My week in pictures

Kerrey and Paul's Wedding

2012-03-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were honoured to be invited to the wedding of Kerrey Lewis and Paul Garvie at Gantleys Restaurant. It was a gorgeous wedding and the rain held off until later. Everyone looked happy and the bride was beautiful - she wore an amazing dress that even had pockets! There was a piper and many men in kilts; the food was excellent; there was plenty of bubbles; topped off with dancing and much merriment.

CJD - among the wedding guests

Mr Faulkner

Alan Alan Al and Him Outdoors look shifty

What to wear when you're not sure to go full hat or not...

To tree or not to tree... Sonya is undecided

Family portrait

Morgan the Mad Frenchman

Waiting, waiting...

No, that's not her...

Jane, the 'best woman'

Here she comes!

Leading them back down the aisle

The happy (just-married) couple

'I've pulled!'

And then the boys played some tunes as the photos were taken and the official stuff was done.

The running, drumming Simon Green

Little bits of Lyttleton

2012-03-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Twelve months on from the earthquakes, Lyttleton is still full of piles of rubble,remaining scaffolding-clad buildings and hastily cobbled together containers. It all makes for a curious atmosphere that seems to suit sombre black and white photography.

Great Kiwi Beer Festival

2012-02-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

Friends and I went to the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in Hagley Park in Christchurch. The event was completely sold out (9,000 tickets) and it seemed as though a good time was had by all. There were 33 craft breweries selling their wares, and many food stalls as well.

Apparently there was music too, and some people just came for the bands. Others came for a good day out in the sun where they could spend time with friends and not worry about anything until the next day. And the sun shone on us all - God likes beer!

It was quite quiet to begin with before the crowds arrived and we were able to casually stroll up to whichever beer tent we liked (not to mention split our infinitives willy-nilly)...

I was taking notes and photos and still managed to carry beer without spillage - and I thought I couldn't multi-task! I could even read my notes later and have typed them up on Kate's blog for your edification.

Ginger Jerry by Wigram proved to be one of my favourite beers of the festival

We stopped by to say hello to the good people at Arrow Brewery. We didn't imbibe any of their lovely brews, although we know that they are lovely because we live just down the road and drink them frequently. I do reckon they had the best stall though, and I also like the nifty use-again packaging!

Him Outdoors stopped for a chat with Mr Mike of Mike's Mild fame. Their brewery is the oldest one here (at 23 years strong).

The Brew Moon lady saw us standing alone

I heart hops

One of 'our lot'

Him Outdoors looks serious

They start them young at the Twisted Hop

random people drinking

Wide Boy Steve - He Likes Beer

Witch 3 - She doesn't, but we're working on it

There was music...

And laughter...

The bacon butty girls

And happy ever after...

WBS is starting to look a bit like Bez from The Happy Mondays

Another one of 'our lot'

When you've got a camera, random strangers pose for a picture - I can hardly disappoint now, can I?

I've no idea who these people are

or these ones

I was impressed with the mixture of clientelle. By which I mean there were folk of all ages (over 18 of course), and lots of women as well as men - women drink beer too, you know!

The Black Seeds, apparently

Happy hoppy people

Getting towards the end of the day, as you can tell...

Time to go home

Sevens With Altitude

2012-02-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

Last month, Queenstown hosted the national Sevens 'With Altitude', and, once again, the weather was stunning. If anything it was almost too hot as there is little shade at the ground, and we had to go and find some air-conditioning at one point. That's not a big complaint; that would be churlish - the rest of the event was generally excellent.

I'm afraid I don't actually know who most of these players (or even teams) are - but here are some pictures of the action on the second day.

The Southland jersey I do recognise

Likewise Taranaki

Otago and Canterbury

Otago played (and narrowly lost to) Auckland in the final. They lined up on the pitch before the match and they were joined by the Sevens With Altitude committee and Scooter's parents, for an emotional minute's silence.

Scooter put a lot into organising this event and loved watching the game. This year's tournament was dedicated to him, 'now looking down from the best seat in the house'. Hope you enjoyed it Scoot - I miss you every day.

Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon

2012-02-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

Another of Adrian Bailey's events, the Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon was on last weekend. Him Outdoors ran it, and I took photos and manned a drink station at the halfway point. This meant I got driven through some of the most beautiful scenery to Ben Lomond Lodge where we spent the night and were treated to some fabulous hospitality from the wonderful Foster Family.

John Foster on the barbecue, cooking up the 'most expensive sausages you'll ever eat' - made from pure merino sheep!

Him Outdoors 'entertains' Mr Faulkner and CJD

Talking about the route...

It was an early start the next morning as the competitors were taken to the start of the race by helicopter.

And then the runners started to arrive...

Martin Cox, the eventual winner

Runners emerging at the top of the ridge

CJD looking sexy

Him Outdoors hopes that his calf holds up to the terrain...

...and wonders if beer is considered a performance drink

Runners arriving thick and fast...

Louisa Andrew - 2nd lady (I missed the first one)

Mr Faulkner

Harald Ulriksen

Wasting way too much energy!

It's not like Cairns, apparently

Bringing us sunshine...

...the Born to Runners

Is this the finish? Yes, of the first half!

Look at all these clearly mental people, still smiling. Haven't they seen a map of the course? It's all uphill from here!

Polly Buchanan

Aha, someone knows what's in store...

Him Outdoors and CJD skip across the finish line after five and a half hours - okay, maybe not skip as such!

