Shopping, Piha Beach, Wenderholm Park and Kiwi Phrases

I cannot forget the incredible start to my day, provided by my Lovely Twin Sister. I was struggling a bit about some things that were causing me some great anxiety and she gave me two visuals where God steps in and reminds us of Who He Is. These are from movies and if you believe in the subliminal or underlying messages from these movies, then you'll understand the impact. The first was from TLOTR - I think the first movie. I could be wrong...anyway, it's when Gandolf and the crew are in the cave, racing across the bridge and are being chased by the dreadful and incredibly scary dragon. The bridge is crumbling all around and Gandolf is holding firm in the face of the dragon and at the precise and perfect moment, he slams the cane (or whatever he calls it) down onto the bridge and screams, "YYYYOOOUUUU SSHHALLL NOOTTT PAASSS!" The other one is in The Matrix, when Neo realizes he is "The One" and he's surrounded by the duplicate "Mr. Anderson's" who are all shooting at him and he holds out his hand and very quietly says, "No", and the bullets drop to the ground. For me, those two instances represent the God who knows the enemy will always be after us and Our God who speaks so softly, and everything listens to Him. Everything. Those may not represent anything to anyone reading this and may think I've gone after a stretch with the two scenarios, however, it's my blog, my thoughts and I stand with the Power of Knowing who my Strong Tower, Promise Keeper and Savior is.
After the gentle reminder from the Holy Spirit that nothing is beyond Him, I ventured out today to the gigantic outlet mall in Onehunga (Oh-knee-hung-uh) and spent 3 hours shopping. I was completely overwhelmed when I went inside. I had no clue where to start or which shop to go into first! The bargains, bargains, bargains made me want to spend, spend, spend! So I did the most natural thing imaginable. I went into the nearest café, had a hot chockie, regrouped and sorted out my shopping list of “wants” vs. “needs” in my head. Plus I had ½ of a protein bar. It’s amazing how the desire to spend is a direct correlation to how full your tummy is. Well, mine anyway. So I bought a fleece jumper (sweatshirt) and I’m not sure if I like it. I can’t take it back though so I guess I’m stuck with it. I guess it’ll be great for wearing around the house in the middle of winter. I purchased quite a bit and still have some shopping to do on Queen Street. I’ll most likely do that tomorrow. Today was very windy and cloudy so I spent about 1.5 hours at Browns Bay. I love it when the tide is out because you can walk from beach to beach. You just have to remember to gauge your time on the return trip or else you could get caught with the tide coming in and may have to climb…or swim your way back. I didn’t take any pictures of Browns Bay though. It looks a lot like Waiake Beach, except longer. So now laundry is on the list of things to do. Gotta make sure I’m all packed and ready to go on Tuesday. It was a fairly low key and “domestic” kind of day, which is always good to have from time to time.
Yesterday I drove about 1.25 hours to Piha Beach on the West Coast. I’ve always heard that it’s awesome and the place to be for surfers because the waves can get huge. They weren’t kidding. The ride is through the Waitakere Ranges, which looks similar to the Huana Ranges, however, this trip did not involve car sickness since I was solo. The roads were so winding though! I think it takes a fair bit of time to drive because of the roads, not because of the number of kilometers to the beach. There were a couple of times during the trip that made me nervous because of the cliffs. You’d come around a bend and the dropoff would be to your left or unexpectedly, you’d see the ocean off in the distance but the cliff kind of made your heart skip a beat because it was an unexpected sight. Piha is tucked away in the ranges, far away from civilization…or at least it felt like it. What a great place to live. The beach as your front yard, the ranges with trails to hike until your heart’s content and the added bonus of the peacefulness of the waves crashing against the black sand. I’m not sure where people go to the grocery store, though but I could’ve missed a town down another road. Who knows. It was just beautiful, though. There is a large ‘hill’, for lack of a better word, that splits the beach in two, called the Lion Rock. It has a trail of steps – steep steps - that you can venture up, however, you cannot go to the very top because of the instability of the ground and falling rocks. That’s okay by me. So I decided to give it a go. The first thing I noticed when I was at the bottom of the Rock was the rope that is low to the rock itself to keep your center of balance low. Hmmm…that actually made me reconsider whether or