Deconstruction Continues

The building over the road from work is dwindling, carefully 'supervised' by a fairly constant contingent of construction geeks.  On Thursday the road was opened so it's feeling a little more normal, albeit accompanied by a shipping container barricade.

Tuesday

Thursday

Friday, with Supervision crew front & centre

The Aftermath

Earthquakes are calming down and now the cleanup is in full swing.  This is the view across the road from work today...

First thing this morning

Lunch time

End of the day

Amazing watching this concrete munching machine get stuck in.

Becoming a Prepper

We have had several close encounters with Mother Nature this week; earthquakes (a 7.8 and hundreds of aftershocks), tsunami alert, storms and flooding, high winds and a King tide.  Thank goodness for a sense of humor from emergency services staff - this is one of many 'emergency cutes' sent out to make people feel better.

Having to evacuate in the middle of the night makes you realise how prepared, or not, you really are for an emergency.  As of right now I'm better prepared that I was a week ago; go bag, stay box, some emergency camping gear and a cat carrier ready to go too.

Kiwi As

I've been nursing a repeat of my earlier cold which has meant some down time and more than the usual level of non-cooking meals.  I have discovered some wonderful small pot meals and apart from the fact that they are tasty and have lots of veges in them, I particularly like the heating instructions.  Heating in a microwave or a pot is fairly standard but I must admit reheating soup in a hangi had never occurred to me.

Slightly Nuts

I have always been a fan of peanut butter, crunchy not smooth, and New Zealand has some of the best ever.  Not long after moving here I was introduced to Pic's, made in Nelson and have been a fan ever since.  They are now putting their peanut butter into glasses appropriately decorated with iconic backyard objects.  Then last week I was introduced to Fix & Fogg, made here in Wellington.  More specifically I was introduced to their paprika and Kaitaia Fire chilli peanut butter.

They also do a dark chocolate peanut butter but I'm saving that for another day.

Signs of Travel

Last weekend I was in Picton catching up with friends who were over from Aus.  The weather was not great but it was a wonderful but it was perfect for visiting wineries and sampling local produce.  That included a brewery who are totally honest about how they make their beer.

Then last Tuesday night I picked Mum and Dad up from the airport and noticed that they have added to their parking signage.  Now to remember your row you have an animal to help you - A for Alligator and B for Butterfly.

Being Safety Conscious

It's been a wild week, single figure temperatures, hail and 100k plus winds.  I've been wearing a minimum of 3 layers - flannel, fleece, merino and puffer jacket.  Being such a safety conscious place there is an app for everything so that you can get warnings on your phone.  I've got the MetService, Civil Defence and the new one, Red Cross Hazard App. In a wild week though you do get a bit of information overload.