Ferrymead Heritage Park

A couple of weeks ago, I spent two gloriously sunny days based at the picturesque Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch. It's like stepping back in time into this colonial style village, with old fashioned shops, cottages and charming little buildings to explore up and down the main street. I would have loved to look around the big shed full of restored vehicles and farming equipment but had to make do peering in through the big windows ... and then along came a beautifully restored train to take us on a little tour of the village and surrounding area. How delightful!

I'll let the pictures doing the talking.

Check out the movie times

An old classroom. What's changed?

You can buy anything at the general store.

All aboard!

The sign says you can only pull the bell ONCE.

Time for a tune.

High tea and treats.

Not in my kitchen!

Stevie Wonder - A Wonder Spring Night

I can’t sleep. I didn’t think I’d be able to, because last night I saw Stevie Wonder in concert!! This was the penultimate concert in his A Wonder Spring Night tour of Australia and New Zealand. O M G. Where do I start? This review is favourable, but doesn't really do the concert justice. I can’t wait to do the full post-mortem with my father when I get back home, so here are some ramblings as at 1am, a few hours after the event.

Firstly, why Stevie Wonder? Well, why not, I guess. Billy Joel is playing in Auckland in December, and I’d love to see him in concert, but I figure that the chances of Stevie coming back to New Zealand to tour are slimmer than Billy’s. (I may be wrong, but I’m willing to chance it.) Both are brilliant pianists and songwriters. I grew up admiring Stevie’s musicianship and songwriting ability. The temptation was too much to resist, so I came to Christchurch.

After a late start (40 minute wait – fashionably late, darling?), Stevie was escorted onto stage by an attractive woman, one of the three female backup singers. It turns out she was Aisha (Isn’t She Lovely), and she was, indeed, lovely. First up was a Miles Davis jam and Stevie started the night with a deep harmonica solo. Then, it was into Master Blaster (Jammin). I cried. I actually did. The pure adrenaline and ultimate sound experience can do that to a musician. I swear I’d have been up for almost anything right then and there. (Almost, sweetie. That doesn’t include roller coasters.)

Stevie explained that he and Levi Stubbs, late of The Four Tops (and who died last week) together found a doctor who taught them how to sing correctly, using their diaphragms instead of their throats. I think their doctor did a pretty good job. ;-) As tribute to Levi, the group jammed a version of I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch). A bit slow and deliberate, but still a crowd pleaser.

There was heaps of crowd participation throughout the night, and Christchurch was well and truly ready to have a good time. For Once In My Life was followed by a weird play around with a voice changing thingie, where the group were obviously following Stevie’s jams as he was throwing in bits of songs he liked. I’m not sure how many picked up the first few lines of Crowded House’s first hit, Don’t Dream, It’s Over – a kiwi classic. Bits of What’s Going On, My Girl, Sugar Sugar, Day Tripper, and My Sweet Lord followed. Personally, I’d have chopped this section in half, not matter how much fun he seemed to be having, but anyway, I digress. ;-)

And then it was onto the good stuff. A pumped up version of Living For The City, with the final verse sped up and played three times to end. Very quirky. Straight into Higher Ground. A friend and I can’t quite agree on which version of this song is better; we like Stevie’s original, but prefer Flea’s bass lines on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' version. The jury is still out. ;-)

Quite a bit more crowd involvement followed, with a few jams and blues snippets thrown in. Then it was Part-time Lover. The bass error after the stop always intrigues me; why didn’t the sound engineer just cut it out of the song? Nevertheless, there was no stop in concert as this was a shorter version. Thankfully, he played Lately in its entirety (another tearful moment – this has to be one of the world’s saddest songs). A bit more jamming and a soulful solo by Aisha followed. All very nice.

And then, the song I was waiting for all night – My Cherie Amour. Sure to put a smile on my face at any point in time. I’m sad that he got the crowd to sing the first verse; it was too low for them, but thankfully he stepped in and finished off the rest. *contented sigh* Short versions of Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I played this for years in my band, so didn’t mind it being cut down), Sir Duke (would love to have heard all of this), and Isn’t She Lovely (ditto) followed. A guest singer, who I understand won a competition of some sort, got to go on stage and sing You Are The Sunshine Of My Life with Stevie; not entirely necessary, but she wasn’t as bad as I worried she’d be. A short version of I Just Called To Say I Love You was next up. I hate the original, but this was slightly modernised and funked up and, therefore, a tad less painful. A bit of a gimmick with some people who were having birthdays for … you guessed it, Happy Birthday.

