And back to normal...

My morning continued quite dismally with foul weather to match my mood. I managed to break my beautiful pink cell phone (or so I thought- until I went and bought a new one, upon which Mr. Motorola decided the display screen would come back to life again.)

But now that 24 hours have passed since my last post it seems a little dramatic, but it was certainly how I was feeling at the time. I was very upset- not just because I lost the place but because it was feeling like nothing was going to work out here. It still may not. Time will tell. But that is no reason to give up now. Last night I changed my email tag line to "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says ' I will try again tomorrow.' As I will...

A quote that came to mind was from CS Lewis:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

I know deep down he is absolutely right. It may be safer to live an average life without the highs and lows, but I don't want to do it....

An up, and a down...

I've been a little silent on matters personal, but I can't keep silent tonight. I've been looking quietly for a new flat for several months. Our landlord had announced my current one is going up for sale. I finally found one that my heart wanted very bad. It truly was my dream apartment, and everything else fit in too- it was furnished helping with that problem- it was within my price range= and the timing worked quite good with leaving this one so I wouldn't have stuffed up my flatmate either. After no word for several days and me believing it went elsewhere I got an email that it was mine. That was Wednesday. I wanted to blog about it, because I was so pleased and excited, but part of me feared it was too good to be true. It was. Tonight I got an email that there was a mistake. It was given away by her partner while she was away Thursday or today to someone else even thought she'd already told me it was mine. It sounds like a silly thing to be upset about, but you see it goes a little deeper than that. When I left Canada to NZ I told myself that I had until I was 30 to figure things out. (You know- the big picture questions that you're supposed to be able to answer about life- where you want to live, what you want to do, children, that sort of thing.) Nelson is a place that felt like home. Regina didn't - enough that I lived there for 10 years I didn't aquire furniture- somewhere deep inside myself I knew I wasn't ready to stay. Just a week shy of my 30th birthday I found a place I would have delighted to call home- a place I had allowed my heart to love even before I lived there. And it was not be.

I have a real habit of not letting things get to me, because when I do- I care- a lot. And when you care there is the very great possible burden of losing it. I think that since I've been back in Nelson I've distanced myself quite a bit from my friends here. I loved it here first time around and when I realized I wouldn't find a job and had to move to Blenheim - I was very sad. I'm working a contract job again. The potential I'll have to say farewell again is very real. And so more often that I should, I just don't let myself care. Academically I have to say I'm pleased with myself for trying to get that apartment. I'm pleased I didn't yell at the woman who said yes and then no. But tonight, I'm so very disappointed.

As Christmas nears...

I have once again been a terrible blogger. :) Too busy Christmas carding- or something. .. If you haven't gotten one and you're overseas, I'm sorry. Send me your address and I'll send you a postcard instead. If you're in NZ, I haven't yet gotten to these. Soon!

It's funny - I had recently blogged about how quickly the Labour party appointed their new leader and commented things move more slowly in Canada. Not necessarily- apparently.

One of my favourite things about Christmas- getting Christmas cards. I've received a couple from Canada and one through work. It's funny how much getting a Christmas card can brighten ones day.

Interesting kiwi traditions-

1) The chocolate fish. Being a non kiwi it's hard to define what exactly qualifies someone to be given this, but it's a "thank you", sometimes for going "above and beyond" the call of duty.

2) Christmas crackers . Wikipedia tells me these are a big tradition in Canada- but I haven't experienced them there like I have here. We had a work Christmas dinner the other day- and my Christmas crackers contained a top- and a terrible joke. Or at least others thought it was terrible. I'm so fond of dry humour I quite enjoyed it. It was something like "What kind of party does a snowman enjoy?" Answer- a snowball. This kind of reminds me of the jokes on the back of the kids activity chart when we went to the Cobb & Co for a friends birthday a few weeks ago. "What's brown and sticky?" - Answer- a stick. I LOVE that one... I also wore (for a few minutes at least) the purple crown that was in the crackers.

I spent a weekend a couple back in my FAVOURITE backpackers- in Picton. I spotted it when I lived in Blenheim and I couldn't justify staying there when I lived less than 20 minutes away. Now that I'm in Nelson it was finally justifiable to pay to stay there. Check it out... Nice, hey.

A Canadian political commentary

I am sitting in my lounge in Nelson, NZ reading about the political happenings in Canada. In the US you can get lame duck presidencies with a president in power without support of of the House or the Senate, unable to act. In NZ proportional representation means that the minor parties can wield far too much power for their level of popular support... They get ministerial roles because their support means that the larger party can stay in power. (For the record, living here hasn't made me a big fan of proportional rep.) It sounds like similiar things are happening in Canada without MMP. In Canada you can have a Liberal leader who has lost an election only weeks ago - seeing and grabbing for power- despite the fact he isn't even popular enough to lead his own party. I've found irony in Canadian politics before - such as how the BQ were 'her majesty's loyal opposition'. I'm curious to see how the public responds and how this proceeds. I can't imagine that a man who can't keep his party together can manage to keep a 3 headed monster with very different goals together- in difficult economic times. Difficult times call for a government that can act. I can't see how this one could, if this proceeds.

"Accountability of public servants to government, of government to Parliament, and of Parliament to taxpayers can be achieved only if the MPs of all parties support these goals. Parliamentarians must never lose sight of the fact that in a democracy, accountability is the price exacted for the gift of power." - James J. MacDonnell - former Auditor General of Canada

I think some MPs have forgotten. May they soon remember. And if they do not, may the people of Canada not forget.

More kiwi life

A mussle farm in the sounds

A koru.

A little Kiwiana...

We cruised on the Foxy Lady in the Sounds for a friends 60th birthday.

A hedgehog in our backyard. Not very afraid, as you can see. Also not afraid of the cat.

On Christmas...

I came across a Christmas card when I was browsing in the post shop yesterday.
"I believe in Christmas and the wonder of the day- Stockings hung & carols sung & Santa and his sleigh... in gifts wrapped up with care, Trimming trees and families and memories to share...
I believe in Christmas and in wishes that come true, To know the worth of peace on earth for those who love and you. Merry Christmas. " a (www.johnsands.com) card.

I had to buy it because I thought it had a great message- one that is so easy to forget when you're grumpy with your printer for running out of ink when you're printing Christmas letters, or braving the lines at the shops, or trying to find something to buy for that impossible to buy for friend or relative. :) It put things a little bit back in perspective for me, so many thanks to John Sands.

