You're beautiful, that's for sure (Nelly Furtado)

Pretty in pink before WOW arts

Wie geht's?

We've had a terrific trip to Wellington to celebrate my birthday (like my kids, I forget how old I am now). 

It's always a great trip to Wellington - Slow Boat Records, Unity Books, and this time we also managed to see The World Of Wearable Arts extravaganza - helpfully on all this week at the TSB Arena.

Windy Wellington never disappoints.

Glad I took the trip, ate the cake, and bought the vinyl!

Love and peace - Wozza

I wish I was in Wellington - the bureaucracy, the suits and the briefcases along Lambton Quay; the harbour city capital, the lights beside the sea (The Muttonbirds)

Wie geht's?

Jacky and I had a terrific four day weekend in Wellington recently (Hawke's Bay Anniversary plus Labour Day).

I managed to grab a few hours in Slow Boat Records in Cuba Street and came away with a clutch of vital additions to the collection. The Goo Goo G'Joob blog will have the details in due course.

Wellington is a big city by NZ standards, and big cities have more of everything. Yes, record shops (three) but also more food outlets, more stark contrasts (I rode in a lift with some Hooray Henrys posing as HSBC bank heavies -  and then saw a number of homeless outside when I exited the building), more sirens, more nice people, and more crazies wandering the Cuba Mall.

Some highlights that aren't Slow Boat related: burrito at a Mexican food stand underneath Willis Street; walking along the harbour; Unity Books has great displays and an excellent selection; helpful shop assistant when Jacky bought some shoes; quirky little magazine store when we got slightly lost on a walk that still had large numbers of back issues of Mojos and other music mags.

Some lowlights: being overcharged by the crazy Mexican; the  churro I bought on the harbour walk; over-priced books at Arty Bees.

All in all - a great couple of days to unwind and get some retail therapy.

Love and peace - Wozza

Ah... the grass got a little greener on the other side (Elvin Bishop)

SWMBO and I have just had a weekend in Wellington. We missed the All Black celebration parade but not the rush hour madness.

It took us 45 minutes to move from the Terrace exit to our Hotel in the Cuba Mall. That's about four streets. We were lucky!

Traffic in the other direction was completely grid locked. I thought about Murakami's 1Q84 as I watched from the passenger seat (when the girl gets out of the taxi on the overpass and walks down a rickety ladder to an alternative universe - I know where he got that idea).

Yes - SWMBO drove us down to Wellington and I'm a terrible passenger! I get bored. Then I get niggly. Then I get frustrated niggly and bored!

Being in grid lock and frustrated niggly and bored is the pits!

But anyway we got there and had a spiffing time: books from Unity and records from Slow Boat; a waterfront walk; JB HiFi for the new Beatles CD/DVD and Mad Men set; exotic teas; breakfast and morning tea out and about all added to the spiffingness.

So, Jade is visiting us at the moment and when we returned home she asked me if I could ever live in a city again.

In Nu Zild? No. 

I like visiting Wellington for Unity Books, Slow Boat Records and such and staying centrally is great for all that but I would get over it quickly if I actually lived there. It's too small!

No way will I ever live in Auckland again - and Christchurch/ Dunedin/ Hamilton hold zero appeal for me: either land locked or too far away.

And they are not even really big cities on a world scale. We lived in Wuxi in China with a population of over 6 million - it doesn't count as anything like a big city in China!

Nope, if it's a big city again it would have to be overseas. Of the big cities I've visited, I'd live in London, Dubai or San Francisco without any problem: vibrant places that are much closer to the action with major book stores and/or music hubs (a major bookstore is a must).

But for me now it's the bucolic scene outside my window that you see above - sheep and horses, luscious green grasses, trees and distant snow flecked hills. Looking good Hawke's Bay!

Love and peace - Wozza

Advice for the young at heart - soon we will be older (Tears For Fears)

I'm going to sound like a grumpy old curmudgeon during this post. I just know it!

Recently, SWMBO and I went to Wellington during our break from work. We always stay in central Wellington and wander around places like the waterfront and Cuba Mall.

I enjoyed our stay - I always do as I visit old haunts like Slow Boat Records and Unity Books.

Wandering around though, I was struck anew by how unattractive the latest trends are and how deeply unattractive smoking is ( a lot of it too - we see smokers less and less around Havelock North and Hastings).

