Slow day today – no jobs for me today on the websites this morning. We both were happy with staying in and relaxing in the sun – when we could get out of the house of course!

Housework day for Louise and a major blog catch up for me – also helping Louise with pegging out and coffees of course. I did also order Louise’s odometer trip reset knob and do a little maintenance check on the bikes. Only Louise’s tyres need a little air tomorrow, not bad considering what she’s done over the last few weeks!

YES, I’m actually up to date completely on the blog. You might even be able to read about our day before yours is starting – if you see what I mean! We’ll see if I can keep it that way – I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was you though!!

Happy Valentine’s to everyone! Especially those that may not have got a card, surprise or expected….

The weather cleared a little this morning, so we were off on the bikes again. It’s been a few days since Louise has been out on hers, so we need to get her re-acquainted with the road and her bike skills.

We had a chat, and she decided she wanted to try the Rimutuka – as long as I rode point there should be no probs! We went down the SH1 and around the lake from Plimmerton and over to the Hutt valley to the Kaitoke Country Gardens for a break, a coffee and a decision point.

We met up with Robyn, a waitress, and started chatting about bikes. Ended up by swapping e-mail addresses – her son works in IT and you never know when something might come up! We also got swamped by a set of 5 yr old triplets, well Louise did – it was a cat thing to start with. Their Dad came out to rescue us after a while and we ended up chatting with him for 15 mins too.

Suitably refreshed, Louise still determined, we headed for the Rimutuka summit. Well, the road summit anyway!

We had a chat and decided to pop down the other side to Greytown for a cup of coffee and a late lunch. Louise did really well up and down the hill. We managed to stay clear of most traffic too, a bonus.

The cafe we’d previously been to in Greytown was closing as we arrived, so we popped over to the cafe on the other side of the road and had a lovely lunch in their garden area.

The clouds started closing in down the Wairapa and the wind was getting up. It had been bad enough for Louise being battered by the winds coming up the Hutt Valley, so we decided that after a stop at the Rimutuka summit again, we’d stop at Harcourt Park for another decision point – whether or not to do the Akatarawa road!

Yep, the wind got a bit fierce for Louise in places. Although not really bad, it wasn’t brill for her – she did very well and even managed not to get too exhausted from battling the wind. We stopped off Harcourt Park and could tell that the wind was going to be fierce down the Hutt Valley again. Rather than struggle down the SH2, cross over to the SH1 and struggle back up home, we thought it would be better to nip across the Akatarawa Rd to Waikanae. Hopefully, the road over would be a bit better protected.

Yep, it was better! Although we did come across a nasty bump involving a 4×4 and a car that was going to cost both of them a new wing! I did stop to make sure everyone was ok and to see if I was needed, but everything was sorted and they were happy to carry on themselves.

I stayed far enough in front, without being too far away, on point duty to get into trouble first if it was coming. That way anything coming our way had to get past me first, and was nicely slowed down and tucked on their own side when Louise got to them. It worked really well, even though it meant I had a wonderful time on the edge of my wits being first to a corner, making sure it was clear, looking at the next corner and that Louise had made it around ok – oh and staying on the road myself of course. That’s ok when there are only one or two odd corners, but after about 30km of almost constant blind bends it was certainly tiring! Probably more tiring than just riding the same road two up!!

No worries though, we got to the top for a stop and a much-needed break before heading on down to Waikanae and home. Louise was obviously getting more used to the bends by then and was doing great.

Total mileage about 190 km (approx 120 miles)

On a mission today, looking for textile jacket and trousers for biking, mainly for Louise – I’ll look for mine once I know we’re staying.

In the car to MotorMart (BMW dealer) and TSS Red Baron in the Hutt valley then on to Wellington to check out Leather Direct on Cuba St. Lovely staff!

I parked the car up by the Southern Cross Apartments on Abel Smith St again, after dropping Louise halfway down Cuba St so she could get to the shop without so much walking.

The shop was boiling, or at least when you’re trying on full wet weather textile clothing complete with quilted inners it is! Louise did find a 100% waterproof jacket and trousers though, so she’s sorted now! She also found that entering the UK debit card as a credit card allowed the use of the UK banks too (with a pin) – Result!

I’d asked Louise to be ready enough to stay in Wellington for the evening – it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow after all!

We stopped at the Hotel Bristol in Cuba St for a few wets and then for a meal. We had the wets outside watching the world go by – Cuba St is a nice place to do that, lots of variety. We had the meal inside though – Louise had a seafood basket and I had an open steak sandwich. Both meals were gorgeous and we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy.

By now, Louise was getting “a little bit interested” in what we were up to. I’d returned to the car with the shopping earlier (while she got the first drinks), so she had nothing to occupy her mind….

I spilt the beans on the way down Cuba St, we were off to a show called “Busting Out” at the Opera House. I wasn’t really sure what we were in for, but all the reviews had said it was hilarious! We stopped outside the Opera House for a coffee, mainly cos I’d planned to be there early to pick up the tickets. If you’ve ever been to a London show and picked the tickets up on the night, this can be quite a long wait and a lengthy experience.

