Opening Games RWC, Skiing NZ and Moving YET Again

Daddio...a joke on the chalkboard at a local bar, thought you might get a laugh out of this!

The three week catch up blog…

The first week unveiled as usual, wake up, work, running (most days), dinner, clean up, movie (Shannon falls asleep half way through), bed and repeat. The weekend brought some fun and exciting times for all of NZ, the commencement of RWC (Rugby World Cup for you Yanks - an event that happens every 4 years, similar to the Soccer World Cup). We met up with Kat and Jeff Friday night for the opening game; New Zealand All Blacks hosted Tonga and won decisively.
The mindset around NZ is that there will be riots regardless of whether the All Blacks win or lose. For those of you who are a little hazy on the premise of Rugby, I will try to explain what I have learned about the sport. Essentially it is a game of possession and position while grinding out and pounding for two 40 minute halves with a running clock, so basically they are going non-stop, full bore and not using any pads… crazy people if you ask us. All in all it is very interesting how dedicated a country is to one sport; people here live, breath and talk rugby all the time and even more now that basically the biggest event ever to NZ is here and the All Blacks are the favourite (favorite, the kiwi’s spell things a little different down here as well).  Unfortunately the YouTube video we tried to snag of the All Blacks opening night Haka didn’t come through on the last blog…but we definitely recommend if you get a chance to check it out for yourselves. It’s a great representation of the passion and dedication the kiwi’s have for this sport.

The rest of the weekend we were Rugby focused, as has been the theme over the past month. We spent Saturday at the Milton St Sprig and Fern for John’s end of season basketball party – although most of the time was spent watching the Fiji v Namibia match. Sunday was a USA day, we watched the Eagles play Ireland at the Verdict ( a bar that John works with for his job), who unfortunately took the match and America started the tournament with a loss. Even though they didn’t get the W, it was really amazing seeing the dedication of the USA team, all of the commentators mentioned that the US brought something to the table they weren’t expecting. A killer defense and some major motivation…proud to be an American!

We spent the second week finalizing our new living arrangements and preparing for our fourth and hopefully final move in Nelson. Since we previously hadn’t posted any photos of our third home, what we affectionately refer to as the Ice Box – here are some shots.

One sad thing about the move is a change in walking route into work. I have come to really enjoy a certain part of my walk past a huge magnolia tree at the side of the river. I had been watching it begin to bud and blossom for the past couple of weeks and it finally got to picture perfect time the last week we were living at the Ice Box. This tree reminded me of you Carlie Sanden every time I passed by it…knew you would appreciate these photos! (bottom of the page) 

The weekend came up fast again, as it does, and we spent Friday night cooking our last dinner at our now old home.  Bedtime early and up bright and early Saturday morning to get the place packed up and cleaned. In record time, 2 ½ hrs we had completely packed up the Adventureship (not an inch of space to spare), cleaned the entire house and by noon were completely checked out. 

Our new home is in an area of town called Britannia Heights. It’s absolutely beautiful. Up in the hills above town, the deck view overlooks a valley free of houses for the most part and through the trees, you can see the ocean. We have three new flatmates – Marcus the house owner, Rose the dog and Simba the cat. Still to come... shots of the new flatties and our fabulous new view.

Our house is situated such that it’s an easy 20 minute stroll down to Tahuna beach, and directly up the street is Princess Drive, a ridgeline overlooking the bay to the NW and the valley where the town lies to the SW. The sunsets are unreal. All in all we’re very happy with our new location and excited to have yet another kiwi roommate. There’s plenty of talk already of catching snapper off the rocks on Rocks road, taking the boat up near Okiwi to fish for salmon…and so on. Yeah, the future's looking bright!

