....the roadpacer...

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mazda is a Hiroshima based company.

I am a Hiroshima based chap.

I recently had occasion to visit the Mazda factory with 30 visiting government officials from sunny Afghanistan. It was there that I ran into what is commonly called "folly" - in the guise of the mighty, mighty (unlamented) Mazda Roadpacer....in the olive green no less.

...made from 1975-1977 the Roadpacer is an abject lesson in why you should always be prepared to admit that the idea you had over a few drinks the other day wot sounded broolient, perhaps should be allowed to whither and die.

"Hang on!" I hear you say..."That's not a Mazda, that's the mighty, mighty (lamented) Holden Premier!"

...to which I say...

"Yes...you're right"

I am a huge fan of the Holden. There. I've said it. Australia peaked at the Kingswood and it has been all downhill since then. (No thanks to Paul Hogan either.)

However, instead of this example truly being the mighty, mighty Holden Premier, powered by the mighty, mighty 6 cylinder or V8 we all know and love, what makes this Mazda a Mazda was the inclusion of....a Rotary Engine.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy the theory behind a Rotary as much as anyone but where they work is when they are strapped heartily to very small, very light bodies - the RX-s they were designed for and, (a big salute to my older bro) unfathomably loud and obnoxious Ford Escorts.

I don't know tonnes about engines and whatnot, but what has always intrigued me about the Roadpacer, and what made me giggle like a loon when I saw one in the flesh is the fact that anyone, for an instant, thought it would be a good idea to strap a 1.3l Rotary engine into a 1535 kg Holden body shipped all the way from 'stroya. In addition, the car was targeted at the VIP end of the market (it had an 8-track after all), and cost US$10,000...in 1975 - roughly twice as much as its targeted rival - and all of this at 26l per 100km with a top speed of 160kmh. Oil shock anyone? Anyone?

Right. Thats out of my system. Glad I got to see that.

Toodle pip.

...office...

hello there.

....two changes of note in the office in recent weeks...

1) our office manager-type chap has (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) found some supplier for toilet paper who obviously has connections to a sub-atomic particle lab. as such the new (1-ply) toilet paper actually clocks in at about 1/3 of a ply.

eeeew.

2) also, curiously, related to the little boys room, we now have stickers of targets placed in the urinal identifying the "sweet spot." the colour of said target changes when it is "hit". each ring of the "target" is a different colour. the aim is to get a bullseye -it turns red.

...fun times...

tata.

...confessions of a pack horse...

Yo.

Just real quick like...

Thanks again to my back-up dancers and stage-hands for making my recent One Night Only engagement in AKL such fun. So much fun in fact that I snuck back in for (dingding), round two at the birthday celebrations of the SuperTom.

Twas grandiose.

And whats been happenin' since?

Nic and I strolled up to Kyoto last weekend for some concerted "stuff gettin' ".

Nic is making about a bullion bags at present and as such was running low on Obi and Kimono from wot she makes them. So it was that we hitched a ride on the night bus to Kyoto town.....

An 11:35 pm departure saw us deposited outside the Kyoto station at 5:30 in the a.m. for a nourishing Lawson Convenience Store breakfast....(I went for the tuna and egg sando...)

Then it was off to one of the biggest temple markets in the country...

...and it was coooool...

Hundreds of stalls selling bunches of tons of lots of everything under the pounding summer sun. The final tally saw Nic loading up this fine mule, (see "burro", or "ass") with 19 Obi and 14 kimono for the return trip at 4pm Saturday.

Just for the record - heavy.

So now Nic is all grinny and sewy and surrounded by ever-increasing piles of bitchin' bags ready for market in sunny NZ.

That is all...

B.

...adopted...

Afternoon all.

First off - didn't feel a thing. All is well.

Turns out there was a rather large earthquake in Niigata Prefecture early on Sunday morning. Niigata is miles away from us - just a wee bit North-West of sunny Tokyo town. So we were A-ok.

