tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17111737467828394832024-03-14T05:41:54.285+13:004kiwiwannabesA Family of Four from Northern California On an Adventure in Wellington, New ZealandJoannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-41589925560517296252009-02-12T19:14:00.001+13:002009-02-12T19:15:35.153+13:00What Happens to Old Wannabes?Maybe they turn into <a href="http://4kiwihasbeens.blogspot.com/">New Hasbeens</a>?Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070951525184172272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-4158900706701061382009-02-09T14:38:00.007+13:002009-02-10T12:16:47.000+13:00At Adventure's EndInsert pithy quote:<br /><br /><blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">“A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short.”</span><br /><br />---Bertrand Russell; English Logician and Philosopher 1872-1970<br /></blockquote><br />So our adventure in New Zealand is at its end. We've all but actually flown back home, having tied up our affairs here in Wellington. We're essentially just waiting for the last few loose ends to get strapped down and we'll be setting foot on a plane with enough baggage accompanying us to let us persist back in Marin until the Big Crate arrives.<br /><br />The quote above works for me, because this experience has been potentially the second (or third) best thing I've ever done (next to having Zoe and Haley and marrying my wife Joanne.) I've never felt more American or been more aware of what I'm made of than I am right now. How can you really see it without putting it first into contrast with your surroundings? Thanks to having the guts to step outside of our comfort zone, we've learned where we end and our environment begins. And that environment is peopled with loving family members, dear friends, and a culture that we took for granted for many decades.<br /><br />It's also time to call it and head back home. Duty (familial and otherwise) calls us back to our brown and familiar land. I have nothing but gratitude for the country and company that took me in and let me see this side of the world---not as a tourist or traveler coming through for a look at arms' length---as a native sees it. We drew our livelihood from the same springs as the natives, lived shoulder to shoulder in the drafty old houses with the natives, and enjoyed the natural beauty of this green and sodden land as the natives do. And that is the biggest gift of all.<br /><br /><blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.”</span><br /><br />---Andre Gide; French writer, humanist and moralist, 1947 nobel prize for literature, 1869-1951<br /><br /></blockquote>There's no coincidence that our trip corresponded with the year of my 40th birthday. I'd never felt so uncertain and ill at ease with the comfortable suburban lifestyle that I'd fought so hard to put in place.<br /><br /><blockquote> <span style="font-style: italic;">“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”</span><br /><br />---Nelson Mandela; 1994 South African Statesman, 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace, 1918-<br /><br /></blockquote>So that's probably enough of the extremely fitting but incredibly pretentious quotes. I was actually just hunting around on the web looking for observations people have made about leaving home, going off and doing something to the chagrin of their community and then returning home again. There are tons. We're not the first people to try this. We're not the first people to learn something significant in the process. It makes me feel a little warm and fuzzy to know that we made it through and that most of our community still accept us.<br /><br />There are a ton of things we're going to miss about Wellington life---A list so long as to be innumerable. But as we bring to a close the "Four Kiwi Wannabes" and start up the "Four Kiwi Hasbeens" it's worth drawing up a big list in no particular order to help us remember and to call out what we appreciated the most.<br /><ul><li>Kebabs - in the manner they're prepared here</li><li>Roti - where has this stuff been all my life?</li><li>EFTPOS - accepted everywhere, including places without electricity and running water?</li><li>km's instead of miles - everything here in Wellington is close and convenient</li><li>Public Transport - Wellington has shown me the way. I'm a believer. I love it.</li><li>Slow down - the pace of life here is slower, more relaxed, less riddled with compulsive urgency and impatience---yet things get done</li><li>People - friendly, helpful, open, interested, agreeable, trustworthy</li><li>Safe - the kids can play outside the restaurant on Cuba Mall unsupervised and we trust they'll be safe. Women walk home from bars at night unaccompanied.<br /></li><li>Green - god it's lush here... you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some of the lushest and greenest wilderness</li><li>Lamb - delicious here. Ask for ewe. Better than aged beef steaks here. Seriously.</li><li>Cadbury Milk Chocolate - deserves its own level on the Food Pyramid... preferably close to the bottom</li><li>more to come...<br /></li></ul>We'll add to that as more occurs to us and keep posting what we come up with. I just wanted to get started.<br /><br />We'll also probably start listing what we DON'T appreciate too, as part of due diligence and fair warning.<br /><br />Thanks for reading. It's been great blogging during this past year. Hopefully it's something we'll continue to d0 in the much less adventurous but surely just as satisfying years to come.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070951525184172272noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-81851155209529676432009-02-09T19:40:00.002+13:002009-02-09T19:44:36.976+13:00On the Same Note...