Skiing Sunday

 

So John was able to enjoy his first skiing experience in NZ, which was a great one for sure. I went up with Jeff and 3 of his friends in a Toyota Heliux (NZ’s version of a Tundra or Tacoma, all the cars are similar to the states but with different names.) Once we hit the snow line we were required to put chains on even though it was 4wheel drive, I guess they are a little over-cautious when it comes to snow here. It opened up a lot as we got up to the Mountain, above the tree line. It was weird skiing without any trees around. The hill was small compared to MT but we hiked to a few different peaks to ski more terrain, hiking up mountains in rental ski gear is not fun by the way. We got up on the hill a little after opening and had a great day all day. The weather was decent for skiing, the snow got a little sticky when the sun came out but there was new powder (that’s right, fresh powder in September) and we were able to find fresh tracks all day. Check that off the list of things to do while in NZ.

Shannon spent the day setting up the new room (weird that I needed to tick that off my list immediately – so unlike me). Once everything was in its proper place, I headed down to Founders Park to meet up with Kat and Ettie to enjoy a Duncan-Weizen at the brewery. Amazing that there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll order beer instead of wine now, John has officially rubbed off on me even when he’s not there.  After sitting on the patio soaking up the sun for a bit, Kat and I headed to the Sutter Art Theatre to watch Brother Number One a video from the film festival that is in town right now. An amazing documentary about a NZ Olympic rower who’s brother was captured off the coast of Cambodia while attempting to sail around the world with a couple of mates. They never made it out alive and the film brings attention to a genocide that has never been highly publicized. An eye opening and touching story.

Week three (last week) was a very busy and exciting week…Nelson had its first match of Rugby at Trafalgar Park for RWC. Shannon spent Monday with the team finalizing last minute details for the match on Tuesday night. Tuesday was a fantastic day; the town was abuzz and everyone was looking forward to the Rugby later that night. Because Nelson was the birthplace of Rugby, the festivals team organized a RE-enactment of the first game of Rugby, to be played on the original grounds where that historic match took place. The event started with the boys college (high school in NZ) doing a traditional Haka on the cathedral steps (see photo above). It was phenomenal. I took a video, unfortunately, still trying to figure out how to attach them to the blog – so in the meantime, just trust me that it was amazing. Following that, around 6000 spectators and various stalls (vendors) were set up at the botanics reserve to view the historic RE-enactment. Later that night, the match was on...Italy crushed Russia (I was quite impartial to who won the game) rather more excited to see how years of planning unfolded before my eyes in the first match. I have only been involved with the team since July and it was truly spectacular, I can't imagine how the people that have been working on this for years felt. Truly proud I'm sure as for the most part, the match went off without a hitch and any spectator wouldn't have been aware of anything other than a stellar production.

Taste of Nelson at Founders Park

The rest of the week sailed by quite uneventful and by the weekend we were full swing into Rugby watching and events surrounding the world cup. Saturday was an event called Taste of Nelson, held at Founders Park, the event highlighted food and drinks of the Nelson area.

Nana's Maori Fry Bread...AMAZINGLY GOOD

 















Bays Brewery had a stall at the event and we spent the day in the sun pouring beer, listening to live music and sampling the various cuisine (our favourite being the macadamia nut and chili scallops) which were simply delicious! Once the event was over and John had everything packed up, we headed down to Deville's (a local bar in CBD) to watch the All Blacks dominate France...and dominate they did with a 37 to 17 win.  Quite a fun night with the old flatties and their friends.

As we were both well behaved on Saturday night, Sunday was a self prescribed day of rest; opening with an at home movie viewing of Road to Perdition...next on the agenda, a killer breakfast and Saturday American Football courtesy of ESPN on the 52" tellie we have at the new pad. Yes, John had an amazing day. We finished it off with showing the new flatmate our sushi Sunday ways and at that we were on track to start another fabulous week.

A couple of shout outs before we sign off... A BIG congratulations to Carolyn Sali and Russ Lodge on their engagement, I couldn't be happier for the both of you, and Caroline, remember, no wedding until end of May 2012 when we get back!  And of course a HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish to my little Shmeegs who turned 24 (in New Zealand) today...happy birthday little one, John and I love you lots xoxo

So there you have it, the last three weeks in recap...stay tuned for our next fortnightly posting which will be chocker full of American Rugby and all other things NZ!

