A week of food

 While it isn’t quite the end of the year, welcome to the last blog posting of 2025. We began our week with a cool clear day, encouraging us to pack our bags and get on the road to Auckland. We delivered our cut flowers to Danny and Mel, and stopped by the Whanganui Museum to buy some tea towels for gifts before heading up SH4 to Raetihi. This was our first stop of the journey. We enjoyed tea and coffee at the Angel Louise Cafe, and the Christmas decorations:

Snow capped Ruapehu looked fantastic with the sunshine and clear blue sky as we drove through National Park. By the time we got past the outskirts of Auckland and reached Botany Downs, the rain had begun. This didn’t dampen our welcome at Paul and Jenny’s. Jenny produced fresh salmon for dinner which was just lovely, and we spent the evening catching up on events since we last saw them in September.

We had planned three visits for Tuesday, and the eating really began. After acquiring what turned out to be a selection of lovely sweet goodies and sandwiches from P&J’s local Cockle Bay bakery (three type of cream doughnuts, three types of tart (custard, fruit and almond) and an apple pie shaped like a jam jar) we drove to Becky and Dave’s in Waitakere in West Auckland to see them, their son Abe, and Becky’s parents Tim (Nicky’s cousin) and his wife Netta, who are visiting from Guernsey. This also gave us the opportunity to see the home that B&D are building and moved into a couple of weeks ago, even though it is not yet finished. 

Becky and Dave had bought a section with an old house on it, which they discovered had asbestos. While it was demolished they put a 34sqm tiny house on the site which Nicky and I visited in 2019, when starting our own home building journey. I was interested in to see how the experience of living in the tiny house influenced their design decisions for their future home. They didn’t build something as large as they had first designed, They have cleverly used the slope of the section to their advantage. While there is a garage and some small rooms under the house, the main level can also be accessed directly from a deck at the same level of the main level. Their main living area is light and airy and has lovely views of the bush down their section.

We added the bakery items we had taken to the lunch which Becky had prepared and had a lovely long chat. Eventually we had to depart and said our farewells, hoping that Tim and Netta will be able to visit us in Whanagnui.

Our next stop was in central Auckland for afternoon tea with Maria and her current squeeze Michael. Her 10th floor apartment has stunning views over the CBD and the Waitemata Harbour, but I was more interested in the Bakewell tart Maria had made using cherries. I usually don’t care for cherries, but it didn’t stop me having a second slice. Maria is always good company and it turned out that Micheal is too. We very much enjoyed our time with them.

The last stop of the day was dinner at James and Wendy’s, just a few minutes drive from Maria’s. Wendy had cooked a lovely chicken dish, which was followed by James’s flambéed stewed fruit. The conversation was as wide-ranging and entertaining as ever, and it was a great way to end a lovely day. It was dark by the time we left them and Sky Tower was already illuminated in its Christmas colours. We took in the Christmas lights decorating each house lavishly on Franklin Road before heading back to P&J’s.

Wednesday (Christmas Eve) was Paul’s birthday, yet again. His 83rd apparently. After breakfast we headed off to the supermarket to buy a roasted chicken for Christmas Day lunch. I couldn’t resist the temptation of a box of croissants too. Next stop was the newly opened IKEA at Sylvia Park, just 15 minutes away. It wasn’t too busy when we got there (much busier when we left) and as we walked into the showroom area it felt like coming home. This is IKEA’s first store in Aotearoa, and we have missed one of our favourite stores from when we lived in England. If John Lewis now opened a store here, we would be very happy bunnies (Wellington please, it’s closer than Auckland).

It will be over 18 years since we were last in an IKEA, so there were many new products, but some of the old favourites were still available too. We found a lovely dinning table, but feel it is probably too big for our wee home. In the Marketplace we found some gorgeous emerald green cushion covers so bought two for the cushions we use on our black sofa. Just before we left I called into the Parts Department in Customer Services and obtained three replacement pegs for my Ivar shelving. They are easy to loose when moving house.

