely clinical and smelled of bleach, not other animals! But my fears were quickly diminished when I saw how much this vet clearly loved animals, Lily was more than happy to be picked up by her and the vet calmed my nerves as I left her with them. I had also read 2 reviews online which talked about their clear love for animals.

It was the best example of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ that I have ever experiences, I went to pick her up at the end of the day and Lily was a bit groggy from the anaesthetic but they’d also used a slow release 2 week antibiotic injected into her so that I didn’t have to feed her tablets or anything. Their mission statement online says ‘We strive for a high quality medical service at an affordable cost. We have a passion for animals and their well being’ and they truly do. They are an amazing vet service who even called me a few days after Lily’s operation to ensure that Lily was doing ok and that I was happy with her progress. Lily’s new bobtail healed with no dramas and 2 weeks later she had her stitches removed and was allowed out again. A bobtail actually suits her - it will look even better when all her fur has grown back...it's been 3 or 4 weeks already and it's coming back slowly but because her hair is soooooo long, it will take ages before it looks 'normal' again! A huge thank you to Northcote Vets – I will never use any other vet services for my Lily!

Since I last wrote I have also stepped well and truly into my 30s – I am now 31 and I was more surprised at turning 31 than I was turning 30! We rented a beach bach at a place called Mangwhai Heads – a very quiet place which a lovely beach – and spent the weekend there. As me & the OH share the same birthday we have to ensure the day meets both of our needs (I wanted to run a half marathon on the morning of our bday but that was apparently a non negotiable ‘no’!!) Our birthday is the first day of Spring here in NZ – much better than the first day of Autumn that it used to be in the UK!

A couple of weeks ago we also made our first trip to Waiheke Island for dinner. Eight of us went altogether and had a great time eating great food and drinking fab wine at Te Whau vineyard – it’s highly recommended. Our waiter noted that most of our table was British and we were excited to hear that his partner was in the group Frankie Goes to Hollywood! Amazing! Frankie says Relax and we were doing just that! :)

The sun setting over the city, view from Te Whau vineyard, Waiheke

Breathtaking Waiheke views. Rangitoto volcano in the distance
 
I also took part in my first volunteer day with work last month - we helped out at The CanTeen event called The Crank. Basically it was a 12 hour RPM indoor cycling event where team members took turns doing an hour long RPM session run by the Les Mills instructors. We were manning drinks stands, meeting and greeting people as they came in, registering people, etc and I also did an hour on the bike for one of our work teams. The session was hard going, those instructors are machines! but it was a great event and over 1000 people cycled through the day which ran from 8am - 8pm. Cancer is something that is dear to my heart; my nan died of breast cancer when she was in her 50's and a good friend of the OH's passed away this year and he was only in his late twenties so it felt good to be doing something to raise money for the teenagers (and families of) who suffer from this horrible illness.

CanTeen event - The Crank - inside The Cloud, Auckland

No other big news here really, there have been a couple of earthquakes in the North Island this month but they have caused no real damage and we didn’t feel them up in Auckland (so don’t worry mum & Dad!!) – there was actually a nation-wide earthquake drill in NZ last month as part of New Zealand Shakeout (the earthquake public education campaign) to ensure that everyone knows what to do if the worst happens. You can find out more here if you’re interested.

I just want to finish by saying how much I truly love New Zealand, the title of this post was alluding to that. It only takes a day of sunshine for me to realise how lucky I am to live here and this day happened when I was in Wellington for work. I had facilitated a session in the Wellington office and was heading back to the airport to catch my flight to Auckland and the driver took me the scenic route to Wellington airport. The sky was blue, the sun was beating down and a large group of surfers were out in the sea lapping up the beautiful weather, while the snow capped mountains looked on in the distance – it really was one of those ‘wow’ moments ... and I didn’t have my camera with me. But to be fair, I have had loads of those ‘wow’ moments here and I have shared some of them below. You'll notice that a lot of these have the sea in them, because that's a natural beauty spot for me; but the terrain here really does have something for everyone! If you have never been to New Zealand I urge you to come – you will not be disappointed.
 
View of Auckand City from Mt Eden
 
Clear blue water at Eastern Beach
 
The gannet colonies, Muriwai
 
Lion Rock, Piha
 
Muriwai
 
A Praying Mantis
 
Rotoroa Island
 
Hole in the Rock, Rotoroa Island
 
The New Zealand sky


Sunday 8 July 2012

Part 19 – GOOD MORNING Cwmbrân!

So after a few hectic months came the greatly anticipated month of April. Rightly so as I was heading back to the UK for my best friend's wedding and 3 weeks of catching up with much loved and missed family & friends.

I had a completely crazy week in work preparing for my time away from the office as I was initially taken on to cover maternity leave because 2 girls in the team were off for a year....from March! So 4 months into my new role I found myself fully immersed in work, the 2 gorgeous mums-to-be had gone off on parental leave and I was busy preparing to go off on my trip so it was all systems go. I was sure to pre-empt anything that could happen while I was away and that was that – I left work on the Friday and flew back to the UK the following morning. Unfortunately I was travelling without the OH (other half) – any ex-pats who live in New Zealand will know that the cost of flying from NZ to the UK and back is dramatically different to that of UK - NZ - UK – and travelling alone is a pretty normal thing for ex-pats here – for that very reason.

I had only told a few people my real return date to Wales (conveniently the 1st April!) because there were a few surprises up my sleeve! The truth keepers were:
  • My mum (she was picking me up from the airport, so that would have been a difficult one to get around!);
  • The bride-to-be – Jo (I didn't want to add to any nervousness she already had by saying I was arriving the day before the wedding!);
  • My dad's wife – Kim;
  • One of my closest friends – Becky;
  • One of my other closest friends – Hannah's husband (not Hannah herself!)

And that was it. Everyone else was told I'd be arriving the following week – around the 6 April (sorry if you were one of the ones I white lied to...I couldn't risk the real date getting out!)

Having a secret like that is one of the hardest things I have had to do. My dad's birthday is on 2 April and this year was his grand 50th...and I told him I wouldn't be able to make it (what an awful daughter I am!) all for the sake of a surprise. So...after around 34 hours of travelling I landed at about 11:30am and was absolutely delighted to see my mum & her partner – Mark – who picked me up from Heathrow airport. After lots of hugs (cwtches to the Welshies!) and tears we headed back to Wales. I have never been happier to see the 'Welcome to Wales (Croeso i Gymru)' sign on the Severn bridge. Knowing that friends and family were mere minutes away was so exciting.

