In the day's before a Facebook party gets out of hand - yeah right ^^

Picture this
A looooooooooooong time ago (indeed a very very long time ago) a handsome young prince charming set out into a new world and finds his lovely princess. They kiss, get married and
W A I I I I T - before the children arrive, they have some fun. Naturally!! And why would you not?  As part of said fun they hosted another Austrian traveller for some 6 months. While this young chap did NOT find his princess here (sadly), he did have a great time! One of the things we did was to travel around a bit with via an old fashioned Olds-mobile (a Toyota something rather), showing him some of the more exotic sights (and the land) ^^ (ok we did consider the old horse-carriage - but that was taking the image a tad to far)
Anyhow - Mid winter we decided to take said Austrian fella up to the grand metropolitan area of Hamner.  Hamner's claim for fame are the hot pools. These are underground fed and the water comes out of the ground at a balmy 46 degrees - so needs to be cooled down a bit before it is let loose in the various pools. The other major thing is the forestry plantation present, which offers plenty of opportunity for stoll's through the meadow / cycling / hill walking / golf / ahhh you get the picture - it is an outdoor paradise

hmmm
www.HAMNER SPRINGS.htm

The first known European discovery of the thermal springs was in April 1859 by William Jones, a farm manager from Culverden, who was drawn to what appeared to be "a remarkable fog". Early commercial development was hindered because of inaccessibility. It didn't help that the first Ferry Bridge blew down in a strong nor'wester and wasn't replaced until 1874. In 1879 an iron bathing shed was set up on the site and a manager appointed to run the primitive operation.
Bathing in the springs was nude. A pair of trousers or skirt hoisted on a pole indicated which gender had rights to the pool at a particular time. In 1881 the government reserved 2560 acres around the hot springs and began to invest in baths and enclosures and segregated bathing took place. Today, mixed bathing with appropriate bathing costumes being worn has become acceptable (mind you - the so called bathing costumes these days are so skimpy, they may as well be Au-natural ^.- ), and the complex has been developed into a world-class tourist facility. 
Here endeth the history lesson (almost)
So anyhow - said Viennese lad needed an education in the finer points of this lovely land and so we offered to take him up there for a short weekend; short being Friday night to Sunday sometime - and this during winter time.
So we hot footed up there in the wannbe boy-racer car and bunked down for the night. I cannot remember - and I am sure mamabear will tell me so - but an invite went out to the young adults of our church - something along the lines of "Anyone free to come and visit will be most welcome - byo everything - food / togs / towels etc etc".  What was she thinking?? (possibly  worried with TWO Austrians in her company what might happen to her repudiation?) So sure enough at least one carload arrived Saturday morning.  What is one supposed to do??
Go for a swim of course!!  Said Austrian fella was urm seen here gingerly entering the water. (Can you spot him?)  It was snowing, so outside temperature was hovering around just below zero and the water temperature is (for this pool) 38 degrees. So at the bottom you get cooked and up-top - ah you get the picture.  All the ladies were wise enough to cover themselves up to the shoulder.  I should warn you those days it was still like - wearing speedo's or the more commonly known budgie-smugglers togs was accepted! 
Anyhow  eventually the lad made it all the way into the warmish water and started enjoying himself!!













This of course had to be urm memorialized - so out came the cameras!! Love the classic prose and technique of how NOT to take a picture - or was that a new Yoga technique explored?!?!  Amazingly the photos turned out ok even though the gals decided not be a swimsuit model (an opportunity missed here!! ^^)



