Enjoying Greymouth

At the end of my last post we were at the railway station awaiting the shuttle through to Christchurch. The train is a once a day trip - Christchurch to Greymouth and back about an hour later. And far too expensive for us ordinary folk. So we caught the shuttle bus and it was comfortable enough with very congenial company. People chatted and shared food and one man loaned a blanket to someone who was not dressed warmly enough. 

But before we left there were things to do and places to see.

I went back to the school gates and took a photo and a close up of the poppies that had been crafted and attached to the gates on ANZAC Day.

On ANZAC Day Sis and I met up with our cousin and after lunch we went up to the cemetery at Karoro and put flowers on our grandparents grave and a poppy on Grandad's war plaque. It was nice to see the gravesite looking so good especially with there being no family living there now.

    

From the cemetery we took a short trip to the Karoro beach, it is a stony beach, no sand, and the stones polish up beautifully. We went fossicking - looking for greenstone or pounamu and we found some stones with a green tinge but I doubt it was the pure stuff. We did pick up some pebbles for the Aussies to take home though. Some are such pretty colours.

Karoro beach, you can see the Southern Alps in the far distance and on a good day can pick out Aorangi Mount Cook.

Lorraine and Peter fossicking. There was a lady and her children fossicking as well, she had a hammer and chisel to break stones open, we just spat on ours to see the colour :)

Another day Peter invited Lorraine and I to go to the Mawhera Pa with him. The pa is built on the site of the original Maori settlement, which surprised me as I had always thought it was about a half mile further up the river. So after lunch at one of the local cafes we went on an immersive learning adventure. It was well worth the money and time spent, a world class attraction I would think. I was really impressed with the quality of the exhibits. Below is a collage of some of the interior, small individual storytelling pods, small theatres showing movies/animations of life on the pa and the environs and a larger than life model of a Maori chief. Just some of the delights in this amazing cultural centre.

I think it was that same day that we went to the railway station and bought tee shirts for the kids, well I bought tee shirts I don't know what anyone else bought. And then i told the other two to follow me. They indulged me and were pleased they did as I was showing them the pounamu boulder at the end of the platform. It's enormous and one of several scattered around the town. 

 Another night we had dinner at the hotel next to the motel. It was nice to go and have a proper meal after cooking scrap meals at the motel and we spent a very pleasant hour or so just chatting about our respective families and having a proper catchup.

Occasionally Lorraine and I did our own thing when Peter was away touristing :) One day we took a bit of a walk along the flood wall of the Grey River but although it looks like a nice sunny day a cold wind blows down the valley and it wasn't very pleasant. You can see looking upriver that there were grey clouds and although it didn't rain it was cold. 

Then we went and had brunch at a little place just up from the quay. 

We had to wait until after 11am as Sis wanted whitebait, so whitebait we had. $16 each for a very big patty sandwiched between fresh white bread. It was delicious :)

That was pretty much it in Greymouth. It was great to visit our old home town. We went and looked for the houses we lived in but neither of them were there anymore. Even the hospital where we both worked and the nurses home we lived in have been knocked over and rebuilt - I suppose that's what happens after a major earthquake or two.

When we arrived in Christchurch I had about six hours before my flight down to Dunedin so we met up with our Christchurch cousins. Six girls, we sat and chatted for a couple of hours before the cafe closed. That was half the girl cousins, another six are scattered throughout Australia and New Zealand.

That's me at the back on the left. Look at all that white hair, lots of wisdom in that group :)

And now I think I should stop. I don't talk a lot but I seem to forget to stop when I'm writing. 

So, until next time, 

keep well and keep safe.

Diana 

Grey Main School reunion

We flew across the Alps just over a week ago, Sis and I, to our primary school's 150th reunion. There wasn't a lot of snow even though it had snowed a couple of times in the last couple of days. Our cousin was taking the train through and I thought he would have a spectacular trip with snow about but he said there was very little.

