AS: Life downunder

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  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Haere mai* Climacus. :smiley:

    Welcome to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

    I Hope you avoid the forecast hail in your city.


    *Welcome.

  • Loth, that sounds awfully like Heaven.
    GG
  • Yes, GG, it does. We can all cook well but differently so there is a variety.
  • Koalas! There were people looking into trees about 100 metres down the road. DIL now has a photo of a koala up high. There is a group of tall gums down the back of outr place and a couple of days ago I thought I saw two. I really needed binoculars to check.

    I know Shipmate Rowen takes visitors to sanctuaries and also sees them , but in all my time over many years in the mountains I have never seen one. I am sure they are there, but not in sight.
  • I am always excited to see native wildlife. Like a little kid. And koalas are elusive.

    Thanks for the welcome Huia, and the wishes all. Arrived last night, missed any hail, and managed a quick walk around the centre of town (with a lovely park) before the rain came. It's a really nice city, and lots of diverse restaurants I noticed. I won't go hungry.

    First full day here... Having corn fritters and a coffee for breakfast. I secured a furnished apartment for several months next to the uni which will help me get settled. Moving in today.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    You must have swum very quickly indeed.
  • Hope you settle in quickly. Apartment for some months will give you time to sort things out..
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Sounds like a good start, Climacus!

    Loth, how cool is it to have koalas almost in your back garden? <cute alert> :)
  • He he Gee D.

    Thanks Loth and Piglet.

    Dust storms affecting any of you? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-46298309
  • Blowing in strong wind here but nothing like the red dust of about ten years ago which was very thick. Weather warnings and grazier alerts for severe thunderstorms, strong cold winds etc and more of the same tomorrow.
  • Curiosity killedCuriosity killed Shipmate
    edited November 2018
    Sounds really exciting, @Climacus - hope things continue energising and interestingly enjoyable.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Climacus, it's great that you have somewhere to live while you get to know the town and your colleagues.

    I turned on the radio this morning to discover that the road link between Picton, (the terminal for the Interisland Ferry) and Christchurch has been finished - it was damaged in a 7.8 quake centred in Kaikoura in 2016, and squillions of dollars and a lot of hard and dangerous work has been done to fix it. Passenger trains will be running from December.

    (I need the :yippey:)
  • Thanks CK and Huia.
  • Hurrah for fixed road links and train tracks, Huia. I'll add that to my list.

    Your ducks seem less flighty than Albury ones. They just sit and stare at you here. And I like the little birds you have, brown and black, that flutter about.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    That dust storm isn't Climacus "shaking the dust from his feet"* as he leaves Australia, is it? :mrgreen:

    * as it says somewhere in the New Testament
  • ClimacusClimacus Shipmate
    edited November 2018
    Ha ha Piglet.

    Start my new job tomorrow... Well, 4 days of training in new software actually. Looking forward to it, but a bit anxious about the new start.

    Having a pain au chocolate and latte at a patisserie in town this morning to calm the nerves.

    Shops seem open a bit longer here. Very surprised banks are open Saturday and Sunday! Then again, I did come from the country. 🙂
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited November 2018
    Many years ago, we went to a country town in Hunter Valley. Shops were advertised as closing at noon as most did through the state on a Saturday. We found they were actually closing at 11:00 am. We were told that yes, they closed at noon but really closed at 11:00 so everything necessary could be done and employees could leave at noon.

    DIL brought many boxes of books around to the verandah outside my room. I went through two yesterday and have done another two this morning so far. Some boxes have books from my shelving at unit. Others I do not know where they were stored. I found a 1917 edition of Hymns A&M, I have no memory of that at all. Lots of books which were presents from my childhood, I do remember them. A copy of I had a black dog, a gift from a Shipmate.

    Fortunately, my room has an entire wall of sturdy shelving in substantial stained wood.
  • And I like the little birds you have, brown and black, that flutter about.[/quote]
    Sparrows? You don't know until you travel which birds are international and which are not.

    My grandkids in BC Canada seemed to have few birds around the house (bears, though!) and were intrigued by the sparrows that come when I throw out a crust. When I said how I love to see them bobbing along they called them the bobbing birds.

    A resident blackbird has been known to fly down, if I step outside, to the spot on the lawn where I usually throw food — of course, if I go back to get a crust, he's flown off when I come back. Blackbirds like porridge scrapings.

    "Very surprised banks are open Saturday and Sunday!" I haven't seen a bank open on Sunday. They are all busy closing their 'shops' to the extreme inconvenience of oldies who don't do their banking/pay their bills on line.
  • Sorry to hear about the banks...I guessed it was a NZ-wide thing...

    I got on a bird website. Blackbirds and song thrushes. We may have them back home but I don't recall them. We have sparrows in Oz.
  • ZappaZappa Ecclesiantics Host
    Climacus wrote: »
    Ha ha Piglet.

