Sunday, 3 January 2010

"Here we are now in 2010"



We had a wonderful Xmas and New Year. On 23rd Dec we went for a two day walk in the hills, and stayed overnight in the “Pack Horse Hut” on Mt Bradley, returning home the next day, Xmas Eve. We meet up with a few friends before attending our church for more carol singing and midnight communion. 
 












  “Pack Horse Hut”

Xmas Day was hot and sunny.   We had lunch with our landlords in the house above our apartment, together with their two sons and three grandchildren, ranging from 8 years old to 2 years old. We had great fun in the garden, playing water pistol fights and making mud pies!  In the evening we had a meal with one of Norman’s friends from band, Chris, Margot and their family.   All in all, a memorable Christmas day.






 We went for a long walk on Boxing Day in the local “Port hills”, to work off some of the mountains of food consumed Xmas Day!





New Year’s Eve was spent with yet more friends we have made locally across the bay in Diamond Harbor, we caught the ferry which takes ten minutes rather than a half hour drive. We stayed overnight and then had a Barbie breakfast New Years Day with Roy and Jean in the sunshine. It all seemed quite surreal, especially as we were getting constant reports of sub zero temperatures in the UK!






We have now decided that we need to start exploring more of this lovely country, so, on Tues 5th Jan we are taking off for a few days to an area called Arthur’s Pass, where apparently the scenery is amazing, and there are lots of hills and mountains to explore. Norman has joined the Christchurch Tramping Club who own a hut in the area, so we will be staying there for a few days as a base from which to explore.
A couple of weeks later, we have booked a week in somewhere called Abel Tasman, which is a National Park in the South Island, with, yet again, wonderful scenery. We will try and take some photos of both areas to post on to the blog.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our family and friends a Happy New Year. May 2010 be a “Good One” for us all!










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