Black Diamond

filmic!

2010-11-29T06:18:00.003Z

I've had quite a good strike-rate with films recently, so I thought I'd write up what I've seen:

The Social Network - as long as you don't go into this film thinking it was going to be true to life, it was an engrossing yarn. I'm sure that the real story is way more boring than what was depicted here, so it was interesting to see how they engineered conflict and drama where in reality it was probably weeks of boring coding and programming! It's amazing that all of this has happened so recently! They had a great scene at the Henley Regatta which was shot through this weird filter to make it look like a toy town. Really good performances too, I especially liked Andrew Garfield as the deposed co-founder and initial investor - he'd been in a couple of BBC things that I'd liked.

The Ghost Writer - the story (a thinly veiled approximation of Tony Blair getting indicted for war crimes) was really what attracted me but it also had a good cast (especially Olivia Williams and Kim Catrall) and Roman Polanski as the director. Story didn't disappoint and the moody, cold, wet setting on Long Island (actually filmed Denmark or somewhere I think) was suitably claustrophobic. It did get a bit silly and overdramatic in some bits but I did get suitably swept up.

The American - George Clooney and Anton Corbijn, what's not to like! Story itself was a bit average but it was nice and moody, although shocking in bits

Also, what's with all the definitives?

Next up - Harry Potter!

orchestral!

2010-11-29T06:17:00.001Z

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
Originally uploaded by Jack Picknell

I went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain play at the weekend in Wellington. It was a great fun - the 'orchestra' of eight ukulele players use only their instruments which are different sizes - from a soprano one down to a bass uke (or Buke apparently). It was wonderful to hear how they interwove the harmonies of the song and interpreted different styles. They sang along with most of the songs, cracked jokes, told stories and gave out presents. There was a varied repertoire - 30s jazz and Saint-Seans through The Who right up to modern 'classics' like Teenage Dirtbag. The best bit though was when they got the ukulele players in the audience to get their instruments out (about 100 or so people had theirs with them) and to play along to Ode to Joy - brilliant! Now, where's my ukulele...

milestone!

2010-11-24T03:22:00.002Z

Well, next month marks a milestone - 18 months til the big 4-0! I know some of you will be surprised that I'm that old! Anyway, in the best Mhairi tradition, I thought I should write a list of what I want to do before I reach that advanced age. One restriction, as one of my aims is to be in a much better financial situation by then, I don't think I'll be scheduling much exotic travel or expensive activities!

Here's the list I've had in my head for a while
fly in a helicopter (just as a passenger mind!)
learn to knit
learn to drive - ACHIEVED!
buy a car
move to NZ - ACHIEVED!
get a cat
finally learn that ukulele

It's a pretty pedestrian list really - what else do you think I should aim for in the next 18 months?

timeless!

2010-11-12T23:52:00.002Z

Leonard Cohen
Originally uploaded by takamatua

Mum and I went to see Leonard Cohen play Christchurch as part of his Unified Heart tour on 3 November. For a 78 year old guy, he's pretty impressive!

I'd never actually seen him in concert before but had heard rave reviews from many sources. Leonard has last visited NZ in January 2009, and he was doing a similar scale of concert this time - the Christchurch concert was at the Westpac Arena (or whatever it's called), the biggest indoor venue in town.

Traffic getting there was very heavy - I was driving but things got to near a standstill very quickly, so we parked the car about 15 minutes walk away from the venue and walked the rest of the way. Only just got there in time to see Bic Runga who played a lovely set with just a bassist accompanying her.

Leonard Cohen must have played for nearly 3 hours. There was one proper intermission and then also a couple of breaks ahead of encores at the end. I'm not a huge fan of his music and don't actually own any but I do know all the popular songs and can appreciate the music well. His band were superb, there was a real French vibe with the accordions and violins, but also a really jazzy feel to everything as well. There were also three female backing sisters - Sharon Robinson who is one of his co-writers, and the Webb sisters. Leonard himself was very nimble, dapper, smooth and dramatic, dropping to his knees to sing and emote on occasion. In summary, there wasn't anything new or surprising but it was a very enjoyable experience and it's always lovely to see a crowd enjoying the music and the show itself.

There's a great tour photo diary at this site.

coincidental!

2010-11-12T23:37:00.001Z

Union Station, LA
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Yes, I know this is a photo from 11 months ago, but I had a funny message from someone on Flickr recently. Somehow this chap had found my photo and worked out that he'd taken a photo of that same Christmas tree at Union station on the same day as me. He'd then got on the train, but had ridden it north of LA rather than south as I had done. Small world!

refreshed!

2010-11-05T22:13:00.001Z

Decided to refresh my blog look - it's had the same template since Day 1 so it's nice to have something new!

Wowed!

2010-10-05T09:15:00.002+01:00

The main attraction for the weekend was the Montana World of Wearable Arts, held at the TSB Arena. WOW started about 20 years ago in Nelson and has grown and moved since then. The whole idea is clothes that are also works of art and they were so spectacular! There were sections for illuminated and glow in the dark clothes, decorated bras. The children's and the open sections were themed (the love of books and circus) but were interpreted so broadly. The show wasn't just about the clothes though, it was full of dancers, singers, acrobats, even men dressed in Tron costumes! It just didn't stop for two hours!

Loved it all and will definitely be back next year, luckily I live here! Wellington was full of groups of women for the two weeks of the show, all out dining and shopping, very amusing.

Check out the winners here.

precious!

2010-10-05T09:03:00.001+01:00

Gollum model at the Weta Cave
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

We visited the Weta Cave in Mirimar after brunch - it's been set up as a visitor center next to Weta Workshops. It's very small (but free!) with some exhibitions of models and props from the movies that Weta have worked on. There's also a little film that you watch about all their services and activities - lots of stuff I didn't know about! It looks like a fun place to work! The day we visited there had been a fire at one of the buildings, and there was also still a lot of uncertainty over whether The Hobbit would go ahead due to industrial action.

scorching!

2010-10-05T08:57:00.001+01:00

Petrina, Mhairi and Sue at Scorching Bay
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I had a wonderful weekend with both Petrina and Sue visiting for the World of Wearable Art show. Pea could only get away for 24 hours so we had an action-packed day, starting off with brunch at Scorching Bay. It was a gorgeously sunny day (although not warm enough for swimming!) and we sat right beside the sea to catch up.

doubly visited!

2010-09-14T06:54:00.001+01:00

IMG_0336
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

My friends Annie and Charlotte came and visited me for a couple of days this weekend. Annie lives in Melbourne at the moment and Charlotte is still living in London. They were both back for family birthdays so came up to visit me for a couple of nights.

We had a couple of brilliant meals - at Foxglove on the waterfront, and at Duke Carvell's off Cuba Street for tapas. We were also tourists and went up the cable car and to the Museum of City and Sea. There is a fascinating exhibit on the Wahine disaster at the Museum - horrifying that it happened right in the harbour !

shaky!

2010-09-06T06:48:00.000+01:00

IMG_0298
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I'd gone down to Christchurch for the weekend to have some driving practice and also to babysit Tadhg while Fiona and John went to a party. Those plans were all put asunder when we were hit by a 7.1 earthquake at 4.35am.

I must have been in a really deep sleep, and I wasn't even in the bed I normally sleep in when I'm staying there (Tadhg was having the first night in his new bedroom) as I just felt so disorientated when I woke up. It was pitch dark and everything was shaking from side to side really vigorously. It went on for about a minute but I didn't feel scared, I more felt pinned to the bed and stunned! There must have been stuff falling around the house so I'm glad I didn't get up during the shaking as stuff would have hit me - some paintings fell off the walls, my bedside lamp fell etc. I also don't remember much noise, just a bit of squeaking as the house moved back and forth!

As soon as the shaking stopped, I leapt out of bed and ran across to Tadhg's room - he was kind of awake and half-crying so I scooped him up and got under the door frame. Fiona and John were about 5 seconds behind me. Thank goodness Tadhg has a battery-powered night light as all the power had gone off and otherwise it was pitch dark. We ended up staying under the door frames for about another 90 mins as the ground continued to shake quite violently - the shakes were about 5.5 or so immediately afterwards.

John ran and got the torch and the radio. The scariest thing was when we switched on the radio 10 minutes after the quake and the announcer said that a quake had hit the central North Island. That was terrifying, to think of a quake that big where we were but potentially much worse elsewhere in the country. Thankfully they corrected themselves soon after.

John and Fiona's house wasn't badly damaged - the pantry and kitchen really was the worst of it where food and containers had fallen off the shelves and crashed to the ground. A fish sauce bottle had smashed and so there was brown, smelly liquid everywhere. Some glasses were smashed. Also, some pictures had come off the walls and the glass had smashed. But overall, they were really lucky.

