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
Friday, January 29, 2010
spectacular!
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
Monday, January 25, 2010
spotty!
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.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
fancy!
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.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
parading!
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!
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!
Friday, January 01, 2010
Listening!
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!
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!
... or there were also people looking for whales in more traditional methods, as demonstrated by John here.
Tail!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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