Guess after a swim, lunch is the order and here is a strong Austrian - Kiwi connection!
On the right the gal' who started it all (by visiting Austria) and the gal' on the left who nearly broke Oma's heart by snaffling a Austrian lad, and in the middle (no not a rose - or thorn or pig) the urm more sensible fella who came for a short stay and went back home, but as they say - left his heart here!!! Anyway lunch was soon consumed by the hungry hordes and then of course we had to "walk of" the pounds gained - so we went up the traditional walk of - yes up Conical hill. The hill itself is more or less conical and has undergone a transformation many times.  Originally it would have been native NZ (red) Beech or Birch trees (probably the former) but then they got logged as it provided excellent building timber for the urm modest bathers - not to mention the hotel and bar and wash-house etc.  So yes in the snow - we climbed said hill - ah fresh air - snow - it was good.  Nowadays it is covered with Fir trees - mostly Oregon and Spruce - but I am pleased to say that the Natives (plants that is) are making a comeback. Indeed a decent stand of Manuka was seen as well as the odd growing red beech and a few other greenly thingies!  In the picture to the left - note the start of the hill climb (going straight up) - this is now a road and on each side of it there are dozens of houses!! The building on the right is the Hamner Lodge - a slightly upmarket hotel and original staying point for any visitor.  There used to be nothing else there for a while and in those days it was horseback / carriage only accessible!  Well I climbed that hill many a times - keeps you fit!! At the top is this lookout - which in those days you could actually LOOK OUT - but nowadays the trees there have grown - guess the firs are now more then 25 years young - and yeah you could see the whole Hamner town!! = and yes still it snowed!!
Next up - back to the resting place which got converted into a feeding station! Can't remember what we cooked - but we sure fed the tribe! Because of the snow they decided to stay for dinner (a thin excuse we thought) which was eventually served after 9pm or so. In order to NOT get bored they watched the only DECENT film on the two channels available at the time - "The Sound of Music"!!!! Which is quite funny as both Austrian males present had never ever seen said film before - so we got indoctrinated! Lots of singing went on by the Kiwis, while we slaved away in the kitchen.  After duly feeding the hordes and with snowing having stopped, the gate-crashers decided to risk it and drive back to Christchurch - a near 2 hour trip in those days!
Lol - Next morning - after only 4-5 hours of sleep or so - 3 of us got awaken by the church next door who has a rather insistent loud bell! Oh and there is the Village fire-alarm that went of at some ungodly hour as well!

What has Facebook got to do with this??  This all took place in 1988 -  PC time or as we call it Pre-Computer time.  Word of mouth can and did travel just as fast back then as it is now. Only difference is that now you can reach a larger audience quicker and instead of being gate-crashed by 5-10 people it is often by 100 or more. Not that we minded the 5 that did turn up! We had a blast and the Austrian lad still remembers the barefoot quickstep (or did he waltz??) from the changing shed to the pools (a paltry 5 meters from door to water!!).

Best part - this year there is a re-union of sorts of same event happening! Wonder who will gate-crash this time? ? ?    Wait - checks itinerary - pheeew - not staying overnight - just a flying visit in-and-out on the day!!

Meremaid - next time you are here, we will most definitely stay a night and you can also experience the delights of hot and cold and . . . . . gentle rolling hill climbs and oh yeah the urm fortitude required to face up to this challenge (I bring the bottle)

Have fun
     
 

Austrian Bed and Breakfast owner goes back to his roots - sort of

I have been thinking about this for some time now.  Each summer we have a lot of salads to eat - mostly green leaved stuff along with various other culinary delights - starting with Mushrooms passing by the red peppers and finishing somewhere near apples and nuts. 
Truth be told - it's whatever is readily available in the garden and in the cub-boards!
No salad is ever the same.  We must have had by now some 20 variations of a Waldorf Salad to the point of it NOT being a Waldorf any-longer.  Anywhooo - one of the last minute things to add is always a dressing and so far a little bit of the bought stuff (usually the unhealthy flavour) is liberally drizzled over the top. 
This year - THIS year- I was determined to be different - especially now that cousin Doris and co are coming. 
Rumour has it also, a certain 3x removed once sidestepped twice something rather - long lost descendant of Austrian Habsburg fame  (and appropriately named Sissi) and (uses fingers and toes to count - urm - whats after 25?)  in line of the succession - urm - may be gracing our abode with a visit as well - incognito of course- !  Seems she does not like to dine out on her dubious claim to fame - which is actually ok with me!! Her exact background is a bit murky as the blood line kinda drifts in and out of the public domain. *grins*

I digress . . . .

