christchurch

we were supposed to be in christchurch for a few days. we arrived on the 28th i believe and it's now the 1st. looks like were' here till the 3d. going to check out akaroa tomorrow - IF we doint stayo ut too late again. we've lost two days here on account of that!

not much going on these days. with tom here we are mostly doing touisty things like flying downhill in giant plastic bubbles, taking ferry rides and hitting local markets.

i was pretty grouchy - well, out of sorts - the day we went zorbing. there were two sorts of zorbing one could do:

wet: you get in the ball with a bit of water. enough to slosh about in, but not enough to drown you.

dry: you sit inside the ball in a harness-style contraption

tom went wet, i went dry. it was freezing that day and the notion of sitting in public water like that, well, it didn't appeal to me. besides, with the dry balls (giggle) you got tossed around more. upside down, sideways, bouncy, etc. with the wet balls (giggle) you kinda slide the whole way. slosh about like.

i wasn't too excited about it at first, but i'm glad i ended up going.

the perfect meal

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so we had a kind of quiet day today. we're settled in to wellington, new zealand for a few days and slept in till eleven. after dumping the washing on the hotel staff, we headed out on a mission:

tom wanted some cool shoes
andy wanted a sweater
i wanted some of the trendy skinny jeans all the kids are wearing
check out the local photography supply place's stash of crumpler bags

so we headed out down cuba street in search of coffee and brekkie. found both along with a fantastic lemon meringue pie at revive. after bowls of flat white we were ready to brave the freezing wind.

i'd forgotten how fat shopping for pants in new zealand makes me feel. back in the states i am a size eight. here, i am a fourteen - twelve if it's stretchy. it's enough to drive a girl to cut. i tried explaining this to the boys by saying, imagine someone's given you a box with a hole cut in the side. they expect you to put your dick in the box, filling the hole cause that's the same size hole everyone else your size uses. however you find your dick barely fills it at all. no go be happy with yourself and that knowledge. i take solace in the fact that there are very very few women with slender builds and big round asses here.

:: sigh::

so i find a pair of stretchy size twelves at jay jays and go merrily about my day. andy finds a great sweater and some shirts at Hallister, tom buys a jacket there but never scores on the shoes.


around five the shops begin shutting down (on a saturday even) and we begin the trek back to the hotel. we'd noticed the Floridita on the way out and stopped to peruse the menu posted out front. while discussing wether to go in or head up to the sushi joint three doors away, a passerby enthusiastically recommends we eat at Floriditas and further that we order up an elderflower martini. that was enough for us so we headed in.

yeeeee ummmmmm!

the atmosphere was great. kind of french provincial meets diner decor. and there it was at the top of the menu
Elderflower and
Rose Martini
$14

"One, please."

the boys ordered a starter of a sharp goat cheese, mustard fig and homemade crackers. the goat cheese was predictably repulsive but the boys loved it. the fig was soaked in honey and mustard grains, very nice. the crackers reminded me of pita chips.

andy ordered up an $8.50 bottle of organic apple juice - no added anything, just pure squished apples - and let me tell you it was worth every penny. kind of like apple water only lighter. tom had a local cabernet and then my martin arrived.
2 parts bombay sapphire
1 part elderflower cordial
1 part dry vermouth
the smell of it was incredible. a sparse sprinkling of dried rose petals gave it a very light fragrance that was superb if you smelled it up whiles sippin. i don't particularly care for martinis and i despise gin so you can bet i was surprised when i found out what was in it.

i ordered another when the entrees came. for dinner i wasn't too hungry. i ordered a side of wilted kale in garlic ginger and a dessert of eccles (a sort of phyllo cookie with fruit mince inside) and irish cheddar. after the meal i ordered up some candied orange and dark chocolate macaroons and a muscat. i didn't feel terribly stuffed but very satisfied.

best meal in a long while. thank you, floriditas.