<div style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic; ">"Adventures are a logical and reliable result - and have been since at least the time of Odysseus - of the fatal act of leaving one's home, or trying to return to it again. All adventure happens in that damned and magical space, wherever it may be found or chanced upon, which least resembles one's home. As soon as you have crossed your doorstep or the county line, into that place where the structures, laws, and conventions of your upbringing no longer apply, where the support and approval (but also the disapproval and repression) of your family and neighbors are not to be had: then you have entered into adventure, a place of sorrow, marvels and regret."<br /></div><div style="text-align: right; font-style: italic; "><br />-Michael Chabon<span>, </span><span>'Gentlemen of the Road'</span><br /></div><div><br /></div>That's my favorite "adventure" quote and one I've been saving for a long while to put on the blog. I kept waiting for the perfect moment because it was such the perfect sentiment to me. I agree with everything Steve said in his beautiful post previous to this one. I look forward to seeing you, friends and family, very, very soon. Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-54400517989521655802008-12-26T19:54:00.002+13:002008-12-27T10:30:57.101+13:00Staglander 2: The Chickening<table style="width:auto;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4nhbFqT9uae7ihrPl8bMfw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2yqb4Imcjug/SVR7WD5mowI/AAAAAAAAIbg/61FUaecH7OA/s800/IMG_3947.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/smariotti/Staglands?feat=embedwebsite">Staglands</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Yesterday we visited the <a href="http://www.staglands.co.nz/">Staglands Wildlife Reserve</a> <br /><br />And it was extremely extremely cool. As cool as holding a chicken up to your face. Actually, cooler than that.<div><br /></div><div>Basically <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Staglands </span>is the biggest most beautiful and lush and well-kept and healthy-looking petting zoo you've ever seen. It's about an hour north of Wellington proper out in the Akatarawa Valley (pronounced Akaratawa Valley) nestled in a dense and green valley amongst steeply sloping hills. To get there required turning off of the main highway in Upper Hutt and following an extremely winding one lane road around many completely blind turns best negotiated witha kind of furtive terror. There were two single-lane bridges over a stream and a riverbed, two blueberry farms (one of which doubled as a emu farm,) and a handful of art galleries and/or sculpture gardens.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the way out there we found a place called "<a href="http://www.efildoog-nz.com/">Efil Doog</a>" which advertised 11 acres of gardens, sculptures, galleries and riperian beauty and which we took to be some British-Isles-sounding Gaelic or Welsh phrase meaning "art gardens" until Zoe pointed out that it's just "Good Life" spelled backwards.<br /><br /></div><div>Staglands itself charges admission. It cost us $40 for a family admission to the Reserve, which seems pretty steep for a nature reserve and set my teeth on a skeptical edge until later when a few very tame Kea (native alpine parrots) completely won me over and I warmed up entirely to the whole experience. By the end, the admission price hardly seemed like enough for the sort of experience we had and I really can't recommend it enough as a day-long family outing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The whole idea is that the park arranges animals so that people can get right up to them and interact. The creator/owner/maintainer asserts that intimate and personal interactions with animals can be life changing. From the web page:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; "><h1 style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-variant: normal; margin-top: 30px; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; ">Aims of the Reserve<img src="http://www.staglands.co.nz/images/line2.gif" /></h1><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; "></p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; "><em>"It is my belief that an enormously rewarding and lifelong appreciation of wildlife can be kindled by a brief, intense encounter with an animal or a bird. Ideally this will be in the wilds of our beautiful bush, maybe on a farm or even at home with grandma's budgie. Few children or adults have such an opportunity nowadays.</em></p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; "><em>Staglands is my attempt to provide that encounter in an environment that is as good as I can possibly make it.</em></p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; "><em>Native animals, birds and plants need our help. Many are unlikely to survive without our willingness to provide huge ongoing funding in the form of donations, taxes and physical effort. That willingness to provide help, I believe, is more likely if an interest has been kindled by an enjoyable, first hand experience, as can be obtained at Staglands."</em></p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(86, 93, 48); font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px; ">John Simister.</p></span>And I'd have to say he achieves his goals in spades.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a slideshow of us interacting with well-hand-tamed and lovingly-reared animals of all varieties (many "wild" animals raised in captivity.) There are a lot of conservation efforts underway at Staglands as well. It's not JUST the Coolest Petting Zoo Ever Conceived.</div><div><br /><div><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5283973500196881841%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /></div></div>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-69676100154429221462008-12-17T20:57:00.006+13:002008-12-18T10:58:54.934+13:00Goodbye, Zaida<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIsVqbDaK3OFTSavUxxqxaaQm_ljpJXCoOWeY5C99i87YUpAx3pcMo2URZARSJd26EVTNusIvcyI0_4Ceyo3ABr7VlrpZwzQ_7BhcHmb7KErgz78_w_A0K74OvQdn1SdhAcoR1EhYJmqX/s1600-h/chadsf&ed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIsVqbDaK3OFTSavUxxqxaaQm_ljpJXCoOWeY5C99i87YUpAx3pcMo2URZARSJd26EVTNusIvcyI0_4Ceyo3ABr7VlrpZwzQ_7BhcHmb7KErgz78_w_A0K74OvQdn1SdhAcoR1EhYJmqX/s400/chadsf&ed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280666019852909074" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Our family is sad tonight. Goodbye, Ed. Goodbye, Zaida. We love you.