We had the greatest day yesterday- it was the classic summer day- and was pretty much the first one of the season. Blue sky, warm, absolutely lovely! I went for a run today first thing and yikes did I ever get hot and sweaty. I'm going to have to stick to the early morning or late evening runs- I think- as the weather warms up. I'm still trying to get back in the groove of the running bit actually- averaging only about one run per week for the last 4 weeks. Running to lovely Tahuna beach continues to be my reward. I love that place...

November winds down...

I totally CAN'T believe it's almost December and Christmas is around the corner. The weather just doesn't seem to make it seem like the right season- and there is decidedly less Christmas music etc. playing on the radios and in the shops here than back home.

I took my car in this week to get the wing mirror glass replaced. Living on a skinny street meant that someone smashed into it and it broke a few weeks back. For the tidy sum of $35, I again have glass, however it didn't take long to discover there also must have been damaging to the casing as it quickly half detached. I need to be handy- get some glue and try and fix it. Can't wait! And also am looking forward to leaving skinny street for some not skinny street in the not too distant future.

I've sold something on http://www.trademe.co.nz for the first time. Good bye and good riddance to my old law text. :)

Elections...

Last Saturday NZ held a general election. The ballots were huge- to have enough room on one side for all of the parties- and the other side was the local district candidates- so that you could cast both your party vote and your local electoral vote. You also had to be careful to put it in the correct box- I was on the general roll- not the maori roll so my ballot needed to go in the general roll box.

When the results finally came in Saturday night, Key's National party received the highest percentage of votes. Next was Labour. Under NZ's MMP proportional representation system, a party has to either get an electorate candidate elected, or 5% of the vote to be allocated votes proportionally. Although Winston Peter's party got a higher percentage of votes (at over 4%) than several of the minor parties, they hold one seat each because they elected someone in a riding. If National gets 40% of the vote, it will get approximately 40% of the seats in Parliament. If it won 25 of those seats as a candiate vote, the remainder would come off the list. John Key was top of the National list & Helen Clark (the PM) was top of the National list. The interesting result you get is that a candidate can lose their electorate seat, but still get in on the party vote. (I believe this happened with the LAbour candidate in the Nelson riding who lost to the National party candidate).

Key has made an alliance with the Act party who have 5 seats and another minor party who has 1 seat. They're also trying to ally with the MAori party. It sounds like people from these parties will get ministerial responsibilities- but outside of cabinet. NZ has to be used to minority governments- it is what they get constantly under MMP. The governmentwill be opposed by the Greens/Labour and another minor party who has 1 seat.

On election night during her concession speech, Helen Clark indicated she would be stepping down as Labour leader and a new leader would be selected by Christmas. I thought at the time that it was a very quick leadership race. Things happen differently in NZ, I have learned. The new leader is ALREADY in place, several days after she stepped down. He stepped in with no opposition. Stephane Dion could be replaced tomorrow- if he was in NZ instead of Canada. Interesting...

I've finally finished my tax course. YAY. At least I hope yay. I sat the paper on Tuesday. Results won't be back for something like 4 to 6 weeks. I really hope that phase of life is over. Being a student was great. But being a student and working is another story.
--
I've slowly started going for runs again at a terrible pace of about 1- 8 km run each week. I was planning on gearing that up, but my cold from Sydney has returned in full force. Hopefully it will not last long...

Petrol has dropped dramatically- its down to under $1.60/L now. Funny how cheap this now seems.

Seasonal produce is finally getting affordable again. My favourite red peppers have dropped from $3 each- I saw them for $1 at the grocery this week. Hurray!

Looking forward to summer... Days are longer and finally heating up a bit- it was up to 20 today and didn't even cool much over night last night.

Grrr. Skinny streets & Elections coming

Last week I decided to go for my first run in AGES!!! I headed out about 745pm and didnt make it home until about 9. I decided to turn up hill and run along the tops of the hill instead of my normal route down the hill and on the flat. Wow. What a workout. A lot more of it turned into "walking" than running, particularly on the way out in gale force winds. I think I went a little hard for the first time in about 2 months- with me waking up during the night with cramps, cramps, and more cramps. This happens when I'm tired- and apparently my poor calves were tired.

I've continued to study for my upcoming tax final. It's only 9 days away- counting down to freedom from the guilt that hangs over my head when I should be studying or working on study. I've been in course for much of the past 8 months. It will be great to be done- so wish me luck! Despite the fact that I learn best by practising, I can say for sure that I miss classes- all self directed learning isn't my most effective way of learning.

I have mentioned the terribly skinny street I live on? Today I went out and found my car side window was smashed. Someone drove too close. Grr. I've almost had enough of living on beachville.

My voter card arrived today. I will "checkmark" to vote for both a party vote, and a candidate vote. The package also contained a list of all of the parties running and their list of candidates. Each party that gets 5% of party vote gets a proportion of seats. For example, if Labour leader and current PM Helen Clark lost her riding, she is # 1 on the Labour list vote, so as long as Labour took 5% of the party vote, she'd be in. National has a narrow lead in the polls, but the MMP system makes predicting results very difficult because of the play of the minor parties. Will Act, or the Greens, or NZ First align with National or Labour?? This could determine who is in power.

The days are getting longer , and its noticable in morning and evening. I'm lookin forward to summer!

Another day...

I've been atrocious at blogging once again. Hmm... I've been doing a bit of study - this to gear up over the next 2 weeks until my final on 11 November.

It was the first long weekend in about 4 and a half months, just past. I spent the Sunday cruising in a very large and nice boat- the Foxy Lady. It had a proper shower & toilet, as well as a kitchen and sleeping area. It was Jo & Ron's 60th birthday parties and they hired it out for a cruise. We had a very large potlock lunch, and I ate too much. We had a friend out for part of the weekend and it was her first fishing experience. She caught a few spotties successfully. I was pleased and proud to try out the lovely new pink fishing rod for the first time- it looked amazing with a pink softbait on as bait. I caught and (of course) released some blue cod. The blue cod are under a 4 year (I think it is) protection in the Inner Sounds. The numbers were insufficient so the Ministry of Fisheries dropped the limit to 0 from 1 October. Hopefully the population increases over this period.

It's almost election time in New Zealand. Here is a little bit of the timetable:

Friday 7 November
Enrolments cease.
Last day to enrol for the election.
Advance Voting ceases at 6.00pm.
Friday 7 November
Midnight: all political advertising ceases and election signs taken down
Saturday 8 November
Election Day: Polling places open from 9.00am to 7.00pm.
Election Night: Preliminary results released progressively from 7.00pm.
Targets for release:
* by 8.30pm all advance vote results
* by 10.00pm results from 50 per cent of polling places
* by 11.30pm results from 100 per cent of polling places.
Saturday 22 November
Official results declared (including special declaration votes). (2pm target.)

