Merry Christmas, time to relax

Merry Christmas everyone and I am glad Christmas is finally over so I can start enjoying my holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas; to see the joy of kids faces when they open their presents, visiting friends & family and having a good laugh over expensive alcohol and great food. But its now time to kick back, help mum and dad out around the house, watch some tele and try to enjoy that extra 8 hours in our day. Christmas is all about giving and I even received a gift from New Zealand Police. They sent me a cheque for $120 for going 66 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. Thank you NZ Police.

My camera has been sitting dormant for the last few weeks. I just haven't gotten into the mood of taking pictures; maybe its been the stress of living at home or maybe I have not felt challenged. Either way, not many interesting shots this month.

Mike Bell and I decided to drive up to New Plymouth to visit Tristin and Kirsten. Its been 18 months since I last saw them as I was living in Toronto and they were in London.
The 4 ½ hour drive went by very quickly mainly because Mike and I spent the whole time arguing about stupid shit. We arrived to a feast of chicken tenders with roast vegetables. We chatted the night away and drank Woodstock bourbon and cola. The next day, I felt like I was poisoned by Mike; I could feel the Woodstock swishing inside my belly, I was literally sweating cola and sweetener.
We climbed Rock Paritutu as it's kind of a big deal on the New Plymouth foreshore. The rock is 200m high and somewhat challenging. I had to stop halfway to gag for a bit from Woodstock poisoning.
The 20min climb up was well worth and visit to New Plymouth.

After lunch, Mike, Tristin and I took a bromantic 10km walk across the Waiwhakaiho River and over the new Te Rewa Rewa Bridge also know as the 'Wave Bridge'. We spent the rest of the time sitting around and chillaxing.

Christmas Eve came around and my parents and I went to Buncey's place for a BBQ lunch of pork, Heineken marinated crackling, noodles and finished off with a bottle of Champagne. I gave the kids a large present all wrapped in newspaper with a piece of candy in each layer, when they got to the end, my hour of wrapping skills paid off. Video below.

So yeah, Christmas has all been about visiting people, eating and drinking heaps.
See you all in the New Year.

Sam

Christmas Present - 15.2 MB

Mike all tucked in at 1:30am

Before the Climb






GQ Man of the Year

200m up

Tristen eats like a homeless man

Wave Bridge

Was still about 26 degrees

Real Man Fruit Salad - No apples, its just a filler

Bye guys

Kwayde's new toy








Bunce working hard

Stag Do / Wedding / Sailing

10 weeks back home and what’s been happening? For one, a lot of golfing, drinking and chilling.
It was Richard Dalton’s stag do on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The 16 of us set out to play 9 holes of golf; we also had a drink cart to ensure everyone was well hydrated. I’ve never really drank beers while playing golf and there’s probably a good reason not to do it. After the 3rd hole, hitting the ball straight was almost impossible. The afternoon ended with sunburnt skin and the evening session was just beginning.

Pub Golf was the game of the evening. What’s that you say? Well its very simple. Each pub we entered, we all had to have the same drink. Each drink is given a par value (for example, a pint of beer would be par 4 which meant you were allowed to have 4 drinks to finish off the pint).

  

Shot of Tequila – Par 1
Glass of Red Wine – Par 2
Pint of Beer – Par 4
Pint of Guinness – Par 5

  

Obviously because we were Neanderthals, everyone was gunning to finish their drinks in 1 go. To the untrained eye, I appear skittish and scared of the pint of Guinness but little do they all know that I was water birthed with Guinness and I pee black tar; 1 for me. The night carried on and by about 11pm, we had to send the stag away in a taxi as he was unable to walk.

The following weekend was Dick’s wedding. It was a tossup between flying 1 hour or saving money and driving 5 hours. I opted to fly and boy was I glad I didn’t have to drive home the next day.
The ceremony and reception was at Te Awa Winery in Napier. The outdoor wedding with its peaceful presence surrounded by friends and family was marvellous. The wine was brilliant and with good wine comes good food. They also had an instant photo booth to take silly pictures. At 12am, everyone got kicked out and it was back onto the bus to the hotel.........then it was straight to the pubs to do the funky chicken. 3:30am , lights come on and we get asked to leave, party back at the rooms we go. 5am, people started to drift off. 6am, I was passed out on the couch moments from getting pranked until Richard and Mois relocated me to their room as some turkey stole my bed.

The next day, we were all kicked out of the rooms as all the neighbours complained; some even left in the early hours of the morning. More drinks at the BBQ and a flight back into Wellington to attend the 30th birthday celebration of Rachel Turner, need I say more? I also learnt a new rule; Never wear Purple to a wedding. I am a big fan of purple when wearing a black suit as it offsets the darkness with light and bold colour but it appears everyone else also likes purple even Grandpa's. Never again........

As part of a team building exercise for work, Bunce organised for everyone to go sailing following by the BBQ and drinks. I cannot explain how awesome it was nor do I know the correct terms to use. Let’s say we were sailing at a 45 degree angle, the sea breeze, the clear skies, the hillside and almost collusion made Wellington the best City in New Zealand.
Dalton Wedding photos available here

Sam

Talking Thrash - 8.5 MB
The Departure - 4.6 MB
Here Comes The Bride - 11.4 MB
Here Goes The Bride - 9.4 MB
Here Dance The Bride - 6.6 MB
Sailing Storm - 10.3 MB

Let the games begin

Cameltoe

Shit shot

There always one

More disturbing than embarrassing

The boys looking tough

Scottish

Japan for the night

Pre-wedding jitters

Nah, pre-wedding fun

Waiting with anticipation

I Do

One Happy Family

And it begins

MMMmmmm

Last Call

Back at the Hotel

Gorgeous Archie; the baby not the boy

Jean shorts are back

Ready to sink

I like peace too

Now we're sailing

POW!

