Summer Part 2

Daryl went back to work on the 11th January, and so the kids and I settled into some type of routine (I use the term very loosely in this case) that usually involved us all getting up late.

The kids spent one day a week for the last 3 weeks at Nana's (Mum R), then Sandra's, then Grandma's (Mum P) so that I could have some uninterrupted work time which was very much appreciated.

So our holidays were winding down, and we were starting to look towards School starting again.

Then came the sad (but not unexpected) news that Nana Rickard had died, the day after her 96th birthday. She had been unwell for some time following a series of small strokes that left her unable to do much at all, and had recently moved from the rest home she had been living in, into a hospital.

The funeral was in Palmerston North last Friday, and so we decided that we would go down for it. Daryl bluntly refused to drive (7 1/2 hours) to Palmerston North... can't imagine why? We had enough airpoints to get us there, although to Wellington rather that PN.

We figured that if we were going to use all these airpoints, we would extend the trip and spend a couple of days in Wellington as well, and take the kids to see Te Papa.

So, we flew out at 8pm Thursday night, arriving an hour later in Wellington. The kids were so excited about flying as the last time they went on a plane was about 4 1/2 years ago.. and they basically couldn't remember it. Kyla giggled hysterically as the plane took off - she thought it was fantastic.

When planning where to stay, we figured we would just stay in Wellingtong overnight, and drive up to PN on Friday morning. This was a great plan, but we couldn't understand why the motels in Wellington were all full on a Thursday night. Turned out AC/DC were playing in Wellington Thursday and Saturday nights.

We ended up booking a motel in Waikanae about an hour north of Wellington.
After picking up a rather comfortable Ford Falcon rental, we drove to Waikanae, arriving there around 10:30 at night.

Friday morning saw us driving the remaining hour to Palmerston North, arriving in plenty of time for the funeral at 1:30. Dad took the funeral and Mum spoke about Nana Rickard as her Mother-in-law. Both of them did very well.

After the funeral and afternoon tea, the relatives met at the Esplanade (a great park in that we spent many hours at when visiting Nana and Grandad Rickard when we were kids). This was a chance for the family to sit and chat while the kids raced around a burned off energy.

The kids loved the Esplanade, with the flying fox coming a close second in the favourites list to this...

The barrel rolls as you run inside it, and as you can see, Daryl enjoyed it too.

Friday night we stayed in Palmerston North, and then drove back to Paraparaumu (about 45 mins North of Wellington).

We stayed in a motel 100m from the beach, and due to the gloriously sunny weather, decided to go for a swim. All was going well, and Daryl and I waded out through waist deep water to a sandbank where the water was only knee deep. Daryl thought he felt a couple of nips to his toes on the way out, but all was well. Kyla followed, and squealed when she also got nipped. She made more screamy noises when we saw a crab (about the size of my outstretched hand) about a meter from us in the shallow water around us.
As we walked around looking for crabs (for Kyla to avoid), a few young asian guys called out from nearby to ask us if we had lost something. We replied that no, we were just looking for crabs. One guy proceeded to bend down, and immediately pick up a crab of a similar size to the one we had seen. We quickly told him that Kyla didn't want to get closer to it.
Braden and Lauren were keen to follow us too, but more screaming and squealing ensued when they too felt the nip of crabs. Needless to say, they decided not to swim out to us, and Kyla decided to swim all the way back in without touching the bottom as Daryl refused to carry her back in. There were lots of people collecting crabs and shellfish as it was low tide. Perhaps we should have noticed this first?

Our plan for Saturday was to catch the train into Wellington, so parked the car at the Paraparaumu train station, and off we went. We had taken jerseys (of sorts) with us, and felt the need to don these at this point. Yesterdays 28-30° had plummeted to 14-16° by the time we arrived in Wellington.

Here are the kids, and their inadequate attire. We were no better ourselves, and are sure that all the locals would have immediately been able to identify us as Aucklanders!

Quote of the holiday goes to Kyla...

"If this is summer, I don't want to come here in winter!"

We raced from shelter to shelter, and eventually arrived at Te Papa, which the kids absolutely loved. I think they all thought the Colossal Squid was the best part of the museum, although they were disappointed that the eye did not appear to be soccer ball sized as the video said. It was truly remarkable.

Also hugely impressive was the skeleton of the Pygmy Blue Whale, which was about 20 meters long, and apparently was still just a teenager at 20 years old.

The cafe at the museum had great coffee and a nice comfortable place to stop and have a rest too.

Sunday night was spent at our fourth motel in as many days, and this one was definitely the best. Raumati Sands Resort serviced apartments, near Raumati beach, only cost us $35 more that the previous motel, and was far better. There was a great pool, which the kids were desperate to go in, so there we were, Sunday evening, rain, air temp around 16°, swimming. Actually it was really nice, and we had a lot of fun before cooking dinner at the motel in the small but fully equipped kitchen. A great place to stay.