The Welcome to Wales sign


We made it back to mum's for 2:30pm where I jumped in the shower, freshened up then text Kim to see where she and dad were. I knew that they'd been out for a meal the night previously with a group of friends for his 50th and they were heading for lunch at The Greenhouse on the Sunday followed by a few drinks at The Crows Nest. They'd already had their food and were happily seated at the pub. So mum drove me to the Crows and as we drove passed I could see them sat outside chatting to friends...so we scooted around the back of the pub and my heart was thudding in my chest as I got out of the car and weaved my way through the pub to head out the front. Dad had his back to me so I put my finger over my lips to signal to the others not to say anything and give the game away – which they didn't – and I just leant down by dad's ear and said “have you ordered a beer?” He looked at me like he'd just seen a ghost! Shocked just isn't the word, I honestly thought he might have a heart attack! That would NOT have been a good result! After many questions (namely: 'how did you get here??') and lots of tears we settled in for a fabulous evening of catching up and enjoying a few drinks. While we were at the pub the weather forecast came on...SNOW ALERT. I kid you not – snow....in April! Needless to say I hadn't packed for snow so I made a mental note to go shopping the next day for jumpers and tights!

After a great night with dad I had another surprise planned for the next day – Monday. I had contacted one of my best buddies Hannah's, husband – Chris – to tell him when I was coming back and that I wanted to surprise Han. He was well onto it, we arranged for her to have the Monday afternoon off work (dummy meetings in her work diary & everything!) so that we could catch up. How he managed to keep it a secret I will never know – especially with someone like Hannah to fool! To give you some indication of how hard she is to fool – everything was going swimmingly with my surprise plans while I was in NZ. As long as I didn't speak to anyone face-to-face (or rather, on Skype) then I found it easy enough to fool them. However, when I landed in Amsterdam (1 hour away from the UK) I got a text from Hannah asking if we could Skype prior to my trip...I panicked! I called the OH who was in NZ and he said to say we were out with friends – this meant he couldn't go on FaceBook or Skype until the surprise because she'd see him on there! I was sure she'd rumbled me.

So I took the train from Cwmbran to Newport (where I used to work with Hannah) and got the receptionist to contact Lyndsey to come and meet me. She took me up to their office and I chatted and caught up with their team and then one of the girls called Hannah into their office 'urgently'. SO in came Hannah all smiley and said 'what?' then she clocked me and SHE CRIED! This is no mean feat, Hannah cried (I'm really going to rub this in!). It was so lovely to see her, then I broke it to her that her husband knew all along and that she didn't have work that afternoon. So we wandered down to Revolution and had lunch and wine and a jolly good, long overdue natter!

Following that the gorgeous bride-to-be Jo met us in a pub in Cwmbran and I thought she was going to strangle me. I have never been cwtched quite so hard in my life! Hannah & Chris headed home and I went for a meal with Jo, her husband-to-be – Jerry and Jerry's dad (I think they'd been out sorting out suits!) It was a truly lovely day.

My final surprise was scheduled for the Tuesday (I had to cram all the surprises into my initial days back for fear of them falling through!) The beautiful Becky-Do (that's not her real name) had arranged for all of the girls I used to work with at UDEX to get together (we used to meet regularly for dinner, in fact they still do!) - unbeknownst to them I was going to join them. They are such an awesome group of girls and I was really looking forward to a thorough download of information about what they'd all been up to. So Becky picked me up and drove to The Greenhouse where we were going for dinner.

The plan was for all of the girls to already be seated inside...but we all know that the UDEX girls are NEVER on time! So Becky had a master plan...I was to sit in the passenger seat of her car with her coat thrown over me to hide me – while she went into the pub to make sure everyone was there. So off Becky went. As she got out of the car Lex turned up with Neasha and Lucy in the car and PARKED NEXT TO US! So I'm trying my hardest not to move (or even breathe) underneath the coat for fear of being found out! Apparently Neasha asked Becky “what's all that in your car?” to which Becky (thinking on her feet) said “just boxes, for Lexie to have later. Come on, let's go in” and was being quite forceful getting everyone inside (later on Neasha told me she wanted to tell Becky to 'chill out' but she refrained!). So I'm in the car peeping out from under the coat each time I hear a car, wondering if it's one of our girls – when I realise there's an old woman in the car next to us! I bet she thought I was from the local mad house and that my 'friend' had left me in the car while she went for food, hee hee!! Bec came back after a few minutes – under the guise of getting some books for Rachel – and we giggled our way into the restaurant. Their faces were a picture. You know when someone's looking through you and not registering who you are? Well – it was like that at first, some of them clocked me walking towards them but it took a moment to register! It was hilarious. Another fabulous evening with a gorgeous gaggle of girlies ensued!

At this point I just want to thank each and every one of you who either knew my real date for coming back and didn't tell a soul – or those of you who saw me in those initial few days and didn't mention it on FB or any other social networking sites. The surprises were amazing and I really enjoyed them – but I don't think I could do it again, it was so stressful!

My initial week was dedicated to surprises, wedding planning / rehearsals / preparation. Then Jo & Jerry's wedding on 7 April which was a truly spectacular day – I only wish the OH could have been there. It was just perfect, and I can't imagine there being a couple more perfect for each other. Thank you for asking me to be your chief bridesmaid – I was privileged.

Over the next few weeks I caught up with so many people who I had missed over the previous year, friends, family, The OH's family (and the cat we used to own – Minky!) and my littlest brother – Wallace. He had grown so much! When I left he was shorter than me and when I returned he was a fair few inches taller! It's amazing the changes that can happen in a year. My 2 other brothers live in Beijing so it was a shame not to be able to catch up with them. Hopefully it won't be too long before we're all in the same country at the same time!

My bed partners in the UK: Lazy Girl & Naughty Kitten

It was a great trip and I am already looking forward to the next time when I will have the OH by my side. I am also excited that so many people are planning to come out and visit us here in NZ. It will be lovely to share our new life with you all (and hopefully encourage you to stay!)

I left the UK on 17 April and was so sad to leave people behind (despite finally finding out what it means to be so cold that your bones feel cold!) It helped that I was coming back to the OH but it was still difficult. It's times like that when you're really tested as to why you did this in the first place, seeing everyone unhappy and feeling it yourself.

