24th Dec day 70 Christmas Eve yippee

I started the day by teaching Nicholas to make toast, including tidying up. Simon is gradually training him to take responsibility for himself. He already makes his own bed, dries the dishes and makes his own packed lunch. It's lovely to do simple things with him such as this.

Before breakfast I had given Nicholas an Adventure Bible wrapped in gold paper which said on the front - more precious than all the money in the world! When we had eaten we had a fun but faith-building time just reading parts from Matthew 1 and 2, and Luke 1 and 2. We read it in short passages in the chronological order of the events rather than in the chapters, it's by far my favourite way to read it. I challenged them both to tell me how many angels are in the story, God keeps sending them at significant moments. Nicholas was captivated and I felt the story came more alive for him. If you are interested in the angels answer why not read it for yourself afresh?

This is Simon and Nicholas continuing a long-held family tradition - the putting out of the sweets - always done on Christmas Eve so that anyone in the family, or visiting, can can help themselves to sweets, chocs or nuts. My grandparents did it and it's been kept going down the generations, it was the only time in the year that children didn't have to ask for some treat.

I also taught Nicholas another family tradition for Christmas Eve a poem - nonsense in case you were hoping for Keats or Shelley.

'Twas Christmas Eve in the workhouse, the snow was raining fast

A bare-footed boy with clogs on, stood sitting on the grass

I went round a straight crooked corner and saw a dead donkey die

So I pulled out my revolver and stabbed it 

And a kipper jumped out of its eye!

Author unknown

Today was really relaxed, Simon went out with Carol to buy some more trendy clothes for Nicholas as this was her first day off. I am so pleased she cares about how he looks, not in a critical way, but like Simon, just wanting him to feel good about himself. Nicholas was delighted to play his X-box, watch tv and read whilst I got things ready for this evening. We did however have a good conversation about his thoughts on Christmas Eve being more important than Christmas Day, as Jesus was born at night. I explained some countries like Germany do use this as their focus for their celebrations. It's good he is thinking about faith connected things and asking questions. When Simon came back we had time to play Cluedo again and Nicholas won yay!

After dinner the 3 of us went to Simon's church for their Christmas Eve service. It's strange to sing carols like the First Noel with lines such as this - on a cold winters night that was so deep - with hot sun still shining! They did a brilliantly, funny sketch about guardian angels coming to earth incognito to search for Jesus as He had gone missing. This was their feedback session to Gabriel. 

One limped in with a black eye, arm in a sling, leg bandaged and with a T shirt on that had footprints all over from being trampled in a mall. Another in a prison outfit, he had been arrested for loitering whilst chatting to vagrants. Two of them had been in a hospital and got in all sorts of trouble and the last pair had become separated at the office party. All of them had been in the type of places Jesus went when here on earth. Although the sketch had us laughing it made the serious point about how little evidence there is of Him in our activities at Christmas. Nicholas favourite part was when the last one finally staggered in from being lost after the office party. She said "I found Him in a place we should have looked first", the prison inmate immediately called out "of course in the zoo"! But her answer was in church and sadly that's not always even the case. This a real challenge to those of us who are His followers about how we show His love in our world today in order that others may be challenged to ask this vital question "could it be the truth?"

We had to dash home as Carol and her family were coming for drinks and desserts. It was the unveiling of the ridiculous cake, made more so as Simon suggested we use Lego figures. I forgot to get the cocktail stick umbrella from Carol so it lacks the beach umbrella, towel and figure.

It was a really fun time with them but I was sorry for Nicholas as Linda's 2 boys of his age were with their Dad, so he was the only child. But he coped well chatting, serving food and asking about drinks, then quietly played on his iPad, before we all went to do the Hawkes Bay Christmas lights tour of the illuminated houses. Here are all the girls and my first picture with Carol and Simon.

Stupidly I didn't take my iPad on the tour as it was dark so didn't think it would work as it doesn't have a flash. But we had to get out to walk around the finale, it was the garden of the people who own a lighting business and was magnificent even down to a sit-in sleigh! It was brighter than day there.

23rd Dec day 69 Christmas shopping and prep

This will be a short blog post as shopping definitely is amongst my least favourite things, but not quite as bad as checking my tyre pressures! Once again we had a comprehensive list which we split down into shopping for 1) all of us 2) just Simon and 3) just me. It took ages but we got almost all of it finished which was a very lovely feeling. Thought I would show you one of the many fruit/veg stalls that are around and where most people buy fresh, delicious, locally grown produce much cheaper than in the shops. 

As you can see boysenberries look like blackberries but are much bigger and sweeter.

When all the jobs were done we played Cluedo for the first time with Nicholas and he caught on really quickly. I had bought as well as Pictionary from the sale Carol and the choir organised not long after I arrived £4 for both - bargain.

