OMG We've been here one year already!

Wow, that year went fast! No way does it feel like 12 months have passed since we boarded the plane at Heathrow Airport last year. With the (lame) Sky Tower fireworks ushering in 2013 we have now been in New Zealand for 1 year and 4 days!

What a year it has been too. With our latest move (look out for a future blog post) to Mission Bay, we have now "lived" in 5 places since we arrived; while we've also "owned" three cars. Both myself and Amanda have rejoined the rat-race and found gainful employment and of course in November we were both granted Residency.

More importantly however, despite the rather paltry 20 days annual leave that is standard in New Zealand, we have still managed to get out and see quite a lot of the North Island - still a lot to explore however.

With Amanda's job been a little stressful to say the least I think she often loses sight of how much we have done. Last time she complained we were not exploring enough I knocked up this video - it only covers the first 3 months!

Lookout at Opito Bay - Bay of Islands from Rich & Amanda on Vimeo.

Enter The Fatman

We left the UK on Boxing Day 2011 so our year has been bookended by two Christmas's. We had only been our new place a week so our decorations definitely took the more is less approach, but then that's our style anyway - check out the world's smallest Christmas trees!

As it happens our first NZ Christmas ended up being an "Orphans" Christmas with our ex-housemate's and their friends and their daughter. In typical NZ style a barbecue was involved as we enjoyed a Christmas Brunch that lasted pretty much all day.

Just as well as there was a lot of food... A leg of ham, barbecued lamb, sausage, bacon, avo and eggs, Croissaints, Christmas cake, Pavlova, mince pies, coffee and of course Champagne. I think there may have been some veggies involved too.

Jemma and Aaron had done a stand up job with the decorations, even decorating the dog's kennel. We even got presents; one of which I managed to set light to - oops!

A great day finished off with a couple of hilarious games of Cranium. A real shame that Aaron and Jemma are soon to leave NZ to start a new life in Nice, France. We are going to miss them. Stanford the dog and Lilly the cat will also be missed (Never thought I'd miss a cat!) I guess we cannot complain too much though! ;0)

A weekend with the rels

A couple of days after Xmas we drove 3 hours south to a valley south of Rotorua to spend the weekend with Amanda's cousin's Tony and Frances. Frances's brother George and mother Shirley were also in residence and we were joined from the Hutt Valley by her sister Liz and hubby Pete, with whom we had stayed earlier in the year.

George reprised his role as a tour guide and took us to the nearby Orakei Korako thermal park which you can only access via a short ferry ride. Interesting place but not as spectacular as Waiotapu which we visited during our visit to Rotorua in June.

Later that day, Tony took us out on his 60 year old wooden fishing boat. He inherited it from his mother and has done a wonderful job restoring it and fitting a few mod cons. We spend a good hour crusing the 12km length of the nearby lake Ohakuri. As it happens arriving at the banks of the thermal area we visted earlier in the day with George. Amanda even took the helm for a bit - eeek!

Frances and Tony have a lovely life style block (approx 2 acres) with great views of lake Ohakuri and the mountains beyond. Had a huge barbecue and plenty of wine to finish off the day. Frances also presented Amanda with a pile of postcards and letters that her Mum had sent to Frances and family over the years. I think it brought back a lot of good memories for everyone.

Next day, despite the rain George and I hit the amazing mountain bike trails in Whakarewarewa just South of Rotorua. Wow, awesome trails through stunning Redwood forest with native bush intermingled. We completed a few grade 2's and then a couple of grade 3's. Must say I was most impressed with George's 'give it a go' attitude. The trails were quite a bit removed from his usual leisurely cycles. I hope I am the same when I myself are more advanced in years!

Another great weekend visiting Amanda's rel's who were yet again superb hosts.

NYE

We decided to have a quiet New Year's Eve as were both exhausted. Enjoyed a quiet night in with mince pies and red wine before heading out to the beach to watch the fireworks off the Sky Tower - along with a lot of Auckland. Following the fireworks there was an impressive traffic jam along Tamaki Drive that lasted quite some time.

