Kate who?

So I figured it was about time I blogged, just in case I rock up at the Roff Christmas and nobody knows who I am…or worse, confuses me with Lizzy…

Joe and I (yep, you read it here first) have moved to NZ where we have been setting up a lovely house in a dodgy neighbourhood. Don’t worry Grant, it’s a two bedroom house.
I had a really tough time getting used to the cold in a shocking winter, but spring is here so all is well. I've never seen a season like this before, what with it being hot or friggin’ hot back in Western Australia so I am pretty damn impressed with this spring business. Whole trees just bust out with flowers, streets full of them - daffodils and tulips everywhere, sounds corny but it's amazing to see.
For example:




I'm working as a sub-editor for a really small town's newspaper. “Sub-editor” sounds glamorous but it's not really - i sit in front of a computer making up headlines into which i try and slip in-jokes and musical references....
The town in so small that we have exciting stories like "Man grows potatoes in September" (rebellious because traditionally they are grown in October) and "Council to fix re-occuring pot-holes" (complete with a photo spread of before and after photos).....like I said, exciting times.
So far, in my supreme ditsiness, I have managed to print a photo with the wrong name (nice big head shot too), and spell a headline incorrectly - boss nearly had a heart attack. brilliant to know i can still cause panic where ever i go....

Joe is working as an environmental engineer and thinks his title is cooler than mine. His job is amazing (apparently) and he is loving it.

New Zealanders are an odd bunch. I'm sorry, I gave them a few months to warm up to but they're pretty strange. I always thought they would be like Australian's (with a stronger affiliation with sheep) but they're quite different. I foolishly thought I might prove the cousins who had gone before me wrong. Daniel, Joe, Harry….I promise to always listen to you from here on in.
Here’s and example: Kiwi’s have only just figured out you can do tax returns. I kid you not, headlines have read "Thousands of dollars up for grabs from tax man" ‘cause no one has ever bothered trying it before.
I know what you're thinking "But I've met cool Kiwi's before..." - it's true, so have I, but as Joe ominously murmered "Those are the one's that got out...."
To be fair, they are streaks ahead of Australia in terms of farming irrigation and recycling. But since I am not a farm or a recycling plant that doesn’t really help much.

We've done a bit of exploring around New Zealand, which as far as scenery goes is just plain amazing, I keep getting the Lord of the Rings theme song stuck in my head. Here’s some pics...

Flight around Mt Cook:


Best seats in the house at the Super 14 final:


Street festival:


Strange people you meet in NZ:


Bay's around Christchurch:


On another, and completely different, note I went to South Africa earlier this year as a Rotary ambassador and meant to blog about it at some stage so here’s a summary:

Things I learned in South Africa
- Crime won't kill you: the drivers will
- 50% the country has aids, 20% of teachers have aids
- The maid makes $16 A DAY
- Personality. Everyone has one. Your waiter will have more spark and charisma than in their little finger than your average Australian.
-Christian is a religion (they will look at you strangely if you ask what denomination of Christian)
-Not everything is black and white - SA classify themselves as White (Caucasian, obviously), Coloured (mixed) and Black - none of which are deemed racist terms.
-Don't trust the maps given on national park hikes.
-Bathing in river water from a dairy farm is in fact NOT a good idea, regardless of what the farmers say about it.
- South Africa has cheerleaders at Rugby games that take it one step further by striping.
- The South African minister for health (now thankfully the former minister) refused to acknowledge that HIV is linked to AIDS and recommended people eat beetroot to solve the problem.
- The only place that doesn’t have it’s power cut off for a regulated 2 hours a day in part of a load shedding scheme is the construction site for the next Soccer World Cup stadium.

Can’t wait for the Roff Chrissie, and while Grant is looking forward to some interrogation Mr No Hands will in fact be Mr No Show this Christmas as, like Zac, he has some other family on the other side of the world who, deep down, you know he loves more….

see you all soon,
Kate