Our time here in Christchurch is coming to an end and we will be saying a fond and final farewell this Sunday, March 22 to our “summer” home here in Christchurch.
As usual, we are cramming everything into our last 3 weeks here since Mom left the end of February. We are taking a 3 week, 12-hour Thai cooking class which started on the 7th of March. We are enrolled at Shirley Boys High School for what is called here Adult Community Education. Each High School in the areas surrounding Christchurch put on ACE classes. They are varied and usually conducted at the schools during the evening or on Saturdays. We were interested in Italian cooking, Fly Fishing and Thai cooking courses, but in the 2 days it took to make up our minds to the type of classes, all were filled except the Thai class. We have completed 2 of the classes and are loving it. Our instructor is also loving Jon and since he is our token male in the class, so are all the ladies in the class. The instructor had him demonstrate his “stir-fry” technique last week, while I acted as sous chef and dishwasher. He made Pad Thai, and Green Curry Chicken. I, on the other hand, have mastered Thai spring rolls, and have a batch in the freezer for later this week. We have made some yummy soups, one called Tom Yum (translated means “boy” and “yummy”) and Tom Kar, both delicious.
The first weekend in March was the National Pipe Band competitions. We were able to watch several bands perform, and again, it was like being “piped into heaven”, just a wonderful sight. We also attended a concert by violinist Fiona Pears at the Christ Church Cathedral. She is a beautiful long-haired blonde that plays original compositions while dancing around the stage in beautiful gowns and is barefoot!!!!!! It was the third time we had seen here and she didn’t disappoint! Apparently she is now based in London, but grew up and studied here in Christchurch. That same weekend, we were walking around the organic farmers market and we saw Richard Till, you won’t know him in the states, but he has a TV show called the Kiwi Kitchen in which he travels around NZ finding great cooks and they make their specialities for him. Jon saw him and shouted “hello Richard,” he stopped and looked at us and then we introduced ourselves and had a nice chat about his show and he lives here in ChCh. And one more Christchurch native and resident that you see on TV is Phil, host of The Amazing Race. When he isn’t filming, he and his family live here in ChCh. He is a bicycle enthusiast and cycles a lot and some of it is competitive. We haven’t spotted him, but he was in the paper.
This last weekend was the Ellerslie International Flower Show and as it was held just across the street from us in Hagley Park, I think we saw nearly all of the 75,000 people that showed up! We attended on Thursday, the second day and were very disappointed, as it seemed to be mostly a retail trade show, with the usual whirly-gigs and mops and dishcloths for sale, in-between they managed to sandwich the floral displays, but the queues were so long and the displays so ordinary that we gave up after a couple of hours. The paper wrote it up as a “starting point” for Christchurch’s first attempt at hosting, but said that it definitely needed a “spark” of creativity. Had I specifically come into Christchurch for the event, I would have been very disappointed. They following day we enjoyed a bus ride to Lyttelton and a short ferry ride to Diamond Harbour. We had a “perfect” day there sitting on the grounds of an old caretakers cottage reading our books in the 70° sunshine enjoying a glass of NZ wine! It was a perfect day. Made all the better, as we nearly had the harbour to ourselves (probably all at the flower show).
This week, we are saying goodbye to Dean and Stephanie Kirk and the girls. They have made us feel so welcome here and saying goodbye to my gym trainer Karina and her fiancé’ Jimmy. Jimmy, runs the South Island’s hydro distribution and would like to come to the states. We just happen to know people who know people in hydro power! We have one more restaurant to visit this week. Hays for another wonderful lamb dinner (close your eyes Joycey Kay) and then to the opera(!) for one last “hit” of “things we can’t do in Wenatchee”. We are going to see a Puccini opera call Gianni Schicchi. Supposed to be a “tragically comic opera.” We’ll see.
We have spent 2 very lovely days across the harbour at a little burg called Diamond Harbor. We took our lunch and books and enjoyed the sun and the solitude and the Stoddard Cottage. Lots of fun and home of the best, 2-scoop, $2.00 ice cream cone in all of NZ.
We are going to miss lots of things here in Chch. In fact all of NZ, mostly the people, but the coffee shops in every neighbourhood, where they serve coffee in ceramic cups, unless you ask for takeaway (so civilized), we will miss Tim Tams, scones, tan slices, fabulous Thai, Japanese and Indian foods. The great food markets and farmer’s markets with great cheese, pork, lamb and the organic veggies, of which I am a fan, the public library, "scooter boy and his mom" scootering to school each day, and we will miss the sun on our skin each day (or nearly every day). The Metro bus will also be missed, as it seems we have “mastered” the bus schedules and the system. We are liking the “no car” hassle too!
We are ready to return and have missed everyone terribly. We will see all of you soon. Take care and as they say here in NZ, “cheers.” So civilized that!
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