Car keys

Hi there

I have an ordinary, old-fashioned, actual key for my car.  None of that pressing a button from a distance to gain access to the vehicle.   Heavens to Betsy, I am such a dinosaur.

I can't have a press-from-a-distance key because I  swim a lot, and I keep my car key on a plastic coil scrunchie that I wear on my wrist.  I don't forget the time a Hataitai Beach swimmer got her bag stolen whilst she was in the water.  Her car keys were in her bag.  Her car got stolen as well.

I hired a car a few years' ago and, without thinking, put the electronic key onto my wrist scrunchie prior to swimming in Queenstown's Lake Wakatipu.

Whoops.  After my swim, the car door wouldn't open when I pressed the key from a distance, nor would it open when I inserted the key into the door lock.  Silly (wet) electronic parts!

I had to call the hire car company for rescue.  Never did I admit to them what had actually happened.

Is it any wonder that I now unlock my car doors manually, with an actual turn-key?

FOURTH SWIM THIS MONTH, YIPPPPEEEEE!!

After being so worried that we wouldn't get in our three swims because of such bad weather this month, we've just completed a FOURTH swim for June, all in the space of one week.  Are we on a roll, or what?  Last month, we did 6, when all we were aiming for was three, and this month, wow, it's four swims:  three at Hataitai Beach and one at Breaker Bay.
As we're about to step in the water, we always have second thoughts, then we get into water, and we have third thoughts.  We have fourth thoughts the entire swim!   The water is really cold.   What will July and August be like - brrrrrrrr!!
We also came across about our third ever person today who said something, to the effect, that how great we were swimming in Wellington waters in the winter.  I must confess that most people use the word 'mad' in a sentence when they're talking about J and me.
Not bad for a couple of 'little old ladies'*, eh?
Anyway, laurel-resting time until July. 

*we pondered for a long time this morning on why folk talk about  a)  'little old ladies' and,  b)  "a 'little man' came around to fix the fridge".   It probably all stems from the class system in Britain.  

Swimming! - one down, two to go!

Finally, the weather has let up and J and I got in our first swim this month - yay!, pause to hear clapping and cheering!!!
  It was very cold but we managed to swim across the bay at Hataitai Beach and back again.  We were in such a triumphant mood as we got out.  We now have two more swims to do at the beach before the end of the month.  It's going to be tight, what with the terrible weather we're having.
Here's a pic of low-tide Hataitai Beach.

J is determined to go tomorrow to the mid-winter swim at Breaker Bay at 3 pm (Saturday23nd June).  The swim is on wet or fine.  If the weather's truly bad though I may stay home which would give J the advantage.  We're counting Breaker Bay (into our total of three) because the water there is colder than at Hataitai Beach.  If we were swimming at say, Mission Bay in Auckland, that wouldn't be counted because the water is warmer up north.   Goodness, we have so many 'rules'.!

My Queenstown holiday

Just got back from a week in Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. So much for bungy, skydiving, paragliding, parasailing, jetboating, etc,etc.... But do any of the participants dare to take a swim in the lake? Well, I did! I swam three times at 20 minutes a time, and three times at 10 minutes a time. And the ten minute swims were still nine minutes longer than anyone else. Most people who dared to even set a toe into the water, ran in, screamed, and ran out again. The lake is glacial and year around temp is, apparently, 11. I knew the second I stepped into the water that I could do it, and I'd worried for a long time that the water would be too cold. Naughty i-site office for telling me over a two year period that I wouldnt be able to swim in the lake because of the temp.

I also kayaked, hiked and biked. I get rather upset if I have to be tied into a kayak or handle one with pedals/rudder. So when I passed Pink Boat Charters on the Frankton/Queenstown track (opposite petrol station) and saw that they had little sit-on kayaks, I promptly chose a pink one to hire for a couple of hours. I was told if I fell out in the middle of the lake that hypothermia would set in in 20 minutes! Needless to say I stayed near the edge of the lake and I kept feeling for the bottom with my paddle.

My Manchester Unity holiday home had the most brilliant three-sided views. Only trouble was that the home was up steep Dublin Street. It was only about a four minute walk from the bus stop up the hill but, oh, what a hill!!!. I'm used to zig-zag paths, but this hill was straight up. I cursed every day. What is better, I wonder? - being on the flat with no view or on a hill with a tremendous outlook. I could've taken a taxi from town (about a fifteen minute walk away) at about $12 to get home at the end of each day, but that would have felt like cheating.

Review Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part I review

Well, saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 this morning. It was the first showing (not counting last night's (almost) midnight showing). As it finished there was a discernable sigh and a few muttered curses from the audience. Why, oh, why did the makers split up the last book? Don't answer that: money, of course.

All the way through the movie I was on tenterhooks because I knew it would end before the finish of the book, and I was stressed out over this.

And .... the same problem as the last film (Half Blood Prince). It was too dark in colour! When I got the DVD of Half Blood Prince, I could hardly see what was going on on my tv screen. Judging by the colour pallette of this latest film, it will be the same. I don't feel like I even want to buy the DVD this time.l

There were a few script changes from the book and this surprised me. Most of everything was needed though. All the main plot points seemed to happen so fast that there was really no tension or 'soft' emotion as in the book.

It was terribly obvious that a lot of it was originally made with 3D in mind. A lot of repetitive swishing and swirling. I hope the makers of the final movie remember how subtle the 'Avatar' people handled 3D.

All in all, an okay movie, I'll see it again.

Oh, and my swimming...? Ho-hum, it's 'normal' now. Still cold, though.