Ok, so two minutes after walking in through the doors, we were outside again with tickets in hand and it was still only just gone 7pm…..that’ll be an excuse for a latte from the theatre cafe come bar then! Quite a surprise to find that the drinks weren’t all that expensive for a theatre either – London theatres take note please!

Rather than give a blow by blow of the titillating experience of the evening, I thought I’d just quote a review of the show and let you look it up yourselves if you want to know more.

Busting Out! was created by Emma Powell, evolving from a one woman show she wrote for the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2006. Performed with Bev Killick (the blonde one), it is a mixture of stand up, skits, music and even a bit of dance.

The third presence on stage is the BreastCam operator whose job is to film the things that then appear on the big screen upstage. Before the show began she turned the camera on the audience much to their delighted discomfiture. Andy Warhol was right: we do love our few minutes of fame.

Seriously folks, this show is hilarious. You can’t help but laugh even if you are shocked. Bev Killick opens with about 30 minutes of stand up comedy. She covers life with a teenager and a toddler, growing up in Townsville where the men outnumber the women 10 to one, the advantages of big pants over g-strings and how Tina Turner could advertise tinned tuna.

She does all this at the top of her lungs in an accent that could remove rust at 100 metres, and a ribaldness of terminology that only a fair dinkum Aussie would dare to use. But bless her, she goes right to the heart of the matter. Especially about the undies!

The second part of the show is Busting Out! Emma and Bev do things with their boobs that make women wince and men gasp. My personal favourite is Emma’s heartfelt rendition of a song called “Mammaries” that doesn’t sound even remotely like a certain hit song from Cats (yeah right!) during which Bev appears in a cat suit and provides a counterpoint of genuine cat behaviour; the kind T S Eliot chose to ignore.

Powell is a talented singer and has been in several musicals, and my friend commented that she would have enjoyed a whole concert of just listening to her fabulous voice!

The other comic highlight for me was the shadow puppetry. Projected onto the back screen were depictions of things it’s nearly impossible to imagine started out as two women and four breasts!

This show is not for the prudish. It’s not the bare breastedness of it, it’s the unabashed Aussiness of the humour that reached into my Presbyterian Scottish ancestry and pulled out a disapproving, “What do you expect from convict stock!” It is this element that will barely pass or totally fail some Kiwi’s tastefulness test.

But I confess I was a little ashamed of my inner Scot, especially when a Scottish primary school friend of mine was spotted on stage at one point demonstrating how fast she could remove her bra without taking her top off. (But she did come from Glasgow, from mammary, oops memory.)

Which reminds me, there is audience participation but it is quite safe and no-one has to bare anything they don’t want to, not even their soul!

The nearly full house thoroughly enjoyed themselves and there was plenty of laughter throughout.

This is a clever, funny piece of theatre with a popular appeal that goes far beyond the usual theatre going audiences. So tuck your colonial forebears in with a cup of cocoa and head to it without them, they won’t miss it but you probably shouldn’t.

Busting Out website

Found 2 jobs that sounded good – Police e-crimes system support (not sure if I could get it though) and Kapiti Council systems support. Thought I’d have a go anyway! Spent most of the day filling out the application form, security clearance and letter of application….as the Police job closed today.

Louise didn’t feel up to doing much today anyway, which was just as well!

Off for the day in Wellington in the car in the rain – threatened thunderstorms starting down South and moving up the North Island later in the day. Lucky I’d put covers on the bikes last night then….

We visited the NZ Immigration office first, they confirmed I’d need a job offer before I can get a work permit – good try anyway. I thought I’d found a way to get a part-time work permit, but there ya go…. maybe I’ll put it in anyway if it comes to it. Depends on how much it costs really.

Wellington Motorcycles next to check if Joe had found my second key. He’d checked with the previous owner, but no key. He did, however, have the owners handbook – so not a total loss. Louise was checking out the helmets and textile gear. We did also ask about her odometer trip reset knob (it’s missing), but we needed the VIN and to confirm how it attaches.

We had a choice of seeing Avatar 3D or going to Te Papa to see the Pompeii exhibition. The exhibition is on until April, so peering into the darkness with 3D glasses on won out! We thought it was a brilliant film in 2D, its even better in 3D!!

Recovered from the interview this morning – or rather the alcohol induced after effects!

Just as well, as the day was a bit blowy and wet…….

Still up fairly early this morning despite being up until 3am last night, mainly to finish off the security clearance form and get a little bit more info on how the NZDF works.

Left in plenty of time, and got to the interview 10 mins before I was supposed to be there – cool!

Not so cool, the panel decided to have a comfort break and coffee stop after their previous interview. So I ended up waiting for 20 mins, not too bad though and at least the security guard showed me where the water was!

