And now for the important stuff
Last weekend (while taking a break from tandeming), we stopped at Beach House Wines, where the charming owner invited us over to his other (apparently more profitable) business: Roosters Brew House. Sorry, there is no link (or photos--I had a camera, I'm not sure it was the sort of place where I'd be snapping pictures). Very Kiwi bar; full of men in coveralls, just off work...and possibly carrying their own beer mugs. Unlike any US brewery I've been to (which are really just restaurants that happen to make beer), Roosters is more like a winery that makes beer (they also serve Beach House wine). Although a sign on the door made reference to "lunches", I saw no other evidence that food is served. The best part about Roosters: Free beer from the Irish bartender--or maybe that's the best part of drinking with Irish friends...
In other news, there is good Indian food in Hawke's Bay: Master of India in Hastings (there's apparently another in Ahuriri) was considerably better than typical Orange County Indian cuisine. Now, if only I could track down a Mexican restaurant.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Not quite paradise
Alternative title: Fair and balanced journalism
Everything you always wanted to know about the sand fly.
I believe I made it through white water rafting without too many bites (the provided wetsuit was pretty good protection). Afterwards we stopped for lunch (was that at the River Valley Cafe in Esk Valley?), and made the mistake of sitting at an outdoor picnic table on the grass. I am covered with bug bites. I am never going outside again.
Alternative title: Fair and balanced journalism
Everything you always wanted to know about the sand fly.
I believe I made it through white water rafting without too many bites (the provided wetsuit was pretty good protection). Afterwards we stopped for lunch (was that at the River Valley Cafe in Esk Valley?), and made the mistake of sitting at an outdoor picnic table on the grass. I am covered with bug bites. I am never going outside again.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
I could sing a few lines of the Purdue and IU fight songs, but I can't for the life of me remember how Butler's goes. I'm sure a couple of hours of dueling pianos would set me straight.
River of Terror!!!
Alternative title: And I wished I could ride a horse
Brief interruption: Yesterday's lunch in a vineyard.
This morning, it was up to the Mohaka River for white water rafting.
These were Grade II rapids...which I guess means that on a hot day, you can do this sort of thing. (Yes, those are my feet).
Aoife jumping off a cliff. She was supposed to take a picture of me jumping off an even higher cliff, but apparently did not, as I have no such picture.
The water on the lens helps capture the ferocity of the river.
Maybe next time:
Alternative title: And I wished I could ride a horse
Brief interruption: Yesterday's lunch in a vineyard.
This morning, it was up to the Mohaka River for white water rafting.
These were Grade II rapids...which I guess means that on a hot day, you can do this sort of thing. (Yes, those are my feet).
Aoife jumping off a cliff. She was supposed to take a picture of me jumping off an even higher cliff, but apparently did not, as I have no such picture.
The water on the lens helps capture the ferocity of the river.
Maybe next time:
Friday, April 02, 2010
Thank G-d it's (Good) Friday, and the Official Sports Drink of Backyard Cricket.
In case I didn't mention it already, Easter is a four day weekend here. It is my new favourite holiday. As I type this, it is now Saturday...the sun is out, the birds are singing; or at least chirping their 4 note song (which I think is really a two tone song repeated twice, but Nico disagrees, and she is a bit more talented musically, so we'll go with 4 notes).
Yesterday, we spent the morning with my coworker Jason and his family on a hike through the Blowhard Bush Scenic Reserve. I was a little worried about the level of difficulty this hike might present because of our recent experiences on other voyages; but it turned out to be a relatively easy walk (through caves, native forest, and some plants that looked a lot like the California coastal sage scrub I had to identify in Biology 5C (or whatever class that was that made me decide not to be a botanist).
If you look closely, you may notice that I'm trying not to think about the bottomless abyss behind me.
Kiwi children do not share my fears.
I somehow forgot to take pictures of the backyard cricket game we played in. Jason patiently went over the basics; I promptly forgot those I may have understood. Anyway, hitting a cricket ball is a bit easier than hitting a baseball.
Today, we're off to the Clearview Winery for lunch; I am happy to report that our first tandem ride since becoming Kiwis will be a sober one...not so sure about the second ride.
Tomorrow, it's Final Four. I am guessing that no Butler alumni live farther from Indianapolis than do I. So we broke down and had Sky installed. One month was a long time to go without TV. Unfortunately, the antiquated receiver would not work with our American television, so we had to go and buy a new one: 32 inch Samsung; cheap even by US standards. Due to a problem with online ordering (from a local store), I've ended up with two. It was so cheap, I'm thinking of keeping the second one. Is anyone not interested in us having a television in the guest bedroom?