In the spirit of natural disasters passing us by, we were also promised a typhoon last Saturday, but apart from some frankly spectacular thunder rolling about the place, it missed us.

Dammit.

I enjoy a good typhoon.

In other news, we gave been adopted by my new section chief...

Let me explain...

New section chief chap approached me at the coffee pot a couple of weeks ago and we got to nattering (as you do.) It was clear he wanted to say something so I just let him wander through the weather, the seasons, his hobbies and the like until he finally set up his approach angle and barrelled on in to the point of the conversation...

...turns out that when he isn't being a section chief, he is also a rather prominent local strawberry farmer (!) He heads a group of local produce growers who have formed an organic produce collective that sells at local markets. They harvest what they think they will sell on the particular day of the market and trot off. Generally however, they have a few odds and ends left over at the end...

...which is where we come in....

For the last two weeks, two or three times a week, new section chief chap strolls into work following his lunch break laden with organic produce that until that very morning was still on the vine/tree/in the ground and is now destined for my belly.

Now, anyone who has done time in Club Nippon knows that finding organic food is nigh on impossible, and even then you run into caveats such as "Oh yeah the plant is organic, but the pesticides we used aren't...."

So we were pretty stoked.

For the first time in a long time we had;

- Tomatoes which tasted and smelled just like....TOMATOES!
- Cucumber which tasted and smelled just like....CUCUMBER!
- Onions which tasted and smelled just like....ONIONS!
- Eggplant which.......(etc etc etc)
- Potatoes which.......(etc etc etc)
- Beans which.......(etc etc etc)
- Peaches which.......(etc etc etc)

...and everything else the season offers. As I type there are some fish he caught last night languishing in the office fridge waiting to be taken home.

Sweeet.

We just need to work on volume - the first batch contained 36 onions...that's a lot between the two of us. Soup anyone?

b.

...mmmm refreshing....

...that's right kids!...
...cucumber flavoured pepsi!...
...hitting a store near you!...
...or...you know...not...
(it's pretty bad)

...don't tell me...it'll come to me....hang on....

Hello there. Real quick post this one.

So Nic has been teaching some private English classes with adults and one of the first numbers she pulls out is the "Let's Work On Describing Stuff" gem.

She has put photos from our burgeoning collection onto a worksheet and asks people to make up a background story for the people included therein. Without fail (or indeed prompting) the first thing that happens is that the students excitedly state "exactly" which famous person the pictured person looks like...

...here are some of the latest doodads to have been blurted out...i'll let you be the judge...

....dazza as....
...TOM "PLAYIN' WITH THEM BOYS" CRUISE....



...tonight ladies and gentlemen...richard will be appearing as....
.....BRUUUUUUCE WILLIS (!?)....




...your host...
...THE IRREPRESSIBLE HARRY POTTER....



...morgan "call me raaaaage", henceforth known only as...
...DIRTY OLD STEVE MCQUEEN...



...this one was a doozy...
...nics japanese chum saw this photo and excitedly pointed at josh. not wanting to put the photo down she carried it through to her bag in the kitchen and rifled around for her dictionary. it wasn't a movie star she was looking for; it was a FEELING. after a few mis-starts, she settled with the statement that josh exudes...

..."AN AURA OF GORGEOUSNESS"...

...and i'm inclined to agree...

...incidentally this was the same woman who went to a doctor about a stomachache. the doctor looked her over and said "your stomach hurts because you have the dissatisfied soul of a samurai warrior living in there"...

...she believed the doctor...

...the dissatisfied soul has since moved on much to the relief of everyone concerned...

toodle pip.
b.

...china....it's pretty big....

Hello there,

We strolled off to China a couple of weeks ago, and what a grand old time we had.

