Smelling the Roses

I'm a bit split on how I feel about roses. Long stemmed, popped in a crystal vase with baby's breath and some greenery = my worst nightmare. However, still on the bush or nestled in a monochromatic bouquet, and I think they are pretty nice.

There is an abundance of roses blooming here right now. They smell beautiful and look lovely. I took a quick trip to Robbins Park rose garden in Tauranga to capture some of the blooming beauties.

The ones above remind me of the Kapiti white chocolate raspberry ice cream bars that are so delicious. I should remember to buy some of those...

The garden has a really cool view of the sea through some hedges. It feels very Victorian. One of those places I would love to nerd out and live a Jane Austen novel. Ooops, did I say that out loud? Anyways, hope this reminds you to stop and ..... you know.

Taste of Taupo

I do not like beer. There is something about the taste that I just don't appreciate. And I can say this pretty confidently, because this past weekend we had a beer tasting day with some friends in Taupo. About 2 hours away from Tauranga, the city of Taupo sits on the beautiful Lake Taupo - makes sense. Lucky for me, our travelling companions were up for a little bit of sightseeing so I could enjoy some of the locations listed in my Lonely Planet before tasting a lot of beer.

Huka Falls - the most icy blue beautiful water ever and I dressed to match! Combined with the flurry of white that comes from the massive amount of water going down the falls every second, it is a beautiful sight. Apparently, enough water goes over the falls to fill five olympic sized swimming pools EVERY MINUTE! Yikes. Some crazy fools have tried going over these falls. Other less crazy people take a jet boat to bomb around the bottom.

Megan and Ben were our gracious hosts for the weekend. We started with a lot of different exotic beers. Since I do not like beer, nor do I like to drink very much, I was granted half glasses to taste. After each beer, we all rated on a scale of one to ten. I think I gave most of them a four. Honestly, they all kind of tasted the same to me - some less appealing than others. I only poured one of them into the bushes. And ok, yes, I did pour half of some of the others down the sink. BUT I did finish at least three glasses. Probably.

Anyways, the beer lovers had a great time and so did I. The company was great and we had a really fun, lovely, sunny day.

The next day, Mark and I visited another Lonely Planet recommendation - L'Arte Cafe. Really neat tile mosaics and pottery.

We also stopped at a glassblowing studio where everything was amazingly beautiful and amazingly expensive. And lastly, there was Puzzle World. A bit of a desperate attempt at a tourist trap, if you ask me. There was a maze, a lego/hologram room (???), remote control boats in a very small pond, a model train set, and lots of puzzles for sale. Needless to say, it was NOT in Lonely Planet.

We had another great weekend in NZ, but I will stick with trying the fantastic wine this country has to offer instead of beer.

Happy Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day

Time to catch you up on some recent holiday celebrations over here in NZ.

First, there was Halloween. It's not really that big of a deal here in New Zealand. Some kids do go trick or treating and dress up, but definitely not as many as in North America. You would think it would be more popular here seeing as you don't have to figure out a costume that a winter parka, mitts and a toque can fit over. But, alas.

We went over to Jamie and Laura's place to partake in a few Halloween activities. I carved a jack-o-lantern.

We had a bowl of candy ready and were on the lookout for trick or treaters.

We had random costumes thrown together from things Laura and Jamie had in their house.

Only had about 10 people stop by, but we had fun.

The next weekend was Guy Fawkes Day. Here is a link for you to learn what it is. Or you can watch V for Vendetta. Now that you have read up on it, you realize that it's basically an excuse to set off fireworks.

We went to The Warehouse (NZ's version of Wal-Mart) and bought ourselves The Big Boom Box. Again, at Jamie and Laura's house (are you getting the sense we only have two friends? You might be right...) we had a great evening. Here are some photos.

I know I look certifiably insane in this photo but everyone else thought it was a good one.

Next up? CHRISTMAS!!!

Labour Day Weekend 2010 - in NEW ZEALAND!

Roadtrip down to Gisborne with Jamie and Laura.

A scenic stop in Whakatane

First stop - Matawhero Winery

Gisborne Wine and Food Festival

Learning how to weave with flax

Some of my handiwork!

Enjoying the concerts

We had fun

Wheels

I have a bicycle. It is a pale lemon yellow with blue handlebars. It is old - also referred to as "retro". And I like it.