<br /><br /><i>Ha-Makom y'nachem et'khem b'tokh sh'ar avelei Tziyon viyrushalayim<br /><br /></i>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-69817967166945603842008-12-14T15:12:00.003+13:002008-12-14T15:29:56.973+13:00For Zaida...<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxBL-VBkm_oRxs8vNlr4cYj_F0LywTaIqz5ph_XC3XME8e5Lbf0WUOjGNPDtR7IeNg3un13Gd11AeEOp5TDyg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz0ic6ZYkdpUsKA2GkC9NrxNG23HqPMLmceOvXymkjpIkL1MLnhjEGB0c7yLi6MI-r7t9upvCEvcGh2e29i6A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-42276265671575600772008-12-11T21:05:00.003+13:002008-12-11T22:00:27.732+13:00How to Speak New ZillundAfter almost 10 months I feel secure in saying the Kiwis and I finally understand each other. I no longer get the glassy-eyed stares and a long pause after I finish my sentences, during which the Kiwi I'm speaking to replays what I have just said in their head, so that they can decipher and make sense of my heavy, staccato-ed, American-accented words. I understand, and am comfortable using, the local slang, so that I'm not having to break the flow of a lively conversation with sidebar explanations of the meanings and etymologies of every other word or expression.<div><br /><div>Working with children all day, it has been necessary to amend my words to be understood. It became a matter of needing to speak "correctly" to them. Considering that for half my day I am teaching very young students which letters make what sounds, and how to sound out words with them, it would do no good to teach them using my American English pronunciations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lately Steve has been very amused with me when he catches me using the Kiwi pronunciations at home. In all honesty, it's just pure laziness on my part. Take the word "chance" for example. Or take the word, "example" even. Take any word with the "a like apple" sound, and replace it with the "o like octopus" sound. Now try to say it. See? It's just <strike>lazier</strike> easier to say. </div><div><br /></div><div>And for a short lesson in the real Kiwi pronunciations, I give you the following. Unfortunately, this was one of those viral email things so I don't know where this first appeared or who to give credit for it. My friend Brandie was the first to bring it to my attention. Thanks, Brandie! Click on the image to enlarge it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXp3GNBKxUSLTFMkVt85I2UykhBeoP9UvebIPYUNyhMdH8X-i1uKy7EH8dHANqVOxc2UVhilPoZjOROJyIjjSdxXt_zTpQB2d1lagT8suMUo2qISQPsvHhBz4vJj4gWh2qmv1hLAA_IbUq/s1600-h/how-to-speak-new-zillund-thumb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXp3GNBKxUSLTFMkVt85I2UykhBeoP9UvebIPYUNyhMdH8X-i1uKy7EH8dHANqVOxc2UVhilPoZjOROJyIjjSdxXt_zTpQB2d1lagT8suMUo2qISQPsvHhBz4vJj4gWh2qmv1hLAA_IbUq/s400/how-to-speak-new-zillund-thumb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278440675740806130" /></a></div></div>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-67687195930412027432008-12-10T11:46:00.009+13:002008-12-10T12:44:07.396+13:00The Many Faces of HaleyI was surprised that several of you expressed concern for our Haley after viewing the family elf dance a couple posts ago. The truth is, we have a bit of ham on our hands, and it verges on impossible to get a nice, Christmas-card-photo-esque picture of her these days. She's constantly pulling faces, or laughing with her mouth wide open or otherwise being an utter goofball. I've tried explaining to her that some day when she's older she might wish she had smiled pretty for the camera, but folks, she's just not <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> girl and we wouldn't have her any other way.<br /><br />So, to put your minds at ease, (I'm talking to you, The Grandmas) I present to you "The Many Faces of Haley" including the original photo that she chose to use for her elf. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uiqh6jLENjFdWFv90nZCmxNL05TPl-O_FUa2LvbBNvqitVqEzLwn0GrVs9ZN-qe2IwR25_ozHRDzGmChbU6Sg3Uv89VqkwwhpJwaBibHNG3-NpDtpFP4WbvDrKVhUoooXJNh52xLHSzp/s1600-h/Around+Wellington+and+Weta+Cave+104.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uiqh6jLENjFdWFv90nZCmxNL05TPl-O_FUa2LvbBNvqitVqEzLwn0GrVs9ZN-qe2IwR25_ozHRDzGmChbU6Sg3Uv89VqkwwhpJwaBibHNG3-NpDtpFP4WbvDrKVhUoooXJNh52xLHSzp/s400/Around+Wellington+and+Weta+Cave+104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277934367732349746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXcowiB5umTo5Y4RIVK6RADbR11NOMuohjPGncPHqENWu3NtaQC1VmKivyOYunYROqkmNXcHhfKUCJFzwjquq2XVJw8myTMwNosGZ_VXCL2mDd47nCYl87oSLIL_0i4bXv7SNlCN7KPKZ/s1600-h/IMG_3560.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXcowiB5umTo5Y4RIVK6RADbR11NOMuohjPGncPHqENWu3NtaQC1VmKivyOYunYROqkmNXcHhfKUCJFzwjquq2XVJw8myTMwNosGZ_VXCL2mDd47nCYl87oSLIL_0i4bXv7SNlCN7KPKZ/s400/IMG_3560.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277933707438002178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfqwH_ijsDSM6s8d9-tol2Kw3JSaVGhxTiMrLpCLj7nmeAk11k6W1Nss79q05ovO534H85WJDyr0VfezkmHUT1DlO5vxSNqbzy7EWp9xNtyq_gXR4TrcnUE6cVzltg51wNZ7yxKRvIAUKa/s1600-h/Kelburn+and+Wadestown+037_1244x829.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfqwH_ijsDSM6s8d9-tol2Kw3JSaVGhxTiMrLpCLj7nmeAk11k6W1Nss79q05ovO534H85WJDyr0VfezkmHUT1DlO5vxSNqbzy7EWp9xNtyq_gXR4TrcnUE6cVzltg51wNZ7yxKRvIAUKa/s400/Kelburn+and+Wadestown+037_1244x829.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277933698975349122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39juxLYNvUSwmpE8aPwSrU5R_6M3bQYy_YBiX-VCEYulVwmFnPp1pu5Z91Rrt0swUxCAdO3vv5NQSeHsFLJWmyR75hcXm9sm9OPjOcicSgbghx55yuB3dUDYxfj6zuXgR7KogMI3YEsIz/s1600-h/IMG_2882.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39juxLYNvUSwmpE8aPwSrU5R_6M3bQYy_YBiX-VCEYulVwmFnPp1pu5Z91Rrt0swUxCAdO3vv5NQSeHsFLJWmyR75hcXm9sm9OPjOcicSgbghx55yuB3dUDYxfj6zuXgR7KogMI3YEsIz/s400/IMG_2882.