Smell-o-gram

I wish you could send smell-o-grams outside of Harry Potter, because this photo is only half the flower we just saw. Apparently it is one of the largest flowers of its kind. Officially called the Amorphophallus titanum, it is nicknamed the Corpse Flower due to its smell (I'll let you imagine what it smells like, but I liken it to walking along the beach and finding a dead animal). I do have to admit, I was hoping the smell would be a bit more pungent, but we reached this flower after about an hour of waiting in line and it was nearing its end. I guess it blooms once every 7 years and only for a day or two. Definitely a unique experience!

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas

So this year will be our first summer Christmas and we're both struggling to feel the Christmas spirit. It just doesn't seem right to have daylight until 9pm, sunny warm days and people swimming and sailing at the beach. The only thing that helps bring the Christmas spirit a bit are the decorations and songs. Just like back home, the shops here play Christmas carols incessantly. Also, the city and surrounding suburbs have all begun to have their Santa Parades, a bit reminiscent of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade but on a much smaller scale. We headed to the city to see their parade. It helped temporarily bring the Christmas feeling, but not for long.

On the bright side, perhaps this summer Christmas will help ease the homesickness I always get this time of year.

Merry Christmas to all!

Pohutakawa Tree: New Zealand's Christmas Tree

GruMaster takes on the Red Bull Trolley

So I'm finally getting caught up on some blog posts. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, above is the video of Paul's Red Bull Trolley build and race day. They did a great job and were a hit with the kids! It was a pretty big event, thousands of people showed up to watch. We're still drinking Red Bull's they gave the team when building- I guess we don't drink much Red Bull.

Enjoy the video!

Fireworks on sale! Four days only!

November 5 is known as Guy Fawkes here in New Zealand (and the UK as well). You can get a brief rundown of Guy Fawkes history if you'd like, but no one here seems to be real clear on that matter. All they know, is that Guy Fawkes is a night to set off fireworks.

The funny thing is, fireworks are illegal in New Zealand every other day of the year, except for the 4 days leading up to Guy Fawkes. Now, having spent much of my life not too far from the Wisconsin (fireworks are legal)-Illinois (fireworks are banned) border, I'm used to seeing signs for fireworks sales pop up along the highway as you approach the legal zone. However, I am not used to this with respect to time. Seemingly overnight, signs, commercials, newspaper and radio ads, and even storefronts (or just open faced shipping containers) popped up advertising the plethora of fireworks on sale during this short time. Right along with them, were also ads, posters and warnings about safety and firework ban areas.

One such ban area is the street in front of our place, but that didn't seem to stop some folks from pulling over and giving us a private fireworks show as they set some off on the beachfront right outside our window. It was nice to be able to see them as well as hear them.

Happy Guy Fawkes!