Ocean Motel Wellington

... works! I rode a cannon mum Julie would be proud of me you'll have to show her the picture!

A guy called Ben who is a fish farmer back home missed the sport so much he went out and bought a telescopic rod with a little blue lure and in the evening we headed down to the port with little hope of catching anything, after much deliberation on where to fish and trying a couple of spots after about 20-30 minutes we hooked into a ...

... fun, but none of us could stay up that late. We are still adjusting to the time difference. We fell asleep at about 9:30 New Zealand time and woke up around 7 so I think we definitely got enought sleep. It's a running joke for us that we work really hard to find work, but I suppose that is what we'll be doing today, walking long distances and turning in resumes practically everywhere. We all miss everyone at home, but are doing fine and still having fun.

... the old traditional fear of fruit or vegetables (sorry mum for being such a pain all those years ago!) In the morning Sascha enjoys a 'snack platter' which can consist of anything including chopped peppers, salami, carrots, melon or brie. He is also keen on a dippy egg and if I over cook it I've failed my mission! :)

My concerns about not having a 'proper' job haven't really materialised; probably because the kids are great and ...

... when I say the weather is rubbish, I mean that from the bottom of my heart with such affection, you can't even imagine. The whole weather situation is iffy right now for two reasons. First, I'm here at a time when the land is shifting from winter to spring. Second, I'm living primarily in Wellington, which is not named "the Windy City" for nothing. Hailing currently from the Chicago area, which shares that nickname with Wellington, I'm ...

... at Matterhorn a cool restaurant in Cuba street. This reminded me of Melbourne as the place was hidden down a small side alley but when entered, opened out into a low lit funky place with top notch food and great wine. It also has a bar and casual dining area.

Dinner at Matterhorn

Leek & prawn terrine with roast scallops, spiced bisque, liquorice ink & corn sabayon

- Kumeu ...

... grown up. Or maybe we both have. Gone is the propensity of camping, walking (tramping in NZ), outdoors shops, selling what used to be considered essential wear for a kiwi, both on a trail and downtown. Now there are great little fashion boutiques and local designer stores with groovy and funky clothes, masses of charming cafes serving great coffee in a relatively small confined area. So if you are not being blown off your feet by the ferocious winds then ...

... Eastern mix of ground hazelnuts and spices - cumin,coriander and cardamom - to be eaten with bread dipped in locally grown and pressed olive oil. Hmm get that recipe! Six wineries later (Elinor imbibing less than me since she is the DD) we count our spoils - a sauv blanc, riesling, a devine gewurtz ( so smooth and fruity without being sweet) and at $40 our way most expensive purchase. Also a bottle from Spy Valley Wineries so named for the US ...

Spent day in Wellington. Seen Harley convention with biker stunts and then wandered around the museum before heading north. Stayed the night in Waiouru, before heading to Tongariro National Park. It was really dark and stormy at the volcanoes so we carried on North. Sam and Steven are sun seekers, even keeping the sun roof open in attempt to catch some rays.

... but the views were amazing. The sky had really cleared up and you could see for miles out to sea. It's weird when you are out at sea and the sky meets the sea line starts you thinking about just how big the earth is and it really highlights how its round (a bit deep for me but there you go lol). On the way we stopped off at a couple of small buoys and we weren't sure why at first until he pulled the rope up and attached was a ...

... spent on the internet trying to upload my photos onto flickr so that everyone can see them all, I think we are going out with some of the people in our room tonight. 15th June Last night Tara and I joined some of the girls from our room in a night on the town, it was nice, but as we didn't really have any idea of where to go we just ended up in this dive of a bar - it was a very funny night though which ended up in everyone else buying kebabs and me protesting about how rank ...