Andy in Oregon

A Massive Weekend

My weekend was great. There were so many things that happened, some good.. some very sad. I'll try to get to it all.

So. Friday I went down to Christchurch with Tom the Pom. We had some business at Crusaders Headquarters at Jade Stadium, then we had a good feed, did some shopping and I was off to the airport. I must say I was expecting slightly more security from the Kiwi's. The check-in didn't ask me for my name, they just assumed it was me since i was the last to check in. NB: I wasn't late - there were only eight people on my plane. So the nice gent handed across a boarding pass and took my bag. They directed me towards a makeshift passage to a makeshift (i'm talking port-a-loo standard) departure lounge. Then, as Russ puts it, the Kerosene Budgie rolled up.. chirp chirp.. chirb... chirb.... chirb....
We all walk out, climb up the stairs, bow our heads and shoulders and squeeze down the eisle. At this moment I appreciate being tall and being rewarded with the exit seats once more. Those extra few centimeters are priceless.. and, as things do.. we were off on our way in no time. It's important to mention at this point that Christchurch was hot,.. not stinking hot, but T-shirts and shorts hot.

Landed at Wellington with a few bumps and grinds but nothing compared to the show the windy city normally puts on. I smiled to myself at the name of the airport..
Many of you will know of the book by John Eldredge, Wild at Heart, if you don't follow the link, buy it, read it. Anyway, I enjoyed thinking about how wild this city can be and I was looking forward to getting over to Russ' work to kick off the weekend. Sadly the sun had gone down by the time I had legged it to his harbour-side office but the weekend cheer was already being celebrated when I arrived. A few meet and greets and then we were off to Little India for a spot of curry. Never Again

I did get to meet some of Russ' Wellington mates. Of note Henry and Tanja were a good laugh. We had some interesting chats and theories about how lazy people are getting with communication. See, we all used to write letters, then we started to write emails.. and face to face gave way to phone calls then text messages took over and now we barely write personal emails. We post blogs, and expect everyone to read them.. (I am doing this right now) so that I won't have to bother with personal emails.. or even a group one. I realised this a week ago when "Best Mate" Macca rang me and said I hadn't been telling him what is going on in my life..
I responded with.. "read the blog ?!?"

I apologise.

To mention that I had another Studnut burger the next day after getting a double breast burger at Nandos.. Just goes to show how great I think this new store is. Franchises are available on the website. Ok, so I just checked it out, Aioli is: Fresh egg yolk, crushed garlic and canola blended into a thick creamy mayonnaise and free from artificial flavours, additives or preservatives.

Saturday night we watched the Irish give the second choice All-Blacks a scare. We went to Murphy's to watch it, so there was plenty of cheer for Brian O'Driscoll and his charge of merry men. I was hoping to see an emerald green win, but it wasn't to be. We decided to burn through to 1:30am for the soccer: England v Paraguay. A waste of time, it proved to be about as exciting as walking home from the dentist. You're numb, you're not sure what happened and you don't want to do it again.

Sunday turned a little chilly with patchy cloud and rain. I sat round and didn't do all that much. All part of the relaxing weekend without rugby that I was searching for. No complaints except to say that it was clear the true nature of Wellington weather was about to rear its ugly head. The wind and rain seeking to break in at every uneven corner of the house.

I woke up Monday morning and basically refused to budge. I didn't need to open the curtains to find out what was going on out there. After putting on anything warm I swam down to where the bus goes to the Airport. Saturated I ventured out there knowing full well that the chances of a flight taking off was slim only to find out Christchurch had cancelled all flights due to snow. What.. ?

A phonecall back to Ashburton revealed the shocking truth. Over a metre of snow had dumped over night without me.. and it was still falling. A winter wonderland appeared over night and destroyed public services. Transport, power, phone lines.. gone. I trudged back into town and circled round the National Museum "Te Papa". They have the Lord of the Rings exhibit there at the moment, something definately worth a visit. Though the Kiwi's once again showed they have a chip on their shoulder over our cuddly possums. This is the very first display as you walk in. Warky would be proud. you'll have to click on the picture to read, but its worth it, and Yes that IS roadkill possum in the cabinet.

Thankfully essentials were mostly restored today and I have made it home. No rugby for quite some time judging by the state of the ground.
And that pretty much sums up my weekend.

Photos:
Christchurch - snow right to the edge! Yes, that is the ocean there.

I cant see the grass.. can you?

Bags not digging the car out

posted by Eddo @ 8:32 PM