That Royal Wedding

Hi there

I have two friends in different parts of England and both of them were rather so-so about the royal wedding.

Yet friends in Canada and Australia are dyed in the wool royal wedding fans.  The same goes for a fantastically high number of people in other countries, even if they aren't in the Commonwealth.

I watched every second of the wedding. It started here, in New Zealand at 11 pm on the Saturday night. The day before, there'd been a royal high tea at my gym.  Everybody had to wear hats.  The room was decorated with bunting.

During the actual wedding there were raucous house parties everywhere up and down the country.  Lots of gentlemen called into radio talkback to complain about the hoo-ha.  But I compare it all to the long build-up to a test rugby match which can go on for weeks, culminating in just two hours of play.  So pot, kettle, gentlemen?

Lord of the Rings Plane

Hi there

It's a long time since "The Lord of the Rings" movies put New Zealand on the map.  I remember when publicity came out for the movies, I was ambling through The Cutting (the entrance way to Miramar, just beyond the Miramar Wharf).   I looked up at an Air New Zealand plane appoaching the airport runway, and flying low.

On the side of the plane, from top to toe, were pictures from the Lord of the Rings movie.  There was Legolas and Frodo, and many great scenes.

I was at Queenstown Airport recently and in a glass case beside the cafe was a replica of The Hobbit plane.  It brought back memories.

It's a crumby photo and I took it into the light, but if ever you're at Queenstown Airport, you'll know to hunt for it.

outdoor markets

Hi there

Whilst I was ambling around the Queen Victoria night and day markets in Melbourne, it got me thinking about other markets I'd been to.  Great successes and abject failures.

Some New Zealand markets consist of only half a dozen stalls selling limp fruit and $2 shop products.  Other markets, like the Martinborough February and March country fairs, have hundreds of stalls selling everything short of escorts and elephants.  When I'm driving around the North Island on a Saturday or Sunday, I often chance across small markets.

The town of Taupo is beside Lake Taupo in the middle of the North Island and has quite a vibrant Saturday market;  knick-knacks, vegetables and fruit, hot food, cup cakes (yum), soaps, garden stuff, and, you know, the usual sort of market sales. They've added a trash 'n' treasure area, which is sort of a car boot fair.  And every year, on one Saturday per month except winter, there is an artists market on a lawn between the lake and the town's main restaurant area.

Here's a pic of the sit-down area at Taupo market.  They obviously have a stylist.

Hataitai Beach, winter approaching

Hi there

The last three days swimming at Hataitai Beach in Wellington has been quite bracing.  Cold.  Three days ago it was raining and choppy, but the water wasnt that bad.  But afterwards, when I got home, I really felt the cold in my bones.  We tell ourselves every year that no matter how much we're enjoying our swim in the cold weather we must not stay in the water for too long because we pay for it later for the rest of the day when we're huddling over heaters and  wearing layer upon layer of winter woollies.  And a further word of warning for winter swimmers, never ever ever go shopping in Countdown after a swim.  Brrrrrhhhh!!

Hataitai Beach changing shed, toilets, deck are being renovated.  It is going to take about 6-8 weeks starting in a few days.  Huh?  What will J, myself, and The Young One do for changing after our swim.  We will have to think up a new strategy during the time involved.  Driving home in wet bathing suits?  Changing beaches?  Pitching  tents?  Becoming "wild" swimmers and going naked? - nah, don't think so.