Simon And Lucy In New Zealand
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Baking Afghan Biscuits

10/14/2014

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They're a Kiwi classic, so I thought I'd give it a try. I found a recipe. Here goes:
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Way more cornflaky than expected, but maybe that's how it's supposed to be.
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In the oven they go then. Time for the topping:
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The definition of unhealthy, in a bowl
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Mmm. Now it just needs beating until thick.
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They look like they need just a minute or two longer...
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Note to self: never ever try to follow a recipe with the words "beat until thick". You have neither the patience nor the lower arm strength. I think I'll stick it in the fridge for a bit and hope for the best. Meanwhile those biscuits should be just finished...
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Ooops. Anyway, I wonder if the ganache is thick enough to put on the top yet.
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Nope.
Oh well, the finished product turned out surprisingly well in the end:
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Another Blog

10/14/2014

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If you like pictures more than words, here's our smaller blog, which is updated much more often: http://swilson96.tumblr.com/
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Prey doesn't like moving abroad

3/23/2014

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If you try to take your phone abroad and you have Prey installed*, it will get very excited.

First you need to unlock your phone to any network, which involves taking a leap of faith and leaving your expensive handset in a dodgy looking shop on Finchley Rd, AND giving them the PIN to use it! While it's there you get an email from Prey: "Sorry to hear your phone is stolen!" What? Turns out unlocking the handset from your network triggers Prey. Ok, set it to "not stolen" online. At least you can see from the console that your phone is still ion the shop where you left it!

Next you arrive in NZ and put a new sim card in. Same email; Prey thinks your phone is stolen. Well at least Prey is on the ball. As before, I set it to un-stolen in the control panel, but hours later it was "stolen" again. This kept on happening and I was getting an update from Prey every few hours, until I realised the solution is to lock your phone to the new sim (or if you swap sims a lot, unlock it from any sim). So now you know.



* If you don't, install it now!
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New Zealandisms

2/25/2014

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Or, initial observations about NZ
  • Eh? (at the end of every other sentence)
  • No 24 hour culture, no 24 corner shops for midnight cravings, or gyms open til late. 
  • People are consistently friendly and chatty, all the time!
  • There is actually space in the fridge at work! And there's free milk. (This is as compared to the UK treasury) 
  • If you lodge with someone, they'll probably cook for you and lend you their car. 
  • It can be boiling hot one minute, but blow a gust of icey wind the next.
  • You can do any internet banking you want on your phone, no card reader.
  • Food is expensive ... and the wine's not cheap, but it's good quality.
  • People are laid back, less stressy.
  • Security isn't so much of an issue - people leave safe boxes out and undone/full tip pots open, front doors left open, there's no barrier between you and the driver on the bus, no barriers in banks. 
  • You get the same products here as you do at home ... Ainsley Harriott couscous! Quorn, etc. 
  • Contracts for rental properties are really basic, not many clauses. 
  • Cars are cheap but old and with at least a couple of 100 thousand Kms on the clock. 
  • Not so much of a drinking culture, people don't stay up very late. 
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    Simon and Lucy

    We've moved from London to live in Wellington for a couple of years, and this blog will record our fun times

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