Land of the Long White Cloud

It is now 10 days since I landed and as per usual time is swooshing by. Of these days I feel like at least six of them have been pouring with rain and cloudy, or with rain imminent so yes, do know I am back in NZ. I seem to be in perpetual motion and once again am covering some miles as I get to catch up with family and friends. The first week was spent in Waiuku for the first half and then down to Waihi to see No 2 son, daughter in law and grandson - who is now 9 months old. Apart from the weather, I am totally noticing how hilly Franklin and the Waikato areas are - verging on mountainous in places. The colours are so different to WA, with blues and mauve's of the hills (grey days, lol) and green vegetation everywhere - pine trees, pungas, flax, and a host of other fauna. Landscapes I have lived with forever seem brand new and I wonder what I noticed before I went away, lol. Traffic is another thing. The days when three vehicles on the road signal a busy day are over. Auckland traffic is ghastly - not so bad as you move further on down the island, and everything seems much smaller - no road trains, and less FWD type cars about but the traffic is much heavier in volume.

It was Kay (sister) and Mark's 30th wedding anniversary last Tuesday. We were discussing what did 30 yrs signify the night before, to which Kay's quick response was - a miracle, lol. I googled anniversaries to find that 30yrs traditionally is a pearl anniversary, however Kay had received pearls for their 13th one and they decided to go to dinner instead. I was involved in a mission by Viv who had made them a beautiful quilt with 25 hearts on it for their 25th anniversary, to take it out to her on the day so she could add 5 more hearts. After searching the house high and low, finally dawned to check behind the couch it usually reposes on, where it had fallen to the floor. Under the pretext of going out to lunch with Viv, I got it out to her and mission was completed by the time I was headed back. I stopped on the way at the local supermarket and put together a small bag of goodies, namely pearl barley, pearl soap,hand wash and a refill, pine nuts (pearl like), aolie and garlic dressing (again pearly), a packet of greek yoghurt mix (keep going with the theme) and put it all in a gift bag plus a bottle of champagne type wine (again colour was the issue here) which was received with much laughter as Kay unpacked it.

Wednesday I headed down to Waihi buying a new charger for my NZ cell phone and new windscreen wiper blades for the car on the way. I stopped just out of Waihi as there were several vans on the side of the road selling fruit and veg and got 3 bunches of asparagus, 10 avocados, 3 chips of strawberries and a bag of nectarines for $20 - be still my beating heart. No2 son and family are living in a cottage on a farm where he milks 280 cows and does other various jobs about the farm. No2 grandson is crawling, has two bottom teeth and getting top teeth through. I only took 95 photos the first day I was there, lol.

The local Plunket group was having a fundraising cake stall on Saturday so I did some baking for it after a quick mercy call to Mum for some of her melt the butter and add recipes. Friday came all too soon and a return to Waiuku to get ready to leave for Wellington the following day. I left with several heads of brocolli out of son's garden which I shared about the family as they were better to be eaten fresh. By the time I was heading to the outskirts of Hamilton, I realised I had left my new ph charger behind!!!!!! No worries, I will use the oz one which was getting calls and txts except, oh dear, it had run out of funds on it. Went to recharge it but will not let me in from NZ - so worse than useless, though I still have the charger to that and it will receive txts and calls when charged so maybe marginally useful after all. Could have spit tacks about the nz ph charger, arrrgggh.
Saturday started drizzly and overcast which did not bode well for the local Santa Parade. Went in to Waiuku for a coffee with Viv and Kay (as you do) and then a few quick jobs about the place. I had some charms I wanted added to my silver charm bracelet and two chains for necklaces needed to be repaired so called into "Richardson Jewellers" in Waiuku, which is one of the town's original shops. It is a treasure trove of jewellery, clocks, china and crystal and most of our important gifts given and received over the years have often come from there. It is a family business and as I went to school with two of the older children in the family, it is always nice to drop in for a catch up as well. I was assured that what I wanted done could be done by Christmas and if the shop was closed, just to give a ring at home and I could pick the bits up from there. You do not get service like that in many shops these days.
By the afternoon, thankfully the weather had lifted so after packing bags into the car for trip to the airport to Wellington, went in to view the parade.
Mum and her mob of Red Hatters, with 2nd Prize - they have won a prize every year they have entered - I think this is the 5th year.



New Zealand Icon, the buzzy bee, done by Sandspit School and now the float is famous throughout NZ as well.

Landed in Wellington to be picked up by No1 son and family with one very excited grandson who at 7yrs was able to take my bag to the car without help!. Next post will update the Wellington news :)