News from Nelson - July 2016

Hi everyone,
At the beginning of July, Jan and I went up to Wellington to attend a leadership lecture at  Victoria Uni from a set of Fullbright scholars and Sir Peter Blake Leadership trust award recipients. It was very interesting, and hosted by my old Master's supervisor, Brad Jackson.

Jan had to come with me to be my left-hand man, as I would have been unable to have gone without his assistance :-)

We got picked up by Brigitte & John, with Otto, and had a cup of coffee and a chat at the Ibis. We walked from there down to Vic law school for the lecture (and they gave us lots of canapes). 

After the lecture we got picked up by Jeremy, and taken to see his new place. We met DeAnne, and got a chance to catch up with Lara. All in all we had a very tight schedule, but we managed to fit in lots of visits.

It was great to go to the lecture, but my arm was jangling fit to bust by the time I got back to the hotel, and by the time I got home again after the trip.

A pity we couldn't see Tina, Hartmut and Uta as well, but there was such a short time. We could perhaps have caught up with Tina for breakfast, except I had already arranged to meet Brad at Astoria for breakfast, to talk about  PhD options.

Brad thought that I should try Griffith University in Brisbane, and that I should continue to pursue the idea that I worked up for AUT, rather than undertaking my original career leadership idea. Griffith apparently has a good - and growing - global reputation. As I had not considered Griffith before, this will take some investigation. 

Brad was quite dismissive of my original career focused PhD: and I think he has a point. This is a "safe" idea that won't rattle any cages, nor will provide the amount of challenge that my sports governance one will. 

After breakfast, Jan went to meet one of the HR people at WorkSafe (New Zealand's health and safety government watchdog). He wanted to find out more about the organisation, and DeAnne had put him in touch with someone to talk to.

Despite the Wellington trip away, I have been taking things very quietly. I have read a book a day since my surgery, which has been really wonderful. 

Jan has decided to take the opportunity to become a certified electrician, and is starting his coursework this month, with his final exam being in November, and a practicum in the first week of December. He is also hopeful of getting into a health and safety certification course, NEBOSH (and I've no idea what it stands for), which will be held in September and October. He is currently on the waiting list for that.

The Nelson Symphony Orchestra had their mid-year concert: America, held in the Nelson Cathedral. This was a very interesting programme, with music that was quite expansive and sweeping. Jan has also volunteered to play in the Nelson Choir's production of Stabat Mater, and in Nayland College's school production of Annie get your Gun (with performances in the first week of August).

We caught up with Glenys & Kevin for an afternoon of eating, drinking and talking (surprise, surprise) which was very entertaining. We also had dinner with Jenny, Tracey and Erica. 

We also had a mid-winter Christmas at the Hofman's which was great: we had "three lights"; three light courses - nibbles, soup, and cake for dessert. I had made a Nigella Lawson Christmas cake last year, but the recipe makes two, so I had put one in the freezer. I pulled that out and defrosted it. We took a sugar cone, and brandy, and turned the 'bladder' of Peckhams mulled cider into a burnt caramel, clove and cinnamon heaven. The nibbles were just fantastic: all the things we don't usually eat.

And no-one was too full. It was a really good night, with lots of laughs.

I drove for the first time three weeks after my surgery. to see the hand physiotherapist, for exercises and wrist support. my surgeon had said that I was OK to drive, and despite my reservations, I drove the automatic. The hand physiotherapist told me off quite thoroughly, saying that I should not be driving until the surgeon had signed the bone off as being healed. 

However, despite the driving, I got a good report from the physiotherapist. I have good mobility and had no pain at all from the session - she was very conservative, and focused on only what I could do until I started feeling a small amount of resistance. She was very happy with my mobility and movement, and gave me three small exercises to do five times a day each. My challenge was that they all needed to be done v-e-r-y slowly! She only wants to see me once my surgeon has signed me off, which will be next month. 

After I saw the hand physiotherapist, I went to catch up with an old friend, Di, who was able to drive us around that day, while we had a good gossip, drink coffee, and acted like we were ladies of leisure. 

So once more, Jan had to drive me into work, as I started teaching on the 18th. At least in the first week, I only had two lectures, as one of my other classes didn't start until week six, and the other was online.

By the last week of the month it was six weeks after surgery, and although I hadn't seen the specialist (because he was too busy off skiing and swanning around the world to conferences), I started driving again. Much easier.