The weather was very kind to us and we had a day or so settling in and strolling around reminiscing. On Friday evening we had a meet and greet at a local restaurant attached to a brewery. It was a nice evening, with drinks and nibbles. I enjoyed it to an extent but was a bit disappointed that I never saw anyone from my class. Most people were in groups and Lorraine and I were by ourselves. I felt like we were a couple of little old ladies stuck in a corner. A couple of people came over and chatted, some came over and took the remaining chairs from our table but no-one invited us to join them. We stayed about an hour and then walked back to our motel. This photo was taken in front of a large picture of our old school entrance. Assemblies were held here until the hall was built. 

The restaurant is a nice place and pleasant to eat in and we ducked in one day as we were going past just to have a soft drink. 

Saturday was ANZAC Day and our intention was to be up in time to go to the Dawn Parade before going to the service at the school's old Memorial Gates. We slept in! But we made it in plenty of time for the school service and were shown to seats in the front because I have hearing problems, someone had remembered that from the evening before. School pupils attached poppies to the gates, one for each pupil who had perished in the two World Wars. It was quite a moving service with soldiers names, numbers and some personal details read out. This was mostly done by the pupils with one or two descendants reading as well.

When it was over, and we'd caught up with one or two people we walked over to the Cenotaph and then a block down to the RSA (Returned Services Association). Later we went to the cemetery and put poppies on Grandad's grave.

 

The afternoon saw us at the school, in a completely different place to where it had been before. Luckily our shuttle driver when we arrived was kind enough to do a short detour and showed us where it was, not far from the motel at all so we were able to walk. I met a girl outside who recognised me, she'd been friends with my best friend at school and so we hung around with her for the rest of the weekend. It was nice to have someone else to chat to and laugh with. We laughed a lot over the course of the weekend.

An ex teacher/principal (I'm not sure which) rang the old bell that had called us all to our lessons all those years ago. She was privileged - it was only the boys who were allowed to ring it back in the day. 

Then we were all sent around to the playground where the eldest ex pupil (96) cut the cake with help from the youngest pupil and one of the senior girls.

The delicious cake, it had been cut by the time I got to take a photo..

The junior Kapa Haka group entertained us...

...followed by the senior Kapa Haka group.

Afterwards afternoon tea was put on by the Parent Teacher Association and it was delicious. We also had an opportunity to wander through some of the classrooms, look at old photos and some old journals. There was a dinner on Saturday night but it was out of town so we didn't attend as we had no transport. No one had let us know there would be a shuttle until after we had registered. 

On Sunday we found ourselves back at the school for a delicious brunch. I only had the fruit and a cup of tea, oh and a piece of cake,  but I was cheeky and asked if I could have a croissant to take back to the motel for later. I was given two!  One of each of the different fillings :) So one for me and one for sis. There was hot food as well. They did a terrific job feeding us all. Farewells were said and all too soon it was all over.

A week after we arrived we were down at the railway station awaiting our shuttle through the mountains to Christchurch, the first leg of our trip home.

So, apart from a slight disappointment at the beginning of the celebrations I really enjoyed myself.

We also spent time with my cousin doing things but I think I've rabbited on enough for one post, that can wait for another day.

Keep well,

 look after yourself,

 until next time, 

Diana

Happy Days

Well Sis has been here for just on a week and tomorrow we head up to Christchurch by plane and then over to the Coast. One of our cousins is coming out to the airport for a catchup and a coffee between flights so we're all looking forward to that. I've been busy packing today, I keep thinking of things I've forgotten to put in but I think I'm set now. Not to worry though, there are shops in other towns if needed :)

 

And what have we been up to this week? Not a lot really but Lorraine (Sis) assures me she's quite happy. One day we went over to daughter Jacqui's house so Aunty could teach her to crochet, another string to her crafty bow. That's them up above and you'll see Jacqui did end up with a moon boot on her injured foot. She's happy but says it's heavy :)

 

 Lorraine is the quilting sister and so another day we drove over to younger daughter's place to deliver a quilt to teenage grandson. He was out and about with his mates so we put it on the bed for him. He was suitably impressed when he arrived home and saw it.

