Term 1 2018

Not long after we returned from our South Island trip, mum and dad came down to visit. The above pic was taken when I 'made' them go for a walk in the bush, even though the weather wasn't the best. Dad had his reservations, so I had to tell him that a little bit of water wouldn't hurt him, he wasn't about to dissolve...

As always, they made themselves very useful about the property. Dad managed to get in some bonding with his 'feathered grandchildren'! The pruning this time round wasn't quite as extreme as last time they visited, when my whole driveway was covered in debris and we had to get some guys with a truck to take it all away... This time around Will and our neighbour went halves on hiring a chipper for half a day, and we ended up with lots of lovely mulch for both our gardens.

Compare the photo above with the one below... We finally got around to getting the outside of our house painted, as well as a new garage door, and it looks fantastic. Being the small world that Wellington is, our painter ended up being the father of someone I know from badminton, and he did a great job.

School started back near the end of January. This year I am part-time, and it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm still on an 80% teaching load, so don't have any full days off, but not having a form class, and being able to leave when I don't have timetabled lessons has made a huge positive difference with regards to my work/life balance. There are days when I can either come in late or leave early. It has resulted in me not having to do so much work at home in the evenings, which can only be a good thing!

After the first week of school, I was down to Dunedin for the New Zealand Masters Games. We kicked the event off with a bit of 'team-bonding' in the Koru lounge on the Friday afternoon...

Our whole team was staying at 'Uncle Phil's' place, which ended up being a very funky old artist-type place in Port Chalmers. Phil was actually the uncle of Richard's wife Rachel, and Phil and his wife were out of town, and kindly let us use the house. It was a very cool place with lovely views looking out to the Otago Peninsula. 

Now, the problem was, Port Chalmers was a good 25 minutes or so away from the badminton hall in St Kilda, and we didn't have any transport... This is where Duncan Rae came to the rescue. Duncan is an Otago badminton player and a great friend of Stephen in our team. He is an absolute legend, and every morning would drive out to pick us up from the top of the hill, and then would drop us off at the end of play each day. 

The games kicked off with the team event on Saturday, where I'm pleased to report that the 'Tigers' took out the gold. We've never won the team event before so it was extra satisfying, plus we did it in the 35s division as well since Isla is just a young 'un. The rest of us were all eligible to play 40s, and in Stephen's case, 50s! Speaking of Stephen... Spot the odd one out in the team pic below... We were all wearing our Tigers kit from last year's World Masters Games, but Stephen didn't quite get the memo!

Sunday was the doubles where Isla and I took out the silver in the 35s, then I played with Simone from the Hutt Valley in the 40s and we won the bronze medal.

Monday was singles, which nobody in our team was silly enough to enter. It might have been the middle of summer, but that Monday was unseasonably cold! We ended up cranking up the fire, snuggling under blankets and having a lovely rest day playing cards etc.

Tuesday was the mixed doubles. Initially I had only planned to play with Stephen in the 40s, but on the first day of the competition I got talking to Nathan Pitcher, an Otago player, who wasn't playing the 35s either. We decided we might as well give it a crack, and we ended up winning the thing! Not bad considering it was the first time we had ever played together... The only negative was that it was Isla and Richard that we beat in the final. Stephen and I didn't make the play-offs in the afternoon, but neither of us really minded. We had certainly had our fair share of badminton over the last few days!

So, another Masters Games done and dusted, and my best medal haul yet. Since Tuesday was Waitangi Day it meant I only needed to take 1 day off work to get 4 whole days in Dunedin. 

 

One week later and it was back down to the South Island, this time on the Year 11 Abel Tasman Camp. I love this camp, it's either my 5th or 6th time doing it, and I never tire of it. It really is such a beautiful part of the country. I've never had bad weather down there either... The year that I was away with Will on his sabbatical the Abel Tasman camp had horrendous weather, pretty much non-stop torrential rain. This year I had the added responsibility of having to lead a group, which many of you will know isn't my favourite thing to do... However, we had a great bunch of kids, and there were 3 other members of staff to pitch in, so all was well.

 

At Bark Bay we were treated to the most glorious sunrise.

Now the campsite at Bark Bay is on a little peninsula with the estuary on one side and the ocean on the other. A couple of weeks prior to our camp there had been a huge storm, and sand, nearly a foot deep in places, got washed right over the peninsula and remained throughout the camp. It really was freaky, I've never seen anything like it. It did make putting up the tents quite challenging, as most of the tent pegs weren't long enough to hit solid ground below the sand.  

The itinerary that my group did finished at Onetahuti Beach, which is one of my favourite in the whole National Park. The view that you get when you round a corner and spot the beach for the first time is stunning. The walk from Bark Bay to Onetahuti isn't that long, so we were lucky enough to enjoy about an hour and a half of swimming and soaking up the scenery before returning back to Marahau by water-taxi.

