Giedre tyttö Ozista

Cowboy Country

Quite amazing, today is my birthday. A birthday somehow lost all significance once I turned 16. I can't remember my age from the top of my head anymore (maybe that's the best indication of my age? :) I had a discussion with my sister a few days ago, she said that I'll notice my age, when everyone will start addressing me as "madam". I said that it won't happen as long as I'm wearing my sneakers and hooded jumpers. "Just you wait", my sister said. "One day they will say: what a nice pair of sneakers you have, madam". :) Can't wait for this to happen... :)

We didn't do much on my birthday - coffee and cake were in the program, but were canceled because of a long walk we did in Waitakere ranges (2 hours only, but apparently we're in pretty bad shape, I couldn't catch my breath going up those muddy slopes). No pictures of that... But here's a picture of our pizza that we cooked on our brand new pizza stone!!! Better than any restaurant pizza you can get around here! I got sunglasses for a present, exactly the same kind that I lost in Lithuania last summer... Thanks, Kaitsu!!!

Well, Kaj got his share of fun at Piha on Saturday. I stayed on the shore, so I could take some pictures. Kaj's pretty good already, isn't he? Kaj is extremely happy with his surf board. Now he is asking me to write that "I saw him dropping down these really huge waves (6ft.. yeah yeah:) and he'd emerge still standing on the board like a pro". Well, more or less this is how it was.. :)

I guess I have to "toughen up" and dash into water next time I have an opportunity. "Toughen up", I was told when I was complaining about never ending "spring". We had southerly winds last week and the temperature dropped by some 10 degrees... Yah, people are pretty tough here, you see crazy kiwis (even kids!!!) running around in T-shirts and barefoot (!!!!) at any weather. It seemed to be exotic at first, now I don't know what to think... It just seams that people here don't feel cold the way we do...

I did some driving today (at 35-50km/h speeds) on the way to Huia. The road looked pretty empty, but within 30 seconds of me sitting down at the steering wheel, I already had some 6 cars queuing up behind me and very anxious to pass (ha ha.. the roads are so winding that noone dared to dash to the opposite lane!). I thought next time I go driving, I'll print out a sheet of paper saying "I drive slowly" and put it up on the back window. Kaj said its completely unneccessary, obviously they notice that... :)

We still can't get over kiwi driving style. There's plenty of boy racers speeding in their cr**ppy old little cars with massive exhaust pipes, every second person will tailgate you and breath on your neck (completely ignoring the "2 seconds rule" explicitly explained in the Road Code), people take over anyhow, no problem.. winding road? sure, bring it on, just cut the corners on the opposite lane. Kaj's favorite past time is reading newspapers and quoting all the horrible statistics.. deaths on the road, burglaries, murders, etc. I still suspect that the newspapers are playing it up to sell more copies, but obviously, tolerance for crime and misbehaviour here is something we haven't seen in Singapore, Finland, or not even in Lithuania... Its a cowboy country... :)