So take one bottle of Virgin Olive oil - add some cloves of Garlic, various green herbs (Purple Basil / Parsley / Curry plant [which looks like lavender] /  Lemon Thyme) uhu - can't wait!  YUMMY!! if it tastes as good as it smelled we should be near in heaven!   Is nine weeks of fermentation going to be enough??  We shall see later.

Is one bottle going to be enough?? Probably not - but this is the first - so may have to taste that before I experiment more . . . . . 

Have fun

Virgin-busters win hands down against Roast-busters

Regular readers will know - musings here are always lighthearted- perhaps with a tongue-in-cheek feel - or even outrageously stupid (probably more often then not).
This  entry is in the same vein - but in a twisted sense of humour also is (sadly) a comment on recent happenings in New Zealand.
www.nzherald.co.nz/roast-busters
Seems there is a group of late wannabe teenagers / young adults who have been more then little rascals - the so called Roast-busters.  Now anyone in good Ol Kiwiland will know that these young blokes up in Auckland seem to operate on a principle of hmmm make that on the assumption that young ladies like nothing better then getting some, even if it means perhaps offering them alcohol or drugs of sorts and then afterwards brag about it on FB and publicly name and shame the young girls.  The fact that many of them (girls)  are or were underage at the time didn't seem to have mattered for two years now even though it is clearly against the law.  At least now with the media spotlight on them - there may be a end to the group.  Why do I mention this? Well - glad you asked   :)

The troops got invited out, to share in a Barbeque at a friends place. The term Barbeque  often gets shortened to bbq or more affectionately "Barbie".  This of course - can lead to urm - interesting comments and rest assured they flowed freely for a while.   Little did we know that the "Barbie" was a good to true honest Virgin purchase.  It has never been used.  Brand new. Untouched. Never been messed around with. Unspoilt!
You get the Picture.  I am sure the lad who 'owns'  Barbie was a bit nervous about firing her up. So naturally he sought the comfort of his mates or should that be advise and help!?  Turns out that we had to do the honour
our-self after all.  First up -  some homemade triple decker burger. Yummy = KFC eat your heart out!!  Then it was time to do the urm deed.  You know how it goes - you have to find the right button to push, in order to get some heat going.  Brush was able to just do that - fiddling with the knobs long enough to get some warm responses.
Pretty soon it was time to liberally apply some oil and rub it in on every surface - hmm top surface of the new Barbie - this is called 'seasoning in'!!

Hurrah hurrah - see it is all in your head!!  Here is proof of it - shame of you - anyhow the Barbie is now well and truly soiled and warmed up and is doing its job it was designed for - providing joy and pleasure to a man!! On went the chicken kebabs / burgers / lamb-roast/ various bangers / some fresh crayfish / a seasoned steak and various other meaty dishes.  You can't say that we lack imagination - certainly not when it comes to food and Barbies!!

Meanwhile - just to 'lighten up the mood'  this 'Look were is wally' look-alike person sat down in a comfy chair in order to take a well earned break - only to find herself sinking even to lower levels. It had nothing to do with a weight to cloth ratio - rather Mr Schick left the chair outside too long and the sun weakened the structural integrity of the material and when pressure was applied to it - it just clean snapped in half.  hmmm sounds rather familiar! I remembers a report into one of the failed buildings from the last series of earthquakes in Christchurch.

Reaches for another glass of red medicinal drink and - *cough* continues with the story.   It did look very uncomfortable, so soon enough a new chair was found. At least we had no trouble finding wally  :)

Not wanting to be left behind, or was it a case of must show my sexy "THIN" legs someone else showed of a bit of flesh.  Not sure how the fishing went, but rest assured no bites where forth coming! Maybe he was just making a point that his legs beat barbies legs any-day?!

