4th of July

This year was the third 4th of July I have spent in New Zealand. I decided that since I miss the festivities in America, I would create my own celebration.
Given that we are in the middle of winter, and there were no fireworks, it did not feel quite the same, but we had fun nonetheless. If nothing else, it was a fun excuse to make up an cook a delicious menu, have friends over, and enjoy a night listening to American music and eating way more than we should.

Thanks to the wonders of the worldwideweb, we were able to listen to some baseball games while finishing dinner preparations and decorating the house in red, white, and blue. There were 3 Americans present, so once the kiwis arrived (and one British friend), we enjoyed discussing differences in traditions and fun facts, as well as quizzing each other with the assistance of a handy-dandy book I picked up at an airport with things that every American should know. I was relieved to discover that I do in fact know a good bit of what is included in that book.

I went back and forth for quite some time on what to actually cook, but in the end decided on what seemed to be a few classics, but still reasonably easy to find everything I'd need given the season (winter) and unavailability of occasional ingredients.

Baked beans, pulled pork and chicken wings :)

Deviled eggs, potato salad, cole slaw, New York style pizza (first for me, esp at a 4th of July party).
Plus Pound cake, apple pie, brownies and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Because you just need balloons and streamers for the 4th of July :)

Fun Moments

I'm enjoying a laid-back Sunday afternoon after a morning of yard-work and thought I would share with you some things that have made me smile lately.

A while back I was out on the coastal walkway enjoying the sunshine when a group of bikers went past. This is a pretty common occurrence on the walkway, especially on warm days, but this particular group was one that I had not seen before. The group was made up of ladies from a wide age range, and all were dressed in dresses and sun hats decorated with flowers.

A cat named Mittens has adopted my building at work. While his family is away during the day he comes over and sits by the door meowing until someone lets him in. He picks a chair for the day and makes himself right at home. I was the chosen one a couple of weeks ago :)

I was at a store the other day and found American marshmallows. Marshmallows here tend to be small and either vanilla or strawberry flavored, which can be delicious but not what I hope for when making s'mores. So I was delighted when I found these, although they were bigger than what I normally buy!

I had to run an errand at lunchtime last week and when I got back to work, got to enjoy a beautiful double rainbow.

Winter is here which means cold damp windy days, but when the sun comes out and we get to see the snow-covered mountain, suddenly winter is not so bad.

Slang

I have posted a couple of times about the differences in New Zealand English and American English, but had so far avoided too much discussion on slang as it is in a category all its own. After two years, I am starting to get a grasp of it, so I thought I would share it with you. Next time conversation starts to lag a bit, just throw one of these in, should spice things back up a bit  :)

Skuxx: someone who is ultra-fashionable, such as the 15 year-olds you see walking down the street dressed like their favorite Disney star

Hoon: speedy Gonzalez (when driving)

Mufti: casual dress day (such as Mufti Friday at the office)

Chur: an expression of excitement

Bogan: Southern-Hemisphere white trash

Munted: mangled, destroyed

Sussed: sorted out, resolved

Gutted: disappointed, let down

Buggered: broken, exhausted

Shattered: more tired than buggered

Crook: really sick

Nectar: awesome!!

Wop-wops: middle of nowhere

Flat out: very busy

Chocka: really full

Togs: swimsuit

Smoko: break-time at work

Music notes

All languages have dialects, but until coming to New Zealand I had never considered that might apply to music as well. However, when I was invited to join orchestra a couple of months after arriving, I was given a slightly rude awakening as I spent the majority of the first few rehearsals attempting to decipher the meaning of terminology.

I have since learned that New Zealand uses the UK version of some music terminology. I have become accustomed to hearing the different words now, and understand their meaning, but I still find myself thinking twice to make sure I have it right. I find this especially important when teaching, as I do not want to confuse my students. I do make sure they learn both the US and UK terms though :)

Below I am including a list of some of the differences I have encountered. Apologies to my non-
musician readers if it does not make much sense:

Whole note = semibreve
Half note = minim
Quarter note = crotchet
Eighth note = quaver
Sixteenth note = semi-quaver
Thirty second note = demi-semi quaver
Sixty fourth note = hemi-demi-semi quaver (I struggle to not laugh anytime I say this one)
Fermata = pause
First ending = first time bar

There are a few more in the back of my mind, but I am failing to remember them all right now, so that will have to serve as a nice start.

On the note of musical activities, I have continued work for both schools, as well as teaching privately. I have a few new students which is enjoyable the majority of the time. I must admit to a few of the younger students at the school (5-6 year olds) trying my patience now and again, but I am certain they will prove themselves to be wonderful little dears soon.

Last month I had the joy of performing in a four-hand recital with m friend Karen who has recently moved over for a bit. We had a wonderful time putting together and learning the program, and a delightful supportive and interactive audience on recital day.

