FTF

Country Road

FTF is a geocaching term that  stands for ‘First to Find.’  Now this isn’t something that usually happens to us – it’s a bit of an extra game that some geocachers enjoy chasing. What is means is that you are the first person to find a geocache that has recently been hidden.  This particular one had been in its secret spot for a week now, and a couple of other caching teams have had a look for it. So we didn’t necessarily expect that we would find it. However the scarey fact is that we must be beginning to think like the person who hid this one, because we found it in a few seconds.

Signing the Log

Geocaching is at its basis a giant world-wide scavenger hunt!! Go to the right spot, find the right thing, sign the logbook to prove you were there, and that’s it. Sounds simple –right??

Ah ha – not necessarily so. The challenge of the game is that what’s hidden can only be found at a certain geographic location (or  983,726 certain locations as the case may be)  and that you need (in general) to use a GPS receiver to find the right spot and the ability to think outside the square to find the hidden box .  And the fun of it is there are as many deviously minded folk out there hiding these little suckers as there are deviously evil places to hide them, and the combination makes for some great adventures. Because you could be out for a simple stroll in the park with the family, looking for a lunch box sized or larger plastic container hidden under a tree, or you could be abseiling down a rock face, looking for a something the size of a matchbox hidden in a rock amongst a gazillion other rocks.

And the beauty of geocaching is that you often end up in amazing scenic spots, informative historical locations, quirky places that only the locals in an area know about, at fun artworks or intriguing old relics or any other number of interesting places that you never knew about before.

For some people the fun is in finding as many geocaches as they can, or as quickly as they can, or before anyone else (hence the FTF thing), or as many different types as possible – or any other  ‘game’ they make of it themselves.  For me, it’s mostly about the places geocaching takes me and the fun PB and I have together – whether we find the pesky little things or not.

Today, we ended up on a beautiful country road that we’d never been down before, and found an interesting old farming relic, and as a bonus we WERE the first to find!!

"Why can't I get this started!!"

The spiders are happy to have homes.

Not going anywhere fast!

So go here: Geocaching.com  and find out how many geocaches are near you. Just enter your town or postcode. And if you have a GPS go out and find one!!!

Waitangi Day

February 6^th – Waitangi Day.

  I guess the closest  I could get to comparing  what this might be like is the 4^th July.  However, I think our national day has been more a day of discord and dissention than I have ever heard that 4^th July is.  It marks the day that the Treaty of Waitangi  - considered to be New Zealand’s founding document  - was signed in 1840.

The issues arise from the fact that the treaty in its Maori and English versions does not seen to say quite the same thing, so the Maori chiefs that signed were not agree to quite what the English signatories were agreeing to, on behalf of Queen Victoria.

This year, there were no protests at the official celebrations at Waitangi, as there often are.  So that’s a good thing. The debate this year seems to be mostly taking place in the media, and focussing around whether New Zealand needs to change  our flag.

At present this is our flag:

Current New Zealand flag

Flying the flag

 

These are some of the other contenders,  each of which has their pros and cons.

The 'Maori' Flag

Original United Tribes Maori Flag

Based on our famous Silver Fern

Which one do you like???

 

Flags on display

For your average Kiwiw today wasn’t spend arguing about flags though.  It was probably spent in the sun somewhere, at a  beach or a barbeque, hanging out with family & friends.

We went to the local Waitangi Day Picnic that the District Council and  the Lions Club put on. Free bbq and hangi and icecream for the kids.

Dinner is almost cooked!

Unfortunately we didn’t stay long enough for the hangi – I guess that is the slight disadvantage of cooking your meal in a hole in ground is that it’s a bit unpredictable as to when it is ready.  It’s a pity because I wanted to take a picture of the food  for you all. The hangi is the traditional Maori way of cooking – the basic principles are dig a hole in the ground, full it up with a fire to heat up the soil and specially selected rocks. Once the fire has almost burnt out the ash is removed and the prepared food is put in the hole. Some hot coals and the rocks remain and soil is quickly piled on top so that there is minimum escape of heat.  Now days the food – pork, chicken, lamb, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage – is wrapped in foil and muslin cloth and placed in wire baskets in the hole.  In traditional times leaves and woven baskets were used.  The food is partly baked by the hot rock, partly steamed by the water tipped on the rock and sack used to cover them, and partly partly pressure-cooked.

 There were other entertainment – music, things for the kids, some craft stalls and just the chance to hang out in the sun.