The shocks died back down a bit but there was still no power. We got in touch with Mum and Dad to check they were all ok, and went back to bed. I couldn't sleep and there were constant aftershocks to keep us alert!

Once the sun had come up, we got up and had some (cold) food. The power didn't come back on til after lunch, but we had to conserve water and boil drinking water for a few days as there was a bit of a concern about contaminated water supplies from burst sewage pipes. Fiona and John had just had their sewage pipes replaced a couple of weeks ago which is actually very lucky as this could have caused some serious problems.

We ventured out for a walk later on in the day but stayed close to home. It's much easier to ignore aftershocks when you're walking around! Fiona's neighbourhood got off really lightly, but there were a few toppled chimneys. A brick house close by will probably have to come down and a couple of shops at the end of the road were destroyed.

I didn't see much of the other damage first-hand, just a few damaged buildings and the Canterbury Draught beer factory on the way to the airport on Monday morning. Most of the damaged central city was out of bounds while I was there and I didn't feel like going out to where there were really damaged houses.

The aftershocks continued through the 48 hours afterwards I was there so I felt a bit on edge. Luckily I could go back to Wellington which ironically felt much safer! Fiona and family went down to Timaru for a few days, and I think slept a lot better there.

digested!

2010-08-28T06:21:00.000+01:00

To celebrate Steph's birthday, we went to the Hippopotamus Restaurant in the Museum Hotel in Wellington for a degustation dinner, along with Colin and their friends Simon and Jackie. It was a very fun evening - good company and delicious food! We were also sat by the window so had a good view of the harbour. We had six courses in all. Steph did the wine matching, but the rest of us just picked drinks to go along with the meal as we wanted. That menu in full...

Salmon Sashimi
Cream of cauliflower with scampi tails and crustacean oil
Seared Snapper fillet with wilted bok choy and lemon buerre blanc
Roasted beef fillet with braised beef cheek and port wine and truffle jus
Croustillant of goat cheese with macros salad and mulled wine reduction
Crepes Suzette

visited!

2010-08-21T06:08:00.000+01:00

Mum came to stay with me for a few days following the wedding anniversary party - she had a few friends to catch up with when she was here, but we got to hang out and visit a few places in Wellington.

We had dinner at the fantastic Floriditas on Cuba Street - it's the third time I've been there but I always enjoy it! It's kind of like the Wolseley in London in that it starts at 7 for a breakfast sitting and then just stays open until supper time with different menu items depending on the time of the day.

We went out to the comfortable Lighthouse Cinema in Petone for Oliver's school fundraising night - a preview screening of the new film Predicament (starring Jemaine Clement). As it was a charity night we got lolly mixtures and champagne - excellent! I enjoyed the film, it was the right side of creepy! Strange to see Jemaine in a different role!

We also went to Circa Theatre for a production of The Great Gatsby which was really well done, always an interesting story. I worked out later that Miranda Manasiadis who played Daisy is also Jemaine Clement's wife!

On the Wednesday night we went to the Backbencher pub opposite Parliament to be in the audience for Back Benches, which is kind of like Question Time for NZ. It goes out almost live on TVNZ7. The pub was really crowded so Mum and I were stuck around the corner but it was still quite enjoyable to see all the banter going on. My knowledge of NZ politics is still very weak!!

ruby!

2010-08-18T05:57:00.001+01:00

I went down to Timaru for the weekend to celebrate Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary. We had got them to give us the invite list and contact details and had then organised everything ourselves. We'd got invitations made at an American place online, and also put an ad in the Timaru Herald - Fiona had pilfered a few of Mum and Dad's photos and scanned them in so that we had electronic copies of everything.

Mum and Dad vacated the house before lunchtime on Saturday and went off for a surprise lunch - their friend Belinda and her husband (Mum and Belinda became good friends in Sydney just after the wedding) had flown in from Tasmania for the party and had kept their arrival a secret. In the meantime, us children and spouses set about organising the house for party central. We'd set upon a 'ruby' theme so we rearranged the furniture and decorated with red balloons, confetti etc. We welcomed the guests with ruby cocktails (Kir Royales) and I'd made a big chocolate cake decorated with red hearts. Fiona and Tiana made some fantastic food - casseroles and roast meat, as well as four different types of hummus! John had also put together a fabulous playlist of some of Mum and Dad's favourite music, and we had some of the photos playing on a loop on the new, big plasma screen TV.

The guests started arriving at dead-on 7.30 and had dressed for the occasion in red-themed clothing. We had about 25 people in all, so it was the perfect size for the house - there was the conservatory and the deck for people to spill out on. Having the welcome cocktails and the theme meant people were party-ready as soon as they got there, so it all warmed up very quickly. The food went down really well, although I think Mum and Dad were eating left-overs for a few days! They had a fantastic evening, so it was brilliant to get so involved in all that and make a special day for them. Photos are here

Rainbow over Auckland harbour

2010-08-17T10:25:00.000+01:00

Rainbow over Auckland harbour
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Just had a weekend up in Auckland - partially for work and partially to visit friends. Weather was really variable - some rain, some sun. But it did mean dramatic skies and some gorgeous rainbows!

I went up the Sky Tower (I think it's the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere) and had this gorgeous view over the harbour. That's Rangitoto Island in the distance.

pregnant!

2010-08-17T10:23:00.001+01:00

Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Here I am with my friend Karen who is weeks away from having her first baby!

Monumental!

2010-08-17T10:22:00.000+01:00

Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I climbed up to the top of One Tree Hill during my Auckland visit. It sits in the middle of Cornwall Park and is the top of old volcano. There's a monument to the Maori people but sadly the one tree was properly cut down a few years ago.

stumpy!

2010-08-17T10:17:00.001+01:00

Originally uploaded by MhairiT

... and here is the tree trunk on One Tree Hill

Monumental close-up

2010-08-17T10:05:00.000+01:00

Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Here's the monument on top of One Tree hill closer up

roaring!

2010-08-01T06:25:00.002+01:00

Roaring Meg
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Wanted to share this photo for a couple of reasons - it reminds me of Megan who is capable of roaring (allegedly)! And also note the little bar at the edge of the shelf, I think this could be unique to Wellington - it wouldn't take a lot for a little earthquake to jolt thousands of dollars of wine off the shelf at New World, hence the protection!

connected!

2010-08-01T06:22:00.001+01:00

Internet radio
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

My internet radio, which was my gift from work when I left London, finally arrived this month and I've connected it up. It is absolutely brilliant - you can either listen live to any radio station as it broadcasts on the internet, or you can 'listen again' to any previously broadcasted shows. 6 Music has been saved from the axe, and that remains my station of choice for music, although it is quite odd to switch it on on a Monday morning and Dave Pearce Dance Anthems is on!

musical!

2010-07-11T06:19:00.000+01:00

The Belles in concert
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

One of the highlights of being in Sydney was the opportunity to see The Belles in concert - I went to school with Sacha (on the right) and she's good friends with Fiona still. She and two friends sing 40s and 50s style close harmony similar to the Andrews Sisters. They had a brush with fame earlier this year when they entered onto Australia's Got Talent. They didn't make it to the semi-finals but the publicity has resulted in a raised profile and more engagements. They don't often do public concerts as most of their concerts are corporate or private, but they put on a showcase at Raval in central Sydney for the public to attend - it was great fun! Technically they are really impressive and they love what they're doing. The concert also included a Hawaiian band and also a burlesque dancer who had a routine with many balloons and some pins - saucy!

artistic!

2010-07-11T06:16:00.000+01:00

Sydney Biennale
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Absolutely loved the Biennale of Sydney, well the bits on Cockatoo Island that I visited. Cockatoo Island is an old convict prison island that became a ship yard, and is now full of abandoned old industrial buildings and bizarrely a permanent campsite! The Biennale took it over and installed art works in different old buildings. The was one that took my fancy - hundreds of stainless steel balls. There were quite a few video installations including on surreal Russian one, and one about the drowned Chinese cockle pickers in Morcambe Bay. Hours of enjoyment - I was on the last ferry off the island!

iconic!

2010-07-11T06:12:00.000+01:00

Sydney Harbour
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

After a week of work in a big tall building, it was lovely to get out on the harbour. The Biennale of Sydney was on while I was there and it included a selection of installations and art works on Cockatoo Island in the harbour. There was a free ferry to take us out to the island, a very popular activity! I could see a few people climbing the bridge when we went past.

high high high!

