In about nine days we shall be leaving Taipa and heading south.
So apart from the usual morning walk a little time was spent on the internet looking for Hotels/Motels in Wellington and Christchurch.
We have been using a good website called WOTIF.COM which gives perhaps one of the largest choices of accommodation in the area. There appears to be lots of Hotel rooms available and room rates have dropped by at least fifty percent. The only place where there are fewer rooms available is Wellington where a couple of days after our arrival the ‘Rugby Sevens Weekend’ is on and so no doubt there will be hoards of people in town. Having seen the adverts on New Zealand TV for the event it would appear that dressing up in crazy costumes is the name of the game. Men dressed as nuns, I just wonder what team they are supporting.
The weather is still good and warm and so we also spent time reading on the balcony and catching the fresh air. We decided to go Italian for food tonight and pasta with a bolognaise sauce was the order of the day and most enjoyable.
This weekend in Taipa Bay and on the beach is the annual fishing competition with huge prizes. Total prize money is about $40,000 all for catching a few fish. If you catch fish here you are not allowed to sell them unless you have a commercial fishing licence. But I bet there is a lot of skulduggery going on as one day we saw a boat loaded with fish passing it over to a guy with a big van with cold boxes inside. Most people seem to give the excess fish to friends and neighbours and store it in their freezer. Even we still have enough fish for the next month or so even eating it three times per week. You are also able to take you own fish to the Fish and Chip shop and they will fry it for you at a small cost.
We watched Ramsey’s Kitchen nightmares in the USA. There are some real jerks out there that think they can manage a restaurant. This guy last night persuaded his girlfriend’s family to buy him this restaurant which he turned in to an Italian food place. He was only twenty five years old and he had never worked in an Italian Restaurant kitchen ever. Needless to say it was a disaster.
Talking about disaster I believe there is a cruise liner leaving some time in April which follows the route the original Titanic took on its fateful voyage. I believe they are having difficulties getting passenger for this trip, I wonder why. It must be the current economy causing the difficulty. On the other hand why not offer free passage to the Bankers and City money men as a thank you for their past efforts and then hope for an iceberg. Trouble is what with the world heating up and knowing our luck they won’t find a suitable ship sinking iceberg anywhere. Prophetic justice indeed.
Oh dream on Groves!
