The Wedding

The second part of The Big Holiday was spent in Hawkes Bay in preparation for the wedding. I was really, really tired when I arrived in HB but it was lovely to see Andrew and Maree.

I was expecting to have a very busy time in the lead up to the wedding, but in fact, Maree had everything pretty much in hand. On the first day we went to the hire company to double check that everything was all inhand. While there I began to feel a bit unwell. I had a bit of a sore tummy button at the end of the SI part of the holiday. I think it was from all the driving. I know that sounds weird but I was sitting in a driving position a LOT!!!! Anyway there was a tiny split in the skin and then when I arrived in HB (and was exhausted) it became infected and by the time we got to the hire company I had the beginnings of a fever so off to the doctor we went and I came out with topical ind internal antibiotics - quite a hefty dose.

Practising the charleston :-)

I wasn't a LOT of help to Maree for the next two days while my temperature came down but by the Wednesday I was feeling a LOT better.

On the Wednesday night Maree's family, the happy couple, their dance instructor and I all went out to dinner at Soda in Taradale. Once a month they have a themed dinner and I can't even remember what the theme was but the food was delish!!!

On the Thursday night we had a takeaway picninc down at the waterfront in Napier for anyone that was around and felt like joining us. It was LOVELY.

The big stuff started to happen on the Friday as the hire company finally completed the marquee. The wedding party had all arrived by then so there were plenty of hands on deck to set the tables etc. In the evening everyone was invited to go to Shed 2 down at the port in Napier to meet up and have dinner. It was a great evening although we didn't stay late. And guess what we had.....fish and chips......again!!!! (And they were LOVELY) :-)

The wedding day itself dawned fine and warm. I spent the first part of the morning setting out the chairs over at Maree's parent's place. Then  I showered and concentrated on not getting hot so that I wouldn't undo the hair and make up that were the next thing to happen. We (the 'girls') took over the top floor of the house and had a fab time. We had drinks and snacks while we were waiting for our turn for hair and face.

Once we were all made up we got Maree into her dress, finished ourselves off and then did the official photos. It was quite a fun and he got some STUNNING shots. They can be seen at tim.co.nz. It was a very sunny day so the photographer needed some shade for the photos which he found under a tree in the paddock across the road. :-)

The wedding went swimmingly (although it was very, very hot!!!) and everyone looked amazing in their deco gear. The canapes were visually beautiful and tasted delicious. The reception was fab too and once again the food was DELICIOUS!!!! Maree and Andrew did a SUPER first dance (The Charleston) and it was just a really, really lovely day all round.

The day after the wedding was great too. Everyone was invited up to the house for 'brunch' and LOTS of people showed up. Steve and Andrea 'did' the BBQ which meant Andrew was able to spend the time catching up with people. After brunch, a group of people went down to Napier to see the Gatsby Picnic and came back EXTREMELY enthusiastic about going again next year. I stayed back at the house to help pack up. I have to say that it took a LOT longer than I expected and I was pretty pooped afterwards. But it was good to get it done.

On Monday morning Tina and I headed back to Auckland after and AMAZING couple of weeks.

There are more pics here: More pics

South Island

It has been a long time since I have posted and there is a LOT to write about.

On February 5th The Big Holiday began!!!! I started the day off by getting the car serviced, my hair coloured and my hair cut before beginning our journey. At lunch time Robert, Moira and I headed for Hawkes Bay. Poor Robert had the short straw as he got to share the back of the car with a couple of snugly dogs, which is not ideal in the middle of summer. :-)

We had a very pleasant journey down and got there at about 7 pm. Hell pizza for dinner was the order of the day.

Early the next morning we headed to the airport and began the South Island part of the holiday. We had a really good flight down to Christchurch, picked up the hire car and got on the road to Queenstown. It was a very cloudy morning and there was not a mountain to be seen (Typical!!!!! Last time Robert and Moira were over they never saw Taranaki either).

We stopped in Geraldine for a pie, chips and an ice cream and got straight back on the road as it is a loooong way to Queenstown. At about Fairlie Moira commented that she could see a bit of blue sky and about a minute later the cloud completely vanished, leaving us with magnificent blue skies which were to stay with us for nearly the entire week.

The drive was fabulous!!!! There is nothing quite like the first glimpse of the amazing Lake Tekapo and its turquoise waters. We decided that, even though we had a long way to go, we would stop at all scenic opportunities as we were very aware that the magnificent weather may be absent on the return journey.

We arrived in Queenstown at about 6 and found the cottage (after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing). Mum and Dad were already there so we grabbed them and headed into Queenstown for a fish and chip dinner (we ate a LOT of fish and chips while on holiday!!!!!)