2010-07-06T05:54:00.000+01:00

View from my Sydney apartment
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

After my week in Melbourne, I went to Sydney for a week for work. I stayed mainly in a serviced apartment across the road from work - up the Chinatown end of the CBD. The apartment I stayed in was on the 49th floor with a balcony - I don't normally get vertigo but going to the edge of the balcony in this case really did make my head spin! Fantastic views across Darling Harbour and out towards the airport. I could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the harbour itself a little bit between buildings from my bedroom.

Sydney was very noisy - well where I was staying anyway! There was a constant hum of traffic and activity even in the middle of the night. I also got woken up by a vuvzela on the night of the World Cup final which says how noisy those things are!!

I spent quite a lot of time in Sydney working, but I did catch up with a few friends there, so that was fab!

Special!

2010-07-02T05:48:00.000+01:00

Andrew and Li-Ann getting married
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Very dear friends Andrew and Li-Ann got married on 2 July in Melbourne. It was a fantastic ceremony, both stylish and informal. Here's a photo of them listening to Julie, the celebrant talk through the legalities. Li-Ann is wearing an ostrich feather shrug but sadly the Jimmy Choo shoes are out of shot! Andrew also looking very stylish!

Burtonesque!

2010-07-01T05:46:00.000+01:00

Batmobile
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

There's a huge Tim Burton exhibition on in Melbourne at the moment. It's amazing just what a prolific and creative man he is. There's loads of his early drawings and designs right through to costumes and models he's made for the later films. Huge amount to see. The only thing that you're allowed to take a photo of is the Batmobile at the entrance - it looks amazing, all black and gleaming. My favourite bit of the exhibition was a surreal merry-go-round with skulls and creatures, all under UV light.

Gradated! (is that a word...?)

2010-07-01T05:43:00.000+01:00

Babushka Russian doll shop
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Had a few days in Melbourne around Li-Ann's wedding in late June/early July. I really Melbourne, it's very similar to Wellington with lots of character. There are old-fashioned lanes in the middle of the city that run between the main roads and are lined with shops and cafes. I was delighted to see this one, Babushka which is stocked with loads of Russian dolls. The selection was even better than anything I'd seen in Russia (although probably quite a bit more expensive!). As well as the traditional looking matryoshka dolls, there were also Russian presidents, Beatles, Elvis etc.

wintry!

2010-06-24T05:39:00.000+01:00

Herb garden the winter months
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

So it's the middle of a very wet winter here and the herb garden definitely isn't as florid as it once was! As you can see the rosemary is doing well, the mint has gone to seed a bit, the parsley is doing fine and the poor wee tarragon has died right away! At least it's not cold enough to get frosty here so the plants should survive just fine. Looking forward to getting some basil in soon.

taking off!

2010-03-29T06:50:00.000+01:00

IMG_0088
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Here's the herb garden in full flight - loads of mint! And with the addition of some tarragon as well.

even herbier!

2010-03-13T00:52:00.001Z

Herb Garden Day 12
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Pleased to report that my herb garden is coming along in leaps and bounds - here is the herb garden on day 12. I haven't picked any yet but I've been faithfully watering it (and it would have got a good water during the storm last night). I'm especially pleased about the mint, it's really come away! Trying to track down some tarragon now.

Chocolately!

2010-03-13T00:48:00.002Z

Easter madness!
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Easter has arrived with a bang in New Zealand - this is only a part of the chocolate display at my local supermarket, New World in Thorndon. The inflatable bunny is absolutely enormous and reaches right up to the ceiling. There are of course a plethora of marshmallow eggs on offer as well - there's a vogue for flavoured ones as well, including Pineapple Lump flavour and Crunchie flavour! Makes the loss of the NZ specific creme egg a little easier to swallow...

stormy!

2010-03-12T23:45:00.002Z

Wellington storm- Gala Day!
Originally uploaded by plateauschool

Had my first taste of a real Wellington storm yesterday afternoon - there had been rain and hail forecast but I think the ferocity of the southerly took a few people unawares. I was at home and could see the black clouds rolling in (as you can see in the photo I've lifted from Flickr) and then bam! the rain and wind and hail and thunder and lightning started. I watched it all from my sun room for a bit but it got a bit intense and so I retreated away from the big glass windows!

This video on YouTube gives a good indication of what went on, It was all over in an hour or so and there wasn't any damage around here - the neighbour's trampoline is still tethered to the hillside!

interactive!

2010-03-07T05:03:00.001Z

Apollo 13: Mission Control
Originally uploaded by this is emily

We went to see the fantastic and interactive Apollo 13: Mission Control at Downstage Theatre last night. It's one of the hot tickets at the Wellington International Festival and was great fun! It's based around Apollo 13 mission in 1970 which very nearly ended in disaster and later became a movie with Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton etc.

The play is very interactive - about half the audience (not us sadly) are seated behind consoles on the ground floor and given roles to play during the production. One lucky audience member even got to be one of the astronauts (you can see this one in the top right hand corner of the screen). There were three actors on the 'stage' and about 100 audience members pushing buttons and yelling out information, they must have all been given roles and little instruction booklets (eg surgeons, meterologists, PR people etc.). Very entertaining to watch and very gripping as well. At one crucial point the actors had all left and one audience member just stood up and took control of something important so that was a great relief! Wish we'd been able to get more involved but there was plenty of cheering and encouragement from the upper levels (or the press gallery). Great fun!

epic!

2010-03-05T00:42:00.000Z

Oriental Bay, Wellington
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I took a loooong walk today from my home in Thorndon all the way around the shoreline to Scorching Bay. According to mapmywalk.com, I walked about 11 miles, and got a couple of wicked blisters for my troubles!! But it was a lovely sunny day and it was lovely to do a bit of exploring. I stayed beside the water along Oriental Bay (where this photo was taken), Evans Bay, Shelly Bay Road and then around the point to Scorching Bay. Stopped for lunch at the Chocolate Fish cafe, which has moved from Scorching Bay round to the old army buildings at Shelly Bay - it now has a BBQ menu as there's no proper kitchen. It's a great spot, although definitely not as scenic as its previous spot but at least the waiters don't have to dodge traffic! I visited Scorch-a-rama which is on the site of the old Chocolate Fish Cafe at Scorching Bay for an icecream at the end of the walk.

Stupidly I'd not stopped for a swim en route and the wind had got up by the time I got to Scorching Bay so I just had a paddle - never mind, next year! The water was really clear and clean looking the whole way. Caught a bus back to town which ran along Miramar Heights - at one stage there was a plane landing and we were higher than it!

herby!

2010-03-01T10:11:00.001Z

Herb garden
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

With my new lifestyle in New Zealand, I've decided to get greener and so I've made a first attempt at a herb garden (with the expert help of Steph). Here's the herb garden all planted in three big pots at the back of my flat - from left you will see parsley, lemongrass, mint and rosemary. Early days yet of course and I hope the plants survive the traumatic planting process!

silent!

2010-03-01T09:27:00.001Z

THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Originally uploaded by napoliteatrofestival

Fiona and I went to see the fabulous Sound of Silence at the Wellington International Arts Festival at the weekend. It's a play without words, but with the music of Simon and Garfunkel. The theatre company are from Latvia and it's set in a communal apartment in Riga in 1968. It was really moving and intriguing, so much going on on stage! Highly recommended!

walking!

2010-02-21T13:00:00.000Z

Cross Creek
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I did a small section of the Rimutaka Rail Trail with Steph, Colin and family yesterday - it was a gorgeous sunny day and it was lovely to get out and about. We started at the end, and walked a short distance up, then down again. It's really popular as a mountain bike ride and we saw quite a few people coming down on bikes.

vista!

2010-02-21T00:59:00.001Z

Looking back down to Cross Creek and Lake Wairarapa
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

We didn't end up walking that far along the Rimutaka Rail Trail but here's the view from the highest bit we got to.

cows!

2010-02-21T00:58:00.001Z

Some highland cows at Cross Creek
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

At the entrance (or more accurately the end) of the Rimutaka Rail Trail was a herd of highland cows - a bit incongruous with all the fresians we normally see but very striking nonetheless!

Cross Creek Railway Station

2010-02-21T00:56:00.001Z

Cross Creek Railway Station
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Part way up the track is the old Cross Creek railway station - a good place to get out of the sun and eat egg sandwiches.

flying!

2010-02-14T00:50:00.000Z

The ferry docking at Picton
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I had a long weekend staying with my brother in Anakiwa (near Picton) last weekend - he and his family live on the Outward Bound School campus there. Didn't take any photos during the visit sadly, even though we had a great day out sailing which would have provided some brilliant images.

I flew from Wellington to Picton return on Sounds Air which is a small company with tiny planes! It was great fun - here's a photo of the ferry docking at Picton. Some other photos of the flight are on Flickr.

spectacular!

