The quiet didnt last long!

After one day of washing towels, sheets and revacuuming the house, Samantha and Nana Dianne arrived  to our local version of a heatwave. We had some lovely walks around the local foreshore,lots of talking, trips to Maritime Museum and over to Devonport, a gorgeous day out to Waiheke island, visits to Grandad, the trampoline park with Zara ( my friends grand daughter that Sammy spent a day with last January), the local swimming pool, the botanic Gardens and the inevitable shopping trip to Dressmart ( the retail outlet mall)... a busy week! It was lovely having them both here - I relished the opportunity to touch base with Sammy who is growing up fast - she is 11 now and still the outgoing, friendly girl that we all love. The months will fly by until Dianne and I are off on another adventure in May.

We went outside for our dinner every night - hot weather!

She is always a performer - at the Maritime Museum!

Samantha and her other nana

One of the sculptures at the Botanic Gardens

Sam and Zara rehydrating at the trampoline park!

Sam and I on the ferry.

The heat ( up to 29 degrees) may not sound much to Australians but coupled with the high humidity it has been very very sticky - not usual to have perspiration pouring down  while you are sitting still reading. I am currently investigating a cooling system for my house - it has gas central heating but if these summers are to continue then I need to checkout how to get cool!

Meanwhile the predicted low front of high winds and heavy rain has hit today - coupled with the king tides caused by the full moon it has been a week of extremes! I saw a bit of the eclipse last night but too cloudy to see the blood moon at 2 am so I went back to sleep!

The year is getting underway with all my classes and groups starting in 10 days so I am hoping to get away in the campervan if the weather clears.

Wonderful chaos and now such a quiet house

The sun is now back out and I have washed countless towels and all the sheets in preparation for my next set of visitors. It was a very busy week, but not stressful, and wonderful to be able to have the Godfrey grandchildren up here at the new house and visiting Magical Mangawhai. The weather didnt totally co-operate and it was very windy but it wasnt cold and we still managed to do lots of stuff.
The first day we picked up grandad and had a walk around my coastal walk

Then we headed up to Mangawhai. We got there early enough to take a long walk with the dogs and come back and have a bit of a swim. The next day we got the sit on kayak and the boogie boards out but it had already started to get windy so we had to ensure the kayak had a rope on it!  but they had fun playing around in the water and building sand castles, caverns and tunnels in the sand. Didnt get any photos as I didnt have enough hands!

Our first outdoor dinner - Gil cooking

Dorothy cooked dinner so the Godfreys did the dishes. everyone wanted to do the washing!

Our first Mangawhai geocache - hidden in a fencepost.

The second Mangawhai geocache - well done Callum!

Monopoly - 1 game each to callum and Annabelle

 Over the next couple of days we had several walks, found two geo caches, went to the big play area and went back to the ocean beach for a big walk ( by then the wind was very strong - ugh I hate sand in the eyes), made muffins, and the girls had huge fun playing with all the new toys in the playroom. Jonathan spent a fair bit of time practising on his guitar - sounding good. My brother Gil and his wife Dot were fantastic with the kids - I guess they have had a fair bit of practice with their own grandies...
The wind ( and then rain ) wasnt cold but it definitely limited some of our options - next time...  We are so lucky we are able to go up and enjoy all that Mangawhai has to offer.

Ocean beach Mangawhai heads- big walk and lots of wave jumping

Annabelle up a very big sandhill.

And yes, I did get to do lots of reading!

Then home again to rain - so outdoor activities were postponed but we had a very energetic morning in the local swimming pool, then a visit to Grandad a visit to the local library and then home to Lego and Callum at last got to give me instruction in Minecraft! I can see why it fascinates him and others - and there does appear to be quite a bit of interesting learning goes on.

Annabelle was very proud of her lego train

Annabelle reading to Grandad.

 And then we were up early and got them all to the airport on time. Oh my goodness the house was quiet and in slight ( well not so slight) disarray when i got back. 

Thank goodness the sun came out today and i have washed lots and lots of towels, sheets etc - and I am almost ready for the arrival of Samantha ( my other grand daughter) and her other Nana tomorrow!

A hot quiet week after the storm

Thames coast road at Waiomu

It seems longer but it is only just over a week ago that we had a massive storm and king tides hit areas round here - my place was not affected too much but the Thames coast and the Coromandel peninsula really got hit and the road at Waiomu where I had camped only a month ago was really a huge mess.
Since then it has been hot and humid - 29deg may not be much by Australian standards but it is very energy sapping when coupled with high humidity.
Lots of garden watering - and a few decisions that the soil at this new house is useless - boggy in winter and dries out way to quickly in summer - I think raised garden beds and perhaps a rockery will be the answer!!

It has been lovely weather for walks in the evening or early morning - but a bit too much in the middle of the day!

I have taken the opportunity of a nearly blank diary for a week to have a couple of sets of visitors round and to pay a visit to  another friend whose schedule is usually very full. A lovely way to spend time - I took peter for a couple of drives and he continues quite well, although he doesnt cope well with the heat.  The Care home has taken the residents out for several van trips to local beaches - they have enjoyed that!