The election environment also has the NZ laid back feel to it. Ive seen hardly any TV advertising. I have seen few candidate signs (other than clusters of them scattered along roadways). It is a MMP election- meaning you get a local vote and a party vote- and there are "list" MPs. I've not volunteered, unfortuately.

I should run. It might just be time to head out for a run, for the first time in months.

Random facts...

I've come across, in the blogosphere, the idea of having to post random facts on your blog to let your readers know more about you. All of my readers know me, as far as I know (tell me if I'm wrong on this one here, by comment.)

My random facts:
1- I try to pump my gas to the exact dollar (meaningless really- when I then use a 4 cent off grocery coupon- and at least half the time purchase a vanilla coke- my special treat to myself. Yum!)
2- When I was young I had an imaginary friend named GG. And he had a friend name Jana.
3- I hardly ever remember my dreams
4- My car is green (hardly my ideal choice- but I was looking for a Camry and it was good value).
5- I never went to Kindergarten- I would've been on the bus about 2 1/2 hours a day- a lot for a youngster.
6- I'm pathetic on a bike. I've only been on one twice since childhood. One was a short bike rental in Ireland, and another was wine touring in Blenheim. I was frightened of tipping over!
7- I had arranged a 2 year transfer with my company to New Zealand, but cancelled that, resigned my job, and came here on my own
8- Leo McGarry was my favourite West Wing character- I didn't discover West Wing until about Season 3 or 4. I'm just finishing off the final season on DVD having been in transit when it aired.
9-- Another favourite- this time a book: Steve Paikin's "The Life: the Seductive Call of Politics".
10- After living with a Burmese cat, I would never own a Burmese cat- unless I owned two of them!

A few photos...

I'm back from Sydney. And I'm back with a NASTY cold... Oh the pain of descending with a cold- my poor ears...

Nevertheless, it was a good trip. Here are a few photos.

A day of touring...

Today- I learned that it was the day of a Marathon and it made me get a half marathon itch... Thank goodness it wasn't yesterday in the 33 degree heat. I took the underground to Circular Quay bright and early this am, and then wandered through the markets in the Rocks. Oh yes, the Rocks- I've fallen in love. I signed up for a tour later in the day, and the off I went to catch the Ferry to Manley. It had great views back to Syndey town and I was totally impressed by how much coastline syndey has- and how big it is!! I had a brief stop on the pretty beach there, and bought some $20 jandals to replace my hikers that were causing my big blisters... (OF course, by the end of the day I'd gotten new blisters in new places, but it was a start.) After returning from Manley I found a bite to eat and then wandered back to my 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the Rocks. This is my highlight of Sydney- even bigger than the opera, shockingly... I loved the old streets, and the old buildings, and the elderly lady's cool porch in an old building. I have since returned to my hotel for a shower, and wandered Darling Harbour- even finding - YAY the yummy british pear candies.... Tomorrow its work instead of exploring... Perhaps this is good, I'm not sure my blistered feet could survive another back to back day of touring. But its been fun!

Greetings from Sydney

Where it was 33 degrees yesterday! Although I feel ready for summer in NZ, my body is clearly not ready for 33 degrees just yet. Today it will be a cooler 23 or was it 28, so I'm looking forward to that.

I arrived in via Air NZ around 2pm NZT. After a short stop at customs, I caught the very convenient underground which has a stop only 50 m from my hotel! Great hey! I then went for a wander- and in typical Kelly fashion turned left instead of right totally messing up my initial wandering plans. Anyway, I ended up at Darling Harbour, walking up to the Ferry Terminal and Opera house where I picked up my ticket for the opera last night, headed back to the hotel for a quick shower (ahh, coolness!), and then back to the Opera! The Opera house is amazing... Think sort of like Centre of the Arts- but much bigger, and cooler. I sort of want to do the back stage tour and see more of how the shows get put together, because the show itself was amazing. I was totally blown away by the effectiveness of the lightshow. The orchestra was simply amazing. And the opera itself was pretty cool as well. It was a french one- using Surtitles- called the Pearl Fishers. Although the dress code officially was "shoes are required", everyone dressed up so I'm quite glad I opted for a skirt. There were lots of ladies in fancy dresses. I took the convienient underground back to the hotel.

My early impressions walking around syndey are I don't like the heat/wind combo. We'll see if that is still present today. There are TONS of statues, and lots of high buildings. I'd lose weight if I lived here. After all my walking yesterday all I had the stomach for was a fruit salad and water. Yum... Moisture.

I've checked my bag as I switch hotels today and now I'm going to take the underground to Circular Quay to do some wandering and take some photos, and then probably take a ferry for some water views as well.

A cold is coming on and I shouldn't have chosen this weekend to break in the new hikers. My feet are covered in blisters. Never the less, I'm excited to see what a days exploring will bring. Wish me luck!

Another belated blog post...

I have a reason in being so slow in posting- it's been month end... Ugg. And I've been rather productive in my tax studies. I really only have the questions on Fringe Benefit TAx and GST left in this assignment, which is great news.

Slowly the winter has passed. It's warmed up to lows of around 5, so no need to turn on the gas heater these days. We had a beautiful weekend just past- we had our first barbeque of the season... It was delightful!

Not a lot else is new- except that I'm heading to Aussie for work for a couple of days... so I'll get to see a wee bit of Sydney. It feels like ages since I've been somewhere new, so I'm a little excited to get there.

My flattie is gone back home to England for about a month so I'm cat sitting. Little Burmese George continues to be high energy!

Olympics & Spectacles

I've been rather silent of late. It feels all my time has gone to being a student and learning all of the exciting, fabulous taxation laws of New Zealand. The first assignment has now been submitted and I'm giving myself a week off from self study! Like Casb it is supposed to take 12-15 hours per week. But there are only 2 assignments over a number of months instead of one per week, so I can pace myself.

I did get to watch a little of the Olympics. It was great to see a rowing race with a kiwi and a Canadian medalling. From the NZ side, Kudos to Mahe Drysdale on his bronze medal. He was super ill and still managed to do so well. I was delighted to see the Canadian equestrian team do so well- ya Ian Miller! :) Too bad Big Ben wasn't still around.

