Gosh I am tired! Being at work by 8am is getting to me (yes I know most people manage but finishing work at 3am is more normal for me) although it's been great getting home while there's still daylight. Tonight I had a friend and his girlfriend around for dinner which made for a nice evening with lots of laughter. Because I had only 45 minutes between arriving home and them arriving for dinner (in which time I needed to shower and clean the house) I cheated a bit and bought tortillas, black beans and some mince. With a whole lot of vegetables, a little cheese and sour cream, it made such a quick and yummy dinner. They brought over dessert and so it was stress and fuss free. Now I'm tired and so ready for bed.
Today I also met Juan Gabriel Vasquez, a Colombian author who's in Wellington for Readers and Writers week. I got a copy of one of his books and had it signed so I'm looking forward to taking it on holiday with me. I'm lagging a little on my book for March (only a chapter in) but I have Thursday off so I might spend it reading with copious cups of tea - I'm reading One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, another Colombian. I think I might continue with this Latin American theme and tackle one by Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa in May. Any suggestions for my June book are welcome.
My Handmade Booking Confirmation arrived as well. After a lot of umming and ahhing I finalised my choices. Day one will be: Cushion making, Ruth Pretty's Celebration Cakes, Two handed stranded knitting, Spinning. Day two: Cheese making, Fabric baskets, Crochet Garland and Sock Owls. I'm ridiculously excited. Bring on June!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Rediscovering my travel blog
When I logged into Facebook today I noticed my sister had shared my South America travel blog on her page as some of her friends were thinking of travelling over there. Now I haven't really read any of it since writing it, although I keep meaning to turn it into a book to keep for myself, but reading through the entries tonight, I found it really interesting and at times plain hilarious. Some of the similes I used...
On climbing Huayna Picchu (the mountain in all the Machu Picchu snaps): "Thank god for the ropes in places to help you pull yourself up - this track is steep! One wrong step and you're a goner! The views from the top made it all worthwhile, giving you a birds eye view of the ruins. The summit is a few big boulders perched on top of one another. There are ruins right at the top here - me thinks the Incas were slightly loco. I'm proud of myself for getting up there. And then down, down, down, very, very, slowly. In one part I was shimmying down the path on my bum, like a cumbersome spider."
On a Peruvian taxi ride: "Upon returning to the taxi, however, I discovered we weren't going to be going anywhere else in a hurry. The driver had locked the keys in the car. A group of men hovered around it, attempting to break in using all manners of instruments, from the thing you use to test the oil levels, to something that looked suspiciously like a machete. They were having no luck. It appeared noone had a clothes hanger."
On eating guinea pig: "Lunch was guinea pig. Boy are they hard to eat. Well in public anyway. In the privacy of my own dining room I could probably devour one quite quickly, ripping it open and tearing off what little flesh there is with my hands and teeth. But alas, in polite company one must use a knife and fork and let me tell you, it's no mean feat eating a guinea pig in that way. They come out on the plate with teeth and claws intact."
On a conversation with a Peruvian family at a bullfight: When they asked if I’d maybe marry a Peruvian man, I laughed and said it’s not likely as I’m taller than most of them. One of the older ladies replied that I need a man 3 metres tall, which led to a holy crap, imagine the size of his penis joke by one of the mums. We were in hysterics for some time.
A description of a bull fight: What happens is they release the bull and it charges right around the ring, the matadors teasing it with pink capes and then running back behind the box things that you find at various intervals around the ring. Then normally one of the matadors ventures out further and gets the bull to charge his pink cape. This continues for a while and is my favourite part, as the bull is really aggressive but hasn’t yet been hurt so he’s got heaps of energy. I have to remember to breathe as I’m holding my breath every time the bull gets near the matador, certain that this time, he’s going to be gored! Actually I’m kind of egging the bull on. Get one over the bastard that’s going to kill you eventually! I think it’s a bit like car racing; I for one, am watching just to see if someone’s going to have a spectacular crash! The matadors do some pretty daring moves, but always so gracefully, like they and the bull are partners in unchoreographed and dangerous dance.
