Part 14 - On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...no, wait

Well well well - how things change over here in just a matter of weeks, or maybe that's just us! The long and the short of it is that the OH has been offered another job...in Auckland - and this is the one he's chosen. So here we are in Auckland now and we have found a home! Just trying to get our shipping possessions which have travelled from the UK - Christchurch - Wellington (where they currently reside!) - Auckland. Then I will FINALLY have my summer clothes and our bed; our TV; just so much stuff that I am looking forward to seeing again...and many things that I have completely forgotten about no doubt. They left our home in the UK at the beginning of May so they will also need to be washed before they are worn too *groan*

We went up to Wellington - as you know - and conveniently timed it for the Wales vs Ireland RWC game. We had met a couple in Hamilton at the Wales vs Fiji game called Jacey & Dai and they had travelled to Wellington as well so we planned to meet up with them for a drink before the game. We met them in the fan zone where J was getting her face painted, so I joined the queue to get mine done and the boys went off for a wander. J&D had tickets to the game but we were going to watch it in a pub...or so I thought. But then the OH came back with the news that he'd "just got tickets" off someone who'd been upgraded to a corporate box. That was that, we were going to the game!

Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales vs. Ireland (Wellington Stadium)

Off we went to the stadium - to be greeted by a sea of green and sporadic groups of red. Just to add to the madness of it all: after the anthems I heard : "Nikki Thomas!" and as I turned to my right I discovered Big Dave - a guy who I used to work with in 2003 in Newport, South Wales! I hasten to add he was called 'Big' Dave because we had a 'little' Dave too...not because he was abnormally large. We were sat only 3 seats apart, it really was surreal amongst some 60,000 fans! So him and his friends joined us after the match as we made our way victoriously to the Welsh Dragon Bar to celebrate our win with lots of singing :-) The following day was the Australia vs South Africa game and J&D had been given free tickets to it by some people who were going home! So after a freshen up the boys went off to the stadium and me & Jacey went to the Welsh bar and made an afternoon of it. So we had 2 amazing evenings with J&D and having missed the train back to Paraparaumu on both nights we all slept very cosily in their camper van.

The following week we settled again in the Welsh Dragon bar to watch the Wales vs France game and how tense it was: we got into the bar and settled onto strategically place barrels with cushions on; the owner was dressed in a Welsh flag cape and he was pacing up and down the pub. He refused to say how he thought Wales would fare - the Welsh have a tendency to not want to jinx the team: we worry that if we say they're going to do well then it will be our fault if they falter.

There was one Frenchman in the bar - and he only looked young. To be fair he stood his ground and after plenty of cajoling he sang the French national anthem proudly amidst the 'foes'. I'm not going to talk about the game because it is too soul destroying...I'm not going to mention the red card that should never have been a red card, I'm definitely not going to mention our kicking 'ability' and I promise not to talk of all the dreams I heard smash into pieces in the Welsh bar that evening. It was heart breaking to go out the way we did. The Welsh have a habit of saying "as long as we play well we don't mind losing"...but we do, it makes it so much harder because we DESERVED to be in that final. But....c'est la vie. After the game we were interviewed yet again by a guy with a microphone (nope, no idea where he was from). We were deflated, gutted, destroyed but PROUD! The Welsh team played so so well throughout the whole tournament. It was sad to see Adam Jones go off and for Sam Warburton to be sent off after just 18 minutes was sacrilege but enough talk of the game ;-)

After a few more days in Wellington we were due to take a complete leap of faith and make the 8 hour road trip to to Auckland (again: conveniently in time for the Wales vs Australia Bronze play off - in Auckland) to meet up with J&D again. On the way this time we did actually see goats (real ones this time), llamas, chickens, and a pig just to add to the farm animals we'd seen on previous road trips. The views once again were breathtaking.

Driving to Auckland: From sun soaked sea views...

