A month early

We thought we might go in to the city to the inaugural George Street market today but then we saw photo's on fb and saw the size of the crowds we decided not to. We'd go to the one out at South D instead. Though why they were both happening on the same day baffled us a bit, but we checked the times and yes it was Saturday 8th starting at 10am.

We got there and found a handy park and walked out to the main street where the market happens. Nothing. Not a stall or entertainer in sight and only one or two people about. Looked around one or two shops and asked one of the assistants about it and he didn't know what I was talking about. So we decided to go to the cafe at the salt water pool and have a bite of lunch.

We drove to Esplanade which was really crowded and it didn't look like we would get a carpark anywhere but eventually we found one. We were in the right place at the right time, retracing our steps so to speak and a car pulled out just in front of us. Great :)

I love the Esplanade, traffic on the housing side of the street and foot traffic along the seafront. And lots of little cafes and bars. 

We walked along to the saltwater pool but the cafe was full and with no umbrellas at the outside tables I wasn't sitting there. It was a beautiful day so we strolled back to the corner and found a nice wee cafe, Starfish, and went in for lunch. Youngest granddaughter says she used to go there a lot.

A good food selection including "old fashioned" food that we prefer to eat. And there was a nice small table by a big window so we could watch the passing traffic :)

I did think it was a trifle breezy where I was sitting but couldn't see an air con unit nearby so thought it was because we were close to the door. We'd almost finished lunch when I realised that the big window I was sitting in was actually a sliding door and it was wide open! Oh dear. Time for new specs I think :)

The skies were blue, the sea was perfect for surfing and just enough of a breeze to take the edge off the heat of the sun - I have ended up with a sunburnt face though.

Why do people stand and gaze at the sea I wonder? Today it was just rolling in nicely, the breakers weren't too big and it was nice to feel a little bit of sea spray every so often.

There were no surfers along this end of the beach today, the tide was too high and coming up to the seawall. It's sandy down the other end and we could see surfers in the water down there.

And this is a short video of the beaches (and sea) looking first along St Clair beach to the salt water pool and finishing in the opposite direction looking north to St Kilda beach and Lawyers Head.

We had a really nice day out in the end even if it wasn't what we'd planned and discovered when we arrived home and checked that yes the market day was on the 8th at 10am - of March not February :) We were a month early!

I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Diana

St Clair beach

 

On a beautiful, warm summer's day just recently

 I found myself at St Clair beach with a group friends.

 

The sun was shining, the surf was gently rolling in and we had a lovely stroll along the esplanade, stopping every now and then to watch the surfers riding the swells. And the occasional gentle breaker :)  A nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

'Tis 2019

First of all let me wish everyone a belated New Year.

How did you celebrate? Did you celebrate?

We didn't. We had our grandson staying

so thought we might at least sit up until midnight

 but he scooted off to bed about 10:30pm

and so we went not long after.

It still happened without us :)

We were a bit spoilt on New Year's day, a friend invited

 us out to lunch and we had a very enjoyable catch up

 with her at one of the hotels a couple of suburbs over.

That evening we were also invited to our son's home for the evening meal. We had a delicious cold meal, summer noodles, followed by icecream with a passionfruit sauce over it.

This was all finished off with rose petal tea

(coffee for my GKB) served in beautifully fine

 porcelain tea cups. So delicate. In the bottom

of the cup was an image in the porcelain of the

head of a Japanese lady. I think you'll see it

if you look closely at the picture below.

We all headed to the beach afterwards, next time

I'll take my swimming togs. It was a beautiful

 evening and the water wasn't too cold. Some of

us paddled, one of us decided the water was

too cold and another one guarded the cardigans,

cell phones etc. We headed home about 8:30pm.

After grandson headed back up to Christchurch

 we had a day or two just relaxing and then Sassy

arrived to stay for a couple of nights. She's missing

her family but once she realized we were actually

going to feed her and take her for walks she perked up.

She has been good and it's been fun having a dog again

 for a little while. We were out early for our walk this

morning as the forecast was for warm temps during

 the day, it's 31C at present. Unless it cools off somewhat

 she may miss out on her evening jaunt :)

And that has been our first week of 2019.

I hope yours has been just as relaxing.

