1st Feb to 28th Feb – Birthdays, Birds & Booze

Update time again, struggling to remember so far back so please bear with me while I try and get this infernal thing up to date.

Kelly Tarlton’s

As a precursor to Aidan’s birthday we took him up to Auckland to Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World.

Aidan then spent most of the day wishing he had taken his fishing rod with him.

(Picture: As Steve Irwin once put it…Ouch!)

(Picture: Under the sea)

(Picture: A deadly creature – and a Sting-Ray)

(Picture: Something fishy)

(Picture: Do ya know what it is yet?)

(Picture: One of them colour-changing Octupus thingummys)

(Picture: Du du…dud du…du du du dud du)

Due to time constraints/length of the queue we didn’t bother going to see the penguins although Aidan has vowed to come back with Auntie Sossie and go swimming with the Stingrays.

Birthday Boy

02/02/2000 – The day that Aidan made his way into this crazy world we live in.

02/02/2010 – The day that Aidan made it to double figures. For a 10yr old he has experienced quite a lot. Doesn’t look like there is much chance of holding him back either.

(Picture: Anybody remember this little guy?)

Not so little now is he? Anyway, on the morning of February the 2nd I got woken up at a ridiculously early time of the morning by a not-so-little boy who wanted to open his prezzies.

(Picture: Aidan at stupid-o-clock)

(Picture: Having been instructed to read the cards first!)

(Picture: Hmm, a Wii controller, I don’t have a Wii Console!??)

At this point we wound Aidan up and told him that the Wii controller was so he could play on his friends Wii without having to borrow a controller. We let him stew for a few minutes until we told him to go and take a look in the spare bedroom.

(Picture: This parcel was a little heavier)

(Picture: A delighted birthday boy)

All in all I think Aidan enjoyed his birthday.

Doodles

Most of you will have heard of ‘Doodles’ by now. This is the latest addition to the household and seems to fit in quite well. It’s as crazy as anybody else here.

(Picture: Doodles)

(Picture: Do the Doodles dance)

Doodles is an Australian Rainbow Lorikeet and has a rather strange personality. Oh, and he can talk. At the moment his vocabulary is quite limited but I am planning on teaching him some “new” words. ;)

(Picture: He also likes getting his gut tickled)

Booze

February also saw a few beers, a few games of pool and all the usual nonsense.

(Picture: Da Local)

(Picture: Da Bar)

(Picture: Da Pool)

Can’t really remember what else happened. Around the weekend of the 20th we had Louise and Wade staying so Heather and Stu came over for a meal. The weather was bloody warm again with Tauranga once again being the Warmest for February.

(Picture: Aidan’s haul of Passionfruit)

So, that was February.

25th January to 31st January – UHA/ACDC

 

Still alive.  Just in case anybody was wondering.

Up Hella Aa 2010

Tuesday the 26th of January was a sad day.  Up Helly Aa arrived and I wasn’t there to be a part of it.  Thanks to the wonders of modern technology I did however get to experience it. 

2010 is the first year they have broadcast the days events live on the internet and it worked surprisingly well for a trial run.  We managed to watch them setting off at the start of the day and kept an eye on it until the burning at the end.

Between Facebook, email and other forms of digital wizardry I was kept in touch with what went on with Sigurd ‘Snake-Eye’ Ragnarsson and his band of merry men.

I was happy that the billhead and banners were appreciated by many having spent many a day and night with Rae trying to get the things to look right.

(Picture: The Billhead being moved to the Market Cross – Picture courtesy of Shetlopedia)

(Picture: One of the banners – Picture courtesy of Shetlopedia)

This year was also an interesting one as it was the first time that the a third-generation Guizer Jarl has been in charge.

(Picture: Halfdan the Black 1968, AKA Grandad – Picture courtesy of Shetland Museum)

(Picture: Ragnar Lodbrok 1987, AKA Uncle Mitnie – Picture courtesy of Shetlopedia)

(Picture: Sigurd “Snake-Eye” Ragnarsson 2010, AKA Cousin Rae

– Picture courtesy of Shetland News )

Weel done to Rae and his squad, it was good to see it all.