The fireworks, were, like last year, pretty lame with an pretty insipid 5 minute display. Auckland council could do with watching a few videos of Sydney's show! Or London, this years display may even have given Syndey's show a run for it's money. Although, that said, perhaps it's a good thing that our tax dollars are not going up in smoke...

New Year's Day

One advantage of having a quiet NYE of course is that you do not spend the next day with a stonking hangover. As such we were able to start 2013 the way we hope it will continue.

Headed to the already busy beach in the morning and hired some paddleboards. Amanda had planned to get a kayak but they were all out. One hour later and she could call herself a Stand Up Paddleboarder. Great conditions, but getting rather hot, so cooled of after with a quick swim.Even managed to fit in my good deed for the day by rescuing a beach ball for a little girl. It was well on it's way out to sea so proved quite a challenge - but her squeal of delight when reunited with it made it worth it.

A quick shower at home (tis only 90 seconds away after all!) and then hit our fave local cafe for lunch (courgette & mint fritters since you ask) and an allpress coffee.

The beach was really heaving now (though still nothing on a busy day at Brighton) and we spent the afternoon reading in the welcome shade of a Pohutukawa tree (the real NZ Christmas tree which hits full bloom at this time of year).

With the sun a little lower we took a walk along the coast to the next village center were we finsihed off a great day with an authentic gelato.

What a great start to 2013 - and with steak and mince pies waiting at home our first day of the year is going to end pretty swell too... :0)

Food for thought

Finally, I thought I would leave you with this to start the new year with. It was posted by a friend on Facebook and I think it deserves sharing...

Snapper!

Weekend last, Rich headed out on a fishing charter with a couple of colleagues (and about 15 other people!). An early start as we had to be at the docks by 6.45 and so up around 5.50-on a Sunday!

Quite a cold day, especially out of the sun. Good job we had many layers on and thankfully it remained dry all day.

Was told to expect to come home stinking of fish and to wear some old clothes - since we ditched all the old clothes before heading to NZ I had to go out and buy some old clothes.

First time I've been fishing as I recall. We headed out about one and half hours, erm, sail and dropped anchor.

Had a quick lesson on how cut up the bait (Pilchard) and how to bait hooks so that it does not fall off (hook around the backbone) and then we were off.

In no time somebody had landed a small Trevailly, not good eating apparently, but unfortunately for the fish, legal size and promptly cut up for bait.

First fish landed that was legal size was a Red Snapper. Unfortunately our skipper had not told us how to take the fish off the hooks, or, how to kill them. Pretty important stuff really.

The hooks are pushed out and can be tricky to do. The fish are killed, not by whacking the heads on the deck as some of us thought, but by inserting a knife into their brains.

Unfortunately, one clueless group of four where not even aware they had to kill the fish and were ready to chuck them straight in the cooler. And despite further instruction, they never got the hang of it and many fish suffered an agonising death at their hands.

One of the four, early on, was trying to kill the fish by "suffocating" it with a rag; before thinking about stomping on it's head.

Was very disappointed with the skipper by this point, who turned out to a bit of an arse, more interested in making sure he got his fair share than making sure everybody knew what they were doing and indeed, the welfare of the fish.

Don't want to sound like a bleeding heart, but in my opinion, if you are are going to hunt, or fish you should respect the life of the animal you are taking and give it as quick and humane a death as possible.

What made it worse was that it turned out that many of those on board had no intention of taking the fish home with them, they were just landing them for sport and then butchering them. It was pretty grim, seeing how many fish were being chucked into the cooler still alive.

I could see little point in this and once I had a couple I threw the rest back. Two was easily enough for me considering Amanda does not eat fish and at that point I had no idea how to gut and fillet them.

In all I landed 3 Snapper and 3 Kahawai. Learnt how to gut and fillet the two Snapper I took home via youtube and had sautéed snapper as a starter that night. Yum! The larger one is in the freezer ready to baked.

We moved around a few times, changing location when the fish stopped biting and ened up about 2 and half hours from home.