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277932732806089666" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYpbxqxt9lyeozwYp1VxfE9vpRfvkzYDgwdakD-_ulEkV6gWxXrTIh8ILKUplTeC_X2Ps5jMnpmhAjL_YObu0hkTCgLsCHLaeLj7ieMD1wyY2LafWunZKCLU4e__gh1iBUkG9aa7jeYP2/s1600-h/Departure+and+Arrival+034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYpbxqxt9lyeozwYp1VxfE9vpRfvkzYDgwdakD-_ulEkV6gWxXrTIh8ILKUplTeC_X2Ps5jMnpmhAjL_YObu0hkTCgLsCHLaeLj7ieMD1wyY2LafWunZKCLU4e__gh1iBUkG9aa7jeYP2/s400/Departure+and+Arrival+034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277929274092368098" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkWXgo4wi26CAJXa8kTU-X4XwNL024Wt-JzoX9UWfQGPpyveuwMOI3CXzq_ZZGL-LxX_qTX7c1wDba4V_lodZLNn6QQyKyUTwVsHVV5QsSsUjVDkwiF-gvl84J365gaj3bvJ3KF81Diet/s1600-h/Going+Away+092.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkWXgo4wi26CAJXa8kTU-X4XwNL024Wt-JzoX9UWfQGPpyveuwMOI3CXzq_ZZGL-LxX_qTX7c1wDba4V_lodZLNn6QQyKyUTwVsHVV5QsSsUjVDkwiF-gvl84J365gaj3bvJ3KF81Diet/s400/Going+Away+092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277927368056630978" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfL2YfWsxAzP4Xm-y_GirK9ydfYFU6qJ3RtFLoeGr_DJjiC0R3guswvIPuV5DW256rvwzkBbvzdIhrCW19xo-Z27k3CqGwgotIyK51AeuWFqrGxRvbRRWC8f8DVkukUw4ngk_GxS5NgoE/s1600-h/Sunday+with+the+Stephens+035.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfL2YfWsxAzP4Xm-y_GirK9ydfYFU6qJ3RtFLoeGr_DJjiC0R3guswvIPuV5DW256rvwzkBbvzdIhrCW19xo-Z27k3CqGwgotIyK51AeuWFqrGxRvbRRWC8f8DVkukUw4ngk_GxS5NgoE/s400/Sunday+with+the+Stephens+035.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277937781715805890" border="0" /></a>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-82171860357835679692008-12-09T21:14:00.006+13:002008-12-09T22:15:24.969+13:00Magical Elves!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqoCE3l4qUxnCpxAAqJv-mqGu6sKUTCrRJyB9FQSXymwDTdQ4lO0FEY8U3wJr4KmoeB9dGVZxZsDGT2c9dBw6gUacaOvFENXORxftM8VrkOrofGEa4x8Psa55WD03Rx09K0dJyZ-HW5CS/s1600-h/magicalelves_header_1227057479441+(1).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 391px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqoCE3l4qUxnCpxAAqJv-mqGu6sKUTCrRJyB9FQSXymwDTdQ4lO0FEY8U3wJr4KmoeB9dGVZxZsDGT2c9dBw6gUacaOvFENXORxftM8VrkOrofGEa4x8Psa55WD03Rx09K0dJyZ-HW5CS/s400/magicalelves_header_1227057479441+(1).jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277709931412219634" /></a><br />The best part of celebrating the holidays while living in a foreign land is being able to partake of the local customs and traditions...oh, who am I kidding? It's all about the chocolate, folks.<br /><br />As I may have mentioned in previous posts, Cadbury is huge here. There is a big ol' factory in Dunedin with a tourist attraction called "Cadbury World". I'm conjuring up images of Willy Wonka, but I think in actuality it is just a factory tour. Cadbury may have originally been a Brit company, but to Kiwis it is their own. Soon after we got here I read a statistic about how much chocolate the average Kiwi eats in a year, and it's a lot. I'm too lazy to dig up that factoid but it's a good one.<br /><br />Recently the stores have become jam-packed with huge displays of Christmas assortments of Cadbury chocolates. On our weekend on the South Island, which I will try to post about soon, our family consumed more of this stuff than I am comfortable admitting.<br /><br />By far the very most awesomest discovery of the many Christmas-themed candies we sampled were the <a href="http://www.cadbury.co.nz/Products/Magical-Elves.aspx">Magical Elves</a>. What chocolate-making genius thought of these and why don't we have them in the States?! They're little elf-shaped chocolates, each named for a gem, and given a puckish description. The one I ate this morning read, "Aquamarine is a talented musician who plays to inspire the elves to enjoy themselves and work harder, but is a bit of a farty pants." <br /><br />But the best part, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">magic </span>part, is that they're not just plain old delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk. They have pop rocks in them! Don't tell them, but I'm sending some of these home to my niece and nephew who I just know will get a huge kick out of them. Below is the official "Story of the Magical Elves" from the Cadbury NZ website.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 6, 101); font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;"><div class="Paragraph" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><div class="paragraph_item" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; clear: both; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">The Story of the Magical Elves®</strong></p><div class="Paragraph" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><div class="paragraph_item" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; clear: both; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; ">Many, many moons ago, Santa heard about some magical elves from the South Pole who were mischievous, but oh so very clever. These crafty creatures had magic dust that made amazing cogs in one zap! But how could Santa get them to come and work for him? …A-HA!! Santa had an idea. Elves adore chocolate. So, in return for making toys, Santa would treat them to a delicious year’s supply! The elves jumped for joy! Each Christmas since then, Santa chooses eight hopeful elves who are sucked through a secret tunnel up the Earth’s centre to his workshop where they merrily make toys for all the world’s girls and boys. But, there was just one small problem. The elves kept sneaking off to eat chocolate before they’d finished their work! Thankfully, Santa had a little plan…he put magical popping dust in the chocolate so a naughty elf could be heard and promptly popped back to work! Now all the presents are finished on time. So next time you’re nibbling a Cadbury magical elf, remember those rascally elves are too! Can you hear them? They can hear you!