We went to Alex and Caroline's Wassail celebrations this month, pulling in all manner of English traditions including the Black Morris to bring on the fruit for the coming year. Kev the Farmer sang a couple of songs again (he has such a good voice). Glenys and Kevin came along too, and we had a good chat about our planned weekend at McLaren's Bay next month.

We caught a movie at the Gecko Theatre in Motueka - Our Kind of Traitor - which was quite good. No major twists, but a good movie. We realised that we don't go to the pictures often enough, so have made a resolution to try to get there at least once a month.

I did a bit of digging and found that Griffiths was 39th in the world for sports management, so figured they could be really worth a look. I also realised that Graham Cuskelly was a professor in the business school at Griffith, and so I emailed him, and, despite being overseas, he replied straight away. So it appears that I may have my supervisor. 

Just like that. A new home across the Tassie for my project too.

Sam (and Jan)

News from Nelson, May 2012

Hi all,
It has been a while since I wrote up our news – I don’t know where the last two months have gone. Staggering really; you turn around and it is suddenly a week away from winter!

Jan’s grandmother, Oma Lieselotte, is still slowly recovering in Germany. We have planned a fortnight’s trip to Ulm in June. While we hoped to catch up with everyone, unfortunately it looks as though we will miss Oli & Katrin as they are heading to France for two and a half weeks at the same time :-(

However, our plans at the moment are:

-          Sunday 10 June: 18.00 into Frankfurt, pick up the rental car & overnight with Simone & Michael in Langen.

-          Monday 11: drive to Ulm, to Uta & Omi Lieselotte. 

-          Tuesday 12 - Sunday 17:  Ulm, catching up with as many people who can make it there to see us.

-          Sunday 17: drive to Treysa, to Omi Friedel, staying with Anne & Herbert.

-          Monday 18: Treysa: catching up with as many people who can make it there to see us.

-          Tuesday 19 - Friday 22: Edersee.

-          Friday 22: drive to Frankfurt (possibly via Polheim), leave at 19.45 for NZ.

John F has headed off overseas for the winter, so Bonnie is still with us. She is such a happy dog! Magda will be looking after things at this end, and, with a bit of luck, while we are in Germany, we will catch up with John in Ulm. Funny how small the world is these days.

Brigitte’s birthday celebration went well. We caught up with Melissa, Jörg and Tanja who all came especially. Jörg had a bit of a relapse afterward, but seems to be right again now.

I have been up to Wellington a couple of times for CDANZ Exec meetings, but get to miss the next one as I will be in Europe. I will be up again in August though, so perhaps I can catch up with some of the Welly crowd then (August 24-26).

Justine came to Kiwiland for a holiday, and came over to Nelson. We did lots of shopping, eating and talking… what a surprise! Had a lovely catch up, and hopefully we will be able to catch up again in Germany in a couple of weeks time; we will see how Justine’s time works out.

Mike & Donna’s engagement party went off well – and I spent some time catching up with various family members. I am hoping to get some photos from my sister of the three of us.

Jan has an NSO concert on this weekend, with guest conductor Luke Di Somma. They are playing Mozart, Fauré and Elgar, which will be interesting to experience. This week Jan has practice tonight, tomorrow night, Friday night and Saturday. The performance is Saturday night, so by Sunday he will be ready for a very quiet day.

The Rotary North Island trip was a blast (see the post a couple down for some photos). We had eleven girls with us from nine nations, so were quite a mixture. Both Jan & I have said we would do it again, and I am currently preparing a photobook of the trip to send to all the girls. The girls also gave us a New Zealand flag as a memento of the trip, which we have had framed. It will go on the office wall.

A couple of the girls – Anna from Germany and Camila from Brazil – have come to stay for a weekend, having a king hit on watching the entire Director’s Cut of the Lord of the Rings… all eleven hours of it. We had a lovely time then too!

We have briefly caught up with Kathleen & Frits, who have been in Europe for a huge holiday, but are looking forward to a much more in-depth discussion of where they went and what they did soon.

Uncle Norman has had a fall, and has been in hospital for a week. He is more-or-less OK now, and was allowed home today.

Happy birthdays to my Father, my Aunt Diana, John D, Adrian C, and Megan A over the next month.

All the best - hope to hear from you all soon!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson – March 2 2012

Hi all,
Sorry not to email you all to say that I had posted an update: this news is 'old' news!