My case which was only 14 kilos on the way to the UK (and half of that was gifts) was pushing the limit at 23 kilos on the way home. Filled with clothes, books (very very expensive in NZ compared to the UK) and DVDs (we have a region 2 DVD player....the things you don't think about when you emigrate). When I was waiting to board at Heathrow I was surprised to see a guy in a high-vis jacket who worked at the airport and on his back it said 'Silence Team LHR' … I thought things must have got a lot stricter in the UK since I'd left originally – until I rubbed my eyes and looked again to find it actually said 'Service Team LHR' … I blame the emotions.

After another 34 hours or so travelling I was greeted at Auckland airport by the OH and I must admit it did feel nice being able to wear flip flops (despite the fact it was autumn!) and not being cold. It was so lovely to see him and to be back in New Zealand. Despite missing everyone it really is such a beautiful place – you can't help but be bowled over by it. Straight from the airport we headed to the dentist as I had a dental appointment for a check up and polish. Quite overwhelming when you're tired and disorientated, to say the least. Bad planning on my part there.

I always seem to have quite intense jet-lag coming to NZ from the UK (via Kuala Lumpur / Singapore) and this time was no different. By 6pm you're struggling to keep your eyes open and feeling quite sick from tiredness. I got home on the Thursday and didn't have work until Monday so I had a few days to orientate myself again.

On my 1st day back at work it was evident how much I had been missed...the amount of time that had been dedicated to decorating my desk (and drawers, and phone, and divider) with England flags was impressive. Obviously they know that I'm Welsh and know how frustrating it can be when people ask which part of England you're from (not that I have anything against the English but I am just not from England) – which they inevitably do because to the untrained ear I just sound 'British' – so they used this knowledge to their advantage and my desk was awash with St. George's Cross. The Kiwi's / Aussies have the same issue – people hear the accent and just assume one way or the other (usually assuming that NZ'ers are Australian).

You can't leave your desk for a minute... 

Very funny girlies!

I also came back to some pretty random conversations in work. One which stood out particularly was being asked what a 'swede' was (the vegetable, not the race of people). Honestly, I mentioned a swede and 2 of the girls in work asked me what it was. Then one of the piped up “oh I think I know...it's like a courgette right?” Very funny indeed and not something I was expecting to have to explain. I resorted to Google images. They do have them here (as you will know from my previous posts referring to buying them via an honesty box in Invercargill) so it was very entertaining. That said, there are lots of veggies here that I do not have a clue how to cook but I am determined to learn (silverbeet is first on that list!)

Following my trip we had a few quiet weekends as we settled back into normal routine. We had a drunken Skype call with friends from the UK – the joys of being 11 hours apart! We were having breakfast on a Sunday and drinking tea while friends of ours had been out for the evening and wanted to show us some dance moves on Skype...very very entertaining – you know who you are!

Andy & Heni came up from Tauranga one Friday night as Andy had an interview in Auckland so they met me from work and we all went into Howick for a few drinks then headed home to compete on the Wii!

The following day we were preparing for a new house guest. Ange & John were relocating from Tauranga to Auckland so we went for lunch and Ang moved some of her things into ours. It was lovely to have Ange staying with us for a couple of weeks while she started her new job and John tied things up back in Tauranga. Then 3 weeks ago we helped them move into their new home on the North Shore....closely followed by us moving to the North Shore! Plus, Andy & Heni are moving to Auckland too as Andy has just landed a new job – perfect!

We stayed with them for a few days during their 2nd week in their new home and then last weekend we moved into our own new place. The house is quite the sun trap and it means that I leave the house 40 minutes later than I did in Howick in order to get into the city for work. I always thought the North Shore was a nightmare for commuting but it turns out it isn't at all (I suppose it depends where you are). I catch a bus from our street and it take around 20 minutes to get into the heart of the city. Not bad at all!

In other goings on this month Stef left work to move back to Melbourne with her husband (she's Australian, he's British) so that was really sad. I'd grown quite close to Stef as she sat next to me and was my assigned 'buddy' when I started my new job so I was upset to see her go but at the same time I knew how much it meant to her to be back with her friends and family so it was bittersweet really. Also gives us an excuse to head to Melbourne for a visit! We gave her a good send off and went out dancing so that was lovely.

Well, this weekend has been a glorious weekend of sunshine for us despite it technically being winter (sorry Britain), and we've certainly taken advantage of it (although we are also eating wintery food!). Friday night we had a lovely Quorn chilli, then Saturday we headed out to take a look at Brown's Bay then had a nice 3 course meal at home and this morning we had eggs benedict for breakfast then headed out to have a look at Halls Beach & Little Shoal Bay where we had a picnic. I also went for my 1st run on the 'Shore this morning. A nice gentle 4.38 miler and I didn't get lost – result! The temperature here for winter is very very mild. We've had the odd day starting out at 3 degrees but I can count them on one hand so far and by the afternoon it's usually around 14 degrees. Saying that I think you do acclimatise pretty quickly! I have been known to say“Oooh it's SO COLD this morning” only to look at the temperature gauge and it's actually 11 degrees...I know I know...I've gone soft! Don't get me wrong, we have had some rain – and occasionally it's been quite monsoon-like, but by and large it's been a good winter by my standards. Plus – I don't mind it raining so much here as we seem to have THE BEST rainbows. Just take a look at them in all their glory...

Gorgeous NZ rainbow...

...and it's reflection in the sea

I even got a rainbow as I landed back in NZ

Saturday 12 May 2012

Part 18 – An Autumnal Update

Is it just me or is this year flying by?? I cannot believe that it's almost mid May (and I'm only updating you on March!) and we're talking a leisurely stroll back into winter. But winter in Auckland should be quite dramatically different to winter in Invercargill – warmer but more drizzly so I've been reliably informed. Autumn has been treating us very well indeed so far, we had 2 days of torrential rain and strong winds last week and I thought that was going to be the start of autumn but it's been gorgeous again today and rather warm. It does get dark quite early (it's now 5:40pm and it's getting dark) but the mornings are still quite light.

A quick update on the rest of the OH's (Other Half) parents trip: they experienced Howick's Saturday morning market – full of yummy food treats as well as arts and crafts and other random bits 'n' bobs. Then we finally made our first ever visit to Auckland night market. It is absolutely amazing! Loads of stalls with everything you can think of – fruit & veg; clothes; make up; massages; trinkets; computer and phone accessories; jewellery, etc etc. THEN when you think it can't get any better you just follow your nose and the final aisle is the food aisle. I felt like I'd been transported to an Asian food festival. It gets so busy with people and the food looks amazingly fresh – from sweet churros with chocolate sauce (ALWAYS the longest queue) to an impressive paella; pad Thai; squid legs on sticks; quails eggs on sticks, loads and loads. It prompted me to promise never to cook on a Saturday night EVER again.