The out comes the man on the horse. This is my least favourite part, and by the amount of trash from the crowd that rains down on him and the boos echoing around the stadium, others share my sentiments. His job is to stab the bull with a pole to open up an entry for the matador later, and to also slow the bull down somewhat. The horse is wearing a kind of armour but still sometimes the bulls horns get underneath
. The horse is blindfolded so he doesn’t freak out that there’s a 400+kg hamburger with horns stampeding towards him.
Once that’s done, two of the matadors have to stick their two sharp sticks (in the colour of their country’s flag) into the bull. I think this is the most dangerous part as they have no cape to distract the bull, using only their unshielded bodies to intice him to charge.
Next, the matador who’s turn it is comes out into the ring with a red cape. There were matadors from Peru, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. They play with the bull a while, getting him to charge the cape, and getting huge applause from the crowd if they kneel backwards in a Danny Zuko on the dance floor kind of way, in front of the bull. It’s all very exciting.
Then, his sword is bought out to him. Time for the kill. The best ones get their sword right in to the hilt in one attempt, the bull then immediately falling over, dead. Some of the not so good ones take up to 10 tries, their sword bouncing off the bull’s thick hide, the crowd getting increasingly frustrated with them.
On being groomed by monkeys:
Locals called them english monkeys because of their gingerness. They were really friendly and if you sit quietly they'll come right up to you and start grooming your hair. Was such a strange feeling to have a monkey picking things out of your hair (they need a resident monkey in every primary school in New Zealand I reckon - no more nits!).
On white water rafting: The difference between the rapids is on a grade 3, you enjoy the rapid while you are on it. It's fun. You paddle with a big, goofy grin on your face. On a 5, however, you are paddling like mad just to get through it and out the other side in one piece. At times you are paddling in thin air as the raft hits the peak of a wave, and at others you are just gripping the paddle, eyes squeezed shut as the raft is completely submerged by a churning wall of water, but never stopping paddling until you hear the guide scream stop. In a grade 4/5 it's only when it's over that you go, "Holy crap, that was AWESOME and we are all ALIVE!"
On camping in the Colombian Caribbean: The puddles became a playground for large frogs and my trip to the bathroom was nerve-wracking after being told to watch out for the alligator that hangs out around there...what?!
So tonight let me take you through South America: the highlights.
My grandmother's advice for dodging dog crap on the pavements in Buenos Aires: "you need eyes in your toes".
On climbing Huayna Picchu (the mountain in all the Machu Picchu snaps): "Thank god for the ropes in places to help you pull yourself up - this track is steep! One wrong step and you're a goner! The views from the top made it all worthwhile, giving you a birds eye view of the ruins. The summit is a few big boulders perched on top of one another. There are ruins right at the top here - me thinks the Incas were slightly loco. I'm proud of myself for getting up there. And then down, down, down, very, very, slowly. In one part I was shimmying down the path on my bum, like a cumbersome spider."
On a Peruvian taxi ride: "Upon returning to the taxi, however, I discovered we weren't going to be going anywhere else in a hurry. The driver had locked the keys in the car. A group of men hovered around it, attempting to break in using all manners of instruments, from the thing you use to test the oil levels, to something that looked suspiciously like a machete. They were having no luck. It appeared noone had a clothes hanger."
On eating guinea pig: "Lunch was guinea pig. Boy are they hard to eat. Well in public anyway. In the privacy of my own dining room I could probably devour one quite quickly, ripping it open and tearing off what little flesh there is with my hands and teeth. But alas, in polite company one must use a knife and fork and let me tell you, it's no mean feat eating a guinea pig in that way. They come out on the plate with teeth and claws intact."
On a conversation with a Peruvian family at a bullfight: When they asked if I’d maybe marry a Peruvian man, I laughed and said it’s not likely as I’m taller than most of them. One of the older ladies replied that I need a man 3 metres tall, which led to a holy crap, imagine the size of his penis joke by one of the mums. We were in hysterics for some time.
