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.

Howzat!

Who would believe it, I am actually playing cricket (I use the term in its broadest sense, lol) and have the bruises to prove it. No1 grandson has chosen cricket as his sport, so for the last two days have spent a good amount of time on the front lawn - which is kind of flat- by Wellington standards, lol, either bowling or batting with Mojo (the dog) acting as fielder at times. So, the last time I had a go at cricket would be about twenty years ago and pre wearing glasses. I wasn't sure whether I would be able to guage the ball as I seem to be unable to play tennis since wearing glasses, but it has been all good :). In fact I am doing 4's and 5 1/4's (No1 Gs's scoring, lol) when batting and have been able to bowl numerous 'outs' which means I have bowled to the edge of the concrete path without the ball being hit. The bruise is spectacular, lol, and covers most of the left knee and is the result of some fielding when I dove sideways for the ball, sliding on the grass a la a rugby slide. Who knew it could result in such pain and damage? but there has been heat coming off the bruise and knee is tender to move and was excruciating when knocked against the table. Can only put it down to the aging process which impresses me not, lol. Last night was very exciting when No 1 Gs caught the ball on the full when I hit it. I don't know who was more surprised but I am sure the whole neighbourhood enjoyed the shrieks of excitement from myself heh, heh. (His Mum inside preparing dinner thought major damage had occurred). On Sunday afternoon after a bout of practice on the lawn, we went to 'real' cricket practice at a local park as No1 Gs is in a cricket team.






In true Wellington spirit, it was windy and cold, with cloud halfway down the hill behind the park! We got back home and put the gas heater on - in the middle of summer. I naturally had multi-layers on and resorted to sox as well. In keeping with the temperature, we had a very mid-winter type dinner - Lambshanks cooked gently in the oven in a wine and herb mix, with boiled potatoes, fresh beans and asparagus. The meat fell of the bone and was absolutely delicious.

We had started Sunday by going to Church where No1 Gs attends Sunday School. It is a very ordinary looking building from the outside but a beautiful old wooden building on the inside, with huge wooden beams and wooden ceiling, with old darkend wood pews stained and stained glass windows. We went to the family service where many of the children were in a nativity play with lots of audience participation, interspersed with some good old belting carols, followed by a sausage sizzle on the vicarage lawn next to the church.


We got back here and I had to charge the video camera up while No1 Gs found numerous leggo people and animals from his collection, and before dinner, I had to film his version of the nativity story. (Peter Jackson need not be too afraid yet, but watch this space, lol). We did the nativity story which then segued into Jesus as a teenager hanging with the shepards and wise men with a superhero overlay and heaven knows where that would have gone except we were called to come and have dinner. All good fodder for the 21st birthday, heh heh. I have a suspicion there will be more movies made yet.

Yesterday I walked No1 Gs to school with his Dad (he caught the bus to work along the way) and got introduced to his teacher before walking back here. (Walking and cricket, I hope you are all taking note, lol). I came back via the supermarket - managed to buy some strawberries - $1.99 for a large chip, mangos $1.59 each woohoo (they are Australian ones and cheaper here, go figure), and bananas $1.99 bunch. I am loving how cheap this fruit is. Also went to the Salvation Army shop as I needed something to read and managed to pick up four books for $10 so that should see me through the next 10 days.

It has rained during the night but I see the sun struggling to come through. The temp is meant to be around 14o Celsius today (put Celsius for the benefit of those who read this who are still using farenhieght and Centigrade). Not sure what today is going to bring, but am going to watch No1 Gs who is going swimming after school - they have a heated pool for children so is used all year round. We are in the midst of doing Christmas cards so if there is any energy left after dinner, I guess we will do a few more :).

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 :)