Christmas Party!

On Saturday evening, MWH hosted their end-of-year/Christmas function in Palmerston North. The theme for the evening was 'hats', 'ties' and/or 'buttonholes' and we thought it would be fairly original to go the African route, since there are only a couple of South Africans in the Wanganui and Palmerston North offices.
We were pleased to find that we were the only 'African' hatted folks there!

Our hats didn't really make too much sense on their own and so we decided to go for the 'complete look' and added the rest of the outfits just for fun.
This picture was taken in the dining area of our house before we left - not bad for a 'set the camera up and fly into position before the flash goes off ' effort!

The 'grass Basotho' hat pictured here is made out of an old unwanted and unused lampshade with it's innards removed. The 'grass' effect is a piece of cardboard decoratively painted and glued onto the lampshade!



The company supplied a bus for us to travel to the function on, all kitted out with a chilly bin containing beverages of the alchoholic variety to get the show on the road!

Half way to the function in Palmerston North, the bus stopped for a 'comfort stop' and 'one for the road' - Jo snapped here with Rachel who keeps the machine -which is the office, well oiled and running smoothly.







Hugh and Glennys with their ties and hats - we ride in the Ulysses Motorcycle Club with them and have heard about very daring costume parties which they have attended. Seems the kiwis can be outrageous too!














Good on ya Robert!


Michael Skelton in his extremely spectacular Christmas hat.






A hat of the feathered variety!































A couple more hats.


For the most part, the music was pretty good and some folks had fun on the dance floor. The DJ for the evening tried very hard to get people to volunteer to take on a karaoke microphone, but there were no takers!

And here is the Scotsman, Andrew, in his spectacular winning hat!

This picture really doesn't do his creation justice - he was a very deserved winner!

Dis al!

Die garage vir boemelaars - Garage for destitutes!

On our arrival in Hamilton, (those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning will know) we were immensely grateful to the folks who donated furniture, whiteware, cutlery and linen etc to be dished out to new arrivals who were waiting for their containers to arrive from across the ocean. When our container arrived, we of course were no longer residing in Hamilton and had brought all the 'donations' down to Wanganui with us. Since our new friends Annelien and Carel Botha visited us here and offered to take things back to Hamilton for us, we managed to return most of the things to be 'recycled' to the next family of 'destitutes'. However, the double bed just wouldn't fit into their car - nor the tumble dryer for that matter, so it was decided that we could hang on to these items until a similar scheme could be established here.

With SAMCA (South African Mid Central Association) now launched, we are in the process of finding storage space for just such items and this picture is to celebrate the first donation to this project - our 'garage for destitutes' stuff with a few additions are loaded onto the trailer in front of our new home in Springvale and all ready to be re-allocated to the next family who needs them.

Pictured here from the left - Stefan, Jo, Mauritz and Pierre.
The extra space in our garage is much appreciated!
Dis al!

Rosie O'Grady's pub

New Plymouth is about two hours away from us here in Wanganui and Jo needed to be on hand one evening when one of the main roads was closed for repairs - the sub-base and base of the road had to be stabilised and then a new surface had to be done. The majority of the work happens at night (for the least possible disruption to the traffic) and the contractors were due to start work at 7pm. We had some time to kill before Jo's supervisory duties kicked in, so wandered about New Plymouth looking for somewhere to have a bite to eat.
We came across this pub about two blocks up from the sea and decided to give them a try.

The service was prompt and friendly and the dinner was really good - not too overpriced and definitely worth another visit when next we find ourselves in the area.

Apparently Guinness originated in Ireland - making it a pure Celtish drink.

Not really to our taste so we settled for a couple of very good ciders.

A really cozy atmosphere with loads of things Scottish (or pretending to be) - since it's a Celtic pub, it was kind of expected!

We wondered if the importers of this set of bagpipes had to go through all the hassle of proof to New Zealand customs regarding the end-pipes which traditionally are made of the dreaded IVORY! Like us, did they even know where the ivory came from?

Ok, so the photo is a little out of focus - I thought at the time it was the cider - but there you go - New Plymouth is 12147 miles from Glasgow and having checked the map of Scotland out in our World Atlas, it looks like the difference in flying time from here to Edinburgh and here to Glasgow cannot be more than the quack of a duck - depending on which way around the globe you happen to fly - we look forward to the day when Jo and Allan can come over to New Zealand for a visit and we are thinking that if you should feel slightly nostalgic, we can call in at this pub and enjoy the good food and company - all on the tartan carpeting!