'The City of Sails' - Auckland

Sunday we headed to Mount Eden and walked around the Mount and headed into the town for lunch in a café, it was absolutely gorgeous! We were only expecting cafe style food and yet it was quite gourmet when it was presented. I had a beautiful felafel salad and the others had lamb shanks (when in New Zealand...) and tandoori chicken sandwiches. Sounds normal, looked and tasted amazing!

View of the city from Mt Eden

Following the weekend, the OH's parents headed off to Wellington – they flew down for a few days to see the sights and then got the Overlander train back. It's a 12 hour scenic train journey so it's a nice way to take in the scenery. They had a bit of trouble when leaving Wellington as their train was leaving at 7:30am. So they left the apartment they had rented at 6:45am and there were no check out instructions...so they went outside to call the out of hours number and the door closed – and locked - behind them. The out of hours lady told them to just leave the key in the box outside...but then they had to explain that they couldn't do this now as they were outside...but their cases were locked inside! Just as the lady (grumpily) came down in her night dress to unlock the door they realised the card attached to their key opened the door so they opened it themselves as she was walking towards them! Needless to say she was NOT a happy lady...but it made for a great story to tell us upon their return :)

The following weekend there were headlines in the papers claiming 'Tick tick tick STORM TO HIT' and news stories were encouraging people to stock up on water supplies, etc so we didn't make big plans to go anywhere. As it happened it didn't really hit us so Sunday afternoon we headed out to show them Maraetai and Beachlands. They are 2 gorgeous areas not too far in the car from where we live. We just relaxed with a coffee and collected shells on the beach. Those of you who know me, know that I HAVE to collect shells each time I venture to the beach – which is lots - and this has resulted in me having to cull my collection on a regular basis.

For their final week they headed down to Rotorua which is an amazing place to visit. It's a geothermal area where there are lots of bubbling mud pools, smoke coming off the floor and geysers that go off regularly - it's generally a great tourist place. They went to Te Puia Cultural Centre which is fantastic – I'd definitely recommend a visit and be sure to include the cultural performance too, it's money well spent. Listen out for the traditional New Zealand love song 'Pokarekare Ana' which made me cry.

The OH then met his parents in Mount Maunganui (another great place) where they stayed at a friend's gorgeous bach (pronounced batch) in Whangamata (pronounced fong-u-mat-ta). They headed to the lovely Hahei and Hot Water Beach where you can rent metal spades and dig yourself a hole in the sand, with the geothermal activity underground the water seeps up into your little pool and it is BOILING HOT – literally I couldn't sit in it when we went. We had to wait for the sea to rush in to cool down our very own beach spa. It's quite entertaining watching everyone digging holes in the sand. Check the tide times if you're planning on doing this as you don't want to be caught out! On the way back to Auckland they all went to Whitianga (pronounced fit-ee-ang-a) and Waihi Gold Mine which they enjoyed.

For their final weekend in Auckland we had tickets for 12 of us to head to Diamond Day at Ellerslie racecourse. It was a fantastic day where we all got dressed up and had an absolute ball trying to bet on the 'right' horses. Not an easy task but great fun all the same!

Action shot: Diamond Day, Ellerslie

They left us on March 14 and we had new visitors the following weekend – friends of ours called Andy & Heni who live in Tauranga. They came up to stay with us on Friday night and we headed downtown for a night on the tiles in Auckland city. The three of them met me from work and we had such a great night – we didn't get home until about 2:30am which is our latest night out since we emigrated I think! We spent a lovely Saturday at Mission Bay eating fish & chips, then they headed home.

On the Sunday morning a fantastic Welsh rugby team beat France to WIN THE GRAND SLAM in the 6 Nations!!!!!!!!!!! We woke up to the news having not got up for the match itself at 4am because we were running the Round the Bays fun run (along with 70,000 others!) at 9:00am. We ran it in our Welsh rugby shirts as a display of pride and actually met another Welsh couple who were sporting a Welsh flag in their backpack. As you can imagine with so many people taking part the starting pistol goes off and....you don't move...you have to wait for the movement of the crowd to catch up to you. For the initial 3kms or so you're walking and dodging the walkers and the people with prams - after that you can get into jogging! It was a great day and we had a massage after the race as well as lots and lots of chocolate from the Cadbury people who were stocking everyone up.

The crowd behind us, walking to the start line


The start line

After another busy week in work we headed to Rotoroa Island (not to be confused with Rotorua). I won 2 return ferry tickets so off we went. Rotoroa Island is a gorgeous 82 hectare island in the Hauraki Gulf which used to be owned by The Salvation Army: alcoholics were sent there to dry out by court order. It was an absolutely fascinating place. No food is sold on the island so we put together a lovely picnic and caught the 8:45am ferry there followed by the 5:15pm ferry home. It was beautifully sunny and we spent the day walking, reading, sun bathing and swimming. When the OH went into the sea in one of the bays on the island he was only waist high when a stingray swam right past his legs. It was awesome!

Rotoroa Island


The welcome hut on Rotoroa Island


The hole in the rock, Rotoroa Island


One of the many bays


Simple beauty


The Chris Booth sculpture on Rotoroa Island

All in all it was a pretty hectic February followed by a pretty hectic March – soon to be followed by a very hectic April - IN WALES - which I'll update you with next time...

Monday 20 February 2012

Part 17 - Trudi Nangle has arrived!

The end of January saw a couple of bank holidays for us here in North Island. We had Auckland Anniversary Day on Monday January 30 (the actual anniversary date is January 29). So with a long weekend ahead we decided to head to Tauranga to spend time with Allan & Tracy. We were going to head down on the Friday night and go to a house warming - but it was called off as they had some rubbish weather plus the traffic was quite heavy from Auckland so we headed down on Saturday morning. Allan was going to be working at the 'Classics of the Sky' air show refuelling the old planes so we were headed there for the trial day on the Saturday afternoon with Tracy to watch him at work (and to see the planes of course!) We didn't get there until quite late in the afternoon but it was just in time for the grand finale. I get quite excited by air shows and I absolutely love watching them so as we were driving in I kept saying "ooh look at that!" and "wow! That's amazing!!" which wasn't good for the OH (other half) as he was driving - oops!

