In the media, at the ballet, on a Plate

An addendum to last week’s blog: we’d like to do a shout out to the Westpac Stadium music editor, who put on “Let it go” from Frozen when a fight almost broke out following a penalisation for “not releasing the ball”, and “Weather with You” when the ice rain and gales set in.

Let us know if you'd like the legible article

This week the much-anticipated Kiwi Trail Runner article came out: my ‘doing the media’ for a trail running event at one of Meridian’s wind farms (that you’ll remember back in this blog) turned into Roger and I being featured. Possibly because the photographer Angelo took The Nicest Photo of Us Ever.

Following a session with Bieber on coping with fame we were able to venture out on Friday night to a low key Japanese restaurant then to Giselle by the NZ National Ballet. A heart-twisting balance of comic and tragic, the performance told the classic story beautifully with strong leads and excellently threatening Wilis (the corps as nymph-ghosts who make unfaithful men dance to their death). It even rivalled the performance of Giselle we saw a few years ago at the Royal Opera House. Being able to see the whole stage was an advantage.

On Saturday we hosted friends Tim and Sophie for brunch and delayed Olympics coverage on Prime (TV channel), watching NZer Valerie Adams lead in the shot put final. I had a satisfying Olympathon including briefly being able to watch BBC video, while Roger slid around in standing water at Newtown Park (our club football ground). 

Beervana!

Saturday evening meant 'Wellington on a Plate' festival Beervana: a craft beer taste-athon at Westpac stadium where you walk round the concourse trying beers from local, national and some international breweries. We started civilised, trying to compare similar beers from different breweries. But then the lure of chilli stout, sourbet fruit beer, wild fermented cider, two tap mochachocca chino* et al became too much. We started playing 'guess the beer I got' with our co-beer-connoisseurs Richard and Lucy. Roger powered a band's sign on a bike. We ate currywurst and those amazing chips with pulled pork on top.

What a bright sign

The next day I felt less than Olympic-standard ready for my football match. But it was another gloriously sunny Sunday. We needed to win all three remaining games to win the league, preferably picking up as much goal difference as poss along the way. 4-0 made a good start, with the fourth goal directly assisted by none other than this blog's editor. Roger had his turn on the sofa with the Olympics.

Chocolate...turds?

Late in the afternoon we trotted off to our second Wellington on a Plate event, the Chocolate Festival at Te Papa. The 'live demonstration' rooms were disappointingly crowded, but we did enjoy the proximity of the coffee tasting to the chocolate fountain: "Please do NOT fill your coffee cups at the fountain! DO NOT fill them! STOP!" The NZ Chocolatiers room was excellent for tasters, however, so we unabashedly went round every stall, bought some gifts and some pinot noir truffles for ourselves, did a little media interview soundbite (refer to above paragraph re fame), ate some ice cream and waddled back home. 

From my desk I can see the snow-capped Tararuas beyond the shipping container wharf and Bluebridge ferry (pic below). Next week we should have some more snow for you as the weather looks good on Ruapehu for the weekend: we might finally make some tracks in the pow (go skiing).

The Tararuas beyond the Meridian building shutter

*I didn't make that up - Garage Project did.