2010-01-29T00:46:00.000Z

View from my deck in Wadestown - cruise ships and the 'Cake Tin' (Westpac Stadium) in the near distance, Mt Victoria and Roseneath to the right
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

My new flat in Wadestown has an amazing view across Wellington harbour - the (multitude of) cruise ships stop right down below, and the 'Cake Tin' (Westpac Stadium) is the round structure beside the boats. The container terminal is always very busy at all times of the night, and I can see the ferries coming back and forth. Hours of entertainment!

spotty!

2010-01-25T00:44:00.000Z

The Wellington City Gallery during the Yayo Kusama exhibition
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

There was a Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Wellington City Gallery until mid-Feb - I went along twice (the second time courtesy of EY's arts sponsorship) and enjoyed all the spottiness! The exterior of the gallery had its own spots installed as wel.

fancy!

2010-01-16T00:41:00.000Z

Steph, Theo and Colin before the garden party
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

While staying with Steph and Colin, they invited me to accompany them to their friend Simon and Jackie's garden party. Here are Steph and Colin dressed in their new garden party outfits, with Theo. Sadly it absolutely bucketed down the entire afternoon, but Simon and Jackie had a huge house and everyone had made a brilliant effort with their clothes.

parading!

2010-01-06T15:00:00.000Z

Duvauchelle A&P show - the Grand Parade
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I went over to the Duvauchelle A&P Show with Nicki and Alex in early January. Duvauchelle is a small rural settlement on Bank's Peninusula and the A&P (Agricultural and Pastoral Show) is an annual tradition. We especially enjoyed the shearing and the competition shed which had categories for best cakes, best vegetables, sewing, embroidery - in fact everything! We sat and watched the Grand Parade which had all the competition animals in it, and enjoyed Rosemary (Nicki's mum's) bacon and egg pie. There was also some show jumping which included the farting horse, and the dog who thought he was a horse and tried to join in with the jumping (under the feet of a horse - eek!)

Sculptured!

2010-01-06T12:00:00.000Z

Food sculpture entrants in Duvauchelle A&P show
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Here are some of the food sculpture entrants in Duvauchelle A&P show - the onion rabbit on the right won the section, while the corn cob space rocket was robbed and only got second place!

Listening!

2010-01-01T16:00:00.000Z

Captain Jim listens for whales - method 2
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

On New Year's Day, John and I went out whale watching from Kaikoura. It was a very professional and expert trip - the iwi who run WhaleWatch must have about four boats and a couple of helicopters. On this day, there were probably three trips for each boat so there were a lot of people! Our boat held about fifty people of many different nationalities.

We were given a safety briefing in the WhaleWatch station (ie the old train station) beforehand and then bussed down to South Beach where the port is. We had been told that t here was a high likelihood of seasickness, so John and I dutifully took our seasickness pills. The crew also said that two things that would help if you felt seasick were to look at a fixed point on the horizon (eg a mountain), or to remove clothing to cool yourself down.

We had another introductory presentation on the boat while we spent about half an hour motoring to where they had last seen whales. One method of looking for whales is to listen for their sounds - here's Captain Jim with his highly technical device!

Looking!

2010-01-01T15:45:00.000Z

John looks for the whales - method 1
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

... or there were also people looking for whales in more traditional methods, as demonstrated by John here.

Tail!

2010-01-01T15:30:00.000Z

Whale tail!
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

We were rewarded for our perseverance - we saw three whales really well (here's the best example of a whale diving), and two momentarily. Totally worth the money!

They were all sperm whales, I think there are a few humpbacks around but not at this time of the year. Also saw a few huge albatrosses, but no dolphins.

ashore!

2010-01-01T15:15:00.000Z

John and I, following the whale watching
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

John and I at the end of the trip, with our brand new (launched by the PM John Key in November 2009) boat behind us.

We were virtually the only people who didn't throw up on the trip - the crew were kept busy the whole time collecting sick bags and comforting people. Go Sea Legs!

Fragrant!

2010-01-01T00:09:00.000Z

John, Fiona and Tadhg outside the Lavender Gardens
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

On New Year's Day we went to visit the Lavender Gardens near Kaikoura - they were in peak flower and smelt just gorgeous. There are about four fields full of lavender, laid out in different ways. Tadhg especially liked all the bees that were buzzing around.

Apparently the North Island bees are evil!

2009-12-30T00:07:00.000Z

Apparently the North Island bees are evil!
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Saw this sign when we got off the launch at Picton after the wedding. I'll make sure not to transport my bee collection to the South Island in future!

Makes you realise how important biosecurity is though, even within a country...

Flowering!

2009-12-25T00:05:00.000Z

DSCF3642
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

One of my brother's friends gave him an off-shoot of a cactus a few years ago. It was planted at Mum and Dad's place, named Nandor and has now grown to a respectable size (over five foot). It flowers once a year for a couple of days only and this year it flowered on Christmas Day. Beautiful!

Angus has an offshoot of Nandor at his house now in Anakiwa (can't remember this cactus's name) and it flowered while I was there last week. Just as beautful, and as Tiana pointed out, it smelt of naked ladies. Sadly, we neglected to take a photo of it and then it suffered during a fierce northerly. It looked just like its Timaru cousin though!

baby!

2009-12-23T01:10:00.000Z

DSCF3626
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

A few more animal photos from the San Diego zoo are available on Flickr, but to whet your appetite, here's a photo of a 4 week old giraffe!

San Diego – Monday 21 December

2009-12-22T02:53:00.001Z

Weather was definitely a bit chillier today – but that meant about 16 degrees rather than 22 so I can’t complain! I had some yummy pancakes for breakfast at a café nearby then caught the bus out to San Diego zoo – it’s about 10 minutes by bus from the center of town. Cost was $37 for an adult day pass – that includes a bus tour of the park, and trips on the skyine cable car. I was there for over six hours so it was quite good value!

The bus tour was ok, but I felt a bit happier walking around. The whole zoo is really well laid out and not too huge, and I had my new FitFlops on so my feet were fine. My favourites were the panda bears, flamingos, different monkeys and the giraffes. There was even a baby giraffe who was only 4 weeks old! There were a few animals where they looked really cooped up and unhappy, pacing up and down. One of the polar bears spent the whole time I was watching him doing the same backflip and circle, which initially looked really cool but in retrospect may not be very healthy.

San Diego – Sunday 20 December

2009-12-22T02:52:00.000Z

Another sunny day in San Diego! This morning I went to visit Coronado which is an island in San Diego Bay. You can catch the bus over the bridge but I chose to take the ferry which goes right from the Downtown Pier about five minutes walk from my hotel. It was a nice 30 minute ride across the bay – half of Coronado is a naval base and there’s also a retired aircraft carrier museum on the bay as well, so there’s quite a lot of activity around.

When I got to Coronado, I had some brunch at a restaurant right beside the water. There was a huge group of cyclists who were dressed up in red and green, who were brunching half way though their ride. Always amazing in America how people are keen to dress up – I even saw a car with fuzzy reindeer antlers!

I walked over to he other side of the island – Coronado is quite posh and there were some lovely houses to look at. On the other side of the island is the Hotel Del Coronado which is a huge distinctive complex which was initially built in 1888. It was the location for part of Some Like It Hot and is still very popular. There was even a wedding venue set up on the beach, and an ice-skating rink! Loads of nice cafes and small shops on Orange Ave, the main road across the island.

I took the ferry back to the mainland, then caught the trolley out to Fashion Valley shopping mall – there are three trolley routes around central San Diego – I had to change once, but it was very efficient. Fashion Valley was pretty busy with pre-holiday shopping. It was an outdoor mall, with all the normal mall-type shops as well as a Bloomingdales, Macys, Nieman Marcus and Nordstroom. There were loads of discounts and sales going on – the sale in Banana Republic was pretty good, but a queue at the check-out of at least 30 people so I decided not to indulge. Picked up a few summer tops – most of the stuff in the shops were really wintry and I don’t have any immediate need for that! I also visited the other two malls (Hazard Center and Mission Valley) but they were not as good.

Had dinner in the Gaslamp District in central San Diego – lots of bars, Italian and Indian restaurants!

San Diego - Saturday 19 December

2009-12-20T05:47:00.002Z

I'm staying at the W Hotel in San Diego which is a bit of a splash for my trip home, and also because it was a bargain on hotels.com. W Hotels are highly branded experiences - the pool area is called Wet, the gym is called Sweat etc., etc. I've got a Wonderful room which has an enormous king size bed, and a HD TV. The design of the whole hotel is quite beach inspired and one of my pillows is the shape of a beach ball. There's even an outdoor bar area called Beach where all the young people are congregating of an evening! There is a complimentary car that will take you anywhere you want to go but I haven't tried it just yet. The hotel is in downtown San Diego which is pretty anonymous really, but it's walkable to the train station, and the bus and trolley links, and the staff are friendly and welcoming. The lifts have welcome mats in them - depending on what time of the day it is, they say 'Good Morning', 'Good Afternoon' etc, so someone must be appointed to change them at a certain time!