Dis al!

South African Mid Central Association

Since there are South African organisations and associations dotted about New Zealand, but sadly, nothing happening in this part of the island, it's been decided to band the motley bunch of us into some sort of team, in and around Wanganui.
The big launch was held at the Top Ten holiday park and took the form of a whole weekend of 'pret en plesier' with something for everyone.
Folks came in from the surrounding districts and either booked chalets or pitched their tents and joined in the 'getting to know you' atmosphere, with good food, good music and company. The 'sports' were an aside for those who were so inclined and provided lots of laughs and good prizes!
So many of the local businesses came to the party with sponsoring prizes and so on and we were really quite chuffed that the mayor of Wanganui pitched up and gave a positive and encouraging speech.
All in all, a very successful launch and a fun weekend of R and R.

The team of 'die spesery meisies' - main organiser of the event and the new association, Pierre is second from the left.

The ladies team of 'die mal koeie'!

Teams were chosen for the day and challenged other teams to beat them at rowing, paintballing and cooking!!! These chaps really got into the spirit with their basketball theme.

Even some of the ladies were prepared to take on the river and row their way across and back. The current is fairly strong and since the river is so close to the sea, it tends to be somewhat tidal - most of the ladies did an amazing job and no-one needed rescuing! There was a motorized boat out on the river with them, just in case!

The 'mare' of Wanganui, Michael Laws - gave a really good account of how New Zealand has grown as a result of migrants from all over the world and how kiwis want to embrace and celebrate all the various cultures - in our case "especially the food"!

He has evidently visited SA - albeit only Johannesburg but at least knows where SA is!

There is a 'biggest dinner' (that's the most people catered for we gather) elsewhere in New Zealand each year and Michael Laws thinks Wanganui should host the 'biggest braai in New Zealand' and put Wanganui on the map. He's promised financial support for this to the tune of $10,000 for next year, so that sounds 'good as gold'!

Rapt attention for Michael's speech - especially the part about council support for next years' event!

The Boesenkool children making music at the fees - that's Mum in the red blouse, keeping the music from blowing away. Just shows you - there is even real culture going on amongst the South Africans here in New Zealand.

A lovely touch of class with these incredibly talented children playing tunes everybody knows and loves.

Here's a team of guys planning their strategy before the big paintball war - to be honest, we have no idea who won! There was a lot of shouting and shooting and raucous laughter going on - it seems that a great time was had by all the big boys playing cowboys and crooks!

Even the ladies were game for a spot of paintball and some came away with very dramatic bruises to prove it!

The gentlemen armed with the clipboards are the 'judges' of the best potjies! Some folks really take this type of competition seriously, but then who wouldn't when the first prize was a very large and impressive hamper of South African products sponsored by one of the local supermarkets for the event. Good on ya Countdown!

After a full day of river paddling and paintballing and potjiekos for dinner, folks let their hair down and danced the night away.



Dis al!

Move from Parkes Avenue to Kakaho Drive

Crates of pianos en-route to Kakaho Drive (we meant to include this picture with the ones in the next blog entry, but somehow missed this one)

Some things fit into neat little (or big) boxes - other things just seem to naturally fill up a van!

Lunch break! Mariaan arrived at 12.30 sharp with pizzas, chips, salads and drinks - organised to the last plate and plastic glass! Everyone took a breather over lunch before the last big push to get everything safely delivered to Kakaho Drive.

It was just so incredible to us how folks just kicked off their shoes and got stuck in packing and wrapping and chatting. The linen lurking in this picture was as back-up in case there wasn't enough paper and/or bubble wrap to finish the job. We fortunately didn't have to wrap glasses in pillowslips!

There goes the last load from Parkes Avenue - garage tools and woodworking machinery.

This photograph demonstrates how things are prioritised - no matter how disorganised we are and regardless of how much chaos there is around us, first things first - the piano is in it's place and there is a clear and comfortable sofa to park your tail on while you take in some relaxing music since the sound system is connected - wires everywhere, nothing pretty about anything, but hey - we will get there eventually!

