Christmas and away on holiday

Christmas time - it doesn't seem long ago since we last sat outside in the sun and had a barbeque lunch.  This time we all piled around to Don and Judy's.  Mike and Becks arrived earlier on in the week and Sharon and Aaron came down from Feilding so with Becks family we enjoyed a great lunch, company and a few games. It was Wellington's hottest Christmas Day since 1934 - and we sat in 30+ enjoying the novelty. Some later said it was too hot, probably it was if you were cooking a roast - but I enjoyed every minute.  In the evening we went for a walk with Don and Judy around Newlands, finding walkways we didn't know were there - actually we got lost as we wandered around the area where the old railway used to go before putting in the main trunk line up the coast.

Boxing Day - traditionally picnic day and so we took our bikes for a ride up the dune coastal path from Paekak via McKays Crossing to Raumati South and then ventured on to the park at the beach for a picnic lunch.  The path was challenging - a bit steep in places - but I left my pride at home and walked up those bits.  There is a longer track we might try another time.

Then it was off for our South Island excursion - we caught the 8.00 ferry down to Picton.  It was pretty drizzly weather so we sat inside and read and tried to catch up on some sleep.  We'd decided to take the long route to Kaikoura around Waikawa Bay which we hadn't been to before.  We sat on the hill top over looking the Bay and the historical grounds where Maori used to live, work and play, and watched the ferries and little boats come and go.

We then ventured further around the peninsula into some spectacular scenery overlooking little bays, along some very dusty gravel roads and arrived at Robin Hoods Bay.  We wandered through some very long grass and a gate hanging on one hinge to a small cottage that was built in they think the 1840's.  It was originally home to a whaler, and later became part of a small boys' boarding school and probably has an incredible tale to tell but it is now sitting quite unloved amongst the tall flaxes and wildflowers. There was a sense of abandonment here even though it is an historic property.