Lamington

Eager to try more and more traditional kiwi favourites, I picked up some Lamingtons at the supermarket.  It is described on the package as "a New Zealand specialty consisting of a square of sponge cake coated in chocolate or raspberry flavour and coconut.  Frequently served with afternoon tea, it is supposedly named for Lord Lamington [governor of Queensland, Australia from 1896-1901]".  We dug into the sponge cake last night, and it was rich and light, and yummy!

Waitangi Day

Today is a national holiday in New Zealand, called Waitangi Day, which celebrates the signing of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, in 1840.  As a public holiday, it basically means a day off for everyone and barbecues and friends (sounds like our 4th of July!).  I've also read that there's many public concerts, and they even tie it in with Bob Marley's birthday (also February 6th, today would have been his 64th birthday).  How have I celebrated?  Checking out the Waitangi Day sales at the mall and enjoying the sunshine!

Monkey Business

Another new ice cream flavor:  banana and chocolate swirled ice cream with chocolate chips.  Yum!

allsorts

A recent kiwi candy we've tried is licorice allsorts.  The package claims that it is "the licorice treat for all sorts of licorice lovers".  I've been on a bit of licorice kick lately, and have heard that these are an NZ favorite.  Layered coconut and licorice candy squares, hundred and thousand covered licorice bites, and licorice twists all in one package!

the gargoyle

Probably one of the most interesting acts at the World Buskers Festival was the gargoyle.  A man clad in gargoyle-gear, perched on a ledge, interacting with the crowd without making a sound, accompanied by scary, Gothic music entertained the crowd in between other shows.  He was the type of act that would thrive off of making fun of people in his audience and passersby, and if you planned on taking a picture, you had better plan on depositing money into his mini gargoyle on the ground.  Looking at him was creepy, but also one of those things I couldn't look away from.  Bret was able to snap these photos, and donated some change, to which the gargoyle responded with a thumbs up!

              

Hedgehogs!

Last night, I set a small grocery sack of garbage on our back porch stoop, to take to the trash can.  It wasn't until later that night, that I realized I had forgotten to move it.  Cats have gotten into trash before, so of course I was regretting that; there's nothing worse than picking up shredded garbage!  I was unable to sleep last night, and was drifting in and out of sleep on the couch when I heard the rustle of plastic outside my back door.  Startled, I jumped off the couch and quickly flipped on the outdoor light, expecting to see a flash of furry cat scurry off.  However the noise persisted.  The back door is made of a patterned frosted glass, so I couldn't catch a glimpse of the noisemaker until I climbed on the floor to peer through the dirty cat door.  I could barely make out the shape inside the bag, but was certain at this point it wasn't a cat...too small.

I heard the critter munching, I suppose, on banana peels, and went through a mental list of possible animals that it could be.  Waiting impatiently and half asleep, it finally wriggled its way out of the sack and waddled across the step.  It was a hedgehog!  A cute, furry, wobbly-walking hedgehog!  I couldn't believe my discovery and proceeded to tell Bret all about it in the middle of the night.  Since the find, I've been desperately googling hedgehogs and learning all about them.  Supposedly they are great garden-keepers, and I've been using trail mix as bait to bring them back.  For whatever reason, I am convinced that I'll be able to snap a picture, but seeing as they're mostly nocturnal, I'm doubting those chances.  Why I didn't take one last night is beyond me, in my sleepy stupor, I probably was trying to figure out if I was dreaming or not.  But, I promise, should I get a photo, I will post it immediately!

let's go fly a kite!

A while ago I saw an advertisement for Kite Day.  And by chance, while browsing through a mailer we had just received, Bret saw that it was today.  Yay!  We headed to New Brighton beach on this windy day and saw kites everywhere!