Tata Beach and Picton

On leaving Totaranui we drove the short distance to Tata beach in the Golden Bay area where we had 5 nights in a bach booked. I had never been to this part of the country before, but will definitely be back. Below is Tata beach in all of its glory.

Our bach was great! Plenty of space for everyone, including enough bedrooms for Georgia and Alexander to have their own (which I think was much appreciated as they had to share during the camping part of the trip!). It was set high overlooking the beach, but still only a 3-minute or so walk down to the water. The bach had extensive decks which we put to good use, below you can see Rich and Alexander checking it out. As much as we all enjoyed camping, it was great getting back to civilisation, with the convenience of electricity especially appreciated!

Here's a rather windswept pic of Rich and Rach...

 There was a very cool mosaic seat by the beach

 

Golden Bay kayaks ran a business down our end of the beach and it was often a hive of activity. One day we hired stand-up paddle boards which was a lot of fun.

No need to hire kayaks though, as Rich had bought his own fleet! He's got 2 sea kayaks and a double sit-on one which is useful for fishing.

Tata beach was another glorious spot. I love the pic of Alexander looking pretty buff! I'm sure he (and Georgia) will break a few hearts in the next few years...

 

 

 Here's a couple of panoramas, playing around with the settings on the iphone

 

One night we got a very nice sunset which looked pretty good from the deck.

 

All good things must come to an end and we farewelled the Roes on Friday 17th January. Will and I were booked into a motel in Picton for that night, before our return ferry crossing Saturday afternoon. By coincidence, Emma Vockins who I used to play rugby with in Reading, UK many years ago happened to be in Picton when we got there, so it was cool catching up with her. She is travelling the world for a bit with a friend and has 3 months in NZ.

Picton was buzzing on the Saturday with their annual maritime festival. There were stalls set up and bands and entertainment playing throughout the day. The classic boat club was taking people on free short joyrides in the harbour, so Will and I went out on the 'Lasanta' below.

This was another gorgeous classic boat that was attracting a lot of attention. Apparently it is owned by a local vineyard owner who isn't short of a bit of dosh... He actually raced past us in it while we were out on the water.

That afternoon it was time to say goodbye to Picton, and the South Island, and return to Wellington. I really like Picton, it is such a cute little place. The ferry crossing home was a bit rough, but I managed to make it back with the contents of my stomach intact...

 

It was nice to return home after a pretty busy and varied summer break! I had to go into school on Thursday and Friday for meetings and professional development, then the kids are back in from Monday. It's pretty early, but I guess we did break up for summer on the 6th December, plus we get an extra week of holiday in July so I can't complain too much...

The house and gardens are all looking good, our house-sitters did a good job of looking after everything while we were away. The first of our tomatoes are ready to eat, plus we are being inundated with cucumber at the moment, the two plants are going crazy! Yesterday Will caught a couple of Rosella's in the garden enjoying some of the spoils from our apple tree...

 

I'll leave you with a pic of the latest addition to the extended family... My sister Jane and her husband Shane had wee Evelyn near the end of November. She is around 8 weeks old in the photo below. I'll look forward to meeting here when they come over in May.

 

Elvie's Wedding and Totaranui

After getting back from Hamilton, Will and I enjoyed a few days around the house, preparing for the rest of our holiday. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve at home. My friend Geoff came around for dinner but it was very civilised as he was flying out at the crack of dawn the following morning for a holiday in the States.

On Friday the 3rd we drove to Masterton for Elvie and Mike's wedding. I had found a great deal on a couple of nights accommodation at the Copthorne Solway Resort, and it worked out perfectly as that was where the majority of the wedding guests were staying. Will and I made full use of the tennis court, squash court and swimming pool during our stay there. On the Friday night there was an informal pre-wedding get-together at the Wairarapa Trading Company  where we grabbed a bite to eat and had a few drinks. I had met a few of the women at the hen do, but it was nice to meet a whole lot more of the guests before the wedding the following day.

The wedding itself was at The Landing and it was a fantastic afternoon/evening. After looking a bit dubious the previous couple of days, the weather came right, which really made the wedding. There was a lovely  ceremony amongst the vines, then while the photos were taking place, the guests had tennis, croquet and backyard cricket to occupy themselves with! Picnic baskets and hay bales were set out throughout the grounds if we got a bit peckish, and the drinks were flowing. I was fresh off the tennis court in the pic below which is why I'd taken my heels off. One of the guys I was playing against got so hot and sweaty he had to take his shirt off and hang it up to dry in the sun for a while!

I love the pics below of Elvie playing cricket against her new husband. It's not the usual behaviour of one wearing a wedding dress!

 

The evening function was also a lot of fun. We had a very nice sit-down meal, then danced the rest of the night away. In a stroke of genius, there was a big box of 'dancing shoes' ie. various coloured and sized jandals that you could help yourself to if you were 'over' your heels. Needless to say, the box was empty by the end of the night! At midnight there were shuttles to take us back to the Copthorne. All in all it was a fantastic wedding and we were honoured to be able to share the day with the new Mr and Mrs Robinson.