One of the highlights was cathcing glimpses of dolphins by the boat; and fishing near a huge flock of gannets or the like and watching them dive into the water for fish.

Great to eat fish you have caught yourself - I'd do it again - just not with that skipper and ideally a smaller crew, who had a little more respect for the fish...

Surf and turf

It's the weekend and the surf forecast is awesome; time to hit the beach!

Headed back up to Muriwai, a short 45 minute drive North West of Auckland. Rich had organised another group surf through MeetUp, this time with added twitching, as we took a look at the nearby Gannet Colony before the inhabitants all left for their annual migration to Oz.

Today also happened to be Amanda's first ever surf lesson; she was rather nervous about it - not liking getting ones head wet is a bit of a handicap - not that you could tell.

The conditions were excellent, with MagicSeaweed rating the surf a might 4 out of 5 stars and even the sun come out to play. Quite a good turn out for the meetup, despite one unfortunate car load not making it as their car was broken into overnight!

Half of us headed out to the waves, while the others had their lesson with the friendly Muriwai Surf School.

Those of us who hit the water were amazed to find the water virtually empty, astonishing given the great conditions - lots of clean breakers and manageable white water breaks, all with a nice period in between. Just a shame that our skills are not yet up to the same level as the conditions. Still, Rich is improving all the time; but must learn to turtle roll if not duck dive!

Amanda, possibly much to her own amazement, actually enjoyed being out on the water and surprised herself by standing up on more than one occasion. Not bad for your first lesson - especially for one so famously clumsy!

After the surfing we headed up to the now quite famous (in NZ anyway) Gannet colony , which is located a short walk from the beach. Originally home to 50 pairs which inhabited a nearby island, the colony spread to the cliffs at Muriwai and now numbers over 1000 pairs.

The colony was not quite as full as some photos we had seen, many of them having already started their migration. Luckily for us though, some stragglers had yet to depart...(they are the little white specks!)

Some Gannet facts for you..!

Gannets hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:

• they have no external nostrils;
• they have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;
• their eyes are positioned far enough forward on their face to give them binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.
• Gannets can dive from a height of 30 m, achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.
• The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to "gannet" becoming a disapproving description of somebody who eats excessively, similar to "glutton".

Yum Cha

Had our first Yum Cha experience this week when we popped along to The Grand Harbour Chinese Restaurant down at the Viaduct, for lunch.

It was obviously a popular choice as it was very busy and we had to wait ten minutes for a table. We were not quite sure what to expect and were a little overwhelmed at first; was delicious however and an enjoyable experience - we will be back.

For those of you do not know what Yum Cha is (neither did we last week!), it's morning or afternoon tea, Chinese style; which involves drinking tea and eating dim sum dishes. These will be a range of dishes, both savoury and sweet. The tea we were served was green and served in a pot. The experience was a little overwhelming at first, as, no sooner had we sat down before a constant stream of staff visited our table offering various dishes; either from a trolley or a tray they carried with them. We had little idea what a lot of them were and the staffs English was patchy at best (so at least we knew it was authentic!).

In the end we ordered a roast duck and then picked a few dishes that looked nice. Amanda even discovered that she does have an adventurous side and both tried and enjoyed some seaweed, although drew the line at chicken feet. In the end we polished of the following, which happened to be just the right amount of food:

• Roast duck
• Pan fried pork dumplings (twice -these were extra yummy) [top right in the photo]
• duck and vegetable egg rolls (like pancakes)
• seaweed (in a dressing- not crispy)
• coconut buns (delish) [top left in the photo]
• a dish we cannot remember!
• 2 pots green tea

We will be back soon, but with more people. Traditionally these are social affairs and the dishes are shared. A superb way of eating a greater variety while keeping costs down too....

Waitangi Weekend

Another Bank Holiday weekend! Almost wish I was at work so that they meant more! Every year on 6 February, New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs signed what is New Zealand’s founding document.
Started the weekend exploring another of Auckland's volcanic peaks, Mount Eden. Great 360 degree views of the city and well worth the climb. Will not go into much detail here though as they are worthy of an entry themselves, something we'll post once we have scaled them all...

