Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cups: Perfection

As all of my friends know, I have not one but two weaknesses: new stationary and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, both of which are extremely hard to come by in New Zealand.

In the deliciously-awesome-nothing-can-compare department of the mysteriously perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate that is the Reese's peanut butter cup, I have been doing much searching with no success. The peanut butter and chocolate combination does not exist in New Zealand. I have been making do with peanut butter and Nutella on toast, brownies and peanut butter icing and sometimes even just a spoonful or peanut butter straight from the jar followed by a spoonful of Nutella so you get both tastes.

Last week, Mark and I made one of my most favorite New Zealand discoveries: an imported candy store. That's right. An Imported Candy Store! Not only is it fantastic because it is a candy store... but one of their delicious imported treats is none other than the fantastic Reese's Peanut butter Cup. It is such fantastic news, I felt the need to dedicate a whole blog post to it, as it really is that big of an event in my life. I bought one small package containing two cups and after walking home quickly to prevent melting, I stuck the whole package into the freezer where it will reside until either 1) I give into its tempting call or 2) I have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day - like Alexander for those of you who know children's literature.

And the Sorting Hat Said....

My first week back at school has been a blur even without the students present. Everyone I have met has been fantastically helpful and kind. I have organized my room, hunted down desks, organized laptops, figured out keys, codes and passwords and attended all of the regular "back to school" teacher meetings.

As you can see, I have fantastic windows. Two walls of my room are windows and I manage to get full sun all day because of the orientation of the building. I have yet to turn on the lights in my room, even on the dull and grey cyclone days.

I am so very very lucky to have such a wonderful selection of storage. To the right of this photo there is a bit more storage behind the doors. The best part is, a few of them even have locks for things like calculators. The little pile of bags is what I brought in for my own use be it a few decorations and a few school supplies.

This is a photo from the back of the class of the final product. I have some quotes on the front wall. The area to the left is my own built in desk and I only finished setting it up today, but didn't think to snap a photo of it so the one below is the "work in progress" photo. It now contains all those other necessary papers for duty rotations, attendance codes and the likes.

In addition to all of that, I spent a lot of time wandering around campus to find my way around and all of the places I will need on a week to week basis. I am very lucky as my school has a whole building dedicated to Maths Courses. We have a fantastic work room and everyone is near by which makes collaboration very easy. On campus, Maths is not unique in having it's own building. Despite being the equivalent to the North American high schools, it is laid out like an undergraduate university. Each faculty has a building including dance, drama, woodworking, automotive, cooking, and fabrics. In addition to all of these buildings, we also have a large stand alone hall, tennis courts, a pool (HURRAY!!!), volleyball courts and rugby fields. There is also a lot of care given to the grounds with small "parksih" spaces around campus and a very large front lawn where the students gather for morning tea. I am hoping to snap some photos of the campus on Saturday as it will be a little quieter during the weekends. 

This is the Math building. My classroom is on the right hand side, on the second floor. You can only see the bricks of my room. 

This is the front lawn area where the students have morning tea and many of them have lunch here as well. 

 This is the library and the reading area, which is directly next door to the Maths building. 

The school runs from years 9 to 13 and each student is placed in one of four houses: Grey, Massey, Seddon, and Hobson. Each of the houses is named after former Prime Ministers or Governors. The students are sorted based on family traditions. You tend to be placed into houses where parents, grandparents, siblings or other relatives have been housed. Each house on campus is known for some sort of ability or area where the students most often excel.  I was "sorted" into Grey house which has a reputation for being musically and artistically (dance, drama, theater) talented  ... as you can see, for the teachers there were no entry level forms to be fulled out about talents and abilities before we were placed. I am not overly musically talented, but I look forward to working with a talented group of kids. 

I am sure the next few weeks will be even busies than the one I just had, but honestly, I can't wait for it all to start. I miss the kids and the math. 

Mumble, Nemo, Sebastian and Squidward

As this is my last weekend of vacation before I head back to school next week Mark and I decided to do a few more touristy things on our big list of attractions and sight seeing we want to take part in whilst we are here.

Last night we decided to do the aquarium today - which was fantastic! I think my favourite part of it all was the penguin enclosure with the Antarctic penguins. There were a few species and we happened to be going through at feeding time so we were able to watch them dive into the water and chase the fish being thrown in the tanks. There was also a little crèche (nursery) that housed a few baby penguins. They were so fluffy!

There was also a massive tank that were built around a walking tunnel. The floor moved on its own, sort of like the moving pedways they have at large airports so you could focus on looking up without tripping. The density of fish, sharks, rays and other organisms was spectacular, it was overwhelming to try and take it all in the first go around.

The seahorse kingdom with a large display of seahorses and pipe fish was fantastic. The animals were stunning and so graceful.

There were also some gorgeous salt water aquariums with beautiful tropical fish and corals.

Once back in the car, I asked Mark if we could try out "Moustache" a little milk and cookies bar we had found in downtown Auckland last time we were there. He obliged and we split a delicious Oreo-Marshmallow cookie that was made in a chocolate base. They had milk on tap (regular, chocolate and strawberry) and so many flavors of gourmet cookies it was hard to choose. They even had a little counter/bar area where you could kick back after a hard day's work and indulge your sweet tooth.

