New Zealand - 100 % scary!

Australia has a fairly well-deserved international reputation as a land of danger. After all, there are venomous snakes, red-back spiders, people-eating crocodiles, boxing kangaroos, stingers and sharks.
When we first arrived in NZ, I was rewarded with huge admiration from Miss 6’s friends when I fearlessly scrambled under a flight of stairs to retrieve a toy they’d dropped.
“But there are loads of spiders under there,” they said breathlessly. But who cared? It wasn’t as if there were funnelwebs, redbacks, or snakes to worry about! I would never have been so brave back home...
In the same way, Missy also received much praise when she calmly dealt with a cockroach that ran across a desk at school one day. The rest of her friends were screaming and running for cover, as she casually flicked it away from them.
“We get much bigger ones in Australia,” she explained.
And it’s true. Australia has a host of scary wildlife, and I breathe a sigh of relief whenever we're out walking that I don’t have to watch out for snakes any more!
But as the months fly by, New Zealand is sharing a few of her own scary secrets.
A few weeks ago, beaches on the North Shore were closed after five dogs died after licking rocks on the shoreline. Dead penguins and hundreds of fish also washed up on the beaches.
Tests have been done, and at this stage the experts believe the mass poisonings are due to tetrodotoxin, a poison found in puffer fish. The beaches are still off-limits while they work out exactly how the poison is getting there.
More recently, deadly porcupine fish have washed up on the Petone foreshore on the South Island. Again, the beach is now closed to kids and dogs, because the fish are toxic.
And in May, the deaths of hundreds of Ray's bream and snapper on a 60-kilometre stretch of Kapiti Coast beach were linked to wild seas pushing the fish from their normal depth.
And that’s not all. Lately, there seems to be an earthquake or avalanche every week somewhere in New Zealand. Though most of them are thankfully mild, there have sadly been some deaths, and some people have had to evacuate from the homes due to earthslips. Television ads frequently warn Kiwis to prepare emergency kits – non-perishable food, water, batteries, first aid kits etc – in the event of an earthquake or volcano eruption. We’re regularly reminded that a major disruption could occur at any time.
One of the kids’ favourite attractions at the Auckland Museum is a volcano eruption simulator. They squeal with delight as the earth shakes and moves, but to me, it’s just a little too lifelike!
Luckily, the worst disasters to engulf our family have probably been swine flu quarantine, and my busted hand. (By the way, thanks for the inquiries. It’s mending well, but I’m still having physio and have to wear a splint for a few hours a day. The physio involves dipping my hand into hot wax, which sounds weird, but feels gorgeous. The heat just seeps into the ligaments and bones, which makes them a bit stretchier when it comes to exercise them.)
Speaking of gorgeous, we've learned a little more about our kitty visitor - or "Catty" as H. calls her. She's a pet which was left behind, either accidentally or on purpose, when a family moved out (Hard to believe, isn't it?)
She's taken to following our complex manager around as he does his rounds, and divides the rest of her time between him, us, and a couple of other cat-loving families. She's been named Dora, after Dora the Explorer, because she is also exploring the complex and making friends. Whenever she is hungry, thirsty or needs company, she turns up on our doorstep and miaows to be let in!
Don't worry, if any of us move out, the manager and his family are happy to give Dora a permanent home.
Here she is, enjoying an afternoon snooze on H's bed...

Camping out and Men Kumera. Oh my!

So, the Little Dude has his first school camp next week, and he is super-excited.

His bag has been packed, and he's been sleeping in his new NZ-standard sleeping bag for weeks.

It's not without a little trepiditation that I will wave my first-born off to camp. There's his life-threatening tree nut allergy to worry about - but the teachers are all aware of that, and he'll have his epipen of course.

Then there are the physical activities - the kids get to do really challenging things, like abseiling, target practice (with air rifles) and archery. There are climbing walls, a flying fox, kayaking, and something called 'the scream machine', where they fly around the gym hanging onto the end of a rope. Then there's the Burma Trail, a walking track across wobbly bridges and via swinging logs which they do by night, or blindfolded during the day! Husband and I have visions of him coming home with broken bones and bruises!