The All Blacks Are World Champs!

As you may or may not know, The All Blacks just won the Rugby World Cup after a 24 year drought since winning the inaugural tournament in 1987; it was a glorious day, night, week, month. The branding of 'Chokers' can now be laid to rest. They beat France in the final winning by just 1 point. Final score 8 - 7. Did they play well? Yes. Did they deserve the win? Yes. Did the All Blacks win the game or did France lose it? I pick the latter.
But lets rewind a few weeks back in time.

Ever since arriving back in New Zealand, I have gone on and on about how amazing Chicago deep dish pizza's are. One Saturday, Mike and I spent 2hrs driving to different supermarkets to buy the ingredients required. The core ingredients needed were:

500gm Mozzarella Cheese
200gm Pepperoni
500gm Italian Sausages
1 x Green Pepper
1 x Red Onion
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup Cornmeal
2 Hella awesome guys to make this feast

The end cost of the pizza was over $40NZD but it would easily feed 6 people. It was well worth the cost and time spent making this cheese and meat feast. It would also make a great dish for small dinner parties served with a side of mesclun, cucumber, red onions with pumpkin and sunflower seeds. My book titled 'Soh you like salad' will be released in Fall 2012.

My mate Richard Dalton is getting married in early November and he asked if I could give him a hand one Saturday with some gardening at his parent's place and I happily obliged. Saturday morning came and texts were sent back and forth to ensure we had the correct tools for the job. It was only going to be a small job and wouldn't take more than an hour (so he said). On my arrival, the task was explained to me and expletives were flying left, right and centre. It was impossible to complete the task in one hour and there were 5 of us. It was more landscaping than gardening; move about 20 cubic metres of green waste from the front yard to fill the swimming pool in the rear so it can be top soiled.

We played old school songs and started work. 20mins later, it started to rain and we found cover under a balcony. We were standing there for a good 5mins before Richard asked 'Want a beer?'
It would be rude not to accept the kind offering from the host. We finished our beers and were back in business again. An hour later, the rain paid another visit so off we go under the balcony to take cover and drank more beers then it was back to the grind.
2 hours later, we stumbled upon a beehive in amongst the waste and the smartest idea was to pour petrol on it, light it on fire, watch it burn.............and have beers.
After that session, I was having a hard time pushing the wheel barrow.

Sunday 23rd October, the finals of the Rugby World Cup were to commence at 9:00pm. The plan was to meet at Richard's place at 2pm to have a few beers then head on down to the pub at 5pm to get a good spot for the game. We decided on Mac's Brewery which is conveniently next to the Fan Zone.
The pub was crammed with people both inside and outside, the Fan Zone roared with excitement, the people were impatient lining up (suckers!). We came, we saw, we conquered! Well done All Blacks!
I don't remember recording the last video, although I did look coherent.

Sam

Burn Baby Burn – 14.3 MB

Post World Cup Final 1 – 14.3 MB
Post World Cup Final 2 – 14.2 MB
Post World Cup Final 3 – 14.2 MB

Meat Sweats








Pizza so good Nicole changed into her PJ's

Photo for my recipe book

Well Utilised Pool

70% Completed

Pyromaniacs

Boys admiring the fire

Job Completed

Dirty Smokers

Fan Zone 6:00pm

Fan Zone 8:00pm

Boskovic Wedding and Deportation

A day after arriving back from Las Vegas, I attended the wedding of my mate Michael Boskovic (he’s Croatian) out in Vaughan about 45mins out of Toronto. Kayla accompanied me so I wouldn’t be a loner. The ceremony was joyful and the food was impressive. Ever since I have known Mike, he always had a sweet tooth. We would eat ice creams during the day or just desserts at lunch. The initial dessert was a vanilla ice cream crepe covered with chocolate sauce then an hour later, the assortment range of pastries, cakes, fruits and fondue covered the table for 10 metres; I was well stuffed.

Time flew and before I knew it, it was time to check out of the hotel (not just any hotel, a Hilton but don’t let the name fool you because it was only $120 CAD and 3 star), one night back in Toronto and fly out the next morning to windy Wellington.

I was back home in time for the start of the Rugby World Cup (Go All Blacks!). I had forgotten how beautiful Wellington is. I am surrounded by hills, coastline and the snow covered mountains are within reach. I left 30 degree Toronto for 10 degree Wellington but that did not stop me from getting out on the golf course.

In New Zealand, I am still somewhat a tourist. Since I’m a local, I tend not to engage in the local activities available to me so the next calm day, Ryan and I rented Kayaks and paddled out to sea. It wasn’t the best of timing as it was cold and windy which made it even harder to paddle but the crisp air and fresh salt water smell was enough to make good of this bad choice.

Bunce shouted me a ticket to the Australia vs. USA game at Westpac Stadium. I had forgotten how great NZ beers were; beer after beer after beer and before we knew it, it was already 6 down and we hadn’t even made it to the Stadium. The seats were great but the atmosphere was a letdown due to the New Zealand Australia Quade Cooper debacle. I am very disappointed at you New Zealand.

Boskovic Wedding photos available here but wait, theres more! New Wellington photos here

Sam

Bride & Groom – 13.2 MB
Hora / Chair Dance – 14.1 MB

Happy Couple

Midnight Fondue

Stabproof vest

It's On!

Massive Storm

Proud Aussie

Damn Head

Good Seats

Drink number 10?