In the evening Simon went out to Carol's so Nicholas and I had quality time together before he went to bed. Bless her Carol was on her knees, as following her awful food poisoning, she has had to work 12 hour days since the end of term running the Schools Out programme. As a result she wanted an early night so Simon got back by 10pm, which allowed he and I to watch one of my Christmas film traditions - The Holiday. He'd never seen it before and really enjoyed it. 

22nd Dec day 68 Parliament and back to Parkvale

After our last lovely hotel breakfast we walked down to Parliament in order to be there for the first hour long tour of the day. I can't believe I haven't got pictures of the 3 separate buildings that are all linked together by corridors. The oldest is a beautiful Victorian library and archive, the second one is a late 20th century grey and white magnificent marble building that holds the Parliament itself, plus debating rooms and offices (it is currently being cleaned so behind tarpaulin and scaffolding). The newest (and of course the most ugly) is this 1960s monstrosity shown here in the middle, known affectionately as the Beehive. It holds the Prime Minister's and other executive offices, plus a weirdly shaped semi-circular banqueting hall. 

The tour was fascinating but because of very tight security I have no pictures. New Zealand has just a House of Representatives like our House of Commons, they abolished the equivalent of the Lords in the 1970s when they went to a system of proportional representation. I found it fascinating to hear how it works well in practice.

There are 121 MPs made up of 57 which represent the electoral districts and the other 64 are known as List MPs, taken from the 7 political parties, based on the number of votes cast for each party. The operation of Parliament still retains many of the British features e.g. the speaker is generally elected from the party with the highest majority, Sgt at Arms (our Black Watch) carrying in the huge Mace every day when the chamber is in session, Ayes to the right and Noes to the left etc.

 This is Richard John Seddon an immigrant from St Helens England, near where I was born, who came to NZ aged 22 and was elected as an MP aged 39, he went on to become Prime Minister and a widely regarded world leader. His is the only statue in Parliament Sq.

I didn't realise NZ was the first country in the world to give women the vote, it happened on the 19th Sept 1893, although some propertied women had it a short time earlier. There was on display a copy of the 240,000 strong petition that was presented in Parliament to support the vote in favour. It was on a huge roll and apparently, as John Hall was speaking, he stood at the one end of the chamber and suddenly bent down and pushed the roll so hard that it went the length of the room, hitting the other wall with a loud thud. Am sure if petitions were presented so visibly in our Parliament the views of ordinary men and women would be better much more visible.

All British women didn't get the vote until 1928 (propertied women did in 1918) some 35 years later. I love how the pelican crossings around Parliament Sq all have the green as Kate Shepard, the Suffragete who fought to win this vital right for women. Kate later travelled the world speaking to other governments and encouraging Suffragete movements widely.

We were ready for morning tea after all that information so popped into the McDonalds cafe nearby for this tasty snacks before beginning our journey back to 904, which is in the Hastings district of Parkvale. 

It was a terribly grey, wet journey back and it did definitely feel like coming home, especially as Simon and I taught Nicholas the ridiculous 2 songs for the end of journeys we always sang when he and Cheryl were little. They are a Noddy one called 'Coming Home' and then 'For he's a jolly good driver'. 

Philippa called around to see Nicholas and catch up with him. She was delighted with the hand and height card he had also made for her.

21st Dec day 67 Te Papa and Dreamworks

.We left straight after breakfast to get the bus down into the waterfront area of Wellington, we were on our way to Te Papa which is the museum here.

It hosts so many different displays in an enormous building over 6 floors but we particularly wanted to be there for when it opened at 10am, in order to see the Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings fame) exhibition commemorating the First World War struggle for Anzac Cove in Turkey by the NZ and Australian troops.

Immediately you enter the display you are overwhelmed, it's only half lit, there is the sound of gunfire and this superb 12' high life-like model of Sgt Richard Ware as he falls over whilst firing. There 8 of these incredible models which are so realistic, even down to body hair. They bring the whole experience to life. This commemoration lives because it tells of the terrible experience for NZ soldiers but through the lens of the 8 individuals.

The exhibition uses some very clever effects and displays but also a lot of factual information from the diaries of those involved in the action and their letters to and from home. But it is the personal accounts of the 8 lives that draws you in and moves you emotionally. I found this reproduction of Dr Fenwick one of the most moving. His expression shows his despair at the futile loss of, and damage to, young lives. I should think being a Dr in a war zone must be horrendous as you studied and practiced in order to protect and save lives.

