First of the year

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Happy New Year, and welcome Dear Reader, to 2013. We saw the New Year in while asleep. Nicky had been at work on New Years Eve, so I got some shopping and other errands done. We finished off the last of the turkey and ham pie for tea, and watched an episode of Lewis on DVD, accompanied with Christmas cake, cheese and a glass of port each. By 11ish we were both tired and didn't feel like going into town to watch the fireworks so went to bed.

New Years day dawned sunny and bright, and was a lovely summers day. We went to the Manukau Heads lighthouse. This would be about 20kms away as the crow flies, but as we aren't crows and can't fly, it is a one and a half hour 105km drive round the east side of the harbour. We packed up a picnic lunch, set off, and enjoyed the sunshine and the scenery. The lighthouse itself is quite unassuming, but the views of Whatipu and back towards town across the harbour are fantastic.





 The eagle-eyed of you should be able to spot Sky Tower:

After lunch we decided to have a bit of an explore of the area, and found ourselves heading into the Awhitu Regional Park. We soon found a very well organised car park and well populated beach. We didn't expect anything like it in such a "remote" area, but it is obviously popular and well used. We drove home and had a gentle evening to end a good day.

 Regional Park weather forecast:




Wednesday was also a public holiday, but I had some worked booked, what should have been a simple job for one of my nicer customers. We had planned to go out somewhere though hadn't decided where, but my job ended up going pear shaped and on and off consumed most of the day. However, this did give Nicky chance to do some sewing and make an apron for Stella's birthday, while the sun shone outside.

The weather turned a bit damp on Thursday and Nicky was back at work. I have been thinking about replacing my venerable Mac mini ever since Nicky gave me some money from her "inheritance", and decided to take the plunge on Thursday. My old Mac mini has served me well for eight years, but can not run the current software which more of my customers are now using, and I need a greater level of familiarity which only come with using the new technologies on a daily basis. So, a new Mac was duly ordered and arrived the following day. I spent much of Friday and most of yesterday moving my data and getting it set up the way I want.

Just as I was about to leave to pick Nicky up from work on Friday, I answered a knock on the door and found Jancis there, who arrived back in NZ a few days ago. She came down to New Lynn with me to see Nicky before accepting a dinner invitation for Saturday and going home with our gate leg table and four folding chairs.

For some months now we have known that a new cafe and restaurant would be opening in the Bay where the hardware store used to be (the new outfit still runs a scaled down hardware store). We decided to go there to celebrate Nicky's birthday whenever it opened, which turned out to be yesterday. We went for breakfast as they are not yet opening in the evenings. The only spot with any sun was at a large table out on the front deck, and this provided plenty of space to spread out the newspaper before our breakfasts arrived. We were joined by a couple of other people, one of whom we knew, and the sun made a greater appearance, but the breeze was very cooling. After a very pleasant start to the day, we popped across the road so that Nicky could by some plants and she spent the rest of the day gardening. We had cheese soufflé with new potatoes and salad on the deck with Jancis, followed by re-purposed Christmas cake and a gentle evening of conversation.

Neither of us have slept very well for the last few nights, and I am having problems with one of my teeth and possibly starting with a bug, so both of us have been feeling under the weather throughout the weekend, in spite of the glorious sunshine. Nicky was up early this morning making a birthday cake for Stella before going to church. When she returned we drove up to Clem and Pats for a family lunch and to see Netta who is in NZ for a short time and having a few days with them. After another excellent family lunch, Nicky, Netta and I went down to Red Beach and throughly enjoyed the surf and then walking along the beach after we had got dry. We sat and took in the view for awhile before hunting down a cup a tea and dropping Netta back and Clem & Pats.

We have watched the last in the current series of Vera on the tellybox this evening and are now off to bed.

Take care,
Rick

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