Walk at Pukerua Bay

Kapiti Island from Pukerua Bay


Looking south to Mana Island


Cathy climbing up the hill


The sheep ran away whenever we got close


These ones let us get quite close

Cathy at Breaker Bay

Boxing Day walk along the South Coast

Looking across Moa Point to Te Kopahau (hill in the background)


Breaker Bay


Looking south from Breaker Bay


Wellington heads from Fort Dorset

Christmas Day

Christmas Day: (L-R): Heather Roberts, Don Crist, Nigel Roberts, Maryanne Crist, Evan, Cathy, Margaret and Burn Hockey


Pavlova


Christmas eve appetizers meal

Southern highlights

at Lake Manapouri


Mitre Peak at Milford Sound


In Milford Sound


Seals at Seal Point in Milford Sound


A kea at the Homer Tunnel portal

Signs it is nearly Christmas

The pohutukawa are flowering. This is looking southeast across Lyall Bay on Wellington's south coast.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in spring on a Friday (it was Thursday in America).
L-R: Cathy, Pauline La Rooy, Heather, Dave holding Fidel (behind Heather), Nigel

Comments from Cathy:

Springtime menu included leek and mushroom stuffing, field greens salad, asparagus, and new potatoes, in addition to the traditional turkey and cranberry dish. For dessert, I made a Fitch-family favorite, pecan pie. Also, in the Fitch tradition, we had two desserts (maybe unecessary for 6 adults). I made a sweet potato (kumera as they say here) pie that did not impress me (perhaps because I forgot to add 3/4 cup of milk?).

Gathering the ingredients fro the meal was a bit tricky and involved several trips to the grocery store. Canned cranberry sauce and pumpkin were not available, and the search for vegetable shortening (Crisco, for the pie crusts) was also fruitless. Perhaps more challenging was cooking in a new kitchen, searching for pans and tools without completely re-arranging the contents of each cabinet. I was very lucky to be in a well-stocked kitchen (thanks to the Kembers) and I eventually found almost everything I needed.

We forgot to get a photo before dinner -- so you can just imagine the beautiful turkey. (That goes for our guests too since the turkey never made an appearance at the table.)

So Ponsonby

21 November 2008
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb/neighborhood in Auckland that is now gentrifying rapidly. This photo captures its proximity to downtown with the Skytower in the background, but also shows the old Ponsonby with the Railway Lodge

Foxgloves on Tinakori Hill

Wellington