Karma anyone?

New Zealanders can be funny buggers.
One of my favourite things is trawling through www.trademe.co.nz - kind of like a Kiwi version of ebay, but more human.
Regular readers will remember my delight in seeing kiwi-shaped feijoas and penis-shaped oranges for sale - and actually being sold too!
Which sparked a frenzied, but short-lived obsession for fruit and vegie fondling, as I tried vainly to find my own money-making unusual-shaped produce.
Anyway, this week, an enterprizing Kiwi dude is selling ... karma. And not just any karma, but Good Karma! (You can never have too much Good Karma).
The owner claims he's been secretly storing up karma over the past two years by doing good deeds. Things like paying for lunch with friends (sometimes even with his own credit card), and helping old ladies across the road (whether they want to go or not!)
Anyway, this extremely virtuous citizen has so much Good Karma, he has no need for the excess and is offering it to cashed-up peeps in need. The starting bid is NZ$20. Go here to check it out.
The Good Karma comes with an original letter of authenticity.
You've got to love Kiwi Ingenuitity!

The hills are alive ...

The hills around Auckland are alive with the sound of ... fireworks!
Yes, today is Guy Fawkes Day! Technically, that's celebrated tonight, with fireworks and friendly gatherings. In Auckland, however, Guy Fawkes seem to involve fireworks being let off at random times and places for days - and nights -beforehand.
Also, there are dudes selling fireworks from their sheds, garages and even the back of their cars.
Even weirder, you can buy them at the supermarket, along with other essential home items, like eggs, bread and milk. What The?
And today, to my great delight, quite a few bangers went off from a guy's van, just up the road from the post office. A few of them shot, smoking, out into the middle of the road.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: There is always something happening in Auckland!
Speaking of which, the other day a young woman walked up Queens Street, dressed in black and - wearing her hot pink undies over the top of her clothes. If only I'd had my camera!

Fancy a few fireworks with your food? (Apologies for my poor photography skills. That is why I am a journalist and not a photographer)!

Delights of the World anyone?

Seriously, I do pity the animals though, and parents of small children. Keep them safe tonight!

I want candy!

It's been even busier than usual for the Aussies in Auckland.
First, Husband's Mum arrived for a visit from sunny Queensland. The kids got an early mark off school so they could pick her up from the airport, much to their pleasure.
We spent a very pleasant weekend, eating and drinking far too much! The kids have also enjoyed showing off their swimming, reading, and gymnastics skills.
Of course, Saturday night was Halloween, and after experiencing their first in Auckland last year, our own little monsters were raring to go!
Later, we ended up at our local pub, The Drake, for dinner. It's a relaxed kind of place, and best of all, it's within walking distance (although poor Nana regretted not wearing a jacket!)
Finally, Miss 6 and I were greeted like minor celebrities when we arrived at school on Monday.
Why? I'd been featured in a story about Mummy Bloggers in the New Zealand Herald's Canvas magazine over the weekend, and H. was in the photo with me. (Mr 8 could have been too, but the publicity-shy one declined).
As a journalist, it's not a big deal for me to feature in the media (after all, if I expect other people to do it, I have to be prepared to join in too). But it was cute to see how impressed H.'s little friends were.
Look out! There's another media diva in the making!

Missy eating chips and aioli at The Drake

My pan seared salmon with asparagus and capers

C. happy with his adult portion of gunard and chips - no kids' meals for him!

Husband's cottage pie and chips - the ultimate in comfort food!

A platter of yummies to share

Nana gets some kiddie love!

The kids knocked high and low in their search for Halloween lollies.

Miss 6 was a princess, and Mr 8 was a monster

Miss 6: You don't have to be evil on Halloween

Mr 8: What's the point if you can't be evil?

