Well, after my second jaunt in New Zealand I have discovered that I have turned into an absolute wimp. Those of you who are regular readers may remember how, a few months ago, I was complaining that various British/Irish folk thought that any temperature under 20 degrees was now deemed 'cold'. Well, when I arrived into Dun
edin the temperature was 14 degrees, which nearly lead me to having a temperature related breakdown. Things only got worse from there though.I was in Dunedin to watch more cricket, as New Zealand were playing the West Indies in the first test of the Kiwi summer (I use the word summer lightly). How on earth they came to the decision to play a test match there is beyond me, as apparently a few years back one test match there was rained off for the complete 5 days. Having met up with Giles after the second day was rained off, we then proceeded to brave out the cold conditions on day 3, enjoying a peak temperature of 8 degrees. The phrase 'brave out' is a bit rich really, as I spent the day complaining to Giles about how cold I was, sipping at tea like a like my life depended on it.
Needless to say, I wasn't totally devastated to leave Dunedin after this and headed further north to Greymouth where Giles is now living, which is where the weather got really bad.
After arriving late on a Sunday evening, it then proceeded to rain constantly on Monday and Tuesday. It rained most of the day on Wed
nesday, and only rained a little on Thursday. Then it rained constantly on Friday and Saturday, at which point I left. According to one man I spoke to on my penultimate day the weather was only going to get worse too. Greymouth, surely the most aptly named town I have been to since Banos in Ecuador.Giles and his new house had to move out of his house briefly during the week, so I joined them in a local hotel. This proved perfect timing
as the Australia v South Africa test series began on that very day, and with the hotel being equipped with ‘Sky’, I was able to enjoy the first days play as the elements pounded everything outside. I hoped to use this as an opportunity to ridicule the performance of Australia in the test series, but what with English cricket imploding amidst public name calling that ended with a series of redundancies, I have decided to stay quiet on this subject.Before leaving Greymouth Giles and I visited the local brewery, 'Monteith's'. Responsible for one of the nearest thing you can get to an ale on this side the hemisphere, 'Monteith's' put on a fine tour of their beer producing techniques, which ends with a few free tasters of all of their tipples. Some people on the tour clearly weren't too impress
ed with some of the tasters though and left before finishing a few of these free drinks, which provided Giles with a perfect chance to 'minesweep' a few of the leftovers. We were asked to leave shortly after this, but I think that was just because we weren't local.The following morning we awoke to yet more rain, so made our way across to the east coast for an evening in Christchurch. It was Giles' work Christmas party that evening, so seeing an opportunity for some free food I also attended. Overall is was a cracking night, with a great deal of 'pressing-on', which also featured people spraying cooking oil in each other’s mouths (as you can see from the photo, some people needed more encouragement than others), a man who no-one seemed to like, a bottle of wine that smelt like poo and a hilarious moment when Ian (Giles' work colleague who was good enough to let me crash at his house for a couple of nights) was dancing with his girlfriend, but accidentally let go in the middle of a rather strong swing, only to see her go flying across the room at quite a speed and landed perfectly in a chair that wasn
't really designed for such high-impact sitting down.Sadly the night did end in tragedy for me though, after I spent some time rolling on the floor with an adorable dog (I actually mean a dog and not some minger I had picked up), only to find the next morning that I had destroyed my camera.
From Christchurch my next port of call was Wellington, for some Christmas celebrating with Dec.
Luckily, after a day of none stop rain on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day was a glorious affair. After being ridiculed by an OAP for eating porridge - or gruel as she described it- we headed over to some friends of Dec's who were having a rooftop party to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. The meal was an absolute triumph, with each attendee responsible for bringing a different part of the menu. Dec and I were on roast vegetable duty, and if I do say so myself we did a bloody
good job. Sadly I think we were put in the shade by a certain someone’s potato gratin though....Daire.My original plan had been to leave Wellington on the night bus that evening to head to Auckland, but after an afternoon of drinking this plan had to be shelved. Thanks for letting me crash at your place Jenny, Sochi and Joe.
After Christmas Day, Boxing Day proved to be a more relaxing affair...well, not that sitting on a rooftop drinking beer and eating was that physically exerting. After a lovely leftover lunch we all made our way to the beach for more sun-burning, before embarking on a mammoth game of ‘Pictionary’, which at one point I thought may actually spread over into 2009. At this point I discovered that not only can I not draw to save my life, but most of my drawings also seem to resemble penises. Now I know how the kid in 'Superbad' felt.
Although I do have more to report I think I am going to save it for another entry. I think this neatly bookmarks Christmas, so stay tuned for New Year.
See you later
Vinny/Ian
A few observations:
At Arthur's Pass, which connects the east and west coast of the south island of New Zealand, you can find the best piece of cake I have ever tasted. Giles and myself aren't exactly sure what it was called, but it seemed to contain shortbread pastry, caramel custard and a crumble topping. If you find yourself on the stretch of road at some point keep your eyes peeled for it. Oh, and if you do find it please let me know what it is called, and if possible get the recipe for me.
Another food triumph that can be found not far from Arthur's Pass on the south island are Sheffield pies. I head a steak and cheese and it was possibly the best pie I have ever tasted. I couldn't believe my luck that day. The best pie and cake I have ever tasted, all on the same journey. It certainly made up for the rain.
Drivers in New Zealand seem to drive with their eyes closed quite a lot of the time. That is the only reason I can think of for them being so bad at it.