Doug, Naomi, Alex and Leo joined us for Paul’s birthday lunch. Jenny had cooked a lovely rolled chicken dish which we all enjoyed. Dessert was an unexpected cake. On Monday P&J had spent much of the day with a number of others packing over 250 food parcels for families in need. I can’t remember if the cake arrived then or on Tuesday morning while Paul was at Tuesday Club (a general church maintenance crew), but the cake had been donated and nobody knew what to do with it, until somebody remembered it was Pauls birthday and gave it to him. It was a large commercially made chocolate cake with thick ganache, and very rich. Only one piece each was required, even by the teenagers.

The afternoon was warm and sunny, and after the younger members of the family had left, the four of us more mature ones snoozed the afternoon away. Only a light tea on the deck was required. The cooling air sent us inside before Paul, Jenny and Nicky got ready for Midnight Mass at All Saints in Howick, and I toddled off to bed.

Christmas morning started cloudy and cool. While the breakfast croissants warmed in the oven, Jenny cooked some spare bacon (a novel concept for me) and I made scrambled eggs. This fortification prepared us for a morning of food preparation, but due to Jenny’s usual very organised approached it was more pleasure than chore. Clem and Pat were the first to arrive with their son Phil (visiting from England) and his current squeeze Emma. Doug, Naomi and the boys called in for a few minutes, and Stella arrived. Parvo, a neighbour, arrived with meringue for pavlova and a saia, a traditional dish from his home country of Estonia. It is a rich tea bread stuffed with dried fruit, candid peel and ginger:

Once Steve and Ros arrived, the sun had come out so we were able to eat Christmas lunch of shared dishes outside on the deck. Scrabble and conversations filled the remainder of the afternoon and the family departed in dribs and drabs. It was our first Christmas with Nicky’s family since 2019 and was as enjoyable and low key as usual. Nicky phoned Felicity and we all contributed to the phone conversation. Nicky and  I had a stroll in the evening air to enjoy the outdoor Christmas decorations around the neighbourhood before heading to bed. Some were spectacular, rivalling Franklin Road homes.

Friday was another day of visiting for Nicky and I. We drove over to Blockhouse Bay, and after having a brief look at some of the new builds that have been erected in our absence, had a sumptuous morning tea with Helen and Warwick. They were both well and busy as ever. We had a light lunch with Mary sharing the left overs from our mutual Christmas lunches. The quilting group that Nicky and Mary started is now a craft group, but attendance has dwindled to less than a handful. Covid didn’t do it any favours, and many of the members are so much older and more infirm.

After lunch we stopped in Mt Eden to pick up some kettlebells from one of Kat’s clients. We expect to see Kat and Isreal soon and this client was off to Oz and not taking his weights with him. It had started to rain a little by the time we reached Valda in her new home at the Metlifecare Parkside retirement village in Hillsborough run for Anglican Services. Valda has a great view from her 4th floor apartment of the Manukau Harbour and One Tree Hill. Her apartment is spacious and well appointed, and after much chatting over tea and shortbread Valda gave us a tour of the facilities which look really good. We ended the day with a quiet evening with P&J, having left-over ham and chicken for dinner.

Jenny made us a delicious picnic lunch for our journey home on Saturday. As ever they have been generous hosts and we are very grateful to them for accommodating us. We stopped in Taumarunui to do a little shopping for eggs and milk while stretching our legs and were tempted by the corn on the cob which was on special. This was consumed for dinner when we got home. While unpacking the car I didn’t concentrate on my posture while lifting one of the kettlebells and hurt my back, but it only felt like a bit of a muscle strain.

This morning started cool and clear. I did my usual exercises and had an amble while Nicky started on the laundry before going off to church. Shortly before she left the washing machine finished another cycle and I bent down to empty it, and my back decided its was “time to go out”. The considerable pain is much more than a muscle strain. It is what I think of as my old pain, from my back injury when I was 20. The scar tissue is now arthritic apparently and doesn’t usually cause me too much grief, but I think the strain from lifting the kettlebell irritated my old injury. As a result, I have not done anything in the garden today as walking is painful, so I am resting and taking painkillers.

The laundry is drying well in the sunshine, and Nicky is planting Renga Renga Lillies in the garden given to us by Josie, before making onion, carrot and cheese omelettes for us, for tea. Lovely.

We hope you enjoy your New Year celebrations and that 2026 is a good one for you.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.