Ya egg!

Finally got to see 'Boy'! As part of the 'City of London Festival' there was a mini-NZ film festival on at the Barbican - I knew Boy would have to be the opener so I was obsessively checking for tickets from when I first heard about it.

Maya and I went and had a good old Kiwi nostalgia fest. Loved it - the language, the scenery, the 'old stuff' I recognised (like Stud Cola!). Just fantastic.

Taika Waititi was there to introduce it as well - he was somewhat 'jetlagged' however so I'm not sure he really added much to it!

I also sat next to the guy in this advert - somewhat odd. He made sure I knew it was him in the advert - very funny. Or maybe he was trying to hit on me - I wasn't quite sure! But it was definitely him :-)

New Zealand-itis...

I seem to have been spotting many NZ related things in the UK media this weekend.

Well 3, but thats not bad for two days!

1. In a story last weekend (which I only read on Saturday) on Kate Middleton (Prince Williams' squeeze) there was a photo of her with him at the rugby a couple of weeks ago. And what was the future King of England wearing but a Line7 jacket from the America's Cup days, with Steinlager and Telecom branding clearly visible... Where on earth would he get one of those - and why on earth would he wear it??!!
2. Watching the truly fantastic Life on Mars, stuck on a locker in the police station was a clipping advertising a game - England vs New Zealand. A Kiwi in the props room perhaps?
3. Barclays Bank using Split Apple Rock as the main picture in their new ad campaign, with the tag line 'Anything is possible' (or something like that). Not credited to NZ of course, but I've been there/seen it, so I know the real thing!
4. Not exactly media, but I also noticed that Waitrose (my local supermarket) is now selling 42Below as well... (and I have to say that the 42 website has the worst song soundtrack - terrible!
   

Gazing Westward

Gazing Westward
Originally uploaded by enetheru_2006.

Fantastic photo of Sam's - been there, loved it!

Outrageous Fortune!!

How excited am I? Sitting down for my weekly dose of America's Next Top Model (oh yes - I am sad, I love my trash tv...) up pops an ad for Outrageous Fortune! Cue immediate text to Mhairi, who doesn't really know it but shall no doubt have it inflicted upon her as I shall tape it and pass it down the line.

Very excited as I really enjoyed what I saw when back in NZ in November - and as I'm about to lose Sky 1 (no Lost, no Battlestar Galactica, no 24...) I'm thinking OF will be an enjoyable replacement!!

Tui In The Flax

Tui In The Flax
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Stolen this from Maurie's blog - this is such a fantastic photo!

Goodnight Kiwi

This is just fantastic! NZ friend at work sent it to the Kiwi contingent and I just thought it was fab. I used to love this and I've told Kevin about it so many times - now I can show it to him! Hopefully this link will work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H2BOGGUbm4

Standing up and being counted...

I took part in this census recently and they've just published the results. I am definitely in the older age group for NZers living away from NZ - perhaps I've passed my prime!! Check out Every One Counts here.

And back to 'Kiwis come home'...

I've started to read the North & South's I bought at Kiwifruits, and have read the article about New Zealanders returning home after their OE's.

I thought it was quite interesting, but again just seemed full of very typical stereotypes of London - and also the age group they seemed to be writing about. Too many descriptions of London's 'grimy streets' (they aren't all grimy) and the UK's drinking culture (which yes we do have, but I don't see as being much worse than that in NZ - just different in that in the UK more people drink in pubs). In fact from memory one person commented that the culture in NZ seems to be around families and sports more while in the UK it is more around alcohol which I thought was a bit rich. Perhaps that reflected more accurately her age group rather than the whole of the British pysche... Then there was the woman who had spent 20 years here and didn't see anything wrong with NZers only hanging out with other NZers over here 'because where else could they do that?'. Well NZ springs to mind... mind you she was also praising the existence of The Church and recommending that people make a visit to it. Anyone who has seen or lives near The Church and has seen the volumes of paralytic Antipodeans exiting from it on a Sunday afternoon would have to query the wisdom of that statement. There's not much pride in being a NZer when you are barred from pubs around it because of the behaviour of your fellow countrypeople...

It would have been interesting (I guess cos it is more relevant to me) to have had interviews with slightly older NZers who are still in the UK or who have just gone back. Most NZers go back around the time they hit 30ish, but it is the ones who stay (like me and most of my NZ friends here) that are more interesting I would have thought...

Still it is obviously a burning topic at the mo as I read an article on Stuff about it recently as well. Still haven't seen any of those ads on the tube yet tho...

The heart of New Zealand...

in the heart of London. Had to go to Covent Garden at lunchtime and ended up very close to Kiwifruits, the NZ shop...

Always fatal :-). Still I kept my spend to under £20 which was not bad for me! Two issues of North & South, a big bag of Twisties (I don't think I'll ever grow out of them!), two chocolate fish, two buzz bars and a can of Watties Creamed Corn - can't get it over here and it just makes toasted sandwiches the best!

They are on to such a money spinner there but I just can't not spend when I go!

Wine tasting... lots of lovely NZ wine

So Kevin and I went off to the NZ Wine Tasting last night. This was organised by the NZ House of Wine and it was really good. Unfortunately it was the day of my red wine reaction so I couldn't try any of the red wines, but I got through a fair few tastings of the whites!

It was all very civilised, there were a couple of semi-famous rugby players there (Paul Tito and Glen Jackson) who I didn't recognise. Kevin picked out Paul Tito (but you would have known he was a rugby player from his ears anyhow!) and I asked someone who the other guy was. Both have played for the NZ Maori apparently, and Glen Jackson now plays for Saracens (I looked them up on Google in case you are wondering....).

We did (of course) end up ordering a mixed case of NZ whites, but we made sure it included two bottles of Lindauer Fraise which I've never seen over here - looking forward to those! Got a couple of bottles from Mt Difficult, Saint Clair and I can't remember who else. I did try a chardonnay which was £34.99 per bottle and while it was gorgeous did think that was a tad too much to pay!

Will definitely go again tho - and make sure I don't go out the night before the next time!