Hello Shelley here – thought I’d better get on it or Ian would have everyone convinced that I did nothing the entire holiday. I will just pick up from where he was. Last night ( Dec. 17th) Sam, (17 yr. old nephew), Dylan and I, went to see Return of the King – fantastic, and fun to go to the first screening on the release day. Dylan is psyched that he saw it before anyone else. A very goomovie, even at 2 in the mornong. Need less to say we had a bit of a sleep in this morning! Ian, Scott, kids and I headed into Nelson ( 20 min. drive) to do some Christmas shopping. I have a hard time believing it is only one week until Christmas when I am shopping in the hot sun and the flowers are all blooming!
While in town, Ian and I booked a few daytrips. Tomorrow we head up the coast on a boat and tramp ( “hike”) trip to the Abel Tasman National Park. We hope to see seals and blue ?? penguins, as well as nice golden beaches.
Saturday we will be going back into Nelson to a Market day day which sounds like it is a bit farmer’s Market, bit flea market and a bit craft fair – more Christmas shopping I’m sure.
On Sunday we ( the 4 of us) will again strike out on our own and go to Kaikoura on the west coast, in search of whales, dolphins and more vineyards – lots of vineyards here, there seem to be grapes to the horizon everywhere you look. We will overnight in Kaikoura and then head back east across to greymouth where we will spend one night and then head back to maple Hill on the 23rd, in time for Christmas.
We are having a wonderful time – really enjoying the time with Scott, Leigh and Sam, and loving New Zealand. The weather has been beautiful – early to mid twenties every day!!
Hope you are all well, and warm – will update when we return from tomorrow’s adventure. If Ia m not keeping up with email, it is because I have so much junk mail dumped into my inbox, and with these folk on dial u- I hate to tie up the phone line for too long while I clean it all out and look for real messages – will do my best though!