Link to pics: Drive down

Day 1

After a really busy ‘driving’ day on the Saturday I was quite keen to not go too far on the first day, especially as the plan was to head to Milford Sound on the Monday, which is a really long drive. So on the Sunday we went to Arrowtown, drove the Crown Range, had lunch at the iconic Cardrona Pub (yum yum) and went to Wanaka. It was really, REALLY hot in Wanaka and we all ran out of steam at about 4 o’clock, had a coffee and headed home.

Pics: Day one
Day 2

A BIG day!! We were on the road by 7 heading to Milford. We had an excellent drive down, stopping for coffee at Te Anau. I love the drive into Milford, the scenery is just incredible!!!! We had a fab boat cruise. Being on a smaller boat was really friendly and Moira and Robert even had a go at the helm.

The underwater observatory was really interesting, it was amazing to see all those fish in their natural environment just doing what fish do. We stopped for dinner in Te Anau and went to the same place that we had coffee that morning. The poor people were on a skeleton staff and were inundated with customers so it took a very long time to get dinner It was worth the wait though as it was delicious. We got home from Milford at about 11 that night, it was a very long but very enjoyable day.

Pics: Day 2
Day 3
 
We all took a bit longer to get going on this day. We all went into Queenstown and split up to do our own thing, meeting later in order to head up the gondola. I dropped everyone in town  and then headed off to try and find a park for the car but as I was a driving I saw a sign that said "Glenorchy 44km" and I thought "Why not? So I headed off to Gelnorchy for lunch. :-)
 
It was a fabulous day and the drive was beautiful. The road winds up the side of Lake Wakatipu, which is a LOT bigger than it looks. There is a "Wow!!!!!" moment on the drive where the road goes around a bend and you are faced with an incredible mountain vista. It is STUNNING!!!!!
 

Glenorchy was lovely and I had a nice lunch before heading back to Queenstown. I stopped at the lake on the way back and had a paddle. I took a photo of my feet in the lake and the water is so clear you can't actually see it at all.
 
Back in Q'town I caught with Moira and Robert for a beer by the lake and then we caught up with Mum and Dad and headed up the gondola. We ALL (except Dad who was quite keen but the 'scenic track was really bumpy and his back wouldn't have coped :-( ) had a go on the luge which was SUCH fun!!! Mum took FOREVER to get to the bottom but she made it in the end with a huge smile on her face.
 

Pics: Day 3
 
Day 4
 
Wednesday was a fairly quiet day. Mum, Dad and Robert went and had a swim at the local leisure center and then Mum and Dad had a wee lie down so Robert Moira and I headed into Q'town to the Wildlife centre to see some kiwis (and some keas since they would turn up in Milford). It was very interesting, especally the 'Conservation Show'.
 

On the drive back to the unit we took a wee detour and stumbled across the Shotover Jet which was very cool.
 

Pics: Day 4
 

Day 5
 
We had a wee drive to Cromwell. We stopped at a VERY busy fruit shop on the way back and got some delicious cherries and some other fruit. We saw Roaring Meg and we stopped for lunch at the Gibbston Valley Winery for lunch.
 

Robert and Moira spent the evening catching up with some Kilmacolm buddies in Q'town.
 
I think we were all feeling quite tired.

Pics: Day 5
 
Day 6
 
Our last full day inthe South Island. Mum and Dad went out on the Earnslaw (it was a lovely day for it!!!!) and Robert, Moira and I headed to Glenorchy (the wow moment was still 'wow'). Then we went to the Caddyshack and played mini golf (it was REALLY hot in there) and had dinner in the iconic Cow restaurant (yummy pizza).
 

Pics: Day 6

Day 7
 
On the Saturday we dropped Mum and Dad off at the airport then headed back into Q'town for a last coffee. Sooooooooooooooo glad we did as there is a FABULOUS craft market, where we saw some beautiful things. If only I had money!!!!!
 

We had been forcast rain for the Saturday but weather (as always was stunning). We did the Crown Range again and had lunch at the Cardrons (yummy again) and then hit the road for Tekapo.
 
The 'motel unit' we had booked at Tekapo was FABULOUS!!!! It was right across the road from the lake, with STUNNING views and was very, very comfortable. We had (quite a lot) of chinese takeaway for dinner followed by (for me anyway) the BEST night's sleep. I could have stayed there for a week to just chill.
 

We got up the next morning, had a huge breakfast and headed to Christchurch where I leapt on a plane and Robert and Moira headed off for the next part of their South Island adventure.

Pics: Day 7

Mixed Times

As you saw from my previous post Spyke is umping beautifully at the moment and he is giving me the confidence to try some bigger jumps. I am so loving getting jumping in a way that I never have before, he is a FANTASTIC horse.

Being a toad

We had a show hunter lesson with Tracey Page last week and it was fabulous!!! Spyke jumped like he has never jumped for me before. It gave me a lot of confidence.

