Tramping in the Rain

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A few pics from Ro's vacation days earlier in the week:

Hanging out with a friend at Drury Park

Ro in the middle of a slide train at Drury Park

Portrait of Sherry as taken by Ro

Ro in his makeshift fort on Mount Drury

With rain off and on for the second day in a row, we were anxious to get Ro out of the house, so we put on our rain gear and headed for The Mount. We ambled along at Ro's leisurely pace, watching him climb trees, walls, small cliffs, etc... Our plans originally were to walk around the circuit track at the base of the mountain, but we never got more than a fifth of the way around before Ro started getting cold. We detoured onto the beach on the harbour side of The Mount, which is mostly barnacle-clad boulders that Ro loved climbing on. We even found a swing that someone had recently put up hanging from one of the wind-gnarled trees along the beach.

Ro & Sherry on the harbour side of Mount Maunganui

Look what we found!

Ro enjoying the beach at the western base of Mount Maunganui. Note the sheep on the ridge above

Getting soaked again on the way home, we found a sea star on Pilot Bay beach that was about a foot across, which of course Ro wanted to keep. Hopefully it will sun-bleach nicely on our deck; at least it's more aesthetically acceptable to Sherry than that rat's skull. Searching for something to keep Ro busy without resorting to Morrowind, Sherry picked up a deck of cards at the store and Mark taught him to play War, which he absolutely loved. We're thinking that blackjack might be a good way to teach addition.

Ro enjoying a hot soak after coming in out of the rain

ANZAC Day

Saturday, April 25, 2009

For all of you who ever looked at your calendar and saw "ANZAC Day (Aus/NZ)" and wondered what it was, well this is it. The shared national holiday commemorates the memory and heroism of the fallen soldiers in WWI, especially at Gallipoli, the first major combat action (an unmitigated disaster) seen by the old Australia & New Zealand Army Corps. It has since come to encompass all the military campaigns in both countries' histories. Some say it should be the national holiday, not Waitangi Day (commemorating when the treaty with the Maori was signed), since WWI is when New Zealand really found it's national identity, separate from the UK. It's become sort of a combined Memorial Day/Veteran's Day, but it seems to get a lot more attention here than those holidays do in the States, at least by the general public.

Gathering crowd around 5:45am

One of the nurses at work tipped Mark off to the Dawn Service at the Mount Maunganui main beach this morning, at the cenotaph right across Marine Parade from Mount Drury. Not relishing the thought of waking up Ro to drag him to a solemn ceremony on a blustery soggy morning with the distractions of the beach a few feet away, Mark let Sherry and the little guy sleep, wolfed down some breakfast, put on his jacket and jeans for the first time we've been here, and set out on foot for the beach. There was no point in driving, because there was no parking to be had much closer than where we live anyway. Every conceivable parking spot (including sidewalks) was filled two blocks from the beach at 5:30am, and the line of cars looking for spots looked like it stretched all the way back to the Tauranga bridge.

News reporter at the service with sailors marching past

The crowd was enormous (wearing their ubiquitous paper poppies), the TV news crews were out in force, and Mark couldn't even see the dais until after the ceremony was over. Of course, all the WWII vets marched in followed by more recent vets, surviving descendants, fire brigades, Boy Scouts, etc... After they all marched out at the end, everyone came up and laid poppies on the cenotaph. The overcast skies prevented any dramatic ray of sunshine peeking over the Pacific, but it was still a memorable morning.

View from the slopes of Mount Drury of the crowd dispersing

See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_Day

See link: http://www.rsa.org.nz/remem/poppy_hist.html

Near the end of the ceremony, Rev Chris Haines asked New Zealanders to keep their recession hardships in perspective and not look for somebody else to blame. "The inevitable cycles of less than plenty have much more to do with our common obsession with self-interest than with a particular person or political party," he said. "We can, individually and as a people if we will, remember the gifts of freedom and peace that was brought to us by so many thousands of young New Zealanders who, on the sharp end of war and terror and death, gave us their second chances."

Hot Salty Soaking

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

We've walked past it dozens of times, but today was the first time we went to the Mount Maunganui Hot Salt Water Pools, one of the most popular spots in town. There was a slight chill in the air today, so the warm water felt just perfect. Sherry's friend Karla and her kids Mark ("MJ") and Tori joined us. Sherry and Karla didn't swim, so they sat around drinking coffee and trying to keep warm; Sherry had her shawl and Karla a big puffy ski jacket. Meanwhile, Mark went swimming with the kids and tried to teach Ro to swim. Since the salt water made floating easy, and Ro could just touch the bottom of the 1m deep Passive Pool on tip-toe, he finally let Mark pull him around the pool while he kicked. Not exactly swimming, but it's definite progress.

