Storms and swums!

Guess what!?

I've been fushing!

Guess what again?! I caught NOTHING! But - had a lovely day.

Went to a calmer beach than Piha for our virgin fushing trip in order to practise the knack of casting. Gave myself a new, longer life line on my palm courtesy of not letting the line go quickly enough - ouch!

We used baby octopus as bait - pretty gross really - felt like we were threading baby aliens onto the hook.

Spent the first hour or so untangling the line, pulling the line out of rocks , rehooking the line, adding further bait, getting excited when the line went taught - only to realise that it was stuck in weeds or something and then having to walk up and down the beach looking like morons trying to dislodge the line etc etc etc.

Here are some piccies of more calmer moments:



These are the rocks that I nearly got stranded on due to fast incoming tide and me not realising! Don't worry - would have just got very soggy feet.



Isn't it lovely? Very peaceful and not bad for mid-winter.

Spent many pleasant minutes watching birds diving into the hidden depths catching the fush that should have been ours - never mind - it was cool to watch.

We also saw a lovely friend there with a very nice male companion who kindly gave son lessons in casting whilst we gossiped. Son passed newly learned knowledge onto me apres girly chat.

Guess what - my face was sun burned (or maybe even wind burned) when we reluctantly returned home at sunset that evening.

The world cup is still going strong - saw a car racing by the other day at the traffic lights with England flags attached! Felt really out of place to see that here - but cool too! Engerland, Engerland, Engerland.... However, am still rooting for Mexico due to $24 prize.

Talking of cars - there's rather a fun advert on at the mo where they raucously sing about filling yer crack in - yes, you guessed it - they are of course windscreen menders.

Due to being a pommie wimp, I pulled out of going to Field days (largest agricultural show in the southern hemisphere) this weekend due to cold weather along with copious amounts of rain. What a shame - I missed the live sex show! Just kidding. Although there was one - it was a special machine made to look like a cow and therefore to attract bulls in order to collect their sperm! It apparently works - not sure whether I would have liked to see that or not.....

Swiftly changing the subject - last Monday the whole country awoke to severe winter storms - very heavy snow down south. A power line was brought down leading to much of Auckland without power - note I said a (as in singular) power line! The city was left in chaos - traffic in a mess and LOADS of people stuck in lifts requiring rescue.

I was one of the few people with power where I work - son's school was without power for much of the day. Was not looking forward to driving home, but luckily all was restored by that time and with the added bonus of there not being much traffic due to many people having been sent home, the journey was much quicker than usual.

The working week ended with a spectacular thunder and lightning bonanza. I was mooching around in Whitcoulls on my way home from work when there came an almighty crash and all lights went out in the shopping centre! One minute looking for books about cats (current school project - don't ask), the next in complete darkness wondering what the hell is going on!

Luckily the lights returned quite quickly.

Upon returning home, son reported that he too had heard the thunder, but felt it too - apparently the house actually shook - must've been very close!

This weekend just gone has been a mixture of the usual cleaning and catching up with tiredness on Saturday along with a bit of fun on Sunday.

We went to watch the local crazies help raise money for the local coastguard by taking a dip in the mid-winter sea. Upon watching, however, it didn't seem too bad as the people were in and out of the water pretty quickly and I have now (stupidly) made a bet of $10 with son that I will take part next year!

Here are some photos of said mad people:



Can you see the bride and groom complete with bridesmaid?



Superman is right at the front if you look carefully enough!

There was also a serious 1km race - now that would be cold - brrr. Here they are:



Here's the good old coastguard waiting just in case:



Well - everyone had a fun time and there was HEAPS and OODLES of hot drinks for chilled participants when they emerged from the depths of Howick beach.

Tata for now - got to go to work - it's early morning here right now - woke up way too early and couldn't get back to sleep - will be in zombie land by late this afternoon!

x Sue