Waiwera Thermal Resort

Husband was away, so the kids and I decided to play during a recent long weekend, when I took them to Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort.
Kind of like a Wet and Wild, the difference is that the water is thermally heated, with several natural mineral hot pools, of varying temperatures and depths, to relax in.
There are also loads of water slides for the kids (and the young at heart).
One of the most popular spots was the movie pool – where movies are screened twice-daily, and video clips run in-between.
What I love about Waiwera – and I have to say most attractions in New Zealand are the same – is that not only is it family friendly, but visitors are allowed to bring in their own food and drink.
I’ve had it with stingy Australia tourism operators, who not only have the audacity to charge inflated entry fees, but then force punters to pay more inflated prices for mostly unhealthy and cardboard-tasting food and drink.
In New Zealand, zoos, museums, rollerskating centres, indoor climbing venues and more, are all relaxed about allowing visitors to bring picnics and snacks. Places like MOTAT, Waiwera, and the Auckland Zoo, provide glorious grounds for picnicking, with loads of shady trees, gazebos, and picnic tables. At one rollerskating centre, people even had pizza delivered!
I was out of bread (Mother FAIL), so didn’t pack a proper picnic, but we did take a cooler with cold drinks, snacks, and fruit to save money.
At lunch time, we shared a delicious seafood basket. (C. of course, needed more and had a hot dog on a stick as well).
The biggest surprise? The café made a really lovely coffee. And there were healthy options, like salad panini and pasta dishes as well.
It goes without saying that the kids had an awesome day. And I enjoyed it as well, especially when they graciously granted me time to soak in the Sapphire Pool. Heated to 40 degrees, I stationed myself where the aptly-named Lava Pool (48 degrees) waters ran into the pool – mmm, deliciously hot. It was like honey for my poor, arthritic bones.
Best of all, because the waters are natural and full of life-giving minerals, eczema-prone Mr 8 could enjoy to his heart’s content. The day at the resort actually improved his eczema rather than inflaming it, like normal pools do.
So a bit more about Waiwera:

• It’s New Zealand’s most popular thermal resort and was the Southern Hemisphere’s first spa
• There are 22 pools to choose from, and 8 slides
• There is a day spa there as well, which I didn’t get to enjoy because I had kids to wrangle. Maybe another time?
• The healing waters have been famous since the 1840s, when people came from far and away to take the waters
• Waiwera’s natural mineral water was originally called Te Rata. Translated from Maori, this means ‘The Doctor”. It is sourced from a geothermal aquifer located 1500 metres below the resort, meaning every pool is 100% naturally hot!
• Independent carbon dating by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences estimates Waiwera water to be between 10,000 and 15,600 years old, making it the oldest water in the world
• Waiwera Artesian Water is still bottled at the source over 140 years later! And I can vouch that it’s delicious.
• It's affordable. NZ$60 for a family pass (two adults and two kids, with a current special allowing another two kids as well). Given the resort is open from 9 am-9pm each day - and you can get pass-outs - that's incredible!
  
  A couple of thermal slides
  
  
  Missy in the sapphire pool (lava pool in the background)
  
  Aaah....
  
  
  C's favourite slide, the Squeeze. He even convinced his sister to try it!
  
  Delicious, health-giving water
  
  Lunch time. Okay, it's not healthy, but look at how skinny he is! Wish I had his metabolism.
  
  Miss 6 on one of the slides
  
  She started on this one before working up the courage to become more adventurous
  
  More slides
  
  
  The movie pool. Kids are in there somewhere ...
  
  Oh look, I found one!
  

He's baaack ...

This week, Husband returns to guest blog due to popular demand ...


So it is time that I do another guest blog for Bron.
The last few weeks and the next eight weeks are going to keep me extremely busy with travel (surprise surprise), with having just been through five time zones (some flying over of course).
I arrived home Monday morning about 2am from the airport to find that Bron is still sick, that both the kids had taken possession of my bed, and that I was missed but only a little. (Bron: Hey, not true!)
It was good to arrive back in Auckland after a week of travel, and it was great to see a few people I had not seen in a while. Paul in Perth, Rowan and Linda in Brisbane as well as Crickie, and of course Mum.
It's amazing though when I go back to Australia or visit family something always happens. When we last went to Oz ,we put our house in Brisbane on the market, and when I went back this time we sold it! (Of course subject to this and that).
Ok as to the trips coming up - I have Adelaide, Sydney, Sydney, and the ACT. In the middle of it, we're going on our family holiday to Samoa. Hopefully that will be about it. Oh and probably a few site inspections here in NZ, though I hope I wont have to fly!
As to other things happening around in Auckland, we have my mum arriving on Friday.
The kids are jumping out of their skins for her to turn up. H. keeps yelling 'Nana Nana only two more sleeps! WOOHOO'. And the little man C. just smiles and does a quiet yay!
Talking about the kids, they are both in trouble at the moment. C. decides every trip I go away on to play up and do things he knows I wouldn’t approve of, and then I get home and get placed in to a situation that I need to lose my cool. Grrrrrr.
As for H., the little minx will dob her brother in for anything, including things she has done.
As you can see, because I have had quiet nights away and busy days working, I came home to a not so stress-free environment. Little buggers!
As for Bron, since she has been sick, I thought I'd do the blog in my lunch hour for her! Hooray for Nana, only one more sleep! (And maybe some assistance with the kids for a week!)

