Nico's Journal

We went to Whitcoulls bookshop last week so that I could spend some vouchers. I rarely buy books unless I know I'll reread them, so I looked at DVDs. There again, unless I want to watch them more than once, I'd rather rent them. I did fancy Doctor Who: War Games, and would have bought it too, but it was twice the price of the other old Who serials there--and two thirds the price of a whole season of new Who. So I wandered around disconsolately, wondering what I could use my vouchers on. I was sniggering at a book of Barack and Michelle Obama paper dolls when I saw it.

The Book Seat.

I've got a lot of use out of it already. It's a great design which holds a book firmly and still lets you turn the page easily, and I use it on the table when eating and on my lap. It stops my hands getting sore when holding up a large book for hours and I can drink tea and read. :-)

( Let Vic show you how it works )

I got tickets for the steam train excursion to Vilagrad Winery! We have to pick them up before the train leaves (at an absurdly early hour on Sunday; eep). W00t! Greg says it might be raining by then, but hey, steam trains and Vilagrad! Check out the site; the winemaker brother even looks rather like Vila (second photo on the main page, and left back in the first one).

Actually, I asked the father about the name and it wasn't always called that. He said when he married into the family in the early 80s, he renamed the winery because he really loved the name. The timing is suspiciously right for him to be a Vila fan. Nah, just coincidence, surely. :-)

Greg just saw this excursion in the local paper: a day's outing by steam train (and bus) to Vilagrad Winery. Yes, Vilagrad which I've been to twice before, and also home of the Vila Brothers Band. Damn, I have to wait till tomorrow's business hours to see if I can get two tickets. It's not just for Vila and wine either: we both love steam trains, and I've already missed out on a weekend steam trip to the Chateau because it's just before Greg goes overseas.

Last weekend I went down to Hamilton to combine seeing a friend with a birthday treat. We had lunch on the paddle boat Waipa Delta, then wandered round the beautiful Hamilton Gardens (see this page for a description of the different international gardens there). As I already took pictures last time, I was more restrained. All my photos (25 of them) are in this LJ gallery, but here's a selection.

( Stuffed Jeeves )

I already know the wonderful Vilagrad Wines who produce award-winning wines and fun parties (I have been to two) not to mention the Vila Brothers band, but Delta Vineyard has just taken the Air NZ champion of show medal with their pinot noir (and I see by that link that they did pretty well in London). Go, Vila! Wine-making is so much more fun and much more profitable than rebellion. :-)

That's a nice price too. I must look for it at the wine shop before it goes up.

I put some money on Delta Blues [points at icon made a while ago] for the Melbourne Cup--and it won!

I put $3 each way on Delta Blues (win!), $1 on Delta Blues and Pop Rock for a quinella (win!), and $3 on a trifecta for Delta Blues, Geordieland, and Maybe Better (2 out of 3). So I think I get about $140 for my $10. If I'd got the trifecta, I'd have made $3,300. :-P

But hey, dinner out and a bottle of wine on Vila! :-D

I know sallymn and jomacmouse put their money on the Delta too: how did you guys do?

[picks icons more in keeping with mood]:

Hee! [points at icon which has had for a while] There's a horse called Delta Blues running in the Melbourne Cup tomorrow and I'm so tempted to put a small bet on it.

[Edit] And I did.

[Edit] And it won!

I just saw on teletext (TV text news) that NZ is building a new prison in Port Vila. :-P Apparently the two existing ones are "on their last legs". I think Vila would prefer them that way. For that matter, he'd also rather it was the other sort of port that was named after him.

And NZ has just revamped all its post codes. [rolls eyes] I now have to order new address stamps and stickers. Oh joy, though a better system was needed. So, those of you who have my snail-mail addy, my post code is no longer 1005, but 1072.

All of my pictures from my birthday weekend away are in an LJ gallery, but here's a selection.

( Assorted pics, all under 60KB )

There aren't any photos yet because I took my film camera with me instead of my old compact digital camera, because it has a zoom and works a lot better in bad light. I'll get them back tomorrow.

( What Nico did )

Sorry if I haven't responded to everyone's birthday wishes and comments, but frelling Telecom upgraded our connection speed today, with no notice (the bastards were meant to do it before Easter) and with their usual technical expertise and competence have completely dorked our connection. So I'm at the library with a lot of schoolkids, using a PC designed for seniors with enormous letters on the keyboard and huge screen fonts.

[Edit]: I'm back. After six hours off-line when it should have been 30 minutes. The techs at Telecom really screwed up, but I'm just glad it's fixed now.

Anyway, we're going away this weekend for a birthday trip to Hamilton, where we're going to Vilagrad Wines' centenary harvest festival tomorrow night. They will have grape-trampling and exotic Brazilian dancers; Vila would so approve. ;-) And on Sunday, I've booked a lunch cruise on the steamboat Waipa Delta. Yes, a very Vila-y weekend!

But that's not all. The big present Greg planned will be delayed till later in the year because we've had a lot of expenses lately, but I will finally get to achieve one of my lifelong dreams: drive a tank - a Centurion, no less! :-D Is it a surprise that my high school nickname was Rommel? :-D

Yesterday we went to Hamilton for the day. We met my friend Tanya for lunch at a riverside pub, then walked along the river to the Hamilton Gardens. These are absolutely beautiful and they have six international gardens there, including the new Indian one which opened last year. We visited all of them and next time I'll plan to spend more time there. All my photos are in an LJ gallery, but here are some favourites which aren't like the ones on the official website.

( Pics: Hamilton Gardens )

I'm off to Hamilton for the day, so I'll catch up with my f-list when I get back.

We're meeting a friend for lunch, then we're all going to the Hamilton Gardens, which are done in different styles (Japanese, Egyptian etc) and very beautiful. I shall get pictures.

And in the evening, it's the Vilagrad Winery for dinner and a show: comedy with Gary McCormick and Tim Shadbolt, though only trixieteitz and imhilien will know who they are.

'Vilagrad', incidentally, means 'hometown', but it's perfect for our Vila--they do a lot of parties--and he could supply Stark's Bar in Auckland. :-)

OK, how could I resist? I just ordered two Delta cushions (one of each), made of filled polyester suede in brown and beige. They'll go on the cream armchairs in the lounge and will, I'm sure, be very comfy if not as cuddly as the real thing.

This room is getting very fannish with the signed pics of Michael Keating and the bird of paradise plant by the front door--which I won't be opening to any Scarrans.