Ro overlooking the Hot Pools from the base of Mount Maunganui last month

Ro & friend Mark clambering around the tiered kiddie pool

Sherry & Karla before they bundled up

Mark & Ro playing in the Passive Pool

Mark & Ro on the slide

Splashdown!

There's an Active Pool (the coolest, temperature-wise) with lane markings, a Passive Pool with four firehose-size jet sprays that are always in high demand for people looking to ease their aching backs, two large spa pools (i.e. jacuzzis), and a kiddie pool with a built-in waterslide. Of course, what makes these pools different from all the other hot pools around here (including the jacuzzis at our apartment), is the expansive view of Mount Maunganui towering over them. Since school is out, it was pretty crowded with locals, whereas in season it's mostly tourists. We spent a couple of enjoyable hours there, but once the sun went behind Mount Maunganui and the pools were in shadow, it just got too cold for Sherry and Karla to tolerate so we had to go. Not that it was actually cold, mind you...Mark walked home in wet trunks, t-shirt, and sandals. He has yet to yield to autumn, and rationalizes that as long as he's still wearing shorts, it's still summer.

See link: http://hotpools.leisurecentre.co.nz/index.htm

Rainy Day Play

Monday, April 20, 2009

Ro began his second week of vacation climbing the walls of the apartment...literally. Although city living spoils us with parks, shopping, restaurants, beaches, and school all within easy walking distance, Sherry really misses her big yard back home, and the carport that she could send Ro outside to play under when it's raining. Apparently we weren't the only parents with the same rainy-day idea; as we pulled up to Lollipop's Playland & Cafe there was only street parking left. The place is part of a chain of children's indoor playgrounds that caters to birthday parties and desperate parents looking to burn some energy out of their kids. They have an onsite cafe so the parents can sit around and drink coffee while the kids tire themselves out.

Ro taking it all in

Ro was like a pig in sunshine, giddy almost to the point of being overwhelmed. The playland was enormous, with four different slides, a ball crawl, a bounce house, a flying fox, and more crawl-through plastic tubes than we could count. Those things are really hard on adult knees as we discovered! And the slightly greasy mystery film that seemed to coat the inside of the tubes left us wondering just how much kid slobber could accumulate on them before the staff cleaned them.

Making ball-angels

There was even a merry-go-round that they would operate for a few runs about every hour. When they would make the announcement over the loudspeaker, all the kids would drop whatever they were doing and run to make a queue outside the gate to the thing. Ro was in the third group to go, and was second in line; he let Mark know that he was going to go for the sporty red 4-wheeler when it was his turn. Of course, he shouldn't have tipped his hand, because the boy in front of him went straight for it when it was their turn. Dejected, Ro moped and walked back to the gate, missing out on the other "cool" ride-on, a blue dune buggy. All that was left was black horses and baby-sized blue dolphins. With some encouragement, he mounted the last remaining black horse, but he was definitely NOT happy about it, and sulked the entire ride, staring daggers at the boy riding the red 4-wheeler the whole time. Needless to say, he was not going to be disappointed the next time. The next chance he had to ride, he was near the back of the group, so he shrewdly let people go in front of him so as to be at the front of the next group. Another boy cut in line in front of him, though, so Ro was still second in line. Mark stood back to watch what would go down from a safe (and anonymous) distance. Ro kept his cool and didn't say anything, but as soon as the gate started opening, Ro ducked around the other boy, the exiting riders, and the ride operator like Barry Sanders weaving through a defense and sprinted as hard as he could for the 4-wheeler, beating out the other boy, jumping on the vehicle the millisecond the previous rider vacated it...lol.

The only sad kid we've ever seen on a merry-go-round

Weeeeeee!

After spending a few hours at Lollipop's, Ro was getting tired (Woo-Hoo!), so we headed home to eat an early dinner. Afterwards, we walked down the block to the movie theater and saw Race to Witch Mountain. For those of you old enough to remember the 1970's version, it's the same basic plot, but instead of a suspenseful child's sci-fi flick, Disney turned it into an alien shoot-em-up starring The Rock. It was actually not as bad as we thought it was going to be, and Mark gave it props for the Steve McQueen references, but high art it wasn't.