I had been wanting to get on over to the China for a long, long time now. In particular it was that bloody Great Wall that I was looking forward to. I forget when I first heard about it, but it must have easily been during primary school, and getting to it has been rather near the top of the list of "wot-I-want-to-do" ever since. It's always nice to tick stuff off the internal life list, and being able to put a big fat red tick on my "Stroll the Great Wall" entry was all the more satisfying for having been able to accomplish it with the ever lov-er-ly Nicola and my Mum and Dad who we met up with in Beijing.

So some initial thoughts on the Middle Kingdom.....

- Big.
- Really Big.
- Well on it's way.
- Meat-y.
- Smile-y.
- Just so big you wouldn't believe it.

After our old friend Archs' rather quick descent into madness bought on by China a few years back, as evidenced on his now defunct (and unlamented I might add...sniff) "weblog" (or "blog"), I was a shade concerned about going.

I am happy to report that he is a big fat wimp and we had a grand time.

Here's some piccies:

First stop was Shanghai. A brief 2hr10m flight from sunny Kansai Airport. I liked Shanghai a lot. We were staying in Pudong, an enormous bloody development on the "other side" of the river from the crazy looking Bund. Pudong was nuts. All wide boulevards and leafy trees and whacking great footpaths and an urban designers dream one would imagine, albeit with that sort of "empty" feeling that resonates around newly developed areas. I felt like I was wandering around a show home and would be asked to take my shoes off. Still, some bonkers architecture and the evidence of what happens without the influence or "constructive criticism" of pesky focus groups and nitpicking residents associations made for some interesting strolling.

...this is looking back towards Pudong from the Bund. Our hotel was just at the base of that enormous tower doodad. I dug the tower doodad. I dug it bigtime. The pastel pinks and blues that it was decked out in somewhat ruined the Bladerunner feel to the place, but that was corrected by the boat with the ENORMOUS TV on it running up and down the river at all times of the day and night encouraging people to consider living offworld, I mean, somewhere new and flashy...oh...and the haze? get used to it folks....

...same big phallus...just a little closer...

...this is on the Bund. Dozens of bonkers-crazy enormous buildings from the 1900s all lined up perty-like along the river. The PRC flag flying high and proud over these testaments to European domination was a rather nice touch I thought...

...mmmm. Hazy. This behemoth marked the start of the line-up. I'm a sucker for enormous brick 1930's styled monstrosities. Particularly those that aren't celebrated (though this one is). Those that just carry on what they have been doing for decades. All brick-y like. It's my overwhelming impression of New York, Chicago and Boston, even sunny Kansas City for that matter when we spent time with smiley old Jarrod there. Good old Bricks. Fun.

...speaking of fun, whats more fun than bbq'd lamb cooked on charcoal bbqs on the back of bicycles by Chinese Muslims? Not much. For those who didn't catch it...THE CHARCOAL BBQ IS ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF THE BICYCLES...Brilliant.

...and what about this guy? This is the Communist TV News. Could ya guess? Looking sharp there fella. Looking sharp...and trustworthy...

...and not to be outdone, the sparkling white uniform of this newsreader screamed "impartiality!" as well as, of course; "freedom of the press!" Honestly though, Judy Bailey, in this get-up? R-A-T-I-N-G-S B-O-N-A-N-Z-A...

...where does one find the newscasters of the future? Why dancing and singing talent shows for terrifying young people with questionable haircuts of course...This kid was belting out the hits, he looked about 12 years old, he also looked like Tattoo from Fantasy Island...creepy...

...we also took a stroll through some of the shikumen areas which are literally a 10 minute walk from the Bund. These are the areas that, it seemed, are bearing the a lot of the brunt of this Chinese economic miracle as far as Shanghai is concerned. Crazy old buildings being torn down left, right and center to make way for shiny mirror buildings and wide footpaths. While it was a very interesting place to stroll around we soon felt rather unsettled at walking through the destruction of these peoples lives, histories and the very identity of their communities. It was a very thought provoking place, and one which sort of left me ultimately feeling very sad. It was a strange emotion though because the inhabitants could very well have been happy to move on. Hmmmm...

