26 December: Monday. Today is Boxing Day. It's name comes from an old English tradition of opening the church charity boxes and distributing the contents to the poor on the day after Christmas. Another round of "see you next time", and we started south to Ohope Beach where we'll stay with Cathy and Max Black for a few days. There is a new toll road, but we opted for the old way which isn't much longer. Once it leaves TePuke, the road goes along the ocean most of the way. We stopped at Thornton Beach and, on the day after Christmas, there were only about fifteen people on the beach! We took a walk for about half an hour and then had our picnic lunch before continuing our drive. We found a traffic jam at the approach to Whakatane, but soon were overlooking the sea on our way down the hill into Ohope Beach. We settled in easily with our friends, and then I took a nap! All the fresh air did me in.

27 December: Tuesday. A sunny but blustery day. Buzz and Max went for a morning walk to the next bay while Cathy and I relaxed, read, and took a short walk to the Ohope shops. In the afternoon, Buzz and I took along walk on the beach. We had the wind at our backs on the way down the beach, but coming back was another story. Walking against the wind can be a chore. We picked up interesting shells along the way, watched a couple of kite surfers, and a guy in a "blow kart" (like a go-cart with a sail) wheeling along the beach. Even though there were a great many people enjoying the beach, it didn't seem crowded.

28 December: Wednesday. This morning we drove to Opotiki with Cathy and Max to go the the local museum. It is a combination of local Pakeha (European New Zealanders) and Maori heritage. It is quite an extensive collection for a small town, and we spent a couple of hours there. I was particularly interested in a photo essay that chronicled the beaching of a pod of 41 whales at Ohiwa Beach in 2010 and a smaller pod in 2014. The photos tell the story from finding the whales to trying to save them, to euthanizing if necessary, taking samples for research, giving the whales a proper burial, and using the blubber from the heads to make whale oil. The photos are beautiful and tell a tragic tale. I made potato latkes in the afternoon, and Anna, Mark, and their boys joined us for a barbecue dinner. Anna was about 16 months old when we met the Black family in 1972.. She was an adventurous toddler, and nothing has changed!

29 December: Thursday. We packed up our belongings and drove to Feiding today with stops in Turangi (for lunch) and Taihape (for second hand shop browsing). Along the road heading to Taupo, the gorse bushes were in bloom. This bush, imported by the English settlers in the mid 1800s and used frequently as boundary hedge, is considered invasive and is often sprayed to try to eliminate it. The flowers, however are beautiful and make quite a splash along the roadside. The weather was cloudy, and it rained intermittently, but Mt. Ruapehu, henceforth referred to as "The Mountain" was fully visible long enough for me to take a few photos. Once in Feilding, we stopped for groceries and made our way to our home for the next five weeks. Incy, the cat, met us with loud wailing when we arrived. We are so fortunate to have this home. Tomorrow we'll check out the farmer's market and see what has changed since we were here nine months ago.

30 December: Friday. We went to the farmers market this morning. The only disappointment was that the woman who sells fresh fish wasn't among the vendors. We bought fruit, veggies, and cheese. On the way back to the car we stopped at the information center, but it was too crowded. We'll go back another day. A stop at the supermarket for fresh salmon and then home.
I cut two nice fillets for our New Year's Eve dinner and used the rest of the salmon for gravlax according to Valerie's directions. We'll see how it turns out. In the afternoon, Buzz went for his "walk around the block". This is a 5.3 mile circuit around Feilding. He found three plum trees and lots of blackberries along the way. I have done something to my back and contented myself with a walk around the neighborhood. Our home is at the top of a steep hill, and I'm not sure I could get back up!  

31 December: Saturday. We went into town to do a few errands. Most shops are closed...some until 4 January. Buzz, ever the big spender, bought a pair of reading glasses at the $1$2$3 Store! We mailed postcards to the kids, and Buzz commented that at NZ$2.20/stamp I should just deliver them when we get home! Buzz worked in Max's workshop, and I read in the afternoon. In the evening we lit the candles of our Chanukkiah for the eighth night, opened a bottle of bubbly to have with our dinner, and toasted the New Year long before midnight!

1 January: Sunday. Happy New Year. As we enter 2017, we wish you and yours and people everywhere health and peace and understanding in the year and years to come.