Southerly: Even More Southerly
56 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last
-
Paul who? And can someone tell me what that boxy glass fronted them in my living room is? It looks like an old styly CRT VDU but no matter how many time I restart it I can't see a mouse pointer...
Bob's maturing quickly - clearly showing sensitivity to his father's tastes...
-
You're more than welcome David :-)
Lovely to catch up with you both and to meet the Bad Baby Bob (who is actually adorable!). Glad you and the custard all made it down south safe and sound.As for the Pope - with all those extra sins to commit, I don't think he'd want to know me - all in all I think I'm batting about 70% these days!
-
I'm struggling with the maths... is Riverton so fearfully pricey that you had to sell that gorgeous house on the Avon in order to pay 3 months' rent?
Or did you secretly buy the entire town, just to facilitate Jen's research?
Or did you guys just get out of the waterfront house business before global warming put you out of the waterfront house business?
Curious in New Haven
-
We sold the gorgeous house on the Avon in order to buy another gorgeous house on the Avon - 600 metres up river, and big enough to accommodate all our books, David's many musical instruments, and Bob's small mountain of stuff.
Since our path home from Riverton to Christchurch will be rather indirect, it has some lucky renters in there for the next year.
-
Aha! That makes total sense. Now I'm picturing you guys floating aforementioned books, instruments and baby gear upriver on a small boat, to save on moving expenses, with Bob-the-baby sculling over the stern like a good little Swallow.
-
I figured it had to be something like that; otherwise the commute would have been something unbelievable. So you've got a sabbatical this year to do the research, Jen? or just the one term?
-
Riverton has a 1km surf break & a history the predates 1835 by quite a few hundred years.
It has a great place to eat where there are heaps of those award plates on the walls.
I'ld not fish or swim in the river because of the dairying.
Southlands Dairy Ind alone produces the same amount of effluent as 10Million People.At a guess your house is in Avonside or at least east of the square. That means it is less than 5 meters above sea level.
No rush but I'ld sell at some stage - CHCH has no Climate Change Plan. 1/2 the city is going to drown. -
Who needs Thai? Riverton is home to the best fish and chips, you are a lucky man.
After the town of Gore, we left the main highway and headed towards the ocean.
Technically you turned away from the ocean, climbed up hill and drove across the middle of the Southland plains.
-
merc,
Surfed it, it's more scary than Hawaii.
-
Linger:
For the whole year. After Riverton, we'll be tripping around, including stops in Wellington, Sydney, New York, Berlin, Newcastle upon Tyne and San Francisco. And all with a bad baby in tow. We probably need our heads read.
Shep:
We exchanged a house on the flat for a house on a bit of a hill, which is something, at least. Since David has declared we are never moving again, we'll just have to cross our fingers that the hill is big enough.
The famous Beachhouse Cafe is just along the road from our Riverton crib. This is where David procures his beer and chocolate cake while I look on wistfully wishing that the baby wasn't allergic to milk. Although, on reflection, it seems a bit redundant me avoiding alcohol, as the baby gets to sample beer directly out of his father's bottle.
-
Danielle, my parents tell the same stories of swimming weather in southland in the 40's. Hotter summers and colder winters goes the story.
By my own recollections of the 80's, it's just so damn cold in the winter that a 20 degree sunny day in the mid summer feels like you're cooking, and makes the 10 degree waters feel rather refreshing.
Mild hypothermia being quite a normal response to a summer swim. Blue lips, uncontrollable shivering, and an unshakable grin. Ah, Southland.
-
I suspect that Bob is not as selfless as your well-trained lasses -- he likes to help himself to sips of my beer (which, now that I think of it, is probably illegal for an eight-month-old in a pub).
You do realise that if he gets drunk and obnoxious it is no longer legal to spank him?!?!
-
John,
When I went to Timaru Boys High we were taught Pythagoras theorem by a teacher called C.A.S. Hind. Of course his nickname was cash, but more to the point I have a problem in getting to grips with the fact that a highly trained engineer associates Greeks and Triangles ( that bit is not too bad ) with Citroens which after all, are and always have been, French. To the best of my knowledge the triangles they get involved in are not geometric.
Have a great stay in Riverton, it will be a bit chilly over the winter of course but I am envious that you are so close to the Bluff and their To Die for Oysters. Have a dozen or two for me. -
Surfed it, it's more scary than Hawaii.
