Homemade curry

For most of our friends in NZ, homemade curries aren't anything special. Well they are to us! We weren't quite sure what to make for dinner tonight, but Bryce threw together a Malaysian curry with coconut milk, mixed veggies, tomatoes, portabellos, and tons of spices. It was soooo good! Had it with some roti bread I found at the store.

Brownies for dessert. See, just like home.
Except in Celsius.

Recipes use a slightly different measure than the standard measuring cups we brought with us-- food still turn out fine though. Teaspoons and tablespoon measures are the same-- based on milliliters.

Chch Earthquake

This morning at 4:27, I thought I heard someone pounding on my front door. It freaked me out in my sleep; Bryce was gone and I was reluctant to wake up and deal with it. All of a sudden my bed moved. For a split second I thought someone was in my room, but luckily the rationale part of my kicked in and I realized it was an earthquake. The pounding I had heard was really the doors rattling. I sat bolt up right for a minute or two; listening to the rattling slowly die down after about 20 seconds. I uneasily went back to sleep.

At 6:30AM, Bryce's cell phone rang. Jeez, busy morning! It was an unfamiliar voice in an American accent, which confused the heck out of me-- no one ever uses our cell phone for calls, we just get texts. I heard a male voice ask, without saying hi or announcing himself, "Is Bryce there?" Since I was home alone, I was reluctant to say, "No," but didn't really have a choice. Unexpected calls at night when you're all alone are scary. I asked "Who is this?" and was told it was his step brother, who we haven't heard from in years.

Woke up a few hours later to see that a friend was asking over e-mail if I was ok; I checked the news and was shocked to see there was an earthquake in Christchuch.

Off I went to hang out with Josien and Laura to hike up Colonial Knob in Porirua.


We could see the South Island pretty clearly.


Haircut in Porirua and then we girls headed to the 50% off ice breaker sale. The guy behind the counter found out I was from Seattle and said, "Oh that's where this stuff was made." Aaggh!? This is supposed to be NZ stuff! Apparently it's NZ merino though-- Oh wells at least with the 50% off the price I got it for is roughly what I would've bought it for in WA.

Fell asleep watching Mama Mia (chick flick while Bryce is gone!) Man Pierce Brosnan is the worst singer!!

Decisions

Gorgeous sunny day in Wellington! A pleasure to drive around in a zippy little Ministry of Ed car.

Doing a lot of thinking lately about trips, life plans, where to live, etc. Big deal stuff. We booked a trip to OZ, but decided against our costly Japan trip this xmas; may as well stay in NZ and do some famous hikes. Well there's one decision sorted; just a few more huge ones to go.

I wish I could whittle a few more years away with travelling and living without any cares. I suppose it will be nice to live in a permanent home, with a yard, and our things-- and make permanent friends. Making a permanent life is a little scary though, I feel like I'll have to make a running start at that otherwise I'll just leave things off for 'some other time,' (i.e., the pottery, the yoga, the glass making, the sailing...) Ah wells I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on myself, I am pretty proud of ourselves for making a rather nice life here down under-er.