 

February is always a busy month for Will and I, what with my badminton, and school camp, and then our birthdays. Will's is the 17th and mine is the 20th, so on the weekend after I got back from camp we hosted our annual birthday BBQ. We've got it down to a pretty fine art now... We put on all the meat/bread/nibbles etc. and our friends contribute either a salad or dessert, plus drinks. We had a lovely afternoon/evening, and everybody's offerings combined to make a pretty awesome spread! Below is the dessert selection. What made this year's BBQ extra special was that it also coincided with Geoff, my old mixed doubles partner/great friend visiting from the UK where he now lives, so it was just like old times having him there.

It wouldn't be a summer blog post without a few produce pics. The beans were by and large our biggest success this growing season, and I managed to freeze quite a bit to help us through the winter.

 

The other usual suspects also did well.

 

 

I grew our basil in the greenhouse this year and it went nuts! I made loads of pesto which I've also frozen to use as needed.

Will is a huge fan of Kickstarter and is often looking for new products to invest in. He couldn't resist getting a 'Treepod' and it got a lot of use throughout the summer.

We continue to spend a lot of time in our local Otari-Wilton's bush, having had a new appreciation for it since returning from our sabbatical. I never get tired of seeing the majestic Kereru.

 

 

 The bush doesn't do a bad sunset either!

On the last weekend before school finished we attended Homegrown, a 1-day festival of NZ music held on the Wellington Waterfront. We had last attended in 2010, having just arrived back in the country from the UK. This year the lineup was too good not to go.

We kicked the afternoon off with Tomorrow People, a Wellington reggae band that a friend's husband is a member of, and I felt bad that I hadn't got around to catching live. It was a very chilled start to the afternoon.

The Feelers totally rocked the TSB Arena. They put on a great show, and I was surprised by how many of their songs I actually knew, which is always a sign of a good band!

I hardly ever turn down a chance to see Fat Freddy's Drop live, they are one of my all-time favourite bands, and they never disappoint.

Talking of someone who never disappoints... We finished with Dave Dobbyn, such an absolute legend. It is a sign of how highly he is regarded that loads of the other musicians were watching his set from the side of the stage, and he called some of them out to play with him on different tracks. It was a great end to a great day. After that, it was just 1 more week of school to get through before a well-earned holiday, and a 10th wedding anniversary celebration in Rarotonga.

Summer Holidays 2018

Will and I had a very relaxed Christmas. It was the first one we have had by ourselves, and the first one where we have actually been at home in Wellington. Because we are usually away, we don't actually own any Christmas decorations, much to Will's disappointment. I did feel a bit guilty and tried to buy some tinsel to string around the place, but it was all sold out by the time I tried! I think he gets 'into' Christmas a bit more than I do! On the day itself we had a nice lie-in, followed by French toast for brunch with mascarpone and a berry compote. Dinner was asian-style pork belly, followed by tiramisu for dessert. Basically it was a day of cooking and preparing some of our favourite things to eat!  

On the evening of the first of Jan we headed off on our South Island adventure. We had an absolutely stunning night for our evening ferry crossing. It was definitely the smoothest crossing I have ever experienced. 

We kicked off the holiday with a couple of nights in Picton. We have a real soft-spot for this wee place, and always try to stay a night or two on the way to or from the ferry.

Will ended up kicking my butt in mini-golf, so let's not spend any more time discussing that!

Fish and Chips on the seafront is a Picton tradition for us. The liquor ban was still in force so we walked round to one of the side bays, and disguised our vino in mugs from our motel. Yes, this is what middle-aged rebellian looks like!

Picton does have some of the country's cheapest kids entertainment... Where else can you get radio-controlled boat hire or a train ride for 20 cents.

 

A bonus on our last day was catching up with my badminton teammate Rich and his family. They were returning home to Wellington after their South Island holiday

 

On Wednesday 3rd we drove to Hokitika, via a tasty picnic lunch and stretch of the legs in Murchison.

 

We only had one night in Hokitika, but we made the most of it, enjoying a nice long walk on the beach at sunset.

 

 

Later that evening we wandered the short distance down the road to check out the Hokitika Glow Worm Dell which was surprisingly impressive!

On Thursday we drove to Wanaka where we stayed at another favourite place, the Purple Cow Backpackers. We last stayed here about 12 years ago on Will's first trip to NZ, and since then it has rebranded to be the Wanaka YHA. It was still as good as what we remembered though, it has one of the best locations out of all the accommodation in Wanaka. It had a great view of the still smouldering Mt Roy... We watched the seven helicopters at work dipping their monsoon buckets into the lake and dousing the hillside until the light gave out. 

