Lexis

For me there's no fun like the fun that can be had with little children.  After a day of games and laughter I might not be very full of life but I still have a smile on my face and more wonderful memories to call upon when I need an uplift.

I get sad when I think about my little four month old grand-daughter in Brasil, when will I get to meet her/cuddle her/play with her?  I miss her and I've never even met her. 

I'm so thankful my son is besotted with her, sends lots of photos and makes video calls where I can just gaze at her. 

I'm also thankful to have a little great-granddaughter who likes to stay and play with her Granny.  She spent most of the day and evening with me on Saturday.  What a lovely time we had.  

We played ladies eating cake.  I didn't know three year olds still loved to do that.  Actually, we were eating pancakes but first we had to make them.  I did a considerable amount of downsizing when I moved house recently but there were a few things I clung on to.  One of them was a little apron I had made for this child's aunt when she was around the same age.  Those of you who have been following me for a long time may remember the times I spent in the kitchen with now 17 year old Georgia. (I must buy a crown for litle Lexis.)

Georgia cooking up a storm back in the day.

My trusty old hand held beaters are still in use.  Georgia's artwork still adorns my fridge.

We played dress-ups. My shoes, handbags, hats, scarves were beautifully paraded.  I did my best to play the part of older fancy lady.  I wonder if the shop assistant noticed I was wearing sparkly earrings and pearls mid-afternoon when we went for a special treat?  The apron is covering Lexis jewellery. 

Great aunt Edie

My grandmother was born in 1905, sixteen years later her youngest sister, Edie was born.  Gran died in 1990 and I still think of her often, have a little chat to her occasionally when I've done something stupid or feel a bit down.  Thirty years later and I still hear her voice loud and clear.  She never tells me off but in her inimitable way she reminds me of who I aspire to be. Or should that be whom?  Isn't the rule "who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence"?   No, Gran wasn't the grammar police although she was a whizz at crosswords.

Anyway, it's Great-Aunty Edie's 99th birthday today and she is the image of Gran in all ways.  Looks like her, talks like her and there's that same lively personality and sparkle in the eye.  The little boy is her great-grandson.  She's got a firm grip on all that chocolate.

 

Happy birthday, Aunty Edie.

Randoms

 Rounding off my trip to the Waikato, here's just a few random shots.

We chose to stay in Cambridge rather than Hamilton, because it is smaller and quieter and easy to find your way around.  It has a population of fewer than 20,000 but offers all the amenities you could possibly want or need. 

Our little cabin was the middle of these below, reasonably priced, spotlessly clean, warm and very comfy.

One day we stopped at a garden centre which had been recommended to us for lunch.  The food was good but what took my fancy were the toilets.  (I think that came out wrong.)  I liked how they adapted garden implements.

For years I've noticed Saint Andrews on the corner as I passed through Cambridge on State Highway 1.  I've always thought it was a lovely church but was surprised how grand it is inside.  We arrived a few minutes before the lady who was rostered on to welcome visitors was about to lock up.  She was sitting in her little car by the front door, a charming older lady keen to tell us all about the church and its history.   That was the first time I've ever been greeted by a member of a welcoming committee at a church. 

One set of stained glass windows tells the story of the link between Cambridge and Le Quesnoy in France.  To quote from the church website:  In 1923 a set of windows were installed to commemorate the men of Cambridge who were killed in WWI. It has three distinct panels, depicting the battles of Gallipoli in 1915 showing New Zealand troops storming the beach at ANZAC Cove; a scene of a soldier praying at Ypres in 1917; and lastly the scaling of the walls of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918. 

This is the above panel shown from a better angle by Dave Homewood.  You can more clearly see the soldiers climbing the wall in this photo.  Not your usual church window at all.

 The bowling club and nearby Tudor style houses near the town centre.  Not something you often see in NZ.

Before I finish about our Waikato visit I'm going to admit to how many times we got lost.  Even with the help of modern technology I make the world's worst navigator and only someone who enjoys back roads as much as I do would put up with me.  I'm so lucky to have a friend like Chris with whom I can get out and about.

One day when we were returning from our day's tripping about south of the town a bit earlier than we expected I noticed Karapiro marked on the map.  Lake Karapiro is recognised as one of the most picturesque rowing lakes in the world and hosted the World Rowing Championships in 2010.  We both had visions of what it looked like from seeing rowing championships on TV.  And my logic said it would be near a place named Karopiro and as likely as not be on Karapiro Road.  About 20 minutes later we came out on the same road we'd been on, more south than where we had turned off.  No lake had been spotted but we did see a huge quarry in an area called Taotaoroa and some lovely countryside.  So we tried a road on the other side of the highway and eventually came upon a large expanse of water.  Roadside workers were amused by our question about was it the Waikato River or the lake.  One of them was very articulate and explained, as if to a child, that it was both, the lake is part of the river formed behind the Karapiro hydro dam.  We provided a bit more entertainment by asking where were the boatsheds (the ones we'd seen on TV) and that it was much further from town than we thought it would be.  On the other side of the river which it turns out was very close to where we were staying.