A young Matador

You didn't know we had Rhinos in NZ did you!?

Lining up for food

Musicians performing

Time to just hang out.

The day was also marked for us by picking our first wild blackberries, and making a blackberry & apple pie.  Yummmmmm.

First Blackberries, Last Raspberries

Pie by Chef PB

The City of Bridges.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA is sure going to get added to my list of places to visit!!! A city that has 446 bridges – that is three more bridges than Venice, Italy – is a must do.  Apparently this is a world record for number of bridges in a city! And I could write you something about all the bridges in Pittsburgh – but someone bet me to it.   This website – Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County & Pittsburgh, PA will tell you everything you could ever want to know about Pittsburgh’s bridges. And here  are some more great photos. The first photo should be a daytime version similar to the purple postcard below.

These are some postcards  I have received recently:

This one from a private swap via the Postcrossing forums

Pittsburgh Sunset

 And this one was very kindly sent to me by PostMuse when I adopted some of her postcards.

City Lights of Pittsburgh

 This  beautiful covered bridge is the Logan Mills Covered Bridge, which is in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, so that’s another great reason to visit this corner of the US of A.

Covered Bridge

You say, I say

It’s weird sometimes – how just one little word can change the meaning of a sentence, or completely confuse us. 

Take ‘Kiwi’ – for instance.  Are you talking about me – that is, a person from New Zealand, or is it that small brownish oval shaped fuzzy fruit that’s green inside, or then again, is it that truly peculicar flightless bird with th really long beak and the really large eggs – and who also comes from New Zealand????  Language is a very strange thing …..

You would think, at first glance that NZ and the US, or NZ and the UK, or even NZ  and that far West Island called Australia, were pretty much the same. But thanks to the invention of Postcrossing, blogs, Twitter, Flickr and other marvels of modern technology, I’m learning more and more how different we are .

Laundry is today’s topic of discussion. At the moment, due to having no kitchen, we are washing our dishes in the laundry tub (well, not actually IN the tub – but in a plastic crate, in the tub.Who knows what last got washed in my laundry tub!!!)

The first point to note is that, in fact, I’d usually say ‘washing’ instead of ‘laundry’ (the clothing etc.)  And probably ‘wash-house’ instead of laundry (the room where-in resides the washing machine.) So that’s different.  And generally (when it’s sunny)  I peg my washing outside on the ‘clothes line’ to dry.  When it’s not sunny (usually) I put my washing on the ‘clothes horse’ to dry.  In fact, I don’t even own a ‘clothes dryer’ (as in the machine that tumbles the washing around and blows hot air on it until it’s dry!!)

However – the word under discussion currently is  laundry ‘tub.’

Tub and Washing Machine

Here is a picture of it – well, a picture of half of it and half of my washing machine:

This is my laundry tub, or laundry sink, or washing tub.  Nowdays all kinds of random stuff is likely to get washed in there, but not  the washing.  (It does have the ripply bit down the side that you would use for doing the washing in it!!)  The washing machine does  drain into it though.

So – do you have a thing like this in your laundry (or wash-house) and if so, what word do you use for it.

And did your mum/mom use one of these to do her laundry/washing?? Because my mum did!!

A wringer washing machine

And while we’re discussing household appliances – what DO you call that thing that you use to suck up rubbish off the floor. NO, not the dog.  The machine!!!

Maintenance Run

We’d had the third DNF on one of our caches on Monday. Even though it is a cache that does have a tendancy to migrate seasonally as the vegetation changes, we though that three in a row was a bit much, and it was probably gone.

It was a lovely bright sunny day, so when PB got home from work we decided a little maintenance run was in order, as we’d had another cache in that direction to check a few things on also.

So off we went to our ‘lost’ cache – replacement in hand – as surely it was gone. But no, no, no there it was, a mere metre or two from where it should be.   It was a tad damp, so we sat it in the sun to dry out and busied ourselves with other things – PB lookingfor a new spot and taking co-ords, and I with playing around with the camera (seem to be doing that a lot lately for some reason……)

Not so 'lost' cache.

This is one of the shots that I got -  no special effect involved  at all –  it’s just what the light was doing shimmering off the river and through the leaves of all the trees around.

Special Effects

Once everything was dried out  a bit, I re-bagged the log book, and we settled the cache in its new spot – tucked under a particular branch this time, so hopefully easier for people to replace in the correct spot.