Sunday was a wet miserable day so after lunch we had a look through some old photos of Mum's. I'd been looking for old school photos to put up on the reunion page and hadn't found any. There was one box left to look at and that's where we found them. The last box! Above is one the class photos with me and two of my siblings. I was a year ahead of them and teachers taught two classes. We're all in the second row, my brother on the right, I am sixth in from the right and sis is three in from the left. Large classes with up to 40 kids was the norm and the teachers had full control.

 

And how could we not go out for a meal? Of course we did! Lorraine, Jacqui, Vanessa Bob and I all went out for lunch yesterday. Bob and his harem :) The meals were big, read huge, I brought some of mine home and had it for tea. If that was lunch I wonder what the evening meals are like. We went to the Concord Tavern, we haven't been for quite some time, last time we were there they were upgrading the dining room and it is so much nicer now. That's Bob up above, coming down the entrance steps. It was a great hour or two just enjoying being together as family.

Lorraine and I have also been out for a couple of short walks, dictated by the cold, wet weather, and we had an afternoon in the shop and dressed the window together.

That is all for now.

Until next time,

Diana

A social week.

We've been in Mackay just over a week and it has been quite a social time. We've caught up with relatives and friends over morning and afternoon teas, a birthday dinner, a meal out one evening and tonight we have a barbecue to go to. We went out to see if we could spot some whales one day but they weren't really  cooperating. Saw some big splashes from the tails but they weren't breaching. Well not while I had the binoculars anyway :)

I'll just post some pictures with a short description if they need it.

I was trying to get a pic of the plovers, there were five in all, but they weren't having any of it either. Sisters  front lawn.

Sis with her son and daughter in law.

Trying to spot whales. Both my sisters and Bob just out of the shot.

The shipping harbour...

...and the marina in Mackay. There's a lot of money tied up here.

Sisters sharing a laugh, that's me on the right.

Another morning out, I liked the way they presented the sandwiches.

Morning tea at a friend's house. We knew them in New Zealand and he is a rally car driver. 

He took both Bob and I for a spin in one of his cars, very exhilarating. And noisy :)

A short clip of our ride.

And last night we had another couple of family members arrive for a few days. So it will be nice getting to know them. They're from further south and we'd never met them until now.

And until next time,

enjoy your week,

blessings

Diana

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

Sailing

No, not us 🙃

We have family visiting town on Friday. They're arriving on a cruise ship and will be here for a day.

It'll be good to see them, they all live in Aussie. 

Sis boarding

They left Sydney yesterday evening and are presently somewhere on the  high seas, the Tasman Sea to be precise.

 

 Some of the cruising party as they passed the harbour Bridge.

We're looking forward to their visit. Another 6 or 8 of us will meet for lunch with them. We're booked into a nice wee Cafe in the centre of the cbd so it won't be hard for the visitors to find.

That's it for today.

Keep well and safe.

Diana

Fifty four and counting.

Last week we celebrated fifty four years of married life. We like to mark the occasion with a celebratory meal out if we're home or else go away for a few days.

This year we couldn't go out on our anniversary so we decided to go today and have lunch at Kades Restaurant at the local tavern. It's nice there, not too noisy and the meals are always delicious. We both had fish but I had the veges and my GKB had chips and salad with his.

Afterwards we decided to have a small dessert, which it was :) I think it must have come from the children's menu, we didn't really need the hundreds and thousands on top 😄 But ice cream is always good on a hot day.

This is a photo from our wedding day. Left to right my grandfather, Bob's parents, Bob and me and then Mum and Dad and my grandmother. In front are my youngest brothers who are both grandparebts themselves now. My grandparents are well gone and so are both sets of our parents. It's lovely to have a photo of them all together.

My middle sister was my bridesmaid and Bob's best friend his best man. Youngest sister couldn't make it as she was in Wellington due to have her first baby and my eldest brother was serving in the navy and in Scotland at the time. Bob's family all made it :)

Hiccups? One or two. I wasn't living in the town we were married in and I thought I had everything arranged. Church and date tick. Hairdresser tick. Flowers tick. Venue for reception tick.

