Christmas 2009 to Whitianga road-trip

Oh dear! The blog seems to have fallen into disrepair for the last 12 months but behold! I have found the get-up-and-go on Boxing Day 2010 to begin to put matters right. Otherwise, how will I remember what happened when I'm an old(er) lady and my brain's even more fluffy? Installment 1 of the Great Catch-Up: Christmas 2009 - Whitianga road-trip Jan 2010. Now I just have to hope the technician's keen too.

A year and a few days ago we arrived in Christchurch to have Christmas with the extended Watt clan. It's always good to get the ever-lengthening cuzzies together and for grandparents and my uncle Frank and aunty Diane to catch up with their latest news. The Burton branch was around too.

Christmas prezzie ceremony and lunch were at Kirsty and Dave's. Chris and Grant gave all the grandchildren Team Megawatt caps for Christmas, coincidentally using the name of Will's business, Megawatt Media. Santa's wigs were a big hit. Christchurch turned on a typically beautiful sunny day so we were able to eat al fresco in the back yard.

A couple of days after Christmas, the extended family of Watts, Grants and Burtons headed north to the ideal spot we'd been to once before, an orchard near Riwaka within easy driving of lots of beautiful beaches, the Riwaka Resurgance and Motueka. We had the pickers' cabins and grounds to ourselves so there was plenty of room for tents and soccer. It was a pretty cool (as in temperature) few days but that didn't stop us from getting in the water (or at least some of us....).

Only the truly insane, though, will dive into the icy pools of the Riwaka Resurgence, where the Riwaka River begins somewhere under the rocks. It's become something of a rite of passage and not just for the young and senseless - Kirsty has been first in each time followed shortly afterwards by Dave!

We visited a winery belonging to one of Chris's rellies not far from Motueka. An even bigger extended family group gathered there.

The main reason for the clan gathering on the orchard was to celebrate Chris's 80th birthday on January 1st. In the end it was decided to have the party on New Year's Eve. The day was beautiful and in the late afternoon we convened to share the birthday tributes. Will, who has had extensive experience as a barman, was given the job and came up with some delicious summer cocktails. The tables were moved into the orchard between rows of pear trees and balloons were hung from the protective covering overhead. It was a magical setting for the birthday dinner. Some of us had collected cockles from the local beach and these were incorporated into a tasty feast by our chefs, Alex and Cameron. (More about those soon!) Jenny made the cake which was decorated by some of the younger generation.

Kirsty was MC for the continuing evening's events which consisted of various items by all the different factions in attendance. The kids had been rehearsing diligently when Chris was elsewhere and their song-and-dance act with original lyrics was a tough act to follow but the adults came up with their own original tribute to the tune of "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" Will brought the house down with the public removal of his facial hair and Peter sang "I'm a little teapot" for some reason.

To top off the evening, the owner of the orchard showed up with his bagpipes and starting serenading us. He knew it was Chris's birthday and we knew he was an excellent piper from the last time we'd been to the orchard when he and several of his piping and drumming mates played in the New Year from on top of the nearby mount where his brother lives. The music continued and the dancing began until, finally, the kids brought out the sparklers to finish things off.

Remember those delicious cockles? Well, in the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day, one after another of us starting puking like there was no tomorrow. Eventually, at least half of the group were lying around on their air mattresses or in their cabins with buckets nearby. Later in the day there was a pilgrimage to the local medical centre  in Motueka where the doctor offered anti-vomiting injections and told us to rehydrate. It was the most miserable New Year in memory. Still, we won't forget it in a hurry!

Luckily, it was pretty much a 24-hour disaster and we slowly came back to life. Good Kiwi friends, Mary and Peter and John and Joy, living in Melbourne happened to also be holidaying in the area and popped in to the orchard for a visit. Mary is a violinist in the MSO with me and we sat together in the NZ National Youth Orchestra.

Just as well we'd made a quick recovery because on January 3rd while we were all still together we had an early celebration of another significant birthday - Jenny's 50th on January 12th. She surprised us all when she appeared for her party and Nat's T-shirt finally made perfect sense colour-coordinatedly. Apparently the shower was also quite colour-coordinated. Although it wasn't Rosie's party, she also had some recognition of her birthday coming up on January 6th.

After the orchard celebrations, Chris and Grant held the fort with the younger kids, 16 and under, while the adults went into Motueka to continue Jenny's birthday party at a recommended restaurant. We carried on afterwards down at the local pier with beautiful moonlight across the water.

On the 5th we packed up and went our various ways. Jenny drove to Picton  with Nat, Coco and Elle to catch the ferry to Wellington. Peter and I drove to Picton too with Will, Jessye, Rosie and Sophie. We met Jenny's carload for a snack on the way. Peter dropped me off at the ferry with J, R and S then took Will down the road to catch the train to Christchurch. Peter was returning the van to Christchurch and they could have driven together but Will was particularly keen to take this scenic train trip. Peter followed the train down to Christchurch and even managed to get pictures of Will in the train's open observation car.

The girls and I were staying at Donald and Mary's place in Wellington. They have a beautiful view over the airport from the top of Seatoun Heights. Peter came up from Christchurch after returning the van to join us there. January is a big birthday month for the Watts and now it was Rosie's turn. She was 15 on January 6th and we spent her birthday in Wellington. She has very nostalgic feelings for the "crocodiles", those multi-person bikes that you can hire to ride around Oriental Bay on but, unfortunately, it was a typical Wellington day on her birthday and we had to spend it indoors. We went to Laser Force instead for some old-fashioned shooting and killing.

Gabe had to stay in Wellington for diving this summer and was missing the annual family holiday in Whitianga. We would miss her too. Ollie drove up to Whitianga with us (Donald was already up there and Mary was flying to Auckland) and we took Tara along too. With a vanload of kids the trip was part of the fun and we made several stops along the way. We stayed at Wairakei resort just outside Taupo, a favourite of ours, visited Huka Falls just up the road from there, the luge at Rotorua and spent a night at Mt Maunganui to visit my 90-something Aunty Jane. Our stay at the Mount happened to coincide with the annual Half Ironman competition and we watched part of the race. Jessye and Ollie, both very fit and strong specimens, vowed before at least one witness (me) that they would do a half ironman together in 10 years, a possibly reckless promise that I hereby document.