Driving to Auckland: ...to snow capped mountains

J&D were staying with a Kiwi family (with Welsh connections) whom they had met while hounding the Welsh team for autographs at Sky City and the family invited us to stay there too. We found our way to their absolutely beautiful home and were made to feel like we'd known Merv & Pete (the owners) our whole lives. Merv has familial links in Wales as it's where she was born and her cousin Julie was over from Barry Island too which was great! She's like a bottle of pop and has a lovely strong Welsh accent :) It was Thursday so we all had a few drinks and prepared for a fab, fun-filled weekend with the Cavanaghs. The next few days looked something like this:

Friday: We spent the day out & about. Merv had the day off work so she took us all to see some local sights. We went to bees online as Dai wanted to see bees making honey and after watching the honey bees we tasted and purchased plenty of honey! Then we headed off to Coopers Creek vineyard for some wine tasting then settled outside in the afternoon sun for a bottle of wine and a cheese / fruit / crackers platter - simply divine!

Afterwards we went for a meal along the river in order to line our stomachs substantially. In the evening we headed to Eden Park to see if we could get tickets to the Wales vs Australia bronze play off and if not we were going to watch it in a pub. After about 15 minutes of walking around we were just about ready to cut our losses when they decided to check with the ticket office to see how much the tickets were which were remaining. The answer: $200 each. So the OH walked up to a group of people and asked if they had any spare tickets to which they replied "yes, 2" and put them in his hand. He asked how much they wanted for them and they said we could have them for free! They'd had another 3 too but had already given them away. So THANK YOU very much to that Irish group from the cruise liner - you made our night! So we were 2 down - 4 to go. We continued our hunt and the others found a couple of South African guys who had 4 for sale - perfect!

The cruise liners at Auckland Harbour by the Fan Zone

All 6 of us chipped in for the 4 tickets to make it equal and it meant that we ended up paying only $140 per pair of tickets! Amazing. So once again we were off to the game with Category B tickets thanks to the cruise packages that had rolled into Auckland Harbour that weekend. Me & the OH got to our seats and were surrounded by Aussies - with only 2 other Welshies in the area - which made us sing the national anthem with even greater oomph! After the game we met up with the others and had an amazing night singing in a local bar with some really lovely Aussies and fellow Welshies - it was brilliant!

Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales vs. Australia (Eden Park, Auckland)

The Fan Zone, Auckland

Saturday: Pete's birthday so we all went to the races at Ellerslie. Having never been to the races before we had to be inducted into the culture and Merv, Pete and Julie were excellent teachers in advising what a 'Quinella' was and how we placed bets, etc. It was a great afternoon and the OH won 4 races! $34 was his biggest win. The others won a few races too and I won nothing, absolutely zilch. The OH certainly made up for my losses. Despite that it was such a fun experience and we all had a great day out followed by a lovely meal at the RSA (like a RAFA / social club in Wales) and a relatively early night ready for RWC FINAL day!

Sunday: We started an excited day with a gorgeous eggs florentine created by Merv (definitely 5 stars Merv!!), then we went to explore Lion Rock & Piha beach on the way to the paaaaarty at Merv's sister Lindy's. What a night - great food, great company, great drinks and a WIN for the All Blacks!! :o) We all enjoyed seeing the win after a super tense match!! Over the moon that they won as no one can disupte the fact that the ABs definitely deserved it. We celebrated long into the night and got home at about 4am.

Lion Rock (can you see the lion?) & Piha Beach

Monday: After recovering from the night before Merv taught us a new card game called 'oh hell!' After developing a serious addiction to the game we were up until 4am again(!) playing it.

Tuesday: We went for a lovely walk along the beach just down from the house with views of Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower.

Wednesday: Back to normal for Merv & Pete as they were back in work and Rugby Fever was almost over: just a few victory parades in the streets of New Zealand for the All Blacks and the cup. We watched the Auckland parade on the TV where 250,000 people turned out to see them - pretty impressive for a country with a population of 4 Million and it's indicative of the pride the nation has in it's rugby achievements. BUT before that we were taken out for a spin in an absolutely AMAZING beautiful red Mustang. We went all along the coast and enjoyed breathing in the sea air while in super luxury comfort - it was awesome!! Thank you John & Christine, you made our week!! Spent the evening at the RSA pub quiz where our team came 2nd (no thanks to me really but the OH and the rest of the team did well).

Wow! THE Mustang

Friday: Had 'fush n chups' before a great game of 'Oh, Hell!' with Merv's friends with a few drinks which went into the night.