Now, as any self-respecting bloke knows, a Barbie with out some magic mushroom is just not good enough. I was soon tasked with chopping up the Agaricus campestris :)  got yah; -- the Fungi! No drugs in these rest assured - although the way we consume them, it makes you wonder. They certainly soon ballooned out to a decent feed.











A close up of said fungi - all ready to be deep fried on the grill, hmm there is a oxymoron. Anyhow - it is amazing what can be achieved with a bit of butter and herbs - some garlic and the coup-d-etat a glass of red medicinal drink - sauteed until they are soft and caramelized!!  yummmy

Some old insecurities showed and pretty soon the question become one of - 'Do I look big in this?"  or 'Hows my bum look in this?' I managed to re-assure the bloke and told him he looked fetching.

Urm - how did this slip in here?? 

Having used and soiled the Barbie - it was soon time to set up the table and share the fruits of our labours round.  There was enough to feed an army.

The question you want to ask is - "how does he manage to turn on the grin like that?? Does he own a on/of switch on some secret location".
or is it just his way to say hello ?? Does he own shares in a Dental clinic? And given the devastating smile - why the need to go and BUY a barbie when any half self respecting maiden would just be floored by this grin!!! hmm there is more that COULD be said - but you know how it goes - what happens on camp stays at camp.  Although it has been used to brag about it on FB and on here. . . . .

Do you know the song - 99 bottles of beer stand on the wall . . . .

Not quite that many, but getting there.

Somewhat sexy calves! Its summer time and you see more and more of them.  You'd think though that these would be shaved! Seems a natural Forrest is preferred - must be a Man-thing!! Or was the Mo-vember message getting garbled . . . . .

Afterwards - it was time for some dessert. Plenty of cream was shared round and was there some form of buttered bun too??  - idk - I kinda missed out.
Last thing to say is that 3 members of the local gang were missing in action! 2 of them were on active duty while the other is still marooned at her majesty's expense. Time to put a decent strategy in place and rescue 'Smilie'   We did try and make contact with her - but sadly there was no time to chat with her as she was chained again to the gang and had to work hard.  You all were missed.

Coming back to the opening lines - one can have a barbie and have fun with her at the same time - without ever being indecent or rude about it let alone brag about it - and no need to name and shame the latest conquest!
So I make this Virgin-busters 1 and Roast-busters - a big fat ZERO!

I steps down from soapbox and gets into the kitchen to re-work leftovers for dinner

Short hop to Akaroa

The good, the bad and the ugly - sort of.
I was in town and finished with what I had to do way earlier then anticipated - and having had my camera with me I decided to be decadent and treat myself for a stroll through the botanical gardens.  Net-result; a whole heap of pictures of colours and blooms (see the sample picture to the left) as well as other stuff.  All well and good, but duty calls.  Back to the grind stone.  Before I do that - i took some images from pretty much the same spot as a certain mermaid and her darling wee princess earlier in the year - just having a spring feel to it - instead of the autumn we had with the mermaid! hmmmm  must try and remember to go back in summer . . . .
Before you are wondering - no we are not planning a trip to Old Austria with its strudels and music and family.  Nope this was a counter picture to the one posted by three Austrians holding a travel guide to New Zealand.  NOT LONG now Doris / Bernhard  and Wilfred and soon you can test this Bed and breakfast and put its owner through his paces - so to speak! I would advise lots and lots of images and records and stories to keep - so when you are eventually making it back to Vienna you got enough info stored in your memory bank to satisfy a most intense grilling (speak exchange notes and memories) form a mermaid who will no doubt envy you (and be happy for you at the same time).  Meanwhile - the life carries on and sometimes expires altogether.  Mamabear took Friday and Monday of to have a long weekend holiday- only to hear about the recent passing of a long time acquaintance from way back - with the funeral in Akaroa.  So not like we ever need an excuse to get away - but we did and took the old fella, next door from us, with us at the same time.  We got there in good time - partly because I insisted on going early-ish.  It took just under 2 hours driving to get there (90km), but that included a slow crawl OUT of town and the 6km up and 6km down on the other side which us a rather windy road over the hilltop - which slowed you down (not to mention the slow drivers in front and the truck we got stuck behind lumbering up at 10km/hr.)  Lunch was - ok - quick and early and then we split. Yes you read this right.  Funerals I dislike with a passion and attend only if I have virtually no choice.   The other reason being that I always had wanted to go up on the "Garden of Tane" in Akaroa. With Mamabear being unfit and somehow it never seems a high priority, so this time I sort-of used this as an excuse and took of.   After a lightning fast check-in at the local info centre - and a quick check on the map - I trundled off to the track, while the other two paid the respects at the funeral.