Cheers, John and Shannon

 

Blenheim & Picton Take II - John's Birthday and a Maori Powhiri to Welcome the Italians

The week leading up to the Blenheim/Picton trip was another extremely exciting week filled with work, homemade dinners and movies, essentially in that order. We are fitting in nicely to an agreeable routine during our work week (it’s easy to be predictable while on a budget). We were making plans to go to the Western part of the Marlborough Sounds, of course plans changed as they do and we ended up in the Eastern part instead - Picton then South to Blenheim. This was once again a great time and the weather was quite cooperative - in the high teens or mid 60’s to those of you who haven’t or don’t want to figure out the conversion, don’t worry we have you covered.

Beautiful boathouses in a harbor in Picton

We spent the day driving around hanging out by the beach/water, playing some cribbage and of course doing a little snacking on some fine Kiwi treats, our first encounter with pineapple lumps. These are considered one of the most popular Kiwi snacks, being raved about in numerous travel guides and again by locals... all in all they made quit a underwhelming impression on us, even when we had them later that night after having chilled in the fridge to “crisp up”. A treat provided at Jeff’s parents house in Blenheim. We planned to meet Jeff and Kat there to enjoy a stellar dinner (our first lamb roast) some beers and of course a little All Black rugby verses those Aussie wankers, who ended up winning. This is a huge rivalry here, considering it is by far their most popular sport and Kiwis/Aussies have their cultural jabs, as we do back in the states. It would be level with the Griz/Cat and Bronco/Vandal football games. Pretty ruthless as you are all aware. All in all, a great night with fab company and something we’re hoping to repeat in the near future.

John's 27th Birthday (Beer and Meat Fest 2011)

 


















On Wed night, we celebrated John’s Bday by yet again working all day and then went out and enjoyed some tasty beers and food. We went to a kick off to celebrate Nelson as the craft brewing capital of NZ. With several breweries in the Nelson area it proved to be quite the time. More than 12 beers were on tap and representatives from the majority of the breweries were in attendance. The mayor made a speech commemorating Nelson as the Craft Capital. The GM of NZ Hops spoke as well. It’s great having the only hop company within 15 min of Nelson. After a few beers, a few introductions to some more of the brewing community and a small meat pie or 2, delicious by the way (Lorin and Paul you will enjoy these very much) we headed to dinner at the only German Restaurant in Nelson. Kraut’s was a great time, we went in intending to use our Grabone (groupon or living social) voucher in exchange for some schnitzel and ended up going for the meat platter, I know shocking that John would want a huge Pork shank, 2 schnitzels, 2 different brats, a huge lamb meat loaf, a basket of steak chips, and to balance out everything a full liter of beer. Shocking indeed but delicious all the way around. We closed up the bar with the owner and his sister and sipped on some quality German schnapps (no Kevin and Marshall not the peppermint stuff we drank at the Griz games). Work the next two days and before we knew it mayhem Saturday was upon us.


Powhiri pronounced (PO-PHER-EE) is a traditional Maori meeting ceremony that welcomes outsiders onto their Marae or meeting place). This particular Powhiri was to welcome the Italian Rugby team to Nelson which is the host city for the team – partly due to the large amount of Italian descendants that live in Nelson (each country visiting for the world cup receives a host city for the duration of the tournament). There was a group of about 100 of us who previously had not been welcomed onto the Marae who went through our own Powhiri prior to the Italian team arriving. Being previously welcomed is required to be eligible to stand on the Marae and welcome others. There was a traditional Haka and challenge to the Italian team to see if they were worthy of entering.  Below is a clip from the first Haka of the RCW2011 tournament to give you an idea of what we're talking about!

After the introduction, the team was seated and elders of the six Iwi (different tribes) affiliated or associated with the Marae Nelson spoke and greeted everyone in turn. A few Nelson dignitaries spoke as well. Following the ceremony we were invited to attend a Hangi; an amazing feast of wild boar, chicken, kumara (sweet potato’s), carrots, potato’s, pumpkin and stuffing all of which was smoked in the ground for over 12 hours, yes that’s right, slow roasted goodness. After about 5 hours of the entire ceremony it was time to celebrate John’s birthday again. 