Yesterday I took him to a Mini ODE. It was NOT a particularly good day. He did a very average -slightly below average dressage test, the judge even commented that he looked uneven :-( which is a bit of a worry!!!!! He had a stop in the show jumping which I should have ridden better as I knew it was coming and then in the cross country he was a TOAD!!!!!!!

Dressage

Show jumping

Finally jumping

It took me about ten minutes to get him NEAR the first jump!!!!! The nappy little rat didn't want to leave his buddies. I tried everything to get him going forward but he would NOT move. Unfortunately for him I have a stubborn streak a mile wide so even though it took us about 10 minutes (the course itself was only about 1 minute long) to get to the first jump, get to it we blinkin' well did!!!!! It was all of less than a foot high, I was soooooooooo mad. He had another nap (a MUCH shorter one) at the second jump and then the third was pointing in the right direction for Spyke (ie back towards his mates) so he had no more 'problems'. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

After the Comp

We were allowed to go and 'play' on the course after the competition and he behaved much better. Grrrrrrrrrr!

On another note, Robert and Moira arrived on Wednesday and it is FANTASTIC to see them. It's like they have never been away. I am really looking forward to our South Island holiday next week followed by..... The Wedding. :-)

The blinkin' photos are a bit big :-) but you can see them here: http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/Paddockornament/More%20Spyke/Mini%20ODE%20010210/

:-) Best horse in the world.

Look What I Jumped

Now, I know that to many people that ride this is not that big but I think this is possibly the biggest I have jumped. It didn't go perfectly, Spyke went through it the first time, he even broke the pole (I think he was a bit surprised to be asked to jump bigger than half barrel...... and I had the striding ALL wrong). The second time he rolled the top pole but the third time he cleared it!!!! :-) I, however was all over the place!!! I definitely need to get myself a decent jumping saddle.

A New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I did. :-) I had a lovely drive down to HB, the traffic wasn’t too bad at all and the girls had a swim in Taupo on the way.

Lake Taupo

On Christmas Eve I spent the day helping Maree to prepare the Christmas Feast. It started with a queue at the berry place to get some nice fresh raspberries, boysenberries, blackberries and cherries (yum yum, they are sooooo nice straight from the vine). She had planned a FIVE course meal. We started with a chilled soup, followed by a salad, then sorbet, followed by a HUGE main course and then a flan for dessert. She had chosen nice ‘simple’ recipes….. and they were……simple……. What she didn’t look closely at was how fiddly the flan was to make. I ended up in charge of it and it was INCREDIBLY fiddly, there were soooo many different processes to it (they were ALL simple, there were just lots of them). But we got there in the end. Maree played Christmas music while we were busy which was really nice….. for about the first three times through the CD. LOL I have certainly had my fill of Christmas music for the year.

Queueing For Berries

Taradale

Sammie Delivery Dog

Christmas Day was lovely. The weather was stunning and it was very relaxed and enjoyable. It started with a BBQ breakfast (I really, really like BBQ breakfasts!!!!!!) We ate WAAAAAAAAY too much and had loads of leftovers. The flan was great (thank goodness) and we forgot the sorbet (no-one missed it).

Making Omelettes

Christmas Breakfast

Before

After

Christmas Dinner

The Flan

After Christmas Day it was holiday time. I had a very relaxing couple of weeks with Maree and Andrew. We swam the dogs, walked the dogs, lazed around home, went out for lunch, moved some mulch (20 cubic metres of it!!!!) and just had a lovely time.

New Years Eve was lovely. We had an early bowl of soup and then headed into Napier at about 9. We went to Lone Star and had a bite to eat and a cocktail then headed across the road to ‘do’ the countdown and fireworks. It was lovely.

On New Years Day Andrew and I popped to the races for a couple of hours which I really enjoyed, especially the last race as I managed to pick the first and second place getters.

New Years Eve In Napier

New Years Day

The rest of the holiday was spent hanging out with Maree and Andrew, discussing the wedding etc.

I came home on the Wednesday and instantly started a BIG spring clean. The house has been getting me down a bit as it is just so full of stuff. So I have given myself the deadline of January 15th to get it sorted (as Maree and Andrea are coming to stay for the hens night). So far I have tidied up the garage, the home theatre, my room (THAT was big one!!!!) and have nearly finished the living area so I am well on track for having that completed.

Spyke was quite funny when I got back, he saw the car and went and hid behind the hill, I think he was enjoying his holiday and was not ready for it to be over (know how he feels). He has been a good boy although he did have a teeny tiny bucking thought last night when we went for a canter up the hill but he was going too fast to do anything about it. Tonight he was really smoodgey. I was chatting to Monique for about half an hour and Spyke came and just stood next to my shoulder snoozing. Awwwww, he does luff me!!!! (OR was he just hungry? LOL)

The girls are really, really well. They really enjoyed the break in HB and I loved being able to have them with me all day.

BAD dogs!!!

Cooling Off

The Dress