NEW YEAR

Guest editor: Hilary Hodge

Friday 30th,Saturday 31stDec and Sunday 1st Jan 2012

Yesterday was the end of the dry weather – for the next two days it was to pour down – oh we never have weather like this for New Year everyone kept saying and Christmas was so nice and sunny. Well my Xmas and New Year were both to be under low cloud, mist and at times sheeting rain. So even travelling right across the world doesn’t guarantee you the sunshine! Ah and its New Years day and the rain has just started again – ugh – the only positive feature is that it delays me getting an outbreak of prickly heat which will inevitably happen once the sun comes out - we British have to remain positive don’t we?

Anyway to return to the activities of the last couple of days. Friday we were taken on a wine tour by Luke and James friend Ross. The gist of this is that we visited five different wineries where they let you taste a number of different wines in the hope that you will buy some bottles which of course we duly obliged and did so. Ross has constructed a delightful hill top venue where you can sit and admire the view and have a picnic accompanied by a glass of wine all of which he provides. Our group of six were all British and so despite the rain and mist said we would still like to go up to the top of the hill. As he has to drive up a track and you have to walk the last bit to the summit he was a bit anxious about going but we braved it. Fortunately he had taken the precaution of having a locked trunk up there where he provided warm coats for us. Undeterred we sat there and ‘enjoyed’ our picnic as the mist suddenly came down!


After that adventure we returned home to enjoy a well deserved siesta or slept to get over our hangover – which ever you wish to believe. I struggled to wake up in time to go out for a very nice meal at a restaurant Luke was anxious to try out but was glad I managed it. Oh the trials of enjoying oneself.

Luke and I spent Saturday morning wandering around Napier and indulging in a little clothes shopping for me – an infrequent event for me as those of you who know me well would verify. After lunch at home with James we reluctantly ventured back down to town to join a walking tour of Napier that we had booked. However, the heavens opened just as it was about to set off so we decided to postpone it until tomorrow in the hopes that the weather might have improved.

For New Years eve we were invited to Ross and Roger’s house for a meal before going to some other of their friends to see the New Year in and to watch the firework display over the bay. The party was populated by British ex pats mainly medics and other health workers with those from New Zealand much in the minority. The news as we arrived was that the firework display had been cancelled because of the heavy rain but in the end the rain stopped around midnight and the display did go ahead to welcome in 2012.

Sunday 1st January 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.

Well it wasn’t actually raining when Luke and I woke up – James does not emerge usually until midday anyway. We had left the car at Roger and Rosses last night so there was the little task of retrieving it. Whooppee it was fine so Luke and I set off and enjoy the walk – Napier has very steep hills everywhere so it turned out to be quite a healthy trek ie up lots of steep inclines – getting me in training for the forthcoming trek James has organised for us.

As the rain held off we were able to do the Art Deco tour in the afternoon which was fascinating. Volunteers from the Art Deco Trust showed us films, explained the history of the rebuilding of Napier following the 1931 earthquake and took us on a walking tour round the buildings explaining the various features of Art Deco. Just as we finished down came the rain again and was set in for the whole evening!