The boys being boys...after many many many beers.

We went over to our Kat and Jeff’s house for some NZ Scotch Fillet Steaks (Rib eye’s- Oh Yeah), beers, wine, smoked grouper, roasted veggies with cous cous, and a few other things. We played some cribbage until the 2 girls started to cheat when Shannon was caught adding on extra points (I won’t delete this – but you must know that this accusation has not been proven…innocent until proven guilty I say!), then we went to the CBD (downtown) to make some bad decisions, mainly more beer. We went to a few craft brew bars and enjoyed some of the finest that NZ has to offer while sharing a few laughs and stories. The next day was spent having a movie marathon and hangover time. Not a lot was accomplished but it was a great time nonetheless. Happy 27th to John, damn he’s getting old. Thanks to all the birthday wishes and the presents. Shannon got me a variety 12 pack of international beers mainly from NZ, Germany and Belgian, what more could you want right? 

Thanks Mom and Pops Sanden for the Montana T-shirts, more homemade raspberry jam (thats what's in the bag), the card and MT smelling incense. It was a great birthday and thank you all very much.

Job updates:


Well, the RWC is in full swing…Shannon Barz from Nelson City Council (that was for you Kat) has been busy busy working with the team to ready the staff and venue in preparation for the first game on 20 September. The tournament officially kicked off yesterday, with the first match of RWC being played at Eden Park in Auckland - The All Blacks killed Tonga. It’s been truly incredible being part of this team and it’s amazing how much I’m going to take from this experience. First of which is making the cover of the Nelson Weekly (ha!) just kidding, not about making the cover but it was too hilarious not to share…
But really, it’s amazing to see all the preparation that goes into a tournament such as this, the third largest in the world. Who would’ve thought I would have ever had such a close tie to rugby?! I also would like to thank my temp agency for listing me as ‘Temp of the Month’! It brought back fond memories of when I made Citizen of the Month back in elementary school (shout out to the Liberty Eagles). All in all, the job is going very well and thanks to all of you for the support and hopeful thoughts that John and I would find something we’re happy with down here…it made all the difference.


John's update: I have been working with Bays Brewery for nearly 2 months now. Doing similar things to what I did with Bayern, I do some sales and marketing work. I also have rewritten the copy for the new website which should be live this weekend, never thought I would help out with websites. They are in the process of teaching me how to edit and update the new website as well, another first. I’ve made a few sales which has been nice. It’s hard to sell to all the bars here because some of them are “tied” or exclusively sell a major breweries products. It would be like going into a bar in the states and being only able to just get Bud or Miller products. It’s a horrible system but that’s the way it is and you just have to find the bars that are open to buying craft beer and specifically local craft beer. The overall craft market in NZ is a bit different verses the States as well as the beer itself. I would say that NZ is similar to the US about 10-15 years ago, on the brink of a craft revolution that is. Brewers are expereimenting more and more with different styles and varieties which is nice to see but they still mainly brew malty lagers and ales similar to English styles. You can find your occasional German or American style which are growing in popularity.


House update…don’t ask, we’ll get back to you on that.


Stay tuned for the next fortnightly posting; featuring new home beginnings (again, again…again), RWC, tramping and warmer weather.

For those that are interested; here's some additional information on what exactly a Marae is (provided by Shannon's fabulous colleague, the Lovely, Miss Rachel Gray)...
If we look at a marae in today's context, a marae is an area to practise certain cultural traditions, from welcoming and looking after visitors. Also then to celebrate; so to celebrate, you know, such things as birthdays, anniversaries, and then finally and probably most importantly it’s a way of farewelling our dead. So those are probably the main reasons why marae exist. So I suppose the marae is a gathering place, a place, a focal point for a community to be able to carry out cultural practices, traditions, and basically be Māori. The people that would belong to a marae are generally those people who are descended from ancestors who occupy it, that land area where the marae stands, or the marae is situated. In this case here, there will be a common ancestor that the people of this marae are descendants of, blood descendants. So the marae then becomes their collective responsibility. (Brian Morris – Te Reo Māori and tikanga expert)