Christmas in New Zealand 2013

Well it's Christmas time again and I thought I had better do something on here about it. Not every country celebrates Christmas and for the past 3 years I was in one of those countries that have little to do with the festive season - South Korea. Yes there may be some lights and music in main centers like Seoul but generally Christmas is pretty low key compared to other more "western" countries.

So this is my first Christmas in a while. New Zealand is of course in the southern hemisphere so there is no snow for Santa. He gets to spend some time sunbathing in the summer heat (before heading up north to those colder areas).

A typical New Zealand Christmas involves opening presents that were under the tree, visiting family for lunch or dinner and maybe heading outside to a park or most likely the beach to try out those new presents with the kids.

This year however was quite overcast and showers kept most people inside with their new toys.

I took a few pictures of a typical New Zealand lunch - usually consisting of chicken, turkey or ham or all of the afore mentioned. Followed by desert of sugary foods.





















As there were no kids at our Christmas lunch you miss out on seeing all the colourful drinks and lollies (candy) that they would be eating.

Christmas lights are not such a big thing here but there are some people that like to put on a display for the public. I visited one local street that attracts a lot of locals around Christmas time when families can enjoy a walk out in the humid night air and take their kids to see the lights.













Well there is a little look at a New Zealand Christmas.

Next week is of course New Years so I hope you are all enjoying the festive season and being safe and so on....

I will see you here next time with.... ? something interesting. ^^ Until then have a great week!

Jukebox Diner / Classics Museum Hamilton New Zealand

Jukebox Diner / Classics Museum Hamilton New Zealand

http://www.classicsmuseum.co.nz/

Well a while back I was able to head down to Hamilton to visit the classics museum consisting of old classic cars and motorbikes as well as have lunch at the Jukebox Diner located in the same building.


A couple of hours drive from Auckland city this would be a good half day or day trip to see something unique and a must for the classic car enthusiast.

The diner was quite busy and the staff there seemed to be fully occupied with delivering the meals to the many customers that were there on the day.
Kids meals are $8 with adults ranging from about $9 to $16. You can check out whats on the menu here:
http://www.classicsmuseum.co.nz/diner/menu.html

Here's a look at what you get:

American Hot-dog:



Nacho's:



Kids American Hot-dog:



On to the Classics Museum.

Admission per adult is $20 and kids $8 each. http://www.classicsmuseum.co.nz/admission.html

The museum itself is rather impressive with I would guess millions of dollars worth of cars on display. Along with the cars are old memorabilia from the early motoring days of New Zealand with many old petrol station signs, gasoline canisters, petrol pumps and more. Out at the back wall there is even an old wooden truck. Upstairs there is a mezzanine  floor going around the building giving you a vantage point to look down upon the classic cars from above and there are also more cars upstairs to look at as well as a collection of old motorbikes.

Overall my impressions were good and well worth the trip for a weekend event, date etc. However it is a tad expensive taking everything into account. Perhaps they could arrange a meal and museum combo?

Well lets have a look at some of the pictures, also if you want to see all the cars check out the YouTube video at the bottom.







































Well that's all for this week. Perhaps I will take you somewhere special next week. ^^

Until then have a great week and wow it's almost Christmas! >.<

IPW Wrestling New Zealand - Nighmare Before Christmas Fans Bring the Weapons

IPW Wrestling New Zealand - Nighmare Before Christmas Fans Bring the Weapons
7 December 2013

Wow!

Heading out alone to this event on Saturday night I was kind of expecting a good show but I was totally blown away by the main event between Vinnie Dunn and Travis Banks.


The night seemed to be filled with exciting matches and some disappointments for fans of the baby face wrestlers (good guys) as the tag team championship changed hands twice in a matter of minutes.

But the real attraction was the main event fans bring the weapons and boy did they. There was everything but the kitchen sink. Just to name a few strange items; a toaster, a blow up dolphin, a unicorn, a cabbage and then there were more traditional items such as chairs a rubbish bin lid, a piece of wood, a table and a ladder.

The guys did a great job at taking the items from the crowd and using them with some devastating effects. There was blood and big hits but the most fantastic part was when the ladder came into the ring, Vinnie Dunn was on the table outside the ring and Travis Banks leaps from the top of the ladder over the ropes of the ring and down onto Vinnie and the table! Amazing!

The match ended when the referee was knocked out and members of "Investment" came out and systematically too Travis Banks apart before Vinne got the 1,2,3 to retain the championship title. After that Investment strutted around the ring before an altercation broke out with some wrestlers in the audience.

I haven't been to many of these wrestling events so I am not sure who the different factions are and the wrestlers relationships with each other (who is warring with who etc). But I did enjoy this event so much that I might just go to the next one on January 11 New Years Takeover at the Mt Albert War Memorial Hall 6:30 - 9:30 pm.
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2014/impact-pro-wrestling/auckland/mt-albert
Tickets also at the door.

Here are a few photos and a YouTube slideshow of some of the action during the night.















Next week I might bring you some archived content from the vaults here ^^

Until then have a great week and see you soon! ^^

V8 SuperTourers New Zealand - Pukekohe 30 November 2013

V8 SuperTourers New Zealand Pukekohe Saturday 30 November 2013.

http://www.v8st.co.nz/

Free tickets to the Saturday race had me out at Pukekohe with a fully loaded camera to shoot the V8's as they thundered around the Pukekohe race track.

Similar to the Australian V8 Supercars the SuperTourers are a relatively new concept to the New Zealand racing scene. Bringing more excitement and more expensive high performing vehicles the V8 SuperTourers have injected a fresh attitude to New Zealand racing and have a growing following with a strong fan base.

Having not been to Pukekohe for a long time (almost 10 years) I was amazed to see two huge fences on the main straight of the race course. I don't exactly know what the reason was for the added fence but apparently there was some kind of incident that I assume led to things flying off cars into the audience at some point. However it does leave a lot to be desired for spectators now. If you are in the grandstand you can still see the racing but on the embankments you will have a lovely view of two chain-link fences. Not something I was excited about seeing having been to Hampton Downs raceway a few weeks ago which has a very "clean" racetrack where you can get up and personal with the racing. I did feel that Pukekohe has turned into a prison like complex where (for a photographer anyway) it is difficult to get a clean look at the cars as they go around the track. However walking past the pits out to the back end of the track there are areas to shoot on the corners through fences or open areas before the straight.

As I remembered from the last time I was at Pukekohe the weather was again variable with high winds, changeable light, rain and overcast skies. A good challenge for a photographer.

During the day there were several classes of races for example muscle cars, utes, toyota and several other classes of vehicles. But of course the V8 SuperTourers are the main draw card.

Here are some shots of the day, a YouTube slideshow with more photo's and.....

V8 SuperTourers















An example of what the cars are like racing:



Ute







Muscle Cars











Other Class





That wraps it up for this week. I am hoping to get into some of these video's myself and give you some commentary about whats going on. I will try to do that soon.
Whats coming up this week... on Saturday I will most likely be heading off to the final show of the year for IPW Wrestling (see details about IPW Here: http://kiwicruzin.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/d1nz-drift-cars-ipw-wrestling-new.html ) Nightmare Before Christmas at the Lynfield Recreation Center. So get down there to see a great show. I hope to bring you some more content from that night next time along with something else I stumble across during the week.

Until next time have a great week! ^^