Friday 29 June 2012

Foux da Fa Fa

Haere mai my fellow blog followers! Lots has been happening here for us in the Kiwi capital over the past few weeks. The winter solstice came and went and slowly our days are becoming longer. We are in the crux of winter and still seeing more clear and sunny skies than not. The temperature has dipped a fair bit recently, but it has yet to go below 8°C and most likely won't. Definitely a nice change to the cruel Canadian winters we are used to.

Last Thursday, Kevin and I went to the Michael Fowler Centre for some homegrown music and laughs. Flight of the Conchords were in town doing their first Kiwi tour in eight years. Many of you may not know that both Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement started FOTC right here in Wellington and it was nice to see them play to their hometown. In fact, Bret's brother was the bartender at the venue! The duo charmed the crowd with their quick-witted banter, hilarious jokes, dazzling costumes, and a wide range of old and new material. Below are some not-very-good photos from the show. I apologize for the serious lack of quality...












On a completely unrelated note, I have some very exciting news: I have officially been accepted to do my Yoga Teacher Training at the beginning of next year! My yoga studio, Hot Yoga NZ, is offering a 5-month, 200-hour, Yoga Alliance-certified teacher training from January to June 2013 and I couldn't be more thrilled to take part. Once I complete the training, I hope to be able to both teach yoga at the studio, as well as incorporate yoga into addiction treatment with my clients. It looks like I will be having a busy year ahead of me with lots of reading, learning, self-discovery, practice, and fun. I can't wait!!

Friday 22 June 2012

Peanut Buddy Samwich

As many of you may already know, the world lost the snuggliest little piece of Peanut-brittle a few days ago. After suffering an injured disc in her back that left her paralyzed, my loving aunt and uncle made the difficult decision to put her to rest.
Peanut was first introduced to the Rozitis family as a surprise by way of gently telling my mum that none of her kids were quite ready to have grandchildren. Instead, she got Peanut. The teeniest little pup with the softest ears who projectile vomited in the car when she was picked up. My mum let Peanut get away with all the things that Rozi was never allowed to do, probably because of those big brown eyes.
Although she lived only a short four and a half years, little Peanut licked your tears when you were sad, played groundhog when you weren't paying attention to her, and left little puddles of love when you came home from work. She was a dog who loved to be loved more than anything in the world and her favourite pastime was cuddling.









Goodbye Princess Penelope! We are all going to miss your adorable presence. Now you can go snuggle with Mum and Rozi. xoxo.

Saturday 9 June 2012

Wine-Ohs

Last weekend, we celebrated Queen Elizabeth's birthday in style. Being that it was to be the last stat long weekend for nearly five months (Labour Day comes next, on October 22), we decided to make the most of it and head out of town. We were invited on a getaway trip to Martinborough by Kevin's coworker Jason and his lovely wife Kellie, an American couple who took essentially the same journey as we did from North America to NZ (no jobs; no contacts; he's an engineer, she's a social worker; ended up in Wellington). Martinborough is a small town in the South Wairarapa, approximately an hour's drive from the city. It is notoriously known as the southern North Island's wine country, with over 25 boutique vineyards, most within walking distance from one another.

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday afternoons making our way through the selection of vineyards, including Schubert Wines, Te Kairanga, Murdoch James, Martinborough Vineyard, Coney Wines, The Cabbage Tree, and others I'm sure. I started to lose count after the first four each day. Hey, it happens! We had planned on renting bicycles to tour around the town on Sunday, but the combination of big wind gusts and big hangovers put that plan to rest fairly quickly. Next time, I suggest bicycles on day one.









The four of us rented a quaint little cottage for the weekend, right off of the town square. It had a large lush backyard (excellent for bocce tournaments), a huge grafted lemon-lime tree, and a feijoa bush. We stocked up on fruit before we left and I have been making citrus dishes all week! It also boasted a beautiful log fireplace, which served us well when indulging on all the wine we purchased throughout the days. And while we all purchased a decent number of bottles, only two made it home for each couple. I wonder where the rest went...





After a long day's vineyard-hopping both Saturday and Sunday, we started the evenings with delicious home-cooked dinners. Clearly, we dipped into the wine prior to cooking...



That's better...


Before heading back on the winetrails on Sunday afternoon, we made an obligatory stop at the gelato/sorbet shoppe for a treat. Happiest boy in town!


Another New Zealand gem is olive oil (who knew!). Many of the vineyards also played host to olive orchards, which is exported all over the world. At the end of our trip, we stumbled upon a small family business called Leafyridge Olives and met owner Craig Leaf-Wright. He seemed quite surprised to see visitors on his acreage, as he was getting ready for harvest and does not have a salesroom. Craig was kind enough to take us through the life of the olive, from tree to press to bottle. He also sold us his incredible olive oil straight from the vat. It doesn't get any fresher than that!



And it wouldn't be an official Heeps of Sheeps blogpost without the obligatory sheeps. These furry little critters are what are known as wine-sheeps. They graze the grass and eat the fallen grapes. The last guy still has his tail!




Until next time... mā te wā!