Diana

joining Deb today for

Friday foto friends

Reunion - part two

Saturday night found us all gathered at the Recreation Hotel for a celebration dinner. We had been able to go in earlier in the day and put Easter eggs at each place setting and although it doesn't seem so in the picture, it looked quite pretty. One sis had wrapped several eggs in cellophane bags and tied them with pretty curling ribbon, enough for a bag each for each person there. With wine and soft drinks on the table it added to the effect.

We started with an entree served at the tables followed by a buffet main course. This meant that those with special dietary requirements could have what they needed. Once again when 

it came to desserts we were served at the table. The food was delicious but it was a shame that the noise from the open kitchen made it difficult for people to hear our eldest cousin when he gave a tribute to our grandparents and then made the toasts. Luckily he had written it out and we were able to get a copy posted on our facebook page.

Immediately after dinner was over we cut the reunion cake. We would have left it a bit later as some people were still eating dessert but our Aunty was ready for home and we really wanted her to do the honours. The cake was made by my eldest grandson, very decadent, layered mud cake filled with chocolate ganache and iced with chocolate. Once again the theme was flags and daffodils, all made with chocolate - well the ones on the cake were anyway :)

Just after it was cut there was an accident with a wine glass and one end of the cake was covered with wine and broken glass. Luckily it was a big cake and we were able to salvage most of it but the waitress who caused it was very upset as she was new at the job.

A good time was had by all and not a cross word was heard. The little kids were all marvellous, and cousins of all ages caught up with each other. The four in the picture above all live in the same city but had to travel to the Coast to visit with each other :)

On Sunday lunch time we had a farewell at one of the local cafes, "The Gap". Sharon, the owner, was so obliging. When I rang her to confirm our booking it was the first she had heard about us wanting to use her cafe to say our farewells. She had bought the business since we booked and I rang her less than a week out from the event. But she reserved space and set up seating for 30 which worked really well as we arrived in groups of 10 to 20 and there was plenty of room for everyone at any one time :) The staff were very friendly and obliging as we were there on a very busy holiday weekend.

On Sunday afternoon those of us who weren't travelling did some exploring, my GKB and I went to Punakaiki to the blow holes but I'll write about that another time as it really warrants it's own post.

One thing we of the older generation find interesting is that our families enjoyed themselves so much that they all want to go back for holidays and do some more exploring. A real positive spin off as most of them have shown no interest up until now :)

Joining in Five on Friday

over at FAST

Diana

A family reunion

 Easter weekend saw 76 members of our extended family gather in Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Home for the older generation of cousins and somewhere most of our kids had never been! 

On Friday afternoon we set up the hall. What could have been a big job was made easy when people just kept arriving and we ended up with an old fashioned working bee going. The men got to work putting  the tables up and the women got to work in the kitchen.  Some things never change :) When all was set up it was a quick dash back to our motels for a shower and change of clothes, then back to the hall for our 'meet and greet' evening.

We had hired a church hall and were very impressed with all the facilities provided. Because it was Good Friday we had fish and chips, hot cross buns and whitebait on the menu. This was supplemented with fruit platters and small cakes, with wine, beer and soft drink as well as tea and coffee. One sister, who shall remain nameless, ordered a slab of cake, thinking she would get something big enough for everyone to have a small piece each - it came in a wooden box and took up the entire back seat of her car! She'll take a while to live that one down.

We had a lot of fun that evening, meeting family we hadn't see for decades in some cases and also meeting their kids and grandkids. People had brought their photo's along as well as other articles of interest, the family bible, some iron ore from a mine our ancestors worked in England - the owner had smuggled it out of the mine when she went to see it. The family tree was there for anyone to take copies of and the family historian had interesting letters and other papers to look at. We decorated with daffodils and flags, Granma's favourite flowers were daffodils and Grandad's nickname was Flags, so we thought it was appropriate.

When people first arrived they took a balloon off the stage and had to find the person whose name was on the name tag. I was a bit iffy as to whether the men would take part but I think most of them found a kid and did it with them, that way it wasn't really them playing with balloons :) I loved seeing the big age range. I think the youngest was about 7 years old and my Aunty was the eldest at 86. At the dinner on Saturday night she told us all there was one week and one month between her and Mum, what she meant was one year and one month. We all had a good laugh over that. That's her below with balloons all over her wheelchair. We were all very proud of her as she had a stroke earlier in the year but managed (was determined) to attend most events for at least part of the time.