It was getting late by then and we intended to go for a quick look the next morning before we set off but we both forgot.

So no pic of the lake but here's a gate where we turned around one day.  Unexpected delights are everywhere.

21 Gardens

It was worth changing our plans to include a visit to the Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton's number one tourist attraction.  There are 21 separate gardens, each with its own theme which tell the story of gardens in different places and in different times.  Some nice little history lessons.  As an example this is the Tudor Garden, a recreation of a banqueting pavilion and wall at Montacute House that survived Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads in England.  I knew Cromwell was an enemy of the arts but didn't know he destroyed gardens as well.  I liked the simplicity of it which I thought contrasted with the carved heraldic beasts on the poles. 

 

Evidence of the previous day's rain on the path

The Italian Garden

One of my favourites was the Mansfield Garden where there was a delightful scene as described in Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party".   You can almost hear the voices of the guests approaching the tennis court.  Shame the musicians weren't there!

The walkways connecting the gardens were as lovely as the gardens themselves. 

Fiddling with the itinerary

 Luckily we only had one rainy day while we were away in the Waikato and we managed an enjoyable day without getting wet, including a garden walk.  We postponed our visit to the Hamilton Gardens  till the following day as the rain was heavy at the time we were in that area.  We passed a couple of dry hours in the Hamilton Museum along with several groups of school children.  I hardly looked at the art display, I was too entertained by watching and listening to them.  One lad took many photos while telling anyone who would listen that he could recreate most of the exhibits and make his fortune.  I hope he goes far.

Although I'm not a big tea drinker I was keen to visit Zealong Tea Estate, the only commercial tea plantation in New Zealand.  It's not a good idea to be a tourist in NZ on a Monday, lots of places don't open on Mondays and although we could visit the shop and have High Tea (yes, they use the capitals), we couldn't do a guided tour.  Nevertheless we enjoyed our special treat, tasted a couple of nice teas and managed a few photos (in the rain).   I'll definitely return to do a tour which includes a traditional ceremonial tasting and teaches the art of tea appreciation. You never know I might end up a tea drinker yet. 

Just as an aside, many restaurants and other hospitality venues here have reduced their operating hours in response to the economic downturn caused by Covid 19.

The estate would be a lovely place to wander in fine weather.

The garden I mentioned was at Woodlands Estate which isn't far from the tea plantation.  The cafe was closed but for a gold coin donation we visited the Victorian homestead.   A nice bargain after we'd splashed out on High Tea. 

And look what I found in one of the bedrooms - a replica of my oldest son's bassinet.  

I think I must now be an antique.  And in another room I found my mother's sewing machine.  My grandmother's machine, on which I learnt to sew, was another 30 years older than this model. 

 and my grandmother's wood stove.

To be fair, I think the typewriter might be a slightly older version than the ones in the typing room at school.

There are 15 acres of gardens at Woodlands but it was a bit too wet to go far.

The gardens are 140 years old.  I just loved the trunk on this gnarly old tree.  Looked to me like it could be an original.  

And here's something you won't see every day, an antique selfie.

A swing bridge and a blue spring

The small town of Arapuni is next to the Arapuni Dam, a hydroelectric dam commissioned in 1929.   A suspension bridge overlooks the Arapuni Power Station, the largest on the Waikato River.   I left my camera in the car as I expected the bridge to have a bit more swing to it and didn't want to risk dropping it.  Only took a few shots with my phone.

 

The bush lining the river was beautiful.

One of the highlights of our trip to the Waikato was Te Waihou Walkway and the Blue Spring.  The beautiful clear blue-green of the spring water is due to its purity as particles are removed during its journey through underground aquifers.  The spring supplies around 70% of this country's bottled water.  (I had no idea about that.  I don't buy bottled water so had never thought about where it comes from.)

 

The water in the stream looks to be barely moving but in fact flows at a rate of 42m³  a minute and could fill a six lane 25 metre pool in just over 12 minutes.    The water is a constant 11℃ (32F) all year round.

 

I'm so glad we went for our mini holiday when we did.  If we had planned to go now or next week we'd have to cancel due to the recent outbreak of Covid.  The announcement came on Tuesday night, of a return to Level 3 for the Auckland area and Level 2 for the rest of the country.  We were in a L2 area but to return home had to pass through Auckland and the roadblock checkpoints.  Getting in to Auckland was relatively easy, only took half an hour.  Getting out at the northern boundary was another story, 4.5 to 5 hours, lost track of the time.  The checkpoints are to keep people other than residents out of Auckland where the outbreak is and to stop Aucklanders escaping to their holiday homes or the beaches and the risk of them carrying the virus out of the city. 

The traffic north of the city was very light, don't think I've ever seen this stretch of road with no traffic.

But it didn't take long for it to back up closer to the roadblocks.  We felt so sorry for the truckies.  South of Auckland they drafted them off and let them go on their way before the roadblock but in the north they had to sit there with the rest of us. That was on Wednesday, I hope they have developed a better method by now.

