Short Break

 We began the week with a Public Holiday to mark the King’s Official birthday in NZ. Being retired/semi-retired et al, this didn’t actually make much difference to us. Nicky still went off to do the vestry cleaning at church, and I did some MacOnSite work remotely with a customer in Auckland. The weather was chilly, but drier than expected so laundry was also done. The afternoon was consumed with snoozing (we both still feel the need post-Covid), planting and ironing. We managed a bit of telly after dinner.

Our new home was officially finished (as far as we are concerned) almost two years ago on 18th June. We had planned to treat ourselves to a few days away in Raumati in order to celebrate. Nicky has maintained her PSA Membership as a retired member, and their closest holiday homes are in Raumati on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington. We stayed there 5 years ago and were very taken with the place. 

In our drive home (5 years ago, via New Plymouth) we stopped for lunch at Virginia Lake / Lake Rotokawau in a place called Whanganui. We though it rather nice at the time! However, due to other things happening in our lives we didn’t get to have our celebratory trip. Earlier this year while working on the paddle steamer I though it would be good to finally have our trip to Raumati at the end of the season. Nicky agreed and four nights were booked. You may recall Dear Reader, our recent close encounter with Covid meant we had to change our plans, and we re-booked for three nights this last week. The place is very popular, even in the winter.

We had a leisurely drive down on Tuesday (it’s only a couple of hour’s drive away) stopping for tea and coffee at Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson late morning. We had our picnic lunch in Levin near the rose gardens and arrived in Raumati just after 2pm. We were not able to get Unit 1, which is the nearest to the sea, but even from Unit 4 we could see the sea:

An afternoon snooze was required before a wander along the beach, returning in time for The Chase and dinner.

Wednesday was clear and sunny with a noticeable southerly breeze. A pre-breakfast stroll on the beach was followed by a walk to the CBD - there are probably a couple of dozen shops at most. Many of them seem to sell upmarket women’s clothes, but there is a lovely French patisserie which we patronised every day. A lunch of pumpkin soup and walnut bread was followed by another snooze in winter sunshine and a trip to the shops, this time to procure things that we actually needed… well we didn’t  actually need the bottles of wine, but my other half can always produce a well reasoned argument for buying some.

Thursday was again clear and sunny, but the wind had dropped. I had a paddle (very chilly). We walked to a quilting exhibition, and bought pies and pastries for lunch. This induced more more afternoon snoozing in the sunshine. We wandered back along the beach to the Waterfront restaurant for an early dinner. Garlic bread was followed by duck and rice for Nicky and venison for me. Both dishes absolutely gorgeous, and the garlic bread had been hot and flavoursome. It was a lovely way to end our last full day.

Friday was again clear and sunny. We packed, cleaned the unit and had another gentle drive home. We stopped in a picnic area for our lunch and again patronised Viv’s 1950’s retro cafe for hot drinks. Even though our break was only short and the weather chilly, we thoroughly enjoyed it. The ease of journeying to and fro is an encouragement for future trips. Here are a few photos for your enjoyment:

The settled sunny weather continued yesterday, so Nicky did marathon laundry duty in the morning and I raided the supermarkets. In the afternoon Nicky went to celebrate the King’s Birthday, at a High Tea at church, dressed in her finest. They were fundraising for missions, and encouraged a koha. Tea, savouries and sweets were consumed while enjoying games, quizzing and making crowns from newspaper and sweet wrappings. A good time seems to have been had by all. On her return Nicky produced dinner and we watched this week’s episode of The Great British Bake Off.

The temperature dropped to 1ºC overnight, so we had another clear chilly start. Krystyna and Mark from just a little further along the road are coming over for dinner tonight. Before going off to church this morning, Nicky started making a couple of marmalade and orange cakes, which I finished when she had left. After doing some more laundry, washing the dishes and cleaning the hob I started on the ironing. Nicky continued with this when she returned from church this afternoon, while I had a siesta. Even though we are now into winter, I had the big ranch sliders open in the lounge all morning and it was lovely having the crisp air coming in with the sunshine. I had morning coffee and lunch outside, and we attempted the crossword, on the north west patio in the late afternoon sun with afternoon tea.

Our guests will be getting roast beef and Yorkshire Pud before their marmalade and orange almond cake this evening. I had an interesting experience in New World yesterday when buying the topside joint to roast. All the joints on display were under 1kg, and I wanted a 2kg roasting joint. One of the meat department staff was re-filling the shelves so I asked if they had any larger ones. He disappeared off to chat with the manager and came back with the news that they could organise me a 2kg joint in about 5 minutes. This they did and knocked $3/kg off the price! I was very pleased… warming the cockles of the heart of this Yorkshireman. This week smoked cheese cost $42.50 per kilo, and the beef cost $23 per kilo.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.