The highlight for me was our final piece, which was for one piano 6 hands. My friend Sonoko who joined me in a recital last year agreed to be our other two hands so the coordination began.
We had many a laugh and not a shortage of blunders in figuring out how to coordinate 30 fingers on the piano, but it was such a success we have been asked to perform the piece again later in the year. One of our enthusiastic fans kindly shared a video they took,which I now share with you. Hope you enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4heJ3po-S_w

Shipwrecks and lighthouses

Heading south from new Plymouth, you can either take Highway 3 towards Wellington, which goes through farmland and gently rolling hills (slightly reminiscent of the Ozarks and Southern Missouri), or take Highway 45 (also known as the Surf Highway) which follows the coast. One sunny weekend day a fellow American friend and I grabbed a guidebook and a map and headed down the Surf Highway. We had loosely decided to look for some lighthouses which we had vaguely heard mention of, and wanted to attempt to find a shipwreck that you can see from one of the beaches. Really we were looking forward to a mini adventure and enjoying what might be one of the last sunny days before the end of summer. It turned out to be preparation for me playing tour guide to my sister and her husband when they visited since we ended up having extra time to enjoy the sights of Taranaki.

We visited two lighthouses. The first was the Cape Egmont Lighthouse. This lighthouse was first erected in 1865 North of Wellington. In 1881 it was moved in pieces by steamer to Cape Egmont after its previous station was closed due to too many shipwrecks. The lighthouse is 20 meters tall (65 feet) and 33 meters(108 feet) above sea-level. The light flashes every 8 seconds and can be seen for 19 nautical miles, or 35 kilometers (21.7 miles). The lighthouse keeper was withdrawn in 1986 and the lighthouse has been fully automated since then, being operated by computer and maritime staff in Wellington.

View of the cost from the lighthouse steps

The second lighthouse was a smaller one, although I could not find the name for it. It was erected as a memorial to those who served in the first and second world wars, and has been converted to a museum, although it does still function as a lighthouse as well. We were able to go to the top of this one and see the impressive light :)

Plaque by the entrance

The modern light

View from the top

Our last stop of the day was the shipwreck. What is left on the rocky beach was once the starboard bow of the SS Gairloch. A bit further out you can also see rusty bits of the engine and boiler. The SS Gairloch was a steamer that met its end in the middle of the night on January 5, 1903. The ship was traveling from Onehunga to Wanganui, and reportedly had nearly collided with another ship shortly before it found itself stranded on the rocks of the Timaru Reef. None of the crew were injured and once day hit, they were able to return to the wreck with the aid of local folks and collect the crews possessions. The cargo on board at the time was sugar, flour, cement, drain pipes, and two carriages. Nearly all of it was salvaged. Once the cargo was removed, the wreck was sold to a local for £20, after which he proceeded to salvage as much of the ships machinery as possible. The ship had been built in 1884 and was a steel three-masted steamer weighing 373 tons, with a length of 164 feet. It was powered by two 85 horsepower engines and had a maximum speed of 11 knots. There was space for up to 20 passengers and could carry 340 tons of cargo. The Captain on board the night of the wreck was sent to an inquiry in Auckland. His certificate was suspended for 3 months as it was found he had made an error in judgement by being too close to land on such a dark night, and had to pay part of the cost of the inquiry. 

Sugar loaf islands

The ships boiler

Exploring Taranaki

Our original plan had been to head Southeast from Rotorua to the Coromandel Peninsula. However, the weather had other plans and scheduled a cyclone for the same dates. So after spending a night in Taupo, where it became apparent that the weather there was not really much better than we might have found further South, we decided to return to Taranaki. Upon consulting travel guides and the ever-knowledgeable Google, we had put together quite a list of things to see and do. Time did not allow us to tick everything off our list, but we made the most of the time, so I thought I would share a couple of the highlights.

Hiking on the Pouakai range out to Mangakotukutuku Falls:

The Stratford Glockenspiel features Romeo and Juliet four times a day as a portion of the play is ready at the top of the hour:

Rotorua

I had been to, or through, Rotorua a couple of times before but had not taken the time to do most of the “touristey” attractions. It was one of the preferred major stops on the list for my sister so I figured it was a good opportunity to finally explore the city a bit. Rotorua is the geo-thermal capital of New Zealand. My handy-dandy Lonely Planet guidebook of NZ says it has a “unique egg-ey smell,” which can be translated to “it stinks of sulphur.” But in spite ot the smell, I did appreciate that the place where we spent two nights had a nice natural hot pool, as well as the random hot pools you could stumble on around the city which were great for relaxing while soaking your feet.

We spend the first morning there exploring the city park and the redwood forest. The park offered a variety of mud and steam pools you could view. The forest was a cool, clean-smelling option for later morning that proved to be a nice contrast for getting out of the sun. The forest had excellent trails so we meandered down a few and admired the trees until we were ready to settle under a nice big one by the visitor center for a picnic lunch. The afternoon we spent as any good vacationer does, enjoying the hot pool, cooling off in the regular pool, and a kiwi BBQ for supper.

Steam pool at the park

A nice hot pool in the park where we relaxed for quite awhile

Mmmm, boiling mud

Tree men? Entrance to the Redwood forest

When we were in the planning stages of the trip, we had made an impressive list of activities and sights we wanted to do and see while in Rotorua. But the remainder of our time there was largely devoted to catching up from too long in different countries, relaxing by a lake or in the spa pool, and enjoying cups of coffee. As we prepped to leave, due to the pending storm from Hurricane Pam, we changed our original plans of heading to the Coromandel Peninsula and visited Taupo en route to returning to Taranaki for further exploration of my current stomping grounds in order to avoid the severe weather. 

Blue lake

Green lake

Huka Falls (Lake Taupo)