5 surprising benefits of copper water

As per Ayurveda, there are several health benefits of drinking copper treated water. Storing water in a copper vessel (such as copper water bottle and copper pitcher) not only purifies the water and gets rid of all the bacteria present in it but also small particles of copper leach into the water making it copper charged.

1. It cures arthritis- The anti-inflammatory properties of copper helps in reducing the symptoms of arthritis. The markets are flooded with copper bracelets which claim to reduce the symptoms of arthritis. Copper water is also very useful for people with arthritis. Store water in a copper vessel overnight and drink this copper treated water the next day.
2. Regulates melanin productions- Copper is a crucial element required for maintaining the level of melanin in the skin. Melanocytes can produce melanin only in the presence of a cuproenzyme called tyrosinase which is found in copper. It also helps in preventing premature graying of hair and maintains the color of your eyes to stay vibrant even during your old age.
3. Improves digestion– The oligodynamic nature of copper helps in killing harmful bacteria and reducing stomach inflammation making it a great remedy for ulcers, infections and indigestion. Copper also helps to detoxify and cleanse your stomach, aids proper elimination of waste by regulating the working of your kidneys and liver and ensures proper absorption of nutrients.
4. Helps with weight loss– If you are looking for a quick fix to lose those extra pounds, then copper water may come handy to you. Apart from putting your digestive system on the right track, copper helps in breaking down the body fat and get rid of it effectively. This way your body keeps only what it needs and throw away the rest of it.
5. Keeps the thyroid production under control– Health experts have suggested that one of the common traits among people with thyroid disease is that they often have copper deficiency. While people with hyperthyroidism (excess of thyroid hormone are more likely to be copper deficient, people with hypothyroidism are also prone to it.

Breathtaking Beauty Abounds

Sometimes I get so frustrated – there just seems so much to see and do in New Zealand – I just want to do it all at once. I had an ingenious idea recently – an awesomely beautiful scenic train ride on the TranzAlpine train. Its run by Kiwi Rail, and I should imagine it must be rated as one of the most scenic trips in the world. The train runs between Christchurch, Arthur’s Pass and Greymouth and if you’re like me, you’ll be awe-struck by the sheer beauty.

What I love about the trip is that you don’t have to take days away from home, although that would be nice as well – the journey takes 4½ hours. You don’t have to buy a return ticket either – you can take a one-way journey and explore a bit in Greymouth. A popular trip is to visit the Franz Josef Glacier. Its a magnificent 12 km glacier, but its very setting, in the Westland Tai Poutini National Park is an added attraction for nature lovers. In fact the area around the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier is a World Heritage Site. Once you have seen this, you will realise, like me, that we live in a stunningly beautiful country. I can’t wait to fill you in on more of our breathtaking travels in New Zealand.

Christmas Markets at Home & Away

 

Albert Square, Manchester Christmas Market

Skyping with our Uk friends, they were telling us of their trip to Manchester’s Christmas markets. Apparently they are held all over the city, each with their own personality, themes and products. They have a German Christmas Market that is very popular, listening to my friends it seem to be about the abundance of food and drink. Warmed spiced cider, egg nog and mulled wine, It seems strange to us here in our summer  the idea of drinking warm drinks, we tend to have our chocolate ice cold not steaming in mugs with whipped cream on. Mind you I really would like to visit one and soak up the atmosphere.

English Fudge at the Christmas Market

We have own Christmas markets here not quite the same as in Europe but they have great atmosphere and are loads of fun. A mixture of our own culture , showcasing some fun ideas and Christmas novelties from home and abroad.

Auckland’s Scandinavian Christmas Market

 

Featherston Christmas Market – Wairarapa

Now the type of drinks  and food you will find on our markets reflect the fact it is our summer, with more BBQ cuisine and beer likely to be found than anything else. Although I have found some interesting cocktails to serve at our Christmas lunch, mind you as long as it has vodka, cranberry juice and ice I am a happy lady.

 

Wine and Dine at Picton

Picton is one of those small villages that seem entirely too good to be true. It’s the very definition of “quaint village”. Picton is tucked away in Queen Charlotte Sound, in the South Islands. It’s located in the middle of New Zealand’s wine county, so you can imagine just how amazing your holiday would be. The Marllbourough Wine Region is the place where most of New Zealand’s wine is produced, and you will have the choicest wines, even before they hit the main markets. That is the kind of holiday that would make any wine aficionado jealous!

