Easter 2010

I love Easter holidays as I often say in my blogs and this Easter was no different.  We went south with the Warbirds over Wanaka as our prime destination.  I have wanted to go for many years but have not made it.  Jonty has been before though and it was he who did the extensive search for accomodation, leaving us in a tent at the Lake Hawea motor camp.  Forgot to take a photo of that but it was gorgeous and a very pleasant place to be.  We had such fun at the show but sadly as I was taking photos, there are few good ones of the planes.  Nic got some good ones as he managed to squeeze up to the fence line and see the action from a great vantage point.  Our new tiny tent lived through an amazing 7 hours torrential downpour, the likes of which Christchurch has not seen for many seasons. 

I am playing with Google Maps to show you our journey.  This looks like fun.  I haven't managed arrows and some of our places aren't actually on there but fun to try new apps.

View Easter Trip 2010 in a larger map

Here are some pics from the weekend....with some tiny commentary

Boy and Dog in Tekapo.   Due to Easter church services we were unable to get into the Church of the Good Shepherd.  Stunning day though.

Jonty and Nic at Lake Pukaki with Aoraki Mt Cook in the background.  I really need to put some effort in to using my camera better.  However, nice pic of the boys.

We had such a hoot at Puzzling World in Wanaka.  I am guessing we walked about 2km in that maze.  I was wearing jandles and am still nursing very sore calf muscles in my left leg.  Nic was very bossy!

Warbirds.  If you want to see some great photos of the warbirds then go to the website, linked above as ours were crap.  However, here is Nic in the cockpit of the Vampire.  Saw a real one flying, loved it.  Very Thunderbirds are Go. 

Harvards

 Old Cromwell Town.  Gorgeous, if not a little hard to find.  Need the directional signs a little higher off the ground where people can't park in front of them.

Famous Wedderburn shed in the Maniatoto.  Stunning place.  Took many gorgeous photos of the area.  Just loved it and can see why my dad has so many fond memories of living and working in the area building houses.

Boys at the Ancient Briton pub in lovely Nasbey.  We stumbled upon, as you do when travelling, a weekend of bards, balladeers and bulldust.  Spent a great evening in the pub listening to folk songs and poems, meeting locals and having a blast.

Self timer outside the pub the next day.  Not a great shot but a nice memory for us.

Curling at Nasbey.  What a hoot.  This was great fun and I can't wait to do it again.  It is much harder than it looks.  We also met the NZ Olympic Curling Team Skipper Sean Becker.  Very nice chap.

Gold panning with a pudding bowl and a salad bowl in Dansey's Pass. 

Dansey's Pass.  Stunning place!

The Flying Pig in Duntroon.  Delicious food in a very pleasant setting.  Highly recommend a visit there if you are passing by.

Thanks for hanging in to the end of a very long post. 

Kid stuff

We are just home from a lovely garden party at school.  Nic is in the school choir.  The voices of angels.  Gorgeous.  And the weather was fantastic.  Still and warm.  I managed to get a photo on my phone which doesnt really capture the loveliness but you can see the wee one in the front there warbling away.

weekend away

What a great weekend Alex and I had in Dunedin.  In two short days...

Friday

• Zandra Rhodes lecture...what an amazing artist.  Learnt so much about why she is the doyen of fashion, designer, print maker and all round lovely person.
• Shopping down George Street and getting tangled in Fashion week stuff without even knowing it
• expansive and expensive night at the pub (Alibi) with Jasmine and Simon.  Soooo much fun, didn't want it to end.
• Bit of a drunken Japanese meal on the way home.

Photo courtesy of iD Fashion Week Facebook Page

Saturday

• Sleeeeeep in.
• Fantastic but very cold and windy Otago Farmers Market...best yet...mmmm spinach and feta pies

• Art galleries and NZ made shop
• Movie - Bright Star - beautiful!!!!

• Visit with the newest and MOST perfect angel on earth

• The SHOW...why we were there.  What fun.

• Cool bar - Pequeno

Sunday

• Perfect flight home over our lovely South Island
• Ellerslie flower show...man it was hot 30c and very lovely

weekend eve

I love Friday because it is weekend eve.  However, it is Thurday weekend eve for me this week becasue tomorrow Alex and I are off to Dunedin for the iD Dunedin Fashion week.  For lots of reasons this weekend is going to be great, besides the fashion there is time with my friend, visiting Jasmine and hopefully meeting Simon and Nicky's very new baby Brianna AND shopping, markets, art and staying at a new hotel.  I feel very blessed to be able to do this.  Thanks Jonty and Nic for not making me feel guilty for taking time off.  The things that are not going to be so great about the weekend.  Missing Ben's birthday party and most of all missing Nic's first Weet Bix kids Tryathlon.  He seems very ok with me not being there but I have a few moments of the guilts.  Mind you, I miss most stuff of Nic's so I guess it isnt a bit deal to him as long as someone is there.   Alex, Ruth and I are off to Ellerslie Flower Show on Sunday...straight off the plane and to the show.  What fun. 

