Buying a New Car - it's electric!

Kane has been researching electric vehicles for a very long time now. As a result, I have become quite familiar with various video bloggers (and their cats, - Hi Jensen!) who have been building their own EVs or testing out ones already coming to market.

I was very interested when Kane told me about the Hyundai Kona with its impressive 400km+ range. I got to test drive one at an EV expo and I was sold. At the weekend we went to visit the show room and we put in our order. I couldn't be more excited!

In some countries, like Norway, the waiting list is 2 years!  I was assured it wouldn't be that long, but it could be anywhere between 6 weeks and 6 months.  The dealer gave us a loan of the car overnight, so between 4.30pm on Saturday and 10am on Sunday we got feel like EV owners and get a taste for what's to come.

We headed for the motorway to test out just what this thing can do.  I put some pressure on the pedal and was immediately pressed back into my seat as it took off. Holy cow it's powerful! 

I tested the 3 different drive modes - drive, sport and eco.  Drive was just the normal mode. Eco makes the car feel heavier, changes the dash display to give more stats on how much energy you are saving and maximizes the regenerative braking.  I think that I will use this for city and suburban driving.  Sport mode made the car feel much lighter and reponsive, the slightest touch and the car was ready to go, turn or whatever was asked of it and I was a bit scared of it's power.  I can't imagine ever really needing to use this mode as the normal drive mode was is responsive enough for me.  Jetting away from the traffic lights was plenty fast in normal drive mode!

I also tested out the 3 levels of regenerative braking and using the stearing wheel paddles to increase the regenerative braking to bring the car to a stop.  I try to be a safe and economical driver when slowing down in traffic or coming to a stop and using the paddles fit with my way of driving and I can put energy back into the battery braking in this way.

There were heaps of other modern features that my 8 year old car doesn't have so I'm excited to have Apple Car Play and automatic lights and rain sensing windscreen wipers!

The only downside is that I have to wait but I'm super hopeful that I'll have it before my sister and her husband comes to visit so that there will be enough space to pick them AND their luggage up from the airport!

My Favourite Apps

//Nokia 1610 from Wikipedia

I remember getting my first mobile phone in 1997 and it was a giant Nokia brick-of-a-thing.  Calls were expensive so it was a strictly an "emergencies only" phone.

Times may have changed but using my phone for calls is still the least used function!  Here are my top 5 apps.

1. Google Maps

//Google Maps Icon

I would be lost without this app - quite literally probably haha!  Not only do I use it in the car for navigation, I use it to find out how far away things are, to plan running or walking routes, to find out how long it will take to get from A to B and compare against walking, cycling and public transport, and to see where the nearest shop/park/scenic path is in the area I'm in.  The street view is really useful for checking what a house or building looks like so that I'll recognise it when I get there and also to look around for parking or somewhere to chain up a bike.

Recently when I was out walking in an area I hadn't been in before I needed to find the nearest public toilet.  Then, because I'd had to deviate from my intended route, I needed to find a way to get back by a certain time.

Only earlier this year when I was in China where Google is blocked, did I realise how much I rely on this app! (thank goodness for VPNs)

2. Spotify

//Spotify Icon

I love Spotify and I usually have one of the genre playlists streaming when I'm in my home office but more often I'm listening on the move - either via headphones getting some exercise, or blasting out my car speakers on my way to ballet.

3. Headspace

//Headspace Icon

I confess I don't use Headspace as much as I should.  I got into a groove of meditating every day but a change of schedule lost me the time I had carved out and instead of adapting I just stopped.  However, I've recently realised that it is better that I do a short session than no session at all and I easily have time for that.

I love the look and feel of the app.  The animations that explain things are cute and fun and really help.  There are groups of meditations on particular subjects, they call them Packs, and they range from 10 to 30 days.  There are also individual subjects as well as the daily ones, and you can pick how long you want to meditate for - from 3 -20 minutes.

After I finished all the Basics packs I moved on to the Everyday Headspace, which is the daily sessions (not a pack) I've also done some of the individual sessions like the Fear of Flying one and the Walking in Nature.

