View from the Long White Cloud

Firstly, well Hi, it's been a while.  I was last on this blog in May 2011 and boy hasn't a lot happened since then.  More on that, possibly, in future blog posts. Anyhoo - the reason for posting after almost 7 years?   Well I'm still in NZ which is frankly a miracle after some of the things that happened post May 2011.  I've moved, I work somewhere new I have a cat, a puppy, MissJ and a lovely significant other.    The team are currently planning something that will occur soon and its what prompted me to post again. This post - it's about being a Brit overseas, specifically overseas in a far flung location.  Specifically for me, New Zealand. People gush and gasp about the beauty and significance of NZ, it truly is a stunning and amazing country.  Often people say, "wow I must move there"   Well I say, "yes do so, but be prepared to say goodbye to friends and family"   Even in today's age of cheaper and faster ...

Wow I had a bit of a “flounce” this week. I have to say I’m far more chilled living in New Zealand than I was negotiating life in London. But something this week really rattled my cage. It was public transport. I catch the bus to work. No double deckers here. There are lots of single deckers, and even some electric trolley buses – essential for the hills of Wellington. Most of the time there is plenty of room on the bus and 98% of the time I get a seat. One evening this week I had to stand almost all the way home. No, this wasn’t this issue. The issue was some daft twit with a backpack. The buses are tiny and this twit insisted on keeping a huge pack on their back and whacking people round the head as the bus twisted and turned through the hilly streets of the southern suburbs. I wouldn’t mind but Welly buses have luggage racks. Even if the twit wouldn’t put their pack in the luggage rack then why couldn’t they take the pack off and put it on the floor. The whacking of fello...

I’m back on my “Lost in Translation” theme here. In good old Kiwi Land they use the all-encompassing term “Lolly’s” for all types of sweets. Now to me a lolly is either an ice-lolly or a lollipop -hard sweet on a stick. So the first time someone used the term “a bag of lollies” I honestly expected to see a small bag full of hard sweets on a stick. No one seems able to explain the origin of the name but I am told that lollies mean all types of sweet confectionery. However I seem to have quickly adopted the new term and sweets are out of the window along with chickens (its now chooks don’t you know…..). Stopping off at the dairy (corner shop) to treat Miss and a pal to a bag of something I shouted as I got out the car…”Whose for a bag of lollies then?”

Travel around NZ for any length of time and you are bound to see the “Honesty Box”. This is where someone arranges his or her wares for you to peruse and buy. The wares are normally home grown fruit, vegies and eggs although I have seen pots of honey and jam and even the odd bit of lace or crochet. The items are usually priced up and you leave your money in a box. Occasionally the items for sale are not so delightful – pony poo for your roses is a standard offering. Usually the price for pony poo is a gold coin ($1 0r $2) This weekend we were driving through the mountains behind Kapiti on our way to pick Miss up from her first Brownie camp. A local farmer was advertising an Honesty Box shop on the roadside so we did a wee detour. Have to say it was one of the best honesty box shops we’d ever seen. We bought raspberries, tomatoes, apples and a dozen eggs all for $10. We’d have bought more but we were out of cash as they had also included home baking items like savoury scones, f...

Ok Ok I've taken on too much. Realistically I can't blog everyday. I certainly can't fit in 40 minutes of exercise every day so yep I've over promised. However I do intend to blog a bit more often than I used to. This is just to save a very dear friend from killing her boss due to frustration...... I will also increase the frequency of exercise to more than 2x a week but no it can't be every day. Sometimes I'm just a wee bit too enthusiastic and not realistic enough. Sorry pardon

The filming of the new Hobbit movie starts in Wellington next week. There has been a bit of a heated discussion in the NZ press about the lack of major roles for Kiwi actors. I agree it is an issue but as much as I love my new country I have to say you really need "big names" in high spend movies to bring in the punters and the cash. Yes Kiwi movies like "Boy" and "Lovebirds" can showcase Kiwi actors but still the big spendy blockbusters need big names. However am very pleased the Hobbit remains in NZ and can't wait to see hobbits, elves and orcs wondering the streets of Welly. We had an afternoon at the beach today. Wetsuits were donned an intrepid types ventured into the cold Island Bay water. It was a stunner of a day with intense blue sky, lots of sun and no wind (very unusual for Welly). I was reminded of another newspaper story from last week. Some swimmers were in the sea in Oriental Bay training for a Tri when they realised they were swim...