After the show the boys went out for the night at the Mount (Maunganui pronounced morng-ga-new-ee) and although us girls felt like we should be going out we actually went to Video-Ezy and hired some arty films, grabbed some snacks and settled in for the night - just perfect!

Sunday saw 2 very hungover blokes and 2 (quite sprightly!) lasses lazing about - despite good intentions to head to the air show for the day. Allan & Tracy's home is in a flight path and it just so happened that the planes were often flying over so we had a great view from the lounge! We headed into the garden to watch them fly over and one spitfire (I think?!) was flying around and then it disappeared...all of a sudden it came whooshing over the top of the house! It was so low you felt like you could have touched it if you were on tippy toes (I know you couldn't have!) The OH swears that the pilot saw us watching and thought "I'll have them!" It was seriously like something off Independence Day - so loud and invigorating!

Later on in the day we went on a merry jaunt to Papamoa beach where we could continue to watch the planes who were flying over the beach in a loop. We were going to head home on the Sunday night but Tracy lured us to the thermal pools at about 9pm where we relaxed in the hot pool until closing time and then we headed back to theirs all relaxed and tired. It was lovely.

We headed home on Monday and were back to work on Tuesday for a nice 4 day week. Only to be greeted by another long weekend the following week! Monday Feb 6 is Waitangi Day - if it falls on a weekend you don't get the Monday off, you only have a day off work if it falls on a weekday. It's an important day in New Zealand as it marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British subjects. There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the document and it's translation but I won't go into that as I am certainly no expert.

From the Friday before Waitangi Day we were cat (Molly) and house sitting for friends for a week. It was lovely having a house with outdoor space and a balcony to ourselves and such a delight to have a cat again - if only for a limited time. On the Monday we headed out to Mark & Debbie's on the North Shore for some lunch. After lunch we went for a nice walk along the beach - it was a lovely day with stunning weather.

The gorgeous Molly

As we were house sitting for the whole week I had to master another form of public transport...the bus! To be fair, the website for public transport out here is brilliant. You pop in your starting point and your end point and it uses Google technology to show you the options you have for getting there, prices, etc etc. Being used to commuting by ferry it was quite hard to get back into bus routine...you see - the ferry doesn't stop to pick up more passengers from other places on the way - it goes from A to B via nowhere. So the bus was supposed to take me 40 mins from the house to work but it always ended up being an hour or more. It was fine though and I still wasn't driving which suited me perfectly :)

It was the first time that I had really seen Auckland traffic in full swing - it's crazy. OK, it might be nothing compared to traffic in the UK on the M25 or whatever but it seemed manic. One of the good things they have is that on the way onto the motorway they have traffic lights which continually turn red-amber-green-amber-red-amber-green to slow the flow of traffic onto the motorway. One car goes per green light and it stops the eejits that you usually see trying to overtake people to get nowhere - faster than everyone else. They do have some good bus lanes on the motorway though - which cars with 2+ people in can also use. If you are driving a car and don't have 2 people in it the bus drivers know how to use their horns!! They toot like it's going out of fashion...and glare at you as they drive past. As they should to be fair.

The first day that I caught the bus I was waiting at the stop with a few other people when I saw the bus coming...'fab' I thought...until I saw the 2nd bus behind it. Both pulled into the bus stop and I had to make a quick decision which one I was going to commit to. I knew I needed the 07F and the first one was the 079 and the second was the 07. I jumped on the first one and asked the driver "what's the difference between you and the bus behind you?" ... he didn't really know, except that the other one went on the motorway but "there's not really much difference" so I got on. Handing him $20 was a bad move but I didn't have any change so he said "I'll keep hold of this until I get some change" so he did. As we pulled away I turned around to see the bus behind us now said 'Flyer' on it...that would be the 07F then...bugger - I was on the wrong bus.

We drove along - not going on the motorway - and after about 45 minutes there was a load bang on the side of the bus...the driver had driven into a sign on the side of the road! Admittedly he didn't purposely drive INTO it but the side of the sign went into the road a bit and he just didn't dodge it. At the next stop he got out to check the damage on his bus - which I assume was fine.

A bit random: Sal's Pizza - that's not  childs hand, it's mine

When I got off the bus he gave me my $20 back and said "don't worry about it, just have some change next time" but I really wanted to pay so I asked if I could pay him on my way home or the next morning to which he replied "no, I won't be driving it" which sounded a bit ominous! I was worried that he was thinking he'd get sacked for the road sign incident! But nevertheless thankfully a few days later he was back driving the bus. The journey took just over an hour so I was sure to catch the Flyer for the rest of the week! On that first bus trip as we were nearing downtown one of the other passengers was talking loudly into her phone (think Dom Joly) saying "no, I'm still on the bus. Yes it's the longest journey in the world! I'll be there in ten minutes." It's always nice to know when the longest journey in the world is going to end.

On the final day of house and cat sitting the following Sunday Ursh & Dan came home from their holiday looking all relaxed and sun tanned and they cooked us a BBQ to say thank you. We had lovely Kingfish that they'd caught on their holiday - it was delish!

February has been completely manic in work - we take on 100 graduates each February and their induction is arranged by our team so you can imagine that it's all systems go! The girls in work have given me a nickname too...it has stemmed from one of the partners who seems to have got stuck on my name being 'Trudi' - you know what it's like when you assume someone's name - or get it wrong once, it's hard then to rectify it in your head. So the girls now call me Trudi - and having heard that my nickname in the UK is Nangle (don't ask!) thanks to the Ooooodex girlies, they have ensured that my new name is Trudi Nangle. I came back to my desk one day and we have proper name bands on our desks - well mine now says Trudi Nangle. It's cause lots of confusion - with people looking for 'Trudi Nangle' on the phone book to see who she is! I have decided that Trudi is my alter ego, she's the naughty one and I'm the good one.

My desk....hmmm what can you see...? 

That's right - my new name!

We had our delayed Christmas & New Year function on Friday just gone. The organiser decided we should go and do lawn bowls after debating paint balling (too many pregnant people in the team) - it was brilliant fun! We split into 6 teams and 2 competed against each other - our 2 teams were surprisingly good! It was quite satisfying to get your ball close to the jack and we all had a good night.