On the plus side, C. will enjoy toasting marshmallows over camp fires, late night milo, and singalongs. Best of all, (says C), is the fact that it's not lights-out until 9.30 pm! (Usually it's 7.30 pm at home).

In other news, in my never-ending quest to find interesting-shaped fruit, I have at last succeeded in finding Men Kumera!

Yes, in the fashion of the Man Orange, I was stunned to find not one, but two racily-shaped kumera in the vegie aisle.

Luckily, I rushed home to breathlessly photograph them, because the next night Husband ruthlessly roasted one of them to have with dinner. (Very nice it was too, with roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, peas, corn and gravy.)

What shall I do with the remaining one? Put it on trademe and wait for the millions to roll in?

Time for lunch

It's great living close to the city, so that I can meet Husband for lunch occasionally, and we try to do it every couple of weeks.
Without a babysitter at hand, the occasional lunch gives us that much-needed couple time that grown-ups need - and an opportunity to eat, chat and drink without having to break up arguments, mop up spills, and hand over the nicest parts of our meals!
A lot of the trendy restaurants in the city do bargain priced, gourmet express lunches - in and out within the hour. So you can enjoy a delicious meal, and still make it back to the office without a late mark.
For our anniversary, we went to S.P.Q.R, a fabulous spot on Ponsonby Road, where lunch included a glass of Pinot Gris.
But we don't always live it up.
The other day, Husband took me to his favourite no-fuss lunch spot place in the city, The Little Turkish Cafe in K-Road. I'm not talking greasy, late-night drinking fodder here, this is fresh, delicious food, all made on the spot.
Certainly beats soup in front of the computer!





Proscuitto and buffalo cheese salad at S.P.Q.R












scampi linguini

















Turkish bread at The Little Turkish Cafe













Can we get one of these at home please?
















Turkish kebab

Doggie dancing

This weekend, we took the kids to a doggie dancing display at 4 Seasons Pets, one of New Zealand’s biggest pet stores.
Our friend Hsin-Yi and her gorgeous Great Dane Honey were performing there, and we didn’t want to miss out.
All the dogs and their owners were awesome, but we liked Honey’s routine the most (though we might be a bit biased)!
Usually, only agility and working dogs like collies are suited to doggie dancing (or canine freestyle as the experts call it). So it’s amazing that Hsin-Yi has managed to teach her lovable but lazy Dane to dance. And not only that, they are New Zealand champions in their category.
Afterwards, the dog handlers were kind enough to spend time with the kids, teaching them how to get the dogs to do tricks. They had a ball.
H. didn’t even mind being slobbered on by an affectionate Honey. (Danes are very drooly).
Somehow, we managed to escape without buying a turtle, rabbit, guinea pig, mouse, birds or fish (much to the kids’ disappointment).
On the way home, we stopped at The Fish Pot at Mission Bay for some excellent terahiki, chips and salad. Terahiki is a Kiwi fish, a bit like snapper but a bit cheaper. Delicious.

C. and Skye

H., Honey and Hsin-Yi

Honey sneaks in a slobbery kiss!

Honey and Hsin-Yi in action

Honey puts her best paw forward

Designer dog toys at 4 Seasons Pets

Lunch at Mission Bay

It's a zoo out there...

Today, I have a guest blogger: Husband!
Enjoy ...

"My turn to comment for a change, and let the Trouble and Strife have a break - especially since I took all the photos!

Sunday morning had arrived and the kids were being right little monsters, driving their mother and I Krazy, with a K not a C; )

I decided we need to get out of the house and as the only person in the family who has not been to the Auckland Zoo, voted that we go. Much to C's. disgust ('I've already been there') and H's delight ('I've already been there and it's awesome!')
I think B. thought she was dreaming, especially since I didn’t feel like battling dungeons and dragons and other monsters (aside from the kids that is).

