Good morning on Thurs, Sep 10

Hi,

Well, young Mike is packed and ready to go and explore the tops around Nelson Lakes in the top of the South Island. We have been there once before, many years ago, for an Easter tramp with the tramping club. It was arduous then, without crampons and snow. So, I imagine Mike is going to return a little sore from all his exertions. Or not. The weather forecasts indicate scant opportunity for climbing the peaks without getting blown off and landing scattered all over the Chatham Islands. So, it may be that they keep lower down and enjoy the heavy rain instead.

Karate went well last night and Toby says his tennis was good. I have rebooked him in for next term for the tennis. And there is a holiday slot for one of the days he is at Skids so I might book him into that too - for a bit of variety.

Mike is off to the train station straight from work this evening on the Bluebridge ferry. Or the Interislander. Not sure which exactly. I have finals at table tennis again tonight. Well, I have table tennis - whether the finals have anything to do with me is another matter entirely. I won a mixed doubles game so I think I will have at least one more to play.

Toby is happy to get the opportunity to sleep in bed with me. When Daddy is away, it is allowed.

I think Mike will miss Toby until this time next week! Mike gets back late Sunday (after 9) and we're away to Auckland early (5am) on Monday morning.

So, an interesting week ahead of us all. Have fun, Mike!

Courtesy of my boss, Andy is this link: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/09/apple_announces_ipod_nano_with_camera_fm_tuner_pedometer.html

Love,
Angela

Good morning on a lovely Wed, Sep 9

Hi,

Ok - who wants a review on District 9 by me? Mike and I went last night after Mike asked his mother to babysit Toby. I must admit, I was feeling quite sick during the movie and I was unsure if it was because I was watching the movie or because I really did feel sick. Watching someone chew their fingernails off can probably cause a little nausea.

But, despite my upset stomach, I did enjoy the movie in a weird sort of way. If you imagine Peter Jackson's Braindead movie and give it a gritty documentary style with a sci-fi setting, you'd have a good idea of what District 9 is like. I did have to close my eyes a bit, to fight back the waves of nausea. Watching someone puke black vomit over the guests at a party would not have been good. So I can only tell you what the sound effects were like in that scene!

Mike loved it I think!

Tonight is busy for us. Karate for Toby (after his tennis) and Mike has tramping club commitments and then he needs to pack for his long weekend away to Angelus climbing two peaks. The weather forecast is bad for the region for the weekend. Heavy rain and galeforce winds about the tops. And I think climbing two large peaks means "about the tops". I have been getting Mike to practise saying "I am not crossing that swollen river" and "I think it looks too windy about the tops to climb today". I want to see him back on Sunday. :-)

News on the Melbourne apartment front. We have an offer and we have signed to accept it. Now it depends on finance at their end. And settlement will be early December if it all goes well. Hence the increase in wondering about buying a crib somewhere in the lower North Island to get away from Wellington often. Our house here is not conducive to romping in the back yard so we need a crib where Toby can play outside all weekend. And I can plant fruit trees. But no chicken counting until the eggs hatch, eh? But I can still look...

Ok. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Tues, Sep 8

Hi,

Another successful Kea night was had last night. We talked about the Keas (birds), drew some pictures of them and ran around lots.

Mike's mother cooked up tea for us so it was very easy once we got home. It has to be easy on Mondays otherwise tea runs into Toby's bedtime.

Toby has a loose front top tooth. Very exciting for him. And oddly emotional for me. Not too sure why. I'm guessing it's because his smile will be changing a bit and it won't be the same. Mothers! What are they like??!!

Home to cook up dinner tonight. Tuesdays are our day off from doing anything. So Mike will continue getting the laptop sorted and hopefully next week his Mum can take it home to Dunedin with her fully functional!

Have a great day.
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Mon, Sept7

Hi!

What a wonderful weekend. I heard that wee Abby had a great birthday party (all two of them - how did she swing that?) and that her mother survived the ordeal! Lucky for us, eh?

Our weather in Wellington was the best ever! I spent all day on Saturday in a t-shirt and Toby wore shorts. Bring it on! Shame my mother was sick and never saw any of it. Get better soon, Ma!

Friday night Toby and I went out to the soccer to watch the Phoenix play Adelaide. We had such fun. Toby read his new books for great parts of the second half (he bought them at the fund raiser at his school - Captain Underpants) so I got to watch quite a lot of the game.

When we got home, Mike was still trying out the wines at Fiona and Brendan's house. So we popped around and it meant Toby had a very late night.

Next morning we were up for swimming and after that Toby and I went to the tennis club open day. There were 140 children there! What a day! Very well organised too.

Saturday evening we headed around for a lovely dinner at Sally and Andrew's place and caught up with Vivienne and John too. My mother was too sick to attend and she was disappointed to miss out on the social occasion. Venison stew - I loved it! We did manage to leave our fridge groceries behind (bacon, milk and ice cream) but I solved that the next morning by buying more!

Sunday was just as gorgeous as Saturday's weather. I woke early and headed out to see Dad for Father's Day with the intention of driving him to work. However, it turns out that he has a late start on Sundays so I made him a coffee and gave him his card and present and went back home to help Toby cook up a breakfast for Mike.

I do have to try and change his present today though - he is busy at work on Tuesday Sept 15th with stocktake. So I'll plead my case and see if I can get the following night instead (tickets to an Aussie comedy show - I hope my parents like it!).

Mike got the newspaper to read and pancakes with banana, strawberries and crispy bacon on top. Toby sprinkled icing sugar on top to round it all off. I burned the pancakes and the smoke detectors around the house went off. I plonked the first one on the plate and Toby shouted through to his Dad - "Dad, your pancakes are burnt!". Then Toby sniffed the plate and shouted through to his Dad - "Dad, your pancakes smell awful!". But the maple syrup disguises all and Mike loved it - so he said. Toby carried the tray into Mike singing "Happy Fathers Day to you".

The rest of Sunday was spent tidying the house and stuff like that. We have almost finished decluttering the green room and put the overflow into crates and stored them in the MX-5 garage. We can lux great swathes of carpet/floor now and we just need one more weekend to get it all shipshape.

Mike's mother is working on the mess in our garden up front. Weeds have taken over and are growing luxuriously.

Mike is away this weekend so I think we'll buy some veges and plant out the vege patch. Toby wants some strawberries this year.

So, have a great week! I need a cup of tea - again!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Friday, Sep 4

Hi there,

I came third in the womans singles (over 40) championships last night. Mum came second! She made the final (I guess you could say). We both lost to the reigning champion.

Yes - you may have read between the lines and already determined there were only three contenders.

:-)

Tonight is soccer night. I'm off to collect wee Toby from Skids and heading off to Wagamama for dinner then off to the soccer to watch Phoenix play Adelaide. Woo hoo! A late night for the wee chap but we can sleep in.

So, there you have it. Swimming tomorrow and more DIY for the weekend. Not much else on. Maybe tea at Sally's house if we can get sorted. But that isn't confirmed yet - Sally merely floated the idea out there!

Ok. Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Thurs, Sep 3

Hi,

What a lovely morning for the first bike ride in for a wee while. Perfect conditions - even the lights were red at the Terrace intersection so I could cross safely without stopping. Amazing! Mike rode down with me. Mike's mother will drop wee Toby off at school.

There is supposed to be a southerly change come through today at some stage. But at the moment it is mighty fine.

Karate went well last night. My parents collected Toby and Mike's mother and I met them at the hall. So Toby had quite a spectator stand watching him perform his moves. And he did them very well.

Toby got an early night and I went to tramping club to pick up Mike. He has some punters for his day tramp already. I think Toby and I might go along to Kaitoke and pitch the tent and wait for Mike to return from his tramp. We can stay overnight there for the sheer fun of it all.

That's about it. I have table tennis tonight where I think it is the woman's championships. I don't expect to be in many rounds! :-)

Love,
Angela

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