An NZ Christmas, much warmer than the UK

Having completed the rabbit hutch, we had time to enjoy the run up to Christmas Day so we fitted in a joint family trip to wander round a private arboretum created over the last fifty years and containing some rare specimens as well as a trip to Te Mata peak by car and Duart House gardens in HN.
Christmas Day saw us at Mass in HN with all the family and we had a lovely dinner of cooked ham and salads on a neighbour's deck with magnificent views towards Napier. The kids loved the rabbit hutch and really enjoyed the day after a walk in Te Mata park to some magnificent redwood trees. It was a loit warmer than UK t about 24C.

Beach Safari to Gannet Colony, Cape Kidnappers

We drove to Clifton to the start of the Beach Safari to Cape Kidnappers to see the gannet colony. What a fabulous trip! You ride on a farm trailer pulled by a 1946 Minneapolis Molin Tractor, petrol not diesel, along the shore for 9Km dodging the tide and rocks and stopping every so often to learn more about the strata or the wonderful birds. At the end of the ride ther is a stiff climb up to the plateau where these graceful and faithful birds nest. We were able to get really close and see their affectionate greetings when they return to the nest as well as hovering against the very stiff breeze. The kids all enjoyed it and it was worth every cent. It should also be noted that although over 60 years old, the tractors started promptly and ran strongly, never missing a beat.

Keirunga Park Miniature Railway

Sunday saw us at Keirunga Park, a short walk from Rachel and Bill's house. This is the location for a superb miniature railway capable of running three scales and having a most imaginative layout with tunnels, and both concrete and wooden viaducts with a total distance of over 800yds. It is truly a wonder to behold and maybe the fifth in the world of such railways able to carry the public. The image shows the founder's diesel-electric loco which looks fabulous and has a "Mars" swivelling red light which exactly models the full scale loco's lamp's motion.

Wellington, A windy city with cable cars and modern trolleybuses

We spent Monday at Woodford House helping Rachel to clear out her stock room and Tuesday in Hastings Christmas shopping.
The first final assembly at the kid's school was cancelled 3 minutes after it started due to heavy rain,(it was outside!) so we attended the second on Tuesday evening in the hall and watched Jack collect his leaving certificate.
Wednesday at 1pm saw us collect the children in two cars to drive to Wellington. The trip was OK after a slight directional error was corrected and we arrived at the highly rated YHA hostel about 6.30pm. The next day saw us at Te Papa the remarkable National Museum after which we took the famous cable car to the Botanical Gardens with remarkable views and an excellent free cable car museum. Wellington is well known for it's public cable car but also for a number of private ones ascending from Oriental Parade and it's modern trolleybuses all being less than two years old. The weather was quite windy in the evenings so we had to wrap up a bit for a stroll.
We left the YHA in good time to visit the Weta Cave which displays the special effestc from Peter Jackson's films such as Lord of the Rings and then travel home via Paraparoumu where we met Bill's remarkable 90 year old Aunty Ruth in her retirement village. It was an easy trip back from there.
Saturday saw us doing project work before taking the kids to a free performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors at Hastings Opera House in the evening.

Cricket, Lovely Cricket

Saturday saw us watching Lucy and her team playing at Guthrie Park. They lost but the two Lucys, R&K, both won player of the day and I took some photos of the team for school. Later we were on gardening duty and I repaired Aldo's wheelbarrow after Bill repaired the puncture, in true NZ No 8 wire fashion, the wire having come from the UK in Bill's toolbox.
Sunday saw us at Maclean Park, Napier to watch the Black Caps play Pakistan in the Test Match, third day. It was a one ticket price with open access to all stands so we were in the shade and comfortable as well as being very relaxed. You could park almost next door and it was a very enjoyable experience.

A Caterpillar experience in a video and a lake walk

We wanted to revisit Rotorua without the Mauri and tacky tourist stuff so we visited the Caterpillar experience. This shows old Caterpillar equipment in very lifelike settings as well as official NZ videos of the fifties which were very interesting on their own being bound up with the countries agricultural and timber history. Better still we were offered a discount and asked to be in a promo video as well as a free lunch. Later we walked round the lake marvelling at the thermal sulphurous pools before coming back through the rose gardens.

A delightful sail on Lake Taupo and a trip to Smash Palace

After coffee in the famous MacDonalds Dakota DC3, we had a delightful sail on the Barbary, a ketch built in California in 1926 with a history including Errol Flynn. There were three other Aussie ladies one of whom had done a lot of travelling in the bush. The sail took us to see some amazing Mauri rock carvings done some 30 years ago in a very inaccessible place.
The next day we had a fantastic trip across the Rangiroro desert road to the Horopito vintage vehicle scrap yard, the largest and oldest in Australasia. They have got parts for seemingly every type of car and could well be useful for UK restorers. The place got its name from a film made there called Smash Palace.