It’s not just about the wine. Picton is a charming little village, located right on the bay, and the people are amazingly friendly.You need not travel far to experience the beautiful countryside, and the breathtaking coastal scenery. There are restaurants along the harbour, where you can dine on freshly caught seafood as well. For those who are interested in something more active, the Queen Charlotte Track is an option. It’s a beautiful track along the coast- and it’s 71 km long. It’s the ideal place for those who love to hike, and would want to take a weekend off and run to the wilderness.

A trip to ‘Middle Earth’

 

The Green Dragon Inn

Thought this post I would share a day trip we did from our home. We thought it was about time we did a trip to Middle Earth! Yes , we decided to visit Hobbiton, where they filmed the Middle Earth village that can be seen in the Lord of the Rings & Hobbit  movies. We decided to go via an organised tour, as you have to take the guided tour for Hobbiton anyway and it gave hubby a chance to relax ( yes its Elaine writing today) and enjoy the drive. It really is a lovely scenic drive and the tour company took us one way and back the other. There are many tour companies operating trips but  we went with a private tour as we took the family. It was a good decision, looked after us very well and we got to learn some interesting facts about our own neighbourhood.  The route took us past a historical battlefield and other famous Maori sites special to Maori Royalty. The Waikato River and Taupiri Mountains where fabulous and a definite day out for us another time.

Waikato River, with Taupiri mountain at left

Enjoyed it so much will definitely use them again for a family trip out. So much easy than having to organise everything and everyone by myself!!! The village is amazing, although I would have prefered a longer tour. Info about the filming, designing and building was given. Being a bit vertically challenged, the kids and I had no problem with the size of the homes. Food was organised and we ate in a private area next to the Green Dragon Inn along with a drink in said inn! All in all a great day out.

 

 

Eye – a historic village in Suffolk

Timber framed Guildhall Eye Suffolk

 

It is a few years since we were in Suffolk but one of the places that we visited remains in my mind. with the unusual name of Eye, this is one of the smallest towns in Suffolk, and was once the smallest burough  England. The name of the town comes for the Saxon for island and once that is what Eye was, surronded by march and water, that has long since been drained. There is an hour and half tour that you can do that takes you around the town and where you can see most of the local highlights. Or you can head up to the Eye castle above the town for a lovely view. The original mound is thought to have been from the 11th century, and then a stone keep was later added. Restoration has given some inkling of what it was like and a modern ladder takes you to the ramparts and a view worth photographing. Another point of interest here is the guildhall, which is a timber framed building dating back to the 15th century. There are also a pair of tombs from the same time period in the local parish church of St Mary, which itself boasts of a lovely  medieval painted screen. What caught my interest though was the crinkle crankle wall that you can see if you take the town tour. Yes that is a real word (s) its lovely isn’t it, crnkle crankle – sounds more like the name for a packet of crisps but it is actually a garden wall with a sinuous configuration that is only one brick thick, making it more economical. The design of the walls is attributed to dutch engineers who came over in the mid 1600’s to drain the marches, they called them, slange muur which translates as snaking wall. The actual name is though to derive from Old English meaning zig zag.

Crinkle crankle wall in Eye

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Eye, do so, it is an pleasent interesting town packed with history and unusual things, like the carved head below. It is not a big town but certainly worth a days visit and soem lovely B& B’s in the neighbourhood.

 

Carved Head, Eye, Suffolk

 

English Countryside

 

Windermere Town Center

 

Feeling nostalgic as I write this post, friends from the UK skyped us last night on the occasion of their 30th wedding anniversary. I was best man at their wedding and my wife was chief bridesmaid. They live in the UK in the same place as they got married and have lived for most of their lives, Windermere, Cumbria; technically a town, not a village but my blog so I get to change the parameters! Situated on the edge of the largest natural lake in the UK, Windermere is in an area of unqualified beauty, known as the Lake District. This area is the most popular British National Park, with all year round visitors from all over the world. The area is awash with history, poets, painters, photographers and writers,think John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter, Wordsworth. The craggy mountains, beautiful and in a lot of cases remote, tarns and lakes make an area awash with nature and beauty. Hikers, campers strollers it is a nirvana for them.