Saturday: a HUGE (very very difficult) quiz at the local tennis club. There were so many of us we had to split into 2 teams as it was a maximum of 8 per team. There were raffles and loads of spot prizes which just made for a great night. We came away with some random prizes ranging from wine to gardeners hand wash to a voucher for expensive sports socks! Also, our teams came 1st and 2nd so we won loads of things for that. I knew a few of the answers but ironically the answer I was solely responsible for which was correct was in the 'Kiwiana' round - I knew I was a Kiwi at heart ;-)

In the middle of all of the activities above we were searching for a home and I was searching for a job so it's been pretty hectic! It's now the following Tuesday and in the past week J&D went off to have a look around Tauranga and me and the OH have found a unit which we have secured so we now have an abode! We'll be moving in as soon as our shipment is in Auckland so that's exciting! I am now looking for a job in Auckland and wondering how I am ever going to navigate this huge city. The strange thing is that when we visited last year we both narrow-mindedly said we'd never live in Auckland: as a tourist you just see a HUGE city with a high population (4 million in the whole of NZ but a third of these live in Auckland) and a manic rush hour. But having been based here for just a week we've been off exploring the unspoilt beauty of it - from lion rock & Piha, to vineyards, to Karekare beach, Half Moon Bay, Cockle Bay and so many more. It's stunning and I retract my statement made in haste 18 months ago - we're falling in love with the place and it feels like home.

Karekare Beach

View from the rocks, Karekare

Waves crashing against the rocks at Karekare Beach

You might wonder where we're currently living and once again it's thanks to the beautiful generosity of Merv and Pete who asked us to stay on with them until we got settled and found our own home. Not only have they fully embraced us into their family and circle of friends but they've made us feel at home. They've provided us with such sound advice on places to live, they've answered all of our (often duplicated) questions without an ounce of frustration, they have given all that they can give and more. Generosity on this scale really changes your perspective - in the UK we wouldn't dream of welcoming relative strangers into our home and leaving them up while we go to bed, encouraging them to 'help yourselves' and 'make yourselves at home'. They are a real inspiration and we will never be able to thank them enough. So thank you Merv & Pete, and your gorgeous family and fantastic friends for taking us in and just being you. You are wonderful.

Part 13 - And we're off to windy Wellington

OK so I no longer work for the Best Café in Southland 2011 (boo!). I officially completed my last shift there last Friday (Sept 30th). I had a lovely day in work - the WHK receptionists gave me pink jelly beans (thank you ladies, they came in handy on the 11 hour road trip!), one of our regulars - the lovely Reece (I tried to spell his name the Welsh way - 'Rhys' - but he wouldn't have it) came in with a box of chocolates and 2 other regulars - Gordon & Mr Mug (that's not his real name) - bought me a gorgeous mug with a message about cake on it. The delightful Charlie from upstairs got me a lovely keyring which is so her and I absolutely love it. It's truly lovely and all the gifts were completely unexpected and made me quite emotional.

The Southlanders are such an adorable bunch - I felt that they truly took me under their wing and gave me a (very large) adopted family there. I will definitely be back. After work the B(i)atches had a few drinks and the owners did me a little leaving speech which was once again very emotional. They bought me a gorgeous gift which I will treasure and the absolutely divine Kate got me a stunning gift too. I'd wanted to buy it for myself and when I went to get it, it wasn't there so I assumed it had been sold. But the little monster had hidden it and presented it to me as I left. Thank you to all of you at the Batch. I probably didn't word it very well in my leaving 'speech' as I was truly overwhelmed by your generosity. I can never thank you enough for being my protectors, teachers (!) and friends during my time in Invercargill. You are an amazing mix of people. I look forward to seeing you over the Summer.

It's now the following Friday and we seem to have done so much since then.

On the Sunday we had tickets for the Wales vs. Fiji game. So we were up at 8am as we had to drive to Dunedin airport for the flight. We left Dunedin at 11am and got into Auckland at about 1pm where we had hired a car to drive to Hamilton. The drive was clear for the 1st hour or so then the traffic seemed to build up out of nowhere - this was only about 3pm and kick off wasn't until 6pm so it seemed a little odd. It was great to see all the other cars with their flags on their cars - so many Welshies and Fijians and we tooted to a few as we passed them. It was a really lovely driving experience. As 2 lanes went into one we assumed that this was why the traffic had built up, then as we drove along the road we came across a house with a big Welsh flag in the garden and a lady with her daughter watching the traffic with their Welsh tops on. We tooted to them and the daughter screamed with excitement and the mother cheered us on. It was just lovely and strangely made me truly proud to be Welsh (not that I wasn't already).

