Jocelyn on Worcester Street with the museum in the distance
Trey at the Antarctic Exhibit
Paua shell half polished and half unpolished
Fred and Myrtle's paua shell living room
Maori wood carving
This weekend was certainly exciting. Saturday we went to the Canterbury Museum.
The museum started by detailing the history of New Zealand starting when the ancient ancestors of the Maori people arrived in the 15th century. Arriving by boat these people found New Zealand covered by forest, with an abundance of large Moa birds. These birds were flightless and could grow to be as tall as 12 feet. They proved easy to hunt and supported these early people’s hunter and gathering lifestyle. The next few hundred years were peaceful times until the Moa bird’s population declined due to over-hunting and the destruction of their habitat. The next time period was a time of small wars where the Maori people fought for the fertile lands near rivers mouths. This time was also marked by an increased interest in decorative artwork in the Maori culture. This included both stone work and wood carvings as are seen in some of our pictures. In addition to the ancient history we also saw exhibits on Antarctica and an art exhibit on transgender culture. Also, there is an exhibit called Fred and Myrtle's Paua House http://www.newzealand.org.nz/fred_and_myrtle.htm. Fred and Murtle were a couple from Bluff, NZ who collected paua shells and decorated their entire sitting room with them!! (see photos) They have become a part of Kiwi pop culture, also known as Kiwiana because they turned their home into a tourist attraction where they showed people around 7 days a week! Once they passed away, the museum recreated their home decorated with paua shells. It was even crazier in person! We were going through the museum very slowly so we decided to save the rest for another time since we were getting hungry.
After the museum we went to grab a bite to eat at a local hangout called Dux De Lux. We had been there before when we met Jay and Vanessa. We had some nachos and buffalo chips. These were both interesting considering the nachos were made with nacho flavored chips and the buffalo chips were just French fries with sour cream and salsa on the side. They really like their flavored chips here. I imagine that when the Kiwis come to America and order something Buffalo flavored they get a BIG spicy surprise!!
Sunday we did our regular grocery shopping and picked up some really neat items for recipes. Since we now know that Jocelyn enjoys yellow curry, we picked up some things to make that. We also picked up some seafood marinara mix (just fresh mussels, salmon, squid, and prawns) and some paella rice to make seafood paella. Mmmm. The paella turned out great! We are really enjoying doing all this cooking with such fresh ingredients. When we finally buy a house a large kitchen will be a MUST!
After grocery shopping we checked out the outdoor weekend market on Worcester Street. It is a bunch of local artisans and designers who sell their goods. There are clothes, food, wood carvings, jade, traditional Maori items and wool to name a few things. I think we know where Christmas presents are coming from THIS year people!!!
Next we moved on to check out the Christchurch Casino since it is only 2 blocks from our place but we had not yet been. Now, neither of us are big gamblers as many of you know. Trey and I decided before we went in that we had $20 each to gamble, we would have dinner and go home. We were both very okay with that. The casino is not huge compared to Vegas or AC of course but it is a nice little place with a few restaurants/bars – 2 stories of fun just 2 blocks away. We signed up for the Player’s Club which gives us discounts on food, beverage (alcoholic and non) and we can earn points by how much money we spend. Since it is so close and the membership was free, we both did it.
Jocelyn found a slot machine she liked called “Canary Islands.” First machine=no love. Second machine=no love. Then she went to another machine that she said she, “…..had a feeling about…” After only 5 spins on this NICKEL MACHINE it went crazy…..she won $180!! Because we are not big gamblers, at that point, she cashed out and we went to have dinner at one of the restaurants in the casino. The cashier handed us $212 and we went to dinner. They were having a deal called, “Steak and Steiny” (Steinlager beer) for $10! Jocelyn got it and said it was not too bad. Trey got some Asian noodles with seafood. What a deal…..AND we got points on our Player’s Club cards as well as a 10% discount on food and drink!
Jocelyn noticed that the waitress had sat us at table 13. She took that as a sign and told Trey she was taking the $12 and going back to the same machine. If she lost it, she lost it, but she “had a feeling.” After dinner we went back to the machine with $12 in hand and once again after only a few spins…..another $100!!! Jocelyn left the casino with $330!! We only played about $30 between us and had a super cheap meal. Jocelyn is hoping that beginner luck does not contribute to her losing motivation to look for a job and become a professional gambler! LOL Just kidding.
We came home and decided that it was time to book our trip to Sydney – after all – we were having such luck. We wound up finding an awesome deal online for $1300 total for 5 nights/6 days in Sydney at the Medina Grand Harbourside. http://www.medina.com.au/medina-grand-harbourside/hotel
We will be going November 12-17th and will be flying Virgin Pacific which is also supposed to be very good. The activities we are hoping to do are: See the Sydney Opera House, Eat at the Sydney Tower with 360 views of the city – a 70 minute panoramic journey with uninterrupted 360 degree views while you dine, Surf on Bondi Beach, do the Sydney BridgeClimb to the top of the world-famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, 134m above Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Cruises or Sydney Cycle Tours to see all the sights. We are hoping to really maximize our time there. We are staying right in the center of the nightlife too so hopefully we won’t be too tired from our days to enjoy that as well.
Today Jocelyn went to get her nails done again by her favorite nail guy, Harry. He did some crazy awesome design on each nail! It is black with white stripes like a zebra with glitter overtop. Harry and Jocelyn are a perfect match! He didn’t win the Korean Nail Olympics for nothing!!! Ha!
Jocelyn is still plugging away on jobs but nothing yet. She is attending a FINZ (Fundraising Institute of New Zealand) lunch seminar next week and is also attending a fundraising/volunteer evening for the Children’s Cancer Foundation here so we will see where that takes her. Cross fingers.
This weekend we are going to check out the tram that runs through town and also maybe the Christchurch Gondola if the weather is nice. Sunday is Mt. Hutt for skiing!!! YAY!