Mark bought it for me on Trade Me, which is an internet site here is New Zealand that is the equivalent of Craig's List/Kijiji.

I really wanted to buy one of those cruiser type bicycles with a flower design and a wicker basket on the front, but they cost about $109,839,457. I exaggerate, but you get the point.

Mark bought a longboard so now we can cruise around town and to the beach. We might start a wheels gang. You have to have wheels to join, obviously. We are open to skateboards, scooters and rollerbladers. Feel free to apply!

A Pie in the Sky

I really love baking and I think I'm not too bad at it. Cookies? Check. Cakes? I've made a few good ones. Brownies/Squares/Slices? Can do. Pie? Ugh.

Maybe it's hereditary. My mom hates baking pie and turns out, I do too.

To all my Canadian friends and family, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And that is why I was forced to bake a pumpkin pie.

We decided to have some of our friends over for a Thanksgiving dinner. For some of them, it was their very first Thanksgiving. So naturally, I had to make all the traditional foods. Plus, I LOVE pumpkin pie. Eating it. Not making it.

New Zealand grocery stores do not carry pre-made pie crusts or canned pie filling. Probably a good thing as it forces us to get back to scratch and eat more whole foods. However, have I mentioned yet how I feel about making pie?

Below is my step by step recipe for making pumpkin pie from scratch.

*Please note: Directions may not be exact.

Step 1 - Gather a pumpkin and various other ingredients apparently required to make pumpkin pie filling. Yes, that white thing is a pumpkin. They don't make them orange in NZ. Weird, I know.

Step 2 - Cut up the pumpkin with your dull knives that cost $20. This will take approximately FOREVER. Kick yourself for not buying the pumpkin that was already cut up just because it saved you $1.50.

Step 3 - Scoop out the guts. Relatively painless. Decide whether or not you care about saving and roasting the pumpkin seeds. (If you are wondering, I decided it was too much work).

Step 4 - Bake the pumpkin. Again, this will take approximately FOREVER.

Step 5 - Take a break during pumpkin baking to plant your new herbs and lettuce mix. Yum.

Step 6 - Puree cooked pumpkin in your borrowed food processor. Thank you, Jamie and Laura.

Step 7 - Add required other stuff to the puree. Have a mild panic attack because the mixture is super runny. Re-read recipe and breathe easier once you see it is supposed to be runny.

Step 8 - Make a pie crust which you are pretty sure is not going to turn out due to the fact you have tried a couple times before and are not good at making pie crust. Sigh sadly as your suspicions are confirmed and you have to deal with crumbly pie crust that falls apart.

Pour pie filling into sad pie crust.

Step 9 - Bake again. This time for almost FOREVER but not quite. Smile at your efforts, because even though it doesn't look that pretty, at least it resembles a pumpkin pie.

Step 10 - Have Thanksgiving Dinner with friends!

Step 11 - Eat your piece of pumpkin pie that actually tastes delicious!!! Hurray! Happy Thanksgiving!

Point and Shoot

I aspire to be a better photographer. But up until now, my efforts have been a bit mediocre at best. I have read our camera manual. That sort of helped. I get bogged down in the terminology.

I tried taking a course when we were still living in Edmonton but the City of Edmonton Arts Centre decided to change the course details without notifying me and it didn't work out. Luckily for them, I worked for the City at the time and felt bad about getting too angry at the eReg lady. Anyways, I digress.

My friend Melanie recently lent me a great book that has been a huge help. It's the first book I've found that is easy to understand! It is called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. After reading the first few sections, Mel and I headed out to the Te Puna Quarry Park near Tauranga to practice our skills. The park, aptly named, is an old quarry that has been turned into a garden/park with walking trails and amazing flowers! There are also great views from the top of the trail. Mel and I spent the whole time with our faces glued to our cameras.

The place was packed with orchids. I have never seen so many in one place! Gorgeous.

There were some really cool palm tree trunks with textures that were fun.

Experimenting with 'depth of field'. That is the only fancy term I remember right now.

I'm not sure what these purple vine flowers are but they have appeared now that it is spring. I like them.

We are so lucky to live in this place where the photo opportunities abound! I know I still have A LOT to learn. And I don't expect to have the talent that some of my lovely friends and family do behind a lens - but I really enjoy it. And it keeps my father-in-law happy that I send him weekly photo updates :)