Getting Ro Out of the House!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Sherry was a little under the weather today; fortunately, Mark had the day off, so he and Ro went down to Pilot Bay for the afternoon. Ro soon found a playmate/disciple with whom he set about trying to build a full-scale model of Mount Maunganui out of sand. An admirable effort, but it fell a bit short. The friend had to leave with his family, and Ro soon lost interest in the construction project. Walking down the beach, he found a dead seagull that he wanted to take home, which Mark quickly vetoed (imagining Sherry's reaction). As Mark discovered later, Sherry has managed to "accidentally" dispose of the rat skull Ro brought home previously; it was freaking her out every time she saw it sitting on the deck.

Ro & friends burying their legs in the sand

Ro & friend trying to build a replica of Mount Maunganui

As per our usual forays to Pilot Bay, we eventually wound up at the fishing pier with an ice cream cone in hand; Ro went for Rainbow flavor today, and he was soon rainbowed all over. He really enjoyed watching the Maori kids diving off the pylons, egging them on with "again, again!" Mark was on constant vigil, trying to make sure Ro didn't step on any fishermen's lines or fishhooks. Although Sherry claims it's chilly, everyone below the age of 12 still seems to go around barefoot, Ro included.

Ro eating ice cream on Pilot Bay pier, oblivious to the beautiful scenery behind him

Ro clowning around on the Port of Tauranga sign

After we got home, we headed for the pool downstairs until it was time for dinner. Ro wanted to take his boogie board to the pool, and had quite a time trying to sit on the thing without falling off, happily ignoring Mark's instructions to lie flat on it. We had Chinese takeaway for dinner, and the weather was still warm enough to eat outside (no dead critters in sight to Sherry's relief). We can count the number of times we've eaten dinner inside our apartment on one hand.

In the Heart of Kiwi Country!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Although we've driven by it many times on the way to Whakatane, Rotorua, and Lake Taupo, today we finally decided to check out the "kiwi capital of the world" (that's fruit, not birds...or people - sometimes even Kiwis get confused). Just outside the cute little town of Te Puke ["teh-pook-eh"], which you fans of The Amazing Race should recognize, is the "giant kiwifruit", basically an iconic roadside sign that marks the entrance to Kiwi 360, where you can learn all you ever wanted to know (and more) about kiwifruit.

There was a tour departing as soon as we got there, so we quickly hopped on the KiwiKart for the trip around the grounds. They grow a dizzying variety of fruit at Kiwi 360, but except for the kiwifruit it looked to be mostly for show, as the other orchards were pretty tiny. They had oranges, grapefruit, persimmons, peaches, nectarines, lemons, limes, and a few local ones including Mark's newest favorite, the feijoa. It's harvest time for both feijoas and kiwis, so we're inundated with both at home from friends and coworkers trying to unload their surplus. You can't get feijoas in the States because their shelf life is like a week, so they're not exported, but nearly every grandma with a garden in NZ has a feijoa tree. High-quality kiwis, on the other hand, have a shelf life approaching a year if properly chilled. Americans are used to green kiwis, but they also grow golden kiwis here, which are sweeter and less tart.

Golden kiwis on the vine. Someone remarked they look like testicles

Ro & friends riding the KiwiKart

The KiwiKart tour was interesting if you're into Kiwis bragging about their kiwis. They claim a study from Rutgers University back in the late 80's determined that kiwis are the healthiest fruit you can eat, in terms of nutritional benefit to humans. The tour paused in the orchard so we could get out and walk under the vines (kiwis don't grow on trees), then we walked over to the packing house, a true marvel of engineering where the kiwis are sized, graded, sorted, and packed with incredible efficiency. The migrant worker population (mostly Malaysians, Pacific Islanders, housewives and backpackers) in this area swells by about 25,000 people in the April and May picking season.

Ro & Mark checking out the kiwi packing house

See link: http://www.kiwi360.com/

After the tour, we explored the Kiwi 360 grounds on foot; the area is actually a very beautifully landscaped garden, complete with a duck pond with an island in it containing a huge relief map of NZ. Apparently they have weddings here quite frequently. We soon reached the playground Ro had seen from the KiwiKart. There was a BIG slide, a castle containing fun-house mirrors, and a big dragon-themed maze that took probably 20 minutes to find our way through. The interior of the castle was painted with themes from various countries. For instance, one wall portrayed the mountains of Switzerland with a caricature of a friendly piece of Swiss cheese conversing with a smiling kiwifruit, another had a bunch of grapes drinking wine with a kiwifruit in front of the Eiffel Tower. And America's image? None other than a hot dog (on Rollerblades mind you) in front of the White House. Is that really our contribution to the world's cuisine? The hot dog?