At 9:30pm when it was time to go everyone pitched in again and it only took about an hour or so to clear everything away and make our way to our beds. Well, those with kids headed to their beds, my branch of the family met up again in my youngest brothers motel and we spent a couple of hours reminiscing and catching up with each other. Two of us live in NZ and the other two who were there are living in Australia, and two didn't make it. My daughters and their families didn't join us either as they had to drive quite a way to where they were staying. We socialised with them later in the weekend. And that completed our Friday night.

Did I say it poured with rain all day and night on Friday? Well Saturday morning when we were due to go to the cemetery to put flowers on our grandparents grave we were still being blasted with torrential rain, the tail end of Cyclone Cook. Those of us who grew up on the coast weren't at all fazed as this sort of rain is quite normal for the area but I think one or two of the younger ones wondered what had  hit them. We had a good turnout of people at the cemetery, mostly the older cousins as we were the ones who spent time with our grandparents, but it was nice to see some of the younger ones there as well. And as you can see, although it was grey and cloudy the rain stopped and the weather continued to get better and better as the day wore on.

My eldest cousin (the family patriarch) said a few words 

and we had a minute silence before  we all went our 

different ways for the rest of the morning.

My GKB and my son and daughter in law and I all went down to the beach which was just below the cemetery. It was cold and blustery but it was nice to relax and take a walk before we all gathered again at Shantytown after lunch. My son takes some quite arty photos and I followed him trying to get the same shots - but mine are not arty at all :( 

And Shantytown is going to have a post of it's own, 

so I think I will stop here and continue another day.

That's more than five photo's and probably not quite

 five minutes of reading but I'd still like to take part in:

Five on Friday

********

I would also appreciate prayers for my little mother as she has been staying with me since Easter and is on complete rest. We travel to Hamilton on Monday for a CT scan (don't ask) and the plan at the moment is that they will send us home again on Wednesday then send us another appointment to go back for her heart operation. We are praying the operation will be done while we are in Hamilton without the need for another trip. We live in Dunedin in the south of the South Island, Hamilton is in the middle of the North Island and we will be travelling for about 4 hours. Many thanks.

On 'The Coast' for Easter

Meet and greet.

At the cemetery.

Shantytown.

The main meal.

Heading up the coast road.

What do these photos have in common? 

They were all taken at our recent family reunion.

joining in the fun at

Five on Friday

Diana

Two intrepid walkers - on a road trip #2

Hello there. Here we are back on the road again.

Make yourself a pot of tea, or coffee, put your feet up

and join Sis and me on the next part of our journey.

When I left you last we had had a break in Otira for lunch 

and now we are headed to the West Coast.

Once you cross over the mountain the landscape changes dramatically. The West Coast is a very narrow strip of land on the coast, bounded by mountains and the sea and we drive through ancient, beech forest to reach it. Rainforest. 

But today the sun is shining and as we drive north up the coast we are in our shirtsleeves. Definitely overdressed. Once we are over the Taramakau River bridge we are almost there. This is a road/rail bridge which throws some people, like my GKB when he first drove on it, but we grew up with it so no problems there. :)

We booked in at the camping ground and decided not to have a cuppa but to go and visit our aunty, who is still living in Greymouth, and have one with her. She was out. Oh well, we had other places to go in connection with our reunion next year. The hotel PR lady was next. She was away for the day! A restaurateur we wanted to speak to. He was finished for the day! We weren't having much luck. I  guess that is what happens when you do things on the spur of the moment. Let's try aunty again on the way back to the camping ground. Aah, finally, she was home and we had a nice visit - and finally too, a hot cup of tea.

We bought fish and chips for tea and ate them back at the camping ground and then decided to go for a walk on the beach. These are not sandy beaches and neither are they beaches I would swim in, the Tasman Sea is too rough and rugged for me. But they are enjoyable to walk on. Not that we went far as the wind was coming up, making it a bit cool and unpleasant. It's winter, remember.

