The good, the bad and the freaky [# 19]
Well, it's official. This last summer has been the coldest in over 80 years. I have to say that I don't usually care about lack of sun, but following winters around the world could become a little tiresome. (For the record - the UK has recently had it's hottest temperatures and NZ had it's coldest winter - both while I was here - doh!)I've been cautiously enjoying using Trade Me over the last few months. It's the NZ equivalent of ebay - something I know people get hooked on, but I have well practiced skills of self-control and thrifty shrewdness (I'm not stingy, I just don't like wasting my money, - wasting it on unecessary spontaneous, reflex, impulse purchases that I soon feel guilty about! This translates as walking for hours to find the same product at the cheapest price or alternatively getting back to the beginning to find someone's bought the last one I should have bought before lunch. (Lunch by the way was sandwiches made from home-grown lettuces). Am I painting a picture of a rather unexciting person? I'm sorry, it's just the way I'm wired - years of necessity has made me this way!)
Anyway, back to the plot. -
Now it's the summertime, I'm now the happy owner of a column heater for my room (I thought I'd wait until it was warm so I'd get a cheap one). Well I bought it for $1 on Trade Me! (That's about 35 British pence!) I was chuffed. I should buy dozens of them, wait till winter and start selling them back to the unforward-thinking, spontaneously-minded masses. Then who'll be the big man with a self-satisfied, smug smile on his face? Me, yes me. Ha, ha, ha, fools, they're all fools.
The average temperature was 12.9'C for December - the height of the summer! This photo taken from The Dominion Post in early January; 'LONELY BAY: Lifeguards watch over a deserted Oriental Bay yesterday as temperatures struggled to 13.7 degrees.' Having said all that, it has been much warmer over the last couple of weeks, not warm enough to sleep out on the decking unfortunately, but at least not cold enough to have to er, buy a heater for my room!
We had a bank holiday on Tuesday (Waitangi Day - the day in 1841 when the Maori and British signed an agreement where Queen Victoria was given dominion over NZ and the Maori were granted land rights. Didn't work out like that as usual with these things). I went snorkelling, had a great time. Saw loads of fish, colourful seaweeds, paua (abalone) and a big purple octopus. I also brought back some seaweed for my supper.
Being summer, Wellington has offered some pleasant events. One of which was the 'Summer City' series of live music concerts which played at the sound shell in the botanical gardens. This lasted for a few weeks and is a great idea. This is a photo of one I saw - Rashid Malik and her band - an Indian folk/soul fusion style. (Not quite enough Indian folk for me, but cool nonetheless).
Inspired by the location and one of the songs, I thought up this little haiku:
Silent leaves glide down
I place a bloom in her hair
petals fall, as tears
I place a bloom in her hair
petals fall, as tears
Another Wellington event was the IRB Rugby Sevens tournament which took place last weekend. The whole place was full of rugby loonies. All of them in fancy dress. I went down to the shops on Saturday morning and I was about the only person in the city wearing normal clothes. I felt like a freak. I may be paranoid, but I could almost hear their mocking. 'Look at that man, he's wearing a,a,a t-shirt! Ha, ha, ha. And what's this - TROUSERS! What a deviant!' I fled back up the hill regretting not having worn a bikini or something just as appropriate.
On a different note, here's quite a poignant story. I've just finished an oil painting to decorate my room. I based it on a watercolour I did while staying at Cathie's in Lower Hutt, where I first stayed in NZ. It's of the hills behind her house and shows the moon rise in the early evening. There's two reasons why it's changed from being just a decorative picture.
My little watercolour sketch and the finished oil painting.
Work has been pretty busy recently. We're well on the way to moving into the larger premises next door which'll be superb. At the moment going to work is rather like playing 3-dimensional twister (I'm doing a cartoon to illustrate this - check back in a couple of days!) I've also been working in the evenings on a series of fabric painting designs I've done for work. We'll be selling these in kit form. it's an old business my boss used to run which we're restarting as we'll have the space to produce them soon. Here's a couple of examples. They're quite fun to do :) I've also updated my Design and Illustration blogs with a few more bits and pieces. Click refresh to make sure they load.
I'm absolutely loving being back at the gym. I may appear to have a frame little more substantial than a wire coat-hanger, but infact I have a magnificent physique :) And my running is right back on course again. I love the grinding start of the treadmill - and the associated surge of endorphins!
Kiwidiom
Week 5 : 'Unit'
In New Zealand the term 'unit' doesn't refer to a small detached residence as in Australia or a degree of measurement. No, it refers to a large person, typically a large sports-person. Describing someone as a 'unit' indicates a degree of awe and power. It is not surprising then that most of the All Blacks rugby team are 'units' and having a collision with a 'unit' travelling at speed and with considerable force could result in rapid unconsciousness and more than just a pulled muscle.
Example of 'unit': My mother-in-law lost her footing on the stairs at the library and somehow managed to put fifteen people in hospital. She's a big unit.
posted by col @ 10:55 pm
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