The garden of Tane is an area in Akaroa that was planted with literally hundreds of plants from overseas and local specimens!! It is well marked out and eventually leads to no less then 2 - hmmm should be three cemeteries!  The interesting part was - it was the first I have seen on a hill side - so naturally a terraced 'housing' became the way of doing things. I was intrigued however by the local sign - and had to google the 'dissenters' part.
Nothing earth shattering after all - these where the NON-Catholic and NON-Anglicans (which had their own cemetery). So who snubbed who I ask???  For someone who hates funerals - I do, yes amazingly, do enjoy walking around the very old cemeteries in New Zealand.  There are some very neglected but beaut' ones on the West-coast (Denniston springs to mind).  If nothing else - it makes you appreciate the shortness of life and all its fullness it holds and promises to deliver!  I was a bit gutted though,  finding a grave where a little boy lived for 3 hours - yes you read this right - 3 hours back in early 1900's!  From there it was further around and far too soon you exited the walk at the top end. Amazingly the map said 1.5 hours - but I cruised through in less then 60 minutes. Hmmmmmm  Maybe it allowed more time to 'loiter' around the graves???  Still - the peace and quiet along the walk was refreshing and you did hear the Tui / Bell-bird / thrush and occasionally a wood-pidgeon flying (with their distinct whoop whoop sound).  The best part came right at the end - or if you like at the top-beginning. Near the playground area there is this tree (well 3 actually) and it stopped me dead in my tracks - it is a Kauri!!  I didn’t know they could grow successfully down here - thinking they preferred a warmer climate as they are prolific (a long time ago) in the North island. Efforts for  re-growing these giants of the Forrest up north, are being made with and through the 'Kauri 2000' Trust.  So I gingerly walked up to the plague - painfully aware of the possibility of damaging the root system of the Kauri tree and snapped the plaque  - to be read later! As you can see this fine specimen was planted in honour of the then newly crowned Elizabeth - now current Queen of England and other commonwealth countries. That makes this tree 60 years old - 7 years older then myself!!  In typical Kauri fashion - this sample is still (comparatively speaking with his northern brothers) a juvenile pre-adolescent.  While standing about 15-20 meters tall - it is nothing compared with up grows up north.  A real pity then that I won't be around in say 700 or 800 years from now to see this particular tree, fulfilling its total potential!!  Its girth would have been just over 2 or three hand-spans.  Up north - they are so wide you need several people linking arms to get fully around its trunk!! Some trees can go beyond 1000 years life-span meaning they had already began their growth before the first humanoid settlers came to New Zealand, sailing in from Polynesia. From there it was back to the reality and after a quick cuppa of green tea, collecting the other two tribal members and drive back to Christchurch.  Time to catch up on other things before we head to bed - Garden needs watering, plants need - urm - tending too, washing to be folded or ironed, FB to be checked, and - hmmm there was something REALLY important . . . . ..

