A New Baby Boy in the Family!!

Today my sister Janine (& her partner Paul) gave birth to their first child, a baby boy!

It is a great day for them both and of course my parents as it is their third grandchild and my grans 11th great grandchild, yes it is official I do come from a big family!!

Little "Jamie Charles Gray Veitch" (what a mouthful) weighed in at 7 pounds which I'm told is what I weighed at birth, lets hope he doesn't have too many other similarities!



So congratulations to them both.

Journey's End: London

Today my holiday in New Zealand came to an end; I just can't believe how time flew. Over the last two weeks we drove 3,000km around the North Island, saw some beautiful places and I had the opportunity to meet Blair's family and friends.

27 hours of planes and airports later I am now back to chilly London feeling very sad for all that I left behind but also knowing that I will visit again soon (as soon as I can convince myself to get on a plane again that is). So watch this space!

Blair:
Despite Grigoria only gracing our land for 16 days, we worked out that actually it was the longest continuous stretch of time we have spent together to date.
Although the holiday went fast, which I guess is a reflection on the great time we had together, I have a feeling that we’re going to see each other again very soon……

Victoria Park Market, the Sky Tower, the Domain, DaVinci and the bays

Last time I was in Auckland, two weeks ago, I was so tired from my trip here that after 6pm I was pretty much ready to sleep. Today was the opportunity to see what Auckland really had to offer!

Our first stop was the Victoria Park Market, the younger and smaller sibling of Camden Town, which is housed in the old Auckland incinerator. Cute as the market was it was nothing in comparison to our next destination: the Auckland Sky Tower! At 328 meters it dominates the city landscape and is indeed one of the main symbols of the city. Conquering our fear we ventured up to the observation deck (192 meters) where the 360 degree views of the city just took our breath away! http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/

Despite the views we were glad to be on firm ground once more and headed to the Domain (one of the old volcanoes in Auckland) for a picnic and a visit to the Auckland Museum which housed an exhibition on the DaVinci machines. The exhibition was great fun as at least half of the exhibits were interactive and you could see exactly how they worked! It is amazing to think how little some things have changed over the centuries. The founding principles of mechanics, hydraulics and even flying were known and used since the Renaissance.

With the cultural part of the day over we decided to drive towards the North East side of Auckland, to Mission Bay; the home of Auckland’s rich and famous. Although not more than 20 minutes drive from the city centre you could easily believe you are in a sea resort full of bathers and ice cream parlours!

The end of the road trip: Tauranga and back to Auckland

After almost two weeks on the road it was time for us to start heading back to Auckland. We took a slightly different road to the one we used on our way down. We followed the dessert road (where nothing much grows and the NZ army uses it as a training ground!) to the other side of Lake Taupo, where we had lunch, and in the early afternoon we arrived in Tauranga where we were going to spend the night. Tauranga is situated on the Pacific coast and is famous for its beaches and its waves which attract surfers from all over New Zealand. In the evening we caught up with Dylan, an old friend of Blair’s, who showed us around the town and was kind enough to see a million of our photos on Blair’s laptop without even complaining!

On Friday morning we drove the final 200km to Auckland. After a brief moment of bemoaning the end of our wonderful road trip we set off for Albert Park, a beautiful park in the middle of Auckland, which was full of stalls and a stage in preparation to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

The Road trip: Day 10 Wellington showers and back to Greytown

“You can’t beat Wellington on a good day” or so the local saying goes. I only appreciated the glorious weather we enjoyed yesterday when I woke up this morning with the sound of the pouring rain. No worries I thought, it will ease off. Unfortunately my weather prediction skills proved a bit rusty and the whole day was a constant shower.

