Tuesday, February 7: Hard to believe, but it rained again! We had a quiet morning, drove in to Petone to do a bit of shopping..protected by store awnings except for crossing the street...thank goodness for rain jackets. In the afternoon, we rested and watched the rain from the cozy chairs in the Ross living room.

Wednesday, February 8: Sunshine!!!! We packed a picnic lunch and went to Wellington with Phyllis and Darcy for a tour of the Botanic Garden. The roses and begonias were particularly beautiful. A walk through the gardens and uphill on a path brought us to the top terminal of the Wellington cable car. It has been running since 1902. We took a round trip ride, and then continued our walk downhill and back to the car. We ate our picnic lunch across from the rose garden, and then drove through the narrow, twisting, hilly streets of Wellington to the Otari-Wilton Native Plant Reserve. Here, on the edge of urban Wellington is an oasis of native plants. We walked on some of the trails until they got too steep for me. On the way back to Pine Haven we took a drive to Wainuiomata just north of the city. The chief attraction is the view from the top of the Wainuiomata Hill Road. There, before us, was the panorama of the Hutt Valley, Wellington, the harbor and Cook Strait...And the sun was shining. In the evening we went to an excellent Thai restaurant in Upper Hutt.

Thursday, February 9: More sunshine!!! This morning I made a boiled dinner in the crockpot...corned beef, cabbage,carrots, and potatoes for our dinner tonight. Buzz, Darcy, and I went to check out some shopping and the Upper Hutt Library while Phyllis baked at home. Lunch al fresco on the deck. Then Darcy taught Buzz how to bone a whole chicken which he then stuffed with a savory stuffing and cooked on the BBQ. In the afternoon, Buzz and Darcy put up the new drapes in the lounge (living room). Phyllis helped, and I stayed out of it! I caught up on email, consolidated our stuff, made a few phone calls home, and we Skyped (is that a verb?) with Heather and Robyn. Afternoon tea on the deck. There is a resident Tui in their trees, but he never shows himself long enough for me to get a good photo. Dinner on the deck. Soaking up all the sunshine we can.

Friday, February 10: We awoke to a misty, overcast morning, had breakfast, packed up the car, said our reluctant good byes and headed for Korokoro to collect Cathy for the trip back to Feilding. We stopped to have a cup of coffee with her sister, Robyn, who we haven't seen since we lived in NZ 38 years ago. On the way north we stopped in our usual haunts (antique and junk shops) and had lunch in a lovely gardencenter cafe. We took some back roads we had not previously traveled and were rewarded with some spectacular scenery. At the cafe, the sparrows hover close by and swoop in to eat any bits left on empty plates before the waitstaff have a chance to retrieve them. Back in Feilding we unpacked the car, reorganized our stuff which seems to be growing exponentially but in reality is just spreading out because we have the space in the car, and had dinner: veggies from Cathy's garden and the cold boned chicken roll Buzz and Darcy made.

Saturday, February 11: Just a relaxing day. I did the laundry, caught up on my personal journal, read a book, had a nap, and made a frittata out of last night's dinner leftovers for tonight's dinner.

Sunday, February 12: The sun was shining this morning. We had a skype chat with Laura and Zev this morning. He is so cute and very intrigued by the Skype video. Actually I think he is more interested in seeing himself than in seeing us!! We then set off for a trip to Ohakune which is at the bastrof Mt. Ruapehu. We drove first along the main highway to Wanganui and then turned off onto the Wanganui River Road which is a 64K ( 38mi) gravel, mostly one lane road. The scenery is spectacular. It took about two hours to drive from the Wanganui end to Raetahi where the raod is paved again. The road from Raetahi to Ohakune is paved but still winding and hilly. We arrived in Ohakune and had our picnic lunch in a park. Ohakune is a ski resort town; so it was pretty quiet on a Sunday afterrnoon in mid summer. We checked in to our motel and then drove the 20K up the mountain road to the Turoa Ski Area. I had been there with Laura in 2003...in the snow. It looks very different in the summer. The land is really barren and covered with the detritus of volcanic action. We took a few photos, and, on the way down the mountain picked up a nice scoria rock for Cathy's garden. Buzz was impressed that I had driven that road in winter. We stopped at the grocery and bought some steaks and veggies for dinner. I was asleep just after 9:30 PM!

Monday. February 13: The newscasters are calling this the summer that wasn't in NZ. We awoke to another gray, mosty day. It did not deter us from finding another back road to take us south. We followed the Turakina Valley Road through some beautiful farmland to Hunterville. Again the road is gravel and one lane. There were many places along the way where there had been washouts. The road workers keep these well marked, it just means that you have to slow down to 10kph from the usual 35kph on these roads. From Hunterville we got back on the main road and stopped just outside Feilding to have our picnic lunch near the river. We arrived in Feilding around 1:30, and unpacked the car when I realized we had been using our blanket on the picnic seat and hadn't taken it with us. Buzz went back to look for it, and, once again, a kind kiwi had rescued us, taken it in out of the rain and was holding it for us.