This model clearly shows the strength and fitness of Private Jack Dunn who, despite being an accomplished and brave soldier was sentenced to death for falling asleep on duty. He was given a reprieve but disappeared in the height of the battle, so is presumed dead. Because of the terrible damage especially by grenades and shrapnel it was impossible to identify many of the casualties.

This is the only woman in the exhibition her name was Nurse Lottie Le Gallais, she signed up in order to serve near to here brother, who had left home some months previously. She wrote to him regularly but only discovered over 4 months after he had been killed that he was dead, when her letters were returned. 

The whole Gallipoli campaign that this exhibition seeks to explain 100 years on was a disaster and 83% of the NZ troops deployed there were either killed or injured. That's a very high price to pay for a war on the other side of the world, but such was the loyalty of these Commonwealth soldiers that they readily volunteered. It was the first time Maoris had been part of the forces which is exceptional given the terrible treatment they had recently suffered at the hands of the British in the previous generation. 

Do you remember earlier this year the shocking picture of a 3 yr old washed up on a Mediterranean beach? Despite the fact that multitudes of babies, toddlers and young children had died, been injured and traumatised by the Syrian atrocities that single picture helped us to better understand the ongoing horrors for those poor refugees. It's because we can't relate to 1,000,000 refugees coming to Europe this year, it's just too big a problem that we can't get our minds around, but 1 life and bereft family is within our capabilities. And that's what this exhibition achieved.

All 3 of us were rung out by the time we left that part of the museum 3 hours later. It was good to go for lunch and talk through what we had seen and experienced in order to unwind. 

Thankfully one of the other exhibitions was Dreamworks so we viewed that after lunch. It was amazing to see how films like Shrek, Madagascar and Wallace and Grommit were made.

As part of Dreamworks activities the children could use a great computer package to make their own animation which was emailed to them at home. Nicholas decided to do one of a rocket just managing to escape from a planet before it exploded, here it is. Each child had no more than 10 mins so this is impressive, even with some help from his Dad.

We viewed other displays including this a Teremoe, which is a Moari war canoe, built sometime between 1820-1840 and carved from a single tree trunk, it's magnificent.

Before we left we went onto the roof terrace to enjoy a windswept view of Wellington's beautiful Harbour.

We decided to eat before we got the bus home as it was getting late, we enjoyed a yummy Chinese in a very attractive restaurant.

20th Dec day 66 church and zoo

We were up in plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and get to church for the 10am service. Nicholas is loving being here as he has his own keycard and he has been exploring in the hotel including a few lift rides.

We went St Paul's Cathedral which isn't far from the hotel, it looks like it should belong in North Africa with its clay coloured exterior and shaped windows. Inside it is cavernous with the most amazing acoustics. With the entrance of a 30 strong choir, more men than women, the singing was sensational.

There were 2 Ministers, the first one did a children's talk using a big trough of marigolds the little ones had planted as seeds in the spring. He was likening our lives as Christians to seeds growing when we receive the right spiritual nourishment, until we get to a stage when we blossom and radiate His love. Its only then that others will be attracted to Jesus through us.

After the children went to their class the other Minister read and spoke about the passage in Luke 1 vs 39-56 when the newly pregnant, single Mary visits her much older cousin Elizabeth who is about to give birth to John the Baptist. He talked about them having faith that was full of joy despite not understanding what God was doing at that stage. He said God's call is always an invitation, never an imposition, and Mary is a great example of that truth.

This was in the weekly bulletin and I found it helpful.

The windows were all magnificent but I particularly liked this one of Paul on his missionary journeys.

After church we walked down to catch the bus to the zoo but to no avail, as there is no Sunday service so we stopped and had a quick Subway, before coming back to the hotel to collect the car.

Wellington Zoo is a fantastic place and I will struggle to just include a few pictures of the many animals there. I used the rest of the Mitis gift to pay for this outing - thanks guys so much. I am not a fan of animals in captivity but these were cared for extremely well. What I particularly liked was the easy presentation of their information in a format that was appealing to both adults and children. It's this sort of thing e.g. here is Nicholas showing that the length of his hand is roughly the same size as the paw of the Sumartran tiger.

They had some red pandas there, honestly this whole trip has been an education for me, it was black squirrels in Canada, blue herons in Australia and now red pandas - whatever next? These very cute little creatures are about the size of a medium dog, they feed mainly on bamboo (hence they are pandas which means bamboo eater) but the zoo keeper also fed it grapes by hand, so appealing.

My favourite of the day were the phenomenally friendly little kangaroos that hopped around the picnic area where we were sitting!

Nicholas had such a good time because there was so much for him to do. Here he is having climbed to the top of an actual giraffe crate. One of my all time favourite films is Madagascar and the scene when the 4 animals, including Marty the giraffe, are washed up on the beach. Thankfully in real life giraffes are transported with their necks out of the crates, not twisted into the crate as in the film.