Apart from smoking, I'm specifically talking tatts, piercings and hair colour. 

I fail to see how a ring through the middle of the nose is either a good idea, hygienic, or attractive. News flash - you just look STUPID!

Tattoos also have me mystified. I don't get it. At all.

And then there are the sad middle aged overweight women trying to be hip and home dieing their hair green or red or pink (or all of the above). Same news flash ladies!

Having said all that, visiting this alternative universe IS interesting for the buskers, the homeless panhandlers, the young university students caught up in the first flush of independence, the knowledgeable shop assistants who give a damn, the variety of ethnicities, the weird and the fact that SWMBO and I stand out like sore thumbs (BTW I literally have a sore thumb thanks to Tango - maybe that's why I'm vaguely grumpy at the moment).

Enuf. After a dose of blandness in central Hawke's Bay I'll be pumped for a return trip pretty soon I suspect.

Love and peace - Wozza

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show (The Kinks)

A few days holidaying in Wellington has reignited my love of tea from teapots.

These days Wellington is more noted for movie stars than teapots so I'll get to an explanation in due course.

Speaking of movie stars: Te Papa currently has a few of The Hobbit/Lord Of The Rings costumes on exhibit, even our hotel featured a life size prop which appropriately indicated the power of Peter Jackson and what he's done for the place. 

The man's presence pervades inner city Wellington: as I bought a leather men's bracelet the shop guy quickly told me that Peter Jackson shops and buys his there. Okay.

And so - to the teapots...our hotel was on Cuba Street - boho central and so all the cafes and tea shops aiming for that retro feel retain the use of a teapot. Quite right!

This pleased me no end. There's something very comforting in a cuppa from a teapot. It also appeals immensely to the skinflint in me - I can usually squeeze out three cups.

When we returned home I bowed to pressure from SWMBO to buy a teapot to go with her hand made tea set from Staffordshire, which she's been eyeing up for some time now. It's fab.

This purchase prompted a discussion with Jade about the old days of my youth when we didn't have tea bags and so used loose leaf tea in teapots. I have no idea when we first got tea bags in NZ but we certainly didn't subscribe to them in the Purdy household.

Anyway I maintain that a cuppa in the old days in mum's best china far surpasses the modern expedient methods.

But I digress - here is our latest teapot on its inaugural brew:

Luvverley!

Peace and love - Wozza (milk and one)

London calling to the faraway towns

Go the 'Dale - second in the table! Wahoo!! I have no songs with Rochdale in the title so I'll stick with the Clash for this entry - have you noticed how I use song lyrics for the titles now...? No one has sent me a comment saying - 'Oh yeah - I gettit - Ringo right' - which is disappointing people!! C'mon!! See if you get the next one. Apologies too to the Silent Alliance brigade - they'd be there as well in my last post but I don't have a copy yet of the album. How do I get one Tom/Lewis?

Jacky and I spent the weekend in windy (and wet) Wellington at a posh hotel - The James Cook on the Terrace. OO ER. For those non Nu Zilders I've thoughfully supplied a map. Basically we travelled down the left hand coast to Wellington. Here is a nice picture of the coastline-
We were there cos Fanfa needed her set of drawers and other possessions for her room. She's back in Wellington for her second year at Victoria University. You will all be glad to know that I didn't crumble like a marshmallow when we said goodbye. I did that last year. This year I know we'll be seeing her quite a bit - so it didn't feel final like it did somehow last year - weird.

Wellington itself has a special spot in my heart - it's where Jacky and I went for our honeymoon in April 1984. I'd never been before and I loved looking around the central Wellington area - the botanical garden and Alexander Turnbill Library, as well as the shops.

It was equally as good wandering around in Wellington's CBD this time - Slow Boat Records and Real Groovy provided some relief from the rain (noteworthy purchase - Mostly Autumn's 'Passengers'). We went for lunch at Fidel's on Cuba Street, checked out the impressive sights (lots of younguns in tats and piercings), we (J and I) had dinner together (not often that happens) almost went to a Beer fest by mistake (not us Tina) and crashed a wedding party having their pictures taken along the waterfront. All good. On the left is a view of the area we walked along.

All up a good break from routines (the lawns are long though). Last week also saw our 26th anniversary on the 26th Feb. Twenty-six years ago I saw a vision on the dancefloor at a fancy dress party and the rest is history.

Love and peace - W