I went for an eye test last week. I knew it was time, plus my sunglasses that I brought from Canada broke so I need some news ones. Guess how much the ones I picked are.... Drumroll please for $950 odd dollars. Yikes!! I was used to paying about $600-700 for a pair of glasses in Canada because I shelled out at the optometrists office. My last sunnies were more in the realm of $200- as they weren't from a fancy optometrist, weren't properly fitted and were pretty much bare bones. But my sunnies use in NZ is much higher than in Canada - everyone has them here- you need them. Somehow that extra couple of hundred bucks from the glasses price just doesn't sit well with me. I was somewhat limited in my frame selection. The bigger the glasses, the harder it gets for the frames to support a perscription like mine. Doh. But I've decided these are going to last and since they're stronger I'll use them plenty for driving and the like, as well as out on the water- so paid the bit extra for the anti glare/skinny frames. But I still hurt... They should be ready to pick up next week sometime.

The Bachelor, and dinner funnies

Okay, with How to Look Good Naked, and Project Runway, and the Bachelor, Friday evenings have been the perfect time to stay home and watch TV. My favourite- the Bachelor- finished on Friday- and I was pleased with Andy's choice of Tessa. After a bit of wikipedia research I learned we are a full 2 Bachelor seasons behind America. This one aired back there about 1 1/2 years ago. I also learned Andy and Tessa didn't last too long. It was only a TV show, but they were real people. I'm disappointed. I guess I'm the typical girl/ chick flick fan, who was looking to see the happy ending that didn't happen. Better luck next time.

We dined out at the Indian Cafe for some scrumptious butter chicken tonight. The Indian Cafe was visited by Prime Minister Helen Clark about a month ago when she was in town. They were displaying a framed note from Prime Minister Helen Clark that she had a nice dinner. It looked like it was written on a napkin. :)

A few photos

Sunday I took a break from my studies and went for a run to the beach. It was so lovely I came back later and took some photos. Here are a few...

Thoughts...

Well, Nelson has come out the other side of the storm. Our water level is back to normal which means its okay to do washing again. And this weekend the sun is back shining in the typical Nelson way- so very blue without a cloud in the sky. I've really missed these days over the past month + of rain. I'm finally caught up on my washing!! (Remembering that we don't have a clothes dryer and hang to dry- with the short days of winter).

A friend once commented that my blog is rather impersonal in nature. This time, I'm going to make a personal comment. I've come to realize how much work life balance impacts on my personal level of happiness. At my past job in Canada, a great deal of overtime was expected. I've worked at 4 different jobs in NZ- some have been very much 830-5 and some have required more work to get the job done. Month end and work of late have been quite busy to the degree that although I love Nelson, I haven't been enjoying it as much as I would under an 830-5 job. The problem has been exacerbated by the fact that I'm taking a law paper which I am supposed to be putting 12 hours of study per week into. It is definitely a heavier work load than the previous law paper I sat. I'm mentally tired and have decided that doing accounting at work and tax at home takes the same mental effort. Some young girls dream of one day getting married and having a family. I think my dream was a little different. I set off to University - and I dreamed that when I came out the other side I would have a job I could put everything into. I've had that as an accountant, and realized my dream has changed. I don't want that any more, at all- at least NOT as an accountant. I've enjoyed academia - in fact if money would have allowed I would have enjoyed studying at a deeper level economics or constitutional law or something similiar. Maybe I would like to go back to that again one day, but for now- I can't wait for my tax paper to be complete so I have more time to enjoy living life in lovely Nelson, New Zealand... If all goes well- only another 3 months.

I've found Monday night pilates so far to be a great thing for someone who sits at a desk all day. Right now, I'm taking a brief break from my tax assignment to write this- and I think to go for a bit of a run- before returning to the studies. It's a technical assignment. Wish me luck!

Stormy Weather...

Okay- so we've had some wild weather in NZ over the past few days. In Nelson it was mostly very high winds.

Watch a tree fall here in Nelson- narrowly missing a car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtCzlZogjZQ Scary!!!

In Nelson our biggest problem is that our water supply has been affected. We're supposed to be reducing consumption 70-80% over the next few days. I believe this is due to damage to a pipeline.

Other parts of the country have had flooding, there was a state of emergency over in Marlborough, a woman died in a flood attempting to cross a stream, house roofs have blown off, etc. Check out some photos and articles here. There are photos of both Nelson and Blenheim here and a bit more commentary: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4637457a11.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/0a28070.html

A big Brrrrr... And a shopping frenzy

We've had a very unpleasant July, weather wise. Nelson's far above its average rainfall. It's been a struggle to try and get clothes washed - as there just hasn't been much drying time.

Oh a brighter note, I've finally replaced the camera that George the flat cat knocked on the floor. After HOURS of research and checking out the feel of cameras at the shops, I went for the Fuji s5800. Its a big fellow- but has 10x zoom and what looks to be great photo quality from test shots so far. I'll post some photos, one of these days.

Today I FINALLY purchased a pair of hiking boots from Kathmandu after 2 years of living in NZ without any. I saw these ones, tried them on- and love them! They're light and pink too. YAY.

I seem to be on the recovery from my cold. I felt the worst on Monday- but now its better.

An update on the housing situation. Since I've moved in 3 months ago- we 1) had to have a new post box installed because NZ Post refused to walk part way up the driveway 2) had to have the gas bottles relocated from the back yard because the gas company found it too dangerous to come there and 3) most recently- the rubbish collection company we were using have decided to stop doing our street because it is too difficult to navigate. (We'll go back to using the city now.) This house has been here for how many years- and these changes have happened in a couple of months. My flattie said I must be good luck. :) It's a skinny street, all right!

That's it for now, folks. Brr. As I sit in my puffer jacket with the little gas heater on, dreaming of central heating- but also looking forward to summer!

Mid July...

I've passed my law class. Yay.

And just this week I started Taxation. This class seems much better so far than law was... I got actual booklets with all of the readings, and the learning guide, how to use the website etc. Plus we're going to be getting weekly updates from the professor. I also received confirmation of enrolment. With my law class, I hadn't received anything when the course started- I had to email for my student number. I had to spend over $80 on printer cartridges printing out all of the various assignments and readings- and there were 2 communications from the prof- both on the assignments. With tax he has lots of practise questions, and the week one readings were more economic oriented than tax oriented- starting with economic principles- including a bit of a reading from Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations! So far, A + to this class.

I'm still camera shopping, having not yet replaced my Lumix that was knocked on the floor by naughty George the flatmates cat.

In NZ news, one of the recent items of discussion has been whether they should allow use of medicial marijuana. Also grocery prices are the highest ever, a newspaper has recently reported. Petrol has recently dropped 4 cents though, I think that puts us at 212.9?

I'm a month into running again, although only 1-3 times per week. It's finally starting to feel good- instead of painful. I think it will be easier as the days start to get longer.

A cold July...

