Wenderholme

Dec. 13

John woke up a little later this morning but as soon as he came out there was a cup of tea ready for him. He said how he was being treated like royalty but Pris disagreed. She said he was being treated like a member of the family.

In the morning Hans wondered if John might like to decorate the Christmas tree. John thought that it might be a lot of fun, so he did. It turned out pretty well and he didn't break any of the ornaments so he considered this a rousing success.

John also videoed the birds outside the kitchen using his tripod and the zoom lens. he fgot some nice shots for Jack. These were included in the video on yesterday's post.

After lunch everyone was a little tired, so they retired to their respective rooms and had a snooze, waking up a little after 3:00pm. Hans and Pris had told John that Wenderholme Park had one of the best stands of Pohutukawa in the area and wondered if he would like to go for a walk. He surely did.

It was not very far away from Puhoi, only about 5 kilometres, but the main part of the trip as far length of time was concerned was getting onto State Highway 1. There was a lot of traffic. Even so they were there within two shakes of a lamb's tail.

It is a very beautiful little park - again on a peninsula. The left hand side of the peninsula as you go in is grassy with many trees, parking lots, grassy areas and barbecue pits for people to use. It was quite busy with lots of families. Some were playing cricket, other just having picnics. Pris took her digital camera and took some shots of flowers with bees visiting them. John took more shots of the scenery.

At the end of the peninsula is a fairly narrow tidal channel that had warning signs about tidal currents but some people haad their children swimming in there. It didn't look dangerous but they don't put signs in places like that for nothing.

As you get to the end of the peninsula the land turns into a beach. There were people fishing and families playing in the ocean water. It must be fairly warm there because it is shallow. John shot video of oyster catchers, dotterels, and seagulls. He also tooks some nice shots of a cliff nearby and the house of the original owners that has been marvellously kept. In the garden was a magnolia tree with huge flowers. On the way home, Hans stopped at a stunning scenic lookoff and Pris shot video of John so he could remember his time here with him in the picture. The video here could not match the beauty of the landscape so I did not put it in the little video.




Then it was back home for dinner - leftovers (John's favourite meal) and something that John had never had before. They were like meatballs made of meat mixed with pineapple and topped by coconut. Delicious! Pris also made a scrumptious salad.

After dinner John and Hans solved a problem with Hans' email so he could send off greetings to friends. Then John joined Pris to watch a British 'made for TV' movie called The 39 Steps. John remembered that his Dad had thought the original 1939 movies was "cracking good." The 2008 version was very well done and well acted but the story was a bit dated and hard to believe. I guess it fitted the earlier times when the original book was written (1913).

As the movie ended, Hans said that he had finished his emails. So the three headed out once again for the spa pool to end another memorable day.

TRB