Jan’s grandmother, Oma Lieselotte, seems to be recovering a little. Hartmut has updated us regularly on progress. Brigitte and John are back from Germany, and we will be seeing them next weekend at her birthday celebration. We will be able to also catch up with Jörg, as he will be there too, as will Tanja.

I have had a cold, a real stonker of one. It arrived on Saturday night when we were in Sydney. I managed to get through until Monday afternoon before I finally had to give up and go to bed, officially ‘sick’. I got up on Friday (yesterday)! However, although I am coughing and my nose is still a bit blocked, I feel reasonably normal again now. I think that is my first cold in a bit over a year, so that’s not too bad.

We had a fairly good time in Sydney – it rained on the Saturday, but it didn’t impinge too much on our plans. The hotel - Sebel Pier One - was a good one, Jan’s stamina for the Art Gallery was fairly good, but our restaurant got changed. Est, the restaurant we were booked to go to, said they wouldn’t honour their promissory voucher, so we got changed to an Italian restaurant (Intermezzo). It was OK, but not what we were expecting. We did some shopping though, and lots of walking. The hotel had really good quality fittings etc.

Tonight the Nelson Symphony Orchestra has a concert, but I won’t be in the audience: it is also my brother’s engagement party. He & Donna are planning on getting married sometime in the next couple of years in Rarotonga. The whole family will be there, aside from Jan, who will be at the concert.

The Long Lunch at Kahurangi Winery was great fun, and we met the Peckhams there, who live in Neudorf Road, and make the most divine cider. We hope to see more of them!

The Rotary North Island trip is coming closer – just another couple of weeks now until Easter. I will update you all again afterwards.

 

Happy birthdays to Duncan, Dilani, Murray, Birthe & Gerhard.

All the best - hope to hear from you all soon!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson - March 2012

Hi all,
Whew, and we gallop on through the year!
Jan’s grandmother, Oma Lieselotte, is quite ill in Germany. She may have had a stroke, as her legs were paralysed, but we have not had an update, so are unsure if this will be permanent or temporary. Jan’s dad, Hartmut, left for Ulm on Monday, so will hopefully be able to update us on how she is doing shortly. Brigitte continues her recovery in Germany, and Jörg is getting the help he needs at last. No other illness in the family, thank goodness.
Jan & I are both well, but both still flat out. Jan is still trying to hire a new Electrical Engineer and I am STILL trying to commission my new PC. I have hit all sorts of “you can’t get there from here” Microsoft messages in trying to put the damn thing together (mainly permissions and key codes for XP).  However, summer school has all been finalised, and I have finished marking my first round of assessments for Semester 1 already. I keep thinking that perhaps I should just hand the thing over to a shop and say “make it so”!
The Nelson Symphony Orchestra is continuing to take up quite a bit of both Jan’s & my free time, but we are hoping that once we have built a big list of everything that needs to be done, we will be better able to plan everything.
We are about to Skype with the people who drove the Rotary International exchange teenagers around the North Island last Easter, to pick up all the goss. We are both looking forward to going at Easter.  Frits & Kathleen went into the Abel Tasman for Frits’ birthday a few weeks ago, and we took Camila with us. Photos: Camila above Anchorage, leaving Marahau on the water taxi, Pitt Head coming into Anchorage, Te Puketea Bay, Camila on the beach at Te Puketea Bay.

We will be up in Wellington again on 31 March for Jan’s Mum’s 70^th birthday (just after she gets back from Germany). Hopefully Joerg will be OK to fly; he has booked his flights, so should be all good. Then I am up again on 27 to 29 April for my second CDANZ Exec meeting.
However, we will also be in Australia from 16-18 March; yes, in eight days. We went to the Suter Gallery’s Degustation dinner a couple of weeks ago, and bid on, and won, the last auction item of the night; a trip for two to Sydney. We fly AirNZ, stay at the Sebel Pier One Hotel, get a guided tour of the Picasso Exhibition which is at the Art Galley of NSW, and get a dinner for two at Est. We will have lots of fun. We fly up to Auckland on Thursday the 15^th, and nice and early to Sydney on Friday morning (my students get to play hookey for the day!).
We also had the Roses Road BBQ a few weeks ago, and caught up with just about everyone the Valley, except Christian (he was away in Blenheim), but including Lyn Redden, who is back living in his house. Zig & Lib’s house is coming along slowly, but no wonder it has taken them so long to get organised with it; it is a pretty big place. Lib is planning on having another get-together at Orinoco Winery later this month or early April, so we will have seen everyone on the road three times already this year! (Photo: Kath, Jackie, Linda & Ian obscured behind Jackie, Hugh, Daniel, Diana, Christine, Kevin).

