Darrel and I went to Hanmer Springs for the long weekend and his birthday. Darrel had monday off from work due to Labour day. We left on Saturday night after I had a busy spring day at the Garden Centre. I think it was one of the busiest weekends of the year. We grabbed fish and chips on the way out of town- you know you have to load up on grease and carbs when heading off on a kiwi vacation.

We started by heading North out of Chch. At this point Darrel still didn't know where we were going. His only clues were the mountain bikes in the back of the van and the camping gear. There are very few roads in New Zealand, and it became pretty obvious where we were heading after we turned Left, and headed away from the coast and into the mountains.

Unfortunately, the weather report did not sound so good for the weekend, and it became quite noticeable as the winds started to pick up and push the van around while driving. Luckily the 120 K winds never materialized.

We stayed at the Alpine Apartments Campground. My original plan had been to rent one of their Kitchen cabins, but I decided that camping would be more fun (and cheaper). The cabins are pretty cute and cozy, so if anyone wants to come and visit, we will have to rent one because they come with free mountian bikes! The overall experience was great, there were nice clean bathrooms, a kitchen, a bbq, picnic tables and worm composting!

On Sunday, the weather was a bit cold and drizzly, so we went to the hot springs to soak in the minerals of Hanmer (pronounced Hamner by everyone). It is a pretty big complex with 10 pools ranging from 35c to 41c. There are also waterslides for the kids. We started in the coolest pool and gradually worked our way up to the hottest ones.

Monday morning brought sunshine and a bit of warmth, so we headed off into the plantation forests to rip up the logging roads and mountain bike tracks. Here are some pics:

(There was supposed to be a snow capped mountian in the background of this picture, but you will just have to use your imagination.)

It is not the most beautiful setting, but definitley challenging climbs and steep downhills. I am glad that the tracks were in the plantation, I would hate to interfere with the native bush. I want to get a dog, but I would be so horrified if the dog ever disturbed any ground dwelling native birds. There are just so few of them, and their habitat is so precious.

It was great to get out of the city and into the woods. It made me miss being surrounded by trees in the treehouse. But, Christchurch has heaps of gardens and pockets of natural areas, and now that I have my weekends free we will have time to do more exploring of the national parks and reserves. (I have finished up at the Garden Centre and I am looking for new work, maybe something officey- who knows what I will find!)

Thanks to all those who have expressed concern over our confrontation two weeks ago. I have not seen the guys since, and I am feeling confident that we are pretty safe here.

Spring is in full swing, we had our first hot day the other day 27 celsius! I was pretty tired at the end of it. I was on the move all day stocking the bedding plants at the garden centre, and I am not used to the heat after experiencing two winters back to back. I hear that next weekend is our second busiest weekend of the year; it is Labour Weekend.

Darrel is enjoying his job working for a small architecture company right down town. His office is on a cute, cobble stone street with cafes, restaraunts, and beauty spas. His desk is right in front of the store front window. People are forever looking in on him and his coworkers. I think he has taken to making fish faces at them because he feels like he is in a fish bowl sometimes. Darrel is getting to know his boss, Darren, pretty well because his first project it to draught Darren's own house.

We went to see a really good kiwi reggae band the other night- Katchafire - it was really nice, they did a few Bob Marley covers along with their own stuff. It was fun to get out and dance. It kind of made me a bit homesick though. A crowd like that in Burlington would have been full of familiar faces to me. At least I know I am likely to find some good friends here.

I am currently planning a getaway for next weekend. Darrel and I both have Sunday and Monday off. I can't divulge any details though. It is a surprise for Darrel's birthday. I will fill you all in next week with some good pics.

These are some photos I took one morning at work. Every year a wild duck raises some ducklings in the Japanese garden at Oderings. It's a peaceful place even on the busiest of days at the Garden Centre (even if it's just a glance as I walk by).

Just thought I would share some good stuff. We have not had any more trouble with our neighbors, so we are feeling pretty safe right now, which is also due to the new deadbolt in the door! Most people we tell about the incident think that it was totally out of the ordinary for Christchurch, let's hope they are right.

Peace,
Josie

Well, Darrel and I had a bit of a scare last night. I am not sure if I should post this, because it's not such a good thing and I don't want anyone to worry about us, but I just have to write about it because it was just so weird.

Last night after work, Saturday night, Darrel and I went out for dinner- not the usual cheap thai food that we eat all the time, but a really nice meal at a Japanese place where you sit around the cook top and watch the chef clink his knives and flip the condiment bottles and light things on fire. We had scallops, mussels and a big plate of melt in your mouth sashimi. Then we wandered around and found a place called The Honey Pot, where we ordered cheese cake and white chocolate cake drizzled in some dark chocolate. (yes, we went from light and healthy to decadent in just an hour) Then we found the COOLEST video store on earth! Known as Alice in Videoland, it is over 20 years old, has funky flair including a weird mirrored passageway called "the looking glass", sections of foreign films from heaps of different countries and a large selection of NZ and Australian films (yes, the regular video stores here mainly stock hollywood films). This find is going to help us make it through NWS (Netflix Withdrawel Syndrome). We picked out a film called "He died with a Felafel in his hand" signed up for a lifetime membership (just $10) and bought a consessions card.

Then we wandered home, the city had been a buzz of activity, being Saturday night and all. And we were definitly feeling good after sushi and cheesecake. We walked out of the main part of the city towards our neighborhood. We were just about home, when we passed three very drunk men (who the police refered to as skinheads). One of then fake-kicked me as I was passing. it was like a round house kick- his foot contacted my stomach, but there was no force behind it. So naturally Darrel stood up for me, and we kept walking towards our house just two buildings away. But the drunkards had not satiated their violent tendencies for the night, so they kept calling out mean taunts to us because Darrel would not fight them. They saw where we lived and ran over and threw a beer can at the door, then one of them ran up and started kicking in our door!!!!!

I don't think I have ever been scared like that, I called 111 (like calling 911 in the states) but the guy had stopped kicking and had left us alone by the time I got the whole story out to the emergcy people. They said the police were too busy to come over right then since it wasn't an emergency anymore, but they would send someone over the next day. (thanks for caring christchurch police)

The stupid jerk busted the frame of our door (he didn't get in though), so we do have something we could charge him with, but no one saw which one actually did the damage. Some neighbors saw the whole thing, but they were too far away to tell. This guy named Hedgehog said that he was ready to grab a baseball bat and run over to help if the guy had actually gotten in. It was definitely reassurring to know that there are people around that would have helped out. Our closest neighbors (same building) came over to check us out right after the incident and our landlord brought us a bottle of wine today "to calm the nerves".

The guys are well known by the police and their neighbors for being dangerous and causing trouble. The police also said that they would do regular parols to the area. (I have heard that regular patrol thing before at the Intervale- not sure if it changed anything) I am sure they will get caught doing something stupid in time.

"What goes around, comes around"

The neighborhood we live in is not too bad, but this has definitely reafirmed our desire to buy our own house in a nice area very, very soon. I am going to call a mortgage broker tomorrow and start scouring the paper and internet for a good house to fix up. The banks seem to be willing to lend to just about anyone right now, so our chances are good.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this post and don't worry about us, we are fine and we have learned an important lesson-

Don't cross paths with drunken blokes!