Good morning (just) on Wednesday, Sept 2

Hi,
What an amazing holiday we had down at Mt Hutt. The outcome is that Mike and I are
considering why we bother with Whakapapa at all compared to the pleasure of skiing at
Mt Hutt.

But before that - happy birthday to Jamie (yesterday) and Cameron (today) and wee Abby for Saturday.

Let's see. This is how it unfolded. Thursday evening we shot home from work and waited for Wally to drive us to the airport. Mike's mother had cooked up the leftovers from Wednesday's stew and we were very pleased to eat dinner before we left. Wally got us to the airport in the nick of time - some might say perfect timing. Mike would likely agree with that.

The flight down was easy. It was Jessica's first flight in her living memory. Coming over to Australia when she was 3 months old for our wedding doesn't count. :-) She enjoyed it. Toby's eyes lit up when he saw the lolly basket at the end of the flight and he asked the hostie how many he could have. She (foolishly - obviously doesn't have kids) said as many as you like. Toby stuck two hands in and grabbed heaps of lollies. Yikes. He did say thank you though!

We picked up the rental car and headed off to Pudding Hill Lodge. The Lodge is on SH72 just after a single lane bridge after the Mt Hutt turnoff near Methven. Our accommodation was superb although the two showers were clogged up and spraying water everywhere but on your body. The floor got a good clean each time. We had 2 rooms and they both had bathrooms. They both had a queen sized bed and a single with a balcony. The living area had a kitchen and table and a couch. The views were great - we could see Mt Hutt skifield easily. Very reasonable for $120 a night. We will stay there again.

We fell into bed but it was a late night. The weather was rubbish and the prospect of skiing was not likely. So we intended to sleep in so the kids could rest up. They were, however, up at 7am. I think that was about 8 hours sleep for them. Lucky the mountain was closed. So we had a relaxing day exploring the Lodge (they have a hot tub that was out of action, table tennis, tennis, pool and a TV room), visiting Methven for lunch and skimming stones at Rakaia Gorge. The table tennis was very funny. The table is home-made from planks of wood that have started to separate. The bats had hardly any rubber left on them. So it was a random game we had - the ball was prone to bounce anywhere. Hardly good preparation for the championship this Thursday night here in Ngaio!

Around 5pm Christine, John and Tom arrived and immediately started cooking dinner. It was great! They took complete control and we were powerless in their wake. We had a great evening meal of tacos and the kids watched a movie on the laptop while we chatted.

Next morning (Saturday) dawned and Christine burst into our room saying Mt Hutt was open. Hooray! John cooked up breakfast (scrambled eggs - yummo) and we hit the ski road. Oh yeah. Now I remember that drive up from the last time about 14 years ago. What a road! Potholes, corrugations, huge rocks, wind, steep - and busy to boot. Mike drove admirably. We got up and parked right outside the ticket office.

We eventually got the kids rental gear and lessons and found a spot for John to sit and admire the views in the cafe. Then it was time to ski! Toby was tentative down the cat track on his first run but he did well. Mike inadvertently paid for a whole day lesson (incl lunch) for Jessica. So she was a superb wee skier by the end of the day. She has snowploughs sorted. I was very proud of her. Toby had a lesson after lunch and by the time we all skied together at the end of the day, he was racing down the cat track. It made a huge difference in him.

I spent the afternoon skiing with Christine for the most part and I enjoyed myself. Christine and I were doing the easy blue run until Mike turned up. Then he said Christine could ski down the cat track from the main 6 seater lift. So we went up there and Mike and I skied down the steep blue runs and Christine met up with us halfway down and we went down together. We did that a few times. Mike worked on my technique and I started to get the rhythm of it all.

We drove back to Pudding Hill Lodge at the end of the day and found that John had already cooked up the spag bol dinner and all we had to do was sit down and get stuck in. Can I ski with a non-skier every time? How nice was that?