Giant kiwi on the grounds, playground in background

"Whoah!"

The world's view of America

Sherry & Ro sliding through the giant pumpkin

Ro playing on the dragon's head, maze in background

We got back to the main Kiwi 360 complex looking for a late lunch, but they had just closed the cafe kitchen, so we got kiwi ice cream instead. Basically, it was just vanilla with big chunks of kiwi in it - very tasty, and you could easily make it at home. We stopped by the big kiwi sign last, and it turns out you can go up inside it for a nice view of the grounds. We were all famished when we got home, so Mark took Ro to the "hot pools" downstairs to keep him busy while Sherry made dinner.

Ro showing off his kiwi ice cream

Mark dwarfed by the giant kiwi sign

Sherry & Ro enjoying the view from the top

Easter's not over!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Ro dying Easter eggs last week

All the kids around here are out of school, so Sherry and Karla, a mom of one of Ro's classmates, got the kids together in Coronation Park today for a slightly belated Easter egg hunt (hey, it's still Easter Sunday in the States). Originally they were just going to go with candy eggs, but decided to cut the sugar load by substituting some cheap toys. The kids had a blast running around the park in search of goodies, then proceeded to catch tadpoles with their hands and play in the stream and waterfall, getting completely soaked!

The hunt begins in earnest

MJ, Ro, & Tori (MJ's sister) showing off their loot

Catching tadpoles is an art

Ro tempting fate

Ro & MJ splashing around at the base of the waterfall

Happy Easter!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Sherry made some delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. We went back to the street fair on Maunganui Road today, hoping to catch the Easter Bunny who we missed yesterday, but he either didn't show, left early, or we weren't looking in the right place. Ro didn't seem to mind...he was having too much fun bouncing in the inflatable pirate-ship that had been set up in the carpark where the race cars were yesterday. There was also a farmer's market set up in the same carpark (there's one every Sunday) and Sherry bought a big bag of tomatoes to make her favorite tomato sandwiches.

Ro horsing around with a school chum he ran into

Ro bouncing in the inflatable pirate ship at the Farmer's Market

There were even more musicians out playing on the street today, including a kid who couldn't have been more than 8 years old, dressed as Angus Young with AC/DC suspenders, rocking out with his guitar and amp in front of one of the many surf shops, doing a pretty good rendition of Metallica's Enter Sandman. There was another kid playing near the pirate ship with an acoustic guitar that Ro loved dancing to, so Sherry put a couple bucks in his guitar case.

Ro clowning around a street musician

We drove into Tauranga for lunch and to check out the National Jazz Festival. There were a bunch of stages set up all over town, but the biggest concentration was near The Strand on the water, where all the performances were free. Some of the bigger acts elsewhere in town required tickets. As we ate lunch al fresco, we were treated to a pretty good jazz/rock band that did a spot-on cover of SRV's Couldn't Stand The Weather.

Fortunately there was a "Family Zone" nearby with games and a big inflatable slide. Only 5 bucks for 20 trips down the slide...a small price to pay to keep Ro entertained for over an hour. We did encounter one of those moral crossroads that every parent faces. The line for the slide was initially pretty short, and Ro was able to get back on shortly after getting off. As the line grew, we noticed Ro getting back in line at the spot he originally entered the line when it was short, only a few people back from the front. Nobody seemed to be saying anything...not sure they even noticed. Do we let our child cut in line to speed up the process for us so we can go do something we want (i.e. listen to jazz), or do we take this opportunity to teach him fairness and make him go to the back of the line? Of course, we made him go to the back...after the next time down.

Ro enjoying the slide at the Jazz Festival Family Zone

After letting Ro play in Herries Park along The Strand for a while, we wrapped up the afternoon listening to the music on the Maori stage in Aspen Reserve, a couple blocks away. We sat on the lawn with our drinks while Ro danced around. He even earned some more money today. There were a few concertgoers who'd apparently had a few, and they were making a game of tossing their flip-flops into a knot on the aspen tree for which the park is named. Ro took it upon himself to retrieve their wayward tosses for them, earning him their thanks, laughter, and a cool NZ$1.50 for his bankroll.

Ro trying to climb a tree by starting on a low-hanging branch

Sherry at Herries Park, Tauranga

The Maori stage in Aspen Reserve

Ro enjoying a cold one at the jazz festival