One could be excused for thinking that you might need wings to get out of that sliding door! Chaos is reigning supreme on Saturday evening, but the one good thing was that although we had no idea where anything was, at least we knew for certain that all our belongings were amongst that lot somewhere!

By Sunday evening there is a semblance of order in the kitchen/dining area - enough space has been cleared to create something delectable at the stove! Note the couple of bottles on the counter top - Bertrams it is not, but good enough to wet the whistle!

Dis al!

The pianos are moved and installed!

The removal truck was a little large for the driveway, so the crates had to be moved out of the garage and eased down the driveway to the lift on the back of the truck - this manoeuvre only required five blokes since Andre supplied a 'manual forklift' on wheels which facilitated the whole procedure dramatically.


While the fellas are handling all the heavy duty stuff, the lasses were packing up this little pile of music which accompanies the ivories - with a good few boxes and plenty of cloth shopping bags for the rest, we got all this music loaded at the one end and replaced in it's exclusive wall unit at the other end!

Some push, some pull, some guide and others watch for snags - somehow or another, between them, the pianos are loaded onto the 'forklift', lowered to the ground behind the truck and then manhandled into position in the house! What a mission! Some of our 'crew' were genuinely surprised at just how heavy a steel framed piano is! We warned ya!!

Fortunately, there is a fairly large sliding door into the main living area of the house, so the crated piano could be worked into position with plenty of handholds.

The pianos are finally installed in their respective positions in the house and the 'crew' make some fun out of returning the forklifter to the van. The spirit in which this whole exercise was undertaken was quite something to behold - a whole bunch of South African folks mucking in and doing all the actual work - not only making us feel welcome here in Wanganui, but also seeing to the practical stuff and giving up their Saturday to help us get moved into our new home. We will always be grateful to these folks (who hardly know us) for their willingness to help us get the job done. Thanks guys!

Dis al!

A Sunday afternoon bike ride

We knew that the move to our new house was imminent, so decided that in spite of the weather being a bit gloomy, we needed to 'get out a bit' and took a drive on the motorbike to the Waverley Beach area - about 40km from Wanganui. Although the sky is very grey and the wind was up a bit, winter is definitely on it's way out and we are so looking forward to doing these sorts of trips in summer.
The scenery is no less spectacular than we are coming to expect - so we thought we'd post some pictures for you to enjoy too.

The trusty 'steed' is actually standing on a piece of gravel path - although this photograph makes it look somewhat like some kind of fierce wild animal - we have been quite surprised to find that this particular variety of 'wild life' (being a Pan European 1300 Honda) is thriving in New Zealand and we are less unique here than we were in SA. In our little 'old fogeys' motorcycle club alone - Wanganui branch - there are two others beside this one.



















One really does come across the beautiful scenery bit by bit - the coastline around here is extremely rugged and although there is a huge expanse of beach just over the next little hill, this smaller cove is just as spectacular in it's own way.

Some folks hate having their photos taken - you might have noticed how few pictures of this lady are evident on this blogspot - she agreed to this one under great duress. Especially since the 'helmet hair' is present in all it's finery. So folks, glance and move on!

This is one of the sorts of photographs that one usually would see in glamorous and glossy travel magazines or calendars. When you arrive at this particular part of the coastline, none of this sort of scenery is immediately evident - only once you have wandered down to the beach from the cliffs above do you come across gems like this one. The whole picture just begged to be captured on 'film' so that a watercolour or acryllic painting can be created some time in the future.

Some folks aren't happy with just observing a quirk of nature - they have to go the whole tactile experience to be sure that their eyes are not deceiving them - yes, the sand is black and no it's not oily or stickier than regular sand. It's very fine in texture and gets into everything! It does wash off easily and doesn't stain fabrics! What's really interesting is that the pebbles which one finds on all beaches and which are no less evident here, are not black, they're pebble coloured!

Kiwis are very fond of doing the number plate number - some are really quite witty and others need some decyphering. These two, spotted beside the beach, are pretty self-explanatory! We were amused by the Sky television dish which evidently goes along on camping trips!

It was, admittedly a pretty gloomy day, but whether the sun happens to be shining or not, makes no difference to the colour of the beach sand! Volcanic sand is black - and takes quite some getting accustomed to!

Dis al!