We carried on our way, past  an old disused garage where some even older cars are parked up. So of course that was a chance for a photo stop as well!  If it wasn’t mind-bogglingly hot standing out on the asphalt, I would have tried a few more angles too.

Old Cars

We tried to check on another which is a multi/puzzle, but couldn’t check the final due to maintenance crews in the area, so that will be another trip. And when we got to the WP, there was that worrying look of slashed vegetation. Yes the trees near the sign had been trimmed, but the container was still safely tucked away in its place behind the sign.

There’s another cache that we’ve had a few issues with – the kind where the cache owner goes  ‘It’s a difficulty 3, terrain 5 multi. Of course you’re going to have to do a bit of work!!!!!’   when cachers claim that it’s not there.  Over its life span thus far, very experienced and not so experienced cachers have claimed that each & every part of it was definitely missing  at various times– and when we, upon investigation, have found that said ‘bit’ is definitely NOT missing.   So we’re a bit sceptical when logs say that part of it is missing.  But this time – they were right!!! So the last laugh is on us.  We need an horrible little film canister to fix it too – do you know how impossible they are to get these days!!!?

A is for Annie

Maybe there is a WP or two in this picture?

So we trotted off to PB’s mum’s – to drop in her copy of Dogs that Blog: the Australian Cattle Dog Edition (which finally arrived!) and to pilfer a film canister that I’d seen lying on her garage bench. I think it probably belongs to PB’s brother - JemNZ, but never mind, all’s fair in love and war when caching is concerned!!!!

We were 2/3rds successful with our mission: calendar dropped off and suitably admired, flower photos –  that I’d been trying to get for a couple of days – taken, but film canister filtched – NOPE – we forgot.

Daisy Line-up

Daisy Close-up

Ah well ….. there’s always another day.

 And speaking of days – if you need another calendar (and who doesn’t) go here and buy one starring all the most handsome Blue Heelers in the world ….. and not to forget Norwood!!! 

Ours arrived yesterday and they are awesome!!

 Dogs That Blog – Australian Cattle Dog Edition! 

Dogs That Blog

Enter the code SHADOW for the next two day only and get 15% off!!

Fat Chance …..

Now that the French doors are in, and the west wall will be finished today, I though I’d drag an old chair from the bedroom out where I can sit in the sun – or the breeze – from the doors.

I sat on it yesterday. For about half an hour. Peacefully reading my book.  Then I got up to go to the toilet.  I was only gone for a couple of minutes:

"Thanks Mum! this will be just great for looking out the doors."

Fat chance of me ever sitting in that chair again!!!

 

His sister took it over later in the evening:

"Yea - it'll do. I don't like the Ruger cooties though."

 Hmm ….. I really must wash that glass……..

  it’ll stay clean for oh, about five minutes, I guess.

 

Until it gets covered with dog snot.

 

Last Picture Taken Sunday

Scroll through your camera phone or digital camera, find the last pic you took – doesn’t matter what it was or how blurry or how random – post it on your blog.

Click on the little picture to go direct to Tracy’s Blog.

Here is my last picture for Sunday – one I took myself this week, rather than one from PB, as it happens:

Celebration

 

This is the state of the floor at our church after the induction service for our new pastor (minister). The church has had a difficult time over recent years  for one reason or another, but now we finally have a young, vibrant new couple to pastor our small congregation. The service was a great time of celebration for the congregation and for the town – even the Mayor gave a short but enthusiasctic speech about the future of our church and our town.  (The mayor was a used car salesman – so he NEVER misses the chance to do a bit of advertising for the town!!!LOL)

So here’s to the future!

From Spain – Sort of….

These are two cards I have received recently , both sort of Spanish – but not as you might picture Spain with flamenco dancers and such like!

Maspalamas, Gran Canaria

This picture is El Faro de Maspalomas  a very old lighthouse – which is actually in the centre of a busy tourist area! It is 65 metres high, and when it was first used in February 1890 it was surrounded by sand, rather than hotels and tourist shops.  It took 28 years to build.  Here’s a very similar shot, but in the day time:

Similar picture from the web - I've forgotten where!

I learnt this info from Regina at Virtual Traveller  who gives lots of information about things to do in Maspalomas.  The thing is – Maspalomas is on an island – in the Canary Islands, just over 200 kilometres from the African coast, but over 1200 kilometres from Europe!!  It is however, a Spanish ‘Autonomous community’.

Maspalomas is on Gran Canaria,  which is the third largest of the Canary Islands, but has the largest population. It seems to be mostly a tourist destination for sun, sand & lifestyle, but does also have an interesting natural environment.

