Windy Sandspit

It's a very choppy windy day out at Sandspit today - luckily all the boats moored at anchored securely. Roll on calm summer weather!

Teenager's first car

At the moment my parents & I are trying to find a first car for my oldest. The 17 year old has his eye on a car that one of his friend's is selling. Said friend bought it round - we could hear it at the top of the road from here, it was very grunty, very loud, very rumbling - in other words a typical teenager's dream. Didn't look very economical, was a 2 ltr, no idea when the engine was put in - no proof a registered mechanic had done the word and probably wouldn't be very cheap on petrol.

Poor teenager, probably disappointed as he was wasn't impressed & stomped off with his friend back to his flat. Unfortunately it's most likely not the best car for him. He doesn't have a job but next year he's due to start an Auto course through a technical institute about 45 minutes away from where we live so he will be on a benefit. Due to those circumstances he will need to be thrifty & careful with petrol, there's also insurance plus warrant & registration to pay. I'm sure we'll find him something but for the moment I don't think this car is the best thing for him.

Solar Eclipse 2012

We had a cool event here in NZ yesterday - a solar eclipse was partially visible from my house. Was a bit cloudy but everything looked somewhat muted outside so you can definitely tell something was going on.

I did snap a few photos though:

Apparently the next eclipse isn't until May 2013 so I imagine I will be watching out for that one too.

A loud happy Guy Fawkes

Usually each year for our November 5th Guy Fawkes celebrations we buy a family pack of fireworks and leave it at that. This year we'd found our usual supply, which turned out to be a bit of a dud. What happened to the bright colours & different types of fireworks we use to be able to buy when we were kids?

I remember buying cascades, sky rockets, buzzy bees, double happies to name a few favourites. Now you just have the basics and they all seem to be the same colours, so when a friend of mine suggested we all go to the Tomarata Fireworks Display we jumped at the chance.

The Tomarata Country School each year holds a massive display. Mostly farmers and people around the district go - there are about 4 small towns around this area so quite a few people turn up. It's $5 per person or $20 a carload so it made sense for me, my friend, my 2 children and her 2 to go in her car so we saved a wee bit of money.

There wasn't just fireworks on display though, there were other activities for the kids such as quad rides jumpy castles, paintball shooting, candyfloss and other yummy foods to buy. By the time we got home around 11pm that night we were all very tired but happy.

As you can see below I took a video on my camera of the festivities - enjoy!

Two of my favourite things

Summer fruit- love fresh strawberries!

Sushi from the supermarket for dinner - nom!