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Episode 32 - The New Zealand tea room

999 replies

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 14/01/2012 22:06

Well folks, here we are, beside the hot springs of New Zealand.

The tea room (with the customary distressed chintz sofa) overlooks the steaming, bubbling lake. For the bold and sporty, hiking, biking and sky-diving are on offer. Personally, I'm not planning to leave the spa.

Please come and join us for a celebratory drink and conversation ranging from the profound to the profoundly silly. The cardinal rule remains: no fisticuffs.

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beanandspud · 16/01/2012 10:56

Hurrah for bashed finger getting better! Danish and coffee sounds perfect!

Good news that oxbloke is around for a bit. And thank you for the reassurance that it does get better easier just different!

When do you go skiing Unis? I am a teeny tiny bit Envy. Have been looking at beginner sessions for Small Bean at the local indoor ski place as Mr Bean is desperate for a skiing holiday next year.

Ouch to being eaten by zip though ::eyes watering emoticon::

It was -4 degrees when I went to nursery this morning - where's that hot spa?

UniS · 16/01/2012 11:32

couple of weeks time. whooooosh.

Thumbwitch · 16/01/2012 12:16

Woohoo! Very pleased that the bashed finger appears back to normal - excellent news! Reapply the ibuprofen gel if it swells again, or starts to throb or you lose sensation in the fingertip again. That's a relief since you're off ski-ing! But Ouchy! to Boy's near accident with the salopette zipper! Shock

I nearly booked my trip back to the UK today but it wouldn't go through so I'll have to try again in the morning. Am half-excited - I really want to come back but I'm a bit scared about how miniThumb is going to be this time, he's a lot more stroppy now than he was before! And I've booked it for an extra 3 or 4 days so I get 4 weekends in the UK, so that's extra time for him to get homesick and whinge about going hoooooommmmmme

I must be mad. But it's so much money, I like to see as many people as I can and it seems daft to limit the time because of a whingy child... hey ho.

Might even manage a bit of a tearoom meet up, hey! Most of March is when I'll be there :)

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 16/01/2012 17:24

::Clasps Oxeye to her ample bosom::

Lovely to see you, my dear. Shall we raise a toast to the tea room's golden boy and his Golden Globe?

::hangs garland of flowers around the neck of Cardboard George::

It's been a gruelling day.

::Sits next to JM and dangles her battered feet in the hot pool::

OP posts:
oxeye · 16/01/2012 18:45

oh yes, George. Dear George. Can't wait to see the film, saw a trailer and it looked great!

Maud - hugs returned, sorry you've had a gruelling day ::slaps some mud around to cheer us all up::

::puts out bottles of wine::

UniS glad your finger is good, are you going skiing during term? We had the snowiest of all snowy experiences, amazing snow but didn't get to actually ski much due to amazing amounts of amazing snow - bit frustrating really

As to weeing while wearing a salopette, all I can say is that it is very very tricky for little chaps! And get much much more clothage that you might imagine, certainly that's true for Oxboy

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 16/01/2012 19:03

Oh yes. Dear, dear George.

::Swoons into hot pool and has to be fished out by Mellors::

::So not all bad, then::

I have nothing to contribute to any discussion of skiing, as my only foray into snow sports was cancelled because I dislocated my thumb before I got to the slopes.

::Swigs wine::

OP posts:
UniS · 16/01/2012 19:19

ouch to dislocated thumb, glad I didn;t do that.

Whoooooosh.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 16/01/2012 19:25

It was rather impressive ::look away now if you're squeamish:: it was so badly dislocated that my thumb was emerging from the middle of the back of my hand. Two doctors failed to yank it back into position and had to go and fetch a colleague who (to judge by the side of him) was prop forward for the hospital rugby team.

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CMOTDibbler · 16/01/2012 19:46

Yurk Maud.
I too have never skied, and have no intention of doing so. If ds wishes to, he'll have to go with school.
Bloomin cold here also. -4 this morning, and most of the frost hadn't melted by this evening.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 16/01/2012 19:58

It was very yurk.

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Thumbwitch · 16/01/2012 22:23

That sounds very nasty indeed Maud - you must have fallen very awkwardly on it! Hope it doesn't cause you any problems now. :)

I am another ski-dodger here - knees are just too crap and I don't much enjoy going downhill out of control. I like skating though...
DH is a snow-boarding fan, he's quite good at it - so when miniThumb is big enough, we'll go to NZ and the boys can do the ski stuff while I drink hot chocolate watch. :)

Donki · 16/01/2012 22:25
UniS · 16/01/2012 22:33

UniS also imagines a donkey on skis, and falls about laughing.

Do you think 2 skis or 4 would work better Donki?

One of the children I supervise at lunchtime is also going sking in the near future, we were excited at each other today.

Donki · 17/01/2012 10:44

No skis!
I'm a wonky Donki with dodgy knees......

UniS · 17/01/2012 11:41

Ok, how about a sledge for you donki. with a nice comfy seat and steering, and a roll bar.

nearly lunchtime ladies, Soup du jour

chilli, chocolate sausage supreme soup is on teh side with rolls tres artisic and twiglet surprise avec peaches for pud.

Donki · 17/01/2012 12:20

I'll take the sledge! Good idea UniS

Lunch sounds good

amberlight · 17/01/2012 15:05
UniS · 17/01/2012 18:47

Thanks to teh NMBs and Mellors for dong the washing up. The floor is now covered with bubbles, looks like snow.

Hey Donki, shall I pull you round on that there sledge.