  It is a volcanic island and is almost a perfect circle! The geology and biology of the island are unusual in that there are many deep ravines radiating from the centre of the island – where there is an enormous deep volcanic crater, and also the highest peak – right down to the coast. These ravines provide a wide range of different micro-climates, such that some flora & fauna only live in small areas.  Over 40% of the island is nature reserves of various types, and a significant portion of the island has been identified as a UN World Biosphere Reserve   which demonstrates the scientific importance of its unique habitats.  Apparently there are even cacti  there – so that has to be a good thing!

 There’s also 97 geocaches on Gran Canaria – in case anyone was interested!

Irune's message

The other postcard that I would like to showcase is from Irune, from the north of Spain.  I had the privilege of receiving Irune’s first (and so far only) Postcrossing card that she has sent out.  Irune is currently studying in Bilbao, in the Basque area of Spain. This is another Autonomous Community of Spain.  The Basque   people live partly in Spain and partly in France, although there is greater freedom to speak and learn the Basque language – Euskara, for those people living in Spain.   This language  is completely unique in the world, and is not closely related to any other languages in surrounding regions.  Basque culture and language has been a constant in this area for longer than the other languages and cultures around it. There are apparently a wide range of ideas about from where the Basque people came – including that they are descendants  of  the mysterious city of Atlantis!!  

 In any case, this is a people group with a long and proud cultural heritage and language, and although currently only about 25-30% of Basque people are currently considered fluent in their language, I hope that many others are inspired to learn it and to hold on to their culture.

So ‘agur’  and ‘lasterarte’  to you all for today!!  (Goodbye and see you soon)

Just HAD to show you this one!

Here is my latest Polar Bear!!! 

This one made me laugh.

Grrrrrreetings....

 

It is a private swap from Sue, who wrote on the back that the people in Churchhill, Hudson Bay see the polar bears migrate through their town!  And that IRL polar bears are huge and extremely fierce.  I think the one on her card is not living up to this reputation…….. LOL  (You can’t really tell from the picture, but this card is polar bear shaped.)

I also got another postcard from Canada today – an ‘official’ Postcrossing card from Carole featuring another fierce Arctic animal, and with polar bear stamps!

I need to find out who Martin Frobisher is who features on the 5C  stamp. An early explorer I expect.

Polar Problem

On Saturday I received another polar bear to add to my collection. It came from a private swap with another Postcrosser. She wanted penguins – which I have in plenty – and she had a polar bear that looked very cute.  So the deal was done.

 However there must have been a bad mail day somewhere in Europe when my polar bear was on the way, as he arrived looking like this:

Poor 'stuck' Polar Bear

 What appears to have happened is that the mail has got damp somewhere along the way   (which is completely understandable with the nasty nasty weather in the northern hemisphere recently) – there is also a reverse ‘transfer’  of another address on the back of the postcard, and this turned out to be a Czech stamp attached to poor polar bear’s face.  Our builder (the stamp collector!) suggested a little water on a cotton bud to make the stamp damp again and it might peel off – and then I suddenly remembered that in my stamp collecting days I used to sometimes steam the stamps off things I wanted to keep. So PB and I carefully tried that, and it was a great success!!!  There are just a couple of green smudgy bits where the colour has come out of the stamp, and other than that my polar bear is all better. (Well, he will be if he ever mananges to get out of that  yoga position!!!)

New improved Polar Bear plus the stamp that was stuck.

 The info on the back is in German  and says:   

Spielerisch elernen Eisbarkinder ihre Korperfunktionen. Sie kommen klein wie Maulwurfe in einer Schneehohle zur Welt und mussen schnellwashsen. Ein ausgewachsenes Mannchen kann es auf drei  Meter Lange und 600 Kilo Gewicht bringen.

 Which according to Google translates roughly as: Baby polar bears learn their body functions. They are as small as moles(?) when born in the ice caves and must grown quickly. A male polar bear can be as much as 3 metres long and weigh 600 kilos.

Help with the German anyone?

If someone who speaks German would like to give a better translation I’d appreciate it.

 I actually had a fantastic mail week in the end – after only one card on Tuesday initially, because on Friday I also got SIX postcards! Three cats, a lovely wolf and a curious Football mascot called Buck from various swaps, and a wonderful weird cactus from ErikaJean!!   Some of these postcards may be coming soon to a blog near you.

 (And I don’t think we got any bills this week………. LOL)