A description of a bull fight: What happens is they release the bull and it charges right around the ring, the matadors teasing it with pink capes and then running back behind the box things that you find at various intervals around the ring. Then normally one of the matadors ventures out further and gets the bull to charge his pink cape. This continues for a while and is my favourite part, as the bull is really aggressive but hasn’t yet been hurt so he’s got heaps of energy. I have to remember to breathe as I’m holding my breath every time the bull gets near the matador, certain that this time, he’s going to be gored! Actually I’m kind of egging the bull on. Get one over the bastard that’s going to kill you eventually! I think it’s a bit like car racing; I for one, am watching just to see if someone’s going to have a spectacular crash! The matadors do some pretty daring moves, but always so gracefully, like they and the bull are partners in unchoreographed and dangerous dance.
The out comes the man on the horse. This is my least favourite part, and by the amount of trash from the crowd that rains down on him and the boos echoing around the stadium, others share my sentiments. His job is to stab the bull with a pole to open up an entry for the matador later, and to also slow the bull down somewhat. The horse is wearing a kind of armour but still sometimes the bulls horns get underneath
Once that’s done, two of the matadors have to stick their two sharp sticks (in the colour of their country’s flag) into the bull. I think this is the most dangerous part as they have no cape to distract the bull, using only their unshielded bodies to intice him to charge.
Next, the matador who’s turn it is comes out into the ring with a red cape. There were matadors from Peru, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. They play with the bull a while, getting him to charge the cape, and getting huge applause from the crowd if they kneel backwards in a Danny Zuko on the dance floor kind of way, in front of the bull. It’s all very exciting.
Then, his sword is bought out to him. Time for the kill. The best ones get their sword right in to the hilt in one attempt, the bull then immediately falling over, dead. Some of the not so good ones take up to 10 tries, their sword bouncing off the bull’s thick hide, the crowd getting increasingly frustrated with them.
On waking to a 6.9 earthquake:
My 'holy crap' moment of the week was when I was rocked awake at 7am one morning. Literally. My bed and the wall behind me were moving quite violently. As I emerged from a deep slumber I realised that it was an earthquake. Seconds later it dawned on me that I'm in Peru and I don't think this building is all that sturdy. "Should I get out of bed?" The room continues to shake or rather, roll. It felt like an ocean swell was moving under the floorboards. Decision made, I leaped out of bed and under the doorframe to ride it out. Seconds later, it was over. One way to start a day
On the beginning of what was to be the mule ride from hell:
The tour company had said that it'd be 6 hours of horse trekking, followed by a 2 hour descent. Well, my horse arrived and it looked suspiciously like Eeyore. A friggin mule. As we were patting its face, the guide shouted not to do that and that they are very dangerous creatures. He then pointed at me and said that I'd be riding it, "Jump on". Great.
On my ferry grounding in the wop wops of the Amazon:
On my ferry grounding in the wop wops of the Amazon:
Attempt to free lancha
. This time with 2 small boats and 3 men with bare hands pushing against the side. One is 15 horsepower and the other, 60. No luck. Shouts of Adelante! Adelante! Everyone to the front. I'm standing next to a cow with a grotesque compound fractured leg - poor thing. I think they are destined for the freezing works, but they should put us both out of our misery by shooting it and serving it barbequed for lunch.
8.30am. Everyone to the beach. There's 2 evacuation craft this time. I brush my teeth and go to the bathroom first. The other gringos don't want to go until the fat lady who weighs 3 times most of them, gets off. I don't mind. A day at the beach it is!
On sunset on the Amazon: Sunset = wow! Simply magical. The sun was a huge (that should be underlined) pink ball hovering over the jungle. The water was as still as a lake, save the ripples made form the lancha. And then, to top things off, a splash. Was that...?? Another. Yes. A river dolphin leaping periodically across the river. this what travelling is all about!
8.30am. Everyone to the beach. There's 2 evacuation craft this time. I brush my teeth and go to the bathroom first. The other gringos don't want to go until the fat lady who weighs 3 times most of them, gets off. I don't mind. A day at the beach it is!
On sunset on the Amazon: Sunset = wow! Simply magical. The sun was a huge (that should be underlined) pink ball hovering over the jungle. The water was as still as a lake, save the ripples made form the lancha. And then, to top things off, a splash. Was that...?? Another. Yes. A river dolphin leaping periodically across the river. this what travelling is all about!