The next morning the mountain was shut again due to high winds. Apparently the Australians call it "Mt Shut". But spring has come early to NZ this year and with it the spring winds. So, shut it was. We decided to drive with Christine, John and Tom in convoy to their accommodation at Hanmer Springs and relax in the hot pools. What a pleasant day. We popped in for morning tea at Jo Seagers cafe in oxford where Mike choked on his food because it wasn't Alison Holst's food. But he said Alison wouldn't mind too much so he gobbled it down. You know him! Food is food.

Mike and I have never been anywhere near Hanmer and now that will have to change. The area was absolutely lovely. Soaring snowy peaks, thermal pools, great rivers. You can do a loop through to the West Coast back up to Nelson. I sense a 4 day weekend loop drive coming up in summer! We relaxed for a few hours in the thermal pools. Toby was torn between the cooler 29 degree pool with treated water where he could put his head under, and the 37 degree pool where he was very warm but couldn't put his head under. He made me run between the two pools on several occasions. Eventually we hauled the kids out and ate an early dinner at the army motels where Christine and John were staying. We said our goodbyes after John fed us once more and drove back to Pudding Hill Lodge.

We drove back through wind and rain and wondered about our chances of skiing the next day. However, Monday morning arrived and the mountain was open! We were on! We drove up and had to put chains on because of the 10 centimetres of new snow. We got the kids morning lessons and there were just the two of them in the class together. Mike and I had two hours of skiing together and I had the best skiing day I have ever had. The powder was beautiful, the sky was blue, the wind was only occasionally fierce and anyway, what else is that useless scarf for if not keeping out those gusty conditions? I finally skied the proper ski tracks I have always
dreamed about. Perfect carved turns in the powder. I have photographic evidence. I was in heaven.

We collected the kids and had lunch and due to the late night the night before, we had to bribe and cajole Toby into skiing again in the afternoon. But we got a few runs out of him and the last two of the day were great fun! We were some of the last off the mountain again. Woo hoo!
The next day was dodgy weather with a delayed start at the ski field. So we decided to drive to Christchurch, visit the Cookie Time factory and see a movie. We now know Hornby shopping centre better than I ever want to and we saw Coraline. It was... odd!

Before we left Pudding Hill Lodge Mike chatted to the manager for quite a while. Mike has now got a lot of imparted knowledge about the area and we have already got ideas for next season. Maybe early August down to Mt Hutt once more. Then the odd weekend up at Ruapehu to round out the season. Sounds good to me.

Then off to the airport for an easy trip back. No more lollies for Toby but Jessica enjoyed the flight once more. She is now a level 3A skier and is very good. Wally picked us up and we were back home by 8pm. What an awesome 5 days. We can't wait to do it again next year. Everything was so easy. The ski field is run very well. The accommodation was excellent and so convenient. The company was great. We just need to get Toby more sleep each night and we'll be sorted!

I hope we can post some photos of the fun very soon. And Mike may have more to add.

Have a great week - short though it is for me at any rate!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Thurs, Aug 27

Hi,

The Wednesday that was, eh? We had an action packed day. I left work and caught up with some parents from Toby's class at an afternoon tea. I attended Toby's class session and then watched the tennis with Nana. The 4 boys were hyperactive after their exciting parent session and the instructor must have been frazzled on the inside. I would have been!

Then I went back to work and prepared for the mammoth release. It took hours!

Mike collected me and we dropped luggage off at the Sampson house. We'll head home at 1700 today and the Sampsons will drive us all to the airport. Woo hoo! 5 days off!

Have fun without us!

Love,
Angela

... and he is a white-belt-two-red-tabs now too

Toby was great in his karate. His nana had him all ready and he was reading and snacking on carrots when I go home to take him there - to calm him down, nana said. Good call after all the excitement of the special afternoon followed mayhem of the tennis! On the way there he said he felt puke sick and he said maybe it was because he was nervous. But after being can't-concentrate, can't-stand-still boy only 2-3 weeks ago he was absolutely focused and still all the way through his karate grading. He did everything perfectly and got 9.5/10 to pass.

I'm very proud.

As a special passing-his-grading present I gave him a Club Penguin Card-jitsu pack. The Club Penguin merchandising tentacles have just reached our shores, you see. Toby was pretty happy with that. We played card-jitsu until dinner.

