Wellington Orcs and Queen Charlotte Christmas Magic

Sorry for the break in service normal transmission is being resumed!

After packing up our flat (it is amazing how much 'stuff' we, - ie Shona and her work at the Op Shop! -  have accumulated in the last 9 months) and leaving various boxes with different friends we set off with our Honda CRV packed to the gunnels for our glorious holiday over Christmas and New Year down on the south island. We are now back and staying in a lovely student house for 4 weeks until beginning of Feb until we move back to our flat in Pacific Palms.

We have had so many wonderful adventures during the holiday that it needs to be split into a blog for each week!

Week 1 21st to28th Dec - A Magic Christmas

After a long 7 hour drive from here in the Bay of Plenty we reached Wellington the capital. We stayed in a lovely (5*) beachside backpackers on the Kapati ((pronouced 'cup of tea') coast.  we caught the local commuter train into the city and 'did' the world renowned Te Papa museum and popped into the understated but amazing Weka workshop - where all the monsters etc for the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings/Avatar/TinTin and Thunderbirds etc are created.

We were extremely lucky that both our Inter-island ferry crossings were calm and sunny so we could fully appreciate the beautiful fiord type landscape going into Queen Charlotte Sound. We drove straight from Picton to out destination campsite on 'Cowshed Bay' (Kiwis are very literal when they name things!)

 

 

Christmas eve saw us walking the 24km mid section of the Queen Charlotte which was absolutely spectacular and probably the high point of the holiday for both of us. It was a VERY warm and very high tramp but the cold beer and sense of achievement at the end was incredible!

Something a bit strange happened on Christmas Eve night, we both woke up in the wee small hours and could swear the stars seemed to ultra bright, especially one standing out shining over cowshed bay!!!!!! A very special memory.

Chrismas morning after a deafening dawn chorus, Shona had brought Christmas decorations, and crackers, so the pressies were opened and bucks fizz and bacon sandwiches as per tradition enjoyed. We even had our own Weka dishwasher (a type of bird!!).

 

Later on Christmas day we moved on to Nelson where we had booked into a lovely B&B. We hadn't booked anywhere for Christmas dinner and were preparing to have a rather sad/sweaty salad on the beach, but the lady who ran the B&B came to our rescue and got us into a lovely German restaurant for a lovely Christmas dinner. After our meal we sat on the balcony of the B&B for rusty nail cocktails and were joined by our hosts then an American honeymoon couple and finally a swiss family who were also staying at the B&B.

We skyped everyone at home as they were waking up but I do have to admit it was a strange hot Christmas but all in all a Christmas memory like no other!

The Abel Tasman walk was our next destination which was lovely but slightly overshadowed by the crowds not to mention being rained out in a VERY small tent at Totranui. We will just have to go back at a different time of year and when the weather is better!

Merry Christmas Greetings Everyone

We are off down to the South Island next Sunday for a 3 week camping holiday where we will be hopefully seeing some of the Queen Charlotte/ Marlborough sound as well as the Abel Tasman 4 day hike.

We are both really looking forward to seeing the south Island and we will post some photos when we can.

In the mean time here is our wee Christmas note and Good wishes to you all

Kia Ora and Merry Christmas from summer in New Zealand,

Well we have had a few changes and adventures since last Christmas, when on Christmas eve 2013 Malcolm accepted a new job in New Zealand and here we are, already 1/3 through our 2 years! We will be back April 2016.

Life out here has been one long adventure, we have met so many new friends and have had a go at lots of new skills and challenges we would never have experienced at home. Last week I was climbing Mt Ruapehu to the volcanic crater in deep snow and 3 days later we were learning to surf on the beach down from the flat!

We had the most wonderful holiday with Rhian and Callum and it was very upsetting to say farewell. They will be back out again in July/August so not too long to wait. Rhian is working VERY hard during her NQT first year of teaching, she is teaching a Year 4 Class in Caerleon, but still living in Cardiff. Callum is also near Cardiff, studying Natural History at University of South Wales in Pontypridd – he is having whale of a time, enjoying both the course and meeting lots of new friends.

Skype, E-mail and Whatsapp with friends back home has made being SOOOOO far away much easier and we both feel less remote. I won’t go on about the things we have been up to, if you want a wee flavour we have been doing a blog : http://thomasinnz.blogspot.co.nz/.

I hope you have also had a good year and look forward to hearing your news. Wishing you all a Merry and Peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Love, Shona and Malcolm

(malcolmthomas30@btinternet.com / shonathomas30@gmail.com )

 

Summer in December - doesn't seem right!

I can't believe Christmas is fast approaching and the weather here is swinging wildly from roasting hot to sultry storms then cold and lashing rain! Although summer officially started on 1st December down here it is still very spring like weather.
I just hope it settles down before we go camping for 3 weeks next week!

As at home the Christmas party season is in full swing down here but most seem to feature BBQ's!
Shona has had quite a few ladies who lunch type Christmas do's and Malcolm spent his works do at the Tauranga races last Friday, much beer and betting and not very many wins! The races were followed by a fun evening and meal in Tauranga.

 

Malcolm has also been managing a few rounds of golf including a corporate event where each hole was sponsored by a local business, including the 7th which was sponsored by the local funeral directors, where cold drinks and strawberries were served from a chilled coffin on the green side!

 

 

We are still in awe of the kiwi hospitality, we have been invited to such a range of amazing experiences, including the previous weekend sailing in Auckland Harbour on a beautiful 45 foot yacht with Hilary and Ed. Hilary is the sister of one of Malcolm's oldest friends Simon.

We sailed to 2 islands the first of which is a bird sanctuary where we were almost mobbed there were so many native birds - just superb, then we visited another island where Governor Grey had a house - all very colonial and grand , including peacocks, one of which took a shine to Ed!

 

 

 The sailing was spectacular