This morning, we had breakfast at a cafe overlooking the beach, then drove in to Wellington, marvelling at the low cloud, wondering if the airport would be open. It was, and we are now home, trying to get ready for school and work by tomorrow morning!

The Summer highlights package begins...

It would be completely reasonable for all of you to have assumed that this blog had come to an end due to the lack of updates over the last few months. I hope to remedy this by doing several all at once. This will give you an opportunity to see what we have been up to. Basically, these few postings will be a highlights package of our summer.

Kitekite Falls

We will begin with our New Years eve excursion to Kitekite falls (Clearly there was Christmas and the accompanying madness prior to this, but I can only write so much).
We have taken the kids once before, and this time we were joined by Craig and Sandra (and kids), Jonathan and Lui, Mum and Dad Palmer and Mum and Dad Rickard.
After a 30 minute bush walk from Glen Esk Road near Piha beach, we arrived, all (well, some of us) ready for a refreshing dip in the pool at the base of the waterfall.

There were a few brave souls amongst us, but alas, most refused the offer of a cooling dip.


Just look at Kyla, Sandra and me, luxuriating in the fresh clean water. I don't know why the others refused to join us..... in fact a number of them didn't even venture so close as to get their feet wet! Jonathan on the other hand, could be accused of going overboard, staying in for so long that even half an hour later he still had purple blotches all over his arms. Not sure that is supposed to happen.

Following the swim and return walk, we relaxed (warmed up) in the sunshine, had a picnic lunch, followed by a stop for coffee at the Piha Cafe, where we marvelled at the fact that there had been a huge fuss about whether the owners were allowed to build a cafe there or not. Basically from the outside it looks like a bach, and in fact, does inside too, with mismatched chairs and tables, several different types of light fittings, and cupboards made from old fruit packing boxes. The coffee was really good too. We recommend stopping there if you happen to be in the area.

Rangitoto Island

It is not possible to live in Auckland without knowing where Rangitoto is, and so on Thursday 5th January, we set out to scale the heights of this distinctive landmark. A 25 minute ferry ride takes you to the base of the island, and then it is all up to you. Well, there is actually a train that can take you up to the summit, but really, that is cheating!

The online guides say that it is a 1 hour easy walk to the summit, and that was about right for us. A few stops along the way so that the kids could marvel at the volcanic rocks (lava rocks as they liked to say), and a few stops to take shelter from the sun and have a drink, and we arrived.


There is an old gun bunker/building on the summit, and the top of this is higher than the ground, so obviously it was the place to be. Once the summit had been conquered, it was time to head partway down to the shady clearing where Dad R had been guarding our belongings. Here was obviously the best place for a picnic as there were several other groups enjoying the cool provided by the surrounding trees.

Trees, however, are not just for shading people, as this monkey proves.

Braden loves to climb trees, and clearly has no concept of what will happen if he falls out of one. As you can see, he also does not need side branches to climb a tree provided the trunk of the tree is not too thick.

After lunch, it was time to head down, with a side trip to see the lava caves. The kids had a great time in these, using their new head torches to navigate their way through, and even leading some other kids through (who did all return safely).

Lauren managed to find a ride down for the last part of the descent, on the "Daryl-mobile". This is steered by the ears, much as you would steer a bike.

Much fun was had by all.

It has been a while...

Oops, so much for regular blogs about what is happening here and the new recipes I have been trying. There have been lots of new recipes, I just forget to take photos of the food until about half way through the meal... then it doesn't look quite as good any more! I promise that it will happen eventually.

One of the meals I don't have photos of is Paella. We bought a paella pan back before Andrew visited, and made our first Paella when he was here. It was very tasty, and we have made it a couple of times since with equally good results. The pan fits enough for our family plus 2 extra adults, and it makes for a very easy and yummy meal for guests as it is an all in one meal. We have recently bought another Paella pan (they are actually not very expensive), big enough to fit food for 10 people, so plan to cook Paella for Craig and Sandra + their sproglets. Perhaps then I will manage to remember about the photos.

But there is more to life than food.

A couple of weeks ago the kids had Ag Day (Agriculture Day) at school. Basically this consists of each child having 4-9 different projects they have to get ready at home during the week and then assemble at school on the Saturday. We have decided to rename it Ag Week in reference to the amount of time that is necessary to prepare for it.
We ended up raiding Grandma and Grandad's garden for flowers for some of the items as we have noticed that our own garden is sadly lacking in anything with colour, consisting mainly of grasses and shrubs. I have decided that this needs rectifying, and so over the course of the next year will aim to add some plants that do interesting things.