With not much more left to do in Wellington in the rain we set off to visit Blair’s sister. Janine is expecting her first baby in the next couple of weeks so it was very exciting to see her! Best of luck Janine and Paul!
In the late afternoon we braved the torrential rain and set off for Greytown, one last visit before we head back to Auckland. A huge dinner later and it was time to take the Gray 1935 tractor out for a spin. Despite the inappropriate attire and my complete lack of driving skills I still managed to keep the tractor out of the puddles and onto the grass much to the amusement of Blair and his dad. All in all a very exciting day out

The Road trip: Day 9 Wellington and friends

Today was our first day in Wellington, the capital city. Wellington is built on the hills of Wellington harbor. It is blessed with great views but also usually suffers from the strong winds coming from then southern ocean.

In terms of architecture, the capital is a mixed city. There are lovely beach houses situated right next to 1970’s tower blocks and the roads are wide but steep. Although the central business district is not necessarily attractive the suburbs around the harbor can be as pretty as a picture.

After huge breakfast at the chocolate fish café we headed to the Te Papa museum. Te Papa is New Zealand’s foremost museum and it contains a wealth of artifacts ranging from New Zealand’s Maori culture to modern art and inventions. It is difficult to describe all that we saw and experienced there; suffice it to say that I could spend a whole week in that museum and still want to go back!

In our first evening in Wellington we tried to catch up with a number of friends. Shaun and Sue, and their little boy Nicolas, had us over for a great BBQ. This was followed by tea at Nick and Helen’s beautiful house on the Melrose hill until late into the night. Although it was lovely to see them all we couldn’t help but wish that we had a bit more time to spend with them.

Blair: Shaun I’ve known for 16 years or more so it was nice to introduce Grigoria to them and catch up on their / our lives. Nick & Helen are friends I’ve known from both NZ and London so it was great to compare travel stories.

The Road trip: Day 8 Seals, Cape Palliser Bay and the Putangirua Pinnacles

I had been looking forward to today for quite a while now. I have never seen seals before in my life and Cape Palliser, the southernmost point of the North Island, is one of the few places you could see them sunbathing in New Zealand!

The road to Cape Palliser follows the coast line and on our way to discover the seals Blair’s dad spotted
some movement in the water. After a closer
inspection we realized that the movement was a
pack of dolphins!
After we followed them a bit from the car
we finally arrived to a part of the shore where two dozen seals were sunning themselves! It was a lovely sight seeing all these creatures coming in from the water, moving in their funny way and scratching, something they seem to be very fond of!

Our next destination was the lighthouse on the tip of Cape Palliser.
The lighthouse is perched on the top of the hill, its light can been seen 45km away, with 258 steps leading up to it. I have to admit the staircase to the lighthouse was quite scary but the view from the top was certainly worth it!

516 steps later and we were ready to head to the
Putangirua Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are rock formations created by the flow of a river. The river is no longer there (at least not in its previous massive volume) so one can walk up the old river bed. It is amazing what nature can create. At its most elaborate point the rocks on each side of the river bed almost looked liked the sides of a cathedral
towering around us. An unforgettable sight!


Blair: As a child I had been out to the Pinnacles once before and had also seen a painting of the lighthouse but never once been there. The seals were truly a fantastic sight, seeing roughly 50 – 100 seals sunbathing on the rocks
were just amazing.

The Road trip: Day 7 A bit more of Greytown

After a fairly busy week sightseeing we decided to spend a quiet Sunday and cook dinner for Blair’s mum and dad as a small thank you for their wonderful hospitality.

The day turned out to be excellent fun. Roslyn and Cameron (Blair’s niece and nephew) came over and not only let Blair win at four square (ball court game) but they also were brave enough to try the concoction (I meant dinner) we cooked for them!

Blair: This was also the first time Grigoria meet my brother (Paul) & his wife (Liza) when they delivered the children in Paul’s NZ Post courier truck.
As I have my heavy traffic (learner) licence I was intrigued with Paul’s current truck and managed to steel a short drive in it, not before scaring my family & Grigoria with a blast on the air horns!

The Road trip: Day 6 Martinborough and Greytown

The first Saturday in February and March Martinborough, a wine producing town in the Wairarapa, hosts its annual fair. It is always a packed affair with stalls from all over the region, and beyond, selling a whole host of goods. Blair had never visited the fair before so it was a new experience for both of us.