Then we were down to the business part of the evening: clinching the deal. Superstition (also sick of playing it after several years, but might go back to listening to it now), followed by short versions of Boogie On Reggae Woman, and Uptight, Alright. We got teased with a teensy snippet of Ribbon In The Sky (would soooo have loved to hear all of this!), and then the band’s big outro.

What an amazing 2 hours and 20 minutes of high energy and professional musicianship. There were 15 band members, including Stevie: a drummer, two percussionists, two guitarists, bass, two keyboards, sax, trumpet, three female backup singers and one male backup singer. Such a musical experience! Other than There’s A Place In The Sun, there were no glaring omissions. I would have enjoyed hearing a bit of Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday, I Was Made To Love Her, or All In Love Is Fair, but no great loss.

So, that’s kind of how my dad and I (both musicians) do post mortems of musical events. I know it’s long, and I could go on even further, but will save that for Dad. As expected, there was heaps of overpriced merchandise on sale, including tour t-shirts written in Braille. I didn’t get close enough to touch one out for real and see if they worked. As a venue, Westpac Arena is fantastic and I’ll seriously consider going to more out of town concerts in Christchurch (instead of Auckland) in future. I’m thrilled that I chose Stevie Wonder to help me achieve another of my 101 goals: #85 - Go to a concert.

I’ll definitely put Song Review back into my car’s CD player once I get home to Wellington.

Concert photo by David Alexander http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742241a4500.html Used without permission

The phantom boat in the sky

When I was in Christchurch earlier in the month for my conference, I made quite a few trips walking between the Convention Centre and one of our other venues, the Cranmer Centre (about 5 mins away). On the day we arrived, a number of us did a double-take; we could have sworn there was a boat hanging off a crane mid-air in Cranmer Square. Deciding to come back the next day armed with a camera, of course it had disappeared. Hmm.

I am back in Christchurch now for two days. On my ride into town, there was the boat in the sky again. Sooo ... determined to not be caught out again, I went for a walk at lunch time to see my boat in the sky. And, once again, it had disappeared.

It turns out that the boat is part of a local biennial art in public space exhibition called SCAPE. See change is by local artist, James Oram. Here is a description of the art piece from the website:

Oram has developed a work consisting of a small sailing boat, hanging from the end of a mobile crane in Cranmer Square. This work brings together two important symbols of the transformation and development in Christchurch and uses them to comment on the changing values associated with urban development: the boats and ships from the past and the cranes from the present. It also refers to the geographical closeness of the city to the coastline, while creating a vision that we do not expect to see in the skyline.

Here's what See change is meant to look like:

But here's what the Canterbury nor-wester has reduced it to today:
Oh well, c'est la vie.

Earworms

I learned something interesting yesterday.

Being in Christchurch, I get to scan through a different daily paper in the mornings. I say 'scan through' because I have not properly read a newspaper in months, and tend to read news online or over a coffee in a cafe during the weekend (if I get a chance). But with a newspaper laid outside our apartment door every morning, I feel I should at least skim through the headlines.

I read an article from the Washington Post called 'Songs stuck on the brain'. It turns out that researchers have some new theories on tunes that repeat in your head. I was intrigued.

I have this problem. Majorly. There is always a song or a song fragment in my head (currently "I Fought the Law" by The Clash), whether I like it or not. If I'm lucky, it’s a good song musically. If not, I can get myself seriously annoyed, like the time I couldn't get to sleep because the phrase "and of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz" from The Beatles' "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" (from Sergeant Pepper) was going round and round, driving me to despair.

Sometimes I can concentrate on changing the song. I try to make it Phoebe Snow's "Every Night", which is perhaps my all-time favourite song and a great mood changer for me (usually positive!). But it's not always successful, and now I know why.

I have what' called an earworm. Yes, you heard right. Apparently the kind of music that earworms like is largely repetitive and simple, with unexpected lyrics. (Henry the Horse fits this description perfectly!) Some people get earworms more than others. Apparently those most susceptible are musicians (moi) and women (moi again), therefore there is officially no hope for me. My earworms are here to stay. I'd may as well make them comfy and train them with some good music.

Spring flowers

In Christchurch on Thursday and Friday, I noticed that thousands of daffodils had been planted around the perimeter of Hagley Park in the city, and they were on their way towards blooming. Christchurch is known as the Garden City of New Zealand and there are scores of beautiful gardens in and around the city. It was lovely to see the spring flowers starting to bloom through all the cold and rain.

I went looking for daffodils to buy last Monday on the first day of spring, but couldn't quite find any ready for blooming. Today, back in Wellington, it is a gorgeous spring day and I've just been for a walk in the sun. Along the way, I saw buckets of daffodils for sale, and that meets goal #93 - Buy daffodils/freesias just because it's spring. I'll go hunting for freesias another time.