Our bowls

Last Wednesday the OH's parents arrived from the Welsh valleys for a month. His mum (it's mam in the valleys) has been like a trojan in her resistance to jetlag - it hasn't affected her in the slightest! We were sure it was going to hit at some point but no, she's fine. They spent their initial few days at ours in Auckland and this weekend we spent Saturday at Auckland viaduct where we walked around and had food. Then Sunday we headed to Bees Online to get some honey, Coopers Creek vineyard to do a wine tasting and have a cheese and fruit platter while sitting in the summer sunshine listening to the jazz band they had playing there, then we headed to Piha to look at Lion Rock and then on to Karekare beach (where they filmed The Piano).

It's so lovely having them around - I was in tears when I first saw them - you really do underestimate how much you miss seeing faces that you know in your everyday life. This morning the OH has taken them up to the Bay of Islands for a few days to see Paihia (pronounce pie-hee-ya) and Whangerei (fang-er-eye) among others. It's grand timing for them to come out as summer has well and truly arrived (albeit late - but we're used to untimely summers!).

The pretty NZ evening sky

I have a bit of a random request to end on. I am trying to find out where the name Scroggin comes from. It's used out here for trail mix (nuts, seeds, etc). If anyone knows where this name comes from PLEASE leave a comment informing me. The request has even baffled Google who could give me no answer so I am relying on REAL PEOPLE to answer me now and I'm sure we can do it!! This is soon to become a thing of the past as the Internet becomes the harbinger of all information. We should relish it and be the ones to inform Google...who's with me?? No making up answers now...

A final hello to all of you from SuperTom. He's fed me well for the past few weeks - and the OH and his parents too. He grows THE BEST tomatoes ever! Check out his new frame :)

The emperor has new clothes

Sunday 22 January 2012

Part 16 - You Reap what you Sow

After a lovely 1st Christmas in New Zealand the OH (other half) went back to work on the 28th but my office was closed down until Jan 16th (although I opted to go back on the 9th). A lot of businesses over here close down completely for Christmas because there aren't many people around. Because It's Christmas and summer everyone takes their summer holidays and shoots off to Australia / Fiji / Samoa, etc. for a well deserved break. In the UK we always tended to work in between Christmas and New Year and it's the minority rather than the majority of businesses who tend to close down. So off he went to work and I got back into my 'pre-work' routine of running and cleaning for a few days. The weather here over Christmas was apparently the worst anyone can remember for years - saying that we're from Wales so we're used to a drizzly / snowy Christmas and rainy summers! To us the weather was fine. A bit drizzly but days of blazing sunshine too which suits us!

Then it was New Year's Eve and we had been asked if we wanted to go and see the New year in, in a place called Tauranga (pronounced Tow(like 'now' but with a 't')-wronga) as friends had chartered a boat. What a novel way to see in the New Year! We jumped at the chance. We left Auckland and hit the torrential rain which we had been seeing on the news (I think Auckland got off pretty lightly!). You literally couldn't see 100 yards in front of the car. It was actually quite scary as some people drive like idiots out here regardless of the weather / winding roads . There's an ongoing campaign to reduce the road deaths, including a TV advert which talks about 'staying in mantrol' and actually has the line "If we're not in full control of such a manly thing [as driving] then what does this all mean?" Since when has driving been 'manly'? Still...if it stops 1 accident then it has done a good job! The road fatalities here in comparison the, for example, the UK are staggering. According to Wikipedia the number of road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants (you have to take into account number of inhabitants because the population is dramatically different) is 3.59 for the UK and a huge 8.6 for New Zealand. On the side of many New Zealand roads there are signs stating the number of road deaths on that particular road in the past 3 months or so and they certainly make me think twice about speeding.

The view through the windscreen on the way to Tauranga

Anyway, I digress...so the weather was horrendous outside but it was so warm and humid as well. It felt like we needed a good storm to clear the air. Well....you know that feeling when it feels like a storm's a-brewing and you're just about to celebrate New Year on board a boat? No?? I do now! It's unnerving! We were driving along and the iPod was blaring through the stereo when the most appropriate song ever came on: Bob Marley - Satisfy My Soul. With the classic lines:

"Oh, please don't you rock my boat (don't rock my boat),
'Cause I don't want my boat to be rockin' (don't rock my boat)"

You gotta' love the 'shuffle songs' setting. We got to Andy & Heni's house in Tauranga and the rain was still lashing down. We got ready and congregated in the lounge to see that the rain had stopped! It was miraculous. We met up with the rest of our boat crew in a nice bar called Imbibe where we had some drinks and nibbles. I should probably mention here how we know these people: the OH met Andy via the British Expats Forum when he was looking for information way back in 2010 before he came out to look for work here. When he was here for a month on his own he met up with Andy (from Leeds) and they went for a night out - hence a new friendship began! His girlfriend Heni is from Slovakia and we got on like a house on fire. A couple called Tracy & Allan also came out on New Year's. The OH knows Allan from his home-town (how surreal?) and Allan lives here with his wife of 2 months Tracy who is Canadian, they are a great couple and again - we all just clicked. We also met up with lots of new people on New Year's Eve who were Andy & Heni's friends - Angela & John, Josh & Louise, Samantha & Dean, Dale and many more. They were a fabulous bunch and everyone got on really well! The we headed off to an awesome bar called Major Tom's which is set-up to look like an old lady's living room! There are all old couches and armchairs in there and loads of pictures on the walls. The boys loved that they had the old arcade game 'Pong' and took to the computer game with vigour! For the young 'uns reading this - you won't know Pong (I knew of it but it was slightly before my time!) but it's basically the simplest version of 2D tennis on a computer screen that I can ever imagine being invented. It was probably the height of technology when it first came out and if proof of how far our gaming has come in such a short space of time!

'Pong' in Major Tom's

After a couple of hours in Major Tom's we went to meet the boat. It's called The Luvboat II and is absolutely amazing! If you're in NZ and want a party on a boat - this is the boat for you! The top floor has a dance floor and pole - which the lads had great fun swinging around - and the bottom floor consists of a number of seating booths, karaoke and a bar. Captain Noel and hostess Natalie were absolutely perfect - nothing was too much trouble and they were very much an extension of our NY crew by the end of the night! We had a dance, a sing and a fair few drinks then all gathered on the top deck outside to watch the fireworks. It was a fantastic night.

