Palmerston North

Somehow, I never feel fully settled at home after a trip until the unpacking is done. And even for just a weekend trip, this can be a daunting task. However, the fact that our university courses were cancelled today (due to earthquake building checks) leaves me with no excuse for putting off the task any longer.



Aside from the earthquake experience in my last post, the Palmerston North trip was really fun. The bus trip wasn't too long, and for NZ, the roads were really smooth without too many hills and not too winding, with great views out the window. (And some snapdragon flowers on the way too. Had fun with those as a child, making them talk...some things never change!) 



A lot of the smaller towns in New Zealand that I've been to have a really fresh feel, (like Napier in particular!) and they all seem to have some quite unique artistic features, which is great. Palmerston North fits in with this: their information centre in the middle of town plays classical music on speakers, and is surrounded by a grass park area called "The Square", which contains a butterfly-shaped pond, fountains, artsy chairs, a few statues, and a clock tower.


And right now there was also an ice skating rink in The Square, which I took advantage of during my free time before Sunday's show, and tried ice skating for the first time! It turned out to be a lot of fun, and it was great to experience that feeling of apprehension before doing something you've never done before, and then conquering it as you get the hang of it, and eventually feeling (slightly) more in control and enjoying the activity. We probably spend a lot of the first 10 years of our lives feeling like this a lot, and then we experience this less and less as we get older - I think we should try to make sure we're experiencing this as often as possible, it's really satisfying to venture out of your comfort zone and come out on top. And even if you don't come out on top, it's good to give it a try anyway! 

We had some pretty great meals out too, at classic "New Zealand" restaurants such as Lone Star and Burgerfuel. Lone Star is known for its cowboy-Western theme, large portions and classic comfort foods like ribs and roasted potatoes. Their motto is "Be Staunch, Walk Tall" - I remember having a tshirt that said this on the back when I was a in grade school, sent to me from my relatives in NZ. (Boy did I feel like a cool kid in that tshirt). 


Burgerfuel is also a NZ chain that opened in 1995, with the concept of serving gourmet burgers with fresh and natural ingredients. The result is quite a varied menu of really tasty burgers, some beef, others chicken or lamb or even vegetarian. They've also got great milkshakes, something I only found out at this most recent visit - they're thick and creamy like the ones in America, rather than more thin milky like the typical NZ milkshakes. They call the thick and creamy ones "thickshakes", they're actually a different thing in a lot of places. So I was pleasantly surprised to order a milkshake and have it remind me of the ones we get in the US. (Maybe I will have to return there soon when the next real milkshake craving strikes, and if so I can do a more in-depth review of the place and its service!) 

And last but not least, the shows were pretty good too. I just realized, the earthquake made me forget that something else out of the ordinary also happened to me during the last show - as the orchestra was tuning for the first overture, my D string snapped and I had to do a quick replace - and since our strings need "playing in," my D string kept going flat throughout the show and I had to keep quietly adjusting it...

So all in all an adventurous and satisfying weekend, with a welcome day off of school today to get the typical weekend errands (like groceries and laundry) done. Passed some buildings with broken glass windows in town, but otherwise luckily it doesn't look like too much has been damaged. 

Now to get back to routine...