Waikuku Beach 12th May

Donna Tim and Anne. Anne used to be my boss at Abbey. Both her and Tim were made redundant and given early retirement. Anne's stepmother lives in Christchurch so they were over visiting. They came over for dinner the night before, and we'd gone up to Waikuku which is the next village north of here to see her step-niece who lives down by the beach. They have a chocolate labrador pup - which explains why Anne is holding a stick which she's about to throw.

8th May 2007

No prizes for guessing where this was taken. It's about 3/4 hour drive from Woodend, out the other side of Rangiora, then it was a two and a half hour walk up to the top, during which time I saw just one other couple, and a very quick hour descent back to the car park, but my legs regretted that for about a week after. In case you can't read it, it's 1023 metres high. The next shot is a view from near the top looking across to Mount Grey which is just a bit smaller.

Mayday

Your typical English dancing round the Maypole in New Zealand? Despite living here for about 30 years, Dagy likes to keep some traditions alive - even though it was 2 days early so we could take advantage of the glorious April Sunday afternoon. We were entertained by a band and caller (in the foreground). The many guests had brought nibbles and desert, whilst Dagy, his wife Carol and various others had prepared a roast dinner for all - including plenty of veg for me!