When you haven't seen any fellow Welshies for so long it's just amazing to come into contact again. After that the traffic seemed to disperse so it seems that we weren't the only ones tooting and cheering - that house was probably part of the reason for the traffic build up! But what a lovely welcome into Hamilton so well done that family. We got to our motel and checked in - it wasn't the greatest service in the world: the owner was clearly busy as we didn't see her once during our stay and were served by her 2 daughters (?) who were probably about 10 and 12 in age and of no use whatsoever when we asked about public transport. Still - I digress, this is not a motel review site. The motel was based in Cambridge which is just outside Hamilton (there was no way you could get accommodation within Hamilton that night - it had all been booked many moons previously!) So we checked in and I decided to be designated driver as the tickets were bought for the OH's birthday and I'm just nice like that ;-)

So we adorned ourselves with red paraphernalia - I had the OH's Ospreys top on (my Welsh top is in our shipping stuff which is still in storage) and I had a Welsh flag cape, red feather boa and red pom poms in hand - the OH had his new Welsh rugby shirt on and we made our way into Hamilton. We parked up in the main town and started walking to the stadium. Every now and again a bus would drive past with 'RWC Stadium Bus' on the front - so we decided to hop on. Turns out they were free buses into the stadium from the town. What a fab idea. It turned out this particular bus had about 2 Fijians on it and the rest were Welsh - and what do the Welsh do when they are en masse particularly when the rugby is on?? Sing of course! After various choruses of Sosban Fach and Delilah and the OH being asked if he's Stephen Jones' brother we alighted at the Stadium. As we took our seats (about 4 rows from the front near the posts - great view) it was great to soak in the atmosphere. The seats were pretty equally filled by red and blue. I was in my Welsh flag cape sat next to a guy in a Fijian cape. It was lovely - everyone asking "where are you from?" (the Welsh are always convinced they'll meet someone they know...and we usually do) and just the general air of anticipation. Then the game happened...and what a game it was. The final score: 66-0 to Wales. Amazing. Admittedly though by the end we were willing the Fijians to get just one try - on the other hand we'd never been to a game where Wales had managed to keep the other team from scoring at all so it was pretty amazing to watch.

The Fijian & Welsh teams

After the game we went out in Hamilton. On our way we were stopped by some reporters with a camera and a (very) bright light who asked us if we were Welsh and then promptly interviewed us on camera. Not sure where they were from but please let us know if you think you may have seen us - I was also wearing a red fedora style hat by this point. First off we went into an Irish bar which was absolutely rammed as Ireland were playing next. After one drink we took off and headed to the Fan Zone. These are set up in the towns that are hosting the matches. They are manned by security & police and they generally have a brilliant feel about them. All the fans getting together to either watch the game on a big screen set up within the zone - or in one of the various pubs which make up the fan zone. We went into a pub which had a sign outside saying "unofficial Welsh embassy" and inside was a sea of red - dotted with the odd green jersey. The Irish singing at the Welsh and the Welsh singing at the Irish - it was great. Then as we left the bar and headed back to the motel we bumped into 2 of the Welsh players: Adam Jones & Alun Wyn Jones. The OH was a bit star struck...we had our pics taken with them and then headed back. So tomorrow Wales are in the quarter finals and we take on our Irish friends...in Wellington.

This brings me neatly onto my next instalment of 'moving house: episode 44' (OK so that's only what it FEELS like). We got back from Hamilton on Monday (after only 4 hours sleep the night before) and packed all of our stuff up and got it all into the car (this is no mean feat - we'd bought a TV cabinet and we have a bit of a sporty car...not made for TV cabinets!) After an early night we were up and said our goodbyes to the lovely Courtney (another person who I would like to thank massively for helping us out when we needed it) who we were living with (insert more tears here) and we hit the road. but first we needed to get some breakfast and coffee...where should we go...? No contest is there?! The Batch it was. We stocked up with flat whites; cheese & bacon scone; toastie and a vegetarian bretzel (they're amazing guys - they are a winner!!) and after final good byes (more tears) we were off. We had a 12 hour road trip ahead of us (which only turned out to be 11 hours in the end) and I kept thinking we were going to hit rush hour. I had clearly forgotten where we were living as there isn't a 'rush' hour in Invercargill - there aren't enough cars about. The drive was lovely (OK, OK I was the passenger - not the driver), all green and animal filled. We saw sheep, sheep and more sheep (and loads of baby lambs!), lots of horses and foals, Shetland ponies, alpacas, cows and calves, deer and of course the beautiful views of land and sea. I thought I saw goats at one point which prompted me to shout out 'GOATS!' as we went past....turns out they were just shaved sheep. So, no goats.