As you can see by the photos that B. has chosen, we had a great time at the Auckland Zoo, apart from how bloody expensive food is! Next time we will pack a lunch! $7 just for a small hamburger or sandwich!!!!
Well, we still managed to enjoy the day and see all of the animals (apart from the penguins, much to H's disappointment.) Her exact words were: "Mumma it's not fair, we didn’t get to see them last time either!!! NOT FAIR!" at the top of her little lungs.

I hope B. puts the pics of the piggies and C. in, cause did they stink or what! And C. was really offended with the smell, hahaha payback for his stinky bott bott!

I do think that there was a very sad part to the trip, being Janie the chimp. One of four chimps brought to the zoo in the 1950s, Janie was used for tea parties with visitors until attitudes to animals finally changed, in 1964.

The last of the tea party chimps Bobbie, died in 2004 and Janie has been on her own, ever since. They can't introduce another chimpanzee due to her age and the fact she is fairly domesticated and couldn't survive with other chimps. She has a toy mobile phone, and get lots of attention from staff, but still : Just the look on her face gave me a lump in the throat, and still does."

Janie the chimp

The Little Dude soon forgot to be bored

Missy Moo enjoyed showing off "her" zoo

What's that stench?

Oh, that's disgusting!

Stinky piggy

Otter goes fishing

Meerkat: "Yeah, I'm looking at you. You got a problem with that?"

Lemurs at lunch

"We like to move it move it" sang H.

Servils grooming each other

There were two-legged animals at the zoo as well!

It would never happen back home...

In the ‘It Would Never Happen Back Home’ category, comes this ad I spotted on our local New World supermarket community noticeboard recently.
As I’ve mentioned before, possums are pests here. You can even buy clothes and toys made out of their fur. (Husband has a pair of soft, warm gloves – the traitor!)
The furry creatures are so reviled here, that on a kids' TV show the other day, one of the tasks in a competition was for them to shoot cardboard possum targets. The child who shot the most number of possums won. Kids shooting and killing animals – two taboos in one!

New Zealand is funny like that.
For example, there’s The Edge radio station/Burger King's current campaign, which touts BK as a perfect hangover cure. On Fridays, they give away $50 vouchers for BK to callers with the best stories of what they’ll be getting up to on the weekend, making them most deserving of hangover food. Radio stations glamourising drinking? Look out!
And finally, our school is having a fundraiser this week. It’s a bingo and auction night, but not as we know it. No, this one is dubbed “Blingo” and is hosted by an Auckland Drag Queen with the unusual name of Ms Beaver Brown.
I mean could you imagine the outcry if this happened in a Queensland school? I’m sure The Courier Mail would be in an outrage!
But Kiwis are delightfully relaxed about these things.
Speaking of relaxed, the kids gave Husband and I a late anniversary present on Saturday by allowing us a sleep-in. They got up quietly and watched breakfast telly by themselves, without fighting or destroying the kitchen once. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer start to the weekend.
It was another wet and cold Auckland day, so we decided on a Doona Day. While the family watched telly or played computer games, I pottered around the kitchen, making the family anniversary dinner we’d been too tired to cook the night before: Roast pork belly with just a hint of hoi sin, warm green bean salad, roast potato and pumpkin, and earth gems. Nigella, eat your heart out!
“But Mumma, it’s not dinner time,” protested H. when she came to help. However, she soon came around to the idea of dinner for lunch! (Roast pork is one of her favourite meals).
I have no idea what earth gems actually are. Even the company’s website doesn’t quite explain, describing them as the “Jewel of the Incas”, and “the ideal nourishing vegetable.” They liken the taste to that of baby beetroot.
After a light boiling, they tasted more like an apply potato to us … but they were pretty nice with the roast.
Sunday dawned sunny and warm, so we took the kids to the fabulous Auckland Zoo.
That’s a blog for another day, so in the meantime I will leave you with a link to the inaugural Auckland High Heels-A-Thon (Warning: Lots of photos of men in high heels). This was held just up the road from our place, but in typical NZ style, I didn’t know it was on until it was over! The charity run had categories for Men, Women and Drag Queens, and was clearly a very colourful event.
Each team coughed up $250 for Kids Can, Telethon’s Big Night In charity for 2009.
Hats off to them, from someone who has enough trouble walking in high heels, let alone running in them!

