Wairarapa

Hello again. On Xmas day, we drove through the Rumatakas to the Wairarapa, to Tarureka estate, the huge, amazing place where Helen lives. Did I get all that right? It was to be a congregation of the "Skwalkerlongs" and their accompanying hangers-on (ie me). There are quite a few kids involved, not least Henry, pictured here with a scary mask.



Anyway, when we got there, there was a full-on water war going on, with Archie at the helm.



Henry also was instrumental in the drenchings.



Much of our time was spent preparing food and eating food, in the grand loft.



Bloody good food it was, too.



Ned and I got the same awesome gift in our crackers: kiwi bottle openers! His is black, though. Mine is silver.



We all made a 'creative' present, which were dispersed amongst the guests. Gen got Emily's amazing "Skwalkerlong" family tree, which I appear on!



Speaking of Gen, she made an awesome John Key-ring. For those out of the loop, John Key is the Prime Minister over here, who likes to eat dagwood dogs. Archie was the lucky recipient of this one.



Speaking of Archie, he made a batch of Xmas cookies that I was lucky enough to receive. Thanks Archie! I put in a copy of my photo zine. Emily got that.



Summer pudding, just one of the many desserts we pounced upon during the course of the few days.



I got Rosie a badminton set for xmas. Here's Rosie and Gen having a secret practice session, with me spying on them through the bushes.



Sophie and Max brought Pimm's supplies, perfect for the Great Gatsby vibe.



Gen and Rosie



We had a big group photo taken - this is the view from the group.



Helen and Rosie



Max and his meat



Henry



Gen doing some recycling



Sunshine



Jan with Max, Archie and Soph



Roger and Ned



Late night card session



Rosie and a Ralph present (I think?)



Lotsa boules



Rosie got a chest infection and was confined to the couch for the last day or so. She's still sick, but getting better.



Heavy cards session



It was Jessica's bday, so Rosie and I looked after Ralph for a bit. It was great for a while, he went to sleep and we just drove around, even stopping for a quick wade in a river. Then he woke up when Rosie was out of the car getting some fruit and he freaked out because he thought I was kidnapping him.



Ned and I checked out the nearby Featherstone skatepark - not much chop.



Ned hadn't been on the board for the best part of a decade, but got right back in the swing of things. Though the trick count wasn't high, the well trained eye can tell from this shot that he has a very good style.



That's about it for now. Too many photos! Happy new year!!

Christmas week

Yesterday it looked like this out our Wellington window:



Today, it looks like this:



So I've finally got around to uploading some photos from the past week. This is Maggie. She is a great dog, very fast and clever.



This is Lulu, who reminds me of a person sometimes.



Tom draws a cartoon every day for the newspaper.



I experienced the wonders of the Warehouse



And skated this park, was great fun. I love oldish parks that have got all weathered and rough, then have been painted over so they are sort of rough and slippery at the same time. Will logged some rollerblade footage of me shredding there (on a board). Confusing sentence.



Ralph is pretty amazing



He loves Auntie Rosie



This is the antipasto platter that Sam constructed - it has ruined all future platters. Note the very photogenic Jessica in the background.



Averil's turkey, wrapped in muslin cloth and looking a bit like a big crab. It was very baconny and delicious.



Everywhere's a party when Ralph's around!



xmas eve mayhem



Slinky madness!



Milly arrived!



The reaction to Rosie's infamous marmalade joke.



We went for a walk somewhere in there too (Sorry, I'm switching between two cameras, it's a bit confusing).



Xmas morning on the balcony













Beau - the best cat



Tom burns all the wrapping as he goes. Once he burnt all Averil's presents by mistake!



Then it was time to trek over the hill (crazy mountain range) to Helen's place. But that is another story for another blog post. Besides, I've got to go and watch Tintin. Oh, what the hell, here's a taster: