Entries Tagged 'Out and about' ↓

I spotted this billboard a while ago – so true. Probably lost on a lot of people but Wellington coffee snobs will know! I don’t drink Gravity (that’s being advertised), it’s from Auckland I think.

In an effort to see some daylight and not work too hard for a while I have gone out with a friend the last 2 lunchtimes in a row. Haven’t done that since I was about 22 in my first job! Anyway, noticed a few things:

• There are a lot of people on the street and a lot of women in shoe shops.
  
• There’s quite a few people around Wellington at the moment that shout. I mean just random people on their own shouting at the world – saw 2 of them today alone.
  
• House of G have just released their range of t-shirts with designs printed on them by top NZ fashion designers in order to raise money for breast cancer research. Strange thing is, while I was standing in the store waiting for my friend, half a dozen women came in asking for large sizes – 18’s, 20’s and the like. The t-shirts don’t go up to that size. It struck me that these women were all a bit older and had started to (no diplomatic way of saying this) ‘spread’ and they and their friends and mothers could well be right in the market for these t-shirts as they are more likely to be women who have suffered breast cancer and therefore want to do all they can to stop it happening to others. T-shirts to fit flat-chested teen body shapes are just not in demand in this case – not sure who thought up the size range. I felt pretty sad for these women – I know just what it’s like to have your mind set on something to buy and when you can’t find it it’s just so disappointing.

Thinking back to the list we made of things we could do or show when we had visitors in town, we suggested to our Blenheim friends that we went up to the lookout at Mt Victoria while they were in town this weekend. It’s been totally upgraded since I was up there last – a handrail along the path, a coffee caravan, posters about wind speed and which way Antartica is. I seemed to be the pick of the locals up there who tourists gave their cameras to to take photos of them with Wellington in the background. Managed to get this great picture on my own camera.

It’s taken me a couple of days to recover from this bit of news hence only writing about it now … Nikau have taken date scones OFF the menu 🙁 🙁 🙁 Obviously I was distraught AND paranoid that it’s because The Nikau Snitch gave me the recipe. At least he told me over the phone before we went in on Sunday that they were gone so that I didn’t have a melt down and burst into tears in the middle of the cafe. He offered up blueberry and yogurt as a replacement, kept one aside for me just in case I wanted to try it when we went in for lunch.

Sigh.

So in I went. Straight to the glass cabinet. And sure enough. NO DATE SCONES. God I must have looked like a little girl standing in front of the fish bowl looking at her dead fish. Got a cuddle from the big boss anyway!!

So, blueberry and yogurt scones:

• Messier to eat – got a blueberry stained thumbnail


• A bit smaller so didn’t feel so chocca after it


• Was SO like a cake it felt a bit naughty to have it for lunch


• Was light and fluffy and tasted very good


• I do recommend them, honestly 🙂

Date scones RIP – thanks for the good times xox

Just leapt up from watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to rush outside onto the lawn and look up at the huge Bay of Plenty sky to see the International Space Station that was due to ‘fly’ over New Zealand between 8.59 and 9.05 tonight. And we saw it! Very exciting. Well, if you get excited by a slightly bigger than normal looking star whizzing across the sky. I do. Here’s actually what was flying by:

Apparently it orbits the earth 15 times a day and is 340km up. Wonder if the guys on it get travel sick?

I don’t like chocolate but oh the poor bunnies!

Shame it’s such an awful colour for the Mister, it’s his kind of t-shirt.

Coming to work this morning we walked by a few unattended boxes of alcohol on the side of the road, a delivery drop off by the look of it. A guy walking near us kind of veered towards the pile and picked up a box of wine. There was a bit of a squawk from a woman near by so I said to the guy “Is that yours? Are you allowed to take it?” He went red and said “Yeah yeah, I’m not stealing it” and the woman (who had actually been calling out thanks) said “it’s OK – he’s with me!”

The Mister was pretty embarrassed! I said I was just being a good citizen and that I’d used a ‘playful’ tone (he disagreed) – I assured him it was OK – that I did it all the time. Like when someone is digging away at a car window with an unravelled coat hanger – I often say “Is that your car?” Mind you haven’t had to do it lately – guess a lot of cars these days are alarmed and have electronic keys and other techno wizardry so breaking in through the window is less effective.

Having a lovely Saturday in Wellington … while keeping an eye on red carpet developments down the road we’ve also walked the usual route.

Went down to Oriental Parade for a juice and noticed this new sign. It *is* pointing directly at Martinborough unless there’s a vineyard around the parade somewhere that we just haven’t noticed before?

Saw all the teenagers waiting outside the hotel where David Beckham is supposedly staying as well as some friendly apartment locals trying to make him feel welcome.

The crop of museum ducklings this year.

Filled our trolley with colourful and fresh items for a summery feast from Orange Kitchen tonight – spinach, mint, pastry, cheeses, bread, coffee, pineapple, pomegranate, mango, apricots, nectarines, blue berries, vanilla pod, lemons, flowers …

Definitely something going on in the street.

Last night they blocked off the car parks and today when I came home there was a container with electricity, more cones, cables across the street with a mobile judder bar thing over them AND a Ruth Pretty catering van. What could it be?

Update Saturday afternoon – 6pmish:

We think it’s something to do with David Beckham being in town … more things have arrived … golden posts with black velvet ropes to guide a queue, big security guards, a strobe light, traffic barrier fences, red carpet and red cellophane over the building lights. Who knew something like that would go on in the building down the road … it’s just a bakery with a few offices above it …

We’re checking every once in a while to see what happens next!

Update Saturday night 10.30pm onwards …

Stretch limos, crowds behind barriers, tuxes, tiny dresses, flashing bulbs, tour buses aaaaaaaand David Beckham! Didn’t actually see him but heard the ‘DAVID’ screams and saw the crowd push forward waving and thrusting phones, cameras and marker pens in his general direction.

Had lots of fun today at Nikau – I was let behind the coffee machine to make my own coffee and one for the boss too! Didn’t taste too bad – the steamer was crazy powerful so the milk was a bit bubbly. So now I’ve had a go with 3 commercial machines – Fuel, NZX and Nikau 🙂