I went wandering at Cooks Beach, just as the mist was rolling back and burning off.
It was exquisite out there. Thank you to the two fishermen who didn't mind me taking their photograph ...
Christmas Day in the Land DownUnder...
Christmas Day has already arrived here in New Zealand, 12 hours ahead of our Belgian world ... and day has dawned the deepest blue, down here in Dunedin.
Some exquisite gifts have been exchanged and as I sit here writing, the delightful chaos of Christmas Day preparations is going on around me.
A Granita dessert has been made by Katie, Sandra has peeled the new potatoes, Gert is putting together the Salade Paysanne too. The Pasta salad was whipped up last night by Sandra, and she's throwing the Turkey roast into the oven just now. Tim has cut up plates of cold ham and a chicken will be roasted later.
I was the pavlova girl but an evening out on one of the many hills around Dunedin, with two of my oldest friends in Fiona's beautiful house, means I'm moving a little more slowly than usual this morning. It was an evening that requires an entire blog post really ... so special it was.
I need to peel carrots but wanted to wish you the loveliest of Christmas days
Till later.
The Road ...
I woke early ... as always while back in New Zealand it seems ... and slipped out into the day before anyone else was awake. It's one of those things I used to do before leaving behind driving and beloved roads to known places.
There is no other road for me on a Dunedin blue-sky-summer-morning, it has to be the Otago Peninsula road and so I turned right and disappeared for a while.
It was bliss out there. The harbour was calm but the tide was out and so there was only one rowboat reflection. I'll have to go back before we leave ... I need one for the Belgian walls.
The weather folk tell me it was 17 celsius out there and I had taken a jersey but it didn't last and by the time I reached the Albatross Colony, I was all summer clothes and barefeet.
It's good to be back ... so good.
Dinner with Family and Friends ...
Life is like this when you spend time with Sandra, Tim, Katie and Georgia, Dave and Jude, Lara and Lewis ...
And it's all recorded because the Katie-Niece has a wonderful eye for photography and the sneaky presence of mind to capture life as it happens.
Riding The Waimakariri River with the Waimak Alpine Jet Company
I was out visiting with my cousin today. Tania lives in a beautiful house nestled in at the foothills of the Southern Alps here in Canterbury. It's probably my favourite house in the world and I took some photographs of it, just to remember the feeling of it when I'm back in Belgium.
So Auntie Coral drove Gert and I out to Tania's and, upon arriving, Tania and Al announced that they had organised a ride for us on a Waimak Alpine Jetboat.
Oddly enough, my first reaction was a nervous 'Really?'
I wasn't sure I was up for a ride on a jetboat that had an '8.1 litre engine and a cruising speed of 80+ kilometers per hour.' It all seemed a bit fast and slightly insane.
How wrong was I ...
So wrong!
It turns out that my favourite thing on that wild ride up the turquoise-blue Waimakariri River, on this 29 celsius summer day, was that manoeuvre known as the HAMILTON 360º spin. It's that moment when the jet boat is spun out at full cruising speed and it feels divine. I'm so glad that it happened more than once too.
It was bliss out there in that world only accessible by boat. And I can't recommend this jetboat operator highly enough ... and our driver, Greg, he was simply superb. A lovely Kiwi bloke who made us laugh often but also earned our trust with his professionalism, and his knowledge of the river.
The photo at the start of this post is one that captures that moment when Greg was talking of the 360º spin and the need to hold on ... Gert couldn't come on the boat trip today but he was happy to wait on the bank and take more than a few beautiful photographs.
It was a grand day out here in New Zealand. Thank you to Tania and Al, who made it all happen. I loved it ... intensely, immensely.
News from the New Zealand Road Trip
We have stopped in Oxford, out on the Canterbury Plains, with my aunt. The aunt I have, quite simply, adored for years.
We have stopped after 1,700kms - the distance from here to Dunedin traveled these last 5 days, via the convoluted route I chose to take Gert on. In my 8 years away from New Zealand, I've only driven once. There was that visit to Ireland to see Rob and Angie. I was a bit nervous back then but Gert put me in the driver seat and told me to drive from Dublin to Connemara ... so I did. And I loved it. It does all come back and I used to have a big passion for driving in NZ.
This trip has been something else again and we have driven some truly interesting New Zealand roads. The Haast Pass, then the road between Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph, and yesterday it was the Arthurs Pass. All been spectacularly memorable with their 25km hairpin corners, kms of twisty-turny mountain roads, mountain passes, and gradients that once saw me drop the car into second-gear.
That was this road: 'State Highway 73, and remains an important communication and transport link between Canterbury and Westland. There are 11 bridges with a total length of 406.6 metres (m). Road gradients range from 1 in 30 to 1 in 8. Five bends through a zig zag section facilitate ascent and descent over the Pass.
Over the years work has been done to improve blind corners and ease bends. However, the nature of the landscape and the weather can still make the Otira Gorge and Arthurs Pass road a challenging driving experience.'
There have been a million stops to take photographs along the way ... stops so Gert could buy my exquisite greenstone/jade necklace in Hokitika. Stops for pies, and stops just to wander along some beach or mountainside lookout.
Yesterday, on safely reaching the other side of the alpine pass, we stopped because I needed out of the car for a bit ... and voila, we met a Kea, who was most confused when I mimicked his cry.
As per the rules, we didn't feed him but we did 'chat' for a while, and that was just lovely.
Arthurs Pass ... I wondered why I didn't remember anything about that 'interesting' alpine crossing. I had never driven it before, I just thought I had and I have to say ... I won't be in a hurry to take a 1600CC car across it again. The little red car is a valiant little car and I'm completely loving it but, by crikey, that was an interesting road.
Absolutely loving the whole driving thing though.
It's summer here. It's a little confusing but easy enough to embrace. Auntie Coral has a chicken roasting in the oven tonight, there are new potatoes boiling, and I can hear her cutting up some silverbeet. She kicked me out of the kitchen but I'm on dish-duty.
All is good out here on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains.
I'll wrap this meandering post up with a photograph I took of that Kea I met ...