I also bought a discounted copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows today, in preparation for goal #67, which I am really looking forward to starting.

Find something to be happy and thankful for each day

When I set my 101 goals for 1001 days, I did it to achieve one main goal: to feel more fulfilled in my life. This is not an easy thing. There are some goals on the list which are practical and simply have to be done (#41 - Fix/sew up my clothes that need minor mending), others that are indulgent (#43 - Have a bubble bath), some new experiences (#9 - Swim with dolphins), and a few little ones "just because" (#55 - Have yum char with friends). They're not about scaling mountains; they are just things that I have set out to do.

Work has been incredibly hectic and stressful lately. Don't be mistaken: I love what I do for work and how I can work (at home, yay!), but sometimes there's just too much of it. I love travelling (and am working in Christchurch today and tomorrow), but the days here are really long. I've been unwell for a while and, even though I'm recovering quite well, there's still a long way to go until I'm fully healthy again; that's not always easy to cope with. And this is where #48 can sometimes be the most difficult goal to achieve: Find something to be happy and thankful for each day. So here are some things for #48 without the “buts”.

• I have a lovely sweetie who cares for me and about me and shows me this.
• I have worked very hard on my career over the years and now my hard work is paying off.
• I travel just the right amount for work, ie, enough to still enjoy it.
• I am staying in a lovely apartment tonight in Christchurch.
• It is a beautiful clear night and I will soon go for a walk to get something for dinner.
• The flight down to Christchurch from Wellington this morning was great – blue skies and sunshine all the way.
• I am reading a fantastic book right now: "Life is So Good", by George Dawson.
• Every time I receive a txt and hear Animal grunt "Mah nah mah nah", I can't help but smile.
• I have great friends.

How about you? What would be some things on your #48 list?

Coffee in Christchurch

I’m in Christchurch for work this week. I last worked here in summer, and now the city is covered in gorgeous autumn leaves. On my flight down, one of the pilots welcomed passengers aboard and announced that the captain would not be able to update with flight details until he had his third cup of coffee. Now, I thought, here’s a man I’d get on well with. Half an hour later, as we began our descent, the captain informed us that he had now had his third cup of coffee, so he was finally permitted to talk to us. ;-)

He brought up a good point. I knew I had two full-on work days (and a late night) coming up, so coffee sounded good to me. So it was back to my Christchurch regular, Café Metro. The coffee here is usually pretty consistent; it’s strong, but even if the beans taste slightly scorched, their milky drinks (cappuccino, latte) are good. The food is great, though; I had a tasty Caesar salad, very stylishly presented, and even my colleague’s humble chicken pie looked tarted up and not a bit out of place.

Instead of going out to one of our usual Colombo St places for dinner, we decided to go for cheap and cheerful and bring takeaway Thai Star back to our apartment. The wine flowed and ‘intelligent’ discussion began: company policy was elaborated upon and presented with increasingly colourful language, personalities were explored and examined, and a plot to overthrow a government (or two) were discussed. All in a day’s work, really.

Hooray for ...

… Café Bleu! Christchurch has decent restaurants after all! Another work dinner, another crowd of 14, and this time there were rave reviews all round. Great menu, yummy food, excellent service … Café Bleu in the Cashel St Mall has restored my faith in Christchurch’s cuisine scene.

The chicken filo parcel was delicious with real cranberries (not just cranberry sauce) on top and lots of brie inside. (Mmm, cheese.) I had my arm twisted behind my back and was forced to share banoffie pie with a colleague. (Blame him; I was entirely helpless and had to go along with what he said.)

A great night out, and I'm glad to now have somewhere in Christchurch to recommend or try again.

Service in the South

I’m back at my work-away-from-home city, Christchurch. Not sure what goes on in restaurants in January, but I discovered last week and tonight that service seems like a dirty word at three places I’ve dined at with work colleagues. Either it doesn’t exist, or it’s questionable.

Tonight’s dinner was at South of the Border, a cheap and cheerful Mexican restaurant on Colombo St. An enticing menu with lots of appealing choices. I’m wondering why when two mixed platters were ordered at the same time for a table for ten that one end of the table finished sharing theirs ten minutes before the other one even arrived? Never mind – their main course arrived less than two minutes later. Drinks orders were forgotten; some of those that did make it to the table were mixed up or poured into tired-looking glasses. One guy managed to score a ‘bonus’ version of the margarita he ordered when it arrived with strawberry flavouring. Hmmm.

The meal was ok. Soggy buffalo fries and a limp and tasteless coleslaw, but the Cajun lamb (although fatty) tasted alright. Yummy guacamole saved the day. We were periodically treated to aromas wafting through from the kitchen – mostly burning meat, burning veges, or just plain burning without our being able to identify what the food was. Oh dear.