On white water rafting: The difference between the rapids is on a grade 3, you enjoy the rapid while you are on it. It's fun. You paddle with a big, goofy grin on your face. On a 5, however, you are paddling like mad just to get through it and out the other side in one piece. At times you are paddling in thin air as the raft hits the peak of a wave, and at others you are just gripping the paddle, eyes squeezed shut as the raft is completely submerged by a churning wall of water, but never stopping paddling until you hear the guide scream stop. In a grade 4/5 it's only when it's over that you go, "Holy crap, that was AWESOME and we are all ALIVE!"
On eating ants in Colombia: "They are very crunchy and chewy and there is nothing worse than having little ant legs stuck between your teeth. Never again!"
On caving: Some of the stalactites were pretty impressive - in one part small, white stalactites covered the entire roof of the cavern. Wow. There was also a former column, now suspended in the air which was supposed to look like an elephant's foot but could have equally been an elephant's testicle. Impressively big though.
On camping in the Colombian Caribbean: The puddles became a playground for large frogs and my trip to the bathroom was nerve-wracking after being told to watch out for the alligator that hangs out around there...what?!
On Colombia's obsession with brick: This city is so well organised! If it wasn't for all the ugly brick high rises (I hate brick!) I would be tempted to live here. On the brick note, even the Cathedral here is made of brick and is apparently the 3rd largest brick structure in the world (whatever possessed someone to built 2 larger?!).
On the awesomeness of Medellin's interactive science/technology centre: If the forts in Cartagena were like Wright's Hill on crack, then this was like Kelly Tarltons swallowed a P Lab.
Right bed time for me. If you want to read more visit http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/kiwimumsie/1/tpod.html
I can't wait until I'm back over that way again!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
March garden update
It's just gone 11 and I'm already in bed. I nodded off on the couch earlier but forced myself to get the dishes done, put washing away and sweep the floor before bed. I'm trying really hard at the moment to do those three things every night before bed and to do one other cleaning job each day so my one day off a week can be spent doing fun things like cooking and knitting rather than tidying. So far it's working.
I thought a cat had been digging up the garden so I've purchased some netting to go over it. However today my carrots were also dug up and there was a small plastic trowel left next to them so I think my 'cat' is in fact the neighbours' kids. How annoying.
I decided to tackle the garden when I came home this evening. I managed to convince pommy flatmate to join me out there instead of watching telly. We pulled out a lot of the summer crops like corn, and planted lots of winter veges - beans, peas, more carrots, leek, kohlrabi, kale...
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| I sprinkled hay over the soil to hopefully prevent cats from digging up the newly planted seed. |
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| The new netting should hopefully keep kids out. |
Here's a picture of our summer's corn harvest. So pitiful. I don't think I'll be bothering next year.
The carrots, however, are doing alright, if a little on the ugly side. Tomorrow we'll be having snapper caught by my dad with corn, beans and salad from the garden. Can't wait.
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| Spot the caterpillar. I'm waging a war on them at the moment but they always seem to be a step ahead of me. |
Early start
Gosh it's nice to be up before 7am with time for not one, but two cups of tea, while reading the news. I think the last time I was up this early was back in Samoa in December, where the sunrise and water are so tempting, it's impossible to sleep past dawn. It's also the first time in a long time I was asleep before 11.30pm. I do love working in hospitality but after a while the crazy hours do start to wear you down. Lucky for me I have 5 days this week of 'normal' work hours. I shall be home by 6pm to cook dinner and garden in daylight. Yay!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Booking another holiday
It's my day off and I haven't accomplished too much yet apart from lazing on the couch, knitting and a wee bit of cooking for the week ahead. I haven't even yet gotten out of my pyjamas! That wee earthquake a few minutes ago has be more alert though and ready to tackle the cleaning.
I'm really quite excited as I've just booked a flight to Dunedin, returning from Queenstown for this June. I haven't been to Queenstown since I was 6 years old and all I remember is the jet boat ride. I believe I fell off the seat during one of the turns and it being awesome and a wee bit scary. Now I'm a lot older it'll be fantastic to see some of my country that my backpacker friends are always going on about!
