Blogs from Waihi, Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

HAPPY 4th!!! I think we are celebrating it with Christoffel and Alison at a tavern down the road that is having a blues night! Should be good! So, remember good ol' Rusty Gun Warder? Santa Claus guy? He is a regular now. You can hear him driving up the road from blocks away with his windows down and indie-rock noises blaring out of his little Nissan Altima. He has this tiny little Jack Russel-looking mutt that sits on a tray that Rusty built for him on the driver's side window. It looks like he swiped it from a Sonic or A&W and told his dog to lie down on it. His car is covered in make-shift bumper stickers, more like tape, really. It is all political and mismatched, but his sole purpose is to get a ... read more

We are still having the time of our lives here, drinking as much coffee as we want and laughing our heads off with Christoffel and Alison. Wednesday was our day off, so we went over to Christoffel and Alison's house out in Huntly again. We got to eat fresh mandarins, listen to British music, and watch their cows drink out of Christoffel's beer bottle. While they were at a midwife appointment, Jack and I walked along the bank of the Waikato River. We found a homeless man that had so many layers over him, we couldn't tell if he was breathing. We had lunch at a burger place called Hopin' Stopin' with a big frog dressed up as a waiter on the front. MASSIVE burgers. It was really good. Jack and I are slowly moving the ... read more

John, how did the races go on Saturday? McMenemy staff, I had Jack watch Old Greg! He loved it and wound up watching the full episode. Now he is quoting it telling me to "make an assessment." Tiff, I still think you should get that picture taken that you wanted to. Maybe Mom can do it for you. Mom & Dad, which trainer are Moose and Tessa at? Bobbi, I think Jack is going to get a haircut soon. Maybe. Is Caitlin done with Band Camp? Is Mark back in the states for good? Mike, good job on the bet. Keep it up, though, Jack really wants your TV. Nat, you are making Jack jealous. Do you still have the season so he can get his fix when we get back? Dad, thanks to the flood, ... read more

Just to explain the pictures a bit, the tunnels are DARK. Most of the pictures were taken with flash, but there are a couple where you can see it how we did. Picture 087 is a glow worm. They turn out their light if you shine anything on them or if you talk too loud, so that's the best we could do. The red Doberman is named Sienna and she is the psychotic red head, as they call her. The black one is Ferro, the bull terrier is Nieva, the German Shorthaired Pointer is Iris, and Kay Dog is an old Rottweiler/Labrador Retriever mix. They all have loads of personality and are so sweet.... read more

Happy Father's Day! It's Monday here and the first day of our new hours: 7am-4:30pm. Christoffel and Alison had only a low-risk type food license, and now that they have been approved for cooked food we expanded the menu. We all know how to cook different things (I think I can handle french toast, we'll see), so it's just a matter of us all pitching in new ideas and working to get it right. Alison is still adding her artistic touches to the place, and Jack has perfected all of his coffees. He even knows how to make a machiatto. I wouldn't have been able to spell that three days ago. I tend to do more PR work with our customers, especially the ungrateful ones. We had the strangest old lady come in and criticize everything ... read more