So we’ll see what happens at tomorrow night’s dinner at a venue yet to be decided.

Technology and innovation

I work for an e-learning research and development company. We pride ourselves as being on the cutting edge of innovative technology and development and have a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including the latest that the digital world has to offer.

I usually work from home in Wellington, but have spent the past week at our headquarters in Christchurch. It’s an exciting place to be and seeing our dynamic staff interacting with this technology means that the office is always a real hive of activity. Here is a virtual tour for you.

Boy food and girl food

A few weeks ago, I needed to quickly grab something to eat in between dance classes. I asked a male friend where I could find something and of course he suggested the usual greasy burgers and takeaways available in the area. I rejected each idea, and eventually said that I was after girl food, not boy food like he was suggesting. And so began the birth of a new language.

So what is boy food? What is girl food? Can some foods be both? Of course they can! (We called them bi food, ie food that can go either way.) Here are some examples of food for boys and food for girls (and food for both):
Boy food: burgers, chain-store pizza, steak, fish and chips, white bread toasties, pies, fries
Girl food: salads, panini, sandwiches, side orders of veges with your meal
Bi food: kebabs, gourmet pizza, Subway (possibly) … see how it works?

Now, that’s not to say that boys can’t eat girl food and girls can’t eat boy food, nor that if you eat bi food that it implies anything else. Remember, these categories are more of a continuum, ie some boy food has girl variations, and some girl foods have boy adaptations. You get the picture?

We went to Coyote restaurant at The Palms in Christchurch for a work dinner tonight. The discussion about boy and girl food came up, so we analysed the menu. Here’s what we came up with. Feel free to add your own suggestions to the list, or challenge ours.

Baja Catch of the Day – Probably bi food (depends what the fish is, how it’s cooked, and what it comes with, ie veges, salad, fries etc)
Hacienda Hog – Definitely boy food. Any dish with the word ‘hog’ in the title makes it automatically boy food.
Voodoo Chicken – Bi food (girl = chicken, boy = voodoo hot)
Canterbury Lamb – Boy food
Vegetarian Burrito – Girl food
Coyote’s Indulgence: A do it yourself fajita for two – Boy food. Don’t let the salady bits fool you.

See, isn’t this fun? It makes so much sense when you think about it. What do you think?

Indian cuisine

A couple of years ago, Indian restaurants were a dime a dozen around town. As with food from any culture, it's never as good as Mum makes at home (not my mum - she's Italian), but some places stand out from the others as being far better quality than the usual. Tulsi, in Wellington, has a name for being generally good, standard Indian fare. Not top of the line (no frills), but not bad either. Tonight, I was after a cheap and cheerful meal on my way home after a long day at work, so was pleased to see a Tulsi restaurant in Christchurch.

Hmm. Not a patch on the Wellington restaurant in Cuba Mall, even though the bar boasted a certificate from The Breeze saying they were voted Wellington's Best Butter Chicken for some year or other. (Not sure what that's got to do with a restaurant in Christchurch.) The waiting/bar staff looked completely bored, and the service was detached, bordering on rude as food was unceremoniously plonked at the far end of my table with a mumble which I'm guessing was the waiter announcing what the dish was. My lamb saagwala (usually a favourite of mine) was incredibly average, very salty and with little other flavour - certainly not the 'medium-hot' I ordered. In fact, I'm not sure I could taste any curry at all! Disappointing, really. I might give the original Wellington restaurant another go sometime, but now that I'm a part-time Cantabrian for work reasons, I'll be looking elsewhere for meals in Christchurch.

Christchurch

I shudder at the thought of this blog becoming yet another travel blog, but I’m on holiday now so I guess that’s the order of the day for a while. :-)

First stop, Christchurch. It was hot today, 26 degrees Celsius. As I arrived mid-afternoon and my holiday time here is short, I followed the advice of friends and visited the Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House in Cathedral Square. It’s in the Information Centre, so really easy to find, and entry is $15. As far as aquariums go, it’s pretty small, but the displays are well set out and there is plenty to see, including two North Island brown kiwi in the nocturnal kiwi house. We also got to see these guys below being fed. Pretty impressive stuff.
I came across The Bog, an Irish pub in Cashel St. I'm not generally a huge fan of Irish pubs, but I was hungry and this one had a really appealing menu. The Cashel St chicken salad was to die for and included generous servings of two of my favourite foods: camembert and cashew nuts. Divine!

A little tourist tip for those with sore feet ... there is a free shuttle bus which does a loop of Christchurch's CBD every 10 minutes. What a great discovery when you have to walk everywhere! Tomorrow, it's off to Dunedin.