Brr.... Brrr.... Brrr.... It was -2 this morning and -3 yesterday morning, and the window scraper that I brought back from Canada was certainly coming in handy. It is a funny thing- you think -2 or -3 is pretty warm- it is not at all the nasty -30 with a windchill that you get in Saskatchewan. But in NZ -2 means wearing thermals and breathing out frost when you get up in the morning due to the lack of insulation and central heating. I will never get used to it...

I can't wait for the days to get longer! I washed laundry a few weeks ago and we got some rain overnight. Like many kiwis, we don't have a dryer, but Nelson had an untypical couple of weeks of rain- so trying to get the laundry dry didn't work so well. I had to redo it all- after it got the musty damp odour. This time it dried.

Mr. George, the flatties cat has damaged my camera irreplacably. He is an attention seeker- and when he spotted my camera on the counter he must have decided a great way to get attention would be to jump on the counter and push it to the floor. So I won't be posting any photos until I get a new one... I am indecisive on the brand. I liked the panasonic lumix, but it definitely wasn't very hardy. The Sony I had previously was hardier, but broke in less than a year. I've now spent about $900 in 2 years on cameras- and have no working cameras to show for it. This makes me caution to purchase another one...

I just splashed out on books. The Warehouse had $5-7 books! Consider that purchasing a typical magazine costs $4-10- what a bargain! I stocked up.

My tax class starts next week. Ugg. Distance education is not easy to get motivated for... I still have another 4 weeks or so before I get back the Law results.

I attended my first Kiwi Quiz night the other weekend. I am not so good at trivia. I knew something about Harry Potter, and something abour Narnia. Pitty there weren't any questions about current affairs, or Canadian politics. :)

A rainy weekend...

I completed my law examination on Friday. YAY!!! And I got a haircut in the morning (long overdue!), and picked up some clothing which had to be altered (due to no petite sizes in NZ), and bought a pretty red sweater (read- warm...). Friday was a very good day... at least after the exam was over!

Yesterday I decided to do some laundry, it being a beautiful day- however I forgot it was the shortest day of the year. About 3 o'clock it started clouding up and the temp dropped. Regardless, I decided to leave my towels and PJs hanging on the line outside. Bad choice... Heavy winds and rain overnight and today completely saturated them... The nature of the weather makes me think of Shakespeare- and Macbeth- for some reason. My poor pjs. I'm left with less warm backup pairs- until they finally dry. It could take several days with the forecast the way it is. (I'm not complaining, it hasn't really rained in my 1.5 months back in Nelson).

The market on Saturday was great fun. I can't begin to say how nice it was just to spend a mellow day back in Nelson. I love this town.

It's hard to believe I've been back over a month. I still haven't started the regular jog out to Tahuna beach- excepting that one Sunday afternoon. I am waiting for the days to get longer. Also I was taking a latin/ballroom dance class before I left- it was really tiny but it was great. I'd like to find something similiar. Am also keen to try out the Med. Foodstore's cooking class night- which occurs something like about once a month- and spend some time checking out books at the library... Nelson recently missed out on an opera due to lack of venue. Shame... I do miss Regina's Globe & the Annual Opera Sask events. However before I get all classed and activitied up, I have to remember that my tax class starts quite soon and I need to factor in time. I think it was something crazy according to the Open Polytech book- maybe 8 or 10 hours a week or something. I'm not sure if I actually spent that on law.

The election is also coming up this year. It would be GREAT to volunteer over here, as well. Permanent residents have the right to vote in NZ, interestingly. Being on this list also means that I could be selected for jury duty. Not sure how they come up with the Canadian jury duty lists.

Now I'm off to bed, having had my electric blanket on so I will be all nice and toasty warm. At least until I wake up chilly at 4am. :) But the rain should keep the temp up, so it shouldn't be so bad tonight, anyway.... We had one morning of hard frost last week- and my window scraper from Canada came in oh so handy!

June is flying by...

And I've once again been unprolific on the blog front.

A good part of my time in the past couple of weeks has been spent studying for my business law exam which comes up on Friday! I can't wait for it to be over, then 6 weeks to get the results.

Meanwhile, the days have been getting shorter, and shorter. I just can't wait for them to start going the other way. It's really hard to get up in the dark, and get home in the dark.

I was reading somewhere in the paper the other day about the number of homes without insultation in NZ. The number was astounding. My memory fails, but I seem to think it was in the 800,000 range. 4000000 people. How many in the average home? Do the math to see how few kiwi homes have insulation..

Prices have been going up, up, up. Petrol is currently in the $2.10 range.

Not a lot else new here. Will update again, sometime post law. Tax doesn't start for a month or so after, so will have a bit of a break from studies.

A weekend in Kaikoura

Photos: View from motel, sperm whale diving, great view on roadside stop, view from Outlook at Okiwi Bay

After spending months in the top part of the top of the south, Queens Birthday weekend was a perfect time for a weekend away. I booked a spot at the Seaview Motel through AA for $99 per night... Thursday night I got the oversold phone call and was moved to the sister Clearwater Motel. This motel was about 3 "rooms" or suites in total. It was old, but delightfully the beds came complete with electric blankets. YAY! :) Plus it was right on the Esplanade, so had a great sea view.





We went for a walk up to the Peninsula above a sea colony, wandered the small main street (including the second hand book shop). Then we drove out of town and visited Donegal House, an irish pub, before heading back to town for dinner, and a quiet evening in the hotel room.





Sunday we went whale watching with Whale Watch Kaikoura . For the tidy sum of $130 each, we arrived at 10 for our 10:30 overview, before being bussed out to the boat. We headed out on the boat, and the first whale spotted decided to go down just after we spotted him. WE ventured out further and found 2 whales. One seemed to be playing with a fur seal, or following it- we had views of this for about 30 minutes, before cruising out to see another whale further out. It was a really neat experience. They were sperm whales so we got to see just the top of their heads, basically, and their tails when they dove. The guide was fantastic- she gave lots of informative info- such as that the huge amounts of oil in their heads actually are thought to help them in their deep dives and in resurfacing- it turns more oily as they come up, but is more solidifyed when they are diving. We decided to have a bit of pizza and pasta for dinner, as didn't want to pay TOO much for crayfish, or the other food that seemed to be popular on the local restaurant menus.





This morning it was raining and we just did a few short walks on the drive back to Nelson.





The weather was pretty good, and Kaikoura is beautiful. I was really impressed by the ever changing and beautiful sky...