4. Camera

//Camera Icon

The last digital camera I bought was in 2005.  I'm actually fairly terrible at remembering to take photos when I'm with other people and thats why my photos are of cats, nature and food.  One of the things I love most about blogging is that it reminds me to take more photos, I really appreciate being able to look back over them and I love the fact that I always have a digital camera available to me on my phone.

A worthy mention is Framatic Pro because I use this to organise my pictures into a frame for putting on my blog.

5. Nike Run Club and Training

//NTC and NRC Icons

Ok, I'm cheating by grouping these two apps together!

Back in the day I had the Nike+ shoe sensor and iPod app and it was awesome to be able to track my runs and I'd post them to my blog and facebook.  I've stuck with Nike ever since and its my preferred running app.  When they released NTC I was quick to get on board since it's like having a personal trainer in your pocket.  They've revamped the app since then, it's not just geared towards women and all the workouts are available rather than some only being available as rewards.  I particularly like the yoga workouts.  They integrate with each other if you choose to do one of their training plans although I've never properly used this feature.

A New Ballet Class (and How I'm Better at Starts than Follow Through)

I love beginnings, from opening a fresh jar of coffee to starting a new knitting project.  There is something very special about beginnings. They are full of potential.

Spring is really starting to ramp up and with labour weekend coming up its the traditional time of year to get out in the garden and get things started.

Last week I signed up for a new ballet initiation course at the Auckland Academy of Adult Ballet (AAAB).  I did a few beginners ballet classes on my lunch break back in 2014 (blogged here) at a different dance studio but the experience at this new studio is very different and I prefer it.

//From AAAB website

Before the first class we were sent an email with guidelines for what to wear (1. comfortable workout clothes like leggings and a t-shirt 2. socks or ballet slippers) and we were advised to wear hair in a bun.  This is to allow the teacher to keep check on our posture and positioning and help correct errors.

On the night we were met at the entrance by our teacher and as the others arrived we got to meet our fellow class participants.  The only thing we had in common was that we were all female as there was a variety of heights, shapes & sizes, ages, ethnicities, abilities, etc. 

We got given an induction pack that included a headband and a car sticker - nice touches I thought - and the head/owner introduced herself and talked over the contents of the pack including how to access all the instructional videos at home! I've since used these videos and it great for at home practise and remembering arm positions and what tendu means!

The first class was very basic, but I very quickly remembered from 2014 just how deceptively difficult it is.  Only in ballet can standing up straight be such a workout and then moving the arms overhead be such a core workout!

//From AAAB Instagram (not my class)

And we were given homework!  We have 2 different exercises that we have to do every day and I get the feeling that this will grow in time.

I left feeling great and slightly taller :D

//A terrible picture of me

It was the next day that I had found my 5 year plan that I had written in 2014 and I was so saddened to see that I had not made any progress on any of my health and fitness goals - although, I did make lots of progress but then I stopped and now I'm right back where I started.  The worst part of ballet class was seeing myself in the wall length mirror and I was actually surprised at how large I am - my internal vision of myself just doesn't match up with what I see.

My goals are still valid and achievable, but while I'm really good at starting, I'm less good about seeing it through.  I've looked through this blog at all the things I've started and I am embarrassed that I am no further forward.  I even considered starting a new blog because there's only so many couch-to-5k blog posts that could be seen as acceptable on one blog, but that would just further enforce the pattern.

So its time to start again - start everything again - and this time the focus is on sticking with it and seeing it through so that maybe next year, when my 5 year plan is up I will actually have achieved, or at least be pretty close to achieving, my goals.

Weekend Recap

It is Monday morning and it is dull, grey and raining.  It's a far stretch from the wonderful weekend I've just enjoyed with my husband.

Friday

On Friday evening we had planned to go to the rugby but instead decided to take back a library book and then go to Revive for dinner since I had coupons.  Unfortunately it wasn't open so we had to come up with a plan B and decided to get some Sushi from the Sushi Factory.  (The next day some coupons came up for the Sushi Factory so even though we've just been I couldn't pass it up!).

