The mountains were gorgeous this morning. 

 More kiwi slang and commonly heard phrases:

Arvo = afternoon

Good on ya!

hard case = funny, witty, or colorful character

“Ka pai” is Maori for “well done”

“Do the mahi, get the treats” means if you put in the hard work, you’ll reap the rewards

 The kids and I went for a bike ride through the botanical gardens before dinner. It was really beautiful. 

 Bekah got her first goal at hockey tonight! Her coach promised the team chocolate bars at their training on Tuesday if a girl scored a goal - well, they ended up with 3 goals from girls on the team tonight!

He aha te mea nui o te ao -

What is the most important thing in the world?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata -

It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

Chris and I went to a blown glass garden just outside of town. We were a bit bummed that we weren’t able to see the artists at work since they are away until July, but the garden was lovely.

 

I made mini cheesecakes for Chris and I’s 18th wedding anniversary. I had to buy “digestive biscuits” to make the crust since they don’t have graham crackers here. Turns out, they are very similar and the cheesecakes turned out great!

Our car here is a Japanese import. This is incredibly common in the used car market here. When you start the car, a woman’s voice says something in Japanese. I like to imagine it says, “have a safe drive” or “you look beautiful today.”

The trouble is that since I don’t speak or read Japanese, I also have no idea what it is saying when any error message pops up… today it beeped and flashed a red box with something written. Then it went away. There’s nothing lit up on the dash so I have no idea what the notification was for. 

 

Murals in town.