Last weekend was brilliant.  Aside from spending the morning painting the giant @#$%& painted graffiti off the fence, I got to go to Nic's cricket which was fun. Then a walk in the park with Steph and then Jasmine was in town and we went out to Wagamama for dinner then to the Chinese Lantern festival.

Sunday was Nic's birthday and we took him and four friends ten pin bowling.  It was hilarious.  7 year olds are so funny and observant and self aware.  Gorgeous.  I won the bowling, by the way.  Then home for pizza.  Later in the afternoon the entire family came over for afternoon tea.  That was great too, sitting outside eating a lot of stuff and enjoying everyones company. 

I was so impressed with Nic and how he managed himself.  So calm and kind and very sweet.  I almost shed a little tear later thinking about the weekend.  Warm with love it was.

it has been noted

It has been noted that the blog posts are a little intermittent lately.  I have been struggling trying to think of anything to say as I have been so tired and my brain is a bit full.  However, I would like to say that I had one of the best weekends ever.  I am off to bed now but will talk about it tomorrow.

60 years!

Diamonds are forever....it is our party season as I record every year, but this year we have an added family celebration.  My lovely aunt and uncle celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary this weekend.  It was especially poignent as Brian has been hanging in for over a year for this day.  He spends some hours of each day on oxygen and Fay is tireless in her support and spirit.  They are a testament to the strength of love and support during a long and varied time together.  And, they look fantastic!!  It was a perfect sunny afternoon in my cousins gorgeous garden.

Ruth in her lovely new dress, very garden party  

Shona and my mother (she was the bridesmaid)

Lovely cousins, Wendy and Penny

Fay (standing) and Brian

Nic and Olivia giving Fay a lovely private concert.

4 things

On the way home from a family birthday tonight as a completion of Nic's 'perfect day' he uttered, 'there are four things I would change in the world'
1.  the environment, I would get a better environment.
2.  health.  I would change health so no one got sick
3. school uniform.  I would make it rainbow coloured
4. the colour of the sky.  I would make it green.
...mmm, still processing all of that.  Who'd a thought?

George

We had a lovely relaxed family bbq last night to welcome our lovely George to Christchurch.  Andrew and George made a road trip to deposit George at the 'halls' in time to start uni this week. Yay George.  It is very cool for us to have a new family member in town after 2 decades of just us.  George is also my godson and I have pretty much neglected him for the last decade so now I can make up for that with home cooked meals and really annoying texts to check that he is ok.  He doesn't know anyone at CU but I am guessing with his lovely nature and quiet good looks, he will be sorted in no time.  Great to see Andrew (cousin) too but so little time to catch up.  It has been a year since we gathered for his dad's funeral.  Happier this time but a tinge of sadness as well.  Welcome George

Just finished reading #31

The Third Angel -Alice Hoffman

I read this on holiday too and really enjoyed it.  There were some similarities with the previous book I read which was a bit weird.  There often seems to be connections between books I read which is fun but a bit odd sometimes.  I might share those when I find them in the future.  Back to the story...

Lazy me has cut and paste this from the Alice Hoffman Official Site

This stunningly original and magical story follows three women in love with the wrong men. Headstrong Madeline Heller finds herself hopelessly attracted to her sister’s fiancé…Frieda Lewis, a doctor’s daughter who has run off to London, becomes the muse of an ill-fated rock star… and beautiful, reckless Bryn Evans is set to marry an Englishman while she’s secretly obsessed with her ex-husband, a dangerous and love-besotted New Yorker. At the heart of the novel is Lucy Green, who blames herself for a tragic accident she witnessed at the age of twelve in the same London hotel where the others have found themselves. Lucy has spent four decades searching out the Third Angel, the angel on Earth who will renew her faith.

I enjoy triptychs in all forms, books, films, paintings so the inteconnection of the stories and the sense of location made this, for me a really enjoyable bunch of characters and interesting women.  I would not say it was anything other than really well written and enveloping and a good companion on holiday.

Just finished reading #30

Her fearful symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

I pinched this bit from somwhere else

'When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers -- with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.


The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including -- perhaps -- their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.'