Saturday

The weather was absolutely glorious all day on Saturday.  I wanted to head to the farmers market because I hadn't been in a while and I was hoping that the vineyard would be doing their mulled wine.  It turned out to be too early in the year still for mulled wine and the temperature was really too warm to be drinking mulled wine anyway.  We got some coffee and croissants for breakfast and wandered around the market.  We got a good haul of fresh groceries for the week.  I'm not quite sure how it happened but I managed to spill coffee all the way down my front!

The farmers market I go to is the Oratia Farmers Market and its right next to Artisan wines so even though it wasn't a mulled wine day I still decided to purchase a couple of bottles of wine :)

Once we were home we finished doing some housework, had dolmades for lunch and then spent the afternoon in a corn maze which was great fun and something we plan to do next year too.  We got home about dinner time and I made some tricolore fettucine with the duxelle I got at the farmers market and I sliced up some portobello mushrooms and some of the beans I got at the market and sauteed them in olive oil and garlic pepper and served them on top of the pasta.  It went very well with a glass of red wine.  After dinner we watched the movie Snowpiercer which turned out to be a bit of a disappointing film.

Sunday

For breakfast I toasted some of the sourdough bread I got at the market and spread with avocado and chopped tomatoes and basil.  We had already planned that we would either go for a walk in the Waitakeres or get some hardware things we need for the garden depending on the weather.  The weather was fairly overcast but not raining even though it looked like it might.  We waited until after lunch to see what the weather was going to do and decided that we would do the easy Auckland City Walk.  We did this at very leisurely pace stopping to look at the kauri trees and read the flora information signs and it took us about 40 minutes.  After this we went to the Arataki Visitor Centre took some photos of the vistas and grabbed some maps and info leaflets about more walks in the area.

It was coming on dinner time when we got home so we made dinner of Quorn turkey style steaks, roast carrots, brussel sprouts and beet root and watched a couple of TV shows we had recorded.  Then I had a nice bath while catching up on Once Upon A Time using the TVNZ on demand app on my iPad.

I was so relaxed I think I only managed about 2 paragraphs of my book before I fell asleep.  It was a pretty great weekend.

Weekend Recap

My parents who have been staying with us for 3 weeks left on Thursday evening so the rest of Thursday was spent veg'd out on the sofa binge watching TV shows.

Friday I did the last run for week 2 of the couch to 5k program and then did some foam rolling and wrote up my blog post about that.  The rest of the day was spent doing a little laundry and cleaning and generally just chilling out.

On Saturday I made us blueberry pancakes which we had with maple syrup and they were so tasty if I do say so myself!  Then we headed out to do some grocery shopping from the UK and North American stores.  We go to these two stores about 4 times a year.  Lanes Foodmarket, formerly The English Corner Shop, imports and sells lots of UK products and a few specialty Scottish products like macaroon bars, Irn Bru and Tunnocks caramel wafers.  We go there to stock up on Quorn and Linda McCartney products - during spring and summer its mostly BBQ foods, but during autumn and winter we make sausage casseroles, cottage pie, quorn curries and such like.  Martha's Backyard sell North American products like Kraft dinner, Sriracha, Vlasic dill pickle.  I picked up some of the red velvet oreos - OMG so yum!

Saturday evening took us to see RNZBs ballet, Don Quixote.  We had actually seen Don Quixote by the Russian Ballet exactly 1 year ago, but the RNZB always does such a fantastic job and the set and costumes were a feast for the eyes.

On Sunday we went to the Great Pumpkin Carnival and had a lovely day looking at the pumpkins and wandering around Hamilton Gardens.  We had lunch at the gardens cafe and I had to have the pumpkin roulade!


We wound up our weekend by watching the first episode of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Scottish Night at Lions Club

Exciting, fun, stressful, nerve-racking, eventful, entertaining - oh so many descriptors!