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Elderflower Cordial and Other Elderflower Drinks by Andy Hamilton

Sky City Casino Story

So we were really sleepy Friday night and although we'd talked about walking over to Sky city's Casino, it looked as though we would stay in and wow. but around ten i'd gotten bored killing mages and elementals in Dalaran and said, Yes, I want to go over to the casino now. so we rallied and got freshened up. the walk over was chilly without my parka, but not enough to pout about it.

Sky City was a freaking zoo. even at ten thirty. I was so glad we didn't stay there as per my initial suggestion. we hit the atm up for $400 and took the lift up to the casino. the place was flooded with japanese ladies and maori kids. andy sat at one $25 blackjack table that i didn't really like - i wasn't feeling it, as we say. too many sour faces. no one having fun. he lost $150 in about fifteen minutes. so i encouraged him to move on. doing so, we found a better table. one japanese dude in the last seat and two drunken australians in seats one and two. we sat at three.

At Sky City blackjack you have some "Perfect Pair" options. If you get two of a kind off-suited, it pays out 6 to 1 - IF you bet on it to hit. If you get two of a kind suited, it pays out 25 to 1. again, IF you bet on it to hit.

when we sat down, the two aussies were down and eventually out. i'd asked them if this "Perfect Pair" thing had ever hit. they said they'd never seen it. shortly they left. shortly after that, our japanese fellow at the last seat hit the suited perfect pair on a $25 bet. raked it in. he hit it again about five minutes later. a crowd was starting to gather. the off-suited perfect pairs started rolling in for him. about one every sixth hand. two other people were betting on his hand. after a string of losses we bought in for another $100 (yes, now in for $300) and our luck started to turn around.

they has the magic set up. andy was at seat three buffering the cards and the japanese guy was last and raking in it. we were having a ball and up $200.

then andy had to pee.

so i sat in for him, nervous as hell. first hand lost. second hand busted. third hand i bet on the japanese guy's perfect pair and my own hit with off-suited sixes. i hadn't bet on it. fourth hand blackjack, so i let that win ride and bet $50 on the japanese guy's hand and $25 on both perfect pairs. we both won hand five. andy was gone not five minutes and i'd turned his $500 in to $800. i quickly colored up that $300 profit before his return and shoved it in to my pocket.

when andy returned there was a reasonably sized group gathered around us betting on both our hand and the japanese guy's hand. we couldn't loose. i lost track of how much was being won by those around us when i downed my third jack n diet. the perfecet pairs kept coming and the dealer kept busting. when we had $1500 i convinced andy to walk away. we felt bad cause of all the money we were winning for everyone. but the japanese guy's luck had failed the last two hands and i knew we were next.

we won a lot of people a lot of money and we went out on top. turned $300 in to $1500. not too shabby.

Properties Spotted

Paihia Waterfront $110 800


Houhora Lodge and Homestay


Fantastic Property $2 700 000


Hideawy Lodge $


Paihia Surrounds: Tio Bay $


Mangonoui $


Paihia Surrounds


Paihia Backpackers


Russell Flagstaff Lodge $2 000 000


Russell Bay Lodge

hectare

 
1 hectare = 2.47105381 acres

Seatofour Pants Air, First Class

I had booked us to stay a week in Taupo [map] at the lovely Lakeside Villas. A bit of a bore aesthetically, but ideally located, allegedly accessible and an apartment-style suite. We are considering Taupo because it is a time-tested holiday destination already with local activities to suit our accessible needs. We'd pretty much be buying in to an already successful, tried and true venture. However, I find the whole thing very boring despite its proximity to Rotorua [map] where We had a great time taking in the smells and colors our last visit.

Champagne Springs of Wai-O-Tapu.

