We had a lovely sunny Christmas day here in Golden Bay yesterday and very different from any other Christmas I've had before. I asked Matthew while we were walking back over the sand dunes from the beach if he preferred a hot Christmas or a cold one and he said 'To be honest, this would be my best Christmas ever if I could have all my friends here too' I love the heat here and it's really nice to paddle in the warm sea on Christmas day but there's something nice about running back to the fire after a cold walk and gorging on chocolates and Irish coffees on Christmas day at home. We woke, or rather were woken by matthew, at 6.30 to discover that Santa Claus had been able to deliver presents without the aid of a chimney which was very clever of him.
After a present opening frenzy we went along to a small Anglican church in Takaka where matt and emma were encouraged to play with a fellow parishoners musical christmas tie. We then went back to Laidback Lodge where we had smoked salmon, scrambled egg,Bucks Fizz and 'bubbles' to celebrate the safe arrival of a baby girl called Kate for Jude and Derek and Tom. Yippee! We then had some more present opening with Catherine, Ceri and Nina. It was about 25 degrees at this time so we headed off for a walk to a very picturesque beach near Farewell Spit. There we had a walk across dunes to a warm if rough sea and explored some caves which surprisingly had seals trying to escape from the afternoon sun. They weren't so happy to have us tramping about in their spot and growled if we got to close. I had never realised how very smelly seals are.
Because it was too rough to swim at that beach we dropped in to one nearer to our bach and swam there instead. It's hard to keep track of the date or day here let alone the time and when we finally looked at our watches we discovered it was almost 7pm. we headed back to the house and light the bbq to cook our steaks. Mick and Ceri enjoyed the most enormous t-bones the like of which haven't been seen since before cows went mad. The bullock that lives in the field beside the house kept a distainful distance from our party. All was washed down with copious amounts of local wine from Nelson which made skyping family a bit more difficult later on.
We then took it in turns to make use of the bush bath which is in the trees beside the house. A bush bath is, well..a bath in the bush which is heated by a fire underneath it. Once heated you then sit like a cartoon character about to be eaten by cannibals in complete darkness, looking at the stars and hoping that whatever is plopping into the water beside you is bits off the trees above and not night-time insects. This morning we set about trying some more sober skyping which was much more sucessful and we all got to see Kate. A big Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone at home! We miss you all.
photos are of...Ceri and Nina drinking Bucks Fizz, Catherine, emma and matt with their toys, our pet bullock christened 'Christmas' Matt, Emma and Catherine in the sea, Matt and Emma swimming at Pohara beach, matt, emma and me at the entrance to one of the caves, Matt in a cave with a seal behind him.
It looks a lovely spot. It is so hard to imagine temperatures like 25 degrees when it so cold here. We had ice on the inside of the bedroom windows at my parents on Christmas Day, outside was white with snow and the trees were all white with a really hard frost. The temperature was about -10 so no shorts and t-shirts here!! Missing your company on the walks. Have a happy New Year.
ReplyDeletethanks, the hot weather seems like a distant memory to us now too as we've been having really unsettled weather here the past few days. We are also mad jealous of the best snow to hit Ireland since the early 80's!
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