Red Zone Enigma

Our favourite brewery and pub in Christchurch (and possibly the world) was The Twisted Hop. It was severely affected by the February earthquake. On a recent visit to our wine and beer supplier I was intrigued to see some beer had come out of the brewery.

This a strong ale (10.5%), the Mag 6.3 refers to the seismologic intensity of the event.

The back explains a bit more about the provenance of the brew – I have transcribed it below. We wish all in Christchurch good luck in re-establishing their businesses and lives. May it not be too long before we can sample fresh brews from this wonderful brewery.

For the record the ale was very drinkable, quite heavy (as you would expect) with a marmaladey flavour.

Barley Wine is the English term for a brewer’s strongest offering – so fear not, it is indeed a beer best served at room temperature with a strong blue cheese.

This batch, though, is a little special. What you hold in your hands sat in the Red Zone cordon from February 22^nd until August 8^th, 2011. While we watched Poplar Lanes crumble from behind military guarded fences, made countless calls to insurance companies and officialdom; shovelled liquefaction and tidied our homes (again); this barley wine sat patiently, avoiding looters and damage from yet another major June quake.

Savour this superb drop when you have a moment to sit, enjoy and reflect. The little pleasures we take for granted are amongst those we miss the most when lost.

Christchurch and The Twisted Hop will rise again, of that we’re certain. So if you need something to raise a glass to we hope that will suffice.

The Round Ball Game

The new football season has started. Last week the Phoenix drew in Australia, this week was their first home game. It was a lovely sunny day and the ground had recovered well from its recent use for the oval ball game, although there were some reminders of the event still taking place 650 Km north.

We got our first look at the new goalkeeper Tony Warner from Liverpool who was playing as Mark Paston was injured.

The club has had a change of ownership with the founding owner Terry Serepisos relinquishing control after running into financial difficulties. He was given a good reception

and Yellow Fever had a massive “Thanks Terry” banner.

Then the players came out

and the game got under way. It wasn’t a wonderful match, the Newcastle Jets have had their own troubles and didn’t play particularly well. The end result was the Phoenix winning 2 nil but most discussion was on the two controversial red cards handed out by the referee.

Chinese Spring Festival

The Chinese Anglican Mission have a church and large hall just by the Botanic Garden. Every year at about this time they have a bazaar which features lots of ethnic food and various cultural displays. When the children were young they loved going down to see the dragon and lion dances on the Soundshell lawn.

This year we went down after lunch and the lion dance was performed in the hall.

Jenny really enjoyed it and wasn’t scared like she was when she was 4!

These fan dancers were very elegant and colourful.

Sirocco

One of my long held ambitions was to see a kakapo in the flesh. Given that they are confined to two remote islands in the deep south I didn’t have much hope in ever realising it. Yesterday that dream came true. The tale of Sirocco is well known, hand reared as a sickly chick he imprinted on people and has been appointed as spokesbird for his species. As part of his duties he has started touring some of the conservation establishments in the country and for a short time only is at Zealandia. Being a member I got preferential booking and we went last night. These pictures are pretty grainy due to the low light levels (kakapo being nocturnal). There are better ones on some of the links. 

This one gives you a better idea of the size of the bird – Sirocco weighs in at about 2.7 Kg (weighing is part of the show) but breeding males can be up to 4 Kg.

 We were also given some samples of his feathers to feel (very soft) and smell (sweet and musty). Jenny is a fan.