Zoo Music

Great night spent chilling to some local dub with Tahuna Breaks and Blackseeds at the Auckland Zoo.

TSSSSSSSS (sound of hand burning on glass) - Air con debates

I work in a pretty nice building but the temperatures are crazy in winter we all freeze and in summer we all melt, the owners have air con units in the completely wrong places and our luxury of floor to ceiling windows is simoultaneously our curse.

Next week I am starting my project cool off which includes a stash of peppermint oil, evian spray, bottled water and fan. Lets hope it pays off.

Party for one

Do you ever have one of those nights when plans change around you but you still feel perky and ready for fun so even though you can't find a buddy to hang with you pump up the music, pop open a good wine and have a party for one. Well I had one tonight listening to my fav tunes and catching up on the latest cuisine highlights in dine and dancing around my apartment.

Best part was it must have been infectious as before I knew it there were fellow dancers in both the apartment building opposite and adjacent to me.

Yay for Auckland summer nights.

Approved by life

According to the footpath on my walk home not only has my healthy lifestyle choice become a stencil art but I am now approved by life - very Tony Robbins meets Flux

only me

I often joke about how the weird stuff always happens to me and I wish it was a joke but it really does. I went to use my ATM card today only to find it had a message to say it had been cancelled for security reasons as an ATM I had used in December was fitted with a scanner so my details were now with a theif. On the upside its good that they have protected me but would have been nice to have a little warning. Wish shitty people didn't exist they make life so annoying sometimes.

Summer music

One of the things I love about summer the most aside from the weather is the fact that so many events free and paid appear on the calendar for the culturalist. This week I managed to see 4 bands all great and get out for picnics and lots of rides after work. It makes the working slog seem so much more OK.

The first band night consisted of two upcoming bands of the moment - Early Birds and Midnight youth who were both good considering the crowd was fairly sober and the sun was shining when they went on and then the recently reformed Dragon who were amazing - you forget how many songs you know of a band sometimes when they have been round for ever, so many classics. They almost didn't need to sing as the crowd knew all the words and were almost drowning them out.

Last night I also got out and enjoyed some jazz tunes by an old Northcote College alumni Nathan Haines and he still looks and sounds as good as he did when he started 20 years ago.

Now just to find that elusive money tree so I can go to Lady Gaga, The Swell Season, Massive Attack and so many more awesome musicians heading to our shore this year.

Super gold

Today my dad turned 65 which means he gets his "supergold card" so being the glass half full kinda guy he is we celebrated and toasted to all the things he can do cheap now like movies and swimming and public transport, plus makes him a cheap date for mum.

We also noticed that the universe even does its part and helps by making candles that blow themselves out so you don't even need to puff.

Happy Birthday Dad - love you heaps and hope this is the beginning of the wonder years. (I wonder where I left my keys :))

The big day out 2010

For one reason or another I have never been able to go to a big day out in the past so this year was my first - I know, I know — you are thinking I am way old for being a first timer but better late than never.

I am the kinda gal who likes to get her money's worth so I dragged my trusty companion/guide/veteran BDOer — my little sister to be there at the start. We arrived around 11am and the band juggling began.

It was easily the most fun music festival I have ever been to. Such a well oiled machine you could easily see bits and pieces of everything you wanted (as long as you were prepared for lots of walking and crowd pushing).

The weather was amazing, the vibe incredible, dancing (or rather bouncing) along with trillions of others was pure joy. Our highlights for the day would have to be Dizzee Rascal, Kora, Muse and Groove Armada but the band/singers were all great in their own way.

We lasted dancing till the very end at 12:30 showing up a few of the youngins who were dropping like flies. I am definitely hooked and will be back next year.

Our watchlist:
Deja Voodoo, Mile High, The Checks, Passion Pit , Karnivool, Mastadon, Eskimoe Joe, Jet, The Horrors , Kora, The Veils, The Decemberists, Dizzee Rascal, Lily Allen, The Mars Volta, Muse, Groove Armada, Fear Factory

Lowlights:
Speights summit beer, portapoos, giant hairy sweaty painted men, losing my camera(the disposable luckily), lack of a sunscreen tent and constant bag checks.

Highlights:
My fabulous sister, the V jet rocket man, lasers/lights/glow sticks(I'm a sucker for light shows), dancing, hearing fav' songs live, the crazy costumes, new & old friends and Dizzee.

views on wheel

Our beautiful harbour at dusk

sun, cycling and cooking

I had the best weekend, started with a long day in the sun at my friend Melissa's birthday BBQ and ended with lots of cooking for the week.