During this year at our Lions club we have had a St Patrick's themed dinner and a St George's themed dinner and since my husband and I are both Scottish the club decided to have a St Andrew's themed dinner as well.  St Andrews Day is on 30th November, so the November dinner meeting was scheduled for haggis :)

We've had a bit of stress, uncertainty and upheaval lately with my husband being informed of impending redundancy and he has been working very hard at securing a new job.  Initially the Scottish night sounded like it would be so much fun and I had some ideas and plans for the night but alas the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley.  Thinking about the public speaking portion just made me feel even more stressed and anxious, but I think it all worked out pretty well.

In the end I didn't have much time to prepare and ended up just doing everything off the cuff and I think that worked out better.  I gave the loyal toast, from a text I found online:

Long may her Majesty be spared
to grace her high position
to rule us all, both great and small
with wisdom and discretion

and then I recited the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit. 

After that I told a story about the wild haggis that roam the Scottish hills (!!)  before sending the haggis party to go catch a haggis!  

Off they trotted to the kitchen and then the piper got his bagpipes going and the haggis was paraded around the room before being placed on a table with a tartan table cloth.  Then my poor hubby, who like me was a bag of nerves, and having never recited any Robert Burns poetry before, proceeded to give the Address to a Haggis.  The piper, hubby, knife carrier and drinks carrier all then downed their shots of Glenfiddich.

After that everyone settled down to enjoy their meal and enter into conversations with each other.  Some people were trying haggis for the first time, others were enjoying a rare treat, and a few (us vegetarians included) were staying away from it!  We did get some tasty clapshot as well as other non-Scottish specific food.

Once the meal was finished our District Governor gave her speech and then the piper played a few tunes and we even had some impromptu highland-esque dancing!  Then we all sang for Auld Lang Sine and us club members got to tidying up and our guest headed home after having what I hope was as much of an enjoyable, fun and entertaining evening as I had.

Winter

We are now 4 weeks past the shortest day and well into mid-winter here in Auckland.

We've had some wet and wild weather and we are due for some more wet weather, but the past few days have been beautiful.

I adore cold, clear, calm winter days and have loved these past few days and been inspired by them to book a mini break to the Powderhorn Chateau in Ohakune with the hope of getting day or two snowboarding on the Turoa slopes.

Apparently at the Powderhorn Chateau you can choose to stay in the same suite your favourite Lord of the Rings actor stayed in!

My hope is that I get a room that looks like the one on the website - doesn't this look lovely! Its designed to look like an Alpine ski lodge.

As for snowboarding, I really hope it's like this when we go.

Paintball in the Woods

I was recently lucky enough to have the opportunity to go paintballing for a friends birthday. 

Google maps got a bit confused when we were trying to make our way out there and I had to resort to stopping and asking for directions, but it turned out to be pretty easy to find even though it was in the middle of nowhere.

Once we arrived we had a short briefing on how the day is run and had an opportunity to order a pizza for lunch in advance, upgrade our paintball guns and purchase other additional items.  After this we signed some legal waiver, got some numbers written on our hands and then got giving our overalls, padding and helmet in a very army movie kind of way - it was pretty cool.

Once we were kitted out we got coloured tape wrapped around our upper arm to signify our team.  We stuck some of our stuff in our locker and then we got our safty briefing.  At this time the all the birthday folks had to get up on the platform and our birthday boy, the poor fella, got made to wear a big target!  To add insult to injury he was put on a different team too so we could find him and shoot him - we're a rough bunch eh? :D

The first 2 games we played was a capture the flag game and it was set in a large sloping area with a small pyramid in it that housed the flags.  I had helmet fog issues in the first game and then in the second game I got shot on the elbow, shoulder and left buttock.  I had some spectacular bruises!

The next 2 games we played were set in an area with a small fenced off compound that had 2 cabins and lookout tower in it - the aim of the game was to capture and hold one or both cabins.  My dear husband who had got shot and passed me on his way to respawn told me the coast was clear so I ran full speed into a stomach shot at less than 3 meters - the good news is that the padded vest took the brunt of it so it didn't really hurt.

We could have spent the whole day there, but the cost of ammo and refreshments would have made for a fairly expensive day so once we had used up about 2000 paint balls each we called it a day.  A good time was had by all.