Up, down, and around

So things have been rather busy in Nelson. The learning continues at work, with an annual plan and now month end coming up. I was also up in Auckland for a training course early this week. I went up on the weekend so I could go shopping, fully intent on buying a winter jacket, shoes, merino tops, and maybe a nice sweater or two. It was one of those fruitless shopping weekends. I took the bus on saturday out to dressmart, a outlet store shopping centre. Didn't find much. On Sunday I took transit out to Newmarket, and again didn't find much- before bussing back to central - where I finally found a few things... including flat dress shoes. Yay. Didn't find much else on my list. Boo. It always seems to be that way, when you are looking. The weather was sunny and warm on Saturday in Auckland. It felt like summer! I checked out a tasty italian restaurant in the CBD, dining solo on Sunday night - at about 8. It was a delight to be able to find dinner at that hour.

This weekend we're off to Kaikoura for the last long weekend until Sept or Oct.

The temperate has REALLY dropped in the last week. The frosts have started. I think it was down to 0 the other day. This is really cold- with the kiwi insulation- or should I say lack thereof... I've lost my lovely Kathmandu merino top from last year and have had to purchase a few cheaper alternatives.

I watched game 3 of the cup finals with a group of Canadian friends in Nelson. I miss hockey...

A few Nelson shots...

It was another beautiful day in Nelson...

But even the rain can make it lovely. Check it out.

A week in Nelson

I've been back over a week, and it is nice to return to this place that my heart loves.
On the weekend I went for a run to Tahuna beach, my first run in months to be fair. The beach is a sure reward for the effort, just as it was when I lived here before, although I don't think I'll be making it a morning ritual at least until winter is over. Plus my time was shockingly slow- it took an hour and a quarter, in long part because of the trudge back up Russell Street when I was near to getting home. I SURE wasn't running then...

I've been out to dine a few times in my time back and have attended a gals lunch fundraising for breast cancer.

I've settled nicely into my new flat, and I'm sure in time that big walk home from work will be much easier than it is now...

It's also great living with cats again! :)

I'm delighting in my electric blanket, recently purchased. Why didn't I buy one earlier? It sure helps getting a good nights sleep in these cool kiwi homes. The current flat is heated by a gas fireplace, which we tend not to use, instead using a gas heater in the lounge. The hot water and stove are also gas powered. Which means a nice low power bill, at any rate.

In terms of utilities, it is nice to be back in the town of kerbside recyling. Hurray! :)

I continue to watch Shorters, and Greys, and admit to having watched a bit of Coronation Street for the first time, tonight...

The last 2 weeks

The run up to finishing work in Blenheim was quite busy, and then came the "fun" of moving. Remind me to flat in the future, instead of living alone. So much more work on the cleaning the whole place before you leave than just your room.

Anyhow, after much trudging up hill with multiple bags and goods, I'm in my new flat, overlooking the port. It's amazing how much stuff I've aquired in the last year and a bit. Almost 2 car loads; when I moved to Blenheim I had less than 1. Today was the first day of work at the new job and I managed to walk to work, and more painfully- back up the hill.

It's great to be back in NElson, even though it is winter. Looking forward to rediscovering the region, now that I'm settled into my new flat. It has been chilly. My last day in Blenheim there was a nice frost.

Anzacs and my move...

Okay, so Friday is Anzac day in NZ (quite similiar in many ways to Remembrance Day back home). I've learned a few things courtesy of stuff.co.nz- one of the most interesting is as follows: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4493976a11.html

"POPPY DAY: One of the oldest national appeals, usually on the Friday before Anzac Day. Poppies became the symbol of sacrifice and remembrance after French woman, Madame E Guerin, suggested artificial poppies be made by widows and orphans of dead soldiers. They could be sold to benefit veterans and destitute children of northern France. In 1921, 350,000 small poppies and 16,000 large silk poppies were bought by the New Zealand Returned Services Association. The ship delivering the poppies was delayed and instead of Poppy Day being held on Armistice Day (November 11 when World War 1 ended) it was held the following year on the Friday before Anzac Day."

So the poppies here continue to come out before Anzac day.

I'm a week and a half away from my move over to Nelson. Last weekend I was in Nelson trying to line up a place, and I'll be moving on Saturday the 3rd with my new job to start on the 5th.

Do I have thoughts on my exit from Blenheim? I'm ready to move. But I'm also a little terrified about the move back. Will it be as great as I remembered in Nelson?

We went out the Abel Tasman way on the weekend and did a short walk. It was a nice day and tons of families in particular were out with the kids.

Weather has definitely cooled though. It was down to -2 the other day!! The leaves are turning their autumn (not "fall") colours... Winter is coming. I'm really thinking the flat in Nelson is going to be much, much warmer than the current cottage I'm living in. It has big sliding glass doors and it is BRRRRRR cold already. Wake up, breathe out, and see that frost on your breath.

Taxes and times...

Funny- NZ has a 31 March tax year, but that doesn't mean I need to file a tax return. From the IRD website (the NZ "CRA").
"Most people don't need to do anything
Most people who earn salary or wages pay the correct amount of tax and don't need to do anything at the end of the tax year (31 March)."
Not unless you work multiple jobs, or earn less than $9880, etc.

There are several tax brackets, and only 1 level of taxation- NZ not having provinces like in Canada. The tax system is immensely!! more simple.

There is not even a basic personal amount- and not the heaps and heaps of deductions allowed under the Canadian income tax system. There are several exceptions- you can get rebates for child care, housekeeper, and donations.

Employers deduct PAYE (pay as you earn) off every pay cheque at rates specified by government. These basically result in the "right" amount of tax being paid by the end of the year if you work full time on salary. Simpler- and less administration! Even the banks take off PAYE on your deposit interest.

I did my calculation and it was within $10.

The corporate tax regime also seems SO VERY much simpler...

If you're interested check out www.ird.govt.nz

We've turned quite cool this past week with lows in the 7 degree range overnight. We put our clocks back last weekend so its again light in the mornings when I get up- but with the days getting shorter that will soon change.

Time marches on and my time in Blenheim is drawing down. I only have another 3 weeks in my present job, before my move.

Until next time...

Moving on...

Announcing- changes in my locale... I’ve accepted a term maternity leave cover position in Nelson, starting in just over a month!

When I moved to Blenheim I thought it was going to be my new home, like Nelson had been, however in my one year here it never came to feel that way. There are things I do like about Blenheim- it is sunny most of the time, rivalling Nelson for the most sunshine hours. There is the yummy kebab shop- Akbabas. There is the fact that traffic is not crazy most of the time- unless you’re waiting at one of the roundabouts after work. There is also the close proximity to Picton, and the sounds. I’ve appreciated my opportunity to live and work here, but I’m very eager to make the move back over the hill to Nelson- and rediscover it again. I’ve lived here longer than I lived there- and I wonder what it will be like when I return. I have a sneaking suspicion it will have changed more than Blenheim has in the past year.

