Day 206 - Rotorua

Rodney has risen (almost). One of the battery connectors had got a bit rusty, and all the shaking and banging around involved in driving down the bumpy lane to Paul's house had broken it. I bought a new one in town yesterday and replaced the broken one (with Pauls help)... and we have ignition - ish. The battery is a bit flat so it isn't starting, but it's making the right trying-to-start noise and I've put the battery on to charge, so fingers crossed!

Yesterday I went into town with Paul in the morning because of dead Rodney, and spent the day mooching around town and cleaning the studio whilst Paul did his practice (I'm just going to put my leg behind my ear... la-di-dah... now I'm going to stand on my hands for a few minutes... and so on). In the evening Paul had a pregnancy class. Linda and I attended, along with Paul's usual group of keen-beans (one of whom was a man) and 2 pregnant women. The practice was made all the more exciting by the fact that one of the pregnant women (possibly the most pregnant I have ever seen) had started having contractions that morning and had turned up to the class anyway! She worked her way through her poses determinedly, with the odd groan that sent Paul running over to check that she wasn't giving birth on the yoga mat.

Today I'm going to weed the lower orchard, do more fruit picking and pray that, once charged, Rodney will start (else I'm cycling to the yoga class)!

Later: Well, that was an interesting evening. Firstly - Rodney works! Yes, that is correct, we have ignition and forward motion - yipee.

It was blowing a gale when I left - the rain dementedly hurling itself to the ground in bucketfulls. Made it to the studio, all good, made it through the hard class without any injuries (how is it possible to sweat so much without moving?). Paul zoomed off for another class, so it's just us girls tonight.

I drove back with Linda following, and halfway down the lane to Paul's house I have to stop - the road is only blocked by a tree! Bugger. We get out of our cars to survey the situation and within seconds are soaked to the skin (yes, unfortunately it's still pissing it down). I look at the tree - it's pretty huge. I give it an experimental shove - it moves not a millimetre. I suddenly remember the chainsaw Paul used for cutting up trees, the one he leaves in the clearing just up the way. Linda runs and gets it and we spend the next 10 minutes shivering, cursing like sailors and trying to get the bloody thing started. No luck; no petrol. Linda yells "the axes!" I look at her, then the tree, then I run off and get the axes. It was a strange situation, let me tell you: it's dark, it's peeing with rain and Linda and I are on a muddy road, either side of a tree, taking it in turns to swing away at this stupid gum tree and yelling like loonies - that tree didn't stand a chance (thank goodness we had a bit of practice at chopping wood!). We cut a section off, heaved it aside, cut another section off, heaved that aside, cut away a few branches, then jumped in our cars and drove to the house, praying no more trees had fallen (we brought the axes just in case). Luckily they hadn't and thankfully I had already prepared a huge bowl of dhal soup and baked some bread earlier, so we were able to laugh about it over a warming meal. Boy, this place really has a monopoly on interesting experiences.

Day 204 - Rotorua

Another busy weekend here in Rotorua. On friday Paul 'went bush' for the weekend leaving me and Linda to our own devices. We went shopping and stopped off for an Indian takeaway on the way home. The evening was a bit of a lazy one; we skipped our yoga practice to eat the takeaway then scoff icecream and watch a peculiar old Audrey Hepburn flick called Charade. So nice to relax and see a movie!

On saturday we had a grand spring clean. The place was a tad messy, so it took a while. I was on hoover duty had a great time chasing the cockroaches around the kitchen, mostly yelling things like "die cockroackes diiiieee" - dear me, not very oommm. Next we went to the recycling centre: sounds tedious but was actually pretty amazing (must be said that the UK's attempts at recycling seemed somewhat lame in comparison). For a start there were 5 bins for different plastic bottles alone, a plastic bag recycling bin and a rather cheerful young man employed as a glass bottle sorter. What can I say - I was impressed. In the afternoon we fired up the weed wacker and mower and did some 'cross country mowing' on the near-vertical fruit tree hill (my poor aching arms & legs). Then Paul turned up at about 6 and dumped a dead deer on the sideboard (guess I shouldn't feel guilty about my cockroach killing spree).

Yesterday was a bit more relaxing, I did a bit of gardening and went on a baking spree. I've discovered a new passion for cooking whilst I've been here. My biggest challenge is that if getting rid of the millions of beans that Paul has growing in his garden. My task is made harder by the fact that Paul doesn't actually like beans and has been known to fish them out of the nice soup/fried veg you've just prepared. Why he grows so much beans when he actively dislikes them is past me. There are also lots of courgettes, but I have a great courgette bread recipe, courtesy of Karissa, so they are slowly being used up.

So - this is now my last week. More of the same as last week and the week before I am sure. It'll be sad to leave, Linda has become a great friend and Paul is always good for laughs and random gems of wisdom. We're going to finish off my stay with a trip to the cave. Yes - the cave. We're going to go on friday and stay for a few days. Linda is coming too, so it should be fun - a good way to finish!

Zuccini Bread (that's American for courgette bread)

• 350 ml flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 100 ml sugar (don't need v. much)
• large handful of raisins (optional)
• large handful of nuts (optional)
• 350 ml zuccini (about 1 large courgette)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp vinegar
• a bit of water (if the mix looks too dry)
• 75ml oil
• 1 egg or (and I prefer it this way->) 1 ripe banana (blended)

Preheat oven 350/180. Mix together the dry ingrediants. Add egg/banana, sweetner, oil vinegar and vanilla and mix. Add zuccini (raisins and nuts too if you are using them) and mix well. If the mix is too dry, add a bit of water. Tip into a loaf tin (use cake tin if you don't have a loaf one) and cook for 40-50 min (until done

Later: Rodney is dead... long live Rodney
I get ready to go to class. I go to the van and sit in it. I turn the key. Kschuk...kschuck... I say some impolite words. I stomp into the garage and borrow Paul's spare battery and jump leads. I attach aforementioned leads and battery to Rodney's battery. I turn the key. Kschuk...kschuck... I scream with rage. I check the oil (fine), I unscrew the radiator lid (very gunky - but is that bad, and if so what the hell can I do about it?) I kick the car (poor Rodney). It doesn't work; the car is still dead, my hands are covered in gunk and rust and now my foot hurts.
Bugger... hope this doesn't cost a fortune to fix!!