Then ... and now

When we moved in here in early March, it was still glorious summer ... blue skies, calm waters ...



Now it's late May and the winter weather is setting in ... and I LOVE it!!



Autumn leaves just below my bedroom window ... although today I can't even see the bay, as the rain and mist are as dense as can be.




And looking out of Livi's window, this is what we see ...




This anchor was blown up against the breakwater after a night of gale force winds .. no idea where the boat ended up!




If you look carefully at the next picture, you'll see a gull just above the surf line, struggling to fly forward and utterly failing .. the poor thing just hung there in the air for minutes on end, going nowhere as fast as it could ...




The last picture was taken while clinging to a pole, looking towards the sun and into the teeth of a gale! When I got home after this mid-morning walk, my face felt as if it had been flattened out by the wind ...

Winter in Welly - wonderful!!

How To Get Rich Quick in New Zealand.

It's dead easy. Simply open a bank account, apply for an overdraft with WESTPAC for $10,000.00, then sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in! Before you know it, you'll have millions at your disposal!!

Read the story of the ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRE

Of course, once this happens you'll have the minor problem of actually getting away with the money, but hey ... you only live once. .... so why not take the money and run? It'll only cost you seven years in jail if they ever catch you!

All About Sebastian

Long ago, I promised myself that I'd never turn into one of those people who bore others to death with endless pics of their pets ...

Sebastian at home.

I mean, cats are all basically alike, aren't they? Paws, claws, a tail and fur, lots of it ... and let's not even talk about the dogs who get treated like children and dressed up in little coats and taken places to play with other doggies ...

*Shudder*

Which is why I am not going to rave on about how darn cute Sebastian is, or how sharp his little teeth are, or how funny he is when he ambushes my feet from under the bed.....





... no, I won't tell you about any of those things ... instead, I'll show you a pic or two or three and let him speak for himself .... about his little bathwater fetish ....

Bet you thought he was going to fall in, didn't you? No way! This is a smart cat, dudes!!


This guy in the US made a brilliant rap video about his cat, who is the SPITTIN' IMAGE of our lil' Bastie ... in looks and behaviour. Joking aside, it's very clever, very funny, very cute and very musical too ... hope you enjoy!!

TradeMe ... Ta Da!!!

I've mentioned TradeMe before - it's the brilliant Kiwi equivalent of eBay - only local and very easy to use, for buyers and sellers. So far, I've bought four things and every trade has been smooth, simple and has given me great value for money!

I found a Robert Heinlein book that I've wanted to own for years and years .. The Number of The Beast - bought it for $3.50 from someone up in Auckland, who posted it to me.

Bought a cool white bookshelf for $30.00 (pictured in previous post and now filled with all my treasured books from SA). It was delivered to me by the seller for $10.00 more ... her boyfriend carried it all the way up our 44 steps to the front door, then up another dozen or so to put it in my room! Service with a smile!

Then we needed a second laptop - and I won the auction for a two-year old Toshiba Satelitte Pro M40, outbidding a few other contenders and still scoring a bargain - about a third of the price of a brand new one in the Toshiba range.

Finally, my grandest bargain yet: I've been wanting a desk. Didn't want a heavy, clunky wooden desk - I wanted a smart, funky, functional desk that would look good and be practical. I saw some great ones in various stores - glass tops for over $350.00, steel and laminate for over $200.00 and lots of interesting ones on Trademe. Then I found one that looked almost perfect: I bid on it and won it for ... $5.50!! Some new SA friends helped me collect it and here it is, with laptop in place:



Now all I need is a chair!! :-)

Viva La Boxes!!!

On 12th January, we said goodbye to four tea-chests and three book boxes and sent them off with Seven Seas.

On 22nd April, they arrived in port in Wellington, and two days ago, on Friday 8th May, they were finally delivered to our new home here in Kilbirnie!!

Whooo Hooo Hooo!!

It was a very cold, wet, windy, rainy night in Welly but we were toasty warm inside and very happy, unpacking all our 'stuff'!

A treasure trove of nostalgia and practicality ...

Some dearly loved old friends survived the 126 day journey intact ...

Armed to the teeth ... what the well-prepared woman brings with her to the New World!

How much more?!?! Do we really need all this &*^%$ ???

