Packing

Just two more days until i head off to England. I should really start to pack!

I have been inspired from Donnie's blog to create a few questions about New Zealand to test what people know about us. Donnie posted about the new US Citizenship questions. I admit i didnt do too well!!!

So here are a few questions about New Zealand to see if you should become a New Zealand citizenship.

1. New Zealand is situated in......
A. South Atlantic Ocean
B. South Pacific Ocean
C. Adriatic Sea

2. New Zealands flag has a symbol in its top left hand corner. What is it?
A. The Kiwi
B. Southern Cross Stars
C. British Union Jack

3. New Zealand's system of government is called
A. Parliamentary system
B. Presidential System
C. Monarchist System

4. The head of state is
A. The Prime Minister
B. The Governor General
C. The Queen

5. How many seats form the NZ House of Representatives
A. 100
B. 120
C. 210

6. The NZ currency is called
A. The Kiwi
B. The Pound
C. The Dollar

7. The national sport of New Zealand is rugby. The national team is called
A. The Tall Blacks
B. The Black Ferns
C. The All Blacks

8. The original inhabitants of New Zealand are called
A. Samoans
B. Pacific Islanders
C. Maoris

9. New Zealand has a total population of (As of 2007)
A. 4 Million
B. 12 Million
C. 28 Million

10. The largest city in New Zealand is
A. Christchurch
B. Wellington
C. Auckland

11. The national symbol of new Zealand is
A. The Kiwi
B. The Kangaroo
C. The Lion

12. The furthest international city from New Zealand is
A. New York
B. London
C. Moscow

Good luck and let me know your answers. No looking at Wikipaedia!!

Who's gonna be the new mayor?

Don't you just love election season!

Our city is going through an election at the moment to vote for a new city mayor, city councillors and environment city councillors and even the District Health Board.

Im sure it's the same all over the world but at election time you see billboards going up on every piece of spare land going. Vote for BOB to be your mayor. Vote for Megan-she really cares. Vote for Peter,the caring kiwi are just some of the slogans on their boards proudly written under a smiling gleaming image of them which has so obviously been air-brushed! The tragic thing is that after election time you never see them again until the next election! Never try contacting a councillor after the election because they NEVER have time to speak to you, however at election time......there's a miracle, they are lining up to speak to you. My mother was waiting 3 years to have her shed repaired by the council. A sitting councillor came round asking for her vote. She explained her dilemma and within 2 hours maintenance men were there doing the repairs.....and sweeping the place afterwards........Geez, perhaps we should have elections more frequently!

On our street corner we have 13 different names on posters advising us who to vote for. The good news is that voting takes place via a postal ballot or over the internet. The bad thing is it takes place over a 10 day period starting on Saturday so im expecting a few canvassers to call.

If anyone is interested have a look at christchurchcityvision.org.nz and check out the candidate called Nathan Ryan. Would you vote for HIM?

Romans and Celts

Today has been a dull drizzly sunday.We have almost reverted back to winter in a way but im sure we will have better weather again soon.

Today we drove into town and had a Starbucks.Two cute German guys came in which gave us some eye candy to look at. What an ideal sunday afternoon-coffee and eye candy!

We then done a trip to the supermarket. We rushed in and out and have then come home and are watching a documentary on the Romans and the Celts!

An apology

First off, sorry for not blogging too much in the last two weeks. Work has been so busy and my computer so very very slow. My ancient computer has really got slow lately and i cannot help but think that a bug has violated it. I have all the bug protection i think i need but i cannot help wondering! Anyways, i think i'm back on the ball now so you will be hearing more from me for now on....

....i promised you some good news....i am taking a holiday and i am going to........ENGLAND. I found a reasonable airfare on the net for a flight to London and i leave New Zealand on 1st October. I will be there for 2 weeks before i return to New Zealand. I want to go and visit France as well. I cannot believe that it will be in 2 weeks time that i will be leaving to go. For a start i feel like i need a holiday because of the busyness at work. It will be a gruelling 28 hour flight to the other side of the world but im sure it will be worth it.

Incidentally the Rugby World Cup is going on in France and although i dont have tickets to a game it will be good just to soak up the atmosphere and say to myself that i am in the world cup host nation....on that score GO ALL BLACKS!

Has anyone been watching the rugby World cup? I see USA is in it and also Portugal. Im not sure who is going to win but it is fun.

:)

I've been a bit busy all week so i haven't had time to post but i haven't forgotten about everyone. I should be back here in the next day or so so please don't go away.

I have a bit of good news to give as im going on a bit of a holiday......more news to follow.

Mt Cook

Today ihave met up with a fellow blogger in Christchurch. If you're reading Don, great to meet you mate and great to share a beer or two even though it was early afternoon.

It is Thursday night here and im trying to decide what to do for the weekend. I have a voucher for a free nights accomodation at the Mount Cook National YHA. Im not sure whether to do it this weekend or wait until there is a further possibility of snow and enjoy the wintry scene..decision, decisions. If you dont know what Mount Cook looks like it is truely majestic. It is Australasia's largest mountain and it is situated a short way from us.

Winter or Spring?

After 3 solid weeks of summery weather, the cold blast has hit. Todays top temperature reached only 6c with snow down to 300m. Many towns down south as well as inland areas very near to us got a good sprinkle of snow but all we got was sleet! It was officially Spring on the 1st September but we have slipped back into winter.

Tomorrow is going to be about the same but better weather is following.

On a better note, daylight savings starts in just 4 weeks time so the lighter evenings will be on their way. I always get a good feeling at this time of year. Nature is rejuvinating and the daffodils are in full bloom.

Hot guy

I just thought i would post a random picture of me out in the garden today........

Ok ok ok, it's not me! I just thought i'd post a pic of this random hot guy to brighten everyones day.

Now how many marks out of ten would you give him for 'kiss-ability'?