But the vicar was going to be on holiday when we wanted to get married so a later date was decided on.

The hairdresser sold her business and didn't inform the new owners there was a wedding booked in. We had to, and did, find another one at very short notice. Phew.

The florist couldn't get the flowers I wanted for my bouquet so we decided on others. I wasn't happy with my bouquet but at least I had one.

Sis got badly sunburnt the day before the wedding and she was padded up with cotton wool wherever anything was going to rest closely on her skin (like her underwear). So sore, and because I know I can see it in the photo's. Other people just think she has a lovely glow about her.

When Bob's suit arrived it was too big and no hope of getting another as he'd hired it and we were a couple of hundred miles away from where he'd got it.

But we did end up getting married and when all's said and done all these things are not what's important. It's about the promises made on the day. And the people who come to celebrate with you.

(Although I didn't necessarily see it that way when everything was going wrong).

I hope I haven't rattled on too long.

Until next time

God bless, 

Diana

Round up time

It's a long time since I've been here or even visited anyone so I thought I'd take time to do a bit of a roundup of the past month or so.

I hope you don't get too bored while I catch you up :)

It's been a busy time since the end of October. At the end of the month my sister in law celebrated her 84th birthday and then the following weekend she and her husband celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Only half their family were able to make it to their celebration dinner but the whole bridal party were in attendance. Unfortunately no one got a photo of them together. We all had an enjoyable evening together - and the waiter was a robot :)

Family at 60th wedding anniversary dinner.

I've already shared about clearing out the two spare bedrooms and then before we knew it it was time to head to the airport to pick up my sister who was arriving from Australia. Grandson arrived the following morning on the redeye flight and was picked up by his aunty, she was already up and had been at work so volunteered.

It was a busy few days with sis wanting to catch up on all the family so we had lots of visits, coffees and meals out.

On the morning the day before the wedding Grandson rang his sister, the bride, to have a chat. She was in a bit of a fluster trying to get the venue set up with only a couple of others helping her so we all piled in the car and went over to help. It looked lovely by the time we had finished, even if some of us had no idea how to tie a bow. I just pretended I was tying a bow in a little girls sash.

Then it was back to the house to finish blowing up balloons to take round to decorate the newlyweds house and bedroom. Someone decided it would be a nice idea to put red balloons, petals and chocolates in their room to surprise them when they arrived back after the wedding. I think they enjoyed it :) I hope so.

I'd like to say the wedding day dawned sunny and warm but no. It was fine but no sun and a very cold wind. The bride's dress was backless, sleeveless and beautiful and she must have been frozen as it was an outdoor wedding. The venue was lovely but to be honest I was hoping they'd move it indoors. We weren't the only ones who went home between the ceremony and the reception to have a warm drink. Caitlin was given away by her paternal grandfather, he looked so proud. Her father had passed away when she was just 13 years old. It was good to catch up with them again.

proud Grandad and Granma with Caitlin

The reception was fun, it was only a small wedding and most people knew each other. Round tables and family groups.

The next day we were all invited to a barbecue lunch at Caitlin and Brayden's. It was also a chance for the kids to come as well, they hadn't been invited to the wedding. We spent a relaxing couple of hours chatting, playing with the kids, they had outdoor games set out for them and catching up again.

Then it was home for a freshen up and out again for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town with our son and his wife. We were celebrating his 50th birthday. Just them, his sisters, their husbands,  his aunty and us. A lovely immediate family time. 

We'd spent part of Friday wrapping little parcels - 50 silly presents for 50 years. It was a lot of fun watching him open them all.

And I've also had a Christmas/end of year function to attend where the food was delicious and we sang Christmas carols accompanied by the harp. So unusual and lovely.

And after all that Sis got back home and discovered she had covid. Youngest daughter and I are currently recovering and my GKB has come down with it. Wonder if we picked it up at the wedding? Who knows. We were out and about a lot that week.

So, I hope you haven't been too bored - if you got this far.

Keep well and enjoy this Advent season.

Diana