JURY SERVICE !

In the mail today.. a letter telling me I have jury service for a week in September. I'm beginning to feel paranoid. The courtroom dramas continue!

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE !

I had to go to Court today.
Some stupid woman drove into me last year, hit and run.. she drove off and hid in a car park.
I was so angry I drove off after her, got out of the car in the car park and stormed round until I found her.
She was uninsured, her car wasn't registered, she had no driving license and the car was unroadworthy with a denied MOT.
Nevertheless, I had to go to court because she wouldn't pay up and the Insurance Company wanted their money.
So, an afternoon off work, drive all the way to the Ministry of Justice building, complete with 30 minutes parking for an hour's hearing and plenty of tagging.
Surprise, surprise, she doesn't even turn up!
The court judge was sweet though, couldn't pronounce my name and declared he was ruling in my favour.
There's my experience for the week!

FOOD SHOW !

This is where it's all happening.
Every year we go to the Food Show in Auckland - such an event could never happen in England! It would cause riots!! There would be stampedes to get in! This was our destination this weekend.
It is literally a gourmet spectacle .. all types of foods and wines in huge halls, each stand dedicated to providing 'tastes' of their product. There were over 300 stands... Chefs do demonstrations of their signature dishes and authors sign their cookbooks for you. Girls 'dress up' to promote their wares imaginatively !
Every now and then there are 'rest areas' with sofas and water and cooking magazines to browse through.
The girls loved it! Raspberry and white chocolate icecream was delicious.. Lindt chocolate and champagne was a hit too ..
We took our Newcastle Homestay with us and she was overwhelmed, while we happily munched and drank our way round for 3 hours.
What a day!

WHANGAREI FALLS !

Whangarei Falls - look at the difference!
I must organise a Waterfall Weekend, it would be awesome!

STORMY !

Sky Tower nearly hit by tornado! The eye of the storm continues to move over North Island, and it's the gusts that are so dangerous - up to 160kph..
I hadn't realised that the tide has risen to over half a metre higher than normal - I'm glad I haven't bought that bach yet!

Harbour Bridge is closed to motorcycles! And Sky Tower was swaying so much, it closed too. I'm amazed anyone wanted to go up in the first place. It has a completely glass elevator - floor, ceiling and sides..

SEVERE WEATHER !

Back to dreadful weather here, it's now the third storm in as many weeks and severe storm warnings across the country.
Headlines tell us it's the worst weather in a decade.
Reminds me of the 1987 storm in England, trees uprooted and roads and airports closed. Added danger here is the nearness of the sea, so that it overwhelms the coastal roads and beachfront homes.
Combine that with mud slips and all we need is a decent volcanic eruption to top it all off.
Oh, we also had a small earthquake on Thursday night and power cuts.
Hope this makes you feel better about your rubbish summer weather!

POLICE !

Don't you just love the Fijian Police uniform?
Respect!