In case I didn't mention it already, Easter is a four day weekend here. It is my new favourite holiday. As I type this, it is now Saturday...the sun is out, the birds are singing; or at least chirping their 4 note song (which I think is really a two tone song repeated twice, but Nico disagrees, and she is a bit more talented musically, so we'll go with 4 notes).
Yesterday, we spent the morning with my coworker Jason and his family on a hike through the Blowhard Bush Scenic Reserve. I was a little worried about the level of difficulty this hike might present because of our recent experiences on other voyages; but it turned out to be a relatively easy walk (through caves, native forest, and some plants that looked a lot like the California coastal sage scrub I had to identify in Biology 5C (or whatever class that was that made me decide not to be a botanist).
If you look closely, you may notice that I'm trying not to think about the bottomless abyss behind me.
Kiwi children do not share my fears.
I somehow forgot to take pictures of the backyard cricket game we played in. Jason patiently went over the basics; I promptly forgot those I may have understood. Anyway, hitting a cricket ball is a bit easier than hitting a baseball.
Today, we're off to the Clearview Winery for lunch; I am happy to report that our first tandem ride since becoming Kiwis will be a sober one...not so sure about the second ride.
Tomorrow, it's Final Four. I am guessing that no Butler alumni live farther from Indianapolis than do I. So we broke down and had Sky installed. One month was a long time to go without TV. Unfortunately, the antiquated receiver would not work with our American television, so we had to go and buy a new one: 32 inch Samsung; cheap even by US standards. Due to a problem with online ordering (from a local store), I've ended up with two. It was so cheap, I'm thinking of keeping the second one. Is anyone not interested in us having a television in the guest bedroom?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Afternoon walk around the Tainui Reserve
Please seek out Nico's blog for a differential diagnosis of Parks, Domains and Reserves in the NZ. Nico does not get a link yet...as some of you may recall, the requirements for a link to your site (from takealotofdrugs.com) are ALL of the following:
1) You must apply in writing
and ONE of the following
2) You must have updated your blog with at least one semi-interesting post in each of the last 3 months
OR
3) You must be deployed on active duty in the military branch of your choice
[For those of you who do not work at Prescription Solutions, this is a sort of funny Prior Authorizations joke. Of course, if you have to explain a joke...]
We live over at this end...it's more of a park over here.
And just a short hike into the reserve, and things start looking foresty.
Please seek out Nico's blog for a differential diagnosis of Parks, Domains and Reserves in the NZ. Nico does not get a link yet...as some of you may recall, the requirements for a link to your site (from takealotofdrugs.com) are ALL of the following:
1) You must apply in writing
and ONE of the following
2) You must have updated your blog with at least one semi-interesting post in each of the last 3 months
OR
3) You must be deployed on active duty in the military branch of your choice
[For those of you who do not work at Prescription Solutions, this is a sort of funny Prior Authorizations joke. Of course, if you have to explain a joke...]
We live over at this end...it's more of a park over here.
And just a short hike into the reserve, and things start looking foresty.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A grape by any other name
A little rain today, so instead of mowing the lawn, we set off in search of zinfandel. Kemblefield Estate Winery claims to be the first (and now one of two) wineries in the NZ growing zinfandel.
The winery/vineyards are stunning.
The zinfandel they were pouring was not quite recognizable as zinfandel, though a few of their other wines were quite good. We hope to return when they are tasting the (much more expensive) reserve zinfandel.
PS: Nobody is skyping me. Not even my parents. I've added a skype button to make it even easier. If you don't have skype, sign up here. It's free.
A little rain today, so instead of mowing the lawn, we set off in search of zinfandel. Kemblefield Estate Winery claims to be the first (and now one of two) wineries in the NZ growing zinfandel.
The winery/vineyards are stunning.
The zinfandel they were pouring was not quite recognizable as zinfandel, though a few of their other wines were quite good. We hope to return when they are tasting the (much more expensive) reserve zinfandel.
PS: Nobody is skyping me. Not even my parents. I've added a skype button to make it even easier. If you don't have skype, sign up here. It's free.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Favourite NZ Drugs
Well, they're not really my favourites...I just think the names are kind of funny...well, maybe the names aren't exactly funny, but the fact that drug companies would market their products with these names is kind of funny...or maybe the fact that none of my coworkers think these names are funny is what's funny.
