Autumn colours
We took a trip to riversdale today – here are some of the amazing colours we saw:
Autum trees on the way to the beach
Sunset on the way home
Sunset a minute later
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Funny Videos for Easter
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand, Things to do
From ljraggy on Youtube comes some hysterically funny videos. First shown on The Gruen Transfer, these are two ads written by the Aussies:
And then, because after all – this is New Zealand and we can’t let the Aussies have all the fun…
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I’m a very stupid lobster.
I went to the beach yesterday. Again.
Now I am paying the price for not reapplying my sunblock. You could fry eggs on my back right now.
Now – firstly – this does not usually happen to me. I tend to be in the “pale and interesting” category – rather than trying to get tanned. And as I don’t really like very hot weather – I also tend to stay out the sun. And if that wasn’t enough – having a school friend die from Skin cancer at the age of 21 has tended to make me very wary of going out without sunblock on.
I don’t mess around with SPF’s of 15 – I go for the industrial strength “nothing’s getting through this sucker” stuff, and sarongs to wrap me up.
Once or twice – I’ve missed a bit with sunblock – and you can see some very funny parts where the sunblock ends and I get a small patch of red, but that is not what happened.
I use the Sun Sense range of creams. These are brilliant – and what you need in the harsh sun of New Zealand. We have a hole in the Ozone layer right above us – so the sun is even more dangerous than usual. I found out about these back in the UK funnily enough. A very well respected doctor that worked in the surgery next to the pharmacy I was running insisted on this range for his patients. At the time we had to get them specially ordered from Australia, as they were not easily available in the UK. Thankfully they now are.
I go for the Sports version – waterproof – so good for going in the sea. And normally – it actually protects me all day. I think yesterdays lesson is that even that needs to be helped with covering up – and we forgot to take the bottle with us – so we couldn’t re-apply.
Mind you – we went early in the morning –and were supposed to be going home by midday – to keep out of the worst of the sun. Thing is – when we looked at the watch – it was already 3pm. We just totally lost track of time. It’s easily done – life just melts away when we get to the beach.
Just one thing – the Cancer society here sells its own brand of sun lotion. The only time I used it – and that was for a short time in the sun – I fried to a crisp. I’m sticking with Sun Sense – and a bit more common sense on my part.
Do take care when emigrating to New Zealand. The sun is fierce – and if you are only really used to what a UK summer looks like – you could be in for a bit of a shock.
Are New Zealand Beaches safe?
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
I love the beach. I was there today, at my usual haunt – Riversdale. It’s been a tremendously tough week, and going there is always the best way to deal with it.
The tide was all the way in. Everyone on the beach was sitting up in the dunes, and it was pretty spectacular. Usually the sea is a fair way out.
Now – I love beaches with honking great waves. I’m not a surfer, but myself and my family have always enjoyed the beaches with the huge waves – we just get pummelled by them rather than try and ride them.
So it was with a huge amount of rapture today that we got to Riversdale to find ginormous waves, crashing down the whole length of the beach. We didn’t sit down and relax for a while first – we just headed straight in.
Blimey – the sea was so strong. Within minutes – we were deep enough in that the water was up to our waists – but the waves were so big, that by the time we could stand up after being bowled over by one – the water was up to our necks. A few times – I couldn’t reach the bottom. It was so much fun!
But we also have to be very careful. You see, the waves were that strong – we couldn’t always stand up, and ended up getting dragged into shore – often along the beach as well. And at the same time, as the sea rolled back out – it would drag us out to sea. The strength was phenomenal! (Does that count as a workout???). Trying to stand in one place was pretty difficult, and we both got tired pretty quickly.
One of the reasons I like Riversdale so much is that it is a Patrolled Beach – with DHL Surf Lifeguards looking after it during the high season. I have always had a healthy respect for the sea: while it is a lot of fun – it can kill you if you don’t take the dangers seriously.
This is especially so with New Zealand beaches. Please don’t assume that it is safe to swim at them. Many of them contain Riptides or Rip currents – and if you are not a strong swimmer – or panic – you can end up an ex-swimmer pretty fast.
