A Country Mourns

Sir Edmund Hillary has died.

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning on the beach.
Tui gets a visit from Biggs.


























Tui gets a visit from her sister Speedy.

Whangamata

I got a new camera and I finally uploaded a bunch of new pictures. My new camera's first trip was in October to a place called Whangamata on the East Coast, just south of the Coromandel peninsula. My landlord has a beach house (bach in kiwi-speak) there so I invited some friends and the dogs and off we went for a long weekend.

Tui helping with some advertisement. However Tui is named after the bird. Not the beer.

The beach there is beautiful and since October is still considered off season, it was pretty much deserted. The dogs had a great time running on the endless sandy beaches.

Megan and I took a trip up to Hot Water Beach where we "borrowed" a lovely pit that someone else had dug and sat in the hot water that springs up here.

We also enjoyed a nice game of mandatory minigolf on Sunday. A moment of inattention (see photo) "landed" Urie with a bad minigolf injury including a bruised kidney as well as a bruised ego.

Christine and I stayed past the weekend and took a trip to Waihi for a train ride. Unfortunately the trip we were going to take was cancelled, but they gave us a shorter ride in the cab of the train and we had a great time.

We also visited the open pit gold mine right in the town centre at Waihi.



I also had a chance to visit the very nice public toilets. Public toilets are relatively clean and very easy to find throughout NZ. No need to look for the nearest Mcdonalds when you have to go.

This one lane bridge is the major bottleneck to the Coromandel which is a very popular weekend destination for Aucklanders. This bridge is signal controlled, but most one lane bridges in NZ just have one of the directions giving way to the opposing traffic and somehow it works. I guess it's cheaper than building two lanes on the bridge.

A Live Possum

Today we saw our first live possum in NZ. We were down at the beach and Howie caught the sent of something yummy in the grass near the sea cliff. I assumed it was a dead possum somewhere up the cliff and didn't think too much of it as Howie can't really climb the cliff to get it. But then he stuck his head deep in the grass and came out shaking a screaming possum. After some vigorous shaking (Howie) and screaming (the possum), Howie started screaming too as the possum seemed to get a hold of Howie's nose. Howie let go and I ran and grabbed him. The possum was still alive and just laid there on its back looking at us terrified. About a minute later it just ran up a tree. I'm not sure if the possum will survive, but miraculously Howie doesn't seem to have a scratch on him.

It's Movember

A strange thing happens in movember. Men get extra hairy...

Halloween - that's so American

Halloween is not a big thing in NZ. Yes there are some Halloween treats, costumes and decorations in the stores, but you're not inundated with it. Some kids do go out, and I saw a few walking around my neighbourhood. No one dresses up at work and it's not talked about too much. There seems to be an overwhelming sentiment that Halloween is an American tradition and a pretty dumb one. I've heard over and over again that parents don't like Halloween because they teach their kids not to take treats from strangers. I find this such a strange attitude because I think Halloween is really one of the better traditions. It's lots of fun for everyone and encourages people to be giving (and thanking).
I have not seen any carved pumpkins, and no wonder, pumpkins are not orange here but more greeny-yellowy-brown. Although I was invited to a Halloween party (by a Canadian) I was away and couldn't attend. And although I bought some treats, no trick or treaters came to my door. I guess I'm not really feeling like it's Halloween, so there will be no photo of Howie in his lion costume this year. And poor Tui doesn't even have a costume.

I like rugby

Well Brad has been replaced and I've found a new boyfriend.




















And look at what we have in common.