Winter, Shminter

It's been a wee while since I've posted. Chalk it up to a case of the winter doldrums. Miss M is plugging away at school as is Master W. Work is good. Mike is busy at work on some prints of New Zealand birds, his first prints in a long time. Here is a preview of his fine work:

We haven't done any fun trips of late. Mike's folks arrive in about 5 weeks so we are saving up our adventurous side for their imminent visit. For now, we will share a few more photos with you.

Nude Rugby

"Tackles were hard, but no player soft, as both sides went balls out to claim a victory."

Only in New Zealand.

All I can say is "ouch"! But I would have loved to have been there on the sidelines gazing at the dangly bits and pieces and laughing my ass off. Enjoy!

Tunnel Track

A 20 degree day (68 degrees for those of you who are Celsius impaired) on the eve of the Solstice allowed us a hike on the Tunnel Track at Godley Head. Miss M brought along Larry the Lobster and her torch for her treacherous, muddy journey down through the tunnel.

New Zealand germs

Okay, New Zealand. I have a bit of a bone to pick with you.

What gives with the germs? The snotty, mucus-inducing ones? The coughing, wheezy ones? The stomach cramping and puking ones? The achy, feverish ones?

Out, out with you!!!!

Evidently, this is a common ex-pat phenomenon, these unrelenting new kiwi germs that seem to take up shop in the bodies of new immigrants.

But really, I have to say, we have had our share of these germs over the last 3 months. And we are done with them, thank you. Time for them to move along....

Geek moment

Did you know that this guy


played an elf (named "Figwit") in Lord of the Rings?


Geek moment over. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Laundry revisited

Laundry drying on the line. How beautiful it is! The vibrant colors! How it blows gently in the wind! How eco-friendly to be using the sun instead of a tumble dryer which eats up energy and creates waste! And the divine smell of the sun permeating from your clothes! It is all so romantic isn't it?

A few weeks after our arrival in New Zealand, I mentioned that I was still ambivalent about the lack of a tumble dryer but that I was endeavoring to be positive and give it a go.

Yeah, well, the ambivalence is gone now. I really, really miss my tumble dryer and think that line-drying laundry kinda...well,er, um........ TOTALLY SUCKS.

Consider the weather we are having right now.



Drying laundry for a family of 4 (with two of those people being small children who have multiple changes of clothes) inside on a drying rack is a challenge. And consider the fact that houses in NZ tend to be on the colder side with no central heating which means it can take a couple of days to dry and we get heaps of condensation on our single paned windows. And the laundry smells a bit musty and it tends to be wrinkly and has a "crunchy" texture to it which I am not fond of.

We do have a dryer in our rental but a) it is quite ancient and not terribly good at its job and b) electricity is astronomically expensive here so I am loathe to use it much. However, the last few miserable, rainy, stormy, cold days have driven me to use the dryer a bit despite its limitations and despite our looming electric bill. The towels felt so soft and fluffy which only made me long for my old energy wasting, unaesthetic and purely American laundry facilities even more.

So much for being eco-friendly and PC. I want my tumble dryer!!!!!

Giddy...

for the new Crowded House album and the prospect of seeing them live here in New Zealand.

Crowded House - Saturday Sun from Crowded House on Vimeo.