The LuvBoat II

New Year Fireworks

At around 12:30am on New Year's day we were kindly dropped off at the Strand and off we went to a bar for more drinks, dancing and games of pool! If my memory serves me rightly we headed off home at about 3am. Trying to flag down a taxi was proving to be a complete nightmare so we headed to the nearest hotel and they called us a taxi from there. They were very helpful and invited us to sit on the chairs in the lobby while we waited. So we finally got home at about 4am after a fabulous New Year celebration.

New Year's Day certainly saw a few hangovers from our group...even while eating the king of hangover cures - a McD's - we had to keep stopping every few seconds while our stomachs decided how they wanted to process the junk we were putting in. But - it was nothing that a dip in the sea couldn't erase! So me & the OH went to Papamoa Beach, popped on our togs (swimmers) and had a few hours in the sea. It was the perfect start to 2012. The original plan was to go camping until the 3rd Jan but with the wet weather and an offer of bricks and mortar from Allan & Tracy we stayed with them instead. They have a lovely home in Tauranga and Tracy is a qualified masseuse who runs her own business from home where she has an additional building in the garden: it's amazing how you can create an aura of calm and serenity in one place and boy has she achieved it! We had a lovely evening with them and Tracy cooked a nice roast dinner (with champagne) for us all before an early night! The following afternoon we all headed down to Papamoa beach and spent a few hours in the sea and enjoying the New Year sun. When we got up the following day Allan asked "Have you seen the news?" which we hadn't as yet. When we got hold of a newspaper it turns out that there had been a 2 metre shark swimming quite close to people on Papamoa beach the day prior - when we'd been there! Some lamb roasts were falling from the rena into the sea and had attracted a number of sharks to the area. You can read the newspaper report here. A few people have told us since though that there are always lots of sharks in that area - they're not there to eat people, just swimming. I like the innocence of swimming with loads of sharks without knowing it - we're essentially in there domain, it's not like they sneak up on us in bars. Live & let live and all that jazz.

We headed back to a very sunny Auckland on 3rd January as the OH was back in work on 4th. On the Friday when he came home from work it was so warm that we decided to have a merry jaunt down to Cockle Bay for a swim! It was amazing jumping into the sea after a hot, humid afternoon. The sea was actually warm to walk into! I couldn't believe it when the OH said it was warm (he was the water tester) as he always says this to get me to go in but it really was like walking into a warm bath. I had never experienced it before - and that's certainly not the case in all parts of NZ. You usually feel the cold when you first go in but once you've submerged, it's OK and warm - but this was just perfect!

I was back in work from Monday 9th Jan - it was so quiet in the office as most people were back on the 16th but it was great to get back into routine and on top of some things before everyone else came back. I decided when I went back to work that I'd make a New Year's Resolution (albeit slightly delayed) to sit properly at my desk. I'm always sitting with my legs crossed up on my chair or sitting sideways (as if I'm side-saddle on a horse) and I don't think it's good for my back or my knees so I'm consciously trying to straighten my spine, lower my shoulders and put feet flat on the floor. It really does take a conscious effort and I've failed at it abysmally having only been back in work for 2 weeks. You should try it - you'll soon see how hard it is! Even sitting here writing my blog I find it hard to sit properly for half an hour!!

I have diagnosed myself with Illio-Tibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) which means that when I go running the outside of my knee is in absolute agony. I've had it periodically for years and thought it was runner's knee but it got really bad at the end of December so I looked into it and came to the conclusion that it's my illiotibial band that's causing the issue. After reading lots about it I've been doing a difficult stretch that I found on good old YouTube and it seems to be doing the trick despite some saying that trying to stretch it doesn't work. I went for a run yesterday morning and no pain last night or today which is a marked improvement from the end of December when I couldn't physically walk the day after running!

The weather in January seems to be somewhat sporadic still. It's been gorgeous for the past 3 days and then it rained this morning. Not dissimilar to the weather in the UK but it is actually warm here which is good! Living in Wales we were pretty much used to drizzle and when it was sunny or rainy it was usually pretty much the same weather (to varying degrees) throughout the whole of the UK (except Scotland who seem to live in their very own climate!) But here the weather can vary so dramatically from one place to the next. Over Christmas the news showed that there was extreme flooding in Nelson (North of the South Island) which caused so much damage it could take 10 years to put it right and this was a complete paradox to the news regarding Otago (central Southland) which detailed severe drought - not good for an area dependent largely on farming. So it's a bit strange for us to see all the micro climates quite evident - even when driving you can often see that there is a sheet of rain in front of you and you drive from dry into heavy rain.

Last weekend, in the hope of securing some sunshine we went camping to a place called Muriwai (pronounced moo-ri-why). It's only an hour away and is perfect for 2 nights soaking up nature. We headed there after work on Friday and when we arrived Ursula (my manager in work) & Dan (her boyfriend) were already set-up In the UK when we went camping with the Ooooodex crew it became something of a tradition that as people arrived the boys would help set-up the tents while the girls got the girlfriend a glass of wine. However, when I explained this to Ursula she explained that in their camping group it tends to be the other way around as one of her friends was a girl guide leader so the girls would set-up the tents...hmmm. So the OH and I were putting our new tent together and within 30 seconds I had cut my finger...I don't know how it happened, it just did. At that moment Dan appeared so I was absolved from my tent duties and settled on the bench with a drink while the boys did it. Now...this tent was supposed to be able to sleep four people. FOUR! Well, the queen sized air bed only just fit in it, let alone anything else so I thing that we may have been duped by some false advertising! It is basically a sleeping dome for TWO people - I am so glad we didn't buy the one intended for two people...one of us would have been sleeping on the picnic bench!

Our FOUR MAN tent

Then a game of Sequence ensued. If you haven't played this board game then I highly recommend it. It is board & card based and is extremely addictive! At about 9pm we all got a bit hungry and headed out in the car to find somewhere to have food. One thing to note about New Zealand here is that many places close quite early in the evening. If you're from the UK you'll be expecting restaurants to be open until the early hours of the morning and you won't find it here! It's nice because it makes you realise that the people who work at the food places have their own lives and quite rightly don't want to be working until silly o'clock to satisfy our untimely hunger but it can be a touch inconvenient as you will have noted from my previous blogs when moving house! McD's is 24 hours though so you'll always be able to resort to that if nothing else! Anyway, as we drove out of the camp-site the guy who owns it was locking the gate. He opened it to let us out and didn't offer any information to us about locking up. So Dan asked if we'd be able to drive back in later on to which the owner just replied 'No' and that was that - all the information we were privy to! After that he became appropriately known as 'Mr. No'. We decided to head into town anyway and just park the car up near the camp-site and walk back. We passed loads of food places which were all closed, the town seemed devoid of human life...and then tried one place before we resigned ourselves to a chip shop - a Thai restaurant. It was absolutely full of people - so this was where the whole town went on a Friday night! It was quite posh and we were all dressed in camping slouch clothes but they were happy to accommodate us. The food was absolutely divine - if you're ever in Kumeu and you're looking for a good restaurant then Golden Silk Thai comes extremely highly recommended! After we'd had our fill we headed back and played cards until about 1am when we decided it was time to hit the sleeping bags.