Tsunami

We were planning to go off fishing with a friend on the 28th but that idea was thrown out the window when we were told that impending doom due to a tsunami was imminent.  Turned out to be more like a fine day doon at Wast Voe.

For those about to Rock…

To get over the sadness of not participating in Up Helly Aa, I flew down to Wellington.  That was interesting in itself.  It is the first time that I have taken an internal flight in New Zealand and was quite surprised by the security procedures.  Or rather the lack of them.  I have never had such a relaxing time travelling through an airport in my life.  I checked in and then walked on to the plane.  No security checks, nothing.  Absolute bliss.

Lowrie picked me up from Wellington Airport and we headed back to his temporary abode.  His balcony overlooked the Parliament Buildings. 

(Picture: The iconic ‘Beehive’ and…what’s that?  Ah it’s none other than Sigurd “Snake-Eye” on the cover of the Shetland Times!!)

That afternoon we headed into town and sat outside a bar having a few beers in preparation of the night ahead.  During this time, I heard someone calling my name which was a bit odd, didn’t think very many people would know me about these parts.  Turned out it was my next-door neighbour wondering who was looking after her cat seeing as I was in Wellington.  Small world.

It was good to see Lowrie again, he hasn’t changed a bit.

(Picture: Lowrie…unchanged)

I forgot to mention the reason for the visit………..

AC/DC!

 

The 2nd video is my very own recording.  Unfortunately the speakers were too loud for my phone to pick up.  Wait until the end.

The setlist was bloody good and they played a whole bunch of old stuff as well as some of the new:-

1. Rock N’ Roll Train
2. Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hells Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. High Voltage
14. You Shook Me All Night Long
15. T.N.T.
16. Whole Lotta Rosie
17. Let There Be Rock
ENCORE
18. Highway to Hell
19. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Not bad for a bunch of old farts.

January Summary

So that was January, which has taken me an age to get up to date.  Tauranga was also the Warmest & Sunniest throughout January.

15th January to 24th January – Weather and Beasts

 

The Weather

This week started by being fairly uneventful, settling back into work after the Chrimbo break.  Not a lot to report at all.  Apart from maybe the weather, the weather is always a good conversation starter when you have bugger all else to talk about.

I have good reason to talk about the weather though.  For Christmas I got a present that I have wanted for many years.  Don’t ask me why but I just always have.  A WEATHER STATION!!

You may have noticed the banner at the top of the page which shows the current weather here in Sunny Tauranga.  This is constantly updated from the weather station which now lives in the garden outside Aidan’s bedroom.

(Picture: The NotShetland Weather Station)

Now from the picture above you may notice that I didn’t have a conveniently sized piece of wood available to attach the station to.  Tania looked less than pleased when I walked past the balcony carrying her broomstick, minus the broomhead (she’ll find another way to fly, I’m sure).

The Station itself continually updates to the base station in the house which in-turn updates to the PC which then uploads all the data to the NotShetland Weather Website at www.notshetland.com/weather/ – Eat your heart out Mr Metoffice!!

Now the great thing with this is that anybody that hasn’t had a reply to their email can see whether I am on the balcony drinking beer or not.

I managed to get the Weather Station up and running on the 2nd of January so I will hopefully have a nice gauge over the year as to how the weather has been doing.

Beasts

Aroundabout the 20th of January we got some new additions to the household.  Branston & Pickle – Not the small brown lumps of tangy-ness, although they do create quite a few, they are the names of the rabbits which have appeared.  I did suggest they be named Stu & Pot which didn’t go down terribly well.

(Picture: Branston & Pickle)

On the 23rd Aidan returned from his travels in Russell.  We had neglected to tell him about the bunny wabbits.  Needless to say, we had a very happy boy when he returned.

