Þorrablót

Hello everyone! Just letting you know we are all still here :)

The blog has been quite dormant for a while now and we hope to change that.. These past few weeks in Christchurch have been shaky to say the least but we are all safe and well, and celebrated this weekend with the annual Þorrablót!
(if you have photos you would like to share from the evening please get in touch and we can add them to this blog)

The food was the most impressive collection of Icelandic delicacies! We had rotten skate/Skata, pickled herring two ways/síld, Rotten shark/Hákarl, Sheep heads/svið, Rye Bread/rúgbrauð, Pate/kindakæfa, potatoes in white sauce/uppstúfur, Swede mash/rófustappa, pickled red cabbage/rauðkál, crepes/pönnukökur, Icelandic donuts?/kleinur, haggis/lyfrapylsa, blood pudding/blóðmör, flatcakes?/flatkökur, double smoked leg of lamb/hangikjöt and of course plenty of Beer/mead ;) and black death/Brennivín...

The costumes were absolutely awesome and our Icelandic singing was met with a very impressive bagpipe playing scotsman! (some of us learned it's not an easy instrument to play..)

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped make the event happen. It was a raging success!

Please do send us your comments and/or photos :)

Skál!

North Island annual reunion, a message from Sigrun Edda

Hallo everyone.

Our annual North Island reunion was held at Awakeri on March 5th to 7th 2010. Thank you, Nicola and Finnbogi, for all the great organising and effort. The dinner was brilliant, and so was the breakfast. This was much appreciated, and will be a hard act to follow!

The turn-out was much better than the two previous years, and that was great to see. A big welcome to the two new families that showed up, Hilmar, Leeanne, Runa Lind, Arana and their children.

At the meeting we decided that we would stick to being a ‘social club’ rather than a fully fledged ‘society’ , with bigger obligations and expectations than our members are keen on.

There will be no membership fees at this stage. The money in the Icelandic Society’s account will stay there for the time being.

We will not be taking part in the Scandinavian Festivals on a permanent basis, but ‘play it by ear’ each time. The next Scandinavian Festival will be in Norsewood in February 2011, and Vivien and Petur Hognason have offered to represent us there. They will no doubt give us an update on the program closer to the time, and everyone is welcome to attend.

However, this will not replace our reunion in 2011, which will be held somewhere in the ROTORUA district. The 3 Icelandic families in the area will work at finding a suitable venue, and we will let you know the details closer to the time. We will be working on having this the first weekend in March, as per tradition.

I’m trying to start up a scrap book from our reunions, and would love to be able to go back to the very first one in Waharoa in 1982. I have got a good selection of photos from 2005 and 2007, but anything else is sadly missing. Please email or post me any photos you can spare, I’m sure this exercise will be worth it in the long run.

I have updated the contact list to the best of my ability, and will email it to everyone. Please let me know if you see any mistakes, if you know of people on the list that have left the country, or if you know of anyone missing. This list just keeps on growing, but there are quite a few people there no-one has seen or heard of for years. I’m not sure what to do about that; I’m not keen on dropping anyone off just because they haven’t been in contact for a while.

I would love to see more of your news on our blogspot, that is what it is for. It doesn’t have to be of great importance to the wider world, just a bit of fun for us here in NZ.

Regards

Sigrun Edda Crowe

Tónleikaferð / On tour

Hello everyone! I just got an email that reminded me to put this up here.. I'm going to be playing in Nelson, Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland this month - so any of you Icelanders here or there if you come to the show/s come say hello ;)

The dates are:

Saturday 6th March - 9pm The Mussel inn - Takaka, New Zealand

Amanda Palmer NZ tour -support
Friday 12th March at Bodega, Wellington
Tuesday 16th March at Al’s Bar, Christchurch
Weds 17th March at The Kings Arms, Auckland

And here are the posters:

Og hér fyrir neðan að lokum set ég inn nýtt lag. Þetta var tekið upp í Akaroa síðasta Laugardag xox (A new song recorded last weekend in Akaroa)


xoxoHera
www.herasings.com

Invitation for Open Day 28 February 2010

You are kindly invited to join us for our 1st Open Day show-casing Icelandic horses on Sunday, February 28, from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm. The Open Day will take place at Neđri Bakki Icelandic Horses Stud, 20B Ostrich Farm Road, Pukekohe. It is organized and hosted by the two leading studs on the North Island: Neđri Bakki and Skógarrönd. Come along and find out why the Icelandic horse has become one of the most popular horses for adult riding in much of Europe! They are extremely good natured, versatile and enthusiastic.

"They have charm, strength and courage, are intelligent and love being trained. The Icelandic horse has five gaits. Among the usual gaits - walk, trot and canter - the Icelandic horse also has the magical tölt, a remarkably smooth four-beat running walk.
No other breed can manage this gait as naturally and beautifully as the Icelandic horse. Pace is the fifth gait but not found in all Icelandic horses. Most Icelandic horses today are between 13hh and 14hh. They are extremely strong and are expected to carry any adult, no matter how tall and heavy. The Icelandic horse can be found in over 40 different colours, with hundreds of colour combinations."

At the Open Day we will:

. Demonstrate the horses in two mini-shows at 12 pm and 2 pm.

. Show the mares and their new foals, born over the last two months.

. Exhibit saddles and other equipment for Icelandic horses, books and training material, information on the NZ Icelandic Horse Breeders and Riders Association.

. Be happy to talk about the horses and answer any questions you might have.

. Arrange a cake stall with coffee, tea, soft drinks, and sausages to purchase on site.

There will be plenty of parking spaces at the property. Follow the signs and you will be directed to the front paddock to park.

Bring along your family and friends for few relaxing hours.

We are looking forwards to seeing you!

Snejina, Kenneth & Alexia
Neđri Bakki Icelandic Horses Stud
www.icehorse.co.nz

Jennie
Skógarrönd Ltd
Icelandic Horses
www.vikinghorse.co.nz


Message from Sigrun:

To all of those coming to the Awakeri reunion:

I'm trying to start a scrapbook with photos from our reunions, but I really
need your input.

A photo or two from each of the 23 reunions would be great. Anyone willing to contribute photos they can put a date to would be a good start. Can you please bring these to Awakeri, or otherwise email them to me if you are not coming.

Gleðilegt nýtt ár! - Happy new year!

Hello everyone and Happy new year!
Hope you've all had wonderful holidays here in sunny NZ..

It's nice to see new names popping up, we are a fast growing bunch here, and hello new people!

I mostly just wanted to post a quick new year's hello and add this clip from the end of Áramótaskaupið - a brilliant version of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal performed by Páll Óskar.



Again if any of you have any interesting links, news, or stories to share, please send them on to the email in the post below.

- those of you in Christchurch, don't miss the Buskers Festival! it's an absolutely fabulous event with amazing shows and performers from all over the world! it runs for 10 days fro 21st-31st January all over town.

I will taking part this year, doing 10 concerts at 2 locations. this will be the first time Music is a part of the festival, so come along and say hello :)