The mangificent Richard Taylor, Weta

A couple of Sundays ago I was power walking(blame Oprah!) past the Weta Workshop in Miramar and I spotted a City Council worker spading up gunk from the road gutter. As I got closer I saw that the wheelibin he was using had the name 'Weta' written on it. I thought, "Oh, the guy's some unlucky minion from Weta." I got closer and saw that the shoveller of the gunk was multi-Oscar winner and co-owner of Weta ..... Richard Taylor!

I was so surprised, I could only blurt out "What are YOU doing?!!" He said that Sunday was the only day when there werent many cars in the street blocking the gutters. I told him that he'd always been high in my estimation and now he'd gone up something like 500 points. I like to think he'd been wandering along the footpath and the thought suddenly came into his head that the gutters were gunky, and he rushed inside to get a wheelibin. No pointing to a minion and ordering anyone else to do the job when he was just as capable!

A friend told me that if a New Zealand newspaper had photographed him, the heading would have been something like "Multiple Oscar winner shows he's one of the lads". If it had been the National Enquirer from America, the headline would probably have read "Mean millionaire takes job from the poor".

I so applaud Richard Taylor. He's such a lovely natural person. Good luck to him and Weta.

swimming Winter 7 June 2011 Hataitai Beach

Well, my swimming friend and I have decided to swim again throughout the Wellington (NZ) year. But this time twice a month (last year it was at least once a month) We've both managed lots of times in Jan, Feb, Mar, April, and May of course (but none of these months were really cold). We went 1 June this year ........ It was coldish. Today, after gym we laughed about it raining and intimated what a silly day to go swimming. Then it became a case of will we/won't we/I'll go if you'll go. As we plopped into the (quite) cold water it started to rain. But we did it in the rain, back and forth across the bay at Hataitai Beach. We were so proud of ourselves though my friend's husband who was timing us from the shore thought we were a little mad.

My swimming friend is an artist and she painted an absolutely beautiful painting of the view from Hataitai Beach and it is so lovely... and she gave it to me. It fills me with such wonderful memories when I see it. I'm going to try to remember to attach it to this blog. It is now hanging above my computer so I see it every day.

So many wonderful, unusual things have happened to me so far this year that I havent had time to note them down but I promise I'll backtrack in future blogs.

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.

Eketahuna holiday

What is it about Eketahuna that makes kiwis laugh when the name is mentioned? The place seems to be aligned with The Back of Beyond, Timbuktu, Beyond the black Stump, in the wop-wops .... I figure it's because Eketahuna is, surely, the representative kiwi small-town. Every tourist should see the area.

I love staying at The Cottage, Eketahuna, in the Wairarapa. It's tiny (one bedroom with a double bed, but there is a fold-out sofa in the lounge). There is a swimming hole in front of The Cottage, and I usually swim three or four times a day there. Wonderful!

The Cottage is by car 25 minutes from Masterton, 8 minutes to the Eketahuna shops, 4 minutes to a model railway, 1 or 2 kilometres to Highway No 2, and all but next door to Mt Bruce (wild life centre). The first time I went to The Cottage, I stood on the verandah, open-mouthed. Surely, the best micro-view in New Zealand.

From that verandah, all you can see are trees, river, hills, sheep and cows. All you can hear is the babbling river (it truly does babble), the occasional baa-ing and moo-ing of sheep, and the beautiful singing by birds. With permsision from the farmer owner of The Cottage you can hike the property, as long as you don't rustle sheep and please remember to close all gates. The views from behind The cottage are spectacular. I was out hiking and the farmer on quadbike with dogs, herded about a hundred thundering sheep toward me. I rushed through a gate just in time but the farmer called out "They would have run around you!"

Last (official) monthly swim for 2010!!!

Done it! Yippeee! Whoopee!! - etc, etc, etc!!!!! Can now say (boast?) that I've been swimming at Hataitai Beach in Wellington, New Zealand (surely Wellington is the cold sea-water capital of the North Island) every month, repeat, EVERY month this year, 2010!!!!!! Not in a wet suit, either.

My swimming friend and I are absolutely stoked! When others were freezing by their heaters in the Wellington winter months, we were swimming (add your own exclamation marks here, I'm tired of typing them).

As we were drying off from our 1st December swim, my swimming friend handed me a certificate (another exclamation mark). It reads" 'This is to certify that Lorraine Williams has completed the 'At Least Once-A-Month' Swim Challenge 2010'." It truly made me chuckle non-stop.

Why oh why is my friend now saying we should do it all over again next year. And did I hear her mutter the ominous phrase, "Maybe twice a month next year?"?

Have just had a few days in Auckland, swimming Waiheke, Takapuna and Mission Bay. The water was like being in the bath at home. Those softie Aucklanders, standing around muttering about the cold as I was cavorting about like a little (make that 'overweight') porpoise.

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.

November swims .. and author reverence

Yep, you got it right. The heading says 'swims'. Already 10 November and my friend and I have been swimming in the sea twice this month. The first time was on the 2nd and we were in the water at Hataitai Beach for 23 minutes. But it was a veritable traffic jam. There were five, repeat five, of us in the sea! How awful, we were no longer the top winter swimming dogs! From now on, I guess, the water will be a-wash with souls. Sigh, it's difficult to once again turn in to one (or two) of many. The water isnt so bad when we're in, but we're still at the shivering/cold toes stage for about fifteen minutes afterwards. But .... yippeeeee, summer's all but here, all's right with the world.

I've just finished reading the second book by the author of Julie/Julia (or Julie and Julia .... or Julia & Julie - God, it's awful when you read so many books, you can't remember titles and authors). In the first book, Julie was determined to cook, in one year, every recipe from the Julie Childs French gourmet recipe book. A hilarious book, taken from Julie's blog. It was turned into a film where the producers cheated a bit and added Meryl Streep as Julia Childs. Anyway, I've just read Julie's book two, "Cleaving" where our intrepid writer is learning to be a butcher. I'm in a state of shock to discover that during all the Julie/Julia stuff our so-called heroine was having an affair with a married man whom she still utterly, absolutely adores. Heavens, all that time she was stuffing live lobsters into steaming pots and working through Julia Childs' cookbook, and ostensibly a happy marriage ... she was 'carrying on' behind the readers' backs! Tut-tut, I'm shocked and disappointed, my trust has been betrayed. I will never believe anyone writing an autobiography ever again.