Catching up with the Aussie branch

We've had two nice days this week and one of them was Friday when the family sailed in on the Ovation of the Seas. A blessing :) We caught the bus into town and they caught the shuttle from the ship and we all met in the city. They were in Starbucks when we arrived so we joined them for a hot drink then bro and his partner went in search of the Scottish Shop, which had moved since he lived here. 

We sisters went in search of replacements for things one of us had left in the hotel in Sydney! I won't name names :) My GKB knew just where to take her he said and he proved to be right. Then we headed back to the mall and same sis bought MORE stuff for me to distribute amongst the little people, five and under. So we had to find somewhere to sit and sort it all out as I had one or two things for them to take back with them as well.

This is another little break we took while I was trying to contact another one of our brothers to tell him when they were heading back to the ship - he works on the pilot boat and they thought they might all be able to catch up at the Port somewhere. I still don't know whether they did or not as he was working. I hope so.

I'd booked a table at a nice wee cafe that was tucked away in a little shopping court off the main street. A couple of the family members work just a couple of blocks away and were able to get extended lunch breaks to join us. I think everyone had a good time, I hope so. We spent a good hour and a half or more just chatting and eating, several conversations going on at the same time and maybe a lot of talking and not a lot of listening :) But a lot of laughter.

And then it was time for a stroll back to The Octagon to catch the shuttle back to the ship, say our farewells and wave them goodbye. The shuttles were supposed be running every half hour on the hour and half hour but they were more like a production line. As one filled up it pulled away and another one came into line at the back of the queue. Maybe it was the time of the day, people not wanting to be late for gangplank up (is that what it's called these days?) and it was starting to cool down.

The line of shuttles through the centre of The Octagon. We watched as we waited for Vanessa to come round with the car to pick us up, she became an unofficial shuttle for the rest of the family heading back to our homes :)

While we were sitting I spotted this carved gateway and went to have a look. Apparently it has been there for about five years but I've never seen it before. We don't normally go to The Octagon when we're in town, we usually stay a couple of blocks further north, so it was new to me. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to discover it is an aluminium replica of the gateway at the Otakou Marae and not a carved wooden one.

And I think I'll finish there.

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing.

Diana

A sociable day

 Yesterday dawned, cold wet and windy. Our high was 14C. It's the middle of summer for goodness sake. I wasn't impressed.

Regardless, we were due to meet my GKB's sister and her husband down in Port Chalmers for a lunch date, so we rugged up warm and headed away. The wind was howling down the main street when we arrived and really quite unpleasant, cutting through our layers.

There had been a cruise ship due in but the stopover was cancelled due to the high winds. But that worked in our favour as there was plenty of room in the cafe we chose. We still had a few minutes before SIL and her hubby arrived so we went inside to wait. When they arrived BIL was carrying a large brown grocery bag - my GKB laughingly said, 'he's brought his lunch with him'. But no, it was a bag of garden produce for us from his garden.

He has a big garden and he is very generous each time we visit, we always head home with veges freshly dug from the garden. It is never expected, I'm always surprised even after all these years, and it's always appreciated.

We had a lovely relaxed lunch and caught up with all the family news, we hadn't seen each other since well before Christmas.

Later in the evening my home study group was meeting again for the first time this year. It was to be a dessert and coffee evening and we all took a dessert. I have to admit to cheating as mine came from the supermarket, my excuse - I'd been out all day. 

It was the first time we'd met together as a group for about six weeks, so again a time to catch up and just enjoy each others company. 

Two hot, two cold, cream and icecream, some snacks and home made shortbread, Yum. And of course tea or coffee depending on your preference.

That's it for now.

Have a good week,

Diana

A family gathering

We had a family gathering today down at Port Chalmers. A couple of birthdays were being celebrated but mainly it was to welcome our nephew and his family home. He has been living and working in China for 20 years. He met his wife there and has a lovely little family. They have been home on holiday  several times but this time is for good. 

In April our son will also arrive home for good with his wife. He has been living and working in Japan for 9 years and met his wife while there as well. They have also been home a couple of times on holiday. We're all looking forward to their arrival.

The gathering was held in an old building, now part of a cafe/restaurant but at the back of the property. The front shop was originally a fishmongers but my GKB couldn't quite recall what this building was. Anyway the owner has stripped it back to the original brick and beams (it looks like some of the beams have been replaced though) and it has a lot of character, a great place for a small get together like ours.

On our way home we thought we would take a quick detour and have a look at the first home we had together after we married.

It's looking quite a lot more run down, sadly, but it is over 40 years since we lived there and I am always surprised that it is still standing. It was the first house ever built in the area so is probably well over 150 years old. I used to love sitting on the front  verandah with my morning tea, I could see over to the harbour and it was so calm and peaceful with the bush behind. Lots of birdsong :)

As you can see, we are still having a wet, grey, dreary summer :) and have gale force winds forecast for tonight. So we'll be battening down the hatches before we retire for the night.