A couple of hours later, armed with our newly purchased carrot pickle (!), we returned to Greytown for a light lunch. Even before I came to New Zealand I spotted in the guide book a reference to the “Main Street Deli”, a delicatessen shop and café in the middle of Greytown. I knew I had to visit! Well, dear readers you will be glad to know that the Deli lived up to its name, so after a not-so-light lunch and a bit of a sunstroke we managed to rolled back to Blair’s parents’ house.


In the evening Blair’s parents took us out to a lovely Italian restaurant, Salute, where once again the food was fab and I just could not resist eating a bit too much! (Can you spot the food theme emerging from this trip?!)

The Road trip: Day 5 Hastings, Mount Bruce and Greytown!

If yesterday’s theme was Art Deco today’s certainly was food! Our first destination was the Silky Oak Chocolate Shop for breakfast. Learning my lesson (my poor Davenport chocolates melted into a little pool because I left them in the car) I devoured all my chocolate on the spot! Then we were off to the Squirrel’s Pantry, the cutest little shop at the end of a orchard where you could get any type of marmalade or preserve you could ever imagine!

After getting lost a couple of times (I blame it on the map!) we finally found our way to Arataki Honey, New Zealand’s largest honey producer. Apart from a shop, where you could buy honey and honey based products, they have also created an extensive interactive centre where one can learn everything about honey and bees, from the flowers to the extraction process.

On our way to Greytown we stopped at Mount Bruce bird reserve, one of the few places you could see kiwi birds! Unfortunately by the time we got there all the kiwis were asleep in their nests (you could see in a night cam) but we did got to see some kaka birds as well a number of rare plants and trees.







An hour later we arrived in Greytown, Blair’s home town. On our way to Blair’s parents’ house we stopped at Blair’s dad’s development. His dad and mum showed us around; the wood structure is now almost in place and Blair’s dad is currently working on the roof. After being introduced to Sam the dog and Ginger the cat we sat down for dinner (and a great dessert!) and then went for a walk across the town.

The Road trip: Day 4 More Napier

The weather so far has been very kind to us, not too hot but pleasantly sunny with a bit of a breeze. Our luck today ran out and we woke up to a grey sky and rain. Being an adopted Londoner I immediately felt at home and was ready to “grab the day by the horns” as Blair would have it!

After a brief trip to the supermarket for food supplies we headed to the Art Deco shop (housed in the old Fire Brigade building) to get a driving map of all the major Art Deco buildings in the area. Our first destination was Bluff Hill, the highest point in Napier were you can look across the other side of the Bay.

Next up was the National Tobacco Company at the south side of Napier. This was one of the most beautiful Art Deco buildings I have seen and the fact that it was only meant to be a factory entrance made it even more unique. Once again, as a result of the earthquake in 1931 the outer walls of the National Tobacco Company had to be rebuilt. Despite being in the middle of the economic depression Tobacco proved to be a steady source of income and no expense was spared on the new design. The result was an opulent entrance that would not look out of place in an opera house.

Next we drove through Napier’s art deco suburbs and finally headed for the promenade by the sea where the Masonic Hotel, the Sound Shell theatre, the Tom Parker fountain as well as the statue of Pania of the Reefs were situated.






After our cultural tour of Napier it was time to investigate exactly how good Hawke’s Bay wine is! There is a plethora of wineries near Napier but we decided to go to Mission Estate, the oldest winery in the area. The winery was originally run by priests and the main estate used to be a seminary. We were fortunate to get there in time for the tour of the cellars and the grounds and once again the earthquake was pivotal for the development of the Estate. With the tour over it was time to taste the wine in style! Blair had the Merlot and I tried the Riesling (as well as half of Blair’s Merlot – he was driving so I kindly helped out!) and we both devoured a huge wine platter overlooking the vineyards below!