Whilst (I've slipped into the King's English) remarking on the "changeable" weather in Christchurch to our friends Dean and Stephanie, Dean reminded us that "you are in an island you know." Well, yes, very true and just one of the many reasons we love Christchurch is that it changes....quickly. We arrived to 30F deg temps and two days later we enjoyed 85F in our shorts and sandals. It is ever changing, but the sun on our skin and the change back to daylight savings time make the sudden changes fun! The warm days give way to the ever-catchy Cancer Society warning of Slip, Slap, Slop & Wrap. Slip..on a tee shirt, Slap....on a hat (covering the ears), Slop....on the sunscreen and Wrap...on the sunglasses. Not surprising that the Kiwi's have a skin cancer awareness program and it is working! You rarely see people sunbathing or outside without hats. That's another reason that I love it here, my white skin is very fashionable!
We've experienced two big events here in the Canterbury region. Cup and Show week was held just after our arrival. It is treated much like Ascot in England. The women have a fashion and "hat" contest and the Cup is for the horseraces that they hold here. I've put a link to the site in the left margin for you to have a look at. They also had a very fine "Show" or fair here much like the Puyallup fair. It's called the Royal Canterbury Agricultural & Produce Show. It was such a big deal that Princess Anne showed up to hand out the awards. We didn't see her personally, as we went on Senior Day, and she was there handing out grand prize ribbons later in the week. Cup week is such a big deal here that everyone takes the day off, business closes and people go all dressed up to the races. The Show/Fair was wonderful. Much like our district fairs, but the "fitting & showing" was dressier and the sheep dog herding competitions were fascinating to watch! They had woodchopping contests too! World champions! They of course had the traditional cotton fluff, corndogs and fudge, but they have a delicacy here called Whitebait! Whitebait is a small fish (smaller than an Anchovy, Laurie), maybe about 1-11/2 in in length and not very large in diameter and translucent! If you picture a cellophane-like earthworm with 2 black specks (eyes) looking at you you have a good mind-picture. They mix this "fish" with egg and flour and then drop it onto a hot griddle, slap it between two slices of white bread and then eat! ISH!!! disgusting, like a worm pancake! I've passed on offers to try it!
The other "event" was just last week. It was Coca Cola's Christmas in the Park celebration. The park across from us was transformed for a week before the show into a giant stage and HUGE speakers were hung from scaffolding and a big screen was also erected. Apparently, it's a big deal with popular singers and dancers from NZ performing. Since we were just across the street, we had a perfect spot from which to watch. Oh my goodness, the show started at 7:30pm, but people started arriving at 1pm with blankets and ice coolers. Looked like a pre-game show for football. They also erected a carnival and fast food vendors. The music for the rehearsal on Friday was plenty loud, but the actual concert on Saturday rattled our windows! We wandered over after dark and couldn't believe the 100,000+ people! So we wandered back home and watched the fireworks from our deck and felt glad we chose not to pack a picnic in the park that day.
That's about all from downunder, but as they say here, "lovely day that!". The days are lovely here and we are happy and healthy.
Jon and Joyce
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