(Picture: Aidan discovering the rabbits)

(Picture: A happy boy)

You may notice in the photo above that a picture of a rabbit hangs on the wall above Aidan’s bed.  This was his last rabbit which Hazel & Tommy kindly adopted for a life of roaming the greenery of Yell.

I was thinking that this might remove fishing from his brain for a little while, seeing as he has done nothing but fish for the past month or so.  No such luck.  The very next day he wanted to go fishing.

(Picture: Aidan fishing…again)

That pretty much rounds up this little update.  Coming up next is Up Helly AC/DC…

8th January to 14th-ish – The Last of the Sophie Rover

Soooo, update time again.  I am getting grumps and groans from various directions that I haven’t been updating the blog enough!  At least I know that a few people are actually looking at it I suppose!  Currently about 3 months behind with updates so bear with me while I get back into realtime.

Sophie Birthday Meal

So what has happened?  Good question.  It was that long ago that I can barely remember.  Around about the 7th or 8th of January we went into town for Sophie’s birthday meal with Wade.  Quite a nice leisurely evening was had by all.  We dined out at Zeytin, a Turkish restaurant on the Strand.  A bluesy band were playing which was quite nice.  They even managed to sing Happy Birthday to Sophie which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Sophie managed to stay totally sober for the evening which was a nice change.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: Sober Sophie)

Wade also abstained.

(Picture courtesy of Tania: Wade)

Night Oot

The following night we headed out into town again.  This time for a few drams.

We spent the majority of the evening at the Cornerstone Pub where drinks flowed quite nicely.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie – Taking advice from Oli’s T-Shirt)

Unfortunately the drinks appeared to have been laced with some form of plasticine or silly putty mix.  It caused unnatural dynamics within the epidermis, dermis or hypodermis… possibly even all three.

(Picture: Cheeky!)

Mount Stroll

On the 10th of January we went for a stroll around Mount Maunganui.  This was quite uneventful apart from the fact the Sophie managed to fall in a hole.  How somebody can do this sideways is beyond me.

(Picture courtesy of Tania: Holy Sophie)

The walk around the Mount proved to be quite successful.  So much so that Sophie said she had an absolutely swinging time.

(Picture: Hangman noose fail)

We also went to the beach and had our lunch.  For me this involved half a sheep in a burger which proved quite difficult to eat.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: MmmmMmmm Lamb-burger)

Auckland Airport flood

The following day I received reports that Auckland Airport had flooded.  Flights were delayed due to the storm drains backing up.  Strange thing was that there had been no reports of rain.  To this day nobody knows where the hundreds of gallons of water came from…until now…Tania went to see Sophie off at the airport.  You know what it is like when the water pressure is so strong that it pops the hose off the tap?

Anyways, they said their goodbyes and Sophie was gone.  Until next time.

Coming up next, the return of Aidan!

1st January to 7th January – Russell to Wellsford to Auckland to Tauranga to Rotorua to Taupo to Rotorua to Tauranga

The Journey Home

On New Years Day we set off on the long trek back to Tauranga. The long trek ended up taking longer than anticipated. My poor car was struggling under the weight of the luggage and passengers and when we reached Wellsford we decided to take a good look at the rear suspension. We had hit the ground on more than one occasion and on inspection I couldn’t even fit my hand between the wheel and arch. 151km out of 439km, we weren’t even halfway!

Wellsford

I wasn’t happy to continue and took a walk through Wellsford to see if I could find any information on busses that might be passing through. Apparently not. The Wellsford population had never heard of a bus. Or at least that was the impression I got from their blank expressions and replies of, “Bus?”.

We phoned Nan to see if she could track down a bus. Unfortunately the last two seats had just been booked. We then phoned the AA to see if they could do anything, it is worth being an AA member out here as you get free maps which would cost you more than the membership if you were to buy them. The AA man turned up and gave the car a sympathetic look. His advice was that if we took it easy we might make it to Auckland.