Oh yes!! My best beloved books ... a huge down-filled duvet ... and a precious persian carpet ... Welly, bring on your worst winter weather, I'm ready now!

Wellywood

One of the big attractions of NZ (for me, at least) was the fact that LOTR was filmed here. We live in Kilbirnie, on the hillside below the Mt Victoria lookout pathways. Here's what Jason's tour guide has to say about this area:

From the city, you can easily walk or drive up Alexandra Road to beautiful Mount Victoria, a well known Wellington icon that affords stunning views of the city and harbour. Part of Mount Victoria served as the outskirts of the Shire during filming. Halfway up on your left is a parking bay with a track (to the left) which drops downhill through the trees. This became the setting for the scene where the fearful hobbits listen for the Nazgul. Continuing down the path, you'll eventually see a small overhanging ledge up a hill on your right, marked by two small trees. It was here the hobbits hid from the Black Rider, although the large tree of the movie was actually manufactured and transported to the site.

We also live just across the bay from Miramar, home to Weta Workshops which created all those magnificent props, models and special effects. We visited the Weta Cave and met some of the 'cast' there:

"Good golly, Miss Molly .... it's - yeah, well, you know who it is ..."

.. and then there was the guy who shot and killed the gorgeous Boromir ... ;-(

The Weta Cave is a treasure trove of delight for fans - and yet from outside it looks so very ordinary.

Local kids drop by on their bikes to check it out - entrance is free!

Just another suburban street in Miramar ....

Yet once inside, you'll find models big and small, books, memorabilia, posters, collectibles and even a twenty-minute film with a lot of behind-the-scenes information - stuff not even included in the Director's Cut Extended Edition version of the DVD - and that was over 24 hours of viewing on its own!! It was a wonderful experience and I'm sure we'll revist this once The Boy gets here next year!

Speaking of next year, we'll also be keeping an eye out for the new Hobbit films that are going to be made in 2010 and 2011 - PJ will be producing and Guillermo del Toro will be directing - it should be awesome. Who knows what (or who!) this project might bring to our end of town. According to Jasons:

Down the city's coast is picturesque Karaka Bay and the seaside suburb of Seatoun, where many of the cast lived during the years of filming in New Zealand. Stop for lunch at the popular Chocolate Fish Café, a favourite haunt of the cast and crew. The prime seating here is actually across the road, right beside the sea - the staff will even brave the traffic (in day-glo vests) to deliver your food. You can also visit nearby Lyall Bay, where some of the actors learned to surf, and Princess Bay, where they enjoyed beachside barbecues during the summer months.

Yep - those are all right here in our neck of the woods!! ;-)

Updates again

We are now officially three months in. It's Sunday 3rd May and the temperatures are starting to drop, reflecting the fact that we now live in a country that lies closer to Antarctica than South Africa does. Last night the temp was around 8 or 9 C - there's a great site I use to check the daily weather in Welly (which is changeable in the extreme!) and it can be found HERE.

News from Kilbirnie, then: We have a new addition to our household - about a month ago, Sebastian moved in. He's a gorgeous tabby kitten with a wild personality - fearless and fast! We are both madly in love with him. Mind you, he has some alarming tendencies: when reprimanded, he'll look at you and then go do the same thing again, just like a defiant toddler! Once I yelled at him to stop trying to climb up the wooden blind - he stopped, wonder of wonders! Then he raced over to the sofa, leapt up and jumped on top of my head! The scratch on my cheek is now fine, thank you!

Here's Sebastian, in his infinite cuteness!


And again, but sleepier this time ....




Last weekend, we took a trip on the Harbour Explorer - it's the ferry service that travels from Queens Wharf in Wellington across the bay to Matiu-Somes Island, then on to Petone, Eastbourne, Seatoun and finally back to Queens Wharf. The round trip took just on 1.5 hours and was marvellous. It was a cold, gray day but the sea was calm and the light beautiful - and it was lovely to be out there, hearing the gulls calling, seeing people fishing off the wharf as we docked, feeling the icy bite of the wind on our faces as we churned across the bay. The ferries run regularly and are relatively cheap, so it makes for a great afternoon trip.

The Dominion Post ferry leaving Matiu-Somes Island ...

Fishing off Petone wharf

Yachts on the bay

Chilly breezes, warm hugs!

More to follow soon, as there are lots of things we've bought and done that could be blogged about!