I now remember why cookbooks are so good after breakfasts of seeded bread with spinach, swiss brown mushrooms and a poached egg or ricotta cakes with strawberries and honey and chickpea curry with preserved lemon cous cous and homemade yoghurt or butter chicken for dinner. Who said losing weight was boring.

I also did alot of cycling and now with the hydrolics turned off on my front wheel I am going twice as fast and far - my home hill Queen street is still a killer though. This week I am going to take my camera along so I can capture some of the sparkling water and pretty sights I see on my evening rides.

Oh and finally finished watching season 4 of Dexter and was so not prepared for the ending it even made me cry.

Micro pause from Invoicing - fav' songs of the mo'

I am taking a mini break as know it will refresh me to tackle the remaining invoices faster and more accurately as never easy on a Friday afternoon.

Have seen this done alot and like it on others blogs so thought I would do one to.

Some of what I am listening to:
Breathe 2am - Anna Nalick
Falling Awake - Gary Jules
I feel it all - Feist
Lemon tree - Fools Garden
Love Love Love - Tristan Prettyman
Not Enough - Nathan King
Scar - Missy Higgins
The Metre - Powderfinger
The Show - Lenka
Wanderlust - Carla Werner
Song to the Siren - The mortal Coil
People gotta lotta nerve - Neko Case
Simple - Angie Hart
Sprout and the Bean - Joanna Newsom
22 - Lily Allen
June - Cameras
Gold Canary - Cloud Control
Broken - Lifehouse
Tore my heart out - Mama Kin
Hold on my heart/All I want - Sarah Blasko
How to tame lions - Washington
Annan Water - The Decemberists
Neopolitan Dreams/Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell
Quelqu'un m'a dit - Carla Bruni
Uprising - Muse
Breathe me - Sia

My little tea obsession

I should start at the beginning. When I was little I always wanted to be elegant and ladylike like my nana and all the 1920-50's movie stars and I associated the art of tea drinking as part of this. So I began with the normal black teas and went from there.

Now in my 30's I can't imagine a day without tea and I have a collection of over 40 teas at home and a mini one of 5 at work. I have teas for every purpose from waking me up to putting me to sleep and for every occasion. So after Chocolate, Tea is the one thing I always keep an eye on the trends and hunt out new ones when I travel.

So I thought I would share a few of my favourites.

For the everyday occasion and for the morning pick me up I love Twinings Lady Grey, now I should point out one of the only teas I can't stand is Earl Grey but this blend which is alot lighter on the bergamot and as such has the most amazing aroma and light flavour makes it so much better - or maybe its just because it is named for a lady not a man.

For in the afternoon when I want a bit of a pick me up and a touch of spice I love T Leaf Teas Kawakawa fire which with the peppery and ginger zing is fabulous. I even think the leaves look kinda Karate chopped so further emphasizing the kick butt nature of it.

Sometimes I want something pretty and a little sweet so for this I always go to my Harney tea range of which their Paris blend is an alltime favourite. Their tins and the silk bags are just so old school elegant and scream tea party with doilies and cupcakes.

If its a hot day or if I have over indulged in food you can't go past T2's peppermint as it is great both chilled and hot and works well on the digestive system. I kinda see this as the beer of teas.

If its before bed or I just want to wind down I have two favourites, one old and one new as I can't even remember when I first came across sleepytime but the aroma and taste is now so synonymous with bedtime I only have to open the packet to instantly feel sleepy and the really fun packaging of this company is also great. My new one is also from the NZ company T leaf T and is called restful this tea even looks girly with its flowers and pretty colours.

Now there are a million other teas I love and I could talk about tea all day as you have regional variations, Black, White, Green, Chai, Herbal or Fruit options, how to brew, Milk or Black, ceremonies and of course High teas but hopefully the few I have listed above will pass on some of my love for the topic and if anyone knows a great tea house or brewer please let me know.

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's back to work we go

I must take proper relaxing holidays more often as I didn't even mind coming into work today which makes a change - the Vanuatu time change is still a killer as I got quite used to getting up 2 hours later.

Vanuatu - My slice of summer paradise

Air Vanuatu
Small 737 plane with only about 50 passengers on board so had loads of free seats around me yay! no movie, tv or anything entertaining so bad in that respect, food was average, corned beef or fish curry as the options. But the attendants gave you a taste of what was to come with warm smiles and bright eyes.