Auckland to Tauranga

Luckily the roads between Wellsford and Auckland are quite good and we made it there in one piece. Bart, Sara and Myself disembarked and wished Tania a safe journey back to Tauranga. We had a couple of hours to waste before the bus arrived so we found a nice little bar and had a few beers.

The bus seemed to take an age. We went via Hamilton with a couple of stop-offs which probably slowed things up a bit.

We set off at about 10am and the journey would normally take about 6 hours. Bart, Sara and myself arrived in Tauranga at about 9.45pm. Then it was off to Burgerfuel for a BioFuel Burger for supper!

The following day (2nd Jan) we had a barbecue…again.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: YAB (Yet Another Barbecue)

(Picture: What was she taking a picture of?)

Bart in the meantime was in two minds about the amount of beer that he had consumed over the festive season. End it now or continue?

(Picture: Bart considering the unthinkable)

The following night we went out to Imbibe for a meal before heading back to Cruzaz for a few beers. Sophie was amazed at the upmarket clientele that frequent Cruzaz. She felt the need to leave quite early as she was feeling a little under-dressed for the occasion.

White Island

On the 5th Tania, Sophie, Sara and Bart all went to Whakatane before heading off on a boat to White Island.

White Island is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano, lying 49km off the coast and was used for Sulphur mining briefly around 1913 before a lahar killed all 10 workers at the site. The island remains on an alert level of between 1 and 2 on a scale of 1 to 5.

The Geonet website has a web camera installed to monitor any potential eruptions or changes on the island.

(Picture: Geonet.org.nz webcam)

(Picture courtesy of Tania: “Whoops, pardon me”)

(Picture courtesy of Tania: Remains of the sulphur mining operation)

Taupo

On the 6th Jan we headed to Taupo for a spin. We stopped in Rotorua for a coffee on the way.

(Picture courtesy of Sara: In the tardis that is the ‘Red Car’)

The main reason for heading to Taupo was so Sophie could receive her birthday gift. She was duly blindfolded before we arrived and when the blindfold was removed she was delighted to see that we were parked outside a Prawn Farm. She failed to notice that the Huka Falls Jet was just next door.

Bart, Sara and myself headed up to the top of the falls for a better vantage point.

(Picture: Looking down the Waikato river from the Huka Falls)

Over 220,000 litres of water passes over Huka Falls every second.

(Picture: Ah, there they are, at the front…typical)

(Picture: Everybody wave!)

(Picture: Wheeeeeee)

(Picture: Off they go)

We headed back to pick them up from Huka Falls HQ only to find out that they had booked themselves to go for another spin! This however brought the perfect opportunity for me to scuttle off next door for a beer.

After this we headed into Taupo to find the accommodation that we had booked for the night - Acapulco Motor Inn – Basic but clean enough.

(Picture stolen from web: Our accommodation)

That evening we had a takeaway by the side of Lake Taupo watching the sun go down. I am not sure if it was the noodles that Sophie had eaten or if her brain had moved slightly during the Jet Boat ride but she started exerting stranger than normal behaviour (which is very strange).

(Picture: Sophie photographing a random person’s bottom)

This was soon followed by ‘Do not push the big red button’ syndrome.

(Picture: Sophie thinking that “Dan ger" is Maori for “Do this”)

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: White balance totally off. No way my face is that orange!)

(Picture: Sunset over Lake Taupo)

That night we headed over to Finn MacCuhal’s Irish Pub where Sophie forced us to drink shooters. Seeing as it was Sophie’s birthday trip I thought it only fair that she be treated to an extra shooter. Appropriately named ‘F*ck-Up’ seemed to be a good choice with a wonderful blend of ingredients including Absinthe.

On the 7th of January it was time to bid farewell to Sara & Bart as they set off on a voyage to Wellington en-route to the South Island for the remainder of their trip. We then spent the rest of the day driving around trying to find Sophie something else stupid to do. We went for a look at the Zorb, the Agrodome, the Swoop and the Shweeb as well as a trip to the Honey Hive.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: Feeling Good Naturally, beehave!)

Then it was time to head back to Tauranga.