__What__even more so than Jaws?
-
Oh by the way, if anyone is interested here are some waves. WAVES
-
I suspect that Bob is not as selfless as your well-trained lasses -- he likes to help himself to sips of my beer (which, now that I think of it, is probably illegal for an eight-month-old in a pub).
actually totally legal as long as you stay at the pub with him. My friend wears his 'Bob the boozer" t shirt to our pub. Can he drink it ? Yes he can. I think they make smaller ones if you're interested. ;-)
-
merc,
Sofie, yup, Jaws is a tow-in wave ( and totally terrifying)...paddling in has it's own set of challenges. Down below 45 degrees latitude it's a whole new frontier. Slack water between shore and the reef with GW's hungry from their trip over from Tasmania, 3 tonne rottweilers in the form of Sea Lions, it is cold, you cannot feel your feet, there is no-one around and the surges of fear pulse stronger as you try to suppress all thought and concentrate on your thumping ice cream head ache...mostly it's the alone time that gets to you and waves that have tramped unhindered from the Southern Ocean in long period swells with the one's that pass us by going all the way to Hawaii.
Only outer island, outer reef Fiji compares, except there at least it's warm and you have the company of a boatman.
http://www.oneillsa.com/Events/Raw-Courage-Awards/Rules-&-Guidelines.asp -
I do have a sense (albeit a vague one) that the weather in southland is better than that in coastal Otago. Perhaps it's more sheltered from the easterly? But geez, talk of that coastal fog brings back some unpleasant memories of Dunners. :-(
-
merc,
Apparently due to a warmer current that flows through Foveau and other macro-climatic conditions on land, parts of Southland are warmer than the greater area norm.
-
I was just reading about Jen's research. I had a very broad Southland R which I worked VERY hard at losing when I moved north. My family makes fun of me now because I don't have a trace of it. Oddly it turns up in my 5 year old on certain words - and her father is a Nth Islander. Its not just the R though poeple speak MUCH slower down there
-
Sorry, I have been away from the internets -- apologies for not replying to some of these questions earlier...
Charles Mabbett wrote:
Will you have broadband?
We have Woosh, which is like a cross between normal broadband and O'Reilly, the Irish builder from Fawlty Towers. The word 'Whoosh' conjures up images of dizzying speed; the product 'Woosh' does not.
Is the water warm enough for swimming?
It's been a *very* hot day down here (27 deg C) and I took Bob down for a paddle in the sea. He screamed with cold when his feet touched the water.
John Shears wrote:
I have a problem in getting to grips with the fact that a highly trained engineer associates Greeks and Triangles (that bit is not too bad) with Citroens which after all, are and always have been, French. To the best of my knowledge the triangles they get involved in are not geometric.
Perhaps I mean trapeziums rather than triangles. Actually, it would be hard to defend my ownership of the Citroën -- even if it were Swedish, and shaped like a dancing girl. In theory, we bought it for the excellent fuel consumption (diesel 6.5 litres/100 km). In practise, any fuel savings are instantly gobbled up by the price of new bits for the suspension. Plus it goes ludicrously fast on New Zealand roads, and corners really well, which occasionally causes me not to notice that I've exceeded the speed limit by lots. The maintenance costs have occasionally tempted me to print up a bumper sticker "Citroën: Why I Hate the French".
merc and Sofie Bribiesca wrote:
... [surfing stuff]...
I know a bit about wave mechanics -- but, alas, hardly anything about surfing. I haven't seen particularly tall waves (perhaps 2.5 metres wave height), but the surfers ride them for ridiculously long distances here. They begin to surf just down the road from our house, and end up as tiny dots in the distance. I'd estimate that they travel in the order of a kilometre. You see them paddling back for ages.
Pauline Dawson wrote:
I had a very broad Southland R which I worked VERY hard at losing when I moved north.
I'm interested to know why you felt that you had to lose it. I've always thought it was rather pleasant and charming accent, but I've known several Southlanders who've just about checked in for elocution lessons to eliminate it. Why is that, I wonder?
Sofie Bribiesca wrote:
My friend wears his 'Bob the boozer" t-shirt to our pub. Can he drink it? Yes he can. I think they make smaller ones if you're interested.
Oh, I'd be very interested...
**Below:** an amusing skit from Reeves & Mortimer about boozing babies...
-
I'm interested to know why you felt that you had to lose it
when I first moved to Wellington in the late '80s my accent was the target of a lot of derision. I was tryign to get away from Southland wanted to elave the accent behind. Now I wish i hadn't. If I am home for more than a few dayds I tend to revert back
-
merc,
I'd estimate that they travel in the order of a kilometre. You see them paddling back for ages.
Excellent observation, I must warn you though, people have been __disappeared__for revealing that length of ride...personally I'm so jealous (Muriwai is a short wave at best and a hard paddle out most days). There is a break down there called Bluecliffs (a right hand point break) that I nearly surfed (it was flat!), and that isn't good enough, perhaps i may have to revisit.
There's a saying...Easy out (the paddle out the back), hard in (to shore). Easy in, hard out.
-
First time poster - love the show
DH - here's an interesting article in a recent Economist - free standing turbines:
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10789262
And when do we get to see Part 7, pray tell?
-
Ditto- we want to see Oil! Disected! Before it's all gone...
Post your response…
This topic is closed.