Day 1
Checked into my first stop in Port Vila Coconut palms resort, had a nice dining area and great pool the room was OK had nothing but a bed and fan but mine overlooked the pool so nice balcony. Went for a swim and chatted with a barristor from Auckland called Maurice. Then read my book. Had dinner in the pool table/bar area and got chatting with some nice people from Sydney (Joehannes and Sarah) and a lovely chick from Toowoomba (Heather). The local beer was not bad but strong in flavour called Tusker. I quickly realised although a hotel in settup this place inspired more of a backpacker social vibe so always had friendly people to talk to.

This is Laura the day boss who was so much help to me as I wanted to do and see as much as possible while I was there.

Day 2

Sundays everything is closed in Vanuatu so a group of us decided to pile into the owners car and head over to the Mele cascade falls for a walk and cool off they were really beautiful and we stayed for about 2-3 hours, the more adventurous sliding, jumping, flipping and diving off the rocks. Then we all piled back into another taxi and went to spend the afternoon at Hideaway Island which is very picturesque and what you kinda imagine when thinking of a tropical island. All the ground was covered in coral and the sea was so warm and so clear you could look straight through it to the fish and coral below. We had the first of many beef burgers here as food in Vanuatu is not the best and everywhere has the same options, seafood, beef/chicken burger or pizza.

Day 3

After many phone-calls back and forth and much negotiation I managed to get myself onto an outer Island tour to Tanna. So we headed to the airport to hop on a Unity Airline flight. All I can say is I am glad I love to fly as for anyone a little on the nervous side would probably have freaked out at the tiny plane with two propellers and passengers packed in like sardines seating 8 including pilot Nathan from Adelaide.

 

The flight took an hour and was a little on the bumpy side but we all made it in one piece. The other people on the plane all went off on their tour and I hopped in a truck with George to go on mine - blind faith that said George was not a crazy man as no one has uniforms or signed cars but I do have a knack for being lucky. Turned out no one else wanted to do a night tour that day so I had my own personal guide.

First up went and settled in at my accomodation Tanna Lodge with a room larger than my apartment at home and luxurious to say the least. The host Nick was fabulous with bright smile and larger than life personality.

I then headed out to start my Tanna adventures(funnily they couldn't get my name so called me Tanna for my duration there). The roads are so much fun as unbelievably pot holed, rocky and bumpy told George it was like dancing in the car he thought I was hillarious as couldn't stop laughing and made him crank up the reggae beats all the way. My first stop was called the black magic tour which I had no idea what to expect and it was a mixture of fun - screaming scary and informative, at the end they told me they jump and scare the one who screams the loudest the most which just so happened to be me.

We then went for a drive to Georges local village where he took me around the markets and showed me the schools and where everyone sleeps, this was also where I had my first coconut which they climbed the tree and cut it down and served it to me nothing like fresh milk on a hot day. Wore alot of it though as hard to drink when driving on bumpy roads - realised the wisdom in western straws.

Then last stop for the night Yasur Volcano the only accessible active volcano in the world. It was amazing like a moon scape and then every now and again molten lava would spew forth from the hole. Happy to say I didn't get hit as no fences, signs anything in terms of safety bar my blind faith that Goerge didn't wish to die any more than I did. The wind was really high also so standing on ridges was pretty scary but worth it for the show at night.

Was really hard to capture what you saw as you never knew when it would go off so last pic I have borrowed as shows what I saw better than any of mine.

We then headed back to the lodge and I loved that fact that no matter where we were there was always someone popping out of the bushes in the dark a little creepy but also fascinating. Useful fact for travellers when you see a bright blue light it means the Kava is ready.

Day 4

Spent the morning chatting away to the owners of Tanna Lodge trying to understand the culture as much as possible and swam in the pool and the ocean and enjoyed a platter of the local fruits. Not sure why but one cow in the area always kept mooing at me everytime I went past him very funny. Also fell in love with their tree that flowers red in December which like NZ(Pohutukawa) because of this fact they call their Christmas tree. Then it was back to the airport to fly back to vila. I managed to finish my first book just as the plane touched down called the Madonna of the Almonds set in Renaissance Italy and loosely linked to the legend of the creation of the drink Amaretto. Very good read for the romantics out there.

Got back to the hotel and met up with some friends and we headed down to the local Kava bar where I had my first drink of the trip - luckily they had good lollies for eatng straight after as the taste is rotten like spicy mud and I am no good at spitting as the custom of the locals. Had best sleep of the trip this night.