...more of the same...

...in an effort to cheer ourselves up, we went and got ourselves one of these little numbers. It's a wee steamed bun in your run of the mill bamboo holder doodad. The bun however has a hole formed in the top, through which you place a straw, through which you DRINK THE DELICIOUS PORKY-PORKY-PORK-PORK SOUP THAT WAITS INSIDE. When you're done, you nibble on the pork infused bread as you stroll away, rubbing your belly and giggling while silently thanking all of creation for the mighty, mighty swine and its never ending array of deliciousness...Mmmmm.....pork.....

...see what I mean?

...from Shanghai we took the night train to Beijing. That's right baby; The Night Train. To my eternal shame I did not once break out the G'n'F'n'R and for that I apologise and will eternally feel less of a man. We all have our crosses to bear and this is now one of mine...

...still, during the 12 hour train trip - in the dining car to be exact, Nic had the chance to reacquaint herself with an old friend....Have a close look at the 7-Up can she is holding...that's right folks...that Fido-Dido bastard. Now it has long been an assumption of mine that the vast majority of advertising executives are in fact no-talent-ass-clowns (to purloin a phrase.) But seriously...Fido-Dido?!? In 2007? Puh-lease! This is ridiculous. Some hackneyed mid-late 80's character dragged out of retirement (and probably rehab - those dull, expressionless eyes don't come naturally) to hawk lemonade on Chinas increasingly wealthy? You can do better than that! What about calling back Spandau Ballet for Coke? No? Bronski Beat for Toyota? Anyone? Anyone? Having said that, I do remember a time when Fido-Dido and his "crazy" hair rooled the fashion stakes. Ahhhh yeah. Intermediate School. Ahhhh yeah.

...we arrived in Beijing at a respectable 7:05 am. I was up at 5:00 with the sun so I could sit and watch "the China" go past. Crikey - that looks like a hard, scrabbly sort of an existence out there. No matter the bright and flashy goodies we saw in both Beijing and Shanghai, the countryside has a loooong loooong way to go. And tons of people live there. It will be an interesting development to watch.
Anywhoo. Straight off the train, to the hotel to meet the Ma and Pa who had arrived the previous evening, quick showers and then we were off. First stop - Tiananmen Square. It was very interesting to be there with Mum - the last time she had been at the Square was in 1989, a day or two before.....absolutely nothing happened (according to local sources.) So much nothing was happening last time Mum was there that there were a million people hanging around shouting about...nothing. And tons of foreign news services were around; filming nothing and waiting for nothing to hit the fan. In big globs. Of nothing. She had some interesting tales.
This time however we had timed our visit to coincide with the last day of the May Day celebrations - which meant red flags adorning anything vaguely flagpole like. Someone even tried to stick one on Mums cane when she was briefly standing still. She hit them with it.
Big. Tiananmen Square. Big
Sort of eerie.

Then it was off to the Forbidden City
I really liked this joint. It joins on the back of Tiananmen Square and you stroll through an enormous gate, start walking through bonkers-huge old temples...and you don't stop. This place was NUTS. It was enormous! After strolling with the crowds (such as they were - there were very few people about, or maybe the size of the place swallowed up numbers)for a long time, we decided to turn right. And strolled for the next 2 hours around deserted ancient courtyards and temples. Very, very cool.

...see?...

...the problem with travelling in China is totally the crowds. I mean look at all the people here at one of the major tourist spots...jostly...rather jostly...

...apart from here...

...so all this walking around gets a guy to drinking a bunch of water, and eventually one has to go to the bathroom. Assured by the Beijing Tourism Administration that this was a 4-star bathroom, I entered free from fear or trepidation...