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; "><br /></p></div></div></div></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">ed note: Did anyone notice that this is the second, actually third, post about elves on this blog? I'm thinking of switching us over to an all-elf format, what do you think?</span> </div>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-24816207090329780402008-12-04T13:22:00.002+13:002008-12-04T19:28:27.921+13:00Updated Dancing Elf Family<div style="background-color:#e9e9e9; width: 425px;"><object id="A679684" quality="high" data="http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?external_make_id=KMRKXHTM6JbfvCyX&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="319" width="425"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?external_make_id=KMRKXHTM6JbfvCyX&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself"><param name="scaleMode" value="showAll"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="FlashVars" value="external_make_id=KMRKXHTM6JbfvCyX&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object><div style="text-align:center; width:435px; margin-top:6px;">Send your own <a href="http://www.elfyourself.com/">ElfYourself</a> <a href="http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables">eCards</a></div></div><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTIyODM1MDA3ODYzMyZwdD*xMjI4MzUwMTIyMTQzJnA9NDE4ODEzJmQ9MjAyNjc1Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTImdD*mbz1mZWY1NThjNGM2NjY*MmQ1YjAxODY4MGViYjMwMGU4NA==.gif" />Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-56964533354082991422008-12-04T08:50:00.001+13:002008-12-04T08:50:09.382+13:00Merry Christmas!<div style='background-color:#e9e9e9; width: 425px;'><object id='A587819' quality='high' data='http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?external_make_id=PcbaEf0AMjEyDN9n&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='transparent' height='319' width='425'><param name='wmode' value='transparent'></param><param name='movie' value='http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?external_make_id=PcbaEf0AMjEyDN9n&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself'></param><param name='scaleMode' value='showAll'></param><param name='quality' value='high'></param><param name='allowNetworking' value='all'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /><param name='FlashVars' value='external_make_id=PcbaEf0AMjEyDN9n&service=sendables.jibjab.com&partnerID=ElfYourself'></param><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='always'></param></object><div style='text-align:center; width:435px; margin-top:6px;'>Send your own <a href='http://www.elfyourself.com'>ElfYourself</a> <a href='http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables'>eCards</a></div></div><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTIyODMzMzczODIwNSZwdD*xMjI4MzMzNzYzMDA2JnA9NDE4ODEzJmQ9MjAyNjc*Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTImdD*mbz*5MmU2OWQ5MjBmMTg*MjY2OWRkNDMxNDZkZDUyZDcxOA==.gif" />Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-49432072925552419582008-11-28T08:18:00.001+13:002008-11-28T08:20:04.545+13:00Happy Thanksgiving!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGueVZm4ZDxZy5GO7NtzL6_1fWlLN41o6khShIB23tkXbYXJPHp0Ja6-XeNU9u_lO9KDQ6clp9gYE_tP_bA6SbdloAKtBhhWK6OzsYHHhW_XYHbVY-SWQmWT066E3ks3rftZ85386ScHcu/s1600-h/rockwell_thanksgiving.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGueVZm4ZDxZy5GO7NtzL6_1fWlLN41o6khShIB23tkXbYXJPHp0Ja6-XeNU9u_lO9KDQ6clp9gYE_tP_bA6SbdloAKtBhhWK6OzsYHHhW_XYHbVY-SWQmWT066E3ks3rftZ85386ScHcu/s400/rockwell_thanksgiving.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273419217901485042" /></a>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-33012969771241345032008-11-23T10:43:00.005+13:002008-11-23T10:58:09.003+13:00New Zealand Birds<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8Tr6lVI6Eqf89YUCv6_9Xw"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2yqb4Imcjug/SSh8tMCyNNI/AAAAAAAAGh0/0Dz_KrB7-Dg/s400/IMG_3422.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/smariotti/Paintings">Paintings</a></td></tr></table><br /><br />Something very unique to our adopted country is its fauna. Or lack thereof. There are no native land mammals in this green and soggy land, which made for some avian anomalies as other species rushed to fill the niches that little critters would normally occupy.<br /><br />That gives you birds like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi">Kiwi </a>or the (now extinct) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa">Moa </a>and a whole bunch of really interesting and unique (and quite common) birds like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kereru">Kereru</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tui_(bird)">Tui</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pukeko">Pukeko</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Our family periodically paints together on little 5 inch by 5 inch canvases by picking a theme and doing our own individual interpretations. The first time we did this was back in the States when we did variations on a picture of a coffee mug that Joanne picked out. Just yesterday we did a "birds of New Zealand" session and came up with the pictures you see above.</div><div><br /></div><div>The artists are (from left to right) Joanne, Haley, Steve, Zoe.</div><div><br /></div><div>The top row are (from left to right) Morepork, Kiwi, Pukeko, Tui.<br /><br /></div>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070951525184172272noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-83103174533437729102008-11-16T18:56:00.004+13:002008-11-16T21:53:48.099+13:00Wellington Santa ParadeToday we took the train into town for the Wellington Santa Parade. Tranz Metro was offering free fares for children coming into town for the parade-a nice surprise. We walked from the station the few blocks to the start of the parade route and found our spots with a few moments to spare. Nothing like enjoying a beautiful train ride instead of driving around hunting for parking.