Warmer

Before arriving in New Zealand, I’d never heard of Macpac. I’m not a skier or into Winter sports so maybe that’s why. But last year, we nearly froze our asses off in this house. For some reason, the house doesn’t have double glazing. Why on earth a house would be built in the South Island of NZ without double glazing completely escapes me. So a Winter’s night was a bit like living in a tomb.

We are still contemplating where on the property we will build and what we’ll do with the current house. My vote is to demolish it but hubby has other plans apparently. So that means Winter 2011 will again have to be shivered through in this house. In the living room is a Yunka Wetback woodburner but it only really heats up the living room and kitchen. The rest of the house remains cold. But a good advantage of the Yunka is that you can turn off the electricity because the woodburner heats up the hot water system. You do get piping hot water the next morning in the shower and can save money during Winter.

But back to Macpac. When we heard they were having a huge sale, we decided to trek into Christchurch to check out what jackets they might have. In line with my New Year’s Resolution to buy NZ-made products or products from NZ-owned companies and to be as frugal as possible, I thought a winter jacket on sale from Macpac would be a goer.

I am now the proud owner of a Sundowner jacket that makes me look a bit like the Michelin man. But heck: it’s going to keep me as warm as toast so who gives a toss. The jacket is made from white duck down. They only had blue or black jackets left. I chose the blue – not my favourite colour – but at 50% off, I don’t really care about the colour.