Flights plus a bus between the two cities cost $211.50 including travel insurance. Not half bad...going to Samoa was actually cheaper but it's still affordable. I'll be staying in a backpackers in central Dunedin to keep costs down. With two nights there I'm planning to;
I'm really quite excited as I've just booked a flight to Dunedin, returning from Queenstown for this June. I haven't been to Queenstown since I was 6 years old and all I remember is the jet boat ride. I believe I fell off the seat during one of the turns and it being awesome and a wee bit scary. Now I'm a lot older it'll be fantastic to see some of my country that my backpacker friends are always going on about!
Flights plus a bus between the two cities cost $211.50 including travel insurance. Not half bad...going to Samoa was actually cheaper but it's still affordable. I'll be staying in a backpackers in central Dunedin to keep costs down. With two nights there I'm planning to;
- Do a tour of the peninsula to see yellow-eyed penguins, royal albatross', seals and fingers crossed a royal spoonbill.
- Visit Lanarch Castle.
- Have a beer at the Speights Brewery.
- And depending on the cost of getting out there, arrange a visit to Flagstaff Alpacas to spend too much money on gorgeous yarns.
Then I'll take a bus to Queenstown. The four hour ride has set me back $3.50. That's what I pay to get to work each day. I'm not too fussed on what I do in Queenstown as I'll be with my parents. A spot of wine tasting is the only must and mum wants to go to the Tin Goose Cafe which will draw no arguments from me! I also want to pay the casino a visit one night as I've never actually been to one. I won't be doing any expensive adventure activities as I've done my sky dive and bungy. Rather put that money in my yarn budget :-)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Newtown festival
I had a really great Sunday today. For starters I had my second day off this week. That was cause enough to celebrate. It was also pommy flatmate's birthday. We headed down to the Newtown Festival for a wander around the stalls spending a little too much and eating WAY too much.
I couldn't say no to this knitting yarn. I could only really afford two skeins (at $20 a pop) so had a hard time choosing. I ended up with a pale green alpaca/merino as the colourway was called Mr Darcy - how could I say no to that?! And also a reddish, pinky one. They are both incredibly gorgeous. I think one is destined to be fingerless mitts and the other might just sit there looking pretty for me to drool over until I find a purpose for it.
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| The yarns I bought sitting with my handmade booking. Crafty fun! |
The other stall I couldn't walk away from was selling aprons. They were all so cute. I ended up with a babushka one. My flatmate got an apron too so I think I'll put some hooks up on the kitchen wall so we can show them off.
The main reason we headed down there though was for the food. I was actually quite restrained today, not because I have good will power, but after a sausage sizzle, paua and mussel fritters, it was physically impossible to fit anything else in my stomach.
Pommy flatmate enjoyed her once-a-year vegan sausage sizzle.
Then it was home for a cup of tea or three and knitting in front of a dvd. Later on I brought out the pav in lieu of birthday cake. Yum!
I will my day off would never end but alas I have to spend 12 hours at work tomorrow. Joy! That said I really should get an early night. Time to fill my hot water bottles (it's really that cold already *insert sad face here*) and hit the hay.
P.S I also bought a crochet hook today. Time to teach myself via YouTube I think!
P.S I also bought a crochet hook today. Time to teach myself via YouTube I think!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Completed
25.5 hours after cast on and 8 episodes of Outrageous Fortune later (although obviously not every hour was actually spent on this project)...
...a hat!
It's so beautifully soft and quite stretchy so I think its destined owner should get a few months of wear out of it before I knit her her next hat. This one is rather plain but I have plans that her 9 month hat will involve cables - perhaps a mini version of my Hermione hat.
The only instruction I got from her dad was that it was NOT TO BE PINK. Hopefully they'll love it. Now it just needs some matching booties. I love the sense of satisfaction that finishing a project gives me. My aim for this month is to get in at least an hour of knitting in a day no matter how long my shift has been or how tired I am. Mission: tackle the mountain of yarn in my stash!
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