I also felt sorry for the police and army personnel who were manning the checkpoints.  They must have copped a few earfuls from disgruntled motorists.

Proof you're getting on

You know you're getting a bit long in the tooth when, after 5 days of road tripping it takes two days at home before you can straighten up completely and move easily again.  Too many hours sitting in the car combined with too many hours walking I guess.  

I can't exactly remember when my friend, Chris and I started taking a mid-winter break together.  More than 10 years ago at least.  We always try to go somewhere we haven't been before.  We are running out of places in the North Island but this year decided to go to the Waikato.  Although we've both been to Hamilton many times before, we realized neither of us had been there as a 'tourist' and that there were many places waiting for us to discover.  There are probably a few more on our To See list now than when we arrived as some of the attractions were closed for winter and we found out about a few more we didn't know about.

Each of us had compiled a list of things we'd like to do.  Turns out our lists were almost identical and there were some places we'd heard about but didn't know where they were so, for the first time, we visited an Information Centre.  Let me recommend the Cambridge I Site to any who may be wandering that way.  The friendly and efficient Emma took our lists and marked the places on a map so that we had a circuit for each day.  And thanks to her, we didn't take too many wrong turns.  Not that either of us worry when we do, we look upon that as seeing some countryside we may otherwise have missed.  A friend who shares your philosophy is a blessing.

Without Emma's guidance we would have missed Sanctuary Mountain at Maungatautari which is described as mainland ecological island surrounded by one of the world's longest pest proof fences.  Although there were no guided tours the day we visited, we spent quite a while chatting with the lady at their visitor's centre.  I came away so envious of their predator proof fence imagining what our forest would be like if we had one like it.

Sanctuary Mountain

 

I remember seeing award winning toilets in Ireland and Scotland.  I wonder if we have similar awards here.  These would be my nomination.

The countryside from the Sanctuary Mountain carpark.  I love a winding country road.

Just a few photos taken from the car on Monday.  We were amused by this recently pruned hedge. Obviously the same contractor did several hedges in the area as there were a few like this with other "no nonsense' hedges in between. 

Over a 'no nonsense' hedge

Something new to me - the War Memorial Church at Pukeatua.  It offers churches, Mosques and Synagogues services.

The grin

It's a shame I cut off the top of her head, too bad but the photo is about her grin.  She has a beautiful smile but it's that familiar grin that I love the most.

17 year old Georgia

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Like old times

When the last of my children gave up competitive sport I gave up watching live Saturday sport.  I made exceptions occasionally if the weather was exceptionally good or for a major event but insisted to anyone who would listen that my days of trudging up and down sidelines in the wind, rain and mud were over.  

Watching provincial rugby union in New Zealand is not about comfort.  In rural areas such as where I live the rugby grounds have basic facilities.  There may be club-rooms in which to socialise after a game but they rarely offer the best view of the game.  To get a good view one invariably has to stand on the sideline. 

photo courtesy of Mid Western Rugby  This is a photo from last season.

My oldest son has been coaching the local seniors team for a few years now and I have been to an occasional game, but not many - and always in good weather.

I braved a keen wind last Saturday to wander across to the rugby grounds which are but a short walk from my new home.

Yesterday's game was only about a 20 minute drive from here, it's a very pleasant drive and my daughter was also going to attend so, despite the threatening sky, I rugged up and ventured forth.

 

photo courtesy of Kaitlyn O’Shea Photography

My camera stayed in my pocket.  The young lady who takes photos for the club is truly dedicated.  I try to watch the game and keep warm at the same time, that is enough multi-skilling for me.

At least I know my recently purchased umbrella is reliable in strong winds and heavy rain.

As we enjoyed a drink in the warmth of the club-rooms after the disappointing result we were talking about how things used to be when my kids were youngsters.  Our club prided itself on our hospitality and always put on a 'feed' for the players and their opposition after the game.  Each player was asked to 'bring a plate' of something to share with their and the other team.  When my younger son was playing in the Under 13s, two other mothers and I were the only ones who turned up each week to put the meals on the table.  However, despite constant reminders, only 5 boys brought something to contribute to the meal  (for 30 players, reserves and supporters!) so we would purchase and cook up sausages for them.  Boys that age love a sausage on a slice of bread!

Anyway, one Saturday another mother came along with a beautiful sponge cake, complete with strawberries and cream, a wonder to behold.  She couldn't understand the appreciation of the three regulars because, as she explained, she sent one along for every home game.   When she discovered no such cake was ever received she was not amused. 

After the game, she came storming into the kitchen with her son's ear firmly in her hand and the lad looking very embarrassed.

"What have you got to say to these ladies?"

"I'm Sorry", he blurted

"Sorry for what?" she demanded

"Sorry for throwing Mum's sponges out the car window."

I never did find out who used to drive the car, I think it was an older brother. 

And I wonder if that lad remembers how he thought a sponge was too sissy to be seen with.

It took me ages to remember the lad's name, I had totally forgotten all about him so just had to look him up on Facebook.  Looks like he's enjoyed a sponge or two in the last 35 or so years.