Cruise ships in port

It was a cool day, we have had next to no summer weather this year and to be honest it is just a tad depressing. So on a whim we decided to drive down to Port Chalmers and visit my GKB's sister and family. We didn't warn them, we decided the drive would be good regardless. We knew there were a couple of cruise ships in so we detoured to have a look at them on the way.

Overlooking part of the Port from up on a hill.

The MS Maasdam on the left registered in Amsterdam.

She takes 1258 passengers and 580 crew.

The Dawn Princess on the right.

She is slightly bigger and is registered in Bermuda.

She takes on board 1950 passengers and has a crew of 900.

Just the day before the Ovation of the Sea was in port and she would have dwarfed both these ships. She had a crew of 1300 and takes 4180 passengers and I believe she is the 4th largest cruise ship in the world and the largest one operating in the southern hemisphere at the moment. Now that would have been a sight to see.

It is cruise ship season and so over the next few months we will have a variety of ships coming into port and hopefully the passengers will enjoy what our city has to offer even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

I've never been cruising and would love to enjoy the experience once in my life, I think it would be an amazing.

How about you?

Diana

Hotere Gardens, Port Chalmers

 I know we are a day or two into the new year

 but as this is my first post this year I would like

 to wish you all a very Happy New Year

 and all you could wish for during 2016.

************

On New Year's Eve afternoon my GKB and I went down the harbour and spent the afternoon with his sister 

and her husband. It was a beautiful day and we spent 

a large part of the afternoon sitting out

 in their garden overlooking the water. Beautiful.

Unfortunately I never took a photo of the view 

but here is another one of the harbour 
from further up the hill at Flagstaff Lookout.

On our way home we decided to go up Flagstaff, 

we haven't been up there for years, and we had a nice surprise.

When we turned around from taking photo's we saw 

a sign telling us about the Hotere Gardens Oputae. 

So take a load off your feet and take five minutes

 to have a look around the garden with us.

They were new to us and definitely new to my GKB 

who grew up in Port Chalmers. So we went exploring.

Ralph Hotere is (or was) a New Zealand artist 

who lived in Port  for a few years. My father knew him 

and I think Mum may have met him once or twice 

when they lived there. I have seen his work in art galleries

 but it is not to my taste. I just don't get it. Other people do.

This is his work.  

It is called Black Phoenix.

I like the fact it has been incorporated in a native garden

 along with three other sculptures from other artists.

A totem pole. It has the word Aramoana carved onto it.

Aramoana is where there was a lot of political controversy 

about an aluminium smelter being built.

Several years later a shooting tragedy occurred 

involving the whole community and I'm not sure which event

 is being commemorated with the totem. Maybe both.

It was carved by Chris Booth.

This is a sculpture by Shona Rapira Davies.

The plaque nearby reads:

They do cut down the poles that hold up the sky. 1989.

This one is by Russel Moses and is named 

Brick Column.

It was a lovely day just to stroll around the little garden, 

and it is small.There are nice paths to walk on and one

 or two seats to sit and just enjoy the garden or the view. 

Take a picnic lunch. And ponder!

And when you are finished if you want to you can walk 

down a path to the road around to Back Beach 

or the Yachting Club.

I hope you've enjoyed this little hidden gem as much as we did.

And if you want to know more just click

 on the links in the dialogue.

joining Stephanie over at:

roses of inspiration 

and

Amy at Love Made my Home for:

Five on Friday

Have a wonderful week,

look after yourselves and 

I'll see you next time.

Diana

A window with a view

On Friday afternoon my GKB and I decided it was

 time for a trip down the harbour and a visit to his sister.

We arrived in time for afternoon tea - good timing.

looking up the harbour towards Dunedin

I took the camera because I wanted to get some shots from her kitchen window.

The house overlooks a small inlet in the harbour near Port Chalmers.

Looking across to Roseneath

And even though it was cold I wasn't allowed to take them from the window. 

The reason? It overlooks my SIL's back yard and her washing was out on the line!

Sawyers Bay and around to the right to Port Chalmers

So while the others sat inside drinking hot tea and coffee 

I went outside and took the shots above

with the clothes line at my back and their bounteous garden in front.

In another city you would pay a lot of money

 for the views they have of the harbour.

************

Not the cup we had at my SIL's but one we had while out and about one day.

I thought it was quite elegant for a tea rooms but maybe it was because 

the tea room was attached to a garden centre.

joining in with:
Martha's favorites
roses of inspiration

That's it for this week.
Short and sweet. 
Keep well until next time.
Diana