Day 5
Headed over to my next island Erakor Island Resort which was located within the lagoon on Efate. This resort was lovely with wind swept palm trees and sandy beaches and I almost had the entire back packers lodge to myself. Today was spent relaxing, had a spa body scrub and then massage with frangipani oil, and yes after the burning incident in fiji learnt to wash it off this time before heading back into the sun. Started on my second book The girl with the dragon tattoo and was gripped in seconds. Sunbathed and swam oh the life. Had dinner and watched the sunset and enjoyed the happy romance buzz as this is honeymoon island afterall. Then went back to my room and had a party for one dancing to my itunes.

Day 6

Went into town today to see the local markets and shops which was fun as love all the ladies in their brightly coloured dresses. As for shopping I didn't really have any loose change so didn't actually buy anything but if I had it would have been one of three things, some Kava, some sandalwood oil or some of their devine locally grown/brewed coffee.

Then a group of us met up and went on a sunset cruise around Port Vila harbour which was such a lovely way to sepnd the last evening of 2009. With cheese and crackers and bubbles. Sunset in one direction full moon in the other it was perfect.

Lastly spent New years at the bar overlooking the harbour at the Sebel Hotel and watched fireworks displays simultaneously from Erakor, Iririki and Hideaway, very magical. They even had fireworks that setoff from the water something I had never seen before but which was amazing.

Day 7

My last day in Vanuatu. I had made friends with one of the staff at Erakor so he spent the morning showing me around another part of the island where all the surf beaches were and the ganga houses. Then we headed back to the hotel to relax. All in all an amazing trip.

Favourite things about Vanuatu.
1. The bus system is fab any vehicle with a B on number plate is a bus you yell through the windo as they go past where you want to go they stop you hop on it costs $150 vatu and you are delivered to the door.
2. The people so nice and helpful and even in the blackest hours of night I felt 100% safe wandering around on my own.
3. The water so warm so clear and so refreshing.
4. The men they are super hot I don't think I saw one without a brilliant smile and a six pack - a perves paradise.
5. The other travellers (90% Australian) as they were all so wonderful I have so many new friends now.
Least favourite things about Vanuatu
1. Bathrooms - so grotty and this is coming from someone who tried several
2. The cost, it was super expensive costing about $50-$100 per day minimum so not as good value as say Thailand, Bali, etc.
3. Working out the exchange rate as $1000 = $14 not an easy conversion for my little brain.
4. Bookings often way too over complicated.
5. Lack of mosquito nets on windows so rooms were hot hot hot.
6. No hooks or anything to hang wet towels on to dry.

In summary I fell in love with the place and will be back for sure.

iphone

I have finally moved at warp speed into the technology generation with my job giving me an iphone. First impression is in regards to basic phone functions of calling and texting it's a lot slower and harder than conventional phones and didn't realise how much I used to walk and text which is now not possible. But the other features are really handy such as email on the go, apple air programmes like weather, ipod in one and so on. I know the guys at work think I am boring though as have not downloaded any games and very few apps but I am sure that bug will catch me soon.

My mum the family tech junkie had a play and that was it she was in love so has now got one too.

Any iphoners out there with any suggestions of apps etc. you can't live without let me know.

Christmas food mmmmm

So this year I managed to squeeze everyone into my apartment and host dinner on Christmas eve. I even managed to keep the food semi healthy with salad, roast veges, asparagus and ham for mains and summer berry jellies and kapiti vanilla icecream for dessert. We then went to have a drive around the festive lights, great night and was very spoilt. my mum as always has a great sense of humour mixed with practicality and brought me a sun umbrella that looks like a tropical beach scene.

Christmas day was also fantastic as we went to the big family gathering and caught up with everyone as I am sure with all families we are not alone in that some of our cousins we only see once a year so always great to hear what they have been up to.  My nana also made it out and even at 104 was still loving the bubbles and flirting with the men - can so see where I get my passion for the male species from. Then we went and saw Avatar which the 3d was incredible the fact that most of it was computer generated was amazing as they looked so real. I fully enjoyed it. It was such a visual feast, but yes for all the die hard movie goers out there the story was very formulaic and predicable but it didn't worry me as all the artistry made up for it. Oh and did anyone else notice how similar the leads voice is to Russell Crowe's? Little warning your eyes are mega tired and sore by the time you come out.

Avatar's official Website