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.