Enter the Dragon...

Nice photos mum and dad - thought I'd better add one too...


This photo was taken at the KensingtonSwan ball on Saturday. The Theme was 'Enter the Dragon' (after the Bruce Lee movie). At first we thought it was an awful theme and had no idea what to wear, but then we got into it, and I ended up coming away with the best dressed prize ($500 voucher at WorkingStyle). So all good there!



Hope everyone's week is going well! Yesterday was a bad day for all up here, for so any reasons! The worst of which, was that the Landlady rang to say she is putting the flat on the market. One day after Harriet moved in. classic. So now we have to decide whether we wont to stay here and put up with open homes (and the ultra high cleanliness standard needed), o find a new place and go through the rigmarole of moving and setting things up again. greeeeeat.



Other than that, all is good.

Have a great day y'all.

TRIP PHOTOS

Hi All, Here are some trip Photos......Euphesus in Turkey....ruins from a City of 300,000 people.
Santorini Church

Hella and Brian Harpers House in Denmark.

Copenhagen Harbour Scene.

Ashley in the homeland of the Crusader in Rhodes in the Centre of the Mediterraen.

Ashley trying to get a ride on a Camel at Euphesus.

And Barbara at Gallipoli.

Cheers, Barbara and Ashley.

Its Cold Today

Its Cold Today

Hi Everyone,

It is really cold here at the moment, and it is trying to rain.

We got some rose pruning done yesterday, and also this morning. Barbara is a dab hand at cutting things back, identifying plants for transplanting and finding gaps for new plants.

Jen has been here for a couple of hours talking about our trip, looking at photos etc. Really good to see her for the first time in a couple of months. She says that Olivia is recuperating well.

An intense week beckons for both of us this week. Barbara has a quadrangular tpurnament at Craighead, and I have to go to Chch on Thursday.

A roast of lamb is in the oven and the roast vegetables have just gone in----smells delicious.

Cheers, Ashh.

Hi all Chris back again.
Thanks for post Barb have been going to ring but wanted to give you a chance to settle in first good to get a bit of an update.
The weather has been trying but apparently Twizel takes the prize no sun for 2 weeks ,fogs and hoar frosts yuk!
Real sad about Marks mother.
Last mon I spent a few hours researching Sydney for March. Found an apartment in Darling Harbour which could fit the bill for us. The flights are a bit nutty (eg I found a good time for leaving sydney but goes via brisbane) Am after economical (ish) direct flights that leave in afternoon. Maybe too early for deals yet.
Anyway has made it all a bit more exciting.

Went to my friends 50th on sat had Chocolate Martinis sounded awful but was real yum. Great food but with the sport on all night no music. The netball was good though.

Glad to hear you are into skiing Jeff hopefully your cuz will get onto it soon.

Went to the movie Paris J'Taime very odd but rather cool apparently a must see for all you who have holidayed there.

Went to see pats surgeon last week, was interesting, he is a facial plastic surgeon so went into depth about the procedure and how he intends to achieve good results. will probably come up in october which isnt bad timing as soccer finished and water skiing not started.

His soccer was great on sat they lost 8-6 high entertainment game looked like mud wrestlers at the end.
then went to see Steves sister and ran into her mates just back from their trip mostly small villages more communist bloc countries Poland,Austria , Croatia etc sounds great.

Better go prise the girl out of bed for our bi-weekly exercise class.
bye

Skiing

Hey Team

Jeff here. Sorry I haven't been posting. Little to say (for a change!) I guess.

Um, well, it's sunday night. Am quite tired after a big weekend on the snow.We drove down on friday night leaving at 4:30 and getting into ohakune just before 11. We then skied fairly hard out on saturday and enjoyed checking out the new 6 seater at Turoa. Leather seats would you believe. Me and a mate (who also can't ski good) decided to check out a run we had seen the groomers making earlier in the day. Unfortunately they hadn't finished making the run yet and so we found ourselves in a wee bit of a pickle. Needless to say we survived to tell the tale with only the odd bruise and scratch on our skis. Overnight there was 25 cm of powder on turoa but unfortunately blizzard conditions killed off our chances so we boosted home instead. So yeah, by a big weekend i mean one day skiing but hey, exaggeration is the art of telling a good story.

