Pumpkin Carving New Zealand Style

In an effort to try to retain some of our traditional American values Mallory and I decided to carve a pumpkin for Halloween.  So far there is not very much Halloween activities in the city.  No one has their homes decorated and the stores are empty of traditional candy - candy corn I miss you! - but there are a few costumes to be had.  It is definitely going to be a quite night here in Wellington.

Pumpkins here in New Zealand are all green and much to our displeasure very thick.  Of course it is Spring here and not Fall. We thought we would try to carve a Kiwi bird on the pumpkin but once we struggled just to get the top off we went straight for the simplest design that we could make - the plain square face design.

In the end it turned out to be a pretty good pumpkin and the seeds were really tasty!  We are planning on lighting the pumpkin and setting it outside of our flat for Halloween.  We will see what happens......

 

Wellington Dawali Festival

This weekend - our Labour Day Weekend - we headed down to the TSB Arena for the 10th Annual Wellington Dawali Festival.  We went with our friends Rhys, Finn and Luc.  Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival that marks the beginning of the Hindu new year. It is a time for celebration in India and by Indian diasporas abroad, with families lighting lamps, candles and fireworks to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil.  This year the two day festival was attended by over 25,000 people.  We stayed for a few dances and performances, poked around the booths and definitely ate some good Indian food.

Photos from a Day Exploring

 

Farmer's Market Fresh

You cannot beat this for fresh - fish right off the boat!

 

The Rugby

Headed off to our first rugby match this weekend.  Mallory got us a few tickets to see the Wellington Lions take on Hawkes Bay.  Thankfully the tickets were box seats and we had a nice view looking down upon the field - the wind was very gusty and we suspected that we would not last ten minutes outside although many hearty fans did just that.  As for the  game itself, it was a nice excuse to hand out with friends and drink a few beers.

Otaki - Our First New Zealand Holiday

Finally! We headed out of Wellington for our first trip in New Zealand.  Granted it was not all that grandiose but it was a whole lot of fun.  We went to a small town and nearby beach called Otaki (o-tack-ee).  We rented out this really nice Bach for two nights. The first photo is of the Bach itself, a nice little one room unit with a bathroom and kitchenette.  The second photo is our backyard view.

The town of Otaki was sleepy at best but we did manage to find a few good places to eat and shop.  Below are photos of us at the Oasis Cafe.  If anyone is headed out that way we would recommend the Curry House, which did not serve very much curry, but was our favorite place to eat. We also shopped at the outlet stores which where nice but do not fair well against the larger American outlet malls.

Here is a shot of Mallory with her scarf in her long black.  I am not sure if it helped with the flavor.

After spending Friday walking around town and talking with a few delightful locals - we had great fun with two hilarious older women at the local community thrift store discussing buttons and badges - the following day we walked to Otaki Beach. 

On our way there we stopped of at one of the oldest churches in New Zealand and there saw a statue of Jesus high up on a near by hill,
so of course we decided to get as high as Jesus. 
Here is what we saw:

Yes, that is Mallory who had a sudden urge to climb a tree!She did not get too far but she was up
a good 10 feet.

From there we headed to the beach for a nice walk along the coastline.  It was pretty rustic which  made it great for finding things.  We found some cool shells as long with large fish bones as well as a dead sheep that somehow must of got caught in the water and drowned.  Still to cold to go swimming but I can not wait to jump in the sea! 

That is is Kapiti Island off in the distance. Kapiti is one of New Zealand’s most valuable nature reserves,
and is an island sanctuary for birds.

We are definitely looking forward to our next trip, where ever it may be!

Kell and I at Cape Cod

Kell and I had a great two weeks on Cape Cod. The first weekend there we spent time catching up with Matt, Cara, Kevin, Emma, Lauren, Auntie, Grandma and Grandpa.  Here is a picture of the kids on the beach along with some random kid who wanted to join in on the photo. In the bucket that Kell is looking at is a crab that the boys caught on the beach.

