Where we live....

We live in a suburb of Napier called Taradale. I've been out and about taking a few pictures of where we live.....

So the shops. It's just one street with shops on either side. All sorts of shops, Shoe shops, Pet shop, various banks, Clothes shops, Butchers, Hairdressers, Estate Agents (last count there were 6!) various cafe's! So here's a few pictures..


The kids essential shops..! The last one is the 'British Shop'...Sells imported food stuff including walkers crips and various sweets (translated to kiwi that would be chips and lollies!)



The National Bank of New Zealand......



The church of the Golden Arches..!



And every town/suburb has to have a.....



Louise's School......



Dan's School......



Local supermarket.....

The Earth moved last night!

Another Earthquake last night at 11:25pm.....! This one was quite scary as we were asleep and didn’t get a warning….. just a loud rumble noise and the house shaking!! Haven't scrambled out of bed that fast in ages! Probably the last time was the Buncefield fuel storage explosions in Hemel!!. Checked on the kids who were awake and wide eyed! Checked on the puppies, they were over excited and took a while to calm down and go back to their bed!!

Then about 10 mins later there was a small after shock!! Measuring 3.5

This quake was a Magnitude: 5.9, at a depth of 30 km and recorded 10 km south-west of Hastings. Very close to Taradale!! It was very different to the one last Dec which was a magnitude 6.9, that one was a lot further away. Maybe due to the distance it felt gentler (if that’s possible!) and because we were up we knew it was coming as we felt the lead up to the house swaying!!

This one (5.9) was a lot closer and seemed to be a short sharp jolt! Very loud!! Nothing broken or fallen over! The earthquake drill of STOP, DROP, AND COVER was abandoned, to be honest we forgot about it.

Today’s newspaper (Hawke’s Bay Today) reported – Geological and Nuclear Science (GNS) reported the earthquake was the strongest in the country this year and unusual because it struck on land, rather than out at sea. The magnitude 6.9 quake that rocked Gisborne late last year was centered 50km offshore.

Cake in a Mug!! - Cooking Kiwi Style!

We found a recipe for 'Cake in a Mug'.... and Louise and I decided to try it out!

Step 1 - Put all the ingredients in a mug and mix well

Step 2 - Microwave for 3 mins on high!

Step 3 - Cake in a Mug is ready! Grab a spoon and eat!

At least my 'O' level in Cooking has paid off!

Puppy Pre-School...!

Louise and I have been taking Chester and Barney to Puppy pre-school on Wednesday nights. Where they have been socializing with other puppies and we’ve been learning how to care for them…..

Last night was the last day and the puppies 'graduated', the next step is Puppy obedience school.

Oodles of Foodle fun at the beach!

We took Chester and Barney to the beach today! It was the first time that we'd let them off the lead. On their normal daily walks around Taradale they are kept on the lead. Since we were at the beach and were loaded up with 'dog treats' we were sure that they wouldn't run off! Not long after we let them off the leads they charged over to what we thought was drift wood. Only it wasn't....



Making new friends.......!



Lots of digging and sniffing! (Barney - Orange collar, Chester - Blue collar!)




The Beach at Bay View....



Louise and Barney, back on the lead as they were getting carried away running up and down the beach!



Louise and her friend getting them used to the water.. They don't enjoy it at the mo! Dan had a date! so wasn't with us!



Lastly, lots of flowers on the grassy banks.....

Anyone good at D.I.Y...?

Saw this at the weekend! Needs some work doing to it!