Blenheim in late June...

The days are getting longer again... Oh hurray! There have been a few dramatically chilly mornings here- at least by Blenheim standards. It was -5 the other day! I've decided that instead of the hassle of scraping my car, walking to work is a better option... (if I get out of bed early enough...) :) It only takes 45 minutes, and the other day I got a ride from a random elderly woman who passed me walking in the cold. Some of the Blenheim folks appear rather friendly...

I've managed to procure 2 "car scrapers". One is like a credit card that comes from the petrol stations... The other, my lovely friend Mandie managed to find at Bunnings... It's actually a plastic paint scraper- but they don't seem to have the real thing here.

I keep making exciting discoveries on differences here. Twist in lightbulbs are very rare... Push in ones are more the norm... Also tacks are called something entirely different. I can't remember the name. Tacks here are usually things you put down carpet with.

On the immigration front, immigration has issued my visa/permit and I shall soon have my passport back. Hopefully my criminal check will come in the next bit so they can do my residency... This would be very good, as my medical will expire eventually and I'll have to go spend a further $350 to get it done again... 4.5 months and counting on the criminal record check front...

It's Canada day this weekend and I'm keen to meet up with some other Canadians back in Nelson... There are a few of us over here.

Brr... in Blenheim

We've definitely begun to approach winter with the shortest day of the year pending. BRRRR. But- I'm happy to report that my co-worker managed to track down a car windscreen scraper. I think it might actually be a paint scraper- but it will do the trick! I have no burning desire to bring out water and pour it on the window, as so many of the local folk here do. I think I'm residing in a much warmer house than the lovely old villa of last winter. Hurray! It's still COLD! But with a warm fire that I've yet to have to light, things are going fine on that front.

There was some drama in Blenheim on Monday- when a plane was diverted from Wellington. It was a littler one carrying 17 passengers- and when it went to land in Welly the landing gear wouldn't go down- so they flew the 20 minutes to Blenheim and circled in the air to burn off fuel before doing a belly landing. They indicated landing in Blenheim would cause less disruption to plane traffic than in Welly. I flew to Christchurch last week on one of those little planes. They have two seats per row with an aisle down the middle- so yes EVERYONE gets a window seat. The co-pilot person does the safety demos- and you can see right into the cockpit. Anyhow, things turned out well- they made it down safely. The passengers had the option of bussing out to another centre for a flight, or a ferry. I think you'd have to go for the plane option- time to get back on the horse before fear sets in too deeply.

On Saturday evening the All Blacks played Canada's rugby team. Did you even know Canada had a rugby team? I watched the first half in a pub with a bunch of Canadians and it was great fun when we scored a try! HURRAY!!! It was a football like interception- I have no idea what the rugby term is- if there even is one. The score was very respectible in the first half, the Canadians scored 13 points and were down by only about 20. The All Blacks turned things around a bit and ended up winning something like 65-13. But a jolly good show for the Canadian team who were definitely underdogs!!

On the immigration front, still no criminal check. I've obtained travel insurance past the end of my current one. And NZ immigration shall be looking at my work visa/permit, instead of residency within the next week- before I'm expired. :)

I'm looking forward to days getting longer... :) It's almost that time.

A few photos... again

The law from the north, and the southern man. from team KiCan in the Great Marlborough Treasure Hunt.

Rita and I standing in our tipi... (see posts from several months back... Surprisingly un-smoky from the inside, where we toasted marshmallows).

Just a random NZ sunset, of which there are so many beautiful ones.

Heading towards the shortest day of the year- still yet to procure a windshield scraper- luckily no heavy frosts yet- warming the car with defrost on high for a few minutes- combined with the wipers has worked so far ... But as grandpa used to say "when the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen." It's been quite nice temperature wise here so far.

Another update...

It was a stat holiday yesterday- the last for 99 days- or so I am told. It was "Queens Birthday". It was great to have a 3 day weekend.

I went in the Great Marlborough treasure hunt on the weekend. It was a one day amazing race like competition. There was an international theme and our team of 4 travelled out to Seddon, the Waiaru valley, and Picton as we made it to the 9 locations- by following a series of clues. Cool activies included doing a Samoan happy dance, and separating lavender into little bags. Our team was dressed up to represent the points of the Globe. I was a Canadian mountie from the north- stay tuned for photos... Our mascot was a travelling gnome. We didn't win any of the prizes- which were amazingly large for a town of Blenheims size... thanks to the generous sponsorship of Harvey Norman. Good times ! I would definitely do that again!!

update on the immigration files- they are awaiting my criminal check- they want it by the 25th of June. I sent it out 4 months ago this week. It takes a long time, clearly!!

We're heading into winter. But so far only one light frost. I think I heard it was the warmest May on record.

I recently was pleased to aquire a tire pressure guage- only to later learn that all the gas (er I mean petrol) stations have them on the air hoses. Convenient... this explains why they were so hard to find! :)

Differences in vocabulary continue to creep up... Read "full stop" for period. And that's that for this episode....

I rush off to art class now.