The kids did well at Ag day with Kyla receiving 3 first places plus numerous 2nd, 3rd and highly commended certificates, and Braden and Lauren with 1 first each plus other placings. Bamboo from the aforementioned Grandparents was very useful for all 3 kids, aiding in first placings for both Kyla and Lauren, and Braden's Pumpkin carriage and horse shaped ginger root with asparagus reins was another first place.
And so it is done for another year. Yay!

Work for me continues to come at a steady pace, generally speaking this means a project to prepare the working drawings for, then a break of a couple of weeks, then another project.....
So, the house gets cared for and neglected in a fairly regular pattern. It is looking reasonably likely that it will be in a cared for stage when Andrew and Sonia arrive, although it is always a battle between the kids and I as to whether it will remain clean.

That is probably enough rambling for now, I have a bit of work to do to complete another set of plans, and then the aforementioned caring for the house which is definitely in a neglected state at the moment.

Soccer season comes to an end.

Well, we won't know what to do with ourselves on weekends as the soccer season has officially ended (apart from one more tournament for Braden tomorrow), freeing up our Saturdays after months of watching Soccer all day.


Prizegiving was held today, and the Palmers featured well in the dishing out of awards with Lauren taking the Player of the year for the Groovy Girls and Kyla being named Sportsperson of the Year for the Eagles. Both were well deserved and very well received.


Following the prizegivings today, we are due to head off to the Mavericks (Braden's team) end of season do, with a plate of finger food. This became a good opportunity to try making something a little different. Here is what we are taking:

These are from an idea that I saw while looking at cooking websites, and really appealed as a bit of a fun dish. They are in fact cupcakes rather than burgers, and are made from plain cupcakes with a slice of chocolate brownie for the meat patty, with red icing for tomato sauce and yellow for cheese slices. Sesame seeds on the top complete the look. Hopefully the kids won't find them too weird to eat.



Other things that have been happening lately?
Well, further to my last blog entry about Kyla and cross country running, she went to the Norwest regional event where she placed 5th. She was thrilled with this, and it meant that she was also selected for the Norwest team entering the Auckland Champs. This was held in Pukekohe and is for teams from right across the greater Auckland area. Kyla placed a very commendable 32nd in her race (there would have been over 100 in her race), beating Daryl's school days effort of 33rd! She was very happy with that.

Well done Kyla!





I am still making nearly all our own bread, and one day while making rolls for lunches, thought I would try something a bit different for my own lunch.
It involved a small baguette, which I then pressed a wooden spoon handle into to form a groove.










Into this groove went basil pesto, halved cherry tomatoes, then a sprinkling of grated mozzarella, which was baked until it looked like this:












Very yummy, and I will do it again, hopefully in a few weeks it will be my own homegrown cherry tomatoes and maybe even pesto from home grown basil!

Yes, we are still alive!

It has been a month since I last posted, and a busy one at that.
In the past month....

I sprained my ankle helping Daryl move a kitchen cabinet at his parents house, turned out it was a bad sprain too, and 3 1/2 weeks later the swelling has still not completely disappeared. At least I had plenty of work to do, so didn't get bored.

Our dishwasher is working again. You may think this is an odd thing to mention, but it has taken a month of trying for the repairman to finally get it sorted! I was beginning to get cross. It has been VERY frustrating, especially so while I was on crutches due to the aforementioned sprained ankle.

The Prelude is gone, after a very fast Trademe auction where 3 people were trying to do the buy now at the same time. They even drove it away, which we thought was brave considering it's refusal to go over about 50km/h. Now only another 2 weeks to muddle through before Daryl gets his new car.

Kyla is running in the Norwest Schools cross country next Thursday after placing 3rd in her school event, and 6th in the Kaipara Schools cross country last Monday. She is very excited, and would love to make it through to the Auckland Champs as last year she would have qualified for this had she been year 7 instead of 6.

Braden received a certificate today for his result in the ICAS Science Exam, this is the current version of the New South Wales tests we used to sit. He received a High Distinction placing him in the top 1% of his year group across NZ- an impressive result.

We are down to the last 2 weeks of soccer games, which will then free up our Saturdays! As Spring seems to be springing early, there will be plenty to do around the house.

My efforts at cooking new recipes have been pretty much non-existent over the last few weeks, but tonight inspiration struck.... although it was a combined effort this time between Daryl and me.
We have, on a couple of occasions, gone to a Spanish Tapas Cafe in Albany called Bolero. They have a great menu that we have shared various item from, and the kids really enjoy it too. Our favourite desserts are Creme Catalana (like Creme brulee) with Raspberries and
Churros con Chocolat.
After browsing the net for a recipe, we tried making Churros tonight, and they were sooo good.
Basically these are deep fried dough (a very simple dough made of flor, hot water a tablespoon of oil, and a little salt and sugar. They are sprinkled with Cinnamon and sugar while hot, and dipped into a rich chocolate sauce to eat. Yum!