<br /><br />After the parade we had a coffee and a cookie and lazed around Midland Park on Lambton Quay where the City Council has their Christmas tree on display. The girls chased the pigeons and I snapped some pictures of the girls, in their new Christmas sun dresses, with the tree for a potential Christmas card photo. We walked over to the library to pick up some books, and then strolled down to Cuba Mall to eat "meal" at our favorite noodle house (we frequently have a late lunch/early dinner on Sundays and just call it "meal". Perhaps "linner" is preferable? How about "dunch"?)<br /><br />We popped into a couple more shoe stores (third weekend in a row)hoping to find Merrell shoes or another dual purpose trainer/hiker for the kids. No luck still and we've tried pretty much every shoe/athletic/outdoor apparel store in the area. We're having really weird luck trying to find quality children's shoes here. On the couple of occasions that we have found a workable shoe, they are out of stock of the girls' sizes. I guess I'll have to order those from home. Grrr.. <br /><br />The sun was out, the breeze was enjoyable for a change, and we meandered back to the train station, looking in store windows and enjoying the empty streets that just hours before were packed with people. I love that feeling of walking in a deserted city late on a Sunday afternoon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5269126283163795953%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-27132549050375047892008-11-10T08:00:00.000+13:002008-11-10T08:04:59.810+13:00Da Vinci Machines<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5266734743276564881%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-54940034891019789302008-11-08T09:05:00.002+13:002008-11-08T09:12:06.743+13:00Hail!<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5266009465746994977%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Wellington had some crazy hail yesterday! I was standing in the window in a spot of afternoon sunlight one moment, and scraping ice off the windshield so that I could go pick up the girls from school the next. Crazy! The DomPost wrote about it <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4753524a19715.html">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-92059037865224776442008-11-05T19:10:00.002+13:002008-11-06T08:38:37.092+13:00Yes We Can! (and we did!)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpnjeEzHHjy0Ae_HoT3CA_dT6gXkIqGsHy0NLg7-gHN5xzHAm7msomxbxgvxEXvVBnjISABwdaTOhOb31nhPoe2DncWGBpAAIqGNQzmfWsbyTKC7ISjSUnLkxp_7hvBF8bQkkyzQI6Tnu/s1600-h/obamamg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpnjeEzHHjy0Ae_HoT3CA_dT6gXkIqGsHy0NLg7-gHN5xzHAm7msomxbxgvxEXvVBnjISABwdaTOhOb31nhPoe2DncWGBpAAIqGNQzmfWsbyTKC7ISjSUnLkxp_7hvBF8bQkkyzQI6Tnu/s400/obamamg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265260133758117266" border="0" /></a><br />Well??? Can you believe it? History just happened! Thoughts??Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-28373606598403476102008-11-05T06:30:00.004+13:002008-11-05T07:19:02.167+13:00It's Finally Here!Election Day! This is excruciating! How am I supposed to concentrate today? The anticipation is killing me! Let's hope this will all be over soon, and not a big dragged out mess. <br /><br />How was your election day? Did you go to the polls or vote early? Was there tension in the air? Were people distracted and glued to CNN? I wanna know!Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-18701700379565004472008-11-03T19:26:00.002+13:002008-11-03T19:32:51.245+13:00Birthday Party SleepoverI've put captions on the pictures to explain what you're looking at. I chose to do that in lieu of a post, but I thought I should explain to folks who don't know that you can control the slideshow if you need more time to read the captions. Hover your mouse over the slideshow and a menu pops up so you can go back, forward, etc. I think if you click on it you may even have the option of enlarging it. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5264307321854133329%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-7117923761819175362008-11-01T07:09:00.003+13:002008-11-01T08:34:10.367+13:00Hallo-wasn't<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCjmGmtBZxx7qqRmz0oZo4zoUfuh6_u2YUXZtPtPiHhlDS0UApZnAoXIANgr77UjTiyiS2ECt8lA20q-OIEPhIOX6DHD6QZBrSpJez_z1s2PXLVCzxcjXlSdvGQodrm1JAOHjuokjXY65/s1600-h/1811327749_f45ab92c8a_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCjmGmtBZxx7qqRmz0oZo4zoUfuh6_u2YUXZtPtPiHhlDS0UApZnAoXIANgr77UjTiyiS2ECt8lA20q-OIEPhIOX6DHD6QZBrSpJez_z1s2PXLVCzxcjXlSdvGQodrm1JAOHjuokjXY65/s400/1811327749_f45ab92c8a_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263399414235587874" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday was Halloween for us here in the Southern Hemisphere. It was the first year that Zoe made her costume 100% by herself. She went as Artemis, the Greek goddess of the Hunt. Haley, after many deliberations and changes of mind, finally decided on a classic black cat with face-paint whiskers, ears and a tail. We did our best to celebrate it, but in the end we couldn't help but feel a little let-down.