Work is picking up at the moment after a few quiet weeks which is good. I am doing quite a large project surrounding our imports business which should keep me busy for a bit.

Kate is doing well in aussie. Highlights involve working many night shifts, going to byron bay and performing a nose-lego extraction.

Dave's flat is going well. We've managed to scare off one flatmate and get a new ginger one. This is obviously going to improve the ginger to non-giner ratio in my favour.

Out for dinner on friday, no plans for the rest of the week and then maybe skiing again the weekend after. Am off to sudney for some one elses wedding at start of led zepptember. I will be taking notes!!

Party on.

Jeff
PS Matt buddy - north island ski access roads are very easy to drive up and sealed. 2wd is all good 80% of the time. We should organise a weekend up there. I'll pick you up on the way through!

PSS wedding - all going to plan i guess. Kate says the darling harbour reception venue looks very slick so that is good. choyce

PSSS - be my facebook friend. I'll be yours.

Home again..frosty days are here again!

Dear all,
Well we are safely back in Timaru and have actually been home a week lastnight. It seems hard to believe really. The biggest adjustment was to the climatic conditions. Life without frosts would be nice.
We both had a fair bit of 'jet lag' but I guess it is just a good thing to blame when motivation tends to wane. Sadly, when we got home we were made aware that a close friend of the family was very ill. David knew her very well and so as her health deteriorated David decided to visit Timaru.. unfortunately Ann passed away before he could see her. He delivered a lovely eulogy for her at her funeral.
This sad time, combined with a course in Christchurch and a 2 day PD appraisal process on Thursday and Friday made it a very long and tiring week. The bonus was having David home but the circumstances were very sad.
Last night we began to relax and felt that gradually things were returning to normal. We enjoyed the rugby and I watched the netball which was exciting.
We really did enjoy our trip. It was nice seeing Brian and Healla and family again. Ash has his birthday on Tuesday and Brian has his big 50 celebrations next weekend.
On our last night in Denmark we went to Tivoli gardens..an old-fashioned and beautiful amusement park. We listened to some fantastic music while there. We are now trying to find the time to double check all our photos. It seems that we do not have our first few days..Dubai and Istanbul which is very sad. I guess one just has to hold the memories of the sand in our heads.
Today was to be ghastly according to the weather forecasters but it turned out very beautiful..sunny and clear so it was good to open up the house and let the warmth of the sun in. Ash took David to the Chch plane very early this am and was back by lunchtime.
Yesterday we went to Waimate for a late morning tea and lunch. Both mum and dad looked really good. Fit and healthy. Mum seems to have really enjoyed her trip away.
Lovely to hear form Matt. Congratulations to Jayne on gaining her Bsc..a big achievement and one to be very proud of. I hope Olivia that you are feeling better now. Hi to everyone else..would love to read your news as you post it. I trust everyone is well and happy. I know my wee dogs are very happy to have us home. They love to sit in front of the fire or on day like today they 'sunbathe'. Time to go. Love Barbara and Ash

South Waikato Update

Hello everyone again. It's been a while since I've been on here and a lot has happened in the last wee while.

Last week Hannah came up for a week to hang out in Tokoroa with me. She had some homework etc to work on during the day while I was at the mill and she was also CV dropping in some of the local businesses looking for work for the Christmas break. All going well she'll be a South Waikato resident for a couple or three months in the summer, which will be great. On the Wednesday, she managed a site tour in the afternoon before we headed off to Raglan for 3 nights. The weather really played the part by being very sunny and very clear skies. We managed to visit the local cafes and went on a couple of the walks around the area. The beaches are awesome there. Well renowned for the surfing too. Also had a look around Hamilton and went for a walk through some of the themed gardens there. Here is a photo of us in the "Italian" themed garden. Very nice thing to do on a nice day.