Public Transport

Well, the prelude is dead, or very nearly so. Daryl decided one day last week that it would be okay to drive it to work, and the pleas of wife and daughter went unattended. He drove out the driveway, and we watched him go, shaking our heads and wondering why he thought it was a good idea to drive it to work when it clearly wasn't working properly.
Two minutes later, a very sheepish Daryl appeared back home, and informed us that the car had refused to change out of first gear, and thus couldn't go any faster than 40km/h. He had managed to turn around in a side street along the road and drive home.
Kyla and I did an admirable job of not looking smug or saying "I told you so".

So, one car down, and kid's after school activities means that Daryl has joined the users of Public Transport. I am sure he is really enjoying the ridiculously long travel times. Today he discovered that the bus he had taken (to meet us down at the pool for kids swimming lessons) went via Glendene... not exactly direct.

This foray into bus and train travel is set to last for a while however, as he has decided to buy a Mazda 6 from a workmate who is leaving to return to Ireland. The catch is that she doesn't leave for another 6 weeks, so it is just as well Daryl is good at sleeping on trains and buses, as he is set to spend a great deal of time on them in the next 6 weeks. The kids were a little concerned to hear that he sleeps on the bus/train as the fear he will sleep too long and miss his stop completely. We have reassured them that he cannot really end up too far away from home, and will be fine.

I have yet to make a new dish this week (I have done lots of variations on tdishes I have done before but don't think that counts), so will have to get organised as we are out tomorrow (home group) and Saturday night (Family birthday celebration for Jordan), so I suppose inspiration will have to strike on Friday. Watch this space.

Oops, this one is a bit late

Well, this is actually the new recipe for last week, but I didn't actually make it till tonight.

We have been busy the last week or so. The kids are on holiday, and last week was spent amusing them so they didn't kill each other. We went swimming, roller blading from Mission Bay around to Okahu Bay, and spent part of a day with Nana as the power supply company were supposed to be replacing a transformer and this would leave us without power (and therefore running water) for most of a day. The power company did not manage to do this replacement however (due to weather) so we will have the same problem another day I suppose.

Today, Kyla, Braden and Lauren had their first day of Soccer. They will be at the soccer coaching Monday to Thursday this week, and it runs from 9am to 1pm. Daryl decided to take today off work as his car has been playing up, refusing to go into 4th gear and flaring when it goes over 60km/hr which clearly is a problem when SH16 has a spped limit of 100km/hr. We took his car to a mechanic specialising in Automatic gearboxes, and it appears the news is not good. Now we have to figure out what to do as clearly it is difficult for him to get to work without a car. His choices are limited to a 1 1/4 hour bus trip, 1 1/4 hour train trip or 1 1/4 bike ride. No fast option.

Anyway, after picking up the kids from soccer, we asked if they were tired, (apparently they were not) and gave them the choice of going to Muriwai beach, or mountain biking at Woodhill Forest. They opted for the mountain biking option. We chose the beginners trail, which was only 6km long. It took us 48 minutes, (actual riding time) and by the end Lauren was pretty much shattered. They all enjoyed it a lot, and are keen to make it a regular activity. This is probably going to happen, as on Friday night (with Rebekah and Jeremy Opie visiting) I committed to joining Rebekah and Katie (Jeremy's cousin) as the third member of their team for the Day-Night Thriller . This should be lots of fun, and a good incentive for me to get a bit fitter.

After the fantastic effort put in by all three kids, we came home to have dinner of chilli (meat and vegetarian options) with wraps, salad and corn chips. Having had that many times before, it was clear the new recipe would need to be dessert. Yum.
Last night we were watching Iron Chef America (a slightly over dramatic cooking show, but it still fun to watch) on the Food Channel. One of the dishes put forward by the winning chef consisted of bruleed figs, with mascarpone cheese and sweet biscuits. This looked really good (except the figs which we have tried once and were not inspired by) and the chef mentioned that the dish would be just as good done with almost any kind of fruit. I decided to try this with Tamarillos, there is not really a huge variety of fruit in season at the moment, and the supermarket in Waimauku is fairly limited in it's range.


Dish of the week
Bruleed Tamarillos with Vanilla Mascarpone and Sponge Finger Biscuits. The mascarpone (thinned slightly with milk and flavoured with vanilla) had a sweet balsamic drizzle, however the flavour of the balsamic was overtaken a bit by the Tamarillos. The sugar caramelised on the fruit worked okay, but the Tamarillos were quite juicy, so the crust of toffee was not as obvious as it would have been on something like peach or nectarine. The sponge finger biscuits were good- really nice and crispy and a great contrast to the creamy mascarpone and tangy fruit.
The verdict- very tasty, but would be even nicer with peach or nectarine. Oh well, summer is only 6 months away.