Wednesday, October 18, 2017

We're Off To See The Wizard...

Christchurch has an official Wizard, and he now has several understudies.  The Wizard used to give talks from a step ladder in Cathedral Square, but since the earthquakes destroyed the Cathedral in 2011, he has just been making appearances at various events, rather than giving talks from the ladder.  This changed last weekend when he showed up complete with ladder and one junior wizard.  The local fairies were also passing out fairy dust and all were posing for photos.  This was part of a Central City Street Party.  Lots of kid activities were also included in the party. 

The Wizard, back at Cathedral Square

Wizards and Fairies

Kids inside inflatable balls over water


We’ve been busy finding events around the city.  A city-wide walking festival included a Chinese National Day Celebration with a short walk, flags, pandas, Tai Chi and dance. 



Tai chi demonstration

Two musicians playing erhu and guitar, accompanying "Red River Valley" sung by a Kiwi

An Opening Antarctic Season week signals the start of research flights to Antarctic for the year, and celebrates Christchurch’s connection to the Antarctic.  We stood in line in the rain with 4000 others to go inside the New Zealand and U.S. Antarctic planes.  We saw a photo of Flight Lieutenant Henry B. Fanshaw and later met him in person. 


Royal New Zealand air force transport plane

Flight Lieutenant Henry B. Fanshaw, pilot and mascot, now lives in contented retirement at the Air Force Museum.
Tramping was rained out this week, so Cindy went for a walk and stopped at Le Panier Bakery. 

Note all the butter in the background - no wonder their bakery is so good!
One weekday evening we attended Pechakucha Christchurch – an event held in cities around the world with speakers limited to 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide.  One of the speakers talked about a new company turning insects into food.  Samples were given out at the break. We didn't try them.


Another weekday evening we attended a performance by Jolt Dance, a group for people with varying physical needs and their mentors.
  

The Vegetarian Society in Christchurch held their annual Vegan Expo, and we volunteered at it, helping with the cooking demos. 

Roast spice pumpkin soup with chia seed croutons
As part of Heritage Week, we took a ferry to Quail Island for a tour of the island and learned its history as a quarantine island for sailing travelers who arrived ill and for people with leprosy.  The island also was used to train dogs and ponies for Antarctic expeditions.  Quail Island now is a recreation reserve.



Another day of Heritage Week celebrated Christchurch as a city of cycles, and included cycle movies, a bike decorating contest, the Be There Bicycle Band and food trucks. 

The winning child's bike 

Be There Bicycle Band


Waffle with blueberry compote, yogurt/lemon curd, and hazelnut white chocolate crumble - yum!

Carving on desk in old lecture theatre at Christchurch Arts Center (old University of Canterbury)
Last Sunday we went to the Riccarton Race Track market, a market with everything from garden plants to crafts to used pans.  We even found a mug from Beldenville, Wisconsin, a small city about 60 miles from our home in Eau Claire – we wonder about the story behind how it got to New Zealand. 



Need a pair of scissors?
We usually walk to the local Saturday market.  A couple weeks ago we finally tried Posh Porridge – and now we understand why so many people queue up each week to buy it. 


Posh Porridge with oats, vanilla custard, whiskey-soaked raisins, and cream on top
One of Cindy’s friends from the Newcomers' Group has three adorable daughters who are quite photogenic so we are including a photo of them. 

Robyn, Esther, and Lucy

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Look, in the air, it's a bird, it's a plane...

As spring comes, some days get quite windy in Christchurch, resulting in airplanes changing their flight paths.  This means they fly directly over our house.  One day this week planes were going over every 15 minutes. 

Air New Zealand plane

JetStar plane
Also up in the air are the recent New Zealand election results – the voting ended September 23, but the ruling party group has not been decided yet because New Zealand has a coalition type government.  After the election, five out of seven parties got either a district representative or over 5% of the separate party vote.  Since no party got a majority of seats, the 3rd place party is the "kingmaker" or "queenmaker", as whatever larger party they form a coalition with will have enough members to be a majority and rule.  It will be either a National (conservative) + New Zealand First party coalition, or a Labour (liberal) + Greens + New Zealand First coalition.  This will be decided and announced within the next few days.

Some of the election flyers in our mailbox
We spent a weekend in Akaroa, a nearby coastal village founded by French settlers.  And since the village is French, of course we had to stop at the bakery. 

Mille feuille at the French bakery
We visited the Giant’s House, a garden mosaic installation by artist Josie Martin.  We are including some of our favorite sculptures.  




A couple we met on the north island live outside Akaroa.  We stopped at their farm and went tramping with them at Hinewai Reserve, a large park area.  