<br /><br />When talking to Kiwis about Halloween, I was surprised to hear them describe it as an American holiday. I'd always been taught of it's Irish and Scottish origins and there are many immigrants from both countries in NZ. (Although I'm sure it was the Americans who commercialized it to it's current level) Whatever, it is a very recent phenomenon and I can't help but feel that there is a question on how exactly to go about it. We felt this keenly as we attempted to take the girls out trick or treating. I'd asked around and been told of one particular street where the residents really get into it. But when we arrived, we saw a few small groups of kids, some in costume, some not, tentatively standing around in front of houses, wondering whether or not to knock, and goading eachother into being the one to do it. There was no way of knowing which houses would participate and which would not as there were no decorations, and certainly no jack-o-lanterns. It is not only the wrong season for them, but the pumpkins here are small, incredibly heavy, blue squashes that you either have to open with an axe, or cook for a bit first before you can slice them. You absolutely cannot carve a face into them if you tried! And as the sun doesn't go down until 8pm, the usual leaving the porch light on wasn't a possible clue either. Despite the challenges presented to us, we did manage to hit three houses, and the girls received some nice unwrapped caramels at one, and some nice unwrapped licorice at another. (Note to Kiwis: in the US, parents look through children's candy at the end of the evening and take out the suspicious looking bits including anything not in a wrapper as we fear people may be poisoning our children. Lovely holiday, isn't it?)<br /><br />Though the trick or treating was a bit of a bust, we did enjoy the 'Twisted Circus'-themed carnival put on at <a href="http://www.capitale.org.nz/">Capital E!</a> on the Civic Square. While it didn't really have that Halloween "flavor" for us, we did enjoy ourselves and appreciated the effort put out to entertain kids and families.<br /><br />I will admit to getting teary and feeling profoundly homesick when I realized I was not going to get anywhere near my Halloween "fix" this year. In a last ditch effort to make up for it, we went home and gorged ourselves on Butterfingers, Reese's peanut butter cups and Almond Joys sent to us by Aunt Sharon (thanks, Aunt Sharon!) The best part of the night, for me, anyway, was snuggling up before bed and reading our favorite Halloween books-<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Littlest-Pumpkin-Ogden-Betina-Herman/dp/B001IAVOPG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225480086&sr=8-2"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Littlest Pumpkin</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rattlebone-Rock-Sylvia-Andrews/dp/0060234512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225480135&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Rattlebone Rock</span></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grimericks-Susan-Pearson/dp/0761454446/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225480174&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Grimericks</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Possums-Harvest-Moon-Anne-Hunter/dp/0395918243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225480196&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Possum's Harvest Moon</span></a> to name a few. More than anything, they gave me that Halloween-ness I'd been craving, and felt as much a part of our traditions as any of the rest.<br /><br />So Happy Halloween to all those back home who are looking forward to a spooky evening of tricks and treats tonight! Be safe and have fun! Happy Haunting!Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-13797583960607569012008-10-29T13:09:00.008+13:002008-10-29T13:22:28.775+13:00Happy Birthday 10 Year Old!<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlv9t2wmQyMuk_2BNzb2i6S_juV5r3bKTyTQ1-QL2-tP8TwRNwf5M7QpscVczr7pW_z2gmBcyEM_u96tGrSLGAy1bug6xlA02v5yi69XrHxN5iIXoKgGNiUX7bYGRurD2JYGRDfhJyQ2z/s400/zoe7__scaled_640.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262361444062140994" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqedBIbK99Gg7zsKomb1qqd93EdZ1POBx2tPqK3MH4KYP9Hs9zDbT-N-2fD3TXgRwy_OLt_TVyt-BqEmFdi6uEc7_FuV0oJp0JnfClRP-IFii4hB8zd6031WDP2iiasoXYvmaORRrsPVE/s400/P6200025+(1).JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262361561637212306" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3sUPpPHOZyKGMauiIjb-L_zRil4hzEsJ7Ro2kxlFpRRY40KYY5En7wCXKrghYToVB1RrLVE0ASqdvFMijwzaD1SHAx9S8xV5FOoXfsCLaVcjag04VawFz_4-vwtr6BIyHT5f-zGB0Q4d/s400/PC220011.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262361691795120978" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WEYEHeXSrX7hFoHSE9oLAUmZp4dMxfAHpJBYgfa2SWjFdqWlocJQnv3tTQr8ZqNtfc_Er1eTIzhNzSZZbRhG6knhGPzPl_foeMmbxW0x_4LB1nUvtMn2lTkAgsiHCWrT-24cEHjlkiil/s400/PA200049.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262362568185712370" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIRBjT4AyK9YOig42yuKQMLX5BdEVJRuw9SM-7ygNf6Vky1DvdAdI4udHtcRye37b6nokIHMv_gvHXvxlkc5cKoHcbBSOVOZU-S-AYTycOBu2J4JVlYJLamGsyE8vd8FyaXPmQnc1qOVV/s400/Photo21.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262363137601359026" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkugyB7GZgfS0PKlNVGeLwn2Xws6rEaEALi7MClASm0TsT1ejo8JR_haUmrDPuZNMMLdhGUi5pVQ6KbJ5e4c876cVUjtA8jG3Gj5LY61bm5Lo4M-sD0VMb4n2FoKcDtZeeMFVlRPhVSG1H/s400/Zoeschoolclothes+001.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262363696021351314" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx8oUE-yAEqyliKZe8Tfu89bf_PwSFGY7EH3jh4vZcx9cK7WkYjpTpVjQ-8dIH31XWUI2kHm8sIj4aZkI6fFzlZCYMCi3iHrxfqNzgQRWFagdgL00y85vs2_wvjJZw3VBfsGwB1f17I3j/s1600-h/IMG_2665.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx8oUE-yAEqyliKZe8Tfu89bf_PwSFGY7EH3jh4vZcx9cK7WkYjpTpVjQ-8dIH31XWUI2kHm8sIj4aZkI6fFzlZCYMCi3iHrxfqNzgQRWFagdgL00y85vs2_wvjJZw3VBfsGwB1f17I3j/s400/IMG_2665.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262364406569729842" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-44456546736639346272008-10-18T18:06:00.004+13:002008-10-18T22:29:55.761+13:00Weta CaveJake works at Weta, the visual effects outfit founded by Peter Jackson years ago which created pretty much every ring of chainmail, every sword, every prop---digital or physical---for the Lord of the Rings movies. They have two major branches: Weta Workshop which handles sculptures, costumes, masks, animatronics, puppets, etc. and Weta Digital which handles the all-CG equivalents for fully computer generated characters (such as Gollum:)<br /><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JmJlfXKpRwDgfS7R6ROhhA?authkey=oJF_yOD7H-Q"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/smariotti/SPlt3ZfduNI/AAAAAAAAF08/2r2eDIIGwqQ/s400/Around%20Wellington%20and%20Weta%20Cave%20356.