Sorry it has been a while since my last post, maybe cause I haven't done a whole lot extraordinary the past few weeks, or maybe cause I have been lazy. Probably some of both. This past Sunday I visited a local market, there was heaps of different things, from plant pots, to socks, to fruit, to pearls. It was a nice day, and I spent some time (and money) there relaxing after a paddle. Arriving home at my flat, the neighboor across the street had set out 5 or 6 boxes full of grapefruit. He was in the yard at the time so I had a talk with him. I guess he has 13 trees in his backyard so he ends up with way more fruit than he can possibly eat. We now have a box of grapefruit sitting in our kitchen, they are different than the kind we get in Canada though. Orange in colour, and have a different taste, sweet like an orange but sour at the same time. Hard to describe.
I am officially a member of the Takapuna Boating Club. I have also learned they have a nice bar overlooking the water with awesome priced drinks and food. $3NZ/2.15CDN Pints... beat that Pete Club. The plan is for my flat to head down there tomorrow night to have a few drinks.
As I am writing this my ears are still ringing. I went to a concert last night (Peaches) it was very loud, very sweaty but lots of fun. She is actually a Canadian, but her music is pretty out there (and vulgar). Mom, you wouldn't enjoy it. Looks like this weekend will be busy. Saturday I am heading to Piha beach with some exchange students from the University. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
PS are you enjoying your first frosts?
25.9.08
14.9.08
Aye, typical Work Day
MU(nZ)IK
Well I had an early start to the weekend this friday, up at 4am to get Darrell and his friend Evan from the airport. It seems the Canadian invasion of NZ continues. After sorting them at there accommodation I arrived to work a quarter of an hour early so I decided to drive a little further down the road to the beach (about 3km from the office).It was an amazing morning, dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. Being from Calgary it feels very weird being minutes from the Ocean, maybe with luck global warming may help us with that ;).
It was also a bit of an exciting week at work. I had designed a Privacy Screen for an online banking system Modtec has designed for a bank here, and it had been fabricated and was ready to install. So on Thursday Peter and I headed to the branch and put it up. Luckily all went to plan and my design fit in place, and didn't look too bad. Don't worry, the children's safety was considered; the holes are too small for their fingers to get stuck.
Friday afternoon the Social Club at work arranged a Go-Kart race for the everyone. It was an awesome time, and a great place for me to get out my need for speed (Did I mention I had got a $170 ticket earlier in the month? Good thing the cop didn't notice my expired license!). I overtook my Boss in the race, which he wasn't to happy about, but luckily his team won in the end. After the race we headed back to the shop for Beers and BBQ. Not a bad way to start the weekend.
I got back on the Surfski Saturday, and went for a 2 hour paddle on some calm seas (finally). Just as we were coming in I practiced falling out and getting back into my boat on my own, to build up some confidence for if it every happens by accident in the future. The water has yet to warm up FYI. That afternoon I met up with Darrell to see a bit of the city and grab a few beers on the patio. Needless to say I am not homesick yet:)
Well I had an early start to the weekend this friday, up at 4am to get Darrell and his friend Evan from the airport. It seems the Canadian invasion of NZ continues. After sorting them at there accommodation I arrived to work a quarter of an hour early so I decided to drive a little further down the road to the beach (about 3km from the office).It was an amazing morning, dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. Being from Calgary it feels very weird being minutes from the Ocean, maybe with luck global warming may help us with that ;).
It was also a bit of an exciting week at work. I had designed a Privacy Screen for an online banking system Modtec has designed for a bank here, and it had been fabricated and was ready to install. So on Thursday Peter and I headed to the branch and put it up. Luckily all went to plan and my design fit in place, and didn't look too bad. Don't worry, the children's safety was considered; the holes are too small for their fingers to get stuck.
Friday afternoon the Social Club at work arranged a Go-Kart race for the everyone. It was an awesome time, and a great place for me to get out my need for speed (Did I mention I had got a $170 ticket earlier in the month? Good thing the cop didn't notice my expired license!). I overtook my Boss in the race, which he wasn't to happy about, but luckily his team won in the end. After the race we headed back to the shop for Beers and BBQ. Not a bad way to start the weekend.
