World Cup, American/Mexican Festivities

That Saturday after we left work Kat from WH invited us to the Germany vs. Argentina game. Simon from WH came along as well, and we went to a fun bar near Courtney Place. John got this fantastic photo of Simon and Kat leaving work looking their best on the way out:


Simon was quite social, and fairly quickly was floating around the bar, while we watched Germany punish Argentina in almost a painful 3-0 victory. We were later joined by James (Kat’s flatmate) and a few other friends.

Here are Marian and Kat:



The following morning we headed to the Sunday market as was the usual routine, got great deals on produce and left to the Hutt with Conrad for a July 4th celebration. Conrad and Wendy had collected all of their American friends, so along with John and I there was Dori and another wwoofing friend. Wendy and Conrad went all out, buying Budweiser for the big day (despite our warnings not to), and making a spicy salsa and corn chips. Here is Conrad feeling rather American by getting his Bud for the 4th:


While the Adams sat in another room discussing the details of their upcoming house purchase, we sat around with our American friends chatting it up. After the real estate discussions were done, Wendy treated us to a starter “tortilla Espanola,” now Marian was feeling particularly spoiled. We then had some Manuka honey Vodka mixed drinks, which were tasty and great, before heading down the street to a Mexican restaurant. Nothing says “Fourth of July” like great Mexican food. Here is Wendy hard at work preparing the dish:


At the restaurant, Marian became quite obsessed with the space heater – it was cold in there. We had a Margarita a piece and were offered Flautas to start. YUM! But John had to eat the flauta of one American who turned out to be a vegetariana. Evidently, you can’t eat chicken flautas if you don’t eat meat. Then we had our mains – the usual mess of enchiladas, tacos, tamales. Yum, yum all around!


To top the night off, Wendy drove us all the way into town to drop us off – curbside service – at the house. It was a great night, and it was awesome to celebrate Independence Day in the States in New Zealand with the Adams. Note: Conrad let us know that he had been walking around all day telling others, “Happy Fourth of July” much to the surprise and shock of several puzzled Kiwis. They were even more shocked when he asked how they anticipated celebrating. He was also giving out free coffees to all Americans at the market. We are pretty sure some sketchy Canadians got in there to take advantage. We told him next year to make them say the word “about” before giving coffee away.