You may tell by my tone, I wasn't too excited about this. However, it was a sound destination, it was accessible and ... well, that's it. In true follow-up fashion, I phoned the Villas the day before our arrival. Actually, I attempted to phone them for an entire day, but their line was engaged so I sent off an email. A representative from the Villas phoned me the next morning, the morning of our arrival, and, long story short, we learned that not only was our suite not accessible, it was on the second floor. After struggling with schedules and the prospect of refunds, I was surprisingly unnerved by the whole deal whereas Andy was stressed to the max. After a few hours exchanging phone calls and speaking to many resort staffers, the resort liason called us back with an alternative. He asked if we'd be amenable to staying up in Paihia [more here for my reference] [map] at the Bishop Selwyn (link later).

Paihia is MUCH farther up on my list of Great Areas to Scout in New Zealand. Nearby is Kerikeri, my first love of the North Island, Mangonui and Russell. Also, the resort liason (Ken) got us a much better apartment at the Bishop Selwyn than we would have had at the Lakeside Villas.


All in all, I'm very happy with this bit of serendipity.

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List of Cities Areas of Interest
and Why

• Northland - North shore area of Auckland. Close to airport, major city and countless attractions
  
• Bay of Islands - Reasonably priced property, more rural, more options for our own resort activities.
  
• Wellington
• Taupo/Rotorua - Established holiday destination, Volcanic and historic activities.
  
• Coromandel Peninsula - Beautiful. Remote and loads of outdoor activities.
  
• Perth
• Southwestern Australia - Wine country
• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Gold Coast - Great Barrier Reef
  

NOTE: Ask me about the "Gimp On The Go Alliance."
Yet to come: Photos so far at Flickr

potential fun

Thu 02/08/07 08:00 PM	Christina Aguilera	Find Tickets
Fri 03/08/07 08:00 PM	Christina Aguilera	Find Tickets

Tue 14/08/07 07:45 PM	The Cure (Allocated Seating)	Find Tickets
Tue 14/08/07 07:45 PM	The Cure (General Admission)	Find Tickets

Martinis for Monkeys
August 18: Auckland Zoo hosts Martinis for Monkeys, raising money for orang-utans through the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project (SOCP). There will be special monkey cocktails, tiger beer, live music and an auction. Tickets $25 (includes glass of bubbles, nibbles and discounted cocktails), available from the zoo, ph 360 3805.

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Minus 5 Degree Everything is made of ice the walls, the bar, the sculptures, the seats and even the glasses that you enjoy our famous vodka based cocktails in. Once commencing the tour, guests are kitted out into ice gear which includes sheepskin lined jackets, gloves and booties.

the flight went by incredibly fast. felt more like flying to cincinnati than the opposite side of the planet.

finally got to see hot fuzz and man did it bring the silly. i really like edgar wright's style of direction. edgar wright is to the quick-cuts montage as john woo is to slow mo and doves. i giggled and giggled. then i checked out pathfinder. while the sotry was very interesting (abandoned pale viking boy, the son of brutal savages, finds an adopted home among the peaceful brown natives. bloodthirsty vikings return years later to slaughter said natives and find a mighty warrior who knows their ways, language and weaknesses.) poor cinematography, really dark, high contrast filters and overused dramitc embelishments. oh and the natives speak a flowery english-as-we-know-it, yet the vikings speak, well, apparently viking. this should have been shot like the new world. would have been much more effective.

i flipped on the first lord of the rings movie and fell asleep before bilbo's birthday party. but then, that's precisely why i loaded the movie. sometime during my sleep, the steward tried to rouse me and get me to eat something in the way of a blueberry smoothie. while that sounded amazing, i couldn't be bothered. a bit later he came by with some eggs and bacon that smelled wonderful, but still, i couldn't be bothered. when the captain came on and insisted everyone wake up, sit up and collect their things cause we're about to land in auckland, i was quite surprised. felt like maybe four hours had gone by. i'd slept like a stone.

the spirit is quite different here. a sort of happy peace. almost a silly peace. the morning sky was beautiful. we got in around 7am and there'd been storms all night. the clouds were pink and the sky was gold and blue. the lights of the airport were brilliant and the lighting in general couldn't've been better. my camera was buried in the luggage.