I didnt read The Time Travellers Wife and I have no real desire to do that.  So, I came to this book without any expectations and I loved it.  I have read mixed reviews so it is either one you love or not so much. I thought it was a great read for a holiday and the characters and setting were so interesting.  The writing enabled me to visualise everything and I got very tied up in the whole thing.  Don't want to say more, but if you are looking for an absorbing read about interesting people, read it.

holiday snaps

Back from a week of watery fun frolics at Lake Rotoiti.  Sorry there are so many but what fun we had.

Off the jetty for the first of many times

Freedom!!!

Camp'n

It is really hard to get excited about a week under canvas when you are packing the car in the bloody rain.  Just can't get myself excited about the whole thing.  No Totaranui this year so the sun is not a sure thing.  Lake Rotoiti will be lovely but not so much if the sun ain't shining.  As I am finishing the clothes packing I have American Idol on and I just want to say WHAT THE F%&* is VICTORIA BECKHAM doing on the show?
1.  She can't sing
2.  She is really thick/vacuous/dense
3.  She is too thin and makes my eyes hurt
AND
She knows nothing about music....NOTHING.  All she has said all night is 'you look lovely', 'I love your jeans and your hair' DUH!  Honestly, I have never had an opinion about her other than TOO THIN and very very VAIN, however now as you can tell, I have a lot to say about her. 

So, yeah, not around for a week or so.  HAve fun without me.  Ha ha.

at the movies

I got to see the very well reviewed and acclaimed film version of the 'Girl with the dragon tattoo'.  Swedish with sub-titles, the ONLY way this story can possibly be authentic.   No substitute would work.  I was interested to see how they made a very complex and intricate book into a watchable length movie. They focused on the main story of the book and the key handful of characters.  It is an interesting and very disturbing story that was well developed without including everything or missing the essence.  I found some scenes harrowing and the tension was there all the time.  I loved it.  Great story, chracters, location and interpretation of the book everyone is reading and loving.  Excellent.

Just finished reading #29

Bleeding Hearts - Susan Wittig Albert

My little secret and 'sorbet' subject is female detectiove novels.  These babies, I imagine, seldom turn up in bookgroups and never thought of as great literature.  However, they are really fun to read.  People who read them often have a few different detectives whom they follow.  I have three - Kinsey Milhone - Sue Grafton.  I have U is for Undertow on order at the library.  China Bayles - Herbalist and ex attorny living in Pecan Springs, Texas and Stephanie Plum (not strictly a detective).  Being a follower, you get to know the characters, the location and get a real feel for the culture and geography of the area.  I really enjoyed Bleeding Hearts for its mixture of small town characters, herbal facts and stories and the secondary side stories. The misadventure all relates to the heart - bleeding and bruised so a nice theme thing going on.   However, I can't get my head around what China Bayles looks like because there is a giant photo of the the author on the back in her giant 80's glasses and that image eclipses any vision I have of China and makes the sexy bits REALLY hard to imagine.  Good palate clearing reading before I tackle my next dark tale.

New Blog

I have started another blog.  It is about random things from the visual world and it is where I am going to reveal my intense interest in every tiny detail of design in our next house plus other interesting things I find around the place.  Click on the title of this post (above)and you will find it.  I hope you enjoy it.  I am still building it and trying to decide on the look and feel so I think it will evolve.  Hope you like it

Just finished reading #28

Legend of a suicide - David Vann

Literally the nano-second I finished this book I had to Google it ot find out what the hell I was reading.  I spent the latter half of the book rather confused although I was enjoying the writing, if that makes sense.    Turns out the book is actually five separate stories with essentially the same characters.  You can imagine my confusion when once dead people were alive again.  Anyway, the stories really are about Roy and his father's suicide.    It was a bit morbid but not really as the stories were more the 'man alone' style of writing.  Life is what it is and that is it and being set in the wilds and small towns of Alaska the enviornment or setting contribute to that sense of alonenes, escape and wilderness.  Fishing and boats and Hemmingway, if you know what I mean?  I enjoyed reading this book for some reason and found it compelling.  Nice for a change if you don't read these types of books all the time.  Good.

Living the good life

This is a sneaky holiday post from the bach using Jonty's new HP mini. So far eating too much chocolate and swimming for hours on end.  Man it is hot and even at this time of the night there are at least 20 surfers still out there.  The last two nights have seen a huge impressive swell coming in from the north.  Nic has had two fab says on his boogie board and also had his first surfing lesson with Jonty.  I think he stood on the board for about 1 second.  I was impressed.  This morning we started out with a 2 hour round trip walk up to the trig station at the top of the hill as it was cool and windy but by lunch the beach had started filling up and the surf was cranking. We pottered around int he surf until the family arrived for a bbq dinner.  Delish.  Julian and I polished off a nice bottle of wine and the night turned very mellow.  Almost bed time.