The highlight of this weekend was the Chinese Lantern Festival, which forms part of the city's celebrations for the Chinese New Year. The whole of Albert Park was taken over by lantern displays, performances and LOADS of food stalls selling all manner of tasty treats.










We were expecting some lots of small lanterns hanging trees etc - which there were. However there were also large floor standing lanterns depicting anything from a giraffe to the famous dragons. During the daylight hours they are impressive of not exactly amazing. However once the sun goes down they take on a new life, the colours a lot more vivid and the mix of colours more noticeable.














Probably the busiest we have seen Auckland, and due to the concentration of people in Albert Park, even busier than New Year. Nowhere was this more noticeable than around the food stalls. A 200m stretch of road lined with food stalls on either side. Mainly selling Chinese and Japanese cuisine; but much else besides. Rich ended up opting for octopus balls and pad thai, with a drinking coconut and Japanese pancakes for dessert.








Octopus balls(Takoyaki)- no, not octopus testes, but boiled octopus in batter and served drizzled with mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce. Actually quite tasty, if an interesting texture.

The pancakes (Obanyaki) are small and thick and filled with coconut or custard - the coconut filling is the best - mmmm clean saturated fat :0)

After stuffing our faces we headed back into the park and checked out more lanterns and some we had seen earlier in the day; but which were now transformed. Also caught some traditional Chinese dance on stage and a dragon dance in the street which was acrobatic and pretty cool.

The evening was ended with a 7 minute firework display, pretty and LOUD, which is always good, and put the New Years Eve display to shame...

Auckland Anniversary

The weekend before last happened to be Auckland's Anniversary; to commemorate the arrival of Auckland's first governor in the Bay of Islands in 1860 and the subsequent establishment of a colony here. The day is a public holiday and part of the celebrations include the worlds largest single day regatta...

It also happened to coincide (almost) with our first month anniversary since arrival. Since Amanda had a few days off in a row we made the most of it and ventured a little further afield, if not quite as far as we would have liked...

Friday, the weather was appalling, raining all day. Which was the perfect excuse to remain holed up in the Auckland Museum. Lots of Maori artefacts, snapshots of colonial Auckland and some interesting maps (Amanda & I are suckers for an old map). Finished Friday off with a bottle of local white and an Indian takeaway!



The weather improved a little on Saturday and we headed to a nearby market, the largest Polynesian market in the world. Very multicultural, lots of fruit & veg, food stalls and other typical market fair. Worth the visit if not as bohemian as we had been led to believe.

A short drive East brought us to Howick, an old colonial farming town and also home to a market. If Otara market was East end, this would be the Brighton Lanes. Artisan cheeses, salamis, French pastries and arty / crafty objects d'art etc. We took lunch in a café decked out like an old Apothecary. Fine food and fine coffee and a relaxing spot to write some postcards.


Sunday we checked out our local swimming pool. Quite a find with both indoor and outdoor pools, diving boards, jacuzzi and sauna - all for a couple of quid. Many families were making a day of it, having picnics in the shade around the outdoor pools. You see that a lot more here. Caught some live Latin music afterwards in the park adjacent to the pool. We would have stayed but were invited to share our first BBQ in New Zealand with some new friends. An entertaining evening finished off with an amazing banana cake.




Monday we headed into the CBD and spent the afternoon at the Auckland Seafood Festival. Lots of awesome food available (although Amanda was not that keen!)-pick was the Macadamia crusted Monkfish. We also had a lesson in making Sushi, caught some of the Regatta and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun (and shade - very hot day!) while listening to some more live music.

In the news recently, was the announcement that this year's 'The Big Day Out' (Australasia's version of Glastonbury) would be the last. Since the music scene is quite a bit quieter here than the lively Brighton one we are used to, this was bad news indeed. Still while taking a break from the Seafood festival and wandering around the viaduct quarter (where we found this piano) we stumbled upon a somewhat smaller Indie Festival. We could not get in, but we will now be ready next year...


Finally, wrapped the weekend up with a nice chilled glass of Leffe Blonde. Choice!