Well, they're not really my favourites...I just think the names are kind of funny...well, maybe the names aren't exactly funny, but the fact that drug companies would market their products with these names is kind of funny...or maybe the fact that none of my coworkers think these names are funny is what's funny.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
More weekend fun
Alternative title: Before pictures
It might take a year, but I'm attempting to revive our garden. I'm allowing myself to buy equipment that we can take with us (eg: a lawn mover), but no consumables (like grass seed)...unless they are very cheap or absolute necessities.
Most of the lawn that is growing are (sic?) weeds, but I figure that if I water them at least it will be green...cut short, it might look like grass. Not sure what I'll do with the open patches of dirt. Speaking of water, I am really wishing I had brought my $8 Wal-Mart hose. New Zealand is 50 years behind the US in hose technology; fortunately, the previous tenant left a couple, so I don't need to shell out $30 for a narrow rubber tube...that's right, just a tube. You need to purchase additional hardware to attach your tube to anything else...I am guessing that these attachments will not stay on if you turn the pressure above a trickle.
Not sure what kind of trees are in the wine barrels. I'm going to plant peppers in the empty one, and there's a dying tomato plant in another.
A little raking of the zen garden, and my chi should be restored.
Alternative title: Before pictures
It might take a year, but I'm attempting to revive our garden. I'm allowing myself to buy equipment that we can take with us (eg: a lawn mover), but no consumables (like grass seed)...unless they are very cheap or absolute necessities.
Most of the lawn that is growing are (sic?) weeds, but I figure that if I water them at least it will be green...cut short, it might look like grass. Not sure what I'll do with the open patches of dirt. Speaking of water, I am really wishing I had brought my $8 Wal-Mart hose. New Zealand is 50 years behind the US in hose technology; fortunately, the previous tenant left a couple, so I don't need to shell out $30 for a narrow rubber tube...that's right, just a tube. You need to purchase additional hardware to attach your tube to anything else...I am guessing that these attachments will not stay on if you turn the pressure above a trickle.
Not sure what kind of trees are in the wine barrels. I'm going to plant peppers in the empty one, and there's a dying tomato plant in another.
A little raking of the zen garden, and my chi should be restored.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Rather like buying an old house
Alternative title #1: How I spent my Saturday
Alternative title #2: NZ truly is all fun and games
Before
After
I know, not much of an improvement, but this was all I had to work with:
Three boxes of trash/clippings from the house we moved into 4 days ago. Attention landlord: if an unkempt house is returned to you when we move out, rest assured that it was in better shape than when we moved in.
In other news: One of my coworkers was kind enough to give us us a little wood. We have two wood burning stoves, and really have no idea how we go about buying wood...or how much wood we should buy...or how much we should pay for it. Nicole says this will not last the winter, but hopefully it will tide us over until we figure out where to buy more from. Also, we were invited in for coffee and Tim Tams...which are probably the NZ equivalent of Oreos.
In still other news: Those of you who are longtime readers of this blog may know that I do not care for assembling barbecues. Each barbecue I have purchased (or been suckered into assembling for someone else) over the last 10 years has been more difficult than the last, and this one was not an exception. There are all kinds of Kiwi-isms in the instructions that I do not understand, like: "Lay on the flat". Anyway, the 15 minute job only took 3 hours. [I could now do another one in 15 minutes if I had an exact duplicate...]
Alternative title #1: How I spent my Saturday
Alternative title #2: NZ truly is all fun and games
Before
After
I know, not much of an improvement, but this was all I had to work with:
Three boxes of trash/clippings from the house we moved into 4 days ago. Attention landlord: if an unkempt house is returned to you when we move out, rest assured that it was in better shape than when we moved in.
In other news: One of my coworkers was kind enough to give us us a little wood. We have two wood burning stoves, and really have no idea how we go about buying wood...or how much wood we should buy...or how much we should pay for it. Nicole says this will not last the winter, but hopefully it will tide us over until we figure out where to buy more from. Also, we were invited in for coffee and Tim Tams...which are probably the NZ equivalent of Oreos.
In still other news: Those of you who are longtime readers of this blog may know that I do not care for assembling barbecues. Each barbecue I have purchased (or been suckered into assembling for someone else) over the last 10 years has been more difficult than the last, and this one was not an exception. There are all kinds of Kiwi-isms in the instructions that I do not understand, like: "Lay on the flat". Anyway, the 15 minute job only took 3 hours. [I could now do another one in 15 minutes if I had an exact duplicate...]
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