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/smariotti/WetaCave?authkey=oJF_yOD7H-Q">Weta Cave</a></td></tr></table><br /><br />The Weta Cave is a combination gift shop and gallery inside which Weta showcases its past work on movies. I took a ton of pictures for our LotR loving family members back home. The miniatures sold there are the miniatures made by the Weta artists who worked on the films. <br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5258354343713741601%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss%26authkey%3DoJF_yOD7H-Q" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070951525184172272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-9880848252140846172008-10-12T18:45:00.002+13:002008-10-12T19:33:57.003+13:00StuffToday was the last day of school holidays. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone for the girls and I for one last term before the end of the school year. Wellington took pity on us and gave us four whole days of (mostly) sunshine in a row! We enjoyed getting out and about and letting the sun shine on our faces.<br /><br />Steve took the day off on Friday and we did a 4 mile round-trip hike out to Sinclair Head starting at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Taputeranga</span> Marine Reserve at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Owhiro</span> Bay. The rock formations along the coast there are stunning reds, blues, and purples and play host to New Zealand fur seals and little blue penguins at certain times of the year. Unfortunately, there were none to be seen this day, but the schlep was definitely worth it. We were treated to awe-inspiring views of the snow-capped mountains of the South Island, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">tide pools</span> full of life, and blue-green ocean as far as the eye could see. Steve and I marveled at how well our girls could amuse themselves with some sticks, some long strands of seaweed and a bunch of rocks. Our family is all about perfecting the art of doing nothing.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5255371037913736609%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="267"></embed><br /><br />Yesterday we took the girls to Te Papa in the morning then walked around Wellington ending up at Frank <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kitts</span> park along the waterfront. The girls did some jumping on the Big Air <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bungy</span> jumping attraction (what would you call it exactly? It's not a ride per <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">se</span>..).<br /><br />In this album you'll also see a couple pictures of Etta the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Weta</span> who has been living in our mailbox of late. We've been leaving the door open thinking she may be stuck in there, but it seems she comes and goes just fine so we're happy to share. <br /><br />At the end of the pictures you'll see today's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">outing</span>. We visited <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Kaitoke</span> Regional Park along the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Hutt</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Pakuratahi</span> Rivers north of us. It's a lovely recreation area of hiking trails with lots of bridges to cross the lazy rivers below. The girls were even brave enough to go for a dip despite the chilly water. Goofballs. We did the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Pakuratahi</span> River Walk trail through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">podocarp</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">broadleaf</span> forest and let Haley go nuts taking picture after picture of the ferns. <br /><br />Oh, and just for my nephew '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Xandre</span>, we made sure to take the girls' picture in front of the sign for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Rivendell</span>, where they used the river gorge as the backdrop for the Elven village in the first 'Lord of the Rings' movie. <br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fsmariotti%2Falbumid%2F5256134517994003377%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="267"></embed>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-36060203458432225712008-10-07T08:15:00.002+13:002008-10-07T08:26:24.413+13:00I'm TiredWanna know why? The wind. Which, in the same way that rain is not a big enough word to describe the way it rains here, wind is so inadequate and paints so vague a picture as to be utterly useless to describe what we've got going on here. Perhaps gale would be more descriptive? What about <span style="font-style: italic;">hurricane</span>? The forecast is warning of severe gales up to 150kmh-that's 93mph (!) for you metric-impaired Yanks. At what point do we stop messing around and call this what it feels like?<br /><br />By the way, as I sat here typing that Steve walked in and said to me, "it's raining <span style="font-style: italic;">up</span> right now, I just wanted to mention that."Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1711173746782839483.post-40194682410139141762008-10-04T09:32:00.003+13:002008-10-04T17:17:49.363+13:00Togs or Undies?My friend Lisa, an ex-pat herself hailing from Chicago, posted this hilarious video on her blog a couple weeks ago. It's a summertime commercial for an ice cream treat called Trumpets, a Kiwi version of what we would call a "drumstick" at home. I <strike>ripped her off</strike> asked her permission to copy her so that I could share it with you good folks who read 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">kiwiwannabes</span>. Thanks Lisa! Enjoy the clip!<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h-Lx2ihpGbc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h-Lx2ihpGbc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10806914269096266121noreply@blogger.com3