I got back on the Surfski Saturday, and went for a 2 hour paddle on some calm seas (finally). Just as we were coming in I practiced falling out and getting back into my boat on my own, to build up some confidence for if it every happens by accident in the future. The water has yet to warm up FYI. That afternoon I met up with Darrell to see a bit of the city and grab a few beers on the patio. Needless to say I am not homesick yet:)
8.9.08
Narnia for the Weekend
After a long and windy drive in the dark we arrived in Hahei. I woke up the next morning to an amazing view. A perfectly sunny day… (I have photos to prove it Dad). After slaving away at the frying pan making a breakfast of pancakes with Cdn. maple syrup Jamie and I headed to the beach just at the end of the road. It was amazing, waves rolling in one after another gave it a tropical feel, and the sand was just as nice. The morning consisted of a quick tan, enjoying the scenery and arranging the Sea Kayaking for later in the day.
The kayak group was a mix of Brits, Danes and Germans… and of course us Canucks. Other than the swells rolling into the beach the surface was calm so it made for perfect kayaking. Realizing we were pretty much professional kayakers the instructor had us lead the way. We first headed to Cathedral Cove (where they filmed part of the second Narnia movie). There we stopped, and had a chance to take some photos as the guide took our order for the Cathedral Cove Kayak’s exclusive beachfront café (i.e. A camp stove espresso machine brought over in our kayaks and set on a picnic blanket). After we had been all hopped up on caffeine we headed back into the bay towards the outer islands, the first of which had a tunnel which we were able to kayak through, which was made a little interesting by the swell. Around the back of the island the swell got huge, so big that it no longer seemed like waves, you simply slowly went up and slowly went down (The nearest coastline to the east would be Peru or something). The guide pointed out a dead penguin, and explained that it was most likely killed by a recent storm whose waves were too much for them to handle. Not to worry though as not soon after we saw a group of three live Blue Penguins. Paddling to the next island we also paddled through a school of fish, which jumped to get out of our way. Once there we saw a sea lion sunning itself on a rock, and with the water being perfectly clear, sea urchins on the sea floor. We are definitely coming back in the summer for diving and snorkeling.
Notice Pete the Perished Penguin on his paddle^
It was coming to low tide so we headed to Hot Water Beach. This beach has two springs rising into it that are accessible around low tide; the Maori spring is 64°C while the Orua spring is 60°C (There were bubbles but the sing assured us that it was simply carbon dioxide not the water boiling). We weren’t expecting the springs to live up to their hype however, so we were surprised to find such a large group of people already there when we arrived. The first pool we stepped in (which people had dug out of the sand with shovels was fairly luke warm. Not impressed so far. Walking through the middle pool, which strangely no one was in, we were amazed. It was SO hot, you couldn’t even step in it without cooking your feet. We soon found a pool that was closer to the spring, but not so hot that we felt like lobster in a pot, and enjoyed the warm water talking to other tourists (Am I still a tourist now that I have been here nearly 2 months?). On a side note if anyone is reading the Melbourne Australia newspaper anytime soon keep an eye open for Jamie and I, as a travel writer from the paper was there and took a photo of us ‘hip young people’ for her article.
For dinner we splurged and when to a "posh" restraunt to cap off our day. Mom you have to go, you will love it, it was in an old Church.
After our very eventful Saturday we took it easy Sunday with a drive to Whitianga and a couple movies. All in all a pretty amazing weekend.