not I wanted to climb up. It’s not the climb up that made me nervous, it’s the thought of how do I get down on the return trip? (the calm picture is of Wenderholm Park)Even with tennis shoes, I have the innate ability to slip and fall. Quadruple that with Fitflops. However, I did make it as far up as visitors are allowed to go, and the view was absolutely breathtaking. (By the way, they show reruns of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and for those who love Nascar…it’s shown over here on local channels. Amazing.) Taking pictures from the top of the rock was a bit scary because even though there isn’t a risk of “falling off”, per se, as you turn around, the height and depth of where the ground is in relation to where you are standing can make your equilibrium a bit shaky. Not much to worry about falling – just enough to make you say, “Oh – whoa” and feel your heart beat a little faster. Can you see the steepness of the steps? (They actually have a television show called “Piha Rescue” because of the nature of the water and how dangerous it is. Luckily for me, I don’t swim. smile) I attempted to capture the strength of the sea…can you see it? I was too afraid to get close to the water, believe it or not. The waves would come crashing into the beach so fast and the water would run out just as quickly, making you lose your balance when you looked down to watch to make sure you didn’t fall. I was so afraid of the water that I didn’t even want to venture to the far side of the beach – on either end – like I do on all the other beaches. All I can say is…Powerful. (The picture of me with the Auckland/Devonport/Waiheke Island Backdrop is from the Sky Tower)
The drive back to Auckland seemed to go by much faster than the drive there. Maybe because I was going downhill the entire time instead of up in sea level. I decided to go to Wenderholm Park, about 20 minutes North of Auckland, as I remembered it being a beautiful park when I lived here. Although the beach and park were beautiful, I was captivated by the birds…tons and tons of birds! I did not go on any of the nature trails as it was late in the afternoon and I was quite tired already, so I walked the beach and spent about 30 minutes attempting to be quiet, sneak up on these very colorful birds, only to scare them off before I could even focus my camera. I didn’t stay long…too tired – but a really good tired. Every night when I come home, I end up taking a 2.5 – 3 hour nap because I am so tired. All the walkabouts and tiki tours have kept this 38 year-old knackered (nak-uh’d). smile.
So now what I would like to share with you are some of the language I’ve heard during my travels here. I forgot most of these, however, it comes back quickly in conversation, listening to the news, shopping, etc.
KIWI-ISMS
Anklebiter: toddler, kids
Banger: sausage
Box of birds: cheerful, happy, very good
Candyfloss: cotton candy (yah – no kidding!! Floss??)
Cellotape: scotch tape
Chilly bin: cooler
Cotton buds: Q-tips
Courgette: zucchini
Crisps: potato chips
Dummy: pacifier
Dairy: convenience store (these are everywhere and they have “Dairy” on the sign)
Fizzy: soda pop
Flannel: wash cloth
Flash: sensational or "that’s flash" meaning it looks really good – also “flash harry”
Give Way: yield (traffic)
Gizza: abbreviation for "give us a..."
Home for the Bewildered: Nursing Home
Ice block: popsicle
Jandal: flip-flops
Judder bar: speed bump
Kornies: Kellogg’s cornflakes
Lay-by: Layaway
Lemonade: 7Up (I still do not understand this one!)
Nappy: diaper
Panel beater: auto body shop
Pink Batts: Insulation
Pinky bar: a chocolate-covered marshmallow confection
Pram: baby carriage, stroller
Puffed: Tired or out of breath
Push bike: bicycle
Quencher: ice cream bar
Quite nice: very good, exceptional (pronounced "quoite noice")
Rack off: go away (angry)
Rockmelon: cantaloupe
Rooted: to feel tired
Rubber: eraser
She’ll be right/Right as rain: things will be fine
(Mud) Slips: Mud slides
Sparrow fart: very early in the morning - the crack of dawn
Sticking plaster: band-aid
Stubbies: Short shorts
Sunnies: sunglasses
Take-aways: New Zealand term for "take-outs" or food "to go".
Tiny Tearaways: Children who lack discipline
Tracksuit: sweats
Togs: swimsuit
torch: flashlight
trolley: shopping cart
Ute: Sports Utility Vehicle
Whiteware: White appliances
Wopwops: Rural areas – ranges or country

Last but not least, any food that someone thinks tastes good is described as "beautiful", "gorgeous", "lovely". Thaht's Goh-gus!"

That last picture of me is watching the birds at Wenderholm...possibly looking a bit reflective or just puzzled on how to get close enough to take a picture?

So there you have my Friday and Saturday in New Zealand. I am not sure I want to live over here though. Awesome place to have a 1-2 month vacation, however, I would miss everyone too much. And Rafe. :)