Miscellaneous Thoughts

---

You wouldn't think that buying milk would be all that much different here in New Zealand. However, the marketing is very different. Each company uses different terms. There is Skool milk (generally flavored milk), Medium - Light, Lite, Mega, X-tra, Trim, SuperTrim, Family, Slim and Skim and more. I suspect that all this different nomenclature keeps consumers largely in the dark.

Avery has taken up Netball. I gather that Netball is played in Canada, but I had not heard of it before coming here. It is taken very seriously in New Zealand. I suspect that it is probably the most popular women's team sport. It is similar to basketball, but without the dribbling and much less physical contact. Each player has a more confined playing position and must wear a jersey displaying their position.

I just heard the word "clucky" being used on the National radio. There is a real midwife shortage. The radio reports that once midwife students get into school they get all "clucky" - after a long search on the Internet, I gather that this means that they are anxious to have children. The midwife school was thinking of handing out condoms to students starting the program. Not entirely sure if they were serious.

My current obsession is with the plumbing. In particular, with the taps on sinks. For reasons which are entirely unclear to me, almost all the sinks around here have two taps located on either side of the sink. To wash your hands, you have to run a sink of water - if you are keen on warm water rather than freezing cold or scalding. I have seen faucets which combine the hot and cold water which pours out of a single spout, but they are a very rare sighting over here. You are much more likely to see a Kiwi in a bathroom than a proper faucet.

---

Photos

Net Ball in Westport
The Netball play was in Westport this week nestled in the mountains