Thursday 7 January 2010

Happy New Year Holidays

So 2010 has arrived. I hope you all had a great festive season and were not troubled too much by the freezing conditions (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere or in Antarctica). Christmas arrived towards the end of a busy working week for both Maria and I (though Maria was the only one who got paid!). Good news is that I have secured some work at the Asia Pacific Football Academy starting in February - really looking forward to it! I also managed to secure some additional work with a lean "consultancy" starting in the new year - so a great Christmas week all round. Mike Guyomar called in for an evening on his way down to Dunedin where he was to pick up "his girls" on route to his in-laws for Christmas. Needless to say, plenty of vino was quaffed in support of the BBQ fodder - a sign of things to come!
After an afternoon in the swimming pool and last minute present wrapping, we wandered into town, to Victoria Square, on Christmas Eve for the Carols by Candlelight concert plus a picnic and another bottle of wine! It was very popular with the locals indeed - standing room only around the edges. Christmas Day was spent mostly over at Corsair Bay, by Lyttleton, with Di, Geoff and Sighle Illston. Another picnic and, you guessed, more wine (sparkling this time trhough) saw us through until Christmas dinner in the evening (though not traditional fare). We had a great time chilling - or in Chris' case, roasting - plus took to the water for a bit of pre-food and wine swimming. Geoff and I finished off the afternoon with cycle over to Godley Head and then back to our respective homes. Boxing Day saw us head North towards Nelson for our summer camping expedition - but not before Maria and Sarah had ventured out early into Christchurch to snap up some Boxing Day Sale bargains! We were booked in at Mapua Leisure Park for a week or so. The Park used to be a nudist camp and still has a clothes optional period in February and March. Must remember to stay away during those months! Bren, Steffi and Olivia met up with us too for a few nights before they headed off to walk the Abel Tasman Park Track. We spent a day around Kaiterteri and Stephens Bay - dodging a few showers but mainly on the beach and in the sea. Brendan was to return the next day to Stephens Bay and go diving for green lip mussels which he served up as a delicious dish at camp supper. The lure of the Abel Tasman meant that we then arranged to take a water taxi up to Anchorage Bay for an afternoon lazing on the beach. This was to be where Brendan, Steffi and Olivia would be staying after their first day of walking into the Park, on New Year's Eve - and what a fabulous place to be celebrating the advent of 2010 in. Lucky people! At this point in the week, my drinking pace-maker, Mike, arrived with his family - Fiona, Isabella and Florence! We visited nearby Rabbit Island with its lovely sandy beach where the girls attempted to build a raft to sail out to sea on. Unfortunately it did not survive the launching! The town of Nelson featured on a few days, with trips in for various provisions and camp necessities. We also (foolishly) bought an inflatable dinghy for the girls which was to result in the need for a rescue boat being sent out to retrieve the 3 of them from the mercy of the raging Tasman Sea (that bit was a slight exageration of what really happened, but they did need rescuing!). New Year's Eve saw the hiking party depart camp and head off on their 5 day trek through Abel Tasman. Maria, Mike and I accompanied them for the first couple of hours before stopping for lunch and then turning back to civilisation. Some pleasant walking with great views across beautiful bays of golden sand and aqua blue sea. Much more pleasant without a 21kg back-pack, believe you me! The rest of the holiday involved a few visits to local wineries - for wine tasting and for lunch stops - further trips to local beaches (though without further dinghy episodes) - fish and chip suppers from Mapua Smokehouse F&C Shop plus the consumption of lots of beer and wine from Mike's rather large Chilly Bin. Must buy one! The highlight had to be the lunchtime Jazz and Blues session at the Woollaston winery, where we were entertained by the Mike Garner Band with 2 and a half hours of great music whilst quaffing a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - fantastic stuff! So that was that. It soon became time to go home so we all packed up the tents and headed our separate ways. We did stop off for some fresh cray fish at Kaikoura on the way home though. A great view from the restaurant.