Saturday we woke up and Ursh & Dan had to head back into the city for a few hours so me & the OH put the mountain bikes in the van and headed up to Toi Toi café for breakfast. On the way there the heavens opened and we passed a guy who was hitch-hiking. So we picked him up and he asked if we'd been out on the bikes or if we were heading out. We said we were heading out and he told us of a bike track he'd been told about but had never tried. It was an official bike track and you had to turn down a lane that looked like someone's drive and lug your bikes over these HUGE concrete blocks to find it. Sop we dropped him off at his car and carried on to the café. Again - highly recommended, they have views of the sea; the service and coffee were fantastic and the food was gorgeous! The OH opted for a big breakfast and I stuck with my fave: eggs benedict with salmon. Perfect start to the day! Then we went off in search of this elusive bike track. It was fantastic - all downhill to start which was amazing (although I tend to panic and use my brakes but the OH was gone like a shot!) On the way back it meant some quite steep hills but it was well worth it. We had roughly 2 hours out cycling and it was nice and sunny for the whole time. It's so true that you reap what you sow: if we hadn't done a good deed in picking up the hitch-hiker then we'd never have known about it!

The view from Toi Toi café



The ominous start to the bike track

The lane access to the bike track

We headed back to the camp-site and straight to the beach where the OH donned his wetsuit and got in the sea with his body-board. I got cosy on the sand and watched, taking pics and enjoying my sport of choice: people watching. The waves on Muriwai beach are inconsistent and can be very dangerous. In fact, as a general rule the sea on the East Coast is generally calm (Pacific Ocean) and they have white sand beaches whereas the West coast (Tasman Sea) has black sand and is very unpredictable and can be ferocious. The North Island's west coast surf spots (Piha, Bethells and Muriwai) have the worst reputation for fierce currents but the East coast rips are harder to spot. You need to watch out for rips (you should be looking out for these anywhere really) which can drag you out if you panic. In the schools here, kids are taught all about rips but in the UK it would never make the curriculum!


A kite surfer on Muriwai Beach

With that in mind, I'll give you a short lesson on what I've learnt so far:
  • Sometimes you can see the rip and sometimes you can't
  • Surfers often use rips to their advantage - they can be used to take surfers out to where they need to be to catch the best waves (not that I'm advocating this!)
  • Rips are the biggest killers in NZ waters: of the 14 people who have drowned in NZ since Christmas, at least 5 were killed after being caught in rips
  • Swimmers die because they exhaust themselves fighting against the current. If you don't fight it and just tread water, you have an 80 to 90 per cent chance of the rip current conveyor belt returning you to shore in three to six minutes.
Rips are identified as:
  • Calm patches in the surf with waves breaking either side
  • Rippled or ‘criss-crossed' water
  • Darker water due to depth or sand stirred up off the bottom
  • Foamy water with debris extending beyond the surf break

If you are caught in a rip:
  • Stay calm and conserve your energy
  • If you are a weak swimmer, float with the current and try to swim parallel to the shore until reaching the breaking wave zone, then swim back to shore or signal for help.
  • If you are a strong swimmer, swim at a 45 degree angle across the rip in the same direction as the current until you reach the breaking wave zone, then return to shore.
*For more info see the Waitakere Website & this info sheet

I don't want to scare anyone off and they're certainly not exclusive to New Zealand - far from it! Plus the beaches do have flags which you are encouraged to swim between as they're the lowest risk areas in which to swim. These red & yellow flags also indicate that there are Surf Life Saving NZ teams patrolling. These teams patrol specific beaches from October - April each year and consist of volunteers who devote their spare time to saving lives. It really is commendable and they are always welcome to receive donations :)

Anyway, after a short while on the beach it decided to rain again but we stuck it out for a while until the wind really picked up and after about an hour we went back to camp to freshen up and get some dinner! Then settled in for the night for a few drinks and many games of 'Oh, Hell!' and a new one called 'Presidents & Ar*eholes' - both again very addictive indeed! Sunday morning we awoke to the feeling of being suffocated. You know what it's like when you've had a few drinks and then sleep in a tent and the sun comes up really early and cooks your tent nicely so that when you wake up you feel like you've been stuck in the desert for days and desperately need water and air! We decided that tents should have a number of vent holes a sleeping height - like the portholes on a ship which you can lift up a little Velcro flap and just suck in some air when you first wake up - that would be genius!

Sunday we had a lovely breakfast cooked by Ursula and packed up the tents then we all headed off to grab a coffee and went for a nice long walk to see the gannet colonies on Muriwai beach and then had another walk along the beach itself and soaked in the vitamin D on offer :) In the afternoon we got a lovely ice cream and then headed back home ready for another week in work. It was a fabulous weekend and I felt so relaxed as is so often the case when I go camping and have zero access to technology - it's so refreshing.

A calmer looking Muriwai Beach

One of the Gannet colonies

This weekend we've had a very quiet one - did a bit of shopping yesterday and bought some helmets for cycling (it's illegal to cycle over here without a helmet!) and we made our first trip to the amazing 'English Corner Shop' in Onehunga (pronounced on-ee-hung-a although I like to pronounce it one-hunger in my head, it just tickles me). This was very very exciting for me - a pescetarian as they sell Quorn and it's the first taste I've had of it since moving here 7 months ago. So last night consisted of Quorn burgers with salad for dinner and today I have had Birds Eye Potato Waffles (they're waffly versatile) with Quorn bacon - I am in Quorn heaven.

One final update from me - and that's with regard to 'Tom'. He's certainly grown since we re-potted him and he's carrying loads of yummy tomato babies for us!! Yey!! Check him out and bask in his fruit-bearing glory.

My lovely Super'Tom' 

Check out his fruit babies!