Several little sewing projects which are classified as UFO s ( unfinished objects) also had major inroads on them. I finished the L is for .... little challenge quilt for the Guild - you used the first letter of your name and I went with L ( for Liz ) and tried out painting on fabric, practised with the foils I

L is for Love, lilies and ....

got at symposium and the glitter and generally learned a few lessons particularly that hottish irons, dupion silk and basting spray are not a very good combination, but the overall result is presentable I think. My Faded Roses wall hanging started at a Griet Lombard class at Symposium now looks like ti will be finished soon and I also completed a little dress for one of the girls, an embroidered purse kit I had been given and now just have to face all the quilt tops hiding in the wardrobe that need quilting - on a cooler day methinks.

Some beading and hand quilting to go on the Faded Roses and then it will be finished.

The heat has meant Tui has been shedding hair in a remarkable fashion - after a couple of weeks of constantly picking up black fur, trying to comb her and strip out undercoat several times a day - I capitulated today and she visited a specialist spaniel groomer - she looks lovely now - the shorter coat means she will be cooler and can go onto the beach next week with us - and she still looks like a cavalier KC spaniel - I was very apprehensive she would end up looking like a furry beagle! Definitely worth the money and after a clip or two we will start having a go ourselves with my friend's clippers.

The grandchildren arrive tomorrow and we are hoping to head up to Mangawhai for a few days as long as my brother and his wife can handle the invasion - really looking forward to that!! Then I willhave my Aussie grand daughter over with her other Nana - so a very social fortnight coming up! Yippee.

Xmas, New Year and tripping Part 3

Traffic jam NZ style

The kids having returned to their Mum for a few days I headed off in a campervan for a little adventure. decided to go to Castlepoint on the wild east coast of NZ - so I set the GPS and headed off ( when it said - do you mind gravel roads I said No - mistake!) I spent the next almost 3 hours bypassing all the towns and heading almost as the crow flies on windy gravel roads  - I saw 3
vehicles in over two hours but lots of sheep and beef cattle and hills. Not dangerous just slow travelling. Major item of interest was the huge flock of lambs I ran into just as I hit the tar seal - they were headed the same way as me, so eventually it seemed sensible to just let them go and wait.

View to the lighthouse from Castlepoint beach

The most reknowned feature of Castlepoint is its lighthouse which juts out on a spectacular headland with lots o wind warnings on the path - well justified - the south east gale was not quite at danger level but the sand blowing from the sandhills was like being sand blasted - you couldnt open your eyes walking into the wind on the ocean side beach. I spent the night in my little camper in the car park behind the sandhills - rocking and rolling with the wind and rain. But fantastic scenery and made me think with healthy respect for the early sailors who tried to traverse that coastline - no wonder there were a few wrecks! I enjoyed some quiet time trying to draw the headland and practising a little watercolour painting.

View from sandhills of ocean side and Deliverance Cove ( there is a gap in the rocks you can sail into very carefully)

Breakfast the next morning was down on the main beach - more sheltered and Tui was prepared to hop out and have a wee there. She didnt like the howling rain and wind up on the headland!

The windy, but gloriously scenic walk up to the lighthouse.

More sheep country heading down towards Masterton. ( tar sealed roads this time)

On the 28th I decided to head back slowly,  but deciding to stick to main roads and go back via Riversdale - another ocean beach further south, then Masterton,  Eketahuna and over the Pahiatua track ( now the main road due to the Manawatu Gorge road having been permanently closed).

Not a good reproduction but the first Anzac service 25 April 1916

An interesting feature was calling in at Tinui a little township ( now), which had been a much larger town in earlier years and contributed over 1000 men to the ANZAC forces in WW1. They conducted the first known Anzac service in 1916 to commemorate the 7 men from the area lost at Gallipoli and erected a huge jarrah cross on the local mountain.

Back at Jonathan's in Palmerston north I spent a delightful couple of hours  on the 29th with Rose  looking round Caccia-Birch house ( all rimu panelled even on ceilings!) one of the heritage homes of early Palmerston north which overlooks the lagoon, which is  is the home of the Palmerston north canoe Club and lots and lots of ducks, coots, geese and a swan or two.

Caccia Birch house - first built in 1895 by a Norwegian family of sawmillers.

The Palmerston North lagoon seen from Caccia Birch house - gorgeous.

Children were back that afternoon and on the 30th we all trekked down to Waikawa beach to  join Kurt's family at their beach house - lots of kids, good company, spa pool and beach toys including the new beach buggy - windy but warm and fine - no photos of swimming but we all enjoyed the beach and Jonathan collected a feast of pipis ( or were they tuatuas?).

Our girls in the new beach buggy with the Zara and her cousins

I took Callum bike riding on the morning of the 31st - the bones of my bum told me I was out of practice but it was fun to get him out on his bike and have a proper ride around the Esplanade park.
Then we had a lovely crowd came round on New Years Eve for a BBQ - Jonathan tried out a large roast of beef on his rotisserie and decided it was a success! Various people popped in and a few stayed right to midnight to help Jonathan use his red wine collection.