Really looking forward to some skiing soon. I am a bit wary that my car probably wouldn't make it up to the slopes, so I a currently waiting on some work collegues to take their 4WD up so I can tag along. Might need to look into a bus or something if I don't get any luck soon.

Well, sounds like there were great trips all around. I am getting inspired by all the travelling. Am hoping to head Europe way after a few years at the mill. Sounds like you had a very full on trip Grandma! Will be great to catch up with you some time to see some photos or atleast hear some stories. And sounds like your trip Barb and Ash was awesome! The cultural differences are starting to interest me also, so it's great to hear where you can go to get a taste!

Work is fine, projects coming along nicely.

Take care everybody.
Matt

Second Singapore Sling

Hope this one lasts longer..actually tried the beverage on the flight last night. Quite nice really.
We are waiting to board our last flight. It will be nice to get home now as it seems we have been in airports a while. Tivoli Gardens proved to be a real hit on the last night in Cop despite drizzly weather.
Today we are filling in time ready to go home.
Last blog for a while I suspect as there will be a lot to do once we hit Spur Road..I guess heating will be a priority. Hope everyone is well. Love Barb amd Ash

Untitled1

Wow! is all I can say!

Sounds like you had an awesome time over there - so many landmarks, so little time. Can't wait to get a face-to-face debrief, or some photos to appear on the blog (or indeed to go back). Will be good to share some memories. Tell us, what was your favourite place, and why?

Not a lot of news from up here. Work's been great of late as I've managed to almost avoid it completely by attending random courses. Last week it was a negotiation workshop, this week it was a plain english seminar and a 2 day article writing round-table. The best part is definitely the catering. Mmmmmm....catering.

I'm currently organising the IP team's retreat this year. We're off to Waiheke for a weekend to discuss IP stuff... Kinda fun deciding where we're staying, which vineyards were visiting, etc.

Dave


PS I love your unique style of blogging Grandma, sounds as though you spent a little too much time visiting the House of P.

PPS Join Facebook. It's fun I promise.

Home Again
Hi all sorry so slack with Emails had a few goes First a real mess next one took off into space somewhere Then Think I may have managed I reasonable effort
Our trip was great We got on really well
Lots of laughs didn,t get lost so much as misplaced now and then
What a lot going on in the family Welcome back Kate Happy Birthday Nick Liv hope you are OK again do take care a friend of G/D has had something similar keeps re-ocurring, Barb you didn,t get away to a very good start hope your flight home more pleasurable .The weather was pretty good most of time V/hot Vatican, in the square Paris beside the E/tower Singapore on way home Ex /Hot Went to Zoo there
In London got a bus ticket most days ,we did a large amount of walking as well,Went to Buck House but I think Lizzie must have been busy didn,t invite us in, House of P Big Ben St Pauls Westminster Abbey ..Bussed out to Wimbleton too tight to get a ticket to the lesser games altho prob OK But they got rained out that day as it turnd out
Next day decided to got to Flower Show at Hampstead Heath after about 45 mins bus ride nobody seemed to know any thing about it Then some one told us it was at Richmond so got on a train and headed to Hampton Court Not there either so ended up somehow at Kew Gardens instead. Barb only English TV most times a little ribbon along bottom of screen we did see NZ second win held up bus few mins as it was to go at finish time
But in London after the attack the news was full all day every day about it I rang dad as I thought it would be much the same here Just make people uneasy And you can't do a thing about it. Life just has to go on and seemingly it did
Every where accom and food V good Guides V/G every where so big and WOW, Super ,Gosh
Wellpast bed time on a go slow at present 11.15pm Lovely to have Dad Chris Ed and Donald at air port had a great long chat at Robert Harris Hornby must have been there 1 1/2 -2 hrs
Kove to all Mum Grandma

Hello all from frosty CHCH. Great to hear news superb effort especially from Harpers (wow you guys are so good at writing)
We had Gdad here for 2 nights managed to get him out on the town to hear Graham Wardrop.
We picked up Gma this morning shes looking good despite very little sleep.
We went to Hornby for coffee and Edna and I managed to catch up on plenty of highlights from the trip.
We have just found out we are being sued for wrongful dismissal what a pain (should have been a lawyer)

Hope everyone happy and enjoying hols(where applicable) Chris

Athens

Hi to All,

We are both very very well and extremely happy with our trip. Since last weeks blog we have been in the Greek Islands of Rhodes, Santorini and the party place, Mykonos. The hotel in Mykonos was incredible----on the beach, with wonderful views and it had just been refurbished, in a grand style.