H. was happy to help, once she realised roast pork was on the menu!

Warm bean and mushroom salad

H. made a face with her food! Roast pork hair, green bean eyebrows and mouth, roast potato eyes and apple sauce nose.

Earth gems before cooking

And lightly boiled

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye....or Haere rā in Maori

All good things come to an end, and this week our friends flew back to Brisbane.
Luckily, not before we had time to do some more eating, drinking and exploring!
On Sunday night, we walked to a popular local pub called The Drake, for their two-for-one Sunday night feeds.
The Drake apparently used to be waterfront in the old days, before the area was reclaimed for Victoria Park and surrounds.
They don't serve kids' meals, but the waitress immediately offered to split two adult serves of fish and chips between the kids. They tore into their meals without delay and pronounced the food: Lovely. High praise indeed from the picky Rugrats!
The adult boys took the opportunity to sample a selection of NZ beers and ales, while the grown-up girls were far more sedate and stuck to cider.
We shared a couple of platters, which contained mouthwatering morsels like char sui pork belly, filo prawn twisters, and crab bites. All delicious! The only problem was there wasn't enough of it. (We can be greedy like that!)
The following evening, R. took the opportunity to cook a huge roast dinner. Now R. is an extremely talented chef, so this was indeed a treat. I felt guilty, watching a typical Auckland sunset, chatting, and nursing a glass of wine, as R. wielded his magic in the kitchen. And the results were delicious: Pepper and garlic roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roasted Kumara, potato, peas, corn, and gravy made from scratch. Sigh.
Later, we shared a box of naughty goodies which L. picked up at The Bakeshop in Ponsonby.
Did I mention, L. has regularly tidied and cleaned, and R. has watched the kids while we she and I have gone shopping? I wish they could have moved in and stayed permanently.
And so do the kids.
The day the family left, the kids were miserable, especially H. "My life is boring now I only have C. to play with," she wailed.
Luckily, their distress didn't last too long. Because when it was time to drop them at school, we were met at the gate by shivering teachers. hovering under umbrellas.
Builders (our school is growing every week) had accidentally blown up a mains fuse, and the school had no electricity - meaning no heating, lights or phones.
They were sending home as many students as possible, due to the extreme cold. And because I work from home (damn!) mine could come back with me.
But I honestly couldn't have had it on my conscience to leave them there. It was a typical Auckland morning, freezing and rainy, and we were all shivering by the time we made it back to the car.
An unexpected day off school is like winning the lottery when you're a kid, so a day at home helped ease the loss of their mates - at least a little bit.
And finally, Husband and I celebrated nine years of happily wedded bliss this week. Okay, not all of it was blissful - this is real life after all, and bringing up small humans, not to mention producing them, can be extremly painful. But we are very happy together, and I struck gold the day I met him (even if he does hog the duvet.)
We don't have a babysitter at the moment, so instead of dinner, I met Husband for a delicious seafood lunch in Ponsonby while the kids were at school. (Scampi linguini, caprese salade, and a glass of Marlborough Pinot Gris. Divine.)
Tonight, we enjoyed a quiet night in, but we're hoping to do something fun as a family to celebrate on the weekend.
After all, isn't that what you do if you're a couple of old marrieds?

Beer-tasting at The Drake

Cider

Platters to share

Another Auckland sunset

R. wielding his magic in the kitchen. Even more impressive, as the Sky Tower appears to be growing out of his back!

The kids tuck in

Mmm ... Yorkshire puddings

Hungry anyone?

Dessert

Cute bikkies for the kids.