Hi,
It was so good to get an extra day off over the weekend - and Mike and Toby feel as though their second extra day made the long weekend feel like a week! They enjoyed their road trip to Dunedin and back.
Friday night I went out for drinks with Andrew to Hummingbird. When Sally joined us, we nipped over the road to Sweet Mothers Kitchen and I filled up on enchiladas. And maybe key lime pie.
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| Iced latte @ Machete |
As we ate, Sally and Andrew booked themselves in for Deadpool 2 at Petone Lighthouse and we left to go our separate ways to the movies that awaited us. I met Jo and Momo to see Solo - and I actually enjoyed it. It was a rollicking good adventure and did what it said on the tin.
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| Iced coffee at Sweet Mothers Kitchen |
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| Smudge squeaks |
I got home and packed and fed Smudge. She was so squeaky. I went to bed and was up early for my walk into the ferry. I needed to be there at 7am and I chatted to Mike most of the way down. Jo and Jon were on the same ferry and they made it on well before me as a foot passenger. But there was no one on board. We passed the time reading and playing games. Chess, even!
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| Feet on ferry |
Col met me at the Bluebridge terminal and we dropped into a cafe for lunch. I asked for an iced coffee as I saw frappes on their menu. As they prepared it and popped it down for me, they admitted they didn't have it on the menu but they were thinking of adding it. It would be a good addition - it was a good iced coffee.
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| August Kitchen cafe near Blenheim |
I went to visit the Woody pig and deer hunt weigh-in with Col in Renwick. It was certainly popular with the locals and people that drive utes. Pigs (lots of black ones and a couple of tawny ones), deer, and goats made up the bulk of the game. But kids entered possums, hares and rabbits. Not quite as crazy as the Easter bunny shoot in Alexandra, but still obviously a favourite with the locals.
Back to wait for Iona to finish work and I checked out their new house. They have done well. Nice location, very quiet. Lots of fruit trees - plus one unidentified tree that has been told to make its worth known otherwise the pruning will get very severe.
We went out to tea - Mexican. I ate a burrito verde - it was good. I think the place was called Cartel. Then to New World to get provisions for popping in to visit Alister and Vicky for dessert. It was a great chance to catch up with them and see the changes in their house. New chimney and fireplace. Oossshh. Gracie likes it.
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| The best chocolate pudding ever - thanks Vicky! |
Vicky made the self saucing chocolate pudding from Chelsea Winters - and I have never tasted anything that good before. Wow! Look at the size Vicky dished for me! And I ate it all.
Col and I got up at 2.20am to watch the under 20s All Blacks play Wales in south France. It was a good game. Crashed into bed again at 4.30am and forgot the heater was on in my room. When I woke at 9am, I was so hot. I had thrown off the bed covers entirely. I opened my door and let the wave of heat fill the hallway.
Iona fed me huge numbers of pancakes - and that was just topping up from the dessert the night before.
But we finally got to head out for a walk up a wee valley - but the rain meant we were getting more damp than we anticipated. Especially Iona in her jeans - the fabric of death when you tramp. So we abandoned the walk and found a cafe that was open.
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| Mitre10 cafe - not a bad iced coffee |
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| Walking in the rain |
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| Cabbage tree doing it solo |
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| Walking feet |
Back home and Mike and Toby arrived from their road trip up. Toby snoozed on the couch with Frida as we ate (again!) and played Words with Friends.
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| Toby and Frida sleeping |
We left Iona and Col at 5pm and happily on the ferry for the slow trip back to Wellington. The time seemed to creep by. Only got to sleep at midnight at home. Smudge was happy to see us.
Fantastic, varied weekend. What a great way to spend 3 days. Hope yours was good fun. And I hope the Aussie contingent enjoys their long weekend coming up.
Love,
Angela
