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.