Christmas and Away

Christmas morning got off to a good start with our usual Christmas breakfast fare.  The first cut from our ham went into some croissants, cheese added, and warmed through in the oven.  Nice and tasty, and easy to prepare.

The pork roast was soon sizzling away in the Weber BBQ and was smelling delicious.  The inserted thermometer tells us via the cell phone when the meat is cooked.  I’m not sure how that works, it’s all a bit new fangled to me but Robin seems to understand the technology.

We welcomed our guests in the pouring rain so there was no lounging about outside on the patio.  They brought copious quantities of food, and added with ours, no one was ever going to go hungry.  We toasted each other with bubbly, ate our Christmas Lunch and sat back in the afternoon, replete!  Robin’s brother Gary and his wife Debbie arrived later in the afternoon, and there was so much talking going on that I forgot to take any more photos.

On Boxing Day we loaded up the caravan and headed down to the NZMCA Park at Plimmerton.  It was just as well we were traveling south as the northbound traffic was practically at a standstill for much of the day.

NZMCZ Park at Plimmerton

Plimmerton is a handy place to stay if you want to visit Wellington.  The railway station is just a short walk away from the camp, so we planned a day in the Big Smoke, traveling in style on the trains.  Using our Gold Cards, train travel is free.  But wouldn’t you know it, the trains were off the rails for the next week or so for track maintenance, and the services were replaced by buses.

Bus from Plimmerton

Arriving in Wellington we wandered up the so called Golden Mile, marveling at all the changes which had taken place since our last visit.  Then we decided to get the Flyer Bus to Wellington Airport and have lunch there.  It’s amazing the conversations you hear on public transport.  As we drove past the St George Hotel one old bloke commented that his daughter had been in the crowds outside the hotel in 1964 when the Beatles stayed there.  I always regret that I wasn’t one of the crowd too,  my first and last chance to see the Beatles.    Another lady was loudly critical of the driver when he stopped to help passengers on and off the bus as he was making her late for her flight – how rude was that, I thought.

Airport Flyer Bus

Even the airport had changed since our previous visit.  We were in awe of the giant eagles hanging over the café eating areas.  One of them had Gandolf riding on top.  Made by Weta Workshop, one of them was shaken loose during an earthquake and had to be re-installed using a new hanging structure that is able to handle considerably higher loads.

Giant Eagles at Wellington Airport

We sat in front of the large picture windows, watching the planes arrive and depart.  Perhaps we will have another trip away soon, we hope.  Lunch was Pie and a Pint for him, and Salmon Pasta for her, all very nice and tasty.

Then we retraced our steps, taking buses back to Plimmerton.  It was a great day out exploring.