    Start my new job tomorrow... Well, 4 days of training in new software actually. Looking forward to it, but a bit anxious about the new start.

    Having a pain au chocolate and latte at a patisserie in town this morning to calm the nerves.

    Shops seem open a bit longer here. Very surprised banks are open Saturday and Sunday! Then again, I did come from the country. 🙂

    Yeah, don't think I've seen banks open Sundays anywhere, except maybe Queenstown, and Saturday I think only in chosen centres.

    Blackbirds are the most widespread exotic (ie introduced) species in NZ. You can find them in the most-far-from-humans spots, across every acre of the country. Sparrows have settled only in more human-frequented areas. A few Oz birds have got here by natural processes (pukeko, riroriro, piwakawaka ... (but you'll have to google their Western Isle names :wink: ... swallows more recently, in human times,, and even on very rare occasions pelicans, though the last lot sadly were murdered in the Waikato) ... others were introduced by human interference (magpies, arguments over how and when eastern rosellas got here ... I have heard, with horror, that the bullying kookaburra have made their way here but am not sure its true). Magpies here tend to be less cranky, but also less tame-able for some unknown reason. Thrushes were I think brought here by the so-called "acclimatization society" in the nineteenth century, and are widespread but less obvious than sparrows or blackbirds.

    And yes, I'm still in the stumbling stages of a new job, so lots of empathy.
  • There was a kookaburra laughing his head off in a tree near where I went to high school at Auckland Girls' Grammar in 1976. My uncle was an Australian and he heard it too as he lived nearby in Karangahape Rd.
  • Last Sunday I thought I saw koalas in the gums down the back. Originally part of this big block but sold for money for house. As were blocks at the side. I could see something in one of the trees but wasn’t sure and binoculars are still packed. I told others. Son heard them last night and knew they were not possums. So some very close as well as just down the road. We used to hear them at Wollombi.
  • How wonderful, Loth!

    Thanks for the bird information and memories.

    A bit of nerves this morning on my first day...woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. I have four days of training so I'm probably likely to fall asleep at 2pm. Good first impression. :wink:
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Sending lots of good wishes to both Climacus and Zappa in their respective new jobs! :)
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Thinking of you both Climacus and Zappa - new jobs can be exciting, but also a bit intimidating,

    Climacus, keep an eye open for a small black diving duck - Papango or black scaup. I think they are endemic to NZ/Aotearoa, but I'm not sure whether they are in your city or not. They are endangered, so you are unlikey to see more than 4 in one place They are much smaller than Mallards, (the more common duck) . I like their unexpectedness. You look at an empty stretch of river then, suddenly a duck pops up. Their ducklings are about the size of sparrows and can dive about 1.5 metres when they are only a couple of days old.
  • gustavagustava Shipmate Posts: 25
    Hi Climacus (and everyone really)

    I'd like to recommend a facebook group "New Zealand Birders". It's for everyone from people with no knowledge of birds to experts, and it has lots and lots of fabulous photos (not just people living in New Zealand posting in it either)
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Hi Gustava - welcome. I'm sure a friendly host will be along soon to do the proper thing :smile:

    That fb group sounds interesting, thanks.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Hello Gustava, and welcome aboard!

    If you haven't done so already, have a look at the 10 Commandments and FAQ pages (links on the Home page), which should tell you all you need to know about what's what and who's who. Also there's a Welcome thread at the top of the All Saints homepage where you can say hello.

    Happy sailing with us!

    Piglet,
    All Saints host
  • Just dropping in from afar to say I hope your first day went well, Climacus; and sounds like you are settling in up the mountains Loth. WitG
  • Yes thank you. Gales and cold and sheep weather alert for tomorrow.
  • Stay warm, Loth!

    I'll keep an eye out for the duck, Huia.

    Welcome and thank you Gustava.

    Thank you WitG: first day went well, as did second. Seems like a good team and interesting work.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Glad to hear it!
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited November 2018
    Amazing electrical thunderstorm here at 5:00 am. Non stop lightning. 100 mm rain was forecast over the day. We reached that total between 5:00 and 7:00 am. Real rain still to come and gales this afternoon. We still have power, although many don’t. Stove is bottled gas so cooking is ok. Now 9:00 am, very dark and rain tumbling down. Police advise not driving if possible.

    Water pouring out of Woolworths wall at Town Hall Station.
  • I read the news over lunch. Amazing scenes. And tragic with a fatality and injuries.
  • It is now 4:35 and after a short break it is back just as bad as before, thunderstorms and gales still anticipated and bureau reports an extremely heavy and thick band over the mountains.

    The others here have done a sterling job. Pickup tomorrow ofhousehold heavy waste, eg old dishwasher anad similar. They are soaked after getting it out. Up the drive which is on a steep slope,all in a downpour.
  • mr curlymr curly Shipmate Posts: 42
    Al the best for your new spot, Climacus!