After a very nice long sleep, I went for a quick swim in Wet, then caught a bus from downtown out to La Jolla, one of the coastal towns north of San Diego. It took about an hour on the bus, which was a little longer than I'd thought, but it was an entertaining journey with some nice coastal bits. La Jolla has a couple of interesting little beaches and a marine reserve - lots of sea lions and seals, plus huge cormorants swooping overhead! There were a few surfers, snorkellers and sea kayakers, but even though it was lovely and sunny and about 20 degrees, it wasn't warm enough to get me in the water! I had some lunch at a bistro, and ignored the 'Fondue Forever' place, then had a walk along the beach and browsed in a couple of shops.

Got back to the hotel in time for my massage (lovely) in the spa and then a quiet dinner in the brewhouse next door.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

2009-12-19T05:02:00.001Z

Walt Disney Concert Hall
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Who knew stainless steel could be so beautiful?

Union Station, LA

2009-12-19T05:01:00.001Z

Union Station, LA
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

The facade of Union Station in downtown LA.

Los Angeles – 18 December 2009

2009-12-19T04:28:00.002Z

Had a fairly uneventful flight from London to Los Angeles – a slow check-in meant that I only had about 20 mins once I got through security which did mean that I only had a brief chance to get some food (I hadn’t actually eaten all day, apart from some chocotofs!), grab a couple of magazines and get Mum her requested Clinique. Air NZ is departing from Terminal 1 now so it’s all a lot quieter there, shopping-wise.

I was dreading the long immigration line at LAX but they really seem to have sorted themselves out since my last visit – it only took about 5 mins and my luggage came in about 5 mins as well! But I was picked up as a person of interest by customs, and so my luggage was searched – I’ve been watching Nothing to Declare (Australian customs and immigration programme) so of course I immediately felt guilty with no cause! Was I carrying $10,000 in cash and had forgotten about it? My luggage was pretty packed in though, and had some odd bits and pieces in it (I am moving countries!!) but he must have thought I was pretty strange with a pair of scissors in my luggage! So that was a little traumatic, but thankfully I hadn’t packed anything absent mindedly that might have been a problem!!

Got a cab to my hotel, the Miyako, in Little Tokyo, really close to Union Station and went almost straight to bed! It had been a loooong day.

After a interesting but filling Japanese/American combo breakfast (salmon pieces as well as bacon) I proceeded on my walking tour of Los Angeles – I walked up to Union Station which is gorgeous, and has been kept really well – there are lovely leather comfy chairs to sit in, tiled waiting gardens, a couple of little bars and old signage. Everything was very Spanish-inspired with tiling and terracotta colouring. Next stop on the tour was the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels – the guide on the podcast walking tour just gave the street location, and I was wandering around looking for a traditional old cathedral which it’s not at all – very modern with no right angels at all. Huge mural inside with pictures of 150 saints, including controversially Mother Theresa! Walked along to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which I was absolutely dazzled by! It was really sunny and hot by this stage so I was sweltering in my autumnal wardrobe! The concert hall was designed by Frank Gehry around the same time as the art gallery in Bilbao and is quite similar – all curves and bright stainless steel. There is a garden at the back, which has a lovely fountain based on roses and Delft pottery (Walt Disney’s wife’s two passions). Sadly there were no tours running when I was there as the amphitheatre was in use, but I had a wander around in the foyer. Apparently the acoustics are phenomenal so it would be good to return!

There are lots of tall, new, shiny office blocks in the area, but a couple of blocks east, the buildings are older, more run-down and taken over as cheap shops and food courts – not very attractive and much grittier! Even the Jewellery Quarter (which is huge) is a bit grim – not as nice as somewhere like Hatton Garden in London, or the diamond shops in Antwerp. There were quite a few people coming up asking me for money (I must have really looked like a tourist!) so that wasn’t that enjoyable!
Other highlights of the tour included the Million Dollar Theatre on Broadway, and the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, but the best bit for me was the Bradbury Building which was gorgeous on the inside, although you’d never know from the exterior! The building was built in 1893 and is about six stories high - the foyer has loads of natural light and there are wrought iron staircases and lifts, all beautifully restored. It’s been used in loads of films, including extensively in Bladerunner (pre-renovation).

I also had the excitement of seeing about six unmarked police cars racing by, followed by a SWAT team truck!

Before I caught my train, I went to MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) to check out their permanent exhibition – a really good selection of 1939-79 modern art.

Caught my train nice and easily – I decided to spend the extra $14 (the standard one way fare from LA to San Diego is $29) for a business class seat – so it means there is a bit more room, power points for laptops free drinks and snacks, newspapers etc. Groovy! The sun has set at 5pm so no sea views for me sadly – will make that a priority next time!

Regal!

2009-09-13T19:34:00.002+01:00

Li-Ann and I went to visit Buckingham Palace today - the palace has been open on during the summer for the past few years, and you visit most of the state rooms. Sadly you don't get to see the Queen's bedroom! It was interesting to see a proper working palace, so many of the palaces you visit in Europe are museums and not in practical use. So there were quite a few rooms we recognise from state banquets, investitures and different ceremonies.

The tour took about an hour and a half and there was a very informative audio tour included in the price. One of the most impressive bits was the collection of Old Masters -Rembrant, Vermeer etc. A collection to rival any museum! Because it's the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth, there was an exhibition showing gifts and outfits from the Queen's visits to different countries in the Commonwealth. One of the gifts was a wool tapestry of Mount Cook donated by the Timaru City Council! Brilliant!

The tour ended with the possibility of a cream tea on the terrace, a (very ornate) gift shop and a stroll through the gardens. The gardens were actually gorgeous and huge! Security was very tight and we were watched pretty much all the way by staff so there was no chance to run amok or steal stuff.

pub!

2009-09-11T08:25:00.001+01:00

The Duke Of Wellington Interior
Originally uploaded by Ed HiFi

Kt and I visited the Duke of Wellington for dinner on Wednesday night before going to the movies to see Broken Embraces. Thankfully the food at the Wellington had improved since we were there for my birthday - it was a bit shambolic to say the least that night! Still, it's a nice pub apart from somewhat casual staff! There was a football match being broadcast in the back room but it didn't have an impact on the front room which is always nice. And they always have lovely fresh flowers on the bar!!

Moving!

2009-09-11T08:10:00.001+01:00

The boxes are packed!
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I think as I'm about to move out of my flat I'll write a little bit about what I've been up with with all the packing, moving, transitioning etc!

My flights are all booked to leave London on 17 December. I've got a few days in LA and San Diego then I arrive in NZ on 24th December. So I've got three more months left in London! I've got some great things planned - a couple of weeks in Turkey, weekend trips to Reims and Brussels, a day trip to Chirk, visiting Buckingham Palace and completing the London Loop! Not to mention finishing off at work and trying to catch up with people too.

Thankfully one of the hardest bits is nearly completed - I'm moving out of my flat tomorrow and all my boxes are being picked up by Anglo Pacific to go back on the ship to NZ. They should arrive in Wellington around Christmas time. I have 21 boxes! And that doesn't include most of my clothes which I will need for the next wee while as it will be winter by the time I leave. The majority of boxes are 'book boxes' which are the small ones in the picture. They hold about 200 CDs or about 30 books. Each box is meant to be able to be carried by a man so you can't totally fill them up with heavy stuff. I've also got a couple of linen cartons (to my left in the photo), a picture carton and a couple of other sizes. Everything has to be inventorised for customs. I'm wondering what they will open to inspect - I suspect my Egyptian rug and my wooden souvenirs (so I've packed them at the top). I've tried to be quite ruthless about everything, so there have been a few trips to Oxfam over the last few months, and there is also a lot of kitchen ware which is too tired to continue with so I'm just going to chuck it.

I'm not sending back any big items at all. The furniture I own I've either given to friends or contacts I've found on Freecycle. Freecycle is a community bulletin board where you advertise free stuff you want to give away or would like to be given. A guy came round to get the sofa futon last night (he'd just moved in somewhere and was sleeping on the floor!) and he took the wine rack and the clothes horse as well! So it's really nice to know that things are going to a good home.

I'm going to stay with friends for the next few weeks - thanks friends! It will be nice to stay in different parts of London too - I've already got beds organised in Highbury, Putney and Hither Green.

Sitting by a dam

2009-09-06T23:15:00.001+01:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livebytheriver/3893220555/

looping!