This is serious.
There have been 13 drownings at New Zealand Beaches so far this year – and it’s only the 17th! If you can’t swim, then learn. Hubby didn’t lean how to swim until about 9 years ago (he was banned from school swimming lessons because they thought it was more important to force him to write Right-handed). Now he is actually a very good swimmer – and gets to enjoy mucking around with huge waves as much as the rest of us.
Riversdale surf lifesaving club runs classes to teach children how to deal with the beach safely – so it’s worth looking for a local version – and getting your kids enrolled.
And learn how to spot rips! Loving Long Island.com actually has a fantastic page on Rip Currents – with useful pictures that tell you what you need to look for.
Most importantly – if you are at a beach in New Zealand with signs up saying it’s not safe to swim – then don’t go in the water. Rip Tides can pull you out to sea even if you are just standing in relative shallow water.
Enjoy the beaches in New Zealand – they are stunning – just don’t be stupid.
Watersafe Auckland has a list of safety tips.
A Merry Kiwi Christmas.
Here’s hoping everyone had a very merry Christmas, and Santa’s elves bought everything you wanted and you had a fantastic time.
For us, we had a subdued one, as my family is still back in the UK this year, and this is out first Kiwi Christmas without them.
I have to be honest – I find Christmas in New Zealand to be a very odd time. I love Christmas; the lights, the fun, buying pressies for people, making way too much gorgeous food and not having to give a stuff about whether its healthy or not; and spending some time with the family. It was always the one time of year when we got spoiled rotten, and somehow, my brother and I always ended up with the coolest presents (mostly ray guns with lost of flashing lights and cool sound effects).
The problems I have here stem simply from the fact that it’s summer – and a hot one at that here in the Wairarapa. People still have Christmas trees with the lights; but who sees them when it doesn’t go dark till 9pm. And we don’t get the whole lights thing in the towns either – for that real Christmassy Late-night-shopping feel. I really miss the Worcester Christmas market, the mulled wine – and for some utterly bizarre reason – the cold weather.
I also seem to have a lot of problems with the whole Christmas dinner thing. I love cooking it – but here it seems to be an absolute nightmare getting hold of a fresh (unfrozen) turkey that actually is turkey. I didn’t do it this year, as there was only myself and hubby to cook for, and I have to say it was a nice change from having to go to Moore Wilsons to order a turkey and be old very snottily that they never order turkeys. They do – every year. And every year on the 22nd or 23rd of December they call us to tell us the turkey we couldn’t order is in! I have no idea why they get so snooty about it – they are fantastic the rest of the year! You know – I was once told by a guy in Meat on Tory in Wellington (a “butchers” selling top end (read expensive) meat for people in the city who really don’t want to cook, that it is impossible to get a fresh turkey at Christmas ANYWHERE in the world. I kid you not. I was gob smacked. I also found out that Tegel Turkeys (the main brand of frozen Turkey) is only 85% turkey. (15% water and sugar).
Many Kiwis seem to have Ham for dinner, or just do a barbie. I still like a British Christmas dinner, when I can treat myself to things I don’t normally eat (Like crunchy roast potatoes, and bread sauce).
We have made some new Traditions for the family since moving here. Christmas dinner is now at 4 or 5pm, so its cool enough to sit outside, and on Boxing Day – we head to the beach. Riversdale Beach has 2 busy days of the year – Boxing Day and new Years day, but its still almost empty by UK standards. We pack up a picnic of leftovers in the chilly bin, and head off for a day of lazing, reading books, and swimming. Its bizarre – but – we try our best .
There are too many migrants who get their knickers in a twist over those of us who struggle to adapt to the Kiwi Christmas. Or anything else for that matter. But you know what? It really doesn’t matter. I’m probably never going to enjoy Christmas here the same way I did back in The UK. I’m probably always going to prefer a winter Christmas, but that doesn’t mean I am any less entitled to live a new life here in New Zealand. It doesn’t mean I’m a “bad migrant”, and it doesn’t mean I have failed to integrate into my new life. It just means I prefer a winter Christmas. I will never understand why some people insist you have to like anything and everything your new life throws at you in order to be considered a successful migrant.
