Been a busy little kiwi.

This week:
Had a photoshoot last week for Fall 2009 minicollection.
Sold headbands at the Cuba St. Carnival (which was 100% pure madness and nothing like the Seymour Oktoberfest).
Jason is gearing up to load up JUPITEROATMEAL.com with new comics!
The weather is super fine and the birds are singing.
My geeky dayjob is still great, and surprisingly entertaining (thank you, my wonderful coworkers!)... especially considering I work the equivalent of the IRS.
Since I've got you here, have a gander at some of the pics from the shoot:

Have a great week, love and peace from Aetearoa, land of the long white cloud!

We've been busy!

I just got back from the Sevens Rugby Tournament. It's a 2-day costume party, and some people even watch the rugby games.
It is the biggest event in Wellington, and probably the biggest in the whole country.

I went with some friends, two of whom are British, and one kiwi. This turned out to be quite a dynamic since the championship game was between England and New Zealand. It was a close game until the very end when England came from behind to WIN. Then my British friends had to run for their lives!


Cowboys....
...and indian.

I stayed up the night before to make my Native American headdress.

The costumes are indeed the whole point of the extravaganza, and here are some of my favorites:

These road cones were out about town and surrounded cars and sat in the street as a type of performance art.
Then they got to the stadium and got hammered...


Just like Jesus (with cardboard cross).


These horses were a few rows in front of us. Good thing the cowboys were there to keep them in line!


Mario and Luigi!
Pack of Obamas.



Rugby players in the costumes... er... uniforms.

Goodbye 2008, hello future!

It's 7:40pm on New Year's Eve. We just got back from a little trip on our new Christmas gift: a Vespa-style scooter.
And check out the helmets, look familiar?


Have a gander at all the places we went in the last week...

Breaker Bay

Princess Bay

Island Bay

Not sure what this bay is called.

In other news, there was a quick rain yesterday and a gorgeous rainbow manifested itself right outside our door:

Have a truly HAPPY NEW YEAR! Peace out from the Southern Hemisphere!

Happy Christmas!

The Pohutukawa tree. Known as New Zealand Christmas Tree because its large red flowers shower the country in festiveness this time of year.

Christmas time in the southern hemisphere takes a little getting used to, because of the marked lack of... winter.
No biting cold, no ice storms, no snowball fights, and no $250 heating bills. Instead, people wearing floral-print board shorts and santa hats stroll the sidewalks, sometimes barefoot. Trees and plants put on brilliant displays of flowers to spread good cheer. Of course many people mostly see it as "pollen". But no matter, it is Christmas time in our part of the world and that means one big thing:
Well sure there's the Jesus thing. But I'm talking about...
VACATION!
Time off work. Holiday. "Reccie" as people of the British persuasion may deny that they say.

Let's take a moment to guess what Wellington city does for Christmas day?
Nope, no big tree in front of the court house. The Beehive doesn't spiral garland across the parlaiment building. That would be cool. But no. They don't even have an outdoor skating rink. I'm giving my grumpy face right now knowing full well that it's not physically possible to have ice skating in 67 F degree weather.
No christmas lights to speak of, nor ice sculptures, mangers, snowmen, etc. But what they do have, is pretty darn exciting.
I'm talking free.
Public.
Transport.

So we took off Christmas morning, hopped on a bus (any bus), went to the train station, and caught the train up to the end of the line: Parapaumu Beach

View out the train window.

We arrive!

Creatures! >>>>

A lion?

Dog doing a backflip?

Cute little pod critters spreading their wispy arms. Doing a choreographied dance?

Wonder what Santa will bring?

Music on the streets of Wellington

Buskers! Buskers are artists who perform on the streets, usually for tips. One of the hottest locations for these performances is Cuba Mall. This is not a mall in the American sense - it is actually a wide brick road for pedestrians (no cars). The buskers in this city are often extremely talented. But this weekend, one young hippie girl brought street performance to a new level. Check it out!

It's snowing, it's snowing! At least I hear it is in Indiana. Enjoy those snowball fights!
It's Christmas time, nearing summer here in New Zealand, and that means three things:

• Beautiful weather
• Sun hats
• Tourists

In no particular order. But let's get down to brass tacks...
it's awesome here!

Our neighbor's cat, lounging on our balcony.

The view from said balcony.

What's new for us since we last blogged?

• We got the internet, so now blogging will be more frequent.
• We've met several new, wonderful friends.
• We are trying to "suss out" a spot for a possible hammock in our backyard.
• Christmas lunches, social outings, and sightseeing, and that's just on weekdays!
• Exploring, adventuring, or chillaxing on weekends.
• Jason has been working on comics!
  
• I made a dress, found a model, and had the first Thimblescratch NZ photoshoot yesterday:

Have a lovely week!

Fun at Island Bay, 30 November 2008