2009-09-06T23:06:00.003+01:00

We did another two sections of the London Loop yesterday - we're picking up the pace now to get it all finished before I leave. This week's walk was from Moor Park (on the Met Line) to Elstree (on Thameslink). The whole walk was over 12 miles so it was quite long but very enjoyable.

There were seven of us this time - Nicola and Sarah were in their final preparation mode before starting to walk around the Isle of Wight this week. Highlights were walking past Grim's Dyke (where WS Gilbert died), navigating past some cows and many cowpats in the Bentley Priory Open Space, very fancy houses on Priory Drive (possibly the poshest we've ever seen - the only people we saw were gardeners!), and a fantastic view over London from a car park/picnic spot on Old Redding. WE could see planes landing at Heathrow (so strange to think we were walking under them at the start of the summer, a few walks ago), Harrow on the Hill and Wembley Stadium.

Alan!

2009-09-06T23:01:00.002+01:00

Alan Cumming
Originally uploaded by Sarah Penrose

I went to see Alan Cumming in his show 'I Bought a Blue Car Today' on Friday night at the Vaudeville Theatre. The show is a collection of his favourite songs and focuses on his last ten years living in New York. Alan became an American citizen last year so that he could vote for Obama (unfortunately he just missed out and couldn't vote) and the phrase 'I bought a blue car today' was one of the sentences he had to write down as part of the English test.

There was a huge variety of songs - a Dolly Parton song, a Cyndi Lauper song, and then some from different musicals, Chess, Cabaret and Hedwig the Angry Inch (my favourite!). There were also a couple of songs that he'd written as well - quite comic lyrics. Alan interspersed the songs with anecdotes, chat and witicisms which we all lapped up. I was sitting next to an excitable American who whooped at every opportunity but it all added to the excitement. There were about ten musicians onstage, some of whom were the brunt of Alan's jokes.

I thoroughly enjoyed it - Alan has a great voice and is a really entertaining stage presence! I've seen him onstage before in Cabaret (in New York) and in Bent and he's always brilliant!

Southwold Pier, Suffolk

2009-09-03T23:02:00.003+01:00

Southwold Pier
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Mhairi and Li-Ann experience the North Sea

2009-09-03T23:02:00.001+01:00

Mhairi and Li-Ann experience the North Sea
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Aldeburgh, Suffolk, 30 August 2009

beachy!

2009-09-03T22:44:00.002+01:00

Had a lovely day out in the British seaside on Sunday (it was a Bank Holiday).

Kt and I met Li-Ann and Andrew, our chauffeurs for the day, at their house bright and early and we set off for Suffolk out through east London. We had a great view of the Olympics building site on the way out through Stratford - it's a huge site and we could see the skeletons of most of the buildings rising up. It's going to be very impressive when it's finished!

It took us a couple of hours to drive out through the pebble-dashed suburbs but soon we were in Essex and then Suffolk. Out first stop was the town of Aldeburgh which is right by the seaside. We drove through town and immediately headed for a restaurant for some lunch. There were a few takeaway fish and chip shops with huge queues outside but we found a lovely wee place in the lanes, 152 Aldeburgh and had identical, fab fish and chips with a lovely bottle of rose.

It stayed pretty sunny throughout, and so we had a wander along the beach afterwards and Li-Ann and I braved a paddle in the North Sea. There were a couple of people actually in the sea but we weren't brave enough even though it probably would be the same temperature in Caroline Bay! We had a look in some of the shops and then a delicious ice cream.

Our next stop was a bit further up the coast. Southwold is also a seaside town, but this time with loads of little beach huts and a proper pier. This beach was sandy and some sand castles had been constructed but were being demolished by the encroaching sea. The pier had been renovated quite recently and had some cute little design touches.

We finished off the day with a drink at the Lord Nelson pub which was a very cheery local.

view from the South Downs

2009-08-31T19:54:00.001+01:00

DSCF2989
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Rising Sun, Nutbourne

2009-08-31T19:53:00.001+01:00

DSCF2988
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Chickens just out of shot!

dotty!

2009-08-31T19:38:00.001+01:00

Dot Obsession Yayoi Kusama
Originally uploaded by hmboo

Went to the 'Walking in my Mind' exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on Friday night - the highlight was the Yayoi Kusama Dot Obsession room which has been on all the posters and publicity for the exhibition. It was very cool - polka dots on all these huge inflatable shapes. There were also some other shapes on the balcony outside and she's also decorated some of the trees alongside the river. We weren't allowed to take any photos inside so I've picked this photo up from Flickr.

The idea of the exhibition was all about the minds of artists - and some of them were crazier than others! Most of them were very interesting though, but I wouldn't want to get to know Thomas Hirschhorn who had created a cave of packing tape, empty cans, porn and books about slavery. Very unsavoury!

walking!

2009-08-31T19:27:00.002+01:00

On Saturday Megan and I walked from Pulborough to Amberley in a walk that wasn't part of the London Loop (for a change!). It was a lovely opportunity to get a bit further out of the city and also to see the South Downs. It was a lovely day - there were a few threatening clouds at one stage but it mostly stayed sunny. We had a nice lunch at the Rising Sun in Nutbourne, joined by a set of very inquisitive chickens!

We managed to make our way through a paddock that had some threatening 'Bull in the Field' signs, saw loads of rabbits and then climbed a very steep hill up to the Downs. There were quite a few gliders all around, and we could see right out to the sea.

A return for a good reason!

2009-08-25T11:04:00.002+01:00

I know I've been really slack on this blog for a few months - hey, nearly a year! I'd been a bit unsettled by the whole centipede incident in Greece where I'd blogged about the centipede infestation in my room in S**i, the island I was staying on. The owner of the accomodation had a Google alert on S**i and was a bit twitchy about me saying that there were creepy crawlies dropping on me in the middle of the night! I think she over-estimated how wide-spread my readership was!

But as I've decided to return to NZ at the end of the year, I thought this would be a good opportunity to blog about my last few months here, and also how I find the return to Godzone! One thing I'd like to record (for any of my friends here who are also returning to NZ) are the bits and pieces I've been doing to move myself and my stuff, and all the logistics etc.

walking!

2008-10-29T22:04:00.002Z

I've been doing a set of walks with a group of friends - Megan, Nicola and Jackie. The walks are part of the London Loop which circles London. There are 24 sections and it covers 240km in all! Lots to see and do - more details here.

Saturday was the second of our walks - and rather than writing out what we did, I'll hand over to the diligent and eloquent Megan who has written up the details of the walk here.

Vampire Weekend

2008-10-29T22:02:00.001Z

Vampire Weekend at The Forum
Originally uploaded by David Emery

I went to see Vampire Weekend play at the Forum in Kentish Town on Saturday night. Contrary to their name, they are not a goth or an emo band! They are actually a very earnest New York band who (I think) sound like The Strokes playing Graceland (as in the Paul Simon album, not Elvis's house).

The concert was short and very sweet. They only have one album and they played all of that, plus a couple of new songs and a couple of covers (including 'Everywhere' by Fleetwood Mac). Their songs are only about 3 minutes long usually. Great reaction and involvement from the audience, and also some brilliant dancing from the bassist!

PS I didn't take this photo - I stole it from a fellow attendee on Flickr!

autumnal!

2008-10-20T21:30:00.001+01:00

Kew Gardens
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

Went to Kew Gardens on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful autumn day and the colours were out in force. There is a new treetops walk where you climb up around 18 meters and walk around the tops of the trees. Some fantastic views, even out to Wembley Stadium!

More photos on Flickr...

photos!

2008-10-05T14:47:00.001+01:00

Symi coastline
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I've uploaded my photos onto Flickr, so check out the link to see more...

Greece Day 6 - last day!

2008-10-04T19:01:00.002+01:00

I'm sitting in Rhodes airport at the moment which really is a bit of a dead zone. Not much around apart from a duty free and an oversubscribed cafe. They do have free wireless internet though - there was a warning when I signed in saying that it was unencrypted so I'm too scared to go into my hotmail account or check my banking website. If you see weird things crop up in this blog you'll know I've been hacked into... Quite useful to have it as it's a couple of hours til my flight and I wanted to check out how I'll get from Gatwick to home (I land at 0110). Trains actually do run all night but just are not very frequent so I'm sure I'll be fine. It's a bit too far to get a cab the whole way though!

I'm here really early because the last ferry (the hydrofoil) left Symi at 1645 and arrived in Rhodes an hour later. So I've and then caught the airport bus. There was a little girl ahead of me in the queue who clocked that I had the same Fit-Flops on as her mum and was really puzzled! I'm just hoping that I get a window seat on the plane and can go straight to sleep, but we'll see.