Monkey kids ...

Diwali henna tattoos

A few of you were interested in seeing the henna tattoos which were done at the kids' school in honour of the Diwali Festival of the Lights.
So, courtesy of their school, enjoy! Above is one of the tattoos being done.
The festival itself is a five-day celebration by the Indian community, which involves fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, special meals, dancing, new clothes, togetherness, and worship.
It celebrates the inner lightness in all of us, the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness.
Generally women and girl get henna tattoos as part of the celebration, and some wonderful Indian women came to the school to show us how it was done. They collected gold coin donations in return, and gave the lot to the Samoan Tsunami appeal, which I thought was lovely.
Many of the boys lined up for tattoos too. This is actually C's paw being painted.

And this is a typical tattoo for girls.

After a while the hand/arms are washed and a red/orange outline remains. It usually lasts for at least a few days, about a week.

There's a big Indian community in Auckland, and it was wonderful to get an insight into their rich culture.

A little light in a dark world

The kids looked cute this morning as they set off for school. Students and teachers dressed up in holiday gear, as a fundraiser for the victims of the tsunami in Samoa.
What a great cause!
There were jandals (thongs), lava lavas (colourful sarong-like cloth), swimmers, flowers, and leis all round.
Of course, all this had a serious side too, and the kids all donated towards the cause of helping Samoans rebuild and recover from their tragedy.
Speaking of which, we’ve decided to take our holiday next month. The Samoan tourism people have asked travellers to keep their holiday plans, with tourism tipped to play a big part of the country’s recovery.
Yes, there may be some inconvenience, and we will probably see some terrible sights and hear horrific stories. People have pointed out that the holiday may not be as ‘good’ as before, with grieving locals too busy or sad to pamper visitors, or some areas off-limits or destroyed. But that’s nothing at all compared to what these people have gone through. If we can help in some small way by keeping our plans, and getting some of our meagre funds flowing into the community, we’re happy to. In fact, we are looking forward to visiting Samoa more than ever.
To be honest, I think it will be a good education for the kids, and a reminder to all of us to be thankful for our good fortune, and sympathetic and empathetic to those in need.
On a happier note, a few lovely Indian Mums visited school this week, to talk about Diwali, the Festival of the Lights.
After eating and drinking their way around Auckland Viaduct’s version of the festival on the weekend, the kids couldn’t wait to get their hands decorated with henna tattoos.
According to Diwali tradition, the tattoos symbolise blessings that light up the soul. They are traditionally for females, but quite a few of the boys, including Mr 8, clamoured to have their hands decorated too!
I wish I could post a photo, but I’m still waiting for a cable to upload photos from my camera to my computer. Dang technology!
Instead, let me leave you with a bit of fun from the Tourism Paeora people. Kiwis have a great sense of humour, and I’m often left chortling at advertising campaigns.
This one, like L & P softdrink (diet of course), hits the spot!
http://www.youtube.com/tourismpaeroa#p/a

Beware the salami ...