...confused by the 4-star stench emanating from a thousand 4-star drains blocked to overflowing by 4-star cigarette butts I was unsure as to whether these particular 4-star toilets were
a) of the Eastern "sqaut" variety; or
b) only for downhill skiers
A not-so-friendly Dane in skin-tight ski trousers confirmed it was the latter and after he offered to show me his "Super-G", I bid him good day and politely excused myself..
It was an odd experience.

What about this guy? I don't know if you can read it, but this is an ad for the
"Dong Da Hospital for Anus and Intestine Disease, Beijing."
I took this picture in a toilet not long after the "Danish Downhiller" incident. How STOKED is this dude? Look - I'm as happy as the next guy about having a happy, healthy anus and intestine but I would like to think I reserve my "Thumbs-Up-Maniacal-Laughter" face for something a shade better than a squeaky clean colon. Yeah! Bitchin'! Clean as a whistle! Hi-five!

...possibly not the best tie-in in the world but the food in China was grand. Not so much meat here in Japan - it is rather expensive and more to the pont, not great quality and so we tend to steer clear of it. So in sunny China, I had my fill. These we had on our first night in Beijing. The hotel chap steered us along some dodgy looking steets to this place. We ate, we drank. 'Twas grand. 'Twas also about US$12 for the 4 of us. These are the deep-fried-sheep-shanks.
Say it with me folks...deep-fried-sheep-shanks...Pshaw, I laugh at your puny shanks that previously belonged to a lamb. When these came out and were slapped on the table in front of me along with another 60cent 700ml bottle of beer, I absolutely 100% looked like the dude in the poster above; although with a much better head of hair.

...deeeeeeeeep fried...
...and the good thing is, I only ended up hurling for an hour or two at 3 in the morning from these - right as rain the next day. Fair price for deeeeeep-fried-sheep-shanks I reckon...

...this is the Olympic Stadium as glimpsed from a speeding taxi. We were lucky also to get in the same photo some of the famous "Blue Wall of China"...

...here's a better view. One taxi driver asked if we wanted to bypass the stadium on our way to our next destination. "Why the hell not?" we thought. So the dude pulls over on the side of a 6 lane highway, puts on his hazard lights and points behind us.
It's a pretty snazzy looking little number.
On our last night we were pointed in the direction of a restaurant, but the chap said the taxi may have to take a detour because there was a "little bit of construction going on." The restaurant was next door to the Olympic Stadium...he was right about the construction...

...this is the Temple of Heaven
It too was very cool. Although it may sound slightly blasphemous, you can get somewhat "templed-out" when travelling within Asia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of the architecture and many of the motifs used are, at least superficially, very similar and things have to be a little different to stand out. A completely round Imperial Sacrificial Altar from 1420? That'll do it. Helped along by the wasted dude and his 2 giggling mates in shabby old suits with a battered suitcase full of watches bearing the face of Chairman Mao saying "Wanna buy-a-watcsh? Do ya? Ya wanna buy wonna-my-watcshes? (hic) Its gotta picsha of the Big Guy on it... On the watcsh...See?" At least thats what I think he was saying. My Chinese is a little scratchy. But still. Top place. Well recommended...

...but this was the big guy. With tales of crowds and hawkers ringing in our ears we hunted down somewhere cool and decided on this fella at Simatai, about 120 kms out of Beijing. And have a wee look there....not another soul on the damn thing. Woopwoop! Bonkers.

........

........

...so there you have it. China. Bloody good fun all round. My thanks to all those that contributed to it being such a grand time. Ni-co-la, me Ma and Pa, several dozen poor, lamented pigs, one mighty pissed off triple amputee sheep and my 1.3 billion back-up dancers and stage hands.
Be well folks.
We are.
Lots of love and such.
B

...exciting times...very exciting times...

So yeah.

Nic has recently disembarked from the English teaching gravy train and and is clutching her sweaty ticket in her sweaty palm looking around the platform at the station marked "Designer-town."

That's right kids. Full-time, 100%, all-the-way, no-looking-back designing here in the sunny Hiroshima-towne. And I am unbelievably bonkers excited for her.