    Quite damp here today. My third choice of route to work worked out OK, dodging localised flooding. Trip home OK as left early. Little Miss had to be rescued half way home from the city (she's on work experience) as trains were disrupted due to a tree on the line.

    In the "I'm feeling old" department, Biggest has finished his second year at uni, and Middle his first. I think I need to send them to Loth's for cooking lessons.

    mr curly
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Earthquakes, the gift that keeps giving. I have leaks in my roof caused by badly done earthquake repairs, I am going to have to approach the Earthquake Comission (EQC) as they are hired the people who repaired them.

    I am feeling very nervous about this because EQC have a nasty reputation when dodgy repairs are questioned. I just want to bury my head, but I need tackle this head on as the quoted cost of repairs could leave me short of money to replace my hearing aids.

    I would send Georgie - Porgy out to work, but she's getting old and frail.
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited November 2018
    mr curly wrote: »
    Al the best for your new spot, Climacus!

    Quite damp here today. My third choice of route to work worked out OK, dodging localised flooding. Trip home OK as left early. Little Miss had to be rescued half way home from the city (she's on work experience) as trains were disrupted due to a tree on the line.

    In the "I'm feeling old" department, Biggest has finished his second year at uni, and Middle his first. I think I need to send them to Loth's for cooking lessons.

    mr curly

    I made very old fashioned meatloaf tonight, perfect for the weather . Updated wit truss organic cherry tomatoes and several bunches of good asparagus. We are all happy to help grandson but mostly he has learnt on the job. Messy, yes, but worth it in the long run. I think the last question he asked re cooking was for crumbing something. Was it egg, flour, crumbs, or flour, egg, crumbs. I suggested he thought about what he wanted to achieve with this, and he worked out order by himself.

    He can pump meat for smoking and use the wood smoker.

  • That's not good Huia. Hope you can sort the roof out soon.

    Those rains sound scary.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    This weather is getting depressing. Drizzle again, but clearing in the afternoon. I am so fed up with it being damp, interspersed with being outright soggy. Georgie-Porgy will be getting webbed feet. At least the roof isn't actively leaking, at present - which would make it totally unbearable.

    The upside is that the garden hasn't needed watering for weeks. :smile:

    I do need to get my act together and bake the Christmas cakes though, baking when temperatures are in the high twenties is not so much fun.

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    That weather looks scarily impressive, Loth! Spring floods can be a real bummer - the combination of heavy rain and a sudden thaw caused havoc here earlier this year. Hope you all stay safe.
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited November 2018
    Today it is windy, partly cloudy but not wet. I think we had abput 5-6” of rain yesterday.We are only five minutes from grandson’s high school. He went off with an umbrella yesterday which was killed by the weather. We are grateful to a parent from further away who collected F in his car when collecting his own son. Right down the drive and dropped two steps from shelter.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    5-6 inches in one day is more than enough rain!

    I'm tentatively giving thanks that the snow we were promised for today doesn't seem to have materialised - yet - and some of what was there has obligingly buggered off.
  • First day in the office. I have a bright orange Personal Emergency Kit backpack to fill. I assume with GIN! 😁
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Many years ago when I did a first aid course the instructor said that any brandy in a first aid kit was for the first aider after an ambulance had taken away the patient. :smiley: (hic)

    I must admit that as a Christchurch person, who should be very aware of such things - I am a total failure. I always have at least 2 weeks supply of my medication available though and a printed summary of, from the top of the blister pack it comes in. That was enough for a chemist to give emergency supplies.

    People I know who might be at work also make sure they have a water bottle and scroggin (nuts. chocolate etc) in case they may have to walk a long way home.

    The trouble is you don't know where you might be when a disaster hits. At least you should be safe from tsunamis that far inland.

    Huia - one of Job's less competent comforters.🙄


  • You're a wonderful comforter, Huia. And a generous source of information. I like the word 'scroggins'!

    Christmas parade here cancelled due to threat of thunderstorms and possible hail. Will need to wait til next year. I see the NZ symphony orchestra is playing Messiah here next week -- will probably go.

  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    The Christmas Parade here is today and we have a steady drizzle. :disappointed: I never go (too many people and not really interested), but I'm sorry for all those who put so much work into it and those who were looking forward to it.

    Thanks for reminding me about the Messiah. There will be a local performance here in the Catholic Proto Cathedral. (The decision on their badly quake damaged building is yet to be announced.)
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    The Parade went off well apparently. I hadn't realised it was the first since 2010, another sign of things returning. :smiley:

    First Christmas cake is in the oven without too many disasters. Two or 3 more to go - depending on my stamina. The first is always the most challenging as I do very little baking these days.
  • Not sure if our Shipmate Dangerous Deacon has boarded the new vessel. However, he may be a little busy to be posting in the near future as he will acquire a pointy hat in the first quarter of 2019.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Congratulations to him if he's keeping an eye on the Ship.
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