It was Kell's wish to eat the Holy Trilogy of food while on the Cape: shrimp, clams, and lobster.  I am such a proud parent and know that I will be able to go to seafood restaurants with him in the future!  Here is a shot of him with his steamer.  He did all the work himself pulling the clam out of the shell, washing it and dumping it in butter, but what he did not like was the clams necks which he gave to me to eat - no complaints there.

On Grandpa's suggestion we all took a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts home of the Plymouth Rock and the replica of the Mayflower.  It was fun to be back there ( I lived there in the early 90s) seeing the sights and having Kell learn a little about our country's history.  He was most intrigued by the ship's cat, Felix.  

Oh yeah, during our vacation we both got haircuts!

The trips back and forth from NZ to USA were fairly uneventful although I met a number of people living in or being from Australia - odd.  Also had the quintessential windy Wellington Airport landing.  With strong winds and the plane rocking back and forth it seemed cause for alarm but you would not have been able to tell from the cool and collected passengers who seemed not even to notice.  

Heading Back to the U.S.A.

On Thursday of this week I will be heading back to the States to spend some time with Kell at Cape Cod.  Mallory will be staying here in Wellington. Perhaps we might see some dueling blog posts.  I will try to remember to post some pictures of Kell and I having fun.

The Petone Winter Carnival

Yesterday, Mallory and I headed north of the city to attend the Petone (Pa-toni) Winter Carnival.  We did not know exactly what to expect from the day of events, but we thought it might be geared towards families with kids which it was.  We did however get to brush up on a few New Zealand to American translations, they are as follows:

Candy Floss = Cotton Candy

Hot Chips = French Fries

Fire show = Fireworks 

The Carnival was on the water which was really beautiful, as always.  The real reason why we went, besides looking for something to do, was that of the fire sculptures!  Here is their advertisement said:

"Quickly becoming a landmark for the Carnival, the Fire Sculptures return but bigger and better than before! Watch local amateurs and nationally renowned sculptors create fantastic pieces of art during the day, and then see the creations burn spectacularly at night."

The gist of it is that they build things of wood and dried seaweed and then set them ablaze 

- very cool!

Not wanting to stick around to see the fireworks we headed into center Pentone to warm up in a local pub and to watch the rugby.  (Here you watch "the rugby" and go to "hospital". ) The bus ride back to Wellington was a noisy one with a full bus and a bunch of people just beginning their night out - it was like a moving party.

Home Decorating

We have been pretty slow to add things to the flat as of late.  Without me having a job and wanting to travel rather than decorate we have kept or money in the bank. That is until Saturday when we purchased this huge wall map!  I picked it up today and we hung it up when Mallory got home.  We figured if we were going to buy something to hang on the walls we ought to make it big. 

Before                                                     After

The map is from National Geographic and it has a lot of interesting thing on it including population density (bottom right).  Also note how the world is centered..........not what we are used to.

More Life Without Television

Below please note completed puzzle number two; although this is actually the third puzzle we have tried to build.  The second one was just too difficult so we gave up trying.  This puzzle, as well as the uncompleted one, were purchased from the local Salvation Army Store.  They were cheap but please note the three missing puzzle pieces.

I can not say we know all that much about building puzzles and how one gets better at it , are there strategies to improve one's performance?  We always wonder when building these things if there are competitions or conventions for puzzle builders - I would guess there are.  What would be the rules for a puzzle building contest any way? Not that Mallory and I are in any way ready for professional competition. 

 

 

New Zealand Film Festival Review

Today was the last day for the New Zealand International Film Festival.  Mallory and I ended up seeing five films: "I Killed My Mother", "A Town Called Panic", "The Double Hour", "The Killer Inside Me", "In the Attic".  Hands down the worst film was the U.S. made "The Killer Inside Me" against the other films it was a real disappointment.  Mallory and I have different favorites, she liked "A Town Called Panic" best and I really liked "I Killed My Mother"  but it is really hard to say because all of the films were so different and excellent for their genre. 

I you should get a chance to see them for yourself you should check them out. Two thumbs up.