Had another beach day today. Sadly my departure time meant that I couldn't catch one of the taxi boats out to the beaches as I wouldn't get back in time. So I spent the day at Nos or Paradise Beach which is basically the town beach and while it wasn't quite as serene as the other beaches I've visited, the water was still lovely and the sun lounger was comfortable. I'd had to check out of my room in the morning but thankfully one of the restaurants has a shower for people to use - such a relief to know that I wouldn't be travelling for 12 hours caked in salty water!!

Greece Day 6

2008-10-03T17:41:00.002+01:00

Another quite lazy day today... I was up quite early though as I wanted to get my hydrofoil ticket for tomorrow and visit the post office before the 10am taxi boat. However, the weather was a bit threatening and so the taxi boat was cancelled! Gutted!! There were definitely some very threatening clouds gathering to the south so I don't blame the skipper at all.

I'd arranged with the family that I would appear on the Symi Visitor webcam at a certain time so made sure that I was there for that rendezvous (although I'd got the time conversion a wee bit wrong and Dad hurried me up). Just as I was standing there a strange bloke came up to me and asked me if I knew why the sun wasn't shining. Thankfully his English wasn't that good so he got bored with trying to talk to me and wandered off.

I wandered back to my apartment and wrote some postcards, before going down the catch the 1pm bus over to Pedi Bay which is quite close to Yialos. Bus was really full and I ended up sitting next to a baby who was about a year old and fascinated with my hat and sun glasses. I had great fun playing with him.

When I got to Pedi the weather made the bay a bit choppy so I decided to walk around to Agia Nicholas, which is the next bay around. The path was a bit rocky, and I didn't wear appropriate shoes (just my fit-flops) but it was fine overall. Took about half an hour. When I got there I had a swim and some lunch then watched the clouds for a while. When it did start to spit I decided to head back to Pedi. I'd just missed the (hourly) bus back to Yialos so I wandered back on foot. In theory the direct route should take about half an hour, but due to my wandering and exploring it took over an hour and was great fun, although steep! Was a bit worried that the steps that I was going up and down were actually private property but I don't think Symians have the same concept of private as we do! Found my way ok in the end.

Enjoying the 80s music in the bar - I heard 'Da Da Da' by Trio just now - that's a blast from the past!!

Greece Days 4 and 5

2008-10-02T17:40:00.002+01:00

Not huge amounts to report over the last couple of days... there's mainly been a whole lot of relaxation, sunbathing and swimming going on!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to Marathouna Beach by water taxi - It's about a 45 minute boat ride and is definitely the quietest of the beaches I've seen. Water again was really clear and there's a nice wee taverna right on the beach. Had a really quiet, relaxing day and thankfully didn't get pestered by the goats that were roaming around! They were trying to clamber over the fence around the taverna and eating anything, even nibbling on wooden chairs!

I had a lovely dinner at Mythos restaurant which I'd read about on Waitrose.com - it was lovely!! Had some great calimari with pesto, swordfish with ginger and garlic and then some yummo pannacotta. Such a nice meal and ambience. And much more value for money than the place I'd visited the previous night. There are two branches of this restaurant and I visited the roof garden version which had a lovely ambience. When I was there I got news that my promotion to manager had been approved so I celebrated with an extra glass of wine - crazy!

Today (Thursday) I walked around to Nimborios beach which is about 45 mins along the coast road from Yialos where I'm staying. This beach was a little bit busier with quite a few people already there. But it was still lovely to relax for a few hours. Lots of German and Danish tourists around as well as British. One woman got attacked by one of the cats that was hanging around the taverna - I think she'd stepped on it while standing up and it had retaliated! Normally the cats are quite placid and only fight each other!

This happened to me too!

2008-09-30T17:23:00.002+01:00

I've always wondered about the guy who came knocking at the front door of Kilburn Park Road at 2am a few years ago. He said his car had run out of petrol and he needed to borrow a couple of pounds to fill it it up. I've just read this post by David Hepworth where he describes the same thing happening to him. Now I don't feel too guilty for turning that guy away.

I'd still like to know about the chap who claimed he'd fallen asleep on the tube from Heathrow and said someone had stolen all his bags. And the woman earlier this year who said she'd fallen out with her boyfriend and so had no money to get back to Epping. Personally if that was me, I'd just walk. Anything's better than begging.

Greece Day 3

2008-09-30T17:04:00.002+01:00

Sitting in the local cafe (which has wireless internet access) and drinking a Mai Tai. Am going to pick up some bits from the supermarket for dinner tonight after an underwhelming and expensive dinner last night. I had hoped that local fish restaurants would have fresh calimari (Li-Ann and I are trying to find somewhere to rival the 'best calimari ever' in Dubrovnik) but it was all cooked from frozen. Never a good sign when your calimari comes with an extra sharp knife...

Actually didn't sleep terribly well last night due to the sighting of centipedes on the walls above my bed. It freaked me out! I was all ready to storm down to the accommodation center today and demand somewhere else but it was closed and I decided I should really tough it out. I'll be more aggressive with them tonight! Just the thought of them falling onto me while I'm asleep isn't good...

I just missed the 10am taxi boat to the bays, but got a seat on the 11am. There were four stops on the east of the island and I stopped at the second to last, Nanou. It was a lovely bay with (free) deck chairs and umbrellas, a little cafe, and only about 20 other people there as well. Surface was pebbly so it was lovely and clear and I did quite a lot of snorkelling. Lots of fish around mainly, including a mad green and purple one in the shallows. Saw a big school of flying fish, flying. Had some lunch in the cafe and immediately got invaded by a horde of hornets which was pretty unpleasant. The waitress sensed my distress (ie my arms trying to swoop them away) and brought over a wee urn of coffee which she lit. They mustn't have liked the smoke so they all flew away. Magic!

Spent a very relaxing afternoon. I've started reading Midnight's Children which is going well. I'd also been reading the new Philippa Gregory 'The Other Queen' which is so frustrating - she repeats herself again and again. It's an interesting story - about Mary Queen of Scots being under house arrest with the Duke of Shrewsbury before she's killed. But it's really plodding. Hopefully Salman Rushdie will show her how it's done. I don't doubt he will!

Weather's still very sunny, but with a bit of a cold wind sometimes. And you definitely need a cardigan if you're sat outside in the evenings.

Greece Day 2

2008-09-29T16:57:00.001+01:00

Had a very nice long sleep and then some muesli and yoghurt on my patio. My little room (bizarrely called ‘Lover’s Corner’ and in fact you’d need to be VERY intimate with someone to share this room!) has been cut into the side of the hillside. Symi is very hilly and rocky and the main town (Yialos) centers around a harbour. It’s meant to be the most beautiful harbour in Greece and it certainly is attractive! Loads of multi coloured houses rise up from the harbour. It’s very small and I think to walk to Panoramitos at the other end of the island takes about 5 hours to walk. Not sure if I’ll end up doing that though! So my little room has a bed at one end and a teeny bathroom at the other end. On top is a patio which has a view not quite down to the harbour, but over about half of the town.

Spent most of the late morning wandering around town. I was trying to across to Pedi Beach, but couldn’t understand the walking instructions and after climbing up a long way I found myself coming back down again with no idea of how to go up! Will have to redo that at some stage. There are loads of boats to take you to different beaches and parts of the island so I’ll do one of those tomorrow. I ended up walking along the coast and finding a tiny beach down a long set of steps that I had to myself. Not quite into total relaxation mode yet but I’m getting there!!

Greece - Day 1

2008-09-28T16:51:00.002+01:00

Ah the bliss of having my laptop with me on holidays means that I can blog and keep you all up to date! I decided to take the laptop on holiday mainly to watch DVDs, but there are quite a few internet cafes here in Symi so I assume I’ll be able to take myself down there shortly and connect up.

I arrived in Rhodes on Saturday evening after a long but normal journey. I hadn’t realised that Saturday was the same day at the Fatboy Slim concert down in Brighton which meant that London Bridge station was full of people trying to use the same line as me to get down there. Thankfully the train wasn’t full but I did have only ten minutes to spare by the time I got to check-in. hate being so rush at airports. I did manage to dash around and get the toiletries and reading material I needed though thank goodness.

Arrived in Rhodes at 10pm and decided to get cab to where I was staying. As it was in the old town, the taxi driver (who was lovely and used to live above a bar at highbury corner) could only take me so far, but after a moment of panie when I couldn’t see the Apollo Tourist House in a dark street, I got in and bedded down. Very comfortable but simple accommodation. There was a nice breakfast of muesli and yoghurt in the garden in the morning included.