Toby's class time with parents

I just got back from Toby’s class. There was a good turn out for parents – perhaps only two children were without a parent. Mike’s mother was a surrogate grandmother to those children – she enjoyed that I think. We watched songs and stories and the children showed us their artwork and their writing books. Toby’s writing is very, very good.

We played a game called Bumble Bee. I know it by another name – Bing or something. I can’t remember. But you all get in a circle (parents as well) and count. If you are a multiple of 5 (this was what we were using), you say Bumble bee and sit down. Out of the 30 to 40 people there, Toby won. He was the last one standing. He was very pleased. We got to over 230.

Hang on - there must have been 46 of us. I just realised I could divide 230 by 5 and get the number of people. Heheheheh.

So, now I am back at work and prepared for a huge night at work. I hope the release goes well.

Good morning on Wed, Aug 26

Hi there,

We're almost ready to go away for the long weekend. Mike had to work late last night on a release and I have a long one to do tonight. Hence the need to get everything done. Mike got up to put finishing touches on the paintwork too.

We drove in because I have something to attend at Toby's classroom this afternoon. Not too sure what it is - songs, stories and artwork according to Toby.

Toby has tennis (not likely due to the galeforce winds this morning - but it is sunny) and then a karate grading. Mike will take him to the grading and Toby seems to have it all in hand. Fingers crossed for him.

Mike will then take our gear around to the Sampson household (don't forget it is Jessica's birthday today - so say happy birthday) and they will take us to the airport tomorrow. Logistics are a little complicated. Then after that Mike has tramping club to attend because he is running a day walk in a month or so. So he has to promote it.

That's about it.

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Tues, Aug 25

Hi,

Ron heads back to Dunedin today - it has been nice having the grandparents around. Toby is so happy with them here - he enjoys their company. Mike's Mum is around a bit longer to help us out while Mike and I are at a conference in Auckland in September. So Toby gets some grandparent attention for a while longer.

Keas was fun last night. Toby came home from school early (before lunch) feeling sick. But I think that was a sympathy sick day as Mike was off at home full of the cold. By the time I got home Toby was ok to come to Keas.

We have to pack tonight for the ski long weekend. We're off Thursday evening and back Tuesday evening. I hope the horrible weather now dumps down fresh snow and we have a pleasant, sunny, spring snow few days. We're taking Jessica for her birthday present. She is our god-daughter and it'll be fun for Toby.

Ok. Time to make a start. I have had meetings galore already this morning. Oh dear.

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Mon, Aug 24

Hi,

What a good weekend. Friday we went around to babysit at the Sampson household and we all had a sleepover. It was great fun. Then Saturday we went out to swimming and Chelsea decided to come along to watch Toby. We went to Sally and Andrew's after that and Toby and Chelsea bounced on the bouncy castle for ages in the lovely weather.

Eventually we dropped Chelsea off at her place and Toby promptly rang her up and they played Club Penguin together.

Saturday was Mike's parent's function day - the reason they are up in Wellington. So they went out on the town to the official function dinner while Mike and I stayed up to wait for the rugby. We waited comfortably on the couch. A little too comfortably as we woke up with a start sprawled over each other and and couch at 10.35pm! We only saw the last 5 minutes of the first half.

Sunday we went for lunch at Sally and Andrew's place and enjoyed a BBQ in their back yard catching up with everyone.

We have started making inroads into the green room. The bed is back in position and we have some boxes emptied. We're storing stuff in crates to put in the garage. Our wardrobe is almost full and I need to go through and cull some clothes.

It is Kea night and a little complicated by the fact that Mike is off sick today. He has a cold and snored loudly all night as he can hardly breathe properly. Poor chap. So I drove in so I can hurtle home and collect wee Toby and take him to Keas. It should all work out fine.

We need to get packed for the weekend. We're getting close - Toby is nearly done and I am half done. I might try and finish his and my packing tonight.

Ok. Time to get stuck in.
Love,
Angela