New Years Eve 

New years Eve 

Rest day! Except for a bike ride with Annabelle, wallowing in the paddling pool and the girls going with Amy to the donkeys it was a rest day! I even got a Nana nap. Very hot and humid so good to just flop. I called round at my friend Christine's for a quick visit. Then on the 2nd we all went to the Lido for a swim in the morning - still hot and humid but the weather was forecast to break. The kids are so much more confident in the pool now that it is much easier.

The girls each spent a night in the campervan - and insisted we made breakfast out there!

Coredlia trying not to share her toast with an eager Tui.

I headed off after lunch on the 2nd - hoping to catch up with my old ( 91 year old) and long time canoeing buddy Laurie in Hastings. Delighted to find him home, and we spent a lovely evening chatting and reviving memories. He is leading quite a full life in his local community - helping other people as he always used to do - but pleasingly there are people now keeping an eye on him as well, so I left knowing he was OK. I had been worried as I couldnt get hold of him as he had stopped using his cell phone.

I didnt rush but decided to drive through to Auckland via the Napier Taupo road as a storm was forecast for Thursday afternoon and it seemed sensible to get home and get off the roads. As I write this and see all the devastation of the storm and hear about the traffic jams as everyone was trying to flee the coastal areas, I am very glad I did.

Called in on Peter on the way past - and he was fine - very bright and cheerful. No mention of how many days  I had been away, which was a relief.

So I am back home, safe and sound - had a stress free Christmas and new year - very grateful that I have a family that I can appreciate and enjoy without necessarily worrying about and looking forward to all that 2018 will bring.

Xmas, New Year and Van tripping part 2

The kids arrived on Christmas Eve amidst great excitement, as we hung up the bunting I had brought down, and prepared Santa's goodies. It was fun filling up their stockings once they had gone to bed

Jonathan had his guitar out and the girls were dancing ( on the table tops)

Christmas Day was the usual - stockings and presents with 14 of us for lunch, and trying out presents etc for most of the day. It really is special sharing Christmas with littlies, and we had others calling in during the day. I am so very grateful that I am a Nana.

I will let the photos speak for themselves.

The Hannaford family Rena, Ollie, Momo and little Marcus  and Grandma Rose

Princess Tui, seeking rest from loving attention of children

Duncan, Marcus and Amy helped by Annabelle setting up the slot car tracks

Boxing Day had us up pretty early as we all went out and spent the morning with Amy ( Jonathan's friend) and her donkeys. Although Amy had been a very competitive 3 day eventer  ( horses not donkeys) in her younger years, Amy finds the donkeys very rewarding to work with and she now has  four donkeys and is heavily involved with the Donkey Driving association - and you can imagine the children's delight in leading the donkeys, riding on them, and once the donkeys had settled down helping drive them around the roads of Bunnythorpe.

It was a fun morning. The donkeys are definitely a hit with the kids, and it was also a pleasure meeting Amy and observing that she and Jonathan are enjoying each others company in a very relaxed way. 

Part 3 will continue!

Xmas, New Year and van tripping Part 1

Not sure whether I will have the stamina to put all the happenings of the last couple of weeks down but as I enjoy looking back on these entries I will give it a shot.

Moana Roa reserve, Lake Karapiro

After a succession of little Christmas parties, I set off  south on the evening of 22nd December and made it to Lake Karapiro without traffic holdups. The next day I carried on without being in a hurry and popped in to look at a few places I often sail past, like Orakei Korako, the thermal area. I remember seeing old slides of Peters from when the canoe Club rafted down the rapids here before the Waikato River was dammed.

It is now a very efficient tourist operation - I didnt get to stroll around the thermal area as it was on the other side of the river and $36 for the ferry across  seemed only a reasonable price if I took a couple of hours to walk the whole area, but it was very attractive looking. Then I looked in on Reids Farm at Taupo where we often used to camp when I took school groups canoeing. Lots and lots of campers there as it is probably the only free camping spot close to Lake Taupo and the weather was glorious.

Orakei Korako Thermal area

After a brief call in for lunch at my favourite Five Mile Bay spot I carried on down the Desert Rd and into the hills past Taihape where there is a public camping area beside the Rangitikei river, called Vinegar hill ( named after a spillage in the early days of a truck load of Vinegar!). This is a very popular area much favoured by families as the river swimming is safe ( except when the river is in flood), you are allowed to light camp fires and there are well maintained toilets and showers. It was filling up fast and some families had marked out space for other vehicles arriving later- all for $7 per person per night. Would be a great spot to return to one day with the children I think.

The Rangitikei river.

Vinegar Hill Camp ground on the Rangitikei river.

Then I happily went the scenic route to Palmerston North  via Cheltenham and Feilding- the photo does not do the steepness of the hills justice - the river valley in the distance is flat but the hills are so steep Peter always used to crack the joke that the sheep had legs on one side longer than the other so that they could walk around the hills.

continued in Part 2