Swiss Market

 

I got to celebrate passing my PRINCE2 exam by attending the Swiss market and indulging in a few delicious treats.

It was well attended and there were baked goods, chocolates, sauerkraut, grocery items, crafts, toys and fun band playing some tunes.

I was a bit disappointed there was no raclette, there was a kiwi sausage sizzle with swiss sausages though and we bought some emmental cheese.  I got some swiss chocolate and Kane got a Berliner doughnut and we also bought some birnwegge.  (All of which were eaten the next day before I thought to take pictures of them!)
 

 

After we had wandered around the stalls inside and outside, we bought some crepes and rivella to enjoy in the sun whilst being entertained by a lively band who appeared to be dressed as wizards.

I am looking forward to one day visiting my good friend Craig who lives in Switzerland :)

Easter Weekend

I had a lovely Easter weekend with my hubby and accomplished everything I wanted to.

Thursday

The weather was horrid with torrential rain from ex-cyclone Ita.  Although there was a lot of rain, it was still quite warm too.

 (More on the weather can be read in this article on the NZ Herald website > http://bit.ly/1nn0iy1)

Thankfully it had cleared up in the afternoon and it was quite sunny again when we went to our ice skating lesson - the last one of this term.  I got to test out my new skates and my instructor was very impressed that I had got such new skates for a bargain price.  I got my skates on trademe and they had only been worn about twice.

My first steps on the ice with my new skates were marvelous! But after a short time they began to feel a bit tight around the width of my foot.  I had previously baked my skates in the oven and I think that really helped since I didn't have any issues around the ankles and at the end of the lesson I didn't have any blisters but I think it will take a few more wears before they stretch out more at the toes.  Before my next skate I think I will make 2 rice bags, heat them in the microwave and put them in my skates to see if heating them before wear will help.

Friday

We had a relaxed day spending lots of time together then in the evening we went to the Easter Show.  I had been really looking forward to the carnival and wanted to go into the Haunted House and then eat a toffee apple.  We had a look around and watched people playing some of the side show games then we went into the haunted house it was not so scary but it was fun.

One of things I had been really looking forward to was a toffee apple!  I had been craving one for weeks.  The first stall I went to was all sold out!  I panicked, but thankfully we found another stall that had them and I was a very happy bunny :)  I munched on that while we wandered around the arts and craft stalls and then into the farm animals section.  We saw some lovely animals and some super cute yellow chicks and ducks.  We saw some Alpacas but since I was eating I didn't pet any of the animals.  There were some spinning wheels and a stall selling alpaca yarn and goods.

We passed the main stage and decided to have a go on a ghost train - the imagery and strobe lighting made for a thrilling experience and I was keen to give the other ghost train a go to see how it compared.  We made our way to the other one via the market place where I very nearly bought a Maple Leafs hockey jersey.  The second ghost train was a much better ride with bumps and jolts but didn't have as scary imagery as the first one but the spray of water took us by surprise at the end and we exited laughing and wiping water from our faces.

By this time the fireworks were about due so we took a seat on the grass and watched the fire dancers on the stage before the sky was light up in a lovely display.  A perfect end to a perfect day.

Saturday

The day was mostly spent pottering around before heading out to Waikaraka speedway for the Easter Spectacular.  We watched midgets, sprints, super stocks, super saloons and derby cars.  The different types of race cars were really interesting and some of the races were closely contended.  

Then there was a big fireworks display before ending with the demolition derby.  

The demolition derby was really funny as car after car packed in, it did have to stop part way through so that a car on fire could be dealt with but then it was back to the action.  

At the end, the winner got out of his car to receive his trophy and was wearing a purple onesie - it made me laugh!

Sunday

I managed to get my game on a little bit on Sunday before it was time to be social and we went to a friends house to watch a couple of movies.  We watched Pacific Rim and then Enders Game.  I've recently read the book and was keen to see the movie and I enjoyed both.

