Just another Random Monday

Lots of funny things happened today that I can't really post on a public website. A few interesting things of note that I can post:

Today is Matariki (Maori New Year), and the dinner served today at work was a hangi (cooked in a pit).

I thought my grandma had a Dutch saying, "Oh how my honda taka," but after talking to my Dutch colleague, I found out that that roughly means, "My hand is itchy." I don't think that my grandma says this. An e-mail has gone off to my grandma for clarification.

Bryce had a venison hamburger today at Burger Fuel. It was their special. We ate off a place mat that had a deer staring at us.

Bryce went to Alpine Club tonight, whoo hoo! First steps towards completing his goal of climbing some mountains her in NZ.

I can't figure out how to open up our huge bottle of rum (B can't figure it out either), so I plan on bringing it to work tomorrow and asking people to help me with my problem.

Wow the wind is gusting outside right now! It roared in all of a sudden.

Cheers!

Sunny Saturday

A friend picked me up from the Wellington train station this morning and we headed for the Maranui Surf Cafe. We didn't head straight for the cafe however, we made sure to head there along the waterfront, driving on Oriental Parade. It was a gorgeous day today and we wanted to make the most of it, as it is supposed to be rainy for the rest of the 3-day weekend (Monday is the Queen's Birthday). The Maranui cafe burned down last year and only just reopened this week. It was a fabulous spot-- great decor, amazing views, friendly staff, and yummy food. I was about to order the rhubarb pancakes, but the waitress told me that the fruit was replaced by feijoa-- gasp-- my friend is the only kiwi who I've admitted to that I'm not such a fan of feijoa. Luckily there were banana and bacon pancakes I could get instead.

After breakfast we walked along Lyall Bay; we could see the snowy caps of the Kaikouras of the South Island in the distance.

I was taken downtown and introduced to the organic store Common Sense, and the clothing store Glassons, where I picked up an inexpensive merino wool top.

Hubs picked me up at the library. We tried to have dinner at Sweet Mother's Kitchen (a creole place) but it was too crowded. I had been walking around in my high-water tramping pants, so I went back to Glassons to try on some more kiwi fashion; but I was so uncomfortable. The skinny pants, the emo flannel top; I looked the look but felt like such a poser. A lot of people tend to dress quite similarly: tights or leggings, knee high black boots, skirt and a scarf, or skinny jeans, knee high boots, and a scarf. I haven't had too many new clothes in a long time because we had been saving first for the wedding and then for NZ. I decided again to be strong and just wait until I go back to the States and then I will just go crazy.

We finally had dinner at BurgerFuel (we've been meaning to go forever). They served our burgers with these flat cardboard things called "doofers" that we had to fold and figure out what their function was...they were hamburger holders.