Search for goggles...

Last week I found myself walking to Oriental Bay to buy some goggles. Along the way I snapped a few photos as I often do. I probably look more like a tourist now than I ever have on real trips. Then again, having a small digital camera with you at all times helps!

Here is another playground, its on the opposite side of the harbour as the tall slide one







This is a new type of play equipment to me. The kid is standing on a board that its attached to a curved rail. The kiddo then can grab a curved center post and pull to slide himself back and forth. I am hoping to go try it myself someday soon!



in the background you can see the ferry - just as iconic as the windmill, if not more so (see next post)



This is the Freyberg pool that juts into the water a bit


and here are some more local toys

Weekend Wandering

Last week we debated whether to walk left or right around the Karori sanctuary. We opted for the left route. The wildlife sanctuary is fenced so that predetors don't enter. Part of the fence design is that there needs to be several feet of clearance between the fence and the bush, which creates a defacto trail around the outside:

It also is part of the local mountain biking options. The trail is split between down hill and uphill runs

We didn't fully appreciate the importance of staying to the correct side until we saw (well mostly heard as he was barrelling down the hill so fast) this fellow flying over a jump

So of course we had to have a play too, even if our bikes are the el cheapo invisible type



I wasn't aware at first that Traveler was trying to pretend to be on a bike..

I was just going for height


From there we continued up toward the windmill that can be seen from all over the city

It seems to be a brilliant project... Meridian Energy built it in this very visible sight to 'test' it in real life situation, but it also was a huge public awareness ploy.

As evidenced by the signs at the base of the turbine. The view may draw people, but most take a moment to read the company's plaques, which among other things state how many houses this turbine can support.

It has become an icon for many in the city. I know I love seeing it. But others are very against the wind farm the company is now planning in a nearby rural area. As I understand it the wind farm will have much larger wind turbines; which may or may not be quieter. I actually didn't hear any noise from this one until we were quite close. Nothing compared to the noise of the aircraft above and the lawn mowers below

We then opted to walk down to Brooklyn to catch a bus. I though this sign was hilarious

“caution slow down automatic gate operating”

I guess we were walking through a gated community that has public hiking trails (and public drive through) linked to it.

After 2 hours of walking, we enjoyed a very yummy meal at Cha *yes I felt like a complete dork taking this photo, but it was really that good that I felt the need to document*

followed by gelato at my new favourite splurge: http://www.kaffeeeis.co.nz/

Petone images

Today I was a few minute early to an appointment (and had accidentally dumped my lunch of rice and beans all over my boss's car leaving me with not much to do with my lunch time other than clean the poor car) and went for a short walk in Petone.

Here is a shot of the water with wellington city in the background

and not too surprising I came across a playground. This one also had a set of mini train tracks that I assume have kid trains running from time to time.

It even included a beach train stop

Another factoid about Petone is that they have a free water fountain. People come and fill up the water bottles here, and it just makes me think of all those days filling up our household bottles at various places.

 

And this is just a random shot of some wall paper I saw the other day. I thought it was interesting...

domestic joys

this post is dedicate to my mother...

So today I found myself mending my clothes... this isn't inherently amazing, but this is something I never actually did back home. I always had a pile of clothes with tears, but this 'to be mended' pile never really was dealt with. Sometimes things didn't even make it to the pile, it just stayed on my clothing shelves with a mental note in my head that read “do not wear you will only make the hole/tear/rip worse.”

But now that I live in New Zealand and find clothes to be quite expensive (but the minute the NZ dollar falls to 50 cent to the US dollar I'm taking some of my American saving and buying some nice merino wool shirts – think smart wool and 300 count sheets!), I realize that mending is very very worthwhile, even if I have to do it by hand. It also helps that I left behind much of my wardrobe, so just about each article of clothing serves a functions and when it is in the mending pile it it is sorely missed.

 

My friend Laura recently asked about my laundry set up here... I am thrilled to have graduated beyond the laundromat, not that I've seen any here yet. Also I'm lucky that my landlord provided a washer and dryer because typically you have to provide your own white wear when you rent (a pain for moving). One thing of note is that my washer shoots water on to the laundry as it agitates... new one to me.

   

I also have told some of you about this incredible mop I bought. For those who haven't spent much time sharing living spaces with me, I HATE to sweep. Mostly I know I am bad at it. I have a very difficult time getting that dirt pile into the dust pan. I also realize that I only collect about 70% of the dirt on the follow with my sweeping techniques. I gave up on sweeping and typically only vacuum, and even then don't do it enough...

But now I have a solution... I found this great mop for less than $20 at the local grocery store. It combines mopping with sweeping and makes our flat a very happy place for bare feet.

Let me introduce you to the various bits..

the microfiber mop cloth, much easier to clean and reuse than the standard mop sponge or rag head

 

 

the mop bit, which consists of closed cell foam (like what the Grays use for snow camping) with these nifty fastners

 

and then you attached like so...
 
Now some may not think this is cool, but for those of you who love vacuuming and the positive reinforcement you get from seeing the dirt collected in the canister (say perhaps some honorary aunts residing in ohio...) and others who share my issue regard the work of sweeping/mopping not being worth the piddly amount of dirt collected, here is the results of my mopping adventure today:
 

Now there were other moments of domestic joy today... the best was Traveler helping and then making us lunch. I don't know what he calls this recipe by he placed it on the table with this proclamation “it has everything a body needs including YUM!”

 

For those interested this is how you make enough for 2:

saute ½ red onion in lots of olive oil (at least 3 tablespoons)
When soft, add the following and heat through
½ can chicken broth
1 sliced fresh tomatoe
2 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
1 can of mixed beans (our can today had cannellini, butter, green baby lima, borlotti, and red kidney beans)
juice squeezed from 1 lemon
just before serving add a pile of chopped fresh parsley

Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

Well in many places a wildlife sanctuary involves big cats and other creatures from exotic places... it might also include bears or wolves. You know things that eat you or can at least cause damage, such as buffulo. In other words you are protecting animals from being killed by the people annoyed by them for being themselves in the land we've decided to inhabit.

Karori has a different type of sanctuary
 
one that protects native animals, which primarily means protecting birds from the scary mammals humans have introduced. These scary mammals are pretty tame for us tall primates or for birds that fly, but for the native birds of NZ, cats, possums and rats are very bad news. So all the wildlife here seems very very tame and docile, that is why they need protecting.

One way the sanctuary protects them is the creation of a huge, custom made fence around the perimeter. There are also sub fences within the sanctuary to isolate specific wildlife from each other so that one doesn't dominate the other during the early years of reestablishing numbers.

Another strategy is by tracking invasive specifies that get past the fence (say hawks dropping them from the sky) and setting traps as needed

 
They also do a bit of educational work, such as this display on non-native garden plants that are threatening local plant life.  This one is Old Man's Beard Traveller's Joy
 
The sanctuary raises monies through a lot of sources.. one being creating a haven for paying city dwellers to 'recreate.' Traveler and I were happy customers today, and even signed up for a membership. The payment scheme is kindof funny It is a bit expensive for a single visit, but only $40 for an individual membership and $55 for a couple! I guess that means that tourist can pay more with their overseas currency but the park can still be affordable to locals. We're members now, and I'm hoping we make time to go several times each month. The entrance is only a 20 minute walk from our house.

These are some of the things we can enjoy at the park











And this is a peek hole into one of the valves...


And here is the fish tank that Traveler was thrilled to finally locate
 
The plant life is interesting as well
 





Best of all, this was a place I loved when I visited in 2005 and it was so nice to finally share it with Traveler. 

for more info check out: http://www.sanctuary.org.nz/