Donki · 17/01/2012 19:48

Can we have huskies to pull the sledge?

UniS · 17/01/2012 20:40

Phew- yes, what a good idea. my arms were getting tired.

::UniS harnesses up teh huskies and fits teh dog shit deflector scree to teh front of teh sledge, points donki out of teh door and into teh real snow::

Off you go

WHOOOOOOOOSH

Donki · 17/01/2012 21:40

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Grin

UniS · 17/01/2012 22:49

Whoosh, Unis catches up with Donki on her skis.

And guides her back to the base station for the cable car. The Hansome young lift wallah ( looks bit like mellors if you squint) helps us into a luxuriously appointed bubble with heater and rugs a plenty. He hands us each a goblet/bucket of mulled wine, Donki's is of course carrot wine. The doors swing shut, we gently ascend the cable back to the tea room aloft.

Jacksmania · 18/01/2012 01:24

I used to ski... haven't been for years, was fairly crap at it but that didn't stop me having fun. Have never tried and will probably never try snowboarding, the risk of broken or at least sprained wrists is too high which would be a career-limiting injury for me.

So I think I'm going to join those who prefer to drink hot chocolate on the sidelines watch.

In yoga, we have one of those "in" jokes... all yoga poses end in "asana" which is a Sanskrit (or Devanagari, depending on whom you ask) word which means "pose". So, "bakasana" is crow pose, and "baddhakanasana" is butterfly pose, for example. We also have "watchasana", which is when something just plainly looks too difficult to attempt and you prefer to sit and watch :o

For me, snowboarding is a watchasana :o

So, I doubt anyone has been paying attention to the weather in my corner of the world (why would you) but British Columbia's Lower Mainland has been hit by a blast of winter. We've been having arctic outflow advisories - predicted temperatures of -7 to -10, and there is a storm currently making its way up the west coast which is due to hit northern Washington State and especially Seattle and predicted to dump about a foot of snow. We've been getting outliers of it. Where I live, in the Fraser Valley, we have been 6" to a foot of snow. On the other hand, Vancouver, where I am currently on this %#&*&^%$!!! blasted course, has no snow, or only a dusting - and that's only roughly 45 km west of where I live. It's amazing what happens when you leave the moderating effect of the ocean (Vancouver) and get to a more landlocked area with mountains nearby (my area). And we don't usually get this kind of weather and people do not know how to drive in snow.

The drive to and from Vancouver has been an exercise in white-knuckling, because conditions are so variable and people are such bloody idiots that they speed, pass other drivers and end up doing a well-deserved spin into the nearest ditch.
After yesterday's drive home, which was Not Fun, DH and I decided I should stay downtown at the hotel which is a 60 second walk from the course. So that's where I currently am, and I'm being torn in half by guilt and pleasure. Guilt, because wouldn't you know it, today was a bit sunny and mostly cloudy but no snow. And I'm not home with JB and DH. And I miss them. And pleasure because I'm by myself in a very nice hotel room, with internet access so I can bloody MN all night if I want to, it's quiet, nobody wants anything from me, I didn't have to white-knuckle-drive home for an hour and 20 mins, and back tomorrow morning, and I have wine (which in fairness I could have at home), and I don't have to get up at 4:30 am tomorrow, and I can go to bed when I want to, which may very well end up being 7 pm, and I'm about to go out to dinner with one of the lovely women in my course (almost everyone is really really nice... if only this training were a little less crap fluffy!!)... but I feel guilty because I know JB will miss me, and I will miss sleeping cuddled up with him on one side and DH on the other.
This will be my 5th night away from him, ever.
I remember when I went to a seminar in Vancouver in Oct 2010, and stayed downtown. The first night I couldn't sleep, because it was too quiet in the room and too loud outside, and I was by myself. The second night, I slept from 8:45 pm to 10 am the next morning and barely moved all night. And woke up feeling soooooo good, and feeling so guilty because I felt so good.

Um, am I completely nuts or does any of this make sense? Don't hold back...

Jacksmania · 18/01/2012 01:32

And I'm also struggling a bit because we were made to watch some birth movies in class today (water births, and lovely normal midwife-assisted births that went splendidly), and I got a bit triggered by watching them. I mostly managed to sit on it really hard, but of course I always get mild flashbacks, of the OR where I gave birth, and the chaos, and I got so angry because I always feel so cheated of a good experience... and I mean that in my case, being told "JM, this baby is well stuck, we're going to get him out by section" would have been a good experience compared to what actually did happen. I actually ended up having that horrible chest pain that usually comes before a panic attack and I'm so proud of myself for managing to sit on it and put it away. But it did leave me with a stress headache, and I feel a bit ick and shaky... so going out to dinner will be nice and relaxing, I hope.

Have a lovely night, all, and thank you for allowing me to witter. I hope that wasn't TMI for anyone, if it was, I sincerely apologize.

UniS · 18/01/2012 18:56

WOW, well done JM, that sounds like a tough day for you and you coped very well.

Staying in town sounds eminently sensible. I'm not familiar with BC but have seen a little bit of Washington state. I stayed at a ski lodge about 30 miles out from Seattle, at Snoqualmie Pass. I hope the Sahalie ski club have been having a good early season, they seemed to have a decent coverage quite early this year.

Even in Devon we see the coast/ not coast thing with snow. Up here in the Moor we get a lot more snow than they do down by the coast, I sometimes have to phone DH at work to tell him the snow is pitching on our road and he ought to come home now rather than in 3 hours time.