The panel was two male “geeks” and a female HR specialist. I think somebody mentioned that the two “geeks” had flown down from Auckland that morning. (Note. I’m allowed to call a geek a geek, trade professional and all that, takes one to know one etc)

I’m fairly sure the two geeks hadn’t done their Interviewing Techniques course (if there is an NZ equivalent)! After a fairly short “Hi how are you”, the interview launched into a question set that would have seen the combined efforts of Dave Proctor and Dave Aspden (Microsoft consultants often visiting St Athan) scratching their chins! It made the HR questions from the female panel member quite refreshing!

I should have spent some time brushing up on my IT skills too – there were FSMO, Exchange processes, Exchange server “How many networks should you have for Exchange clustering and kindly explain the difference between active/active and active/passive clustering?” to “Explain exactly what happens to an e-mail through after it leaves the users desktop – ie. transaction logs, writing to the database, where does it go from there through which strand of the network cable etc……..”, general Microsoft “Can you quote the difference” and network questions. Struggled in a couple of places as my memory seems to have faded a bit over the last two months – that’s what you get for not working on IT I suppose……….or, it could just be the NZ sun, much more than I’m used to in the UK! On the bright side, I nailed the HR questions!

The interview was due to last from 2.30pm – 4pm. I ended up outside looking for Louise (she’d been shopping and drinking coffee to wait for me) about 5.15pm!! No wonder I was thirsty and a little hoarse -hoarse not horse, its not like I grew an extra set of legs and a long neck and nose under the pressure of the interview….. or indeed a tail, obviously!

When I got back I had a few swift rum n cokes, it was quite a gruelling interview. Louise told me afterwards that I fell asleep about 9.30pm….

Got a phone call this morning from Ellen at New Zealand Defence Force – calling me forward for an interview at 2pm on Tue 9 Feb for both a senior and junior systems engineer. She told me that she’d e-mail me the details later in the day.

Well, the e-mail didn’t turn up until about 4pm, although I had spent the day researching the NZDF. Lo and behold, that’s not all that turned up! Attached were two forms, one easy one – police background check – and one not so easy 16 page security clearance form! I was up until about 3am filling out the security form – I didn’t have all the referee details I needed and was e-mailing 4 people (plus a few backups in case the ones I chose weren’t good enough!)!

Apart from stopping for some tea, not much else going on at all today – can’t imagine why!

We chatted yesterday about where Louise would like to try next on a ride out. We’re both well aware of the differences to biking on the roads here compared to the UK. However, there is certainly a lot less traffic!

Louise decided that she’d like to have a try at Wellington – to experience city traffic. Surely Sunday would be a quiet day…as it turns out, no, Sunday is not a “quiet” day in the city! But good fun anyway.

We had looked up motorway riding in the Road Code, for some reason we’d both come to the conclusion that learners couldn’t ride on motorways a la the UK motorways. I looked up a couple of websites too and couldn’t find anything. Although a lot of bikers had mused that the L plate is a target on the roads, and either left them off or ignored the rules. Not too different to many Kiwi motorists there then! The L plate here is slightly different to the UK, in that its yellow! After that, there’s not really that much you can do with an “L”!

We had looked at the non-motorway roads to get to Wellington, but decided that they had their own issues too – steep hills etc. So we decided to go for it. By now, we had also decided that travelling at 80 km/h, instead of the legal 70 km/h, was a lot safer in traffic. A lot of the towns and minor roads are 50 or 80 km/h limits and you get a lot less hassle from drivers, trying to get past, at 80 than you do at 70! It also seems to be a matter the police are willing to ignore as they don’t agree with the 70 limit either – as we said, its actually dangerous to “slow” the traffic. Having said that, so far we’ve been quite lucky in that a lot of drivers give loads of space to Louise as a learner – long may that continue!

We went straight into Wellington, though we did get off the motorway at Ngauranga (the g is silent evidently, so pronounced as Nauranga) and took the Hutt Rd into the city. After many traffic lights and junctions, we stopped by the side of Wellington Motorcycles for a coffee, louise having done really well on the busy roads and junctions!

We then headed off towards the airport, turning off just before to go to Miramar. Although we’d been to the Weta Cave (the company responsible for Lord of the Rings scenery, models etc) before, I thought it would be lovely to visit again.

I was going to take us over to Lyall Bay, but the grey clouds were gathering that way. So, instead we went across to Seatoun for a quick drink and a loo stop for me. Then followed the headland around back to Wellington City.

I couldn’t remember the way up to Mt Victoria – the easy way that is. We still found a way up, but I think Louise would have preferred not to take it, in hindsight. Whoops! It was fairly steep an narrow I have to say…..but the view at the top is definitely worth the trip.

Found the easy way up after all, but only on the way down

A coffee was definitely on the cards, and Louise suggested the cafe in Petone that we went to after her bike training day. Good choice, although the waitress we’d met last time was hobbling after a fall……didn’t stop her asking for a ride on the VSTROM though…….

Back home via Pauatahanui, and very surprisingly Louise wanted to try out Battle Hill! And very well she did too, taking it real slow on the way back down!

Turned out to be quite a long day after all, and certainly a lot further than originally intended!

Total mileage 150km (approx 94 miles)

Sunny day out on the deck today, reading books and drinking wine – maybe a bike ride wouldn’t be too good an idea!