Can't remember - sooo tudleooo and

Have fun

Austrian Bed and Breakfast owner goes digging

Hullo

I know what you are thinking - not again - but NO - this time I am not going for gold.  A certain mermaid has proven that to get rich it would be easier to marry gold then to go and dig for it yourself.
www.gold-in-arrowtown  or here
http://mamartinablog.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/martina-im-goldrausch-arrowtown/

Not that there are many women out there that would qualify as being good-looking AND having a load of gold stashed away someplace . . . .  AND not that the international gold prices atm are helping.  It would be nice and well ok-ish if there was any gold to be found.  Nope - not gold this time. . .  or silver.. .. or platinum,  or any kind of metal - really!   And we are not in Australia where mining is still going strong.  Here you need a 5 year wait for a intention permit then another 5 years for court hearings to prove that yes you can  and should be doing ANY digging (along with a 3 year wait for the judge to make his/her ruling) and another 5 years for getting resource consent, then there is appeals and other hearings and then - if you are lucky you MAY get a permit to dig over some soil.  (adds 5 fingers and 5 fingers and - keeps counting toes on furry paws  - and hmmmm - I would be too old to do ANY digging let alone finding any Gold)
Anywooooo
Instead this Old bear has been digging on the Internet - hoping to discover a firm bed at reasonable price in another location .   As for mamabear - she was urm as you can see actually turning over soil.
We are expecting visitors and while meat is a staple diet - for some - others choose to eat - urm - non-meaty stuff.
So not to be outdone - out comes the spade and the greenery that was there got - urm - well removed (unceremoniously) and then we added some blood and bone - oops fertilizer and (yes Max was helping too) and gah where was I - oh yeah -  so fertilizer and a fence went up. (NOW I am not saying the old female bear has her own private prison court yard - RATHER - the old Dog (max that is  - not me)  is been kept out - fingers crossed)
So yeah - it was this time of the year again where sweat combines with grunt and the soil got turned - smoothed out and been made ready to receive some of God's WANTED plants.  Into the soil went some Tomato plant / radishes / carrots / lettuce and hmmmm can't remember what else.  All nicely timed for the arrival of certain folks from the old country. (assuming the weather plays its part).  This should ties us over for some nice salads or sandwich bread or - whatever (and for some there is a meaty supplement option). Wait - did I also plant mushroom's??   However I digress - back to digging for bed's!!
Many a night was spent out hunting.  Fingers got tiered holding the (back) arrow on the key board.  Turns out - on the day in question - there is a major tournament in town called "Masters". (  http://www.nzmg.com/)  So this is - as best as I can describe some form of competition for the more 'mature' folks in live.  I used to know a 80 year old former Olympian Javelin thrower - who would regularly attend the master'games.  He was competing in his class alone (eventually - after the other three oldies - urm - had moved on) and so was alone digging for his gold - medal.  he still had to meat standards. Myself - I have never attended - due to a variety of reasons - least of them all - they never included Salmon fishing with bear hands in their program. Cannot understand for the life of me whyevernot!!!  If that ever became an option I would be in paws and all . . .
So these people all congregate for an other round of competition in Dunedin and - yes you guessed it - they all want their creature comforts - and so most of the hotel / motel / caravans / Bed and breakfasts in-houses and outhouses and other assorted accommodation  where starting to be booked up 3-5 months out from the event!!   Eeeeeeeek 

BUT FEAR NOT

I got a place that can sleep 5 (although one as to be in what's called the lounge)  at what I would consider cheap rate.  Everything else was either booked or more dear then I was prepared to pay - (ridiculous to charge $300 for a night)
Phewwww sorted - now back to the garden - what else should we plant??  horse-radish?
Kumara - oh yeah  and some - oh  wait coffee - no thats further north near our future retirement place [whitianga]  :) 

Tudleoooo


Now where was that spade and lets see if I can find that 'preciouccs'  round ring that golumn lost . . . . .