I’ve been busy working on my correspondence law. I’ve submitted the first assignment, and there is one more to go before the exam in June.

I was hoping to do a camping trip in the South Island, but the coming change in work means I won’t be able to take time off. We did visit Whites Bay near Rarangi on the weekend. It has a cool looking hole in the rock and I’d be keen to visit again when the tide was lower. The surf and save club was out when we were there, practising their manoeuvres.

The NZ housing market appears to have slowed, which is good. There was a big news article a week or two ago saying that people would need to save a minimum of about $120K for a house deposit on even the most basic house, for a house purchase to be affordable. Milk, and dairy related products seem to be up. I just paid $1.779 / L of petrol today.

My march so far...

I thought the change of seasons had happened, but it's been really warm for the past couple of days. On the weekend a few friends and I attended the Havelock Mussel festival, where I did not eat any mussels. I did however manage to find a cheeseburger that tasted yum- like a good Canadian fair cheeseburger. Last time I tried that here at a festival I got a 2 pieces of bread with no sauce, and a thin burned burger. This one was good! :) We watched the mussel opening- those guys are fast, and the team event, and listened to the bands. It was a beautiful day to be outside, although the nasty sandflies managed to connect with my ankles. In som ways, they are worse than mosquitos.

Time changes here on 6 April, so its still a while. Its quite dark in the mornings.

I haven't progressed at all in the half training, having taken since my oral surgery off. Now I am finding it hard to be motivated, to go for a run in the am in the dark. Not sure how to change this, unless I get a gym membership. Maybe I'm only a fair weather runner.

I was up in Wellington last weekend for the weekend and took a "white knuckle" flight on Sounds Air. Its a tiny plane, it must fit about 12 passengers. We sat right behind the pilot- a quite young-ish looking fellow, which made me a tad nervous! Anyhow, the views of the sounds and the Straight as we flew over were beautiful- and it was a smooth ride save the normal bumps landing in windy Welly. The way back was on the Ferry- my first trip back across the straight on the water. Also a lovely day weather wise, (other than the wind) so it was nice to sit outside.

The fresh produce is out right now so its a great time to cook with veggies which are in season and cheap. Hurray! :) No paying heaps right now for my favourite peppers and tomatoes.

I tried out my inherited slow cooker a couple of weeks ago. It made a nice lasagna, although I must admit I got terribly tired of eating it before it was all gone. Living where I do means I don't have an oven, and so its nice to be able to get some nice warm oven-y type food.

My first assignment for law is due soon. Perhaps I'll work on it over the weekend, as I don't have anything exciting teed up for the easter holiday.

On teeth, and recovery... and random thoughts

My wisdom tooth checkup the day after surgery was good. I thought things were going VERY well, far better than the terror I'd dreamed about. By Thursday I was feeling not too bad- and headed to work, although I didn't last the whole day. Friday I did work the whole day, despite being told I'd make it for a week. The weekend didn't go so well- at ALL! Saturday was the worst sleep and worst pain I've had in my life. I made it through Sunday and ventured to work on Monday- still very much in pain. I made a dental appointment and after a nasty Monday and Tuesday I found out Wednesday I had a dry socket- hence all the pain! And also probable infection. I've been back another time for a dressing on the socket, and feel so much better than last week. Sore, but recovering- at least for now. Yay.

Not much else new really- I've been pretty tired over the past 2 weeks. I have done no exercise- at all, however due to being on a soup and soft food diet, I was down 5 lbs.

Shorters has been very exciting lately- (the new zealand 7pm soap). The story line with Joey's been going on for months and months, but looks like it may finally be drawing to a close.

I finally finished a puzzle of my FAVOURITE Van Gough- Cafe Terrace at Night. It took AGES, in part because I'm not so fab at puzzles, and part because the mean puzzle designers have the puzzle pieces fitting in spots that aren't the right ones. I felt tremendous accomplishment. :)

I've recently started an online business law course that I have to take as part of the NZICA reciprocity agreement with the Canadian Institute of CAs. It's kind of like CASB, only there are only 2 assignments, and an exam, instead of 8-20 hours a week for 10 weeks each module. So far I've been learning on the structure of entities, and the "corporate veil"- aka the issue of whether courts can read through the corporate veil through to the shareholders, in effect. It does mean getting into some case law- both kiwi and british- so that's been interesting. I also find it really interesting we didn't study anything at all similiar in Canadian business law.

On another note, does anyone know if Canada has a resource management act, where you have to apply for consents to do so much- like irrigate, apply poison, and the like?? It's very much in place here, lots of consents needed.

The days are getting shorter- I must admit I'm not at all looking forward to winter. :)

In the NZ political race, John Key's National Party has been high in the polls. An election will occur later this year. The kiwi dollar is also quite high against the US dollar- highest in many years, I think I remember reading.

Wisdom teeth

Yesterday I headed at 11:20 to the A & E area of the Blenheim hospital , where i was soon called through to a medical bed. They put in my iv thingy (which was a first) and it didn't take too long for the oral surgeon to come through, confirm which teeth were coming out and verify I was the right Kelly- and confirm whether I wanted to keep the teeth (a definite! no). I then proceeded behind the doc and nurse to a theatre, as they are called here. I laid down on this super high skinny table (I say skinny because my arms didn't really even fit on). They put on the blood pressure cup and the green towel and the doc said "do you like white wine? here you go", as the iv stuff started- and he said I would be getting light headed. I seem to think they put a green thing over my head with only a hole for my mouth and only have one or two vague recollections of the surgery. My sense of time really was upset. I think I said ow a few times as they tug- but as they said it didn't really leave a bad feeling. I have no recollection of being taken from the table back down to the bed to lie down and have my iv thing removed, although I remember her taking out the first guaze and putting more in. They gave Phil instructions and he drove me home, but I don't remember the ride even though it was 20 minutes long.Then it was time to take meds and sit with upright head, and I was so very dozy (thanks to the sedative). Slept all right last night, feeling sore today, have to go back this aft for test. Still feeling quite tired as well, but at least those 2 teeth are gone- as is the massive fear of the procedure that I had yesterday!

Of planes and market days

So I had to bring up the plane thing to let you all know I wasn't on the plane. It seems to have made international news, already... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealand_hijack It was the talk of the office this am. The planes that fly out of Blenheim are quite small. No overhead lockers, and typically one seat on either side of the tiny aisle. And as reported, no security checks. (They reported a total of 7 passengers on this plane, which probably isn't atypical).
The stuff.co.nz article has a bit more detail. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4392665a10.html It was a woman with 2 knives, so says this article, that injured the 2 pilots. (Note- no cabin doors in these tiny aircraft.) I'm sure this will bring domestic airport security under review, if nothing else. But they don't think there is a great risk of hijack. Definitely not a lot of passengers ever flying out on those tiny planes.

