Computershare Christmas Party

This evening was my work Christmas do held at the Pullman Hotel in central Auckland.  A great venue with views out over the city and harbour.  Andrew, Andrea, James and Richard with Royston and myself in this photo during dinner.  A very enjoyable night with plenty of wine, dancing and singing.

Pre Christmas Party

This evening we had a pre Christmas gathering with some of our friends.  Santa's little elf turned up to help.

A great evening of tasty food, beer, wine, secret Santa and games - a serious session of the name game going on here.  A good start to the festive season.

Denise's 60th and the end of Movember

Tonight we headed into town to celebrate our friend Denise's 60th...her very own diamond jubilee so everything was decked out with union jacks.  Today is also the last day of Movember so Alistair had to keep Royston company sporting a dodgy mo.

The evening was a great celebration, and capped off with a fitting crown cake.

Huntington Stables, Cambridge

This weekend we headed for a night of luxury at Huntington Stables just outside of Cambridge.  The view from the deck across the countryside.

The two stables are in the grounds of the main house and we had use of the pool (freezing cold!), the spa, and up at the top of the garden, the sauna.  We used the latter two to warm us up after our very brief dip in the pool.




The stable was equipped with all the mod cons so we spent the afternoon and evening relaxing around the pool and in the room.

Provisions were provided for an afternoon snack and breakfast so we also made use of the well equipped kitchen. 






A very relaxing night away and a recommended place to stay.

Taste of Auckland

Our annual trip to Taste of Auckland coincided with Royston participating in Movember.  Two weeks in and already looking scary...an end of month photo will follow.

We took the opportunity to try out some new restaurants - both these dishes from Non Solo Pizza - the salmon tartare to the left and wagyu tartare to the right.  Both beautiful dishes and a great start to the tasting.






Our favourite dish of the day was from Everybodys Izakaya - the karaage duck leg with yum yum sauce and cabbage.

After several other small plates we finished with Taste's 5th birthday cake - a feast of strawberry.  

Front Garden

Over the past two weekends we have been working on our front garden - this was the before shot (though it had become a lot more overgrown than in this older photo).

Three and a half cubic metres of pebbles and a few feature stones later, along with new plants and we now have a much neater and low maintenance garden.






We may add some more plants along the front of the house and side of the drive at some point in the future.

Visit from Anna & Tim

As part of the Labour Weekend break, Anna and Tim came up to visit and finally got to see the house.  We made the most of the playground next door to entertain a very energetic two year old...Jodie enjoying the swing.

Whilst Royston was left holding the baby...three month old Nicholas.  We'll be down in Taupo to see them later in the year.

Coolum Beach & The Sunshine Coast

The final stay of our holiday was at Coolum Beach, a fantastic seaside town on the Sunshine Coast.  We stayed at Element on Coolum in a huge apartment, and made use of the pool both days.  The view across the pool to our room and balcony.




Coolum Beach merges into several other beaches north and south, and popular with the surfers, though not many big waves when we were there.




Whilst on the coast we explored some of the other beaches and towns.  To the south, Maroochydore is quite a bit larger than Coolum with larger resorts and busineses, still with a nice beach.




Just up the coast to the north is Peregian Beach, very similar to Coolum.  Not sure we will venture too far into the park next to the beach though...




Noosa is probably the most famous town on the Sunshine Coast, and we really enjoyed walking long the beach and around the town.  This is the view from the lookout down onto Noosa Heads.  A fantastic week away in a beautiful area, definitely a place we will return to again.

Maleny and the Hinterland

Our next destination was Maleny where we stayed at the lovely Blue Summit Cottages.  Our room was stunning as were the views down across the valley.  We did a fair bit of exploring the local area whilst we were here.






This is a big foodie area, with one of the attractions being the Big Pineapple.  I use the word "attraction" very loosely as the whole place looked very run down with not much there, not even a place to buy pineapple...






Nearby Montville is a very pretty village with interesting buildings, including the famous clock shop.





The Glasshouse Mountains National Park is a heritage listed park with cores of extinct volcanos forming its distinct landscape.






Not far from this viewpoint is Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve with its rainforest walk with abundant wildlife including lots of pademelon (rainforest wallabies).




And bush turkeys.







At Maleny Cheese you can watch them making the cheese (though it wasn't the tastiest cheese we have had).





Or down the road, sample some of the wines from Maleny Mountain Wines.  We took a nice bottle of rose away with us.





The 90 metre Kondalilla Falls are spectacular and worth the walk down and back up again.









Final stop of the tour was Lake Baroon formed by a pocket dam and provides most of the water for the Sunshine Coast.

Hummer Tour on Fraser Island

Today we had a full day tour on Fraser Island - a world heritage listed island.  Our mode of transport for the day was a guided tour in a Hummer...I think Royston would now quite like one.






All of the "roads" on Fraser Island are compacted sand - some a little more bumpy than others with some quite large drops at time, the Hummer was up to them all though.







After a short bush walk, our first main stop of the day was at Lake Mackenzie, a stunning freshwater lake - Royston braved the cold water for a swim.








We then drove down 75 Mile Beach (reminded us a lot of 90 Mile Beach in NZ) apart from the makeshift landing strip!






After a brief stop at Eli Creek (another freshwater stream), we stopped at the Pinnacles coloured sands which have been sculpted by the wind and the rain.





Further down the beach is the Maheno shipwreck - an old luxury liner that was being towed to Japan for scrap when it broke its tether and ended up being washed up on the beach.




We also got to see a couple of dingos towards the end of the day - these dangerous dogs are ones to avoid, especially if you have a baby...





The end to a great day was watching the sunset on the boat trip back to the mainland.  Another fantastic day trip.

Whale Watching on Freedom III

Today we went out on Freedom III boat to watch the humpback whales.  We were fortunate enough to witness some amazing displays by the whales on our trip.  We saw plenty of tails disappearing into the water.

 

 

 

Plus a lot of fin waving/slapping and exposing their underbelly.






Occasionally the whales would pop up to have a look at us and see what was going on.

And then, what we had all been waiting for - the whale to breach the water and launch itself up.





Before crashing back down on its back.  An amazing sight, especially as some of the whales came so close to the boat we could almost touch them.  A fantastic day trip out.

Hervey Bay, Queensland

For our winter holiday this year we headed to the warmth of Queensland for a three centre holiday.  First destination was Hervey Bay, where we stayed in the suburb of Urangan, famous for its pier.

Hervey Bay is mainly used as the access point to Fraser Island and also the best area in the world to see the humpback whales as they migrate.  The marina is a popular spot with all the whale watching boats departing from here.

Christchurch - A Walk in the "Red Zone"

Whilst I was down in Christchurch for work, my colleagues and I took the time to visit the Red Zone in Christchurch's CBD which has just been reopened to pedestrians - 18 months after the devastating earthquake. This is all that remains of the beautiful cathedral, and it looks like this is now going to be demolished not saved.




On one of the main shopping streets they have cleared all the buildings and now have "Container City", a fantastic pop up area for shops and cafes to try and bring people back into the centre.





Some areas look quite post apocalyptic with weeds starting to grow up through the pavements in this arcade area.  Such devastation is hard to comprehend.







They are trying to save some of the historic buildings, including this one on the bank of the River Avon.





And this one, where they have saved the facade and now erecting a new building behind it.  Though the majority of buildings have been condemned and will be demolished over time.  The city is now starting to rebuild with cranes and diggers the main traffic seen.