There was a small barn with interactive displays to teach children facts about some of the things they eat. All of the displays were very cute but this one is my favourite.

It was a fabulously hot day which meant some animals wouldn't come out of their shelters, can you spot the pengiuns under this boat and someone else in this picture?

One final creature before I move on to the rest of the day - here is a great reminder about the power of advertising .....

The 3 of us were exhausted when we got back to the hotel after doing a lot of walking and a day outside in the sunshine. We spent an hour recuperating with a cuppa before going out for a stroll and something to eat. We ate in McDonalds which was nearby and just opposite the railway station. Here it is dressed for Christmas - ridiculous.

It's been fantastic to be on holiday with the two of them, as opposed to being a part of their daily lives.

19th Dec day 65 Wellington here we come .....

Later this afternoon we are going for my first ever visit to Wellington but before then Nicholas has his friend Ella's birthday party at Ocean Spa. But even before that he and I had a project to do - transferring the height chart and his handprints from the back of the bathroom door onto cards, for both his Mum and Dad. The record of his growth started when the family moved into 904 when Nicholas was just 11 months old and Simon was keen to have it as a permanent record before the door is consigned to a skip during the renovations. 

The first part of the process was for Nicholas to trace around the 5 handprints - now that's a lost art - tracing. Having done that time-consuming part we could trace the hands onto the back of the gold paper, cut them out and stick them onto the red card. He then had to put the dates next to each handprint, inside list the annual height measurements and finally put in his own personal message to his Mum and Dad. The whole process took ages but Simon was delighted with the result and I am looking forward to being there when he gives Philippa her card.

We dropped Nicholas at the pool and then went back to 904 for a yummy, very unhealthy lunch of hot pies and cakes - well it's the hols isn't it? We delivered the car back to Carol's friends who had lent it to us, that was such a blessing. Finally we packed up, collected Nicholas from the party and started the journey of over 4 hours down to Wellington. It's only just over 300 kilometres so in the UK, with our excellent motorway network, would take less than 3 hours. But it has to be said there was no traffic and fabulous views, but at times along windy roads. These pictures certainly don't do it justice but we were moving at speed!

Wellington is on the west coast of the North Island so finally we had a sea view - yay.

The hotel in the city centre is lovely with us sharing a suite that has a twin and a double room, both with their own bathrooms and a lockable adjoining door - perfect for our requirements. We were all tired by the time we went out for dinner and it was cold. Wellington is known as the windy city and that bit of windchill didn't help. So in the event we settled for the nearby Nudel Bar where they did the most delicious Thai food, including of course - noodles. 

18th Dec day 64 shopping, schools out and nativity

We had a busy morning ahead of us so the 3 of us had written a comprehensive list in order to minimise the amount of time we were in the shops. Simon and Nicholas went off for an early haircut in Havelock North whilst I did household jobs. Nicholas had his hair cut with a much lighter fringe as Simon wants him to start applying a product each day to make it look more stylish. As you can see he was pleased with the result.

We began our tasks by going into Meeannee School to help Simon put the bigger items of furniture in place in his new classroom. On the way back to Hastings we called into see Carol, she manages a thriving Schools Out programme in Taradale. We arrived unannounced, I was amazed at how free and happy the kids were. Some were on their scooters outside bombing around the large covered playground with a member of staff encouraging them, some were in the pool having fun and the rest were in the hall doing all manner of activities. There was a large tv area with couches and 4 kids snuggled up under blankets watching a movie. There were 2 areas with laptops and games consoles, a dressing up area and then things to build and make.

The kids below are making scented soaps for Christmas gifts they smelt delicious with orange, lemon and lime scents.

We were then onto our next stage of the almost military operation which included the bank, stationers, K-Mart, The Warehouse and video shop before going to the library. We stopped briefly at the park for some unwind time for Nicholas.

 When all the jobs were done it was McDonalds for a late lunch. Nicholas had a voucher which he was given for taking part in the triathlon, which he needed to spend. Here he is enjoying his well-earned sundae on the way home.

We had some downtime at 904 before Simon went to meet Carol and Nicholas and I went to see a 'Walk Through' Christmas production at Hastings Baptist Church, where he and Philippa attend. It was excellent with the main parts of the story being told/acted out in different rooms and areas of the church. There was humour in it as well and it brought the account alive brilliantly.

It was impressive they had a real sheep and very accommodating pony in the outside area.

We had such fun in the car together singing carols and playing a nonsense game of singing car number plates to the tune of We three kings - as I said nonsense but I used to play it when Simon and Cheryl were little so it had to be done. We had supper and quality time together before he went to bed, just as Simon got home.