The boil water advisory in Blenheim continues. This only affects me at work as I'm not living in Blenheim.

Market day in Blenheim went off today- despite the protests in the paper that nearly prompted me to write a letter to the editor for the first time since my university days. One of the shop owners, and 2 courier drives objected to closing a couple of the core streets off for this one day a year event, which has lots of booths - where food, craft, and all sorts of interesting gadgets are on sale in the run up to the Marl. Wine festival which runs tomorrow. In my view, having an envigourated downtown- even if it is only for a day- isn't a bad thing for a town. Lots of towns have pedestrian only walkways in the shopping district... I'm sure this town can handle it for ONE day!

One week + a weekend away from my wisdom tooth surgery. NOT looking forward to it...

Very much looking forward to the weekend- and it being Friday- starts now. Off I go...

Blenheim's in the news...

And the reason isn't good. A boil water advisory has been issued. I live out of Blenheim so my home water supply is sweet, it's just bringing bottled water to work. Article on the advisory here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlboroughexpress/4384878a6008.html

There were also crazy power surges like I've never experienced last night. The lights would stay on about 1/4 light, and then 1/2 light, and then full light, and then back to 1/4 light. Crazy. Apparently this happens sometimes. Then the power went out. Luckily it was my bed time. I woke up before work, sort of sadly. I wouldn't have minded a sleep in, without the alarm clock. :)

Weather has been quite hot in the top of the south, although saying that, it is gray and overcast today. Raining now, even, apparently. My poor deck tomatoes need some rain. One looks like its on its last legs, although it has yielded me many cherry tomatoes. My chili pepper plant has yielded one red chili, and another green one is still on. Plenty of little green peppers also on the grow.

In other news, I discovered a few weeks back that there was an Asian Version of the Amazing Race. Same music, same clue cards, same idea- but with teams from Asia. The kiwi team had made it into the final 3 which was the episode I saw. It wasn't quite the same without the great kiwi host, Phil Keoghan. (sp?).

The other NEW tv shows are back. Greys, and Ugly Betty just started last night. Desparate Housewives is tonight.

Upcoming Wed. is Waitangi Day- held every Feb 6- in reminder of signing the Treaty of Waitangi. Not quite the same as treaty 6 in Sask, but a treaty nevertheless. See further details at wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day

In the locale update, Blenheim hasn't grown on me. I don't think it will. Luckily I like my cute wee flat in Tua Marina, which is also pleasantly close to Picton for those weekends when I'm at home. I do like Picton- and it never had to grow on me. Tiny little town, but nice, nevertheless. I spent a few hours there on the weekend, sitting on the foreshore, with many others.

Various topics

I was very excited last week when we experienced a brief thunderstorm. It came up quite quickly- and I was first notified by that old "sheets of rain" sound on the roof, that I hadn't heard it so long. It was followed by thunder and lightening. Not much, but enough to remind me of a good old Saskatchewan summer storm. Lo and behold a lightening strike about 5 kms from home started a big fire. I drove by on the weekend and witnessed at least 3 choppers out doing their dosing duties. This was on Saturday. There were numerous spectators sitting on the side of the road, watching. I drove back again Sunday and there seemed to be less smoke, and less spectators. It was cool seeing one of the choppers (a pretty red one) come in for the landing quite close to the road, as I was driving by. Luckily the road had just been retopped so the speed limit through that section was slow, allowing me to watch. It came very close to houses, but was in the hills with the trees, so I think didn't cause any home damage, fortunately.

I've been thinking NZ Housing prices were super duper high, and it was confirmed today in a newspaper article. A quote " New Zealand was divided into seven areas for the survey and was the only nation in which all markets were rated severely unaffordable. " see the full story at :
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4366750a10.html
Interest rates are in the 10% neighbourhood. In my part of the country it seems houses tend to be in the $300-$400K neighbourhood, anyway. $30K of interest buys a lot of rent!

I visited Picton a couple of times on the weekend. It's not quite Nelson, but I love that little town.

Much in the news of late has been about the death of Sir Edmund Hillary. The one who "knocked the bastard (Everest) off." First, that is to say. Sometime around the same time as Queen Elizabeth was coronated. From everything I've read, he was a humble man, and he contributed greatly to advancing the lives of people throughout the world. He will be missed.

Happy New Year

My unprolific blogging continues...

I spent Christmas this year in lovely Nelson. We had a lovely pancake breakfast, before having a full on huge dinner with a group of others. My contributions included greek salad (trying to be authentic meant no lettuce), and help with a fruit flan. How exciting. We had BBQ meat instead of the traditional Canadian roast. Despite a very overcast morning, the clouds lifted and the afternoon and evening were lovely.

Many kiwi businesses go through an office closure period over Christmas/ NYs when people take holidays. Since I already took holidays, and I was busy at work, I worked all of the non-stat days over the season, other than the 31st. As I was for the most part the only one in, I felt like I got a lot done! I had a number of days out in the sounds over the holidays due to the stats, returning to work on the 3rd. We spend NYs in the sounds, and I attended for the first time the great Whatinihi boat race. My contribution failed to finish the race however was picked up by the boat race officials so did make it to shore. It's actually a great idea. The sounds community of Whatanihi hold their annual boat race on NYs day- people build boats, made mostly of natural material. They're dropped into the sea and the first one back to the finish line wins and gets their name pencilled in on the cup. :) And bragging rights of course...

Weather has been quite hot here of late. Although despite the heat, I'm a deck gardener for the first time. Yes indeed- my tomato plants have red tomatoes. How exciting! I did get a green pepper too- but it didn't turn out well. It looks like I have chilis coming as well. How very exciting!

I'm finally getting into my running routine again, with the half marathon coming up in a few months. I've discovered I have a long way to go training wise. The run this morning was pure agony, even though it was no longer than any other day in the prior couple of weeks that I've been running it. Maybe it was the humidity.... Lets say. :) Hopefully it'll be easier tomorrow.

I can't remember if I reported I get the joy of going to see the oral surgeon next month to have 2 wisdom teeth removed- not really looking forward to that. It costs $1350 inc GST and was quicker to get in than in Canada.

I'm beginning to think of taking a wee camping holiday of a week or so in a couple of months to see more of the south island. Stay tuned for developments.