After 11 hours we got to Picton and checked into our delightful cabin for the night. Another early night ensued as we had to be up at 6am for the ferry the next morning. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 8am so we had to be there at 7am at the latest. We got to the ferry terminal and waited to get on the boat...we waited...and waited...and waited. Eventually a lady came over and advised us that the ferry was running late and would be leaving at about 8:45am instead. This should have set alarm bells ringing - or at least prompted questions of why was it running late? But it didn't - after all ignorance is, as they say, bliss. So at about 8:30am we were finally loaded on to the ferry and we left the ferry terminal at about 9am. For the first 45 minutes I loved it. We were still in the confines of South Islands 'arms' at this point and the seas were calm and lovely. We went to the café and had breakfast and 2 cups of tea and took our seats to read the paper and watch the world go by for the next 3.5 hours. Then we left the South Island completely and ventured into the big open sea. This is when things started to go a bit askew. The ferry was riding HUGE waves then coming crashing down onto the sea - it was entertaining to begin with and I was stood up by a French group who were watching it. I even managed to take some pics of the waves crashing against the side of the boat. Trying to walk around was quite difficult but I got back to my seat and continued to marvel at the might of the ocean with the OH.

The waves crashing up against the ferry - the last pic I took while travelling by boat...

After about 10 minutes one of the on board crew came around with cups of ice asking if people were OK and if not suggesting that they have a cup of ice as it makes you feel better. By this point I had started to feel a bit uneasy so I had some ice and it seemed to do the trick. The OH went off to find the toilets and ventured off onto the deck to take a look outside. I stayed put. Another crew member came around with sick bags and started putting them on the tables - this was not, in my books, a good sign. Within a matter of minutes my hands had started to shake and I was boiling hot. I was starting to get clammy and was wishing that the OH would come back. I stuck with the ice and kept wishing for his return. I couldn't ring him as I didn't want to make any sudden movements - it was awful. Then the guy directly in front of me starting vomiting into a sick bag.

Eventually the OH returned and I explained that I needed to go to the toilets....like now! So we got there and that was pretty much where I stayed for the next 3.5 hours. I had been so excited about the ferry trip as I've never suffered with travel sickness to my knowledge previously but boy was I sea sick. It was awful and it felt like the journey would never end. It was like being ill after a really really heavy night out but when you've been sick it doesn't go away. The OH was ill once too and there were a number of 'green' people on the ferry that day. Apparently it was the worst crossing that some people had ever been on and it was just typical that it was the ferry we were on. Then as soon as the ferry was in calm waters again the feeling completely disappears. There's a lot to be said for flying, that's all I can say.

So we got to Wellington - albeit 3kgs lighter - and made our way to the beach bach which we've rented for a couple of weeks while we find somewhere to rent permanently. Now I've had a number of friends and family asking me what a beach bach is - a certain Mrs M (and many other people I think - including my dear mama) assumed it was a wooden hut on the beach... A beach bach isn't the 50's style brightly coloured wooden beach huts that line the beach as we in the UK imagine them to be. They are more like one or 2 bedroom flats which are free standing (i.e. they're not in a blocks of flats) and look more like a small bungalow. They are minutes' walk to the beach and a lot of Kiwis have them as holiday homes away from the city. The place we're currently based in is called Paraparaumu and it's about 45 minutes outside of Wellington CBD. There's a brilliant train service and cable cars in Wellington as well as buses so public transport is easy enough to access. We're looking for a place a bit closer to the centre - maybe with a 25 minute commute into the city. The weather difference in Paraparaumu to Wellington is astounding. We'd heard about it but you don't quite believe it until you see it. Take for example yesterday - we put washing on the line and headed into Wellington to sort out internet access and so on. We left the bright, clear, sunny skies of Para and jumped on the train...as we got closer to Wellington the skies darkened and when we alighted it was to a cloud filled sky with drizzle. Then coming back to Para it was a notable temperature rise. It's very bizarre and I'm not sure why it happens (possibly due to the pollution in the centre?? That's my only guess) so please feel free to educate me if you know more.