Jan and I also helped out a the Weet-bix Tryathlon last weekend, as cycle marshals on the cycle course.  Whakatu Rotary did this last year as well, so we were all keen to help again; though the 5.40am briefing was a bit grim when it meant that Jan & I had to get up at 4 to leave home at 5 to be there by 20 to 6! A great day though, and I think we will both be keen to be involved again next year. 1500 7 to 15 year-olds took part (peaceful playing fields at Tahnunanui at dawn on my post before 1500 kids and parents deluged in).

Right, that's it for now – this weekend we have the Long Lunch at Kahurangi on Sunday, and both Jan & I are working on Saturday (marking for me, commissioning software for him). I think last time I said that I was ensuring that we don’t add any more back in for the next two weeks… what was that Sydney trip again…?! Gary & Nic, Jan & I have been trying to find a weekend free to catch up. We are now into the second week in May, and still don’t have a date that works :-(
Happy birthdays to Melissa, Brigitte, Mike D, Sandra W, Jen C, Frits, Duncan & Dilani
All the best - hope to hear from you all soon!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson - February 2012

Hi all,
Wow – here we are a sixth of the way through the year already! How did it get to be mid-February so fast?!

Brigitte appears to be recovering well from her hip replacement in Germany, and Jörg is slowly making progress following his head injury. My brother got swarmed by a wasps nest recently when mowing the lawn. He appears to be OK, but that is not the nicest experience either. He was very lucky. 

I had a minor fall – Coco towed me over on the neighbour’s steep gravel driveway, leaving me with lots of bits of gravel to pick out. Thank goodness for Christian’s high pressure winery hose – that cleaned the bits out pronto :-)

As I write I am reading over what we were doing last time I wrote; and I am pretty much at the same space! I am still trying to commission my new PC. Jan has finished building shelves in the cellar – though; and they look great. 

I have pegged back my teaching for this year; only teaching three papers, and they are all now underway. I am still trying to mop up summer school though. Getting there, but it feels like the mountain is very big at the moment.

Each week I have been helping the Nelson Symphony Orchestra secretary set up some new systems. Their previous secretary, who basically carried the whole shebang for several years, recently left. No one knows how to do anything as everything was in his head. At least while we are reinventing everything, we are writing it all down, and putting it into Google docs, so that everyone can access everything.  

We are definitely now driving the Rotary International exchange teenagers around the North Island at Easter for my birthday. Camila, Ana's sister, is here from Brazil, and is coming to stay this Friday night with us. We are going into Able Tasman on Saturday for a day cruise in and a walk – or part walk, part cruise – out, depending on the weather. I hope Camila enjoys the dogs as much as Ana did.
Last weekend we had a great time up in Wellington. Jan had lunch with Doug, and Hui-Ping came around to Tina & Jeremy’s along with Pae-Ling, whom I vaguely remember from Auditing class many years ago. It was great to see everyone. We had a lovely family brunch on Sunday morning too, with Hartmut and Uta, and another friend of theirs. Tina & I tried to take a run – well, Tina did, and I puffed along beside until nearly asphyxiating and having to walk! I was up for a CDANZ Exec meeting, and so had eleven hours of meetings in two days. It was a bit full on – I got a pretty bad migraine on the way home, so will have to cut down what I try to fit in while I am up in Welly.

Kathleen & Frits came to stay at our place for a weekend, which was really fun, and we had Erin, Simon & wee Isla up for a meal while they were on holiday in Nelson. 

Right, that's it for now – this weekend we have the Abel Tasman trip, and a Roses Road BBQ on Sunday. Then I am ensuring that we don’t add any more back in for the next two weeks!

* Justine – the earphones arrived perfectly! Send your CV!

All the best - hope to hear from you all soon!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson - January 2012

Hi all,
Well, Xmas has been and gone, and we have had a very busy time with Otto, Lara, Lars, Tina, Jeremy, Tanja and Adrian... not to mention Xmas dinner with my folks, Barb & Mike!

 A couple of problems following Xmas though; Brigitte has had a fall in Germany, and had to have a hip replacement (not what you want when you are overseas) and then Jörg had a  fall a couple of days ago in the milking shed, and cracked his head badly. Tina has already reminded us that these things tend to strike in threes; hope she is wrong!

