Message from the Kids...!

Hello... We hope that you all had a great Christmas and got loads of presents! and HAPPY NEW YEAR too ! Luv Dan and Weezal...XxXxXx

Horse Riding....

Dan and Lou have started riding again after a few months gap since leaving the UK. It's all a bit strange for them, it's so quiet no traffic!! Not abit like riding along side the A414!! The school horses don't have shoes, as there isn't much road work. The roads have big wide verges so you can ride on the grass. In a few weeks we're off to trek through the bush, thru the sand dunes and then canter along the beach and trot through the waves!! Will post some pics of that! In the mean time here's some pics of the kids!

Christmas Day!!!

This year we spent some of the day down the beach! Louise had a great time in the water on her new 'body board'.. The waves were quite big and it was difficult to stay within the flags of the life guards area. It wasn't too difficult for me as I only managed to go as far as getting my knees wet!!! Tooooo colddddd! Here's some pics of her.. Click on them for a bigger view!

Christmas Tree!

We decided that since this is our first Christmas over here and it seems weird to be having a sunny one that the idea of a 'proper' tree seemed odd!! We looked at getting a fake white tree! and various other fake trees! and then decided to use what grows quite naturally here a 'tree fern'. So this is our Christmas tree for this year. Next year when we're in our own home and settled more into life then we'll have a proper Christmas Tree! Well.... it is different!

OMG!!!!!

We were sitting watching TV last night (Thursday 20th) and around 10 to 9 the main lights started to flicker! We thought that it was just a power surge…. Then the wooden French doors out to the pool area started to vibrate! Tony thought it was the wind! Eh! What wind! It was an EARTHQUAKE!!!! Then the vibrations got worse the long curtains began to sway the Telly rocked on it’s stand (I thought it was going to topple over), the decorations on the Christmas tree were swaying and when I stood up you could feel the floor moving! Looking out to the pool there were waves in it! The whole shaking thing lasted for about 5 mins! The kids had no idea what was going on! Not long after their phones were bleeping with Txt msgs from their friends. This is some info from the media about it!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/index.cfm?c_id=1501789

Magnitude 6.8, Thursday, December 20 2007 at 8:55 pm (NZDT), 50 km south-east of Gisborne
Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 08:55:17 PM at epicenter
Location 38.729°S, 178.362°E
Depth 33 km (20.5 miles) set by location program
Region OFF EAST COAST OF THE NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
Distances
31 km (19 miles) ESE (103°) from Gisborne, New Zealand
147 km (91 miles) NE (56°) from Napier, New Zealand
193 km (120 miles) ESE (111°) from Rotorua, New Zealand
378 km (235 miles) SE (124°) from Auckland, New Zealand
417 km (259 miles) NE (48°) from WELLINGTON, New Zealand

3 months update! (I've updated it!)

These are observations / views after being here for 3 months….(in no particular order!)