Trust me – you don’t. Preferring a winter Christmas doesn’t stop me hitting the beach for our Boxing Day Picnic, or jumping in the pool while I’m waiting for the (fresh) Turkey to cook.
We have nothing left to do this Christmas except relax, head to the beach a few times, and wait for the New Year.
Hope you have a good one.
Kiwi Ingenuity – make a cool sunlounger out of a bath.
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
This is, as most people know, a very “outdoorsy” country. Well, I’m not one for tramping round the forests and lakes thanks, but I do spend much more time outdoors than I did back in the UK.
I’ve spent ages looking for some sunloungers to go round the pool, that don’t cost a small fortune. I managed to find one last year in the sales but it still cost over $200, and it’s pretty basic. Most of the ones I looked at and liked were well over $500 each.
So what do you do? You hit Trade Me!
Where I found this incredible idea for a sun lounger – made out of the same materials that you make baths with. 
These are made by Classic Baths in Taupo.
SO, we ordered some, and toddled off to Taupo to pick them up in a Friends MPV. (We were going to hire a van, but a local company claiming on the internet that their prices were from $60+ daily wanted to charge a whopping $300+ – so I told ‘em how unimpressed I was!)
Well, it’s a good 5-hour drive to Taupo, and then you have to get back – so It needed to be worth it. And as we headed over the Desert Road – a not-quite-desert-like-torrential downpour started. It didn’t stop till we got to Taupo.
After we collected the loungers (for reference – you could fit 6 in the back of an MPV quite nicely), we headed back, and stopped near the shores of Lake Taupo at a small beach picnic spot. We opened the back of the van, and had it open to the lake, and then gave the Loungers a bit of a try out. And I can happily report that they are very comfortable. I actually managed to curl up in one and fall asleep.
The loungers retail at $395 each, and I have to say – they are well worth the money. They were also worth the 12 hours it took us in the end to pick them up and bring them home. I drank a huge amount of coffee to keep going I can tell you.
Beaches in New Zealand Part 2.
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
We are now back from our few nights at the beach, and it was even more stunning than usual. Partly because this time – we didn’t have to leave at 4pm to get home and make dinner.
We stayed at a little self contained flat called The Dunes. This is part of a house that sits literally just behind the dunes at the beach, so you can walk directly from the house, over the Dunes and you are on the beach itself.
So, what was so perfect about the stay?
The beach at dusk
Well, the flat was just right. It actually had quite a “seaside” feel to it. There are two bedrooms, so you can fit 2 kids in if you have them, and a Barbie is provided – though we cheated and had breakfast at the local shop and had Fish and Chips from for dinner – eaten on the beach of course.
Clouds Over Riversdale
And other than that – the perfection was provided by the beach itself – we could just sit on top of the dunes and watch the world go by. Not that there was much world to watch – but then that’s the whole point of going there. So we made do with watching the most spectacular sunsets, and even got up at 5am to watch the sun come up over the sea.
The sun rising over the sea.
It was incredibly beautiful, and a truly wonderful way to spend a wedding anniversary, cuddled up with a nice glass of New Zealand wine, and watching the sunsets and sunrises. And for me – the best of all was getting to go to sleep hearing the sound of the sea.
Last year for our Anniversary – we went to Fiji: spent a fortune on a nice hotel, and eating out, and that’s not even thinking about the flights. But the 2 nights we spent at the beach in New Zealand was actually so much better. It was quieter, the sea was actually cleaner, and the beach was pretty much empty.
I can highly recommend staying at The Dunes. The owner Carolyn left us to ourselves, other than just popping her head in to check everything was OK. This was just what we needed – to be given a bit of space and some peace and quiet. It cost us just $120 a night, which includes breakfast cereals, and toast. You do have to take your own food other than that, and there is no cooker, just the Barbie, a microwave and a single electric ring. Which really is all you need. J You cant see the sea from there, but you can hear it and it takes just half a minute to walk over the dunes.
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