Our beach bach in Paraparaumu

Yesterday in Wellington we found our way to the Welsh Dragon Bar (the only Welsh bar in the Southern Hemisphere) and it was just amazing. I'm not the type to go searching for British bars when I'm on holiday but as we live here it's so welcoming to know there will always be a Welsh contingency just down the road. Inside the bar the ceiling is covered with flags all signed by various visitors - the owner is a Swansea man and when you enter you are greeted by a sea of Welsh accents (all asking each other "where you from then?") It's a lovely home from home.

Within 2 minutes of entering a lady approached me with a microphone and a voice recorder and asked me what I think of the game against Ireland on Saturday. I was a bit over-awed so probably sounded a bit meek but I responded to her questions - again, no clue where she's from (I assume radio??) but will listen out for myself. Having only spent enough time in there for 2 drinks we left with a 2 business cards: one from a Welsh gentleman who lives here and the other from a South African gentleman who lives here and we also met and spoke to various other customers. One of which was a delightful Welsh chap from a little Welsh town near Llanelli - he had come over the day before on his own and he's here for 3 weeks. We were talking to him for a while and he asked where our Welsh tops were as he had his on. We explained that we live here and mine was in shipping anyway. As time went on we were talking to other people and this guy came back and said to me "before you go come and see me as I have a surprise for you" and we joked that that sounded a touch ominous and off he went again. About 20 minutes afterwards he came back with a t-shirt which he had bought from the bar for me. It says 'Welsh Dragon Bar Rugby World Cup 2011' on it and has a Welsh flag in the shape of a rugby ball on the front. What a genuinely lovely guy - he refused to take a drink from us but we insisted that if we see him in the bar on Saturday or in the fan zone then he has to accept our drinks. The random acts of kindness from strangers never fails to amaze me. Thank you so much to that man - he didn't even tell us his name but we know his face and we'll be looking out for him tomorrow!

Inside the Welsh Dragon Bar

So here we are in Wellington searching for a home and work - wish us luck. I will keep you updated as the search continues...

Now to a completely random subject. My taste buds seem to have been doing some changing in the 5 months that I've been here so, specifically for my mum, I thought I'd enlighten you to some foods I now love that I didn't used to (I must now officially be a 'grown up'):

• Spinach: Raw only, I still won't eat the cooked spinach & egg meal you all love but I do make a mean sweet chilli king prawn salad with raw spinach
• Pumpkin: Yep, we actually eat it here and don't just put it all in the bin to make nice lanterns
• Olives: OK so I started liking these in the UK but the love has continued and now they're a staple part of my diet
• Lemon curd: but NOT lemon meringue pie. Lemon curd is amazing - we have it at The Batch on something called a lemon slice....yummy!
• Sweet Potato: Also called kumara here, it's nice and tastes a bit like honeyed parsnips
• Natural Yoghurt: It's just divine and goes so well with sweet desserts like brownie and the aforementioned lemon slice
• Coriander: I was never a huge fan - far too overpowering for my liking - but now I love it and cook with it
• Ginger beer / ale: I KNOW!! I used to despise this stuff. My nan loves it. But it goes so well with Canadian Club and lime and is so refreshing just on it's own!!
• Canadian Club: That led me on nicely to this. Canadian Club is whiskey - which I HATED. But now I love it.
• Quinoa (pronounced keenwaah): Admittedly I don't think I'd ever tried this in the UK. The chef in the Batch made a gorgeous veggie quinoa salad - it looks like a mixture between cous cous and alfalfa - and it was simply stunning.
• Dates: OK so I think these were the things we used to eat with a plastic stick thing at Christmas in the UK. I wasn't a huge fan. However, put them in scones and you're on to a winner. Date & orange are my bests.
• Eggplant / aubergine: now there's a reason why this is at the bottom of my list. This is because I'm still unsure....I've had it once on a vegetarian pizza slab and I didn't dislike it....the jury's still out on that one.