A small side note: Orson Scott Card is the author of the book and co-producer of the movie and I strongly disagree with his homophobic beliefs.  Sometimes it is difficult to separate the work from the person and I did not want to  financially support him.  In this particular case I personally did not have to pay to read the book or watch the movie so have avoided the issue this time.

Monday

From morning 'til night I was encapsulated in my own world playing a computer game, hubby was in another room doing the same thing and I think we only said about a dozen words to each the whole day!

Happy Canada Day

So, Kane and I headed out to the Canada Day quiz at the Clare Inn yesterday run by the Canadian Club of New Zealand ready to test of Canadian knowledge and meet some cool people.

We arrived and already there were plenty of people there having some food and chatting in groups.  I introduced myself to Cary Young, the club president and he was very welcoming and friendly.

We got a couple of drinks and then chatted with a nice couple, Erika and Graeme.  Amusingly, it turned out that Graemeis Scottish and moved to NZ a while back.  Erika was quiz mistress of the night so we found ourselves a team and tried to answer some questions.

I was pretty happy that my studying had paid off and I was able to answer some questions and Kane was happy that he remembered the name of the explorer John Cabot and got 10 points for that bonus question.  In the end our team came third and we won a goody bag from Marthas Backyard and an awesome trophy.

Kane and Graeme swapped numbers and everyone seemed fun so I hope to go to another of their events at some point in the future.  Good times :)

A Week of Being Social

Last week I was driven to get out of my comfort zone and meet some new people so I researched and signed up to a bunch of clubs and events.  This week has come round and as I look at my full calendar I have the fear and want to crawl back under the duvet.

I oscillate between feeling very brave with a let's do this! attitude to feeling very insecure and maybe it's safer to stay in and watch TV.  So to help trick my brain into feeling more confident I'm looking at this weeks events as a blogging challenge.

The first event is a Canada Day quiz with the Canadian Club.  I am not Canadian so of course I have the fear that they will wonder why the hell I'm there and despite my studying efforts and reaching out to my friends and relatives in Canada for some study pointers I'm not confident that I'll be able to answer any questions correctly - but the point is to try and meet some nice people.

I shall report back later!

My Day Just Got Better

I think I've found the way to cheer myself up!

Arnold Schwarzenegger Soundboard - AbcArcade.com

Clip for Bobs Burgers

I don't watch this show, but I see this clip on TV and it always makes me laugh - I don't know why!

A Story

I heard this story yesterday. It made me laugh out loud in places and made me think too. A very good story indeed.

 It's called Adams by George Saunders, and here is a link to its publication in the New Yorker> www.newyorker.com

Enjoy,

My Machines!

Whilst listening to my work colleague telling his daughter that she cannot use his home laptop, I was reminded of an incident where my husband had used something of mine that he wasn't supposed to.

I think he put a plastic spoon or something in the dishwasher and it came out pink, I don't really remember but I totally flipped out at the time.  I started ranting about how he shouldn't touch my stuff and that it was my spoon, MY SPOON!.  "Who's spoon?" he said - my head just about exploded and all he could do was laugh.  Of course I realised my ridiculousness and we both laughed a lot about it.

It was almost like this clip from Scrubs which I have forwarded to my colleague to pass on to his daughter :D

Heartbeat

My niece is getting a tattoo of a heart with headphones. I don't know what shes planning but I thought I'd draw a little picture.

I coloured it in with lipgloss.

Mobile blogging

I'm trying out mobile blogging on my iPhone 4S using my voice, it's very cool but it has its ups and downs. I think for the most part it seems to understand what I'm saying and translate accordingly but there has been some issues. I'm not sure if this is any faster.

It's certainly fun to use your voice to make notes and create reminders and the Siri feature is also a great source of amusement but the functionality in New Zealand is severely limited.

I'm not sure if I would use this long-term but it certainly is good fun playing with it!

Hopefully having this new device will mean I can do more mobile blogging in the future :)

JogScotland 5k

And yes, I did manage the JogScotland 5k. I did it in 34 mins and 48 secs. Not fantastic but what I was hoping for. I took part in this along with my work colleagues.

The before and after pictures: