Hi,
Wednesday has dawned bright and cheery after a rain-filled last few days. The road was almost dry on the ride in this morning. The gullies have stayed wet after the rain late last night.
Toby has tennis then karate this afternoon. I'm busy at work for a great portion of today. But I can still make room for a cup of tea.
Last night I made a new dish for tea - Orange Chicken. I think I could have done it a bit better. Mike has the leftovers for lunch as he loved it. Toby was undecided and I think it could have looked a lot better than it did. Aidan gave me the idea as she cooked it a few days back. Perhaps I need her recipe rather than the first one I found on Google. Anyhow, I'll give it another go soon and see if I can perfect it.
Toby is possibly coming down with the coughing cold that has been going around. I just suspect it. Mike also seems to have it and it is giving his asthma a bit of gyp. Hopefully they are both ok soon. Dad had it on holiday in Noosa.
We'll see Ma and Dad this afternoon for the first time since they got back from Queensland. They are chirping again about moving there, but I am aiming to make them realise they can't live without us and they'll decide to live here once more. Stealth plan (of course, they read this so my plan is uncovered already).
Have a marvellous day! The sun is shining here. Looks great!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Good morning on Tues, Aug 17
Hi,
What a Monday night! I had to cancel our squash game just so I could fit in all the other activities we had on. Keas went well - Mike excelled himself making sculpture dough and keeping 13 children in line. Then off home to cook and Mike left for the Wadestown Residents AGM. As he left I yelled out "Don;t join the committee."
What was the first thing he said as he stepped back in the door at 9pm? "I'm on the committee." Heheheh.
Mike now knows more than he thought possible about the trials and tribulations facing Wadestown residents.
After a chat about the meeting, I got ready to collect Ma and Dad from the airport. After timing it to perfection and arriving at arrivals at 12:05 (their estimated arrival time - giving me loads of time to relax while customs processed them all), I saw the actual arrival time said 2320. Yikes! I looked wildly around to see if I could see them waiting for me somewhere. Nope. Phew. 1 minute later they walked through the doors. What timing!
They were tired after their marathon day but happy to be home. We picked up some fresh milk and they stumbled into their lovely house at about 12.40am. Not too bad.
I went home and was fast asleep by 1am. Unlike Mike who was getting distracted by a Jack Reacher book.
Slightly damp ride in this morning, with a strong northerly to push me even faster. Not too bad at all though.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
What a Monday night! I had to cancel our squash game just so I could fit in all the other activities we had on. Keas went well - Mike excelled himself making sculpture dough and keeping 13 children in line. Then off home to cook and Mike left for the Wadestown Residents AGM. As he left I yelled out "Don;t join the committee."
What was the first thing he said as he stepped back in the door at 9pm? "I'm on the committee." Heheheh.
Mike now knows more than he thought possible about the trials and tribulations facing Wadestown residents.
After a chat about the meeting, I got ready to collect Ma and Dad from the airport. After timing it to perfection and arriving at arrivals at 12:05 (their estimated arrival time - giving me loads of time to relax while customs processed them all), I saw the actual arrival time said 2320. Yikes! I looked wildly around to see if I could see them waiting for me somewhere. Nope. Phew. 1 minute later they walked through the doors. What timing!
They were tired after their marathon day but happy to be home. We picked up some fresh milk and they stumbled into their lovely house at about 12.40am. Not too bad.
I went home and was fast asleep by 1am. Unlike Mike who was getting distracted by a Jack Reacher book.
Slightly damp ride in this morning, with a strong northerly to push me even faster. Not too bad at all though.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, August 16, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Aug 16
Hi,
Mum and Dad get home today. Well, at midnight. You can tell because although the weather on the radio said morning drizzle for Wellington, I rode to work in low, low cloud! There is a difference between drizzle that falls from the sky, and low cloud that means you ride into the hovering raindrops. Mum and Dad seem to attract fog warnings. But I'm sure it'll be clear by the time they arrive at midnight. I can't wait to see them. We've missed them.
My Monday night has become very full. Keas (and I have convinced Mike to help in Wally's absence - Wally has broken his shoulder and is out of commission for a few weeks) and then dinner for Toby. Possibly followed by a squash commitment. I say "possibly" because Mike is off to the Wadestown Residents AGM to discuss various issues facing the residents here. Then I'm off to the airport to collect my parents - at midnight! Ooooo.
Roll on quiet Tuesday!
The weekend was wonderful. I felt like I was a million miles away from the Wellington pace of life. Very pleasant. Can I do it again soon, please?
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
Mum and Dad get home today. Well, at midnight. You can tell because although the weather on the radio said morning drizzle for Wellington, I rode to work in low, low cloud! There is a difference between drizzle that falls from the sky, and low cloud that means you ride into the hovering raindrops. Mum and Dad seem to attract fog warnings. But I'm sure it'll be clear by the time they arrive at midnight. I can't wait to see them. We've missed them.
My Monday night has become very full. Keas (and I have convinced Mike to help in Wally's absence - Wally has broken his shoulder and is out of commission for a few weeks) and then dinner for Toby. Possibly followed by a squash commitment. I say "possibly" because Mike is off to the Wadestown Residents AGM to discuss various issues facing the residents here. Then I'm off to the airport to collect my parents - at midnight! Ooooo.
Roll on quiet Tuesday!
The weekend was wonderful. I felt like I was a million miles away from the Wellington pace of life. Very pleasant. Can I do it again soon, please?
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Matiu/Somes Island, 14 August
Matiu/Somes Family daywalk (and overnight stay for some): Mike, Angela, Toby, Brennan, Josh, Aidan, Duncan, Emerson
Having lived outside New Zealand for a while, I can say that weather forecasting is quite a bit more hit and miss here than, say, Australia or Europe. Something to do with being a small island in a large ocean, I'll bet. But when the Metservice decided to add a 10 day forecast to their website, it did make me laugh. The forecasting is sometimes wrong on the day they release it. But, despite that, when they are forecasting for tomorrow, they have a reasonable chance of getting it pretty right.
So I was quietly confident that the Saturday forecast of "clearing showers and easing winds" might be vaguely reliable. Even though as I read it on Friday night, it was pouring and blowing. Anyway, the Forest and Bird Lodge on Matiu/Somes Island was ours for Saturday night and I was determined not to miss that. I was going to the island come rain or shine (as long as the ferries were running).
We'd organised a family day walk for Saturday August 14 on Matiu/Somes, and decided a few months out that we would hire the Forest and Bird Lodge and stay the night as well. Our son Toby has had a fascination with Matiu/Somes for years. He calls it Tracey Island (from the Thunderbirds) and we (and his Thunderbird-mad Aunty Sally) do nothing to dissuade him from it. We've been meaning to visit for ages and this was a great opportunity.
However, the lashing rain driven by gale northerlies did change the mind of several other families planning on making the trip out to Matiu/Somes. It is hard to take families out in poor weather. Social skills involving stiff upper lips and struggling gamely through all adversity are certainly not fully developed until much later in the teenage years. And the recurring theme that all us parents of young kids have is "Don't put the children off tramping!".
So, we waited on Saturday morning at Queens Wharf, with our luggage haphazardly strewn around to avoid the puddles from the recent rain. Another family turned up (but then, they were also booked into the Forest and Bird Lodge with us, so they had a vested interest and knowledge that we had refuge from anything the island could throw at us) and we did have one other person arrive. But they asked more about the coming trip to Nelson Lakes and decided against visiting Matius/Somes this time around.
We boarded the Dom Post ferry (two families of two adults and two boys each) at 10am and enjoyed the fast trip out to the island. We were met by DoC officers and searched our luggage for stowaway pests and listened to some information about the island. Then we walked up to the house and made ourselves comfortable. The house was a well-maintained three bedroom house with excellent facilities. The power is from a diesel generator, so there are three bursts of power through the day while the generator runs: an hour at breakfast time; another hour at lunchtime; and 4 hours in the evening. You can cook with the gas hob/stovetop outside those times, but at 9:30pm when the power goes off and the lights go out - that's pretty well bed time.
We made lunch and had fun exploring the house. Then we tackled a walk around the island. It was a family daywalk trip after all. We walked back down to the wharf as a starting point. A day volunteer ranger pointed out a nesting penguin, which was good as despite our best efforts we never got to see another penguin for the rest of the stay. We certainly smelled their presence and heard them a lot. But they proved elusive. We picked up a dead weta to examine more closely and returned it to the scene of its demise. Then we walked back up the hill to the visitors centre, then up past that to the gun emplacements on the top of the island. Can you believe there was no wind at all? So calm and peaceful. Interrupted only by four boys playing soldiers amongst the old fortifications.
We enjoyed the view of Wellington and Lower Hutt from the summit and continued on the Circuit Track around to the lighthouse. The views of the shoreline were spectacular. The sea was so clear and the birdlife was abundant. I peered through Josh's binoculars at any opportunity. (Thanks Josh!) One of the boys spotted a Giant Cook Strait Weta on the side of the path at one point. It was huge. We all took a good look.
Then, further around, closer to our accommodation, Aidan, Emerson and Duncan found a tuatara nesting under an old, gnarled macrocarpa tree. We used the binoculars then too, to get a good look at a tuatara in the wild. I've only ever seen them in glass enclosures before this trip. What a highlight. Wetas and tuatara. I was so excited at the idea of a torchlight walk around the Circuit Track because with this much good luck we'd see flocks of Little Blue Penguins. Surely.
Anyhow, when the evening power came on at 5.30pm, we cooked up a mighty fine dinner. Spaghetti bolognese. I don't know why, but I never tire of eating it and it always seems such a hit for the kids. Most of the children ate as much as the adults. Must be that good, fresh island air.
After tea we pulled on our warm clothes, and wandered down to the northern end of the island for the 7.30pm Petone Winter Festival Fireworks Spectacular. And, I have to say, I think we had a prime spot for viewing it. It was marvellous. Fifteen minutes of very good fireworks. Then we went around the Circuit Track to spot the multitude of penguins. After a good 45 minutes walking around, we could smell the penguins easily, and hear them cooing (laughing at us?), but saw nothing of them. They were Ninja Penguins. And we must have been elephant tourists. Four young boys didn't make us the stealthiest of groups. Lucky the volunteer ranger pointed out the nesting penguin down by the wharf so we can say we did see one.
Back to the lodge and our hard family daywalk had us all tuckered out. Two boys crashed immediately, and the two others followed close on their heels. Then it wasn't long for the parents to follow suit. Come 9.30pm when the lights went out, it was very easy to pass up playing cards by torchlight and go straight to bed instead.
Sunday we packed up and cleaned the lodge, using our precious hour of electricity to get in and vacuum it out. The DoC ranger came and collected our luggage with the trailer and we wandered down to meet the ferry. At some stage during the night the weather had turned from a warm northerly to a cooler, stronger, southerly. In the morning, the shoreline was all murked out with fog around the edge of the harbour, making Matiu/Somes feel even more remote. Still no rain though! We took the boys for a last play around the gun enplacements and then walked down to meet the ferry at 10.40am.
The southerly had whipped the harbour up into a frenzy, but with such a short ride into the city, not even my poor sea stomach could be upset. The boys thought we'd provided them with their very own roller coaster, so their whoops of joy could be heard echoing around the boat with every wild dip.
The trip out to Matiu/Somes was as good as I could have hoped. Despite looking out at the twinkling lights of Wellington, you felt really isolated and cut off from the world. It is a special place so close to Wellington. Go and explore it, either for the day or overnight. We had fun!
More photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrgilbe1/2010_08MatiuSomesIsland#
Having lived outside New Zealand for a while, I can say that weather forecasting is quite a bit more hit and miss here than, say, Australia or Europe. Something to do with being a small island in a large ocean, I'll bet. But when the Metservice decided to add a 10 day forecast to their website, it did make me laugh. The forecasting is sometimes wrong on the day they release it. But, despite that, when they are forecasting for tomorrow, they have a reasonable chance of getting it pretty right.
So I was quietly confident that the Saturday forecast of "clearing showers and easing winds" might be vaguely reliable. Even though as I read it on Friday night, it was pouring and blowing. Anyway, the Forest and Bird Lodge on Matiu/Somes Island was ours for Saturday night and I was determined not to miss that. I was going to the island come rain or shine (as long as the ferries were running).
We'd organised a family day walk for Saturday August 14 on Matiu/Somes, and decided a few months out that we would hire the Forest and Bird Lodge and stay the night as well. Our son Toby has had a fascination with Matiu/Somes for years. He calls it Tracey Island (from the Thunderbirds) and we (and his Thunderbird-mad Aunty Sally) do nothing to dissuade him from it. We've been meaning to visit for ages and this was a great opportunity.
However, the lashing rain driven by gale northerlies did change the mind of several other families planning on making the trip out to Matiu/Somes. It is hard to take families out in poor weather. Social skills involving stiff upper lips and struggling gamely through all adversity are certainly not fully developed until much later in the teenage years. And the recurring theme that all us parents of young kids have is "Don't put the children off tramping!".
So, we waited on Saturday morning at Queens Wharf, with our luggage haphazardly strewn around to avoid the puddles from the recent rain. Another family turned up (but then, they were also booked into the Forest and Bird Lodge with us, so they had a vested interest and knowledge that we had refuge from anything the island could throw at us) and we did have one other person arrive. But they asked more about the coming trip to Nelson Lakes and decided against visiting Matius/Somes this time around.
We boarded the Dom Post ferry (two families of two adults and two boys each) at 10am and enjoyed the fast trip out to the island. We were met by DoC officers and searched our luggage for stowaway pests and listened to some information about the island. Then we walked up to the house and made ourselves comfortable. The house was a well-maintained three bedroom house with excellent facilities. The power is from a diesel generator, so there are three bursts of power through the day while the generator runs: an hour at breakfast time; another hour at lunchtime; and 4 hours in the evening. You can cook with the gas hob/stovetop outside those times, but at 9:30pm when the power goes off and the lights go out - that's pretty well bed time.
We made lunch and had fun exploring the house. Then we tackled a walk around the island. It was a family daywalk trip after all. We walked back down to the wharf as a starting point. A day volunteer ranger pointed out a nesting penguin, which was good as despite our best efforts we never got to see another penguin for the rest of the stay. We certainly smelled their presence and heard them a lot. But they proved elusive. We picked up a dead weta to examine more closely and returned it to the scene of its demise. Then we walked back up the hill to the visitors centre, then up past that to the gun emplacements on the top of the island. Can you believe there was no wind at all? So calm and peaceful. Interrupted only by four boys playing soldiers amongst the old fortifications.
We enjoyed the view of Wellington and Lower Hutt from the summit and continued on the Circuit Track around to the lighthouse. The views of the shoreline were spectacular. The sea was so clear and the birdlife was abundant. I peered through Josh's binoculars at any opportunity. (Thanks Josh!) One of the boys spotted a Giant Cook Strait Weta on the side of the path at one point. It was huge. We all took a good look.
Then, further around, closer to our accommodation, Aidan, Emerson and Duncan found a tuatara nesting under an old, gnarled macrocarpa tree. We used the binoculars then too, to get a good look at a tuatara in the wild. I've only ever seen them in glass enclosures before this trip. What a highlight. Wetas and tuatara. I was so excited at the idea of a torchlight walk around the Circuit Track because with this much good luck we'd see flocks of Little Blue Penguins. Surely.
Anyhow, when the evening power came on at 5.30pm, we cooked up a mighty fine dinner. Spaghetti bolognese. I don't know why, but I never tire of eating it and it always seems such a hit for the kids. Most of the children ate as much as the adults. Must be that good, fresh island air.
After tea we pulled on our warm clothes, and wandered down to the northern end of the island for the 7.30pm Petone Winter Festival Fireworks Spectacular. And, I have to say, I think we had a prime spot for viewing it. It was marvellous. Fifteen minutes of very good fireworks. Then we went around the Circuit Track to spot the multitude of penguins. After a good 45 minutes walking around, we could smell the penguins easily, and hear them cooing (laughing at us?), but saw nothing of them. They were Ninja Penguins. And we must have been elephant tourists. Four young boys didn't make us the stealthiest of groups. Lucky the volunteer ranger pointed out the nesting penguin down by the wharf so we can say we did see one.
Back to the lodge and our hard family daywalk had us all tuckered out. Two boys crashed immediately, and the two others followed close on their heels. Then it wasn't long for the parents to follow suit. Come 9.30pm when the lights went out, it was very easy to pass up playing cards by torchlight and go straight to bed instead.
Sunday we packed up and cleaned the lodge, using our precious hour of electricity to get in and vacuum it out. The DoC ranger came and collected our luggage with the trailer and we wandered down to meet the ferry. At some stage during the night the weather had turned from a warm northerly to a cooler, stronger, southerly. In the morning, the shoreline was all murked out with fog around the edge of the harbour, making Matiu/Somes feel even more remote. Still no rain though! We took the boys for a last play around the gun enplacements and then walked down to meet the ferry at 10.40am.
The southerly had whipped the harbour up into a frenzy, but with such a short ride into the city, not even my poor sea stomach could be upset. The boys thought we'd provided them with their very own roller coaster, so their whoops of joy could be heard echoing around the boat with every wild dip.
The trip out to Matiu/Somes was as good as I could have hoped. Despite looking out at the twinkling lights of Wellington, you felt really isolated and cut off from the world. It is a special place so close to Wellington. Go and explore it, either for the day or overnight. We had fun!
More photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrgilbe1/2010_08MatiuSomesIsland#
Friday, August 13, 2010
Good afternoon (oops - again) on Friday (hooray), Aug 13
Hi,
Unlucky for some, eh? Horrible weather here today. Rain and hard northerlies. But it isn't cold. Went around to see the Sampsons last night and Wally is pretty sore from his tumble off his bike. So, we're taking Brennan to Somes Island with us. Yay. Toby is over the moon. Brennan, Duncan and Emerson. He'll think it's Christmas.
Anyhow, Toby and I got home early and read in bed for a while. We chatted to Mike and then curled up and went to sleep. The cat was the only bother. Up, down. Up, down. In, out. In, out. Grrrr.
This morning went well. I was unsure whether I should ride or not given the conditions. But it wasn't too bad in the end on my bike. The traffic was lighter than usual I think.
Anyhow, we'll go and collect Brennan tonight and he can sleepover tonight so we can get away early tomorrow morning to the ferry. I'm quite excited about this wee excursion.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Unlucky for some, eh? Horrible weather here today. Rain and hard northerlies. But it isn't cold. Went around to see the Sampsons last night and Wally is pretty sore from his tumble off his bike. So, we're taking Brennan to Somes Island with us. Yay. Toby is over the moon. Brennan, Duncan and Emerson. He'll think it's Christmas.
Anyhow, Toby and I got home early and read in bed for a while. We chatted to Mike and then curled up and went to sleep. The cat was the only bother. Up, down. Up, down. In, out. In, out. Grrrr.
This morning went well. I was unsure whether I should ride or not given the conditions. But it wasn't too bad in the end on my bike. The traffic was lighter than usual I think.
Anyhow, we'll go and collect Brennan tonight and he can sleepover tonight so we can get away early tomorrow morning to the ferry. I'm quite excited about this wee excursion.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Good morning on Thurs, Aug 12
Hi,
Where has the week gone? Phew! Passing me in a flash. Busy at work. Busy at home. Choice!
Mike got off ok this morning. He should be in Auckland now. I hope he gets everything done he needs to get done. He is flat out at the moment.
Toby and I had a good morning. The walk to school was very pleasant and I saw Sarah drop Ryan off and then passed her as she parked her car at the bottom of the hill. Not too slow on the ride down this morning then. Dry roads help a lot.
Tonight we're off to see the Sampsons. Toby is very excited about that. Wally fell off his bicycle and broke his shoulder. Ouch! He has time at home for a while.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Where has the week gone? Phew! Passing me in a flash. Busy at work. Busy at home. Choice!
Mike got off ok this morning. He should be in Auckland now. I hope he gets everything done he needs to get done. He is flat out at the moment.
Toby and I had a good morning. The walk to school was very pleasant and I saw Sarah drop Ryan off and then passed her as she parked her car at the bottom of the hill. Not too slow on the ride down this morning then. Dry roads help a lot.
Tonight we're off to see the Sampsons. Toby is very excited about that. Wally fell off his bicycle and broke his shoulder. Ouch! He has time at home for a while.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Good afternoon (oops) on Wed, Aug 11
Hi,
Look - I forgot. Oops. I had Toby drop off duty (which went very well) and hurtled down the hill to work for a 9am meeting. And forgot all about this.
Anyhow... Tuesday night is always good fun. We have nothing on, so we get Toby's homework done and generally relax. Unfortunately Mike worked until 10pm or so. So he never got a chance to relax.
Mike will collect Toby for karate (after tennis - which should be on as the day is lovely).
We have two days without Mike as he's off up to Auckland. Solo parent for Thursday and Friday! Ouch!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Look - I forgot. Oops. I had Toby drop off duty (which went very well) and hurtled down the hill to work for a 9am meeting. And forgot all about this.
Anyhow... Tuesday night is always good fun. We have nothing on, so we get Toby's homework done and generally relax. Unfortunately Mike worked until 10pm or so. So he never got a chance to relax.
Mike will collect Toby for karate (after tennis - which should be on as the day is lovely).
We have two days without Mike as he's off up to Auckland. Solo parent for Thursday and Friday! Ouch!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
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