1. The Town is CLEAN! You don’t see litter and rubbish on the side of the roads. No ‘dumping’ of fridges etc either!.
2. We have an Orange and lemon tree in our garden. Also just discovered Vines growing!.
3. Flip flops are called ‘jandels’.
4. Hamburgers, Burgers are called ‘patties’.
5. It’s odd to have the queen’s head on the coins!.
6. I have gotten used to driving an Automatic car...... No gears don’t know why I hadn’t tried it before…!.
7. When it rains it RAINS!!! Weird walking around in T-shirts when it rains!.
8. TV Adverts for drenching (worming!) your sheeps!.
9. At the weekends ‘Sausage Sizzle’ is the norm outside DIY shops, Warehouse, supermarkets! (Sausage, wrapped in bread with sauce and onions for $1) Health and Safety wouldn’t allow that outside Tescos!. (Its a fund raising thing!)
10. Mullet haircuts are still in fashion..!
11. DJ’s swear on the radio! and don’t get fired!
12. Fruit is huge! Big apples, strawberries.
13. Hot Dog is a Sausage in batter dipped in tomato sauce on a stick.
14. Hot puppie (isn’t a what you think!) small sausage!
15. Beaches are 10 minutes drive away.
16. The countryside is amazing and hilly.....!
17. People walk around bare foot, in the shops, supermarkets, banks you name it they go there!
18. Also it’s not uncommon to see people shopping in their Pjs..!
19. If you’re going to a party it's the norm to bring a plate! (not an empty one!)
20. You pronounce wh as 'f' in kiwi road names and places!
21. Sweets are lollies.
22. You have to give way when driving when someone wants to turn right and you do too!
23. You pick up a copy of 'Pig Hunter' from the magazine rack instead of FHM!
24. Get used to avocado and or beetroot in your sandwich / salad!.
25. Wine becomes your favored drink and you can easily finish a bottle!
26. When visiting people you get invited out on to the 'dick'..!
27. Kids have Mufty days and you know what they mean.
28. An estate car is a station wagon,
29. They call football, soccer.
30. It costs to go to the rubbish dump!
31. Togs are swimming cossie!
32. The air raid siren (call out to volunteer firefighters) doesn't make you run for cover.
33. School children manning the school crossings with barriers that push out into the road with a ‘stop’ sign on the end!
34. Car number plates – Kiwis are mad on creating their own – See Plates.co.nz (I haven't manage to work out one for us yet!)
35. Dog Travel – Some travel in a box on the back of a ute with a hole cut out on the side for them to stick their heads out..! Some travel in a kennel like house attached to the tow bar…! First thing to go if you’re bumped from the rear…. The pooch! Others are just loose in the back of a ute / pickup!
36. Words with E loose their English pronunciation here as E changes to I
e.g Pegs = Pigs, Red = Rid, Yes = Yis, Pets = Pits, Deck = Dick (!)
37. Lots of UK TV programs shown here.. E.g Corrie, Stenders!, Top Gear, Grand Designs, Silent Witness
38. Corner shops / Newsagents etc are called Dairy's...
39. They say Dub Dub Dub for WWW when advertising web pages...
40. You don't have to have Car insurance!!!!
41. Driving over 100k seems scary, now that I drive around town at 50k!!
42. No TV Licence, downside there are ads every 10/15 mins so a movie can last more than 3hrs!!!!
43. Towels, Bed Sheets, Duvet covers etc are referred to as 'Manchester'.
44. Crisps are called Chips, as in Potato Chips maybe!.
45. The roads are so wide I can do a 'u-turn' in the 4x4 in 1 go! no more 3 point turns!.
46. Paint is expensive $260 ish for 14ltr......... that's approx £100!!!
47. You can't buy spirits from the supermarket, only beer and wine. You have to go to a separate store to buy spirits.

Napier - Art Deco City..!

Napier is the Town that we live in. Taradale is a suburb of Napier. The climate is Mediterranean and Napier is the center of one New Zealand’s wine producing regions namely Hawkes Bay. Some info taken from a tourist web site….

Napier and neighbouring towns were devastated by a major earthquake and fire in 1931 resulting in frantic reconstruction of the city in a period regarded as the peak of the Art Deco era. Internationally recognised as representing the most complete and significant group of Art Deco buildings in the world. The Daily Telegraph Building is one of the finest examples of Art Deco in the city, and with numerous restored buildings in a concentrated area the city’s streets provide a colourful spread of visual delights for all, even those least interested in architecture!

Want to see some Art Deco Buildings..! See the slide show below! As always click on the picture to start. You can control the slide show by moving the cursor to a picture. On screen buttons will appear, allowing you to pause, go back, go forward...

Ummmm! Delicious!

Have a guess at what Louise is eating...? She's had a couple of these now! We'd heard about these back in the UK but never come across them...





It's a ..............Battered Mars bar! They sell them at the local 'Fush n Chups'!! Bar... yuk!.... 1001 kals !!!

Neighbours!

These are our neighbours at our new house! They seem to roam the woods next to us and the field that runs behind the woods. I wondered what the noise was when I was in the garden and I heard a slight rumble coming from behind our fence! (along side the pool) We think that they are being reared for.... how should I say...ummm er!...'home (freezer!) use'..!

Our New House!