She is featured this week on Runway Reporter - an NZ fashion website.

So check it out: her NZ interweb debut right here...

Wooooohoooooo!

Not only does my wife rool, it turns out she is, in fact, the cats pyjamas, as well as being the bees knees (hows that for multi-tasking?)

In other news, we have just come into possession of a frankly enormous new computer. And it`s lightning quick and just plain nifty (mmmmm dual core...) Oh and the screen!! Good lord, the screen!!!

I had to drag myself away from it just moments after the poor courier chap had dragged it up the stairs to the front door. It was almost bigger than he was.

We were off to cherry blossom viewing.

There is a signal in Japan when you know that spring is here and that everything is going to be alright. It is heralded on the warming winds following the long, bitter winter and is accompanied by a million million trees in their pale, shy, full bloom.

It is the smell of BBQ.

More to the point it is the smell of charcoal BBQ.

Now I am a fan of the gas BBQ a-la the NZ style. Don't get me wrong. But there is something about the time and energy outlayed on a charcoal BBQ that appeals to me immensely.

The tink-tink-tink of the charcoal as it sets itself into a slow burn. The myriad reds and oranges that mark time as you wait, and drink beer, for that moment when the greyness sets in and the coals call incessantly, but almost silently, for succor, for reason, for enlightenment... for meat.

(mmeeeeeeaaaaat....mmmeeeeaaaattt)

We used to have the classic NZ tripod charcoal BBQ. You all know the one. The legs don't quite fit properly anymore and the half circle steel wind shield is almost rusted through. The grill is black with age, soot and fat from last summer, it isn't quite flat anymore and doesn't quite fit into the slots like it used to.

But you duly fill the BBQ with charcoal from the Mobil station where Morgan used to work, douse that puppy with meths (!), wait as the charcoal cracks and tinks while it soaks up the precious liquid, stand back, stand well back, and hurl a match in.

WOOF! Welcome to summer.

It was always a constant battle fitting enough meat-y goodness on the grill while also maintaining an eye on the dangerous tilt and wobble that threatened the collapse of the BBQ, third degree burns, a burnt down deck and worse - no meat for tea.

I distinctly remember the first day I was allowed to be solely in charge of that potential death-trap BBQ. Not helping out till you got bored, or turning your own chop but actually Go-to-Whoa in charge.

It was like a right of passage. I want a BBQ shaped mirror with paua inlays dammit.

Down by the trampoline, far enough away from the wooden stairs so as not to cause any trouble.

It was me, the BBQ, a bag of charcoal, some beehive matches, a pile of meat and a 1.5 litre bottle of meths.

Good times.

During the process my already taut nerves were stretched even further by two of Mum and Dads friends, whose opinions re: BBQ-ing I held in equally high regard. The first chap approached me, clutching his beer to his chest. He rocked back on his heels, looked to the sky and said:

"Y'know, the secret to a good BBQ is only turning the meat once, lets the juices settle...juuuuuuuuuusst once..."

...with that he ambled off towards the kitchen for more beer.

Some time later the second chap strolled on up. He looked into the flames and got that glazed over look in his eyes that signals a one-ness with the fire. Without blinking, or supping from his red, he intoned these words...

"Y'know, if you want to BBQ right, you've got to keep the meat turning all the time. Cooks the meat evenly, lets the juices move through the meat...turning...thats the key..."

...he then shook himself, as if waking from a dream, the focus came back to his eyes and he sauntered off to admire the vegetable garden.

Looking back on it, I am sure they were in cahoots and ended up high-fiving each other as I delicately attempted, on my first real BBQ as top-dog, to not only turn the meat just once, but to keep it turning all the time. Not easy. Try it. Go on.