The first week of the school holidays is almost over, and the kids have been having a ball.
So far, they’ve been swimming, dancing, and roller-skating (you should see the bruises). They also went ‘indoor camping’ at vacation care. Oh, and they’ve had a quiet day at home after C. was violently ill one night – from both ends. Poor kid. And poor me who had to clean up all the mess. I kept them both inside and quiet the next day as a precaution.
It’s been a sad week too, with all the natural disasters occurring around the world. The Samoan earthquake and Tsunami, in particular, hit home. As some readers know, we’ve booked a family holiday there in November. But it’s not just that. Many Samoans live in New Zealand, and have family there. And its proximity to NZ means its not just a popular holiday destination, but that Samoans are like family to this country. Quite a few Samoan kids attend our school, and I can’t help wondering what all this means for them and their families. It is unimaginable what they must be going through.
Friends have asked if we’ll still be taking our holiday, and I guess, we’ll have to wait and see. If, like the Thai people after the Boxing Day tsunami, the Samoans want foreigners to visit and help them rebuild after this tragedy, we’ll be happy to go. I just feel so sad for those who have lost family, homes, income and even the clothes on their backs, that it would be silly to worry about a holiday.
I feel doubly blessed because we had wanted to be in Samoa this week! We’d tried to book for the school holidays, but it was way too expensive, being peak period. So we waited for a better deal, even though it meant we'd have to take the kids out of school for a week. I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if we had been there as we’d hoped.
On a lighter note, there have been some funny things to happen this week.
One morning, H. asked me if we were going to get salami. Yes, I told her, we’ll get one when we go shopping. “No a BIG salami,” she said. Okay, I said. We can probably get a big one. “No, a really big salami that will wash over us and take us away!” she said, all wide-eyed and concerned.
Of course, she meant tsunami, and was worried about what she’d been hearing on the news. Bless.
What was really funny, was, when the whole of New Zealand was on a tsunami alert, and some areas were being evacuated, a percentage of the Kiwi population decided to go down to the beaches and wait for it. And they say Aussies are mad! Click to see the NZ Herald's gallery of the Kiwi Tsunami-watchers ...

School's out!

School's out in New Zealand, but not after a hectic couple of weeks.
First there was the school art show - where the kids proudly displayed their work created during the term. As usual, there was a sausage sizzle, with wine and beer for the adults, and cordial for the kids.
It was great chatting to the teachers and other parents in such a relaxed atmosphere.
During the evening, teachers displayed their own art work and there was a silent auction so parents could bid on the masterpieces.
Bidding started slowly, with just $1 and $2 bids rolling in, until naughty Husband took over and started bidding in $15 and $20 increments to get things rolling. You would never have known that he used to be an auctioneer - not!
A few of the teachers were upset not to get any bids, so we put a few sympathy bids in too...and ended up picking up a painting for $10. Bargain, don't you think?
The final week of school wound up with a concert by C's class. He proved to be a dab hand on the bongo drums, and even sang the New Zealand National Anthem (I didn't even know he knew it!) H. loved applauding her brother and their friends.
The kids are growing out of their shoes and jeans, so we took them to Otara Market on the weekend. This is seriously one of the best places in Auckland to pick up cheap clothes, shoes, and ... well, pretty much anything really.
It was a pity about the weather - cold and wet - or we would have picked up some fruit and vegies too.
On Sunday, I put the kids to work, by taking them with me to see a film I'm reviewing, Ponyo.
It's so different to any other kids movies I've seen, like a storybook come to life. The kids were mesmerised and C. declared: 'It's not normally my thing, but I liked it."
Guess it will be getting the thumbs up then!


The painting we won, by the head of the junior school

One of H's pieces

And the Little Dude with another of his (he was rather prolific)!

Otara Market, where you can get just about anything - including contact lenses ...

I've always wanted a Mumu...

Big spender

Colourful stalls

Surveying the stalls

Missy and a Fluffie (babycino)

C. chose a hot dog. An American hotdog is a frankfurt in a bun. (C. looks like he's about to shove that stick up his nose. And I don't know what's wrong with Miss Crankypants! Look at the face...)

Coconut bread

Breakfast vans ... C. is wearing my jumper because he 'doesn't feel the cold). Yeah, right.

Hangi anyone?

Buon Appetito, Auckland!

This weekend, we ate our way around the Auckland Italian Festival.

Organised by the Societa Dante Alighieri, the day featured food, wine, and entertainment, and was a great way to spend a few hours of quality family time.

It was like Little Italy had come to Auckland!

Mmm ... gelati

Check out the body language! He had lemon-line, She had blood orange.

The jumping castle gave Husband and I time to scoff some divine eggplant bruschetta.

Gnocchi with lamb ragout...more please!

Pasta-making workshop

Mobile wood fired oven

Pizza dough resting

Mobile menu

The pizza. Chorizo, olives, onion jam and balsamic glaze. Buon Appetito!

Fun and games on the way home

(Apologies for crappy photo and text placement. I change it time and time again, but Blogger reverts back to this format ... have no idea why. If anyone more blog-savvy can help, I'd love it!)