Page and Stuart

Tramping options at Hinewai Reserve


We met Hugh Wilson, a caretaker and character all in one.   Hugh helps build and maintain tracks in the park reserve.  He also figured out that if you just leave the gorse (a pretty but quite invasive plant), it actually protects the native bush plants and allows them to grow for about twenty years, and then the gorse naturally dies back, allowing the native bush to thrive.  Others were burning and hacking the gorse, only making the problem worse.

Hugh coming down the road

Paul, Stuart, Hugh and Page
Spring is here; we’ve seen pasque flowers, tulips and lilacs in the park, and asparagus at the farmers market.  


Summer isn’t far behind as you can see in the poster for summer school at the University. 


Tourist season is starting and punters are back giving tourists a boat ride on the Avon River, which flows right through the city. 


We continue to tramp on Thursdays with the small tramping group.  Some of the things to watch out for on the track are in the photos that follow:  
Rockfall hazards...

prickly plants...

sheep...

and sheep poo.




Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Kiwi Quiz 2017




For those of you who have read our New Zealand blogs other years – you know that Cindy is keen on creating a Kiwi blog post, and this year is no exception.  So, as a Kiwi would say, have a go at it.

1.      Which is not a Christchurch business?
a)  Kiss it Better
b)  Well Hung
c)  The Naked Plasterer
d)  Gas Guys
e)  Fryers Tuck
f)   Evil Genius
g)  Scotties Potties

 
If you guessed Scotties Potties, you were correct.  Scotties Potties is a plumber in Wellington, not Christchurch.  The others are all Christchurch businesses:
a) handyman; b) wallpaper service; c) painter & plasterer; d) pipe fitters; e) fast food shop; f) café, bar, and co-workspace.

2.       What do New Zealand, Aotearoa, and “en zed” all have in common?

They are all names for New Zealand.  Aotearoa is the Maori name and en zed is the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet for the abbreviation of New Zealand (Z = zed). 


3.       Would a hooker be arrested in New Zealand?

No – a hooker is a position on a rugby team.

4.      What is the safety warming issued with this?  


Whenever there are strong wind warnings, the safety warning goes out to secure your trampoline.  “Might be a good idea to tie down the tramp so it doesn’t end up down the road.”

5.      What is the only native mammal in New Zealand?

If you guessed bat, you were right - only two remaining species, with a third thought to be extinct.

6.      What was being described as “a bit of a dog’s breakfast?”

The weather on a day when we had sun, then hail, then sun, then rain, then wind, then snow…  Just a typical Christchurch winter day.

7.       What is “across the ditch?” 

Australia – also referred to as Aussie or Ozzy.

8.      What is a boy racer? – see photo for hint.


A young man in his fast car, either speeding up and down the road or laying rubber as he revs the engine.  This one was also smoking a cigarette, which is optional.

9.      What do stuffed, chuffed, stoked and munted mean?

If something is broken it is stuffed or munted.  (e.g. “His car is stuffed after the accident.”)  If you are happy or thrilled you are chuffed. (“She was chuffed that we remembered her birthday.”)  Stoked means excited.  (“He is stoked to be in the race.”)

10.  What is meant by “she’ll be right”?

Everything will be okay.

11.  And what is meant by “all gone to custard” or “turn to custard”?

Plans that don’t quite work out – so if your friend Jim’s day has all gone to custard because his car is stuffed, you could reassure him that she’ll be right.

12.  You’ve heard of SuperWoman and SuperMan, but a new one to add is SuperLoo, a large “pay as you go” toilet in Taupo.  50 cents to enter please!  

 
13.  What year were women allowed to vote in New Zealand?

1893 – in fact, New Zealand was the first country to allow women to vote, thanks to Kate Sheppard, a feminist from Christchurch.

14.  What is twitch or couch? (pronounced cooch)

No, it’s not the latest dance move or street drug, but the NZ name for quack grass.


15.  What is the difference between scrud and scrum?

Scrum relates to question #3 – a hooker moves the ball first with their feet in a rugby scrum.  Scrud is described on our washing machine instructions as “waxy build up that can occur within a washer when the fabric softener comes into contact with the detergent.”   We haven’t heard this word used at all, and are wondering if the washing machine manufacturer made it up.

16.  What is the difference between a docket, a doco and DOC (pronounced doc)?

A docket is your store receipt, a doco is a film documentary and DOC is the Department of Conservation (similar to the National Park Service).

17.  Which of these is a punnet and which one is a pottle?  



The strawberries are sold in a punnet, but you would buy a pottle of yogurt.  We found out this varies by region though; sometimes a strawberry container is called a pottle.  Also, in the North Island, the container for strawberries may be called chips.

18.  What is grizzly?

This is used to describe a child who is fussy and crying fretfully.

19.   What is a bach (pronounced batch?)

A small holiday home.  


20.  What is a metal road?

 A gravel road or unpaved road.

How did you do?  Good on ya for trying!

Cheers,
Cindy and Paul