Windy and Cold Wellington :)

On the day school finished (Wed 16th) No1 GS, his Mum and I went to Carols in the Park in Wellington. We took a picnic dinner with us and sat down on a blanket in the crowd while it was still daylight and waited for the show to begin. No 1 GS was in a rocking mood hence the "Chopper (of tv bike customising fame) look with the new sunglasses that he just had to have, lol.

The evening started with all the old favourites with some more modern classics as the evening wore on. You will note the glow stick around said GS's neck - there is a story to that. Wellington, being somewhat windy, is not the place to take candles to light to enhance the evening, so I bought three glow sticks which in turn donated money to hospice so a seasonal win win situation. As the evening drew nigh and it turned to dusk, the GS's mother and I looked at each other and wondered how to get the sticks to glow. I have never ever used one of these weapons before having attended most concerts in my life lit from within rather than without, heh heh. His Mum suggested we shake them which we proceeded to do but they did not seem to change much in brightness. Luckily a woman who was watching from behind us called to us and told us to bend the stick in half which breaks the inner bit and consequently the stick glows like a glowing thing, lol. Two very sheepish people complied and hey presto - let there be light!






This is not a trick photograph, I kid you not. Santa did several twirls around the park in the Westpac helicopter before appearing on stage. I got this shot as the copter was banking to circle the second time, lol. The evening was very family orientated and seemed to be enjoyed by most, but without the star impact the the Auckland version appears to have. At 9pm we left the park and strolled along the waterfront to go see the Telecom Christmas tree in yet another small playground, come park, nearer the center of town. These photos do not do it justice as the lights lit in waves down the "tree" and varied hues of colour as it shimmered down and around. No 1 GS and I then went under the Christmas tree and lay down looking up which is the second shot. There were a whole lot of bean bags on a tiered seating sort of set up, though we just lay down across the seating and looked up. It was a wierd experience as the lights hurtled down towards us and was like being in a star wars movie or star trek as you race towards the point of exit of a galaxy far, far away, lol.


We missed the bus as we got to the main road and because we had one wilting boy, caught a taxi back home.
On Thursday morning I baked for our donation to the Church Christmas boxes they were making for those on their own over Christmas or who were known to be having a tough time. I use the word bake in its widest sense as used the melt the butter and add honey ricebubble recipe again putting the mixture in patty cups which went down a treat. I had some time to kill waiting for James to finish at his holiday program so helped with the packaging at the church office as well earning myself a cup of coffee for my contribution. GS and I stopped at the library on the way home to pick up a couple of DVD's for the following night when it was the GS and myself, as his parents went out to their work do's. We got the cartoon version of the Sword and the Stone and Red Hollow 8 - a story set in medieval England with cartoon mice, badgers, wolves etc - a find as the lad has seen 1 - 7. Both were hits and watched numerous times over the next few days.

Saturday with a wind chill factor somewhere in the minuses I am sure, at 8.30am I was at cricket (Nana will come, - oh, the implicit faith of grandchildren, lol and of course, Nana would be delighted to go rather than curl up with good book in the warmth of her bed, laughing lots). Had four layers of clothing on and could not believe you could play cricket in such wind, lol. Thought I would just watch, but oh no, after said GS had batted, he wanted to do more practice in the nets at the side of the grounds - so off I tottered and bowled and batted for the next 45 mins :). Son was in full winter coat and commented you have to love Wellington summers, lol. Got back home and had the gas heater on for the rest of the day.
One of the coolest things was seeing the cable car go up the hill behind the park where the boys were playing cricket. I had not seen it before and once again seeing it against the backdrop of so much greenery it made me realise how unique our capital city is. I love the houses hanging off hillsides, not so fussed on the narrow roads all through the area and glad not to have to walk many of the hilly parts whilst staying down here. Do not have to feel like a mountain goat in Karori where the family live which is great.

Once again the grandson in full bowl.

Over the weekend, preparations for Christmas were in full swing and will follow up on Christmas Day in my next post.