We had arrived in the early afternoon, and it was a beautiful hot summer day, so Will took the opportunity for his first ever swim in a NZ lake. That is him in the middle in the pic above.

 

Wanaka is such a beautiful spot, I've always preferred it to the glitz and glam of Queenstown. However, this was just a fleeting visit, as our main reason for heading south was to spend some time with friends at the Otago Boys' High School lodge near Mt Aspiring National Park.

 

My friend Richie Roe has been in charge of EOTC for many years at OBHS, and he has always talked about the lodge and surrounding area as one of his all-time favourite places. It was great to finally get the chance to visit. The Roes had it booked for just over a week, and there was a continual stream of people coming and going, including the Roe's university-aged kids, Rich's brother, Rach's sister and family, as well as assorted partners. There was plenty of room for everyone, and we all took turns helping out with the food prep and cooking, as well as other assorted chores. Rich had warned us it was pretty rustic, but I think he undersold the place... There was gas in the kitchen to cook on the hobs, and the bbq was used for meals most nights. The generator was fired up in the evenings to provide electricity for lights once the sun went down, and the woodburner was lit each evening to provide hot water for an evening or early morning shower. There was no phone or internet access whatsoever, so the enforced digital detox was refreshing for everybody.

 

 

There was table tennis and indoor bowls to keep us entertained inside, and Rich has a frisbee golf course set up outside.

 

Access to the lodge was on foot, over a swing-bridge crossing the Matukituki river. Depending on the height of the river, you could get a 4WD over a bit further along to get access right up to the lodge, but our little Toyota Corolla definitely wasn't up to the task!

We then had to cross another small stream using a couple of planks. Further up the stream the OBHS boys had formed a dam to create a swimming hole, so below Rich is digging this out further.   

On one of the days Rich led a large group of us on an epic walk to one of his favourite spots -the Hester Pinney waterfall. This started with a river crossing by 4WD.

We then reached the trailhead, although we didn't stay on a track for very long! Rich took us on bit of a 'bushwhacking' adventure to the waterfall.

Not before long we had a river-crossing to do on foot. Luckily I had found some aqua-shoes at the lodge that fit, so I didn't have to get my walking shoes wet.

 

It really is a stunning part of the country, and we didn't see anybody else, probably because we were literally off the beaten track!

 

We arrived at the waterfall and enjoyed our well-deserved lunch. It was a magic spot with views out to Mt Aspiring.

 

When Rich takes his schoolboys up on their annual camp they usually swim, but it was a bit on the chilly side! He tested the depth of the big pool at the bottom using the stick in the pic above, and it was well over his head.

 

As well as that big walk, we did a couple of other walks to some small local falls, including the Wishbone Falls (where I was entertained by some posing Japanese tourists who busted out some press-ups before having their photo taken in order to look buff!) and also Raspberry Falls.

 

 

On another day Rich, his daughter Georgia, Will and I did the Rob Roy Glacier track which was another lovely walk. The weather kept threatening to close in, but it held off long enough for us to get some good views of the glacier.

 

 

 

We had a brilliant time at the lodge, it is always a pleasure spending time with the Roe family, they really are great friends to have. Bring on the next adventure!

 

On Thursday 11th Jan we left the lodge and drove to Tekapo for a night. Here, our luck with the weather finally run out... You would hardly know the lake was surrounded by large mountains! We managed a quick visit to the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd during a break in the weather, then decided to while away the rest of the afternoon at the hot pools. Well, we got to the hot pools to find the manager at the entrance turning people away. There had been a burst pipe affecting the water supply, and they weren't letting anybody else into the pools. Instead we picked up some supplies at the supermarket and enjoyed a cosy evening in, watching a movie and catching up with all the news of the world we had missed during our week in the wilderness. 

The next day it was onwards to Akaroa for a night, as this was another place Will had never been. The place was absolutely heaving as two cruise ships were in, and it's not exactly the biggest of places! They only visit Akaroa for the day, so it was almost a relief when the tourists started heading back out to the ships in the early evening. We enjoyed a very pretty sunset.

 

Our last night away from home was spent in Kaikoura. It was quite sobering to see the damage still evident from the November 2016 earthquake. We went for a nice walk along the beach and enjoyed some quite spectacular fish and chips for dinner. A fitting last meal for our summer holiday.

 

 

On Sunday 14th Jan we had a 7pm ferry sailing from Picton back to Wellington. Luckily the road between Kaikoura and Blenheim had reopened after the quake (literally a couple of days earlier) so we didn't have to take the long detour inland. We left at a decent time in the morning and spent most of the day at White's Bay, another favourite spot of ours, where we had spent an epic week camping with the Roe family a couple of years earlier. The weather played its part and it made for a lovely last day of our South Island adventure, before travelling the short distance to Picton for our ferry home.