We drove back to Wellington on Sunday after stopping for brunch at the White Swan in Greytown, then also briefly stopping in at Elvie and Mike's place on the way home as they were having a BBQ to celebrate Mike's birthday. Then it was a mad rush to get ourselves packed and sorted for the next phase of our holiday: A trip to the top of the South Island

We had to be at the ferry at some ridiculous hour in the morning, but it did mean we got a lovely sunrise! There was all sorts of cargo waiting to be loaded onto the ferry...

I'm looking ever so slightly weary in the pic below. However, it was a magic crossing, about the calmest one I've ever done and another glorious day.

 

On arrival in the South Island we drove to Totaranui in the Abel Tasman National Park. The Roe family (our good friends from Dunedin) had already been there for 1 night, and had nabbed us an awesome spot right by the Estuary. It's a huge camp ground that can apparently sleep 870-odd people, but they have set it up really well in 23 quite private bays, so it never felt that big or busy. It's an absolutely beautiful spot, below you can see the views to the left and right of the boat ramp respectively.

 

Below is our camp set-up. Will and I are in the red tent, the Roe's are in the green tent, then we've got a kitchen area set up under the shelter of the tarp so we could still cook during inclement weather. Speaking of the weather, we were very lucky... We had a lot of rain the day after we arrived, but that was pretty much it, apart from a bit overnight and early in the mornings.

 Nothing says 'summer beach holiday' like a nice cold gin and tonic!!!

Below is the Roe family in various states of relaxation. Georgia and Alexander will be going into Year 13 and Year 11 this year, so they are pretty much grown up! A bit different from the young kids I first met at Bearwood College about 10 years ago... It was lovely spending some quality time with Rich and Rach.

Rich had bought his fleet of kayaks with him and he and Will went out on a few mornings to try their luck fishing. They managed to have some success, enough for us to have some fresh blue cod as a starter on a couple of occasions. One day Will, Rich and I went for a walk north on the Abel Tasman track. Will and I went as far as Separation Point where there was a gorgeous little baby seal that was essentially a ball of fluff. Rich went a bit further to Whariwharangi then caught up with us on the way back. The views below are looking out to Mutton Cove.

 

 Below is a panorama of the beach taken on my iphone.

I like this pic because it shows just how clear the water is. We spent a fair bit of time swimming in the sea. A few times in the late afternoon we would see stingrays gliding along in the shallow warm water.

One morning I got up before sunrise to take a few photos and had a very nice long walk on the beach with hardly anyone else around.

 

In total we had 6 nights camping at Totaranui and it was fantastic. I'll definitely return for another camping holiday there in the future.

Christmas in the 'Tron

The Friday before Christmas we headed north to Hamilton. It was a magical day for a road trip and we had awesome views of the mountains on the way up.

It was very nice spending a bit of time back home with the folks, as well as catching up with my super-cool nana and various other members of the family. The gardens at mum and dad's place are looking good, especially the new berry enclosure they've had built at the back of the section. The tinsel in the vege garden isn't an attempt at festive cheer, it's meant to help keep the birds away from the tomatoes.

That weekend I had my friend Elvie's hen do in Auckland. Will drove me up and spent the weekend catching up with friends of his up there, so it worked out perfectly. I can't say too much about the hen do ('what goes on tour, stays on tour' and all that...) but we had a fun day on Waiheke Island and a lovely lunch at one of the vineyards. Elvie coped admirably with having to wear a hen costume all day... Then it was back to the Auckland CBD for a night out on the town with Elvie doing her best to get through a substantial list of dares and challenges.

 

Whenever we are back in Hamilton Will and I make sure we spend some time in the Hamilton Gardens, one of my favourite places in the city and where Will proposed  7 years ago (in the English flower garden, so very appropriate).

 The Indian garden is probably my favourite of the themed gardens. It's always a riot of colour.

The Maori garden is one of the newer ones, and the last couple of times it has looked quite stark and bare. It looked better this time now that a lot of the foliage has matured.

They are in the middle of constructing a new Tudor garden and Will was quite taken with this dragon.

We haven't seen peacocks at the gardens before, but came across a couple of them in the 'Kiwi sustainable backyard' garden.

 

We had 'Christmas Day' with the extended family a few days ahead of Christmas as it suited people better. It was a very nice and relaxed day. The real Christmas Day was also relaxed, just Will and I with mum and dad, plus my nana. On Boxing Day Will and I hit the sales at a big shopping centre just out of town and managed to pick up some bargains. We also fitted in a trip to the beach at Raglan which we always try to do when we're up that way. After a very busy year it was nice for Will to wind down and relax a bit. He made al fresco naps bit of a speciality... We drove back to Wellington on the 28th December after a lovely stay. Thanks mum and dad for all the hospitality, it's always nice 'going home' for a bit.