Whangamata 2008

The lads are walking to the beach. Last Christmas (slack yes I know, thought I'd better publish this with Christmas 2008 just around the corner) we had 10 days away at Whangamata, 2 hours drive South East of Auckland. We stayed in a bach on this road, within easy walking distance to the beach which due to fantastic weather, we visited every day.

Within seconds, Scorpio Son and Piscies Lad had made a friend and were kicking about in the shallows.

A section of the beach was roped off to protect the Doterill birds nesting area. This board gave a daily update of their progress, and it was a shame to see that numbers were decreasing, mainly due to attacks by dogs with careless owners. Check out the little shade huts that they build to protect their young.

Scorpio Son had a blast out on the Jetski with his Uncle Robbie.............................................

.............................while Piscies Lad patiently waited his turn, having a snuggle with Nanna.

We were lucky to have a lot of extended family staying at Whangamata, and on holiday from abroad, one afternoon, Ray's Mama and a Papa walked us through making pasta from scratch.

Looking good....................

Sliced, patted down, a little bit of flour and ready for the pasta machine.

Through she goes..................

Deliziosa - fresh Fettucine for dinner!!

On our way back to Auckland - we couldn't miss a trip through the town of Paeroa to visit a piece of Kiwiana. The big bottle of L&P (Lemon and Paeroa) - World Famous in NZ!

Vino Victims....

A small group of us get together for a wine group once every couple of months, to enjoy tasting fine wine and food, and of course, each others company. We usually have a theme and try to wine and food match. It's great fun and we're very lucky to live in such a great wine producing country! Sometimes we have outings, but this get together was at Jo's house. We tasted 3 matching varietals from NZ and Australia, within the same price bracket, and were pleasantly surprised - with the preference going to NZ on taste and price point!!

Bag-ilicious

Another Donna creation, a gift from her visit and I'm loving it!! It's lined with a cute pink and white polka dot too. So handy for chucking a few essentials in when I'm out with the "fam" in the weekend. Can't wait to catch up with Donna again at the Pakuranga College 50th reunion in 2010. Click on pic's for a closer look.

Quilting Star...

This fantastic quilt was handmade by the "friend that puts me to shame" (doesn't everyone have one?), the wonderful Donna. A school friend from Pakuranga College (20 some years ago), she blessed us with her presence with a visit toward the end of 2008. We tiki-toured around the neighbourhood, visiting her old home and schools etc. She handmade this amazing quilt as a gift for our first wee lad William back in 2000. I absolutely love it and have kept it away over the past few years (from typical 7 year old boy hands!!), however it comes out on special sofa spud (couch potato) occasions and I will always keep it to pass on to possible grandies (a wee way off yet of course). Isn't she clever? Double click on this pic and you'll see the special inscription on the star on the underside.