Anyway. I could go on and on about the charcoal BBQ. About how in Chile it is an ARTFORM that I was privileged enough to witness on many an occasion and one which I aspire to recreate. About how I have enjoyed many on our tiny balcony on our tiny BBQ in Gifu, and here in the Snake park on our tiny BBQ with folk that we miss.

But for today I will just revel in the sweet charcoal smoke that says summer is just around the corner.

Yours,

Insanely proud of his good wife,

berin.

...things i like, by berin, aged 31...

1) ...the plummeting NZ dollar...

2) ...the soaring Japanese yen...

3) ...an (however brief) alleviation of the a-curs-ed carry trade...(grrr)

4) ...our new buffalo silent mouse - it's BONKERS.
Nic used to whittle innocuous household objects to a razor sharp keeness and deposit them in handily reachable redoubts around the loungeroom so as to hurl them at me while I was on the computer, working the 9 tabs and 6 windows open Interweb Madness with all the associated

**CLICK**...**CLICKETY-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK**...**CLICK**

She was never sated until there was blood. And crying.

**CLICK**

But NOW, thanks to the boffins at Buffalo Technologies, we have a mouse that whispers not even a hint of a sweet nothing while keeping up with my mad clicking skillz. Its sooper.

5) ...that very same Nic...
For today, ladies and gentlemen, marks our 10th anniversary together.
Bloody good show I reckon.
And its been bloody good fun.

Tooroo.

B.

2006/2007 nz tour - the piccies

so here we are folks. back in the Japan following a triumphant 2006/2007 summer season in sunny (hah!) New Zealand towne. things are right back all sorted like here and we are looking forward to a grand year.

my job wise, the sooper-dooper-craze-ed-bloody-hell-i-want-that-one job that i was after didn't quite materialise, but is still very much in my "want-y" range and i will be hopefully doing some freelance-y type research for them during the year and we will see what comes about in the future.

in the meantime, i have renewed my contract here at city hall and have a feeling that it will be a nifty year. we have a few things coming together that we have been planning for a while so it will be nice to see those come to fruition.

which means, my hearty fellow travellers, that the big red couch is open in sunny Hiroshima-towne for another 18 months at least so get your Japan on and come on over. we had a record number of itinerant travellers last year and we have this whole sitting-around-the-Japanese-pub-nattering-and-eating-offal DOWN PAT so come along and see for your good selves.

in sooper exciting news, nic is leaving her job in a month or so and embarking on a solo making-stuff-out-of-antique-japanese -fabric-and-selling-it extravaganza like adventure, something which i for one am AMPING about. i think it will be choice. rad even.

righto. here's some fotografias (as they say) for your enjoyment, of our NZ travels. enjoy.

be well one and all.

go the bloody black caps.

b.

(incidentally, i reckon i've got the comments bit sorted on here so go ahead and leave some if you would like...)

right then...photos...

aaaaaaaaaa deep-fried-jelly-filled-cinnamon-and-sugar-encrusted donuts...ladies and gentlemen...the new broccolli....

...aaaand enter stage left horse-y...

...this is Josh. he's my nephew. he's cool. he also has a question regarding the discontinuance of dental care in new zealand primary schools....anyone?....anyone?....

...officer! thats them! those ones there! 'specially that one in the middle there. oooh why i oughtta...

...darren has some questions regarding the discontinuance of mental health care in new zealand primary schools. polly has some questions about the short notice procurance of one way tickets "bloody anywhere"...

...damned horse-y bastard...

...there sure was some strollin'...


.......sigh.......

...apart from the whole "knife" thing, he's a thoroughly lovely chap...

.......aaaaaaaaaaaww..........

...he went that way...

...this is my other nephew zac (nephew 1.0), also cool. sporting a fantastic coiff' and busily doing his brothers bidding in the sand-channel department...

...onward christian soldiers....

...sorry about the blatent nudity...but the form! check out the form!...

...sorry about the blatent lack of nudity...but the form! check out the form!...

...pie porn...

...the gazelle that is tom...

-fini-