Christmas in New Zealand

Tut tut - 3 weeks since I updated my blog.  Put it down to bone idleness or the blazing New Zealand sun which makes it impossible to see a screen outdoors (including the one on my camera which has led to many interesting shots.  Talking of camera, I think it has either developed (pun not intended) a hair trigger or a minor fault or I have developed even more clumsiness as it keeps doing things I don't really want it to do.
So, how have  I been busying myself?  Susan & Sam arrived a couple of weeks ago and are getting ready to fly back to the snow.  We've done most of the tourist sites of Auckland, sploshed in the South Pacific (we're on the east coast - only I have braved the Tasman which they tell me is unusually warm but I must have skipped that day) and socialized mightily with our 5 wonderful grandkids.
[Note to self - blogger is being a bit uncooperative at the moment so I must add pictures later].

Susan & Sam arrived a day late courtesy of American Airlines' almost legendary ineptitude - an inoperable plane, a bus ride to Charlotte, arriving in time to miss their connection and arriving in LA just in time to miss the plane to NZ.  And, for some inexplicable reason, this cost us $US400 (travel tip - book your entire trip on a single ticket if you are flying with American rather than one with American and another with Air New Zealand, even if it does cost you more.)  Still, it was wonderful to see their less than bleary faces once they did arrive.  The cost of parking at Auckland Airport came as a shock, though, as, indeed, it does all over Auckland.  Maybe I'm just used to Asheville prices but $26.50 for 2 hours parking at the Sky Tower seems more than over the top. (Travel tip - if you park at the Sky Tower, leave a trail of breadcrumbs leading to your car or you will never find it again).
Day 1 of their trip, as usual, meant some vigorous exercise and I had already scouted out Wenderholm regional park where the pohutukawa were just about in full bloom.
We hiked up the hill for a long slow "OOH" at the Pacific before wandering back to our flat on the beach at Orewa.  Even the slosh of the waves on the beach didn't send our intrepid travelers off to bed for a nap and the arrival of my daughter, Georgia, did wonders keeping them awake.
Next up was a visit to the gannet colony at Muriwai which has just about doubled in size since we were last there, having colonized the top of one cliff and started creeping up the face of another.  The home of a lot of birds who live on fish and are less than fussy about their personal hygiene has always been aromatic but, having doubled in size and with a keen westerly blowing in off the Tasman, we bravely managed to restrain the temptation to gag.  It didn't put us off lunch at the Bakehouse Café, either.

Which brings us to Christmas Eve (by way of much messing around with grandkids, cavorting in the ocean etc).  Christmas Eve traditionally involves doing something a bit special and this year it was the ascent of Rangitoto, a dormant volcano in the Waitemata Harbour.  "Walking up" doesn't do it justice and "climbing" is an overstatement but it is a 3.8 km hike mostly on a scoria track with a few stone steps thrown in for the sake of my quads.  The view from the top is staggering in all directions though it was hard to hold the camera steady in the wind (nothing to do with my hands shaking.)

We had a houseful on Christmas Day and the people from whom we are renting couldn't have been more accommodating.  They'd already provided about a dozen folding chairs and didn't care how much racket the kids made though, as we spent most of the day on the beach, the noise didn't make much difference.