As I write this, we are just back from our fifth trip to New Zealand. If you’re interested in the earlier NZ trips you’ll find them here. Travel is obviously a big part of our lives….
Our first trips in the South Island
Our First Trips moving from the South to the North Island
Our First trips in the North Island
2017 – South Island – West Coast
This was a rather special time because we were introduced to our first grandchild Thomas Fraser. When we arrived, he was just 2 weeks old, so tiny! We wanted to spend as much time as possible with our family, so the amount of time we spent travelling was vastly reduced. Mind you, we still fitted quite a lot in.
Being around a brand new baby is a steep learning curve for everyone, baby, parents and grandparents. I am sure a few of you reading this are parents / grandparents too, and remember those first few days with that lovely, beautiful baby, who is totally dependent on Mum & Dad. I don’t know about you, but I remember really clearly those first few days with my firstborn, the feelings of panic (as a breastfeeding Mum – this baby is totally dependent on me, what happens if I get sick etc), the feelings of loving and caring, the feelings of despair – why won’t he stop crying?. Then after a few days, you start picking up the different cries – hungry, hangry, sore, over-stimulated. You start finding ways to calm them, encourage them to feed, sleep etc.
My deal with my daughter-in-law was that if we were to stay with them for 4 weeks (which is rather a long time to have your in-laws with you, especially with a new baby), we would do the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping etc. That grew to include taking the dogs for a walk for an hour every morning. It gave my son an extra hour in bed, which was very valuable if you have done a few nappy changes overnight! Not to mention health benefits for us. Let’s face it, a 1 hour walk in the sunshine is a lovely way to start the day.
The dogs are pretty gorgeous too – two lovely, well behaved Golden Retrievers.
Our Christmas gift from ‘the kids’ was a meal in Christchurch Tramway. Lovely food, and it was really interesting going round the city, eating lovely food, while being photographed by passing tourists. We raised our glasses a few times to make their pictures more interesting!
We spent a lovely afternoon wandering round Christchurch in the sun before the meal. It was lovely to see it so vibrant again, after the dreadful earthquake in February 2011, destroyed so much of the centre of the city. A subject for a future post in it’s own right, but in the meantime, here’s a few pictures.
A lovely colourful tour bus, I could have been at home..
The last time I saw this, it was all cordoned off after the earthquake.
Then came a trip to Castle Hill. This is about 90km out of Christchurch, on the West Coast Road towards Greymouth. We have previously gone the whole way to Greymouth, both by train and car. Incredibly scenic, however as we were just doing a short afternoon trip, we decided on Castle Hill. Weird limestone formations, make it a walk where you feel you are in some sort of prehistoric world.
We had a pre-planned trip to Auckland to meet up with a friend who is spending his retirement sailing round the world. We thought we had a great retirement, but seriously, this guy is rewriting the retirement book. He spent the first 5 years of his retirement between Italy and UK supporting his elderly parents, and the rest of the time sailing around the Mediterranean. When his parents died, he widened his horizons, left the Med, sailed across the Atlantic, spent some time in the Caribbean, then made his way through the Panama Canal, and with a few stops, as far as the Bay of Islands at the top of NZ. He had a major repair needed to his boat, so he didn’t quite make it to Auckland by sail when we met him, but he came by car instead.
We hadn’t met him in years, but it didn’t matter. It never does with good friends. After a few minutes the chat flows, and it was just like you met yesterday. He and my husband were swapping ‘tall stories’ in no time.
So, to those of you, are scared of setting off into the unknown when you retire. You hope you have prepared enough, but you’re not too sure – I will leave you with a quote from our friend John – “I worried for the first few years, but then I realised my investments were still increasing, and I was living the life I wanted, so I stopped worrying. Now I just enjoy it”.
Obviously on a sailing boat with many weeks between destinations, he has to be happy with his own company, and that of his crew. (1 or 2 max, I think). He tells me he keeps up his Italian by reading Italian books on his Kindle. If ever there was a reason for a Kindle – this is it. Miles away from anywhere, no internet for days on end, limited storage space, often wet & damp, which is pretty hard on physical books, the Kindle answers that need.
After we said goodbye to John and his sailing partner of the moment, we wandered around the harbour at Auckland. It was sunny and warm, and we decided a beer was in order. We looked up and saw an upstairs balcony where people were obviously enjoying a sun-downer. We were a bit worried we wouldn’t be allowed in (5pm Friday – bouncers on the door), but they obviously thought these two elderly Brits in shorts weren’t going to cause a problem, so we went in, had a glass or two of lovely NZ Sauvignon Blanc, and watched the sun go down… A glorious setting.
However, once we decided to head for our hotel (the smallest double room ever), we wandered downstairs, just to find that there was a 9 hole crazy golf course on the ground floor of the bar. Someone had put serious thought into it. we had everything from the Flintstone’s car, to a Hobbit House, to ‘Putt Out of hell’ together with a motorbike – straight from Meatloaf! How had we not noticed this on the way in? Anyway, it had started to get busy, so we gave it a miss, but I wish we had found it a few hours earlier. We have already passed on the details to few of our friends. It is Holey Moley… Totally different.
Then it was off to Wellington to visit family for a few days. We managed a trip around Wellington Zoo, on what must have been the coldest day of the summer, and despite our extra layers, we were still frozen! But we warmed up after a lunch and coffee in the cafe. For a zoo in a small area, it was very well set up, and the animals had plenty of space – we even saw a kiwi for the first time, running around in the semi-darkness. So dark, that my photo didn’t come out!
Then it was back to Christchurch, and helping with baby duties, and dog-walking.
It didn’t stop me making a few copper pieces. I brought across so much copper work, that I am surprised my bags didn’t get a double check. So on my son’s back fence, there are now 3 pieces, each 1m by 0.5m. Also a couple of ones I made for the mother of my daughter-in-law.
Copper Beech Hedge – Autumn 
Copper Beech hedge – Winter 
Copper beech hedge – Summer
I also made a couple of small ones in frames, one for my son and daughter-in-law, the other for my nephew, but I forgot to take any pictures of those!
As I write this, we’re back in chilly Scotland. We’re really missing the bright days – it is noon, and we have the lights on. We’ll just need to start planning our next trip!
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I’ve never been to New Zealand, which is strange considering its just next door. Still, I’m sure in the fullness of time I’ll get there!
Those copper pieces look amazing!
I wish I could get some. Your family and Liz must be rapt with theirs!
Thanks Frogdancer. It’s always lovely to get compliments! Everyone wass very happy with their gifts, and I have got to say they look great against the dark fence – it emphasises the contrast with the copper. I hope they look as well next time I am there.
I can really recommend a trip to NZ. Next time I hope to build in a stopover in Australia. We had thought of a stopover in Melbourne this year, but were worried it might be a tad hot – a good call as it turned out, with all the fires! So sad to read about the damage. I hope you weren’t affected too badly
Congratulations on your first grandson Erith!
It sounds like four weeks with your son and daughter-in-law was the perfect length of time and really helped them out as well. Absolutely love your photos and the stories you share. Especially about your friend traveling about in a sail boat. That would be an amazing way to see the world!
Thanks Shannon
I have to say our friend John is a great role model on ‘how to spend your retirement doing something you enjoy’. We could only hear a fraction of his stories in a couple of hours. He looks so well, is very fit, and is really enjoying life.
We were so lucky, because our flight came through China before the Corona virus became widespread. If we had been two weeks later, we might still be in NZ, trying to find flights by another airline/route home. We might have outstayed our welcome.