The camping ground is at the beach, leave the grounds heading west, cross a narrow track/road and you're in the flax and grass that borders the beach. As we were heading back we saw a large bird run across the grass in front of us - then another one. A pair of wekas. Weka - also known as wood hen or Maori hen. They had no fear and posed for us before calling to each other and disappearing into the scrub again. But as luck would have it none of my photos turned out so this is a photo of a postcard with a Weka on it. The photo is taken by Dave Foster. We also saw these on the roadsides as we were travelling on the West Coast side.

Weka, by Dave Foster

With the wind getting up and darkness falling we decided to have showers and call it a night. It was 7:30pm! We read and chatted and planned a programme for the reunion, but mostly we read. I couldn't believe how tired I felt. Sometime in the early hours of the morning I woke up, then there was an almighty thunderclap. Sis reckons it was the lightening that woke me. With the thunder came the rain, and did it rain. The West Coast of the South Island gets torrential rain and I hadn't experienced it for a long time

 - welcome home :)

It was still raining when we left in the morning about 10:00am. We caught up with the people who had been away the day before and decided to have a cooked breakfast before we headed off. Above is the view out of the tearooms window as we ate.

And this is what it was like as we were leaving Kumara and heading back towards the mountains, with no let up as we headed into Otira where there was a beautiful rainbow. We drove right into it and I decided to enjoy the moment instead of trying to capture it.

Can you see though, how it is coming down between the mountains and therefore having nowhere to disappear to.

It was a long haul up the mountain behind two large trucks, I think our top speed was about 15 kpm and we kept waiting for the engine to cut out. Eventually we came to a short passing  bay but it was long enough for us and we made a run for it. Through the passes on the Canterbury side the sun was out and it was a pleasant trip through to Christchurch. Another overnight stay and then we headed back to Otago and the meeting I had to be home for that evening.

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

I hope you've enjoyed our road trip.

I'm joining Amy, and others, for

Five on Friday

so why don't you pop over for a look as well.

Diana

By the way, don't ask me what mountain I crossed, I don't know to be honest, just that it is part of the Southern Alps . Growing up if we were going to Christchurch we were going  'over the hill'. We drove up the mountain, or took the railcar, and went through the passes but it has never occurred to me to find out which mountain we crossed. We knew the name of the passes, that sufficed. Maybe I should find out!

Five on Friday

These five photo's are only related in that

 I took them while out and about this week.

Along the right bank of the Silverstream on a wet, drizzly walk.

The view from a friend's back deck. 

The cows are heading to the milking sheds.

The groynes at St. Clair beach, Dunedin.

Surfers coming in on the swells to the right.

The salt water pool and tearooms at St. Clair.

We popped in here for a cuppa.

Rural view along the left bank of the Silverstream.

Scroggs Hill in the background and beyond that the Pacific Ocean.

Little mother's bushes getting a bit of a trim by my GKB.

And I'm pretty sure that is six photo's. I'll just pretend I can't count, 

or we could say the two from St Clair constitute one :)

joining Tex at:
Good Fences
and Amy at:
Five on Friday
and Stepanie at:
roses of inspiration

Moeraki

When we head north for a break we occasionally

 take a coffee break at the tearooms at Moeraki.

There is a small township here,

very small, more of a village really.

Sitting out on the deck you look out over the Pacific Ocean.

Looking to your right is the beach around to Moeraki,

a small fishing village with a small commercial fleet.

And looking over to the left is Koekohe beach

 and the reason people come and visit.

The Moeraki boulders, which are scattered along the seafront

 are natural formations that come up from 

the ground or out of those cliffs on the left.

 

Although they don't look very large here some of them are very big.

Some are splitting and you can climb inside them,

 and try them for size if you are so inclined :)

The picture above will give you a bit of  perspective,  I'm 5ft 6in.

And below is one of the older boulders that is just beginning to split.

If you're interested in reading about the boulders

you can go here for a link which also tells 

the Maori legend connected with them.

Needless to say, if you visit the cafe you will be able to buy 

a very nice meal, snack and drinks, hot or cold,

that's after a visit to the gift shop of course :)

joining in with:

WATW  (Wednesday around the world)

Roses of Inspiration

Well I hope you enjoyed 

our visit to the beach.

Until next time keep well,

Diana.