I had the whole day free in Rhodes as my hydrofoil didn’t leave for Symi until 6pm. So I had a good but tiring day of wandering around a compact but slightly confusing city! It was so pretty in bits, especially down by the harbour. It’s a walled city and you can actually walk around the moat (which is now dry) which I did for a bit. There is a Castle of the Knights which has some gorgeous mosaic floors, and loads of museums of antiquities. The loveliest bit was the street of the Knights which led down from the palace. It was a real medieval street with gargoyles and intricate windows. Some of the buildings included the French consulate and other government buildings.

There are two main harbours, Mandraki (which has all the yachts and charter boats) and Akandia the commercial harbour. At the mouth of Mandraki is where the Colossus of Rhodes stood. Now there’s two pillars – one with a deer on it and the other has been removed for restoration. It must have been – er – colossal when it was actually there though! Lots of representations of the Colossus around town as well. There were a couple of huge cruise ships in town with large groups of English, American and German tourists. Very amusing to see them all trouping off to catch the boat at 3pm!

So I had a very full and busy day touring around. There were a couple of very impressive bead stores full of turquoise and coral. Might go back on my return journey… I found my way around fine until I actually had to get back to the hotel to pick up my bags and then I got totally spun around! I had loads of time though.

I caught the hydrofoil to Symi no problem – one way ticket for an hour’s journey is E14.90. I think the traditional ferries are a bit cheaper. The people who’ve organised my accommodation met me off the hydrofoil and transported my bag to the foot of the steps to my wee apartment, there are about 100 steps up and it’s quite steep! I’m sure I’ll be running up them by the end of the trip!

Retro!

2008-06-15T22:56:00.002+01:00

Have been a bit daunted by the whole writing up of the holiday blog thing, so haven't got to grips with that - yet!

In the meantime, I thought I'd post some links of cool stuff I've found on youtube. First pick is 'Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats! Remember this? Love it!

sobering

2008-04-19T14:05:00.001+01:00

Memorial Matalan Kingsland Shopping Centre
Originally uploaded by sarflondondunc

Just walked past the shrine to Jamie Simpson, who was murdered in the Dalston Matalan store over Easter. He was the manager of the shop and was killed by three robbers. The shrine is getting larger and there is a gathering there most Saturdays. It's very sobering, even for Hackney which is really afflicted by a culture of violence, with an increasing number of young people murdered every year.

circular!

2008-04-19T10:56:00.002+01:00

I didn't get a chance to go and visit this photo gallery down on the South Bank this week, but I wish I had. It takes photos every three seconds and you can then interact with the photos to move them back and forwards in time. Makes your head spin!

roll'd!

2008-04-16T20:38:00.001+01:00

How come after all these years, Beaker still makes me laugh?

wrong!

2008-04-15T21:45:00.001+01:00

wrong
Originally uploaded by Simon Rigglesworth

I went down to watch the London Marathon on Sunday morning on a very wet and cold day! It was lovely on the walk down, but not long after we arrived, it bucketed down with rain and the temperature plummeted. However we weren't the ones running in very little!

We had a good spot at the 21 mile mark on Commercial Road by Limehouse DLR station which was conveniently close to a community center which sold hot chocolate and cake. Most the runners we saw were pretty tired by the time they reached us. I had quite a few workmates running, and managed to spot two of them in the 40,000 plus runners.

Lots of silly costumes, including a couple of people in the Borat thong (hideous!), a cornish pasty outfit, rhinos and many more. There was also a group of Masai warriors who were running in full costume to raise money for their village.

I'm pretty sure that I'll never run, but Kt seems really keen to do it next year!!

local!

2008-04-15T21:33:00.002+01:00

I've just started reading the new Tracy Chevalier novel, Burning Bright, which is about some children who befriend William Blake (hence the name). I knew that William Blake had lived in Lambeth right around the corner from my office as there is blue plaque and a William Blake housing estate. But the book is quite amusing in that it talks about all the local pubs that are still there over 200 years later! The Red Lion (now called The Walrus), the Horse & Groom (now called the Horse) and the Artichoke (now called the Artichoke and Camel) are all pubs we frequent. Me and William Blake!

A return to form

2008-04-15T21:29:00.002+01:00

So after some 'feedback' from Dad I've realised that I really should start blogging again! Many excuses for not doing so over the past 6 months, including busyness, an addiction to Facebook and lack of things to write about! So I've got a few things to write about over the next wee while and a renewed commitment to blogging! I'll hopefully be blogging regularly when I'm away in the US shortly too.

golden!

2007-09-12T23:23:00.001+01:00

DSCF1838
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

I've loaded all my photos from St Petersburg onto Flickr, but haven't had a chance to update the blog properly yet. But have a squizz at the photos - beware, lots of gold!

Finland / Russia Day One

2007-09-06T20:17:00.000+01:00

Verrrry early start this morning with the cab picking Mum and I up at 4.15 am! The early start did mean that we had time for a nice breakfast at Giraffe at Terminal One before boarding our flight to Helsinki. The flight was pretty uneventful, apart from me leaving my hair clip on my food tray and it getting put in the rubbish. Oh well.

When we landed at Helsinki it was pouring with rain, but we got a cab ok and arrived at our hotel, the Helka. There's a charming photo on the ceiling of a wood scene to keep us entertained if we can't sleep. This is the same hotel I stayed in last time I was in Helsinki - it's nice and central, although we got lost quite a few times today!

After lunch, I popped into the office to say hello to some of my colleagues - nice to see them and the offices. Also got our train tickets for the trip to Russia tomorrow morning.

WEnt and met Mum and Fiona at the Design Museum where there were a couple of good exhibitions on Finnish fashion amd ceramics by Rut Bryk which were gorgeous. We also went and spent some money inthe Marimekko flagship store (gorgeous but not any cheaper in Finland!) and the Moomin store.

On my colleague Tuula's recommendation, we went and had a drink at Torni, a 12 storey hotel with a roof bar with gorgeous views over the city. Very spectacular - we could see all the little islands surrounding the city.

Had dinner at a traditional Finnish restaurant, Aino. I had some lovely reindeer fillets and Fiona had herring. Very traditional!

Dusty Springfield's grave, Henley on Thames

2007-08-27T23:29:00.001+01:00

Dusty Springfield's grave, Henley on Thames
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

We found Dusty Springfield's grave in a churchyard in Henley on Thames, where she lived before she died. According to Wikipedia, she was cremated, and some of the ashes buried here, and the rest scattered at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

The Hinds Head, Bray

2007-08-27T23:27:00.003+01:00

The Hinds Head, Bray
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

outside the Hinds Head, Bray - very full after lunch!

tree at Frogmore house

2007-08-27T23:27:00.001+01:00

tree at Frogmore house
Originally uploaded by MhairiT

A very cool tree in the grounds of Frogmore House.

outing!

2007-08-27T23:16:00.000+01:00

I went out with Li-Ann and Andrew, as well as Li-Ann's aunt, on Saturday to Windsor, Bray and Henley. It was a gorgeous sunny day, quite different to a lot of the weather we've had recently. We drove out to Eton and parked and walked through town down to Windsor and wandered around the perimeter of the castle. I went there years ago, and it is very impressive. Lots of security around, but also scores and scores of tourists!

We went down into the Great Park, and noticed that Frogmore House, which includes the mausoleum in which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are entombed, was open (it's only open a few days a year). So we took the opportunity to go and have a look - it was very interesting. The grounds were gorgeous and included a very odd tree with very curly branches. We weren't allowed to take any photos of the tomb, but it was very ornate inside with marble figures of Victoria and Albert.

We went for lunch in Bray at the Hinds Head pub - it's the gastro pub owned by Heston Blumenthal, who also runs the very famous Fat Duck restaurant next door. Thankfully the Hinds Head doesn't have a three month waiting list and doesn't cost at least £80 to eat at! We had a lovely meal, and the others (not me!) enjoyed the thrice cooked chips.

We drove down to Henley on our way home and had a walk by the river. We even stumbled across Dusty Springfield's grave! She lived in Henley before she died.

wicked!

2007-08-27T23:11:00.000+01:00

Fiona, Simon and I went to see 'Wicked' on Thursday night. The musical, based on the Gregory Maguire book, tells the story of the Wizard of Oz from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West - and we see that she was't really all that wicked after all! Fiona and I had tried to see it in New York a couple of years ago, but tickets had cost too much and we missed out on the raffle.

The London production was very spectacular and told the story very well - even though it seemed a lot less dark than the book, especially the ending! But the effects, staging and costumes were all fantastic and mesmerising to watch. Only a couple the songs really resonated and were memorable, but the quality of the singing was fantastic. We didn't realise til afterwards that Nigel Planer (Neil in the Young Ones) was one of the leads. Thoroughly enjoyable!