We made the fast ferry trip to Athens yesterday, and visited the PLAKA last evening, did a "noddy train" dusk tour and then walked til we dropped.

Today, off to the Acropilis---but a 48 hour strike killed that idea. Did the Zeus Temple etc but the real reason to visit Athens just fell off the radar----bugger. More Plaka this afternoon----great pedestrianised streets everywhere---markets and hawkers and great shopping oppurtunities. Sad to be leaving Greece.

Off to Denmark tomorrow----really looking forward to catching up with everyone there. The planes, ferries and transfers have all worked so far, so by this time tomorrow we should be at Brian and Hellas.

Saw some new friends today in the street---we toured Turkey with them, and on Thursday they had one of their suitcases stolen from the ferry turnstiles---all their medication, jewellery purchases, and travel documents--- chaos for them, hopefully that can be avoided in the next week.

Time to run, a meal on the kerbside watching the Athenians go by beckons.

Love Barbara and Ash.

A variety of subjects

Hey'all

Jeff here. First of all, isn't sunny pms a bit of a contradiction of terms jenny? Hi to everyone, comments aboute everything listed, hope everyone is okay.

What is this about waimaitaitai? i had no idea. That would have been cool. Oh well. Too late now for flights.

Me and Kate took last week off for some skiing. It was good fun. Not a lot of snow but enough for 3 days of loving. We bought ourselves helmets in the off season and they are the best things ever. Wicked.

I went to transformers tonight that was wicked too. Imagine if i was 15, it would be even better. Mixing the straignt forwardness of spiderman with the special effects of T3.

Am addicted to facebook. I've formed an Aunty Helen Appreciation Society. (Pm, not pms).

Righto.

Jeff

Dont you go out in the rain

hi,
hope everyone keeping dry and warm,unlike here where the rain has barely stopped since the end of last month,yarghh,roll on a couple of nice frosts and sunny pms.
The OCs have just recovered from a rather busy little time of late,Nicks 21st went really well,great group of people,Nick had a band (some of his mates) they performed well and had all the outside group dancing,preventing any episodes of hypothermia.Cam and Emma came down,and Chris, Steve and Pat, so it was a good catchup.
Like the photos of your death by chocy type cafe stop with Dave,Mary,and Jeff, Matt,it looks like a good place to rest and revive.
Also happy to hear that your jobs are going well and you are enjoying your respective new surroundings.
Great to hear about Barb and Ashs fantastic trip,they sound as tthough they are making the very most of their time away.Less from GMa, but finding internet facilities close to where you are staying is sometimes difficult and will hear all about it when she gets back.
I see the Cup and Saucer has been rebranded as Nosh(bringing city food to the highway) we will have to call in for a coffee.
Also on the nostalgia front Jeff and Dave,you probably are aware that Waimataitai are having 125th year Jubilee,registering at clairereid@actrix.co.nz,17th to 19th Aug.
Liv is now away after her 3 week stay at home,she had a friend staying,and they left on tuesday to do a roadtrip to Nelson to stay with another friend.They plan to return to Dunedin via Wanaka,possibly with a few others ,Pete Nick Mini and I are heading down tomorrow, if we can get over the Lindis,it is closed at the mo due to snow.We are there for about 10 days and will try and get down a bit over the next couple of months,so if anyone has a spare weekend or whatever and would like to come down it would be great to see you.
Better go,this is turning into a maxiblog,hope to catchup with Gdad today,quite a task,he has turned into a social butterfly since Mum has been away,but good that he is well and happy,
take care all,
Jen and Pete