Curious George at the Zoo

Tom's last day here was suppose to be spent walking around downtown Auckland, milling about the shops, people watching and having one nice lunch out on the town. We were also going to see if the Cookie Bar was open. The Cookie Bar is a bar, but it has a variety of milks on tap and serves only cookies and sweets on their menu. As we were finishing up buttermilk pancakes and bacon (the real bacon that comes in rashes, not the silly sliced ham they claim to be bacon), I suggested that perhaps instead of taking Tom, who is currently teaching in Korea, to a busy street filled with people to eat in a restaurant, maybe we could do something a little more interesting...the ZOO! Everyone was on board and shortly we were paying our admission to the Auckland Zoo, which in a happy coincidence is pretty much just down the street.

One of the first animals we came across was a crane species known as a Brolga having a slurp from the watering hole.

Next up was one of the most beautiful land turtles I have seen, the great Galapagos Turtle. He was trying to take a nap despite his paparazzi. 

Just around the corner from the Galapagos Turtle was a display of cactus and we just had to stop to take a photo as it is not often that I see such beautiful blooms on cacti 

This little guy, the Cotton Top Tamarin,  was super cute jumping around from branch to branch. 

Next up was the Alligators who were lounging around in the sun. 

From there we looped back around to see the lemurs again as the zoo has interactive programs and the lemurs were being fed by some lucky children who were able to get up close and interact with the cute little guys. 

Why does the orangutan have a blanket on his head? I have only two possible solutions. 

1) It is very hot and he will take any shade he can get 

2) He is mimicking all of the tourists he sees wearing hats as we try and create some shade for ourselves

Another, younger, orangutan is playing with some of the habitat by being both an acrobat and completely relaxed 

The meerkats were busy at work digging tunnels. One of the fantastic things about this exhibit was that there were (child sized) tunnels of clear tubes under parts of their habitats so children were able to climb in and see some of the digging from underground.

 These little guys are some of the world's smallest penguins - the Korora. As you can see, they are a tropical penguin and they are faintly blue in the way that flamingos are faintly pink.

Here is the Tuatara which Mark informs me has been around since the time of the dinosaurs. He is very excited about the whole Jurassic Park thing. 

This heron was one of the animals we felt the worst for in our visit. It was hot, there was not much shade and this guy was in a walk through display so he wasn't even that sheltered from some of the tourists who insisted in getting a bit too close for comfort. 

Some of the ornithology habitats were amazing with all the birds flying here and there. Some of them clearly liked their public and were willing to pose for photos, like this guy the Kea, a bird known for literally destroying cars. 

Even the big cats who are used to this sort of temperature were using their years of experience to find a cool place to lay low during the heat of the day. 

This is Burma, the zoo's Asian Elephant. When we met her, she was out on her daily walk vising the baboon enclosure. From there she went to visit some other friends throughout the zoo. 

More big cats doing what they do best in high heat...finding a heavily shaded area to lay down and observe their public. This guy was beautifully framed by the trees in a way that makes him look as regal as they come in the animal kingdom.

These guys are one of my most favorites to see at any zoo. I am not sure if is the silly one legged stance, the pink colouring of the beaks that look like the belong on a cartoon but I find these guys captivating to look at and observe. 

No zoo is complete without some very large animals, and in addition to the zoo's elephant and their hippopotamuses, they have rhinos! These guys are beautiful and my favorite quote of the day was heard while watching this pair move from side to side in the shade trying to get comfortable. A small child made the observation that the zoo had the sign wrong stating to her father "Why do they call them white rhinoceros if they are grey? Aren't zoo people suppose to know their colours?"

The very last habitat in the African Safari section was the enclosure with the giraffes and the zebras. The observation towers were built up nice and high so you could really get a feel for just how large these beautiful animals are in person. Stunning. 

For those of you who want to see what the zoo has to offer as you plan your trip - Lisa the Tasmanian Devils are arriving next year-  you can visit their link here:

http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/explore-the-zoo/meet-the-animals.aspx 

A birthday spent on the beach

This week we had the fantastic opportunity to celebrate Tom's birthday (January 3rd) and celebrate we did! We started the day off by sleeping in (Tom's first birthday wish)...after a week of early wake up calls prompted by the sun filtering through the tent, the sleeping in was appreciated all around. Once up, we spent the bulk of the morning relaxing, hanging out and enjoying breakfast and coffee. That afternoon, we granted Tom's second wish - a trip to the beach. We spent a bit more time in the car, but ended up at an "Ocean Park-esque" beach. There were mud flats for miles at low tide, beautiful sand and water that was warm in the way a bath is warm when you're finished with it and ready to get out of the tub.

This is one of my most favorite trees in New Zealand, they are everywhere and I have affectionately nicknamed them "pineapple trees". This one is especially "pineapple-y"

At home, we were treated to beef bulgolgi that Mark had left marinating all day. Supper was delicious, and Tom even said it was comparable to the authentic stuff he has had in Korea. As it was Tom's birthday, desert had to be cake. I spent the better part of the night before, and the morning of Tom's birthday piecing together my very first homemade ice cream cake. Tom and I picked out the ingredients the night before: chocolate ice cream, fudge and oreo filling and chocolate sprinkles to decorate. Sense a theme?

Clearly, we don't keep birthday candles on hand in the new place so we improvised with a vanilla votive and had Tom blow out the candle and make a wish 

 A slice of the deliciousness (although starting to melt)

                                                      Tom with his slice of birthday cake