Christmas in New Zealand
Merry Christmas from Palmerston North! The weather today is sunny and 22. Lovely day, not too hot, perfect for a traditional Christmas lamb BBQ.
When we first came to NZ in 1996, we spent our first Christmas tenting in Penny Spencer’s back yard in Palmerston North. They have a small 3 bedroom house and at that time they had their 3 boys living at home! This time, they have one son back home temporarily, and one bedroom is converted to an office for Spencer, so we have an AirBnB about 10-15 minutes walk away. Cathy and Penny have been working on Cathys first quilt and in a week and half, Cathy has it pretty much together. Still the border to do, but it’s really quite beautiful. We‘ve done a bit of exploring and had a nice 5K walk in the bush. Found an excellent brew pub within walking (staggering) distance, so all good. While Cathy has been quilting, I’ve been doing a lot of walking, went for a run, and been swimming lengths at the local aquatic centre. The centre has a play pool, 50 meter outdoor pool, and a 25 meter indoor pool And to clear, I’ve been using the 25 meter pool NOT the play pool! There’s a water park out back so it’s a busy place in the summer. We’re near Victoria Park, and there is a long walk along the Manawatū River that I’ve spent a lot of time on. It’s all very low key at this point. I also got to spend some quality time removing an Electronic Toll Card Reader used in Japan from the car. Everytime we started the car, we got this lovely voice telling us there was no ETC card installed. So after a bit of dash dissemembly, I got it out. I did have to unplug an airbag switch and that ended up causing the computer to generate an Airbag Error code. Because this is a VW, you need to have a specialized code reader to clear codes, so the cheap one I bought didn’t work. I tried a few suggested alternatives but no luck so I had to find a mechanic. I did a quick search for a european auto repair and found a place called Pulse Automotive. Stopped in, explaineed my story, and they got one of their mechanics to plug into the car, read and clear the codes, it maybe took 3 minutes. When I asked how much I owed, the manager looked up and said Merry Christmas, no charge!
Cathy’s busy in the kitchen just now making my mom’s coffee cake that I grew up having Christmas morning then we’re off to our friends at 09:00 to begin the Christmas feast. Coffee cake first (with a vegan option for Harry). Brunch is fresh croissant, and dinner is a lamb leg done on the BBQ that I butterflied and has been marinading since yesterday.
May your day be filled with friends and family, and your soul filled with peace!