The kayak group was a mix of Brits, Danes and Germans… and of course us Canucks. Other than the swells rolling into the beach the surface was calm so it made for perfect kayaking. Realizing we were pretty much professional kayakers the instructor had us lead the way. We first headed to Cathedral Cove (where they filmed part of the second Narnia movie). There we stopped, and had a chance to take some photos as the guide took our order for the Cathedral Cove Kayak’s exclusive beachfront café (i.e. A camp stove espresso machine brought over in our kayaks and set on a picnic blanket). After we had been all hopped up on caffeine we headed back into the bay towards the outer islands, the first of which had a tunnel which we were able to kayak through, which was made a little interesting by the swell. Around the back of the island the swell got huge, so big that it no longer seemed like waves, you simply slowly went up and slowly went down (The nearest coastline to the east would be Peru or something). The guide pointed out a dead penguin, and explained that it was most likely killed by a recent storm whose waves were too much for them to handle. Not to worry though as not soon after we saw a group of three live Blue Penguins. Paddling to the next island we also paddled through a school of fish, which jumped to get out of our way. Once there we saw a sea lion sunning itself on a rock, and with the water being perfectly clear, sea urchins on the sea floor. We are definitely coming back in the summer for diving and snorkeling.
Notice Pete the Perished Penguin on his paddle^
It was coming to low tide so we headed to Hot Water Beach. This beach has two springs rising into it that are accessible around low tide; the Maori spring is 64°C while the Orua spring is 60°C (There were bubbles but the sing assured us that it was simply carbon dioxide not the water boiling). We weren’t expecting the springs to live up to their hype however, so we were surprised to find such a large group of people already there when we arrived. The first pool we stepped in (which people had dug out of the sand with shovels was fairly luke warm. Not impressed so far. Walking through the middle pool, which strangely no one was in, we were amazed. It was SO hot, you couldn’t even step in it without cooking your feet. We soon found a pool that was closer to the spring, but not so hot that we felt like lobster in a pot, and enjoyed the warm water talking to other tourists (Am I still a tourist now that I have been here nearly 2 months?). On a side note if anyone is reading the Melbourne Australia newspaper anytime soon keep an eye open for Jamie and I, as a travel writer from the paper was there and took a photo of us ‘hip young people’ for her article.
For dinner we splurged and when to a "posh" restraunt to cap off our day. Mom you have to go, you will love it, it was in an old Church.
After our very eventful Saturday we took it easy Sunday with a drive to Whitianga and a couple movies. All in all a pretty amazing weekend.
3.9.08
Spring Lamb
More tunes for your listening pleasure.
On my drive to work today I noticed that spring has started here. It is kind of hard to tell as it is very green to begin with, but the trees that had lost their leaves are just starting to bud out. Also on the drive there are sheep... and now lambs, perhaps I will be seeing one of them on my dinner plate later in the month.
The next two weeks are the Universities reading weeks, so some of my flatmates have headed to the 'snow'. Don't feel to bad for me though stuck at work, as this weekend Jamie and I are headed to the Coramandel (which is a Hot Spring and Beach area about 2 hours east of Auckland). We are staying at his Flatmate's Parent's B&B. Looks like a nice place! We plan on going on a few hikes as well as a ocean kayak tour. I will post pictures once I get back.
I will be heading to the Airport next Friday to pick up Darrell who arrives for his working holiday here in NZ. Looks like it will be an early morning with him arriving at 3:30am. Calgarians are slowly taking over the country with Gill arriving for a competition in October as well!
Hope everyone is enjoying back to school... I am really sad it is still a year away for me (NOT)
On my drive to work today I noticed that spring has started here. It is kind of hard to tell as it is very green to begin with, but the trees that had lost their leaves are just starting to bud out. Also on the drive there are sheep... and now lambs, perhaps I will be seeing one of them on my dinner plate later in the month.
The next two weeks are the Universities reading weeks, so some of my flatmates have headed to the 'snow'. Don't feel to bad for me though stuck at work, as this weekend Jamie and I are headed to the Coramandel (which is a Hot Spring and Beach area about 2 hours east of Auckland). We are staying at his Flatmate's Parent's B&B. Looks like a nice place! We plan on going on a few hikes as well as a ocean kayak tour. I will post pictures once I get back.
I will be heading to the Airport next Friday to pick up Darrell who arrives for his working holiday here in NZ. Looks like it will be an early morning with him arriving at 3:30am. Calgarians are slowly taking over the country with Gill arriving for a competition in October as well!
Hope everyone is enjoying back to school... I am really sad it is still a year away for me (NOT)
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