Seymour Square, Blenheim

Blenheim is blessed with many attractive parks and the focal point of the town is the wonderful Seymour Square. The square named after Henry Seymour. It contains the War Memorial and Clock Tower,unveiled in 1928, and serves as the Marlborough province's principal monument to residents killed during the First World War. The War Memorial and Clock Tower is classified as a "Category 1" historical place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

The Clock Tower stands at 16.5m high, was designed by Roger Bacon as WW1 Memorial. There is a memorial chamber contains six bronze plates with the names of 419 Marlburians who lost their lives. The tower's clock and bell were donated by George F.Watts and Ethel in memory of two nephews killed in action. Until today, clock chimes every hour on the hour.

The Inscription on the outside written "To the glory of God, and the memory of the men of Marlborough who give their lives in the Great War"

World War Two Memorial Fountain located adjacent to the Clock Tower. At night the fountain comes to life, with beautiful colours emitted from the water.

 The fountain was erected in the memory of those men and women of Blenheim and the surrounding districts, who made the supreme sacrifice in the Second World War 1939-1945.

Move to a new place

It has been a busy time during the past two weeks. Our landlord Peter and his family are relocating to Wellington. Therefore, we have to look for a new place to move.

It is winter time now at Motueka. It is quiet too during this time of the year, where not much tourist around. According to our friend, it is normally easier to get a accommodation and also price will be lower too.

We start to look around for place to rent through supermarket notice board, local news paper and also real estate agent. I want to leave real estate agent to the last, as it cost more to get a place through them. Anyhow, after few weeks of hunting, i finally decided to rely on them (RayWhite Real Estate NZ)this time :(

Obviously, they have a list of property ready to rent(low season) as i said. We choose a flat, which is just big enough to accommodate our furniture and small enough to look after.

north facing living room

little garden and vege patch

kitchen

bath room

red painted bed room

my little statue

two blackcurrant plants at the backyard

Not bad heh? Guess what, it cost $225 a week(from initially $250/week they ask for). That's about $75 extra from what we previously pay for... :( 
For the 1st week, we pay :
1. $675 bond (3 weeks of rent)
2. $225 letting fees(to the agent)
3. $225 rent
That's a total of $1125 in one go.

From now onwards, our household expenses shoot up to $300+ a week. Life's tough man!!

小鲸鱼南岛游～The Bug Backpackers

The Bug “甲虫” 是一家小型家庭式背包客。从2005年开始经营到今天，大小事务都由Anthony 和 Steph包办。。。这也是为什么“甲虫”被打理的这么好，很干净，让顾客住的很舒服。
甲虫还被选为尼尔森最好的BBH背包客，有93分哦！

小鲸鱼在2008年的时候已经在这住过了，所以对它念念不忘。这次回来算是叙旧吧。。哈哈！

也是一家BBH背包客，会员有优惠

宽敞的停车空间

小小的接待室，很家庭式吧

很干净的厨房

用具都蛮新的哦

五星级的卫生间

免费的面包

房间也布置的很美观

房子四周都可以看到甲虫车

第二天早上，小鲸鱼，sarah老师和tony正在吃早餐。 一看到我们带来的黄金奇异果和草莓冰淇淋，他们马上早餐都不吃了。。。

小朋友当然爱冰淇淋啦

你看她们的表情

好吃到用手指把盖背面的都吃干净

一盒1.6Litter的冰淇淋在短短的30分钟给吃完

搞到早餐的粥都吃不完，还要“骗”洋人吃

 

半个小时后的小鲸鱼

怎么样，再来一盒都没问题吧！！

哈哈！没想到短短的一个早上，在一家小小的背包客。。。。留下这么多的回忆

小鲸鱼南岛游～尼尔森晚餐

两年前在这里认识的朋友～小鲸鱼二访纽西兰！哈哈，但这次是自助旅行，还有sarah老师和tony（老师的孩子）也一起。。。。短短的十几天（17天吧？）游玩整个南岛。

在纽西兰背包旅行过的朋友多半会觉得纽西兰南岛风景比较漂亮，可能这也是小鲸鱼只选择南岛的原因吧。。。

很遗憾的是我们在这段时间没办法拿长假陪他们 一起玩。。抱歉：（ 
在他们的安排和配合下，我们在尼尔森见面咯！！

还是老样子

tony 这次也是他的毕业旅行哦

sarah老师

 冬天的白天比较短，傍晚五点多就天黑啦。到背包客放下行李后，马上就找间餐厅医肚子。。。

the bug backpacker, 这间还不错！

兜了一圈，就选这间吧 chokdee 泰国餐厅

一位华人服务生，很热情的向我们推荐这里的美食

哎哟老师，叫你点菜你还在看镜头

这个小鲸鱼，真会演

食物还没来，先打打游戏机

终于，食物上桌了。。。

东炎炒饭

tomyam chicken soup

Mun-Sa-Man Beef Curry

Pad thai

Pad Cashew Nuts

Shrimp Toast

 食物都上齐了，开饭。。。

站着那个肯定很饿，也难怪笑得这么开心

一口炒饭一口开水，是不是很辣。。  哈哈

什么表情啊？

不用多久，食物通通给吃个精光。。

 就这样晚餐结束啦。大家对这间餐馆都有好评，幸好没有来错。。。phew