I am still trying to commission my new PC; I am getting there, but trying not to go flat out on it. I still have another four lots of software to source and install, then I will be ready for the big change-over. Jan is busy at the moment, building shelves in the cellar. He is using all the left-over timber from the floors. It is fantastic :-)

Summer school is going OK, but I have realised that I have been doing too much and need to slow down so that I can get my Master's study underway properly. I will talk to the NMIT Head of School when he gets back from leave and let him know that I need to peg things back a bit. However, in staying that, I have got a case study written, and have another one in process.I have also reconfirmed that I don't enjoy teaching online - it is fine when there is a face-to-face class, so I get the personal interaction, but when there isn't, it's really not my bag. So something to not try again.

Dogs are well, Jan is wondering where his holiday went to, and we are thinking about driving a load of teenagers around the North Island at Easter for my birthday (Rotary International exchange students!). Camila, Ana's sister, is here from Brazil, so we hope to catch up with her regularly while she is in New Zealand.

We also hope to see Andreas, Katrin & Christian this coming Xmas on their trip to Kiwiland!

Right, that's it for now - aside from wishing everyone happy birthdays in the next few weeks (Nicki; Tamara; Mike; Eberhard; Gary; Kathleen; Pat & Oma Friedel)

All the best - hope to see you all soon!

Jan Kuwilksy & Sam Young

News from Nelson – November 2011

Hi everyone,

A short one this time. Wow, spring is hustling along, and we are nearly heading into summer! It has been quite changeable though – this month we have had to pay $13 for power, as we haven’t had enough consistently fine weather to net off our usage; and of course we have used a bit more power than usual, as John has been staying with us too.

And double-wow, we have applied for an inspector to come and sign off the CoC. We are expecting someone to come out in the next couple of weeks, with our builder, so it can all get ticked off formally. That will be good.

Jan’s still looking for the Electrical Engineer – at least the HR firm they have engaged is at last going to contact IPENZ and the Alumni organisations.

Last weekend I went to Wellington for a Career Development Association national executive meeting and AGM, staying overnight with Tina & Jeremy. The meetings weren’t too bad, and it was great to see Otto & Lara (they have both grown so much!). Tina & Jeremy put on a BBQ on Sunday night, and Brigitte & John came along, so we managed to catch up before they head over to Europe for three months. All good.

Jan & I have both been so busy that we haven’t really had a chance to draw breath. Days seem to be whistling past in a slip stream, and we are a bit dazed and confused about exactly where we are. I have been marking like a mad thing, and Jan has been trying to be himself and three others. He also has the added complication this month of having two of his electrical guys away on a commissioning job in Vietnam.

A couple of sad bits of news to relate this time: Jan’s step father, John, had his mother die. She had been unwell for some time, but it is still hard to lose a parent. In addition, a close friend and work colleague of my Father’s, August Vavasovsky, died last Thursday. He had a major stroke.

This Friday we have the Business Awards to go to, so we are staying in Nelson overnight at Trailways. We can leave the Trafalgar Centre, where the shindig is being held, and potter across the footbridge across the Maitai straight to our room. I like that!

Jan & I will be up in Welly on 3, 4 & 5 December. We will be busy with family on Saturday and Monday, but if any of you Hutties etc are around on Sunday, we would love to catch up. Let us know.

Also a party on New Year’s eve – about 6pm onwards. BBQ, BYO. All welcome :-)

Right – I think that’s all for now, aside from wishing all the party season’s birthday people a wonderful coming year: Lara, Jeremy, Donna, Neil, Janet, Jamal, Tina, Murray & Carl.

Eberhard – good luck with your new apartment.

Catch you all again soon.

Alles liebe!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

News from Nelson - January 2011, Part 2

We are having a great summer. We had a lovely bbq recently with about 50 people here, and got to catch up with folks we haven’t seen in ages. We were also surprised how many of our friends had other connections between each other. It all goes back to that Kiwi thing of 1.5 degrees of separation.

Tanja, Brigitte & John all came to stay for a week, and we got to celebrate Tanja’s birthday with her. I think they had a good time in Nelson, including going for some very scenic drives – and only one of them was unintentional! We had fish & chips down at the Mapua wharf, from the fish & chip shop that has just got the Wild Tomato Award for the best F&C in the top of the south, had the bbq for Tanja’s birthday, and had a very relaxing time. Mind you, Brigitte & Tanja could have shopped for New Zealand – it should be an Olympic sport! And I know I don’t have the staying power to do what they do. I should emulate John & grab a coffee & a paper & have them swing by afterwards to pick me up.

