Holiday musings

It’s the winter school holidays (July!) so Jess if off school for two weeks. We booked a few days in a bach in the Waiarapa which is the rural county to the east of Wellington. We haven’t had any time outside of Wellington since March so it was a welcome break. The winter weather in Wellington has been really wet so far and we were pleased to have 5 days of sunshine and blue skies. The bach was clean, cosy but a wee bit basic. However part of being on holiday was experiencing a change so we didn’t mind. We spent some lovely sunny days exploring the beaches at Riversdale and Castlepoint. Jess had great fun climbing up a huge sand dune at Castlepoint, then sliding or jumping down. It was a great way to wear out a 6 year old. We also had lots of fun exercising Monty Dog, Grant’s sister’s dog, who came away with us. He adores the beach and despite being 11 years old nothing stops him bounding up and down the beach chasing anything we will throw to him! We often give up before him then he resorts to digging big holes in the sand.

Wellington and other big hubs have a great selection of cafes and eateries. Out in the back of beyond you’d be lucky to find a very basic village store. So we always head off out with a full picnic and a flask of something warm. This does mean we have had some picnics in some stunning locations. Just the last few days have involved picnics in long sunny beaches. These locations we get to always amaze me, sometime I can look up at a big hill or cliff and think in the UK or Europe there would be a ruined castle or fort, in NZ nothing but views. It’s the same with the rolling green hills; I keep expecting to see some grand stately home nestled into the hills or forest. Nope, not in NZ. It is such an old country in that we don’t really know how and when the Maori first arrived. Yet still such a new country; first settlers, the whalers, in the 1820’s, with planned settlers and the pioneers in the 1840’s. A very new big country.

We took some DvDs away with us and it was lovely catching up with old classics like the Sword in the Stone and the Borrowers. We also took a 4 disc special of the Muppet Show. Both Grant and I were looking forward to introducing Jess to the 1970’s joy that was the Muppet Show. But we were all quite disappointed. Something that was so much fun in our childhoods is now quite stale and boring. This isn’t the case with all old- time programmes we have shown Jess. She has loved 70’s and 80’s shows like Top Cat, Chorlton and the Wheelies and the Flumps. Watching crazy puppets like Kermit, Swedie Chef and Miss Piggy just doesn’t seem to translate to viewing habits these days.

So it’s back to Wellington tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to going back to work but at least it’s a short week. Then it’s the weekend and we have tickets for the All Blacks v Sprinkboks match on Saturday. Can’t wait.