This is our new house. It was built back in 1983 and the people we bought it from had lived there since then. Towards the end of 2002 a side extension was added to create an upstairs studio and store room, and a downstairs workshop! At the same time the kitchen was extended. We are hoping to convert the upstairs store room into an ensuite for the spare room (was the studio!) and the downstairs workshop will be a 'rumpus' room!

These are the plans of the house from the original build, and including the extension.



If you click on the picture of the house below it will take you to a slide show. You can control the slide show by moving the cursor to a picture. On screen buttons will appear, allowing you to pause, go back, go forward...

Out and About!

We took a drive out to 'Otatara Pa' which is a Historic Maori Reserve. The word Pa means a fortified place. This is a quote about the site..

Otatara Pa is one of the largest and most ancient Maori pa sites in the Hawke's Bay. It is significant for its immense size and for the large number of terraced dwelling sites and food pits. Remnant earthworks of many of these sits are still evident today.


While Tony had his camera Louise couldn't help posing...




Then we went down to the River Tutaekuri which runs south of Napier.




It is mainly stoney and the kids spent time throwing stones at each other to see who could splash the other the most!

Speedway

On Saturday night we went to the Speedway. We had chips and hotdogs. Only hotdogs here are sausages in batter on a stick then dipped in ketchup..! They had junior classes and seniors. We saw 12year olds whizzing around the track on their bikes. We also saw the guys where one is the rider and the other is called a swinger. He leans right out on the corners. When I say leans more like hangs off the bike onto the track as they go round at very fast speeds. One swinger came off and slid down the track. This is a pic of them. You need to click on the pics for a bigger image.




There were other classes for mini, juniors and bigger stock (V8's) cars going up to what appear to be big V8 road cars like bangers, but they wern't supposed to crash into each other. Quite a few of the bigger stock cars had crashes where they hit the side walls and flipped over or two cars became wedged together with one half way up the wall. The race meet had to be cancelled around 20:30 as one of the larger stock cars broke the saftey cable between the car track and the fence where we were! Some more pics.


At the end of the meeting they had more fireworks. Ahhhhh!!! Ooooooh!

Moving out / Moving In..!

I found these old photo's of when the relocation packers were at our old St Albans house. I had meant to upload these at the beginning of this BLOG as they are out of sync! But never mind.!




And then here at our Rental in NZ.





Now we have to move from the rental to our own house but that won't be for a few months!!

Open Spaces..!

In and around Napier there are lots of Parks. These have swings, Skateboard bowls, picnic areas and lakes / large ponds. These lakes / ponds are teaming with different types of birds. There are loads of the normal Mallard ducks and others. These tall ones run very fast!!!





There are also lots of Black swans. I've not seen these before..

Fireworks!

Sunday 4th we went to Napier Marine Parade where a fireworks display was being held. When we arrived at the beach (about 8pm) loads of people had already arrived and had set up with beach chairs and their 'chillie Boxes'. They also had their own bonfires going and were setting off their own fireworks. Really strange to see all these groups of people with loads of seperate bonfires along the beach! UK Health & Safety would have a fit!!





There were a few rides for the kids. Dan met up with some friends so no pics of him!! Louise unfortunatly had to spend the evening with us! Lots of fireworks .....oooh....ahhh! and loud bangs!

Louise's Birthday!

Thanks for all the cards and international Money vouchers! Louise had a great birthday. First one at school as normally her birthday falls in the October Half term. I managed to get her name read out on the Local Radio for the 'Birthday Shouts' and a few friends of hers at school heard it so she was a little embarrassed..! We went out for dinner to a 'steak' place.. and tried to get Antony to order the MEGAAA 1k steak! Some how he resisted!

Flowers in the Garden!

Some pics of the various flowers growing in our Garden.. Don't know what they are called. The purple one we think is a weed! Click on the pics for a larger image!

Hawks Bay Anniversary Day!

Around the end of October was the Annual Hawks Bay Show... Like the Herts Show. They had all sorts of events and stalls. Show jumping, Rodeo, Cattle shows, Sheep Dog Trials etc.. Various Trade stalls to buy your new Ute!

The Pictures show 2 kids showing their Cows...In the UK they would be Dogs! A competion to lay a fence, another competion to chop thru logs the fastest!