Jan has now built the second wine rack built and that has a couple of columns of bottles in it already. We still have some more space that we need to free up in the cellar, but we feel like we are starting to make more progress. This week I hung some of our pictures, and we bought some wall-plugs for those things that are a bit heavier, so hopefully this weekend they might get put up, along with our bathroom mirrors. The list gets shorter!

We have rented Montrose Drive again until this coming October, when it will go back on the market for the 2011-12 summer. We have some great tenants for this year (so far, anyway!), and what is more, we had two lots of really nice people to choose from. We downloaded all the forms from DBH and filled out everything that we needed, have sent off the things we needed to and took lots of photos. Should be all good.

Bon dog went home for a few days when John F got back from his first tour of the summer last week, but she came back again last night for the next month while John is away on #2 tour. Fliss & Coco were beside themselves when she arrived back with Jan last night. We ended up having to take them 2k down to the end gate last night at 8pm to get them to calm down. At least it was quite cool by that hour.

We had Wendy & Wayne up to see us last weekend, and it was great to see them. We were also going to go & see The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) in the meadow at Fairfield House on Sunday night, but it got rained off. Next time.

My study is going well – I am onto unit 9 of 16, as my second lot of course materials finally turned up. Mind you, I am still waiting for 4 assignments from the first half of the course to be marked & come back.

Jan is going to Underwater Hockey tonight, which will be the second time this year. He is thinking about playing in the South Island Masters Games which will be held in Nelson in October this year. So he needs all the pool time he can get between now & then.

He has also signed up for all the NSO concerts for the year, and I have signed up as a  “Friend” and booked my concert seat all the way through. My mother was talking about becoming a friend too, but I don’t know if she has registered yet.

At the beginning of February we also have the Adam Chamber Music Festival starting. Jan is going to see five concerts, and I am going to three. He is going to a Paganini concert on his own as I can’t stand the Caprices – to me it sounds like cats being dreadfully murdered :-(

Next weekend is the Sarau Fair, which is a blackcurrant festival. That should be fun.

Happy birthdays in the next couple of weeks to Tamara, Mike S, Eberhard and Oma Friedel. I hope Andreas' footballing birthday party went well, as did Christian's birthday celebrations.


Best wishes to Steph - I hope the floods haven't damaged your Rockhampton property too much (let us know if there is anything we can do); and we were glad to hear that Uncle Lin escaped most of the damp north of Brisbane.

Right, I think that's it. All the very, very best for the coming few weeks, and we look forward to catching up with you all sometime this year.

Take care and alles liebe!

Jan Kuwilsky & Sam Young

Christmas in Wellington

Jan & I had a lovely time in Wellington - the company and the weather were both fabulous.

We had Weinachten (Xmas Eve) with Jeremy, Tina, Brigitte, John, Tanja, Otto and Lara at the Nelson's in Karori. Everyone had made so much delicious food, it was terribly tempting to eat until we popped! A great night, and everyone was very good about us boring them with our German photos :-) 

We had a lovely, low-key Christmas day, starting with a wonderful brunch with Hartmut & Uta. We peacefully drove home the slow way down Stokes Valley & through Hutt City, with Jan giving me a tour of places he used to go, and where his friends lived. We had a walk along the Petone waterfront. Very relaxing and peaceful. Then we caught up with some friends at the Intercontinental Hotel & had a light meal for dinner there, which was perfect.

We were asked to do some extra activities (eg going to the European painting exhibition at Te Papa, and, while I would have loved to have gone, it would take another three hours and would have cut down on our time with friends & family), which after some discussion on various ideas, we declined all extras. 

On Boxing Day we went to see Doug & Morv who were preparing for their Boxing Day BBQ, before heading back to Karori to Tina's Boxing Day BBQ. Tina had along some people we already knew, and some we didn't. Hui-Ping came, and then some other friends unexpectedly arrived to pick her up - Ella & Alenas with their son Nikus - whom Jan & I hadn't seen for several years as they had been in the US, and we had a good and unexpected catch up. 

So we had a lovely, low pressure Christmas, thanks to learning to say "no"! And we left our camera at home, but hopefully we will get some photos off the others. 

More news next week :-)