A day out in Geraldine

Today we went with Skry's parents for a day out in Geraldine, which is about a two hour drive south-west from Christchurch.

When we arrived, we had a lovely lunch in a cafe called Verde, which has tables outside in the garden surrounded by flowers. It was a scorching day, above 30c I reckon, so we guzzled cold drinks while we waited for our food.

After lunch, the next stop was the Vintage Car and Machinery Museum. I hadn't paid any attention to the plans for visiting this place, and didn't expect much, but it was really enjoyable! A lot of people have put an awful lot of hard work into gathering and restoring the cars, tractors, farm machinery, motorbikes, and sundry mechanical items. The museum has had some bad luck over the last few years, it seems - at least one fire and a collapsed roof after a huge snowfall which damaged a lot of the exhibits - but they have put together something that was well worth the $7 entry fee.

Since I grew up on a farm and spent a lot of time around tractors as a little girl, I was particularly drawn to the farm machinery sections. Skry's dad was very excited to find a vintage car almost identical to one that he owned when he was much younger, and Skry's mum was very taken with the van kitted out like a gypsy caravan, complete with cast-iron stove inside. As for Skry, I think his favourite piece was the tractor that looked like it had been drawn by a cartoonist, with eyes instead of headlamps.





The swamp plough particularly caught my eye (although I could not get a good photo of it because it was so closely surrounded by other bits and pieces in the shed). First of all, it's the biggest plough that I have ever seen (not that I make a habit of seeking out ploughs of ever-increasing size). Secondly, this was built in the 1940s with an estimated cost of £350, but an actual cost of £1,350. That is a colossal difference, but I guess Mr Wilcox could afford it since he seems to have enjoyed many years of use from his commission. I wonder how many other people could afford one of those... Maybe the company never made any other swamp ploughs of this size after the first one was sold. I'd quite like to find out more!

A special post for Wendy

That is all.

Monarch caterpillars

A few months ago I expressed a desire to plant something which would attract butterflies, then Fiona and Richard very kindly gave me a swan plant for a birthday present. This tiny little plant is quite the butterfly magnet! A few weeks ago we had lots of monarch butterflies landing on it, and now it is covered in colourful yellow and black striped caterpillars. I counted 16 caterpillars on it today and it has barely any leaves left. Poor plant!

But aren't they striking?

Way too hot

Help me, I'm melting!

The thermometer from our now-defunct spa pool still works, and it registered 40c in the sunshine of our deck today. When I moved it into the shade [which I think is the correct way to measure temperature] it dropped to around 34c. I almost wished I had gone to work today just to enjoy the air conditioning! I know that other places, Australia for instance, regularly get this sort of temperature, but I don't know how I'd adjust if it was like this all the time here in Christchurch.

From today's paper:

It's a sizzler: temperatures soar nationwide

By MICHAEL FOX - Stuff.co.nz | Thursday, 08 January 2009

Much of New Zealand sweltered in unusually hot weather today, with reports the mercury topped 40 degrees Celsius in Christchurch.
Hotter than normal temperatures were widespread over New Zealand with 12 locations between Timaru and Gisborne recording temperatures of more than 30C, MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said.
The MetService had recorded air temperatures up to 35.7C in Christchurch, which made it the hottest day of the summer so far and neared its January record high of 35.9 degrees in 1979.
However, Christchurch-based weather analyst Richard Green reported temperatures of 40C in the early afternoon with the suburb of Barrington reaching 41C, Cashmere 40C and Christchurch city 38C.
MetService spokesperson Nic Bonnette said a ridge of high pressure over the Mainland, combined with north-westerly winds blowing across the ranges, was creating the high temperatures; a weather pattern known as the "Fohn Effect".
"So, much of the areas down that east coast [of the South Island] will be getting quite warm temperatures," she said.
Around Christchurch, Lyttelton was also 33 degrees, while further north Blenheim was 30. Middlemarch and Cromwell have so far peaked at 29.
However, the run of good weather is set to end as a cold front prepares to cross the South Island tomorrow, she said.
In the North Island, Tauranga and Gisborne topped the recordings with 28 degrees.
Police are asking motorists to exercise caution when travelling through the Desert Road this evening. Extreme heat on the Central Plateau caused the tar seal on the road to melt and lift on the Desert Road, and police advised drivers to exercise caution.
The good weather is set to last until Saturday.
HOT OUTLOOK
New Zealanders are looking set to enjoy a long hot summer.
Temperatures through to March are likely to be average or above average across the country, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) said today.
It was likely to be drier than average in the south, but rainfall in the north was expected to be normal or above normal.
Niwa predicted more easterlies than normal in the north but lighter winds than normal in the south.
Moderate La Nina conditions were likely to continue into autumn, it said.
There was a slightly higher chance of an ex-tropical cyclone passing within 500km of the country during the cyclone season through to May.

Jetboat crash anniversary

It was one year ago today that we were in the jetboat crash in Hanmer Springs. Although the year has sped by for us, and Skry has healed well from his injuries, not everybody was so lucky. Lesley, the Australian woman who was sitting in front of us, is still off work and still very much incapacitated by her spinal injuries. Skry got an email today from her and her partner (who was also injured, although not seriously), saying that she plucked up the courage to go on a small boating cruise on a canal. I think that was a big milestone for her. She is still trying to get compensation for the serious injuries that she suffered, which is no easy task, but since Maritime NZ found the driver at fault I think she is justified in trying to get something back. Her life has effectively been ruined by that accident.

I don't know how any of the other passengers fared after that day, one year ago. We aren't in touch with any of the others. But thank God things weren't worse for me or for Skry.

Funnily enough, Skry and the others are all heading to Hanmer for the day tomorrow. Nobody had remembered that it was the anniversary until we got that email from Lesley today. I hope they don't go on any jet boats!

Frolicks in the sun

Our friend Brian is visiting, and on Sunday we took him north out of Christchurch, to make the most of a beautiful sunny day.

First of all we stopped by some wineries in Waipara, for tastings and purchase of some very fine wine. Then we went a bit further north to Scargill, to visit Fiona and Richard. They are lovely people and also have three cute little kittens and a swimming pool, so our visit was very enjoyable. Skry's broken arm is in a sling so he wasn't able to take part in the water sports, but he did make an excellent photographer and ballboy. Thanks, Skry! :)

This is true.

Festive Milk

I just noticed that our milk has "Season's Greetings" stamped on it. Cute.

Happy New Year!

We are well into January 1 2009 here now, so happy new year everybody!

I've been thinking about New Year resolutions. Here are mine:
- take my lunch to work every day that I don't have a pre-arranged lunch date
- complete the Couch to 5k program

I've done the Couch to 5k program a couple of times before so I know it's doable, but I've become very lazy since we moved to New Zealand so I'll be starting from scratch with that one. Having said that, if I could motivate myself to get out running in Ireland where it was frequently cold and wet, it should be a breeze to get myself out here in the sunshine!

The lunch resolution is the continuation of something that I began a few months ago and should save me money and ensure I eat a more varied diet. Left to my own devices in the shops at lunchtime, I'd eat an egg and onion sandwich every day. Hopefully I'll do better than that with a bit of advance preparation :)

These resolutions don't come with photos, but I like to show you something every time I post, so I'll go and pick something random from my hard drive now.

It is my cat Freyja that lived with us in Belfast. She went to another home before we emigrated, and I really miss her (and her sister Flora), but we had some good times and she made me laugh a lot with her catlike silliness.