Beautiful…

Windermere itself is set back a little from the lake but as it has grown it now is not a far walk. Around the lake there are some lovely hotels set in their own grounds that run down to lake edge, it is at one of these we had our friends wedding. A steam boat travels around the lake stopping at the small towns of Lakeside and Ambleside, both worth a visit and sailing on the lake is such a pleasure – don’t try swimming in it though it is freezing whatever the temperature! Another attractive way to travel around the lake is via the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Heritage Steam Railway a really fun trip especially with the grandkids. The town lends itself to the many visitors with attractive shops that if modernised have been kept to reflect the towns heritage, many being made from the local slate. The walks are amazing and for me Windermere is quintessentially British and somewhere I make a point of visiting whenever we are over. In fact looking to return there next year, considering what are the options? The wife wants to be over there for a good 2 months as feels we getting a bit long in the tooth to do this sort of journey in 2-3 weeks, huh she can speak for herself, I am as young as I think I am and today after writing this, thats about 25!!

Kaikoura

We’re sticking closer to home with this post, but still very much focused on nature. Kaikoura is one of our favourite places in New Zealand and although we haven’t been there for years it’s always on our minds to go back! Kaikoura is located right on the Pacific Ocean about two and half hours’ drive north of Christchurch with the snow-capped Seaward Kaikoura mountains behind the town providing a picture perfect setting. The town is also uniquely located by an oceanic trench which attracts all sorts of amazing marine life to its waters, and means you can eat some delicious seafood by the shore too. In fact, the name Kaikoura means ‘meal of crayfish’ in Maori and you can find plenty of that, as well as reliable old fish and chips.

There are loads of opportunities to get up close to the marine life, with whale watching and swimming with dolphins being the highlights. Whale watching can be done from a boat or helicopter if you feel like splurging on a treat, and it really is amazing being up close to these huge, magnificent creatures. However, swimming with the dolphins is even better, you get to swim with pods of dolphins in their natural environment and they are so sociable and curious that if you hum a song through your snorkel they’ll come and investigate, I tried some Elvis with mixed results! Back on land you can go for some beautiful walks, with the peninsula walkway being the obvious top choice for spectacular views, it’s informative too with an impressive array of information panels explaining the geology, animals and the plants that make the area so special. It’s awe-inspiring to get up so close to a seal colony and see huge fur seals basking on rocks, and all for free! A few kilometres north of Kaikoura you can visit seal pups playing in a pool at Ohau Waterfall, seeing them frolicking in the water is simply enchanting and it’s a nice walk too. Kaikoura has so much to offer wildlife lovers and seafarers, one you’ve visited you’ll never forget it.

‘Murder’ Villages

 

Little Wittenham – English Countryside

 

While we lived in the UK one of our favourite television programmes was Midsomer Murders, a charming, if you can call  three to four murders an episode charming, detective serial led by the very English Inspector Barnaby. The fictional town of Causton is the headquarters and the action and episodes take place in a number of idyllic English villages, where not all is at it seems!! The thatch roofed homes and beautiful gardens, alongside stately homes and the quintessential cricket grounds not to mention the typical English pubs are all to be actually found in South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The interesting names of some of these villages bear  reference to their historical context, with  names like ‘Brightwell Baldwin’ or ‘Little Wittenham” seemed to be names from Agatha Christie novels. Not far from London, both these areas are especially good to visit for a weekend or midweek break. If you fancy walking in the footsteps of Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby then book yourself in a local B & B and  then arrange to take one of the guided tours that are available. I thoroughly recommend that you do even if you have never seen the serial – the area is so lovely and so English, from the pub menus to the thatched cottages.

If you fancy watching the series, You Tube has a number of the episodes on and if you get FilmON you can see the new series which has a new Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby – actually a very good transition in this enjoyable romp.

 

 

 

Thatched Cottage South Oxfordshire

 

 

The Hidden Beauty of Brighton

There are typically two reasons that people travel to England for a vacation of any sorts. 1) They want to see the old-world cottages, the old appeal of a simpler time of life, and everything the historic side of England has to offer. 2) They want to see London and everything that it is today, a city only second to New York in world significance and diversity. Well, there’s actually a place in England where you can get both of these aspects with one trip: Brighton.

Brighton is a relatively mediocre town by the sea, by all accounts, until you really dive into what the town is offering. Located south of London, Brighton is like a trip to a modern city – if that modern city happened to pop up around the turn of the century before last. You still have big buildings. You still have modern roads. You still have a lot of diversity. But you also have unspoiled suburbs that give you a taste of old-world England. You have great museums, a Royal Pavilion, and many old-school pubs to break up the city pace.

Brighton isn’t exactly an undiscovered location. Many tourists head here every year. However, it’s nowhere near as busy as London, so there’s plenty of room for sightseeing and typical vacationing.