Great Mysteries

I'm baffled by the autumn leaves on our balcony. How did they get there when we live on the eighth floor, far above the tree tops?

Whatever the answer, they're not as pretty as these specimens at MOTAT at the weekend.

Old and New

The evenings are arriving earlier now but the University looks particularly good in the twilight. The clock tower was built in the mid-1920s to house the art and commerce departments after the University won a campaign to remain in the city centre.


It's now surrounded by '60's and '70's classics like the General Library on Alfred Street and overshadowed by the Vero Tower, the tallest office block in the city.

Kiwiana

We headed down to MOTAT this afternoon for some respite from contract law - the Museum of Transport and Technology in Western Springs. As you might expect, there were plenty of steam engines and Lancashire boilers plus trams and trains and buses.


There was a good selection of vintage vehicles too including this ambulance from Waipa Sawmill - ready for any lost limbs.


There was also an exhibition entitled "Signposts to Godzone" - a display of classic Kiwiana from pavlova, the Buzzy Bee to the quarter acre section. New Zealand is remarkable in the number of kiwi icons everywhere but here it's a sign of national pride rather than the National Front. Everywhere you look there's the curve of a tree fern, a cheeky tiki or kiwi (bird or fruit), the blue of the pukeko or the red of a pohutakawa. There are golden beaches, blue skies and snow-capped volcanoes on buses, billboards and brochures.

Here are a few classic Kiwi brands from our cupboards - vegemite (actually Australian but the locals don't seem to mind), Edmonds flour ("sure to rise"), Lion Breweries' Steinlager (favourite of Willem Defoe) and Mainland butter (from local giant, Fonterra)... It couldn't be easier to buy local here!

Korean Kimchi

After an aperitif at our favourite stand bar, we headed further up Queen Street to find some dinner. We were spoilt for choice with more than a dozen Japanese and Korean restaurants and one lonely Brazilian cafe. We opted for Buttumak and I knew we'd got the right place as soon as I heard the delightful song of the little plastic bird in the little plastic cage above the door.


The wontons were off the menu - meat only according to the maitre d' who grimaced apologetically when I asked for the vegetarian version and made an upturned fist with his right hand. Not sure what that meant but we skipped the starter, plumping for BBQ squid (me) and pork (him).

The main event arrived with all the trimmings - kimchi (cabbage and chilli), stewed potatoes, pickled sprouts and garlic greens, miso soup (soy and seaweed broth), steamed rice. Most satisfactory.

Happy St George's Day

On my walk home from work today, I was pleased to find a troupe of morris dancers, on a street just off the main drag, celebrating St George's Day. The handkerchiefs and plus-fours, bells and braces, brought happy memories of attempting to bash my sister's finger with a big wooden stick at Guides on a Tuesday night.

The only thing wrong with the picture was that the performance was going on outside an Irish pub - as muddled as the Proclaimers being played at a St Patrick's Day party.

Ready for Winter

Definitely cold now. I need a coat and I'm contemplating giving up on bare legs until spring. Luckily James is much better prepared, thanks to his new skill - crochet.

Here he is in action:


And a close-up...


Then check out the finished product:

My Sea View

After nearly a week running around in Wellington, it's good to get back to my own office and enjoy my sea view once more.

Here's a glimpse through my office window:

MV Kewpie Too on the Kaipara Harbour

Our Easter Sunday day out was provided by the MV Kewpie Too, a 1958 steamboat which now cruises the Kaipara Harbour, to the north-west of Auckland.


Despite dreary weather, we enjoyed a three-hour tour of the harbour and some of the rivers which feed it and learnt a lot of the history from the days of intensive kauri-logging throughout the region.



More photos and commentary can be found here...

Easter Eggs

Some facts about kiwi eggs:

• Kiwi eggs are proportionately larger than those of any bird when compared to the size of the mother
  
• An egg may be as much as one quarter of the weight of the mother kiwi
  
• Kiwis lay eggs in nests in hollow logs, natural holes or burrows dug by the male - not in a basket
• A clutch of kiwi eggs tends to contain only one or two eggs
  
• The male kiwi incubates the eggs
  
• Kiwi eggs do not taste of rum and raisin like the eggs pictured
• The eggs of the kiwi are ivory-coloured or greenish-white not black and gold like some Easter eggs
  
• Unlike chocolate eggs, it is illegal to hunt for kiwi eggs
  

Happy Easter!

Autumn in Auckland III

Another late summer bloom from my walk to work...



And a striking strylitzia a few steps on:

Famous Pukeko

It's the pukeko that's enjoying fifteen minutes of fame in New Zealand rather than a grouse. The native swamphen is the face of Genesis Energy's climate change adverts, prowling around turning off lights and claiming a monopoly on baths.


These bright blue birds with their hooked red beaks are found all over Auckland, from motorway verges to paddocks and parks. They run fast when not grubbing around in the grass and have incredibly big feet which they pick up high like prancing ponies. Best of all though is their perky white tail which, you won't be surprised to hear, reminds me of a rabbit.

Winter Time

For the last few years, Daylight Saving has been extended for a few weeks to give New Zealand more summer evenings at the beach. It finally came to an end last night though and we found ourselves taking a sunset stroll along the headland at Long Bay late this afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting up in the light tomorrow morning too.



More photos of our walk online in the North Shore album...

Patea Maori Club

There are two free-to-air music channels in New Zealand - and only four other channels plus Maori TV. On Friday nights, C4 does a Top Ten Music Video programme on a particular theme which often has us glued to the sofa. Tonight the theme was "It was groundbreaking" and the session featured Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, the most expensive video ever at that time, and my personal favourite, OK Go on their treadmills doing Here It Goes Again.

But one of the most interesting videos of tonight's top ten was the 1980s one-hit wonder Poi E by the Patea Maori Club which featured break-dancing, body-popping, robot dancing, roller skating and traditional Maori poi dancing! Check it out below:



Here's the chorus if you fancy singing along:

Poi E whaka-tata mai
Poi E kaua he rerekç
Poi E kia piri mai ki au
Poi E-E awhi mai ra
Poi E tâpeka tia mai
Poi E o taua aroha
Poi E pai here tia ra

Art in Auckland II

Here's another example of some of Auckland's street art - a surreal scene on a junction box on Kitchener Street:

White Rabbits!

I'm pleased to announce that we are now rabbit-owners once more. We have one more rabbit than we did in London but each rabbit has one fewer dimensions. These beasts were rescued from a shop window and so fortunately there's no contravention of the building rules.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Merlin and Tina are enjoying life as country rabbits - the maximum security housing is necessary to protect the two precious rabbits from the very hungry Dougall and because Tina has become something of an escape artist since moving up north!