Backstage moments

2012-02-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

Some 'backstage' shots from the season of Greed, Galmour and Grudges: Tales of Gold prove the beauty of the setting (and, of course, the wonderful cast!).

Director, Tiffany Menzies

Belinda Fraser

Canvas town levitates!

An interested spectator

Melanie Grindell

Nicole Graham and Ailsa Williamson

The cast as spectators

Nicole Graham

Jane Robertson

Sarah Bogle

Paul Halsted

Tiffany Menzies

Ailsa Williamson and Eamonn McNicholas

Zelia Horrell, Jane Robertson and Samuel Farr

The weather was pretty chilly for our first night of performances so the cast took to blankets, knitting and thermos flasks to keep warm. It's not all sex and drugs and rock n' roll, you know!

Lisa Moore and Tiffany Menzies

Susan Auty gets carried away with the whole ghost thing

Victoria Keating swats up on salads

Paul Halsted keeps warm

Susan Auty

Nicole Graham

Quick change!

And then it was sunny and warm again the next day.

Helen Bird

Hana Ashworth-Manning

Melanie Grindell waits patiently to collect the gold cold donations

Andrea Reeve makes running repairs

Fraternising with the judge - David Cantwell and Jason Fullerton

The 'crowd' on the banks of the pond

'GOLD!'

Greed, Glamour and Grudges: Tales of Gold

2012-01-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

On the final performance I managed to see the scene I wrote, All that Glisters in full costume. Thank you so much to the actors and to Tiffany, the director, for bringing it to life!

Jason Fullerton picks a couple of 'volunteers' out of the crowd

The gold, silver and lead caskets stand ready on their pedestals

Ailsa Williamson as Portia enters the scene

The Prince of Morocco (Eamonn McNicholas) regards the 'guards'

The Prince of Aragon (Samuel Farr) tries his hand...

...but ends up with a sock puppet

Bassanio (Andrew Edgar) seems to have forgotten his trousers...

...but he still wins the girl

Jane Robertson entertains with 'Goldfinger'

Victoria Keating is 'men's life enhancer'

Director Tiffany Menzies is our gorgeous golden girl

The Barbershop Sextet

Rehearsal in the Gardens (Part Two)

2012-01-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

So, to continue on from where we left off with the Remarkable Theatre rehearsal for Greed, Glamour and Grudges: Tales of Gold, our next scene is All That Glisters, my adaptation of William Shakespeare's casket dating aspects of The Merchant of Venice. First the Prince of Morocco (Eamonn McNicholas), then the Prince of Aragon (Samuel Farr) and finally Bassanio (Andrew Edgar) try their luck to win the hand of Portia (Ailsa Williamson).

Eamonn McNicholas

Eamonn McNicholas and Ailsa Williamson

Ailsa Williamson as Portia fervently hopes she doesn't get chosen by a muppet

Samuel Farr

'I am not like other men. I'm special' Oh yes.

'Show me the caskets!'

'Ahahahaaha, I know this much is true'

'Turn you where your lady is, and claim her with a loving kiss'

The minute the theme of the show was chosen, it was obvious we would have to include Goldfinger, and Jane Robertson was more than suited to the task.

Jane Robertson

Victoria Keating-MacKay performs a scene she wrote herself; Fools Flock to the Hills is the honest tale of how some women made their money on the goldfields.

'I’m a singer and dancer (and men’s life enhancer)'

'All they wants anyways is the fluff'

Now I ain’t a bad lass just a shrewd one

'A lonely man needs a cry on the bosom of I'

'`Tis true there are times when it’s lonely'

Melanie Grindell commentates on the goldpanning contest while director Tiffany Menzies shows the contestants (in this case Tamsin Browne and Nicole Graham) how to go about it.

Nicole finds an imaginary nugget

Our take on the goldfields entertainment features a barbershop choir singing a medley of gold-themed songs (arranged by Margaret O'Hanlon).

The barbershop boys: Samuel Farr; Eamonn McNicholas; Paul Halstead

And the barbershop girls: Zelia Horrell; Nicole Graham; Ailsa Williamson

'She works hard for the money'

'Say you don't need no diamond ring, and I'll be satisfied'

'I don't care too much for money'

'Money can't buy me love'

'She take my money when I'm in need.'

Lisa Moore's delivery of an Otago Poem is warm and charismatic.

'I might have been rich had I wanted the gold'

'I've loved the great skies and their spaces of blue'

In the court scene, written by Victoria Keating-MacKay, Mr Eager (Paul Halstead) successfully sues Mr Grace (Jason Fullerton) for tunnelling under his claim and exploiting his gold, while the weary Judge (David Cantwell) presides.

Jason Fullerton and Paul Halstead

The defendant

The applicant

The judge (David Cantwell)

The fight

'The gold's mine, and one way or another you'll pay, in blood if I have to.'

Eamonn McNicholas and Nicole Graham close the show with a haunting renditon of a New Zealand folk song, Farewell to the Gold, written by Paul Metsers.

Eamonn McNicholas

Nicole Graham

'Shotover River, your gold is waning'

'Farewell to the gold that never I found'

Rehearsal in the Gardens (Part One)

2012-01-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

Remarkable Theatre rehearsed their forthcoming show on a beautiful sunny summer's afternoon in the Queenstown Botanic gardens. This is the first time we have rehearsed this show in situ, and it was wonderful to see how it will look under the trees and wide open skies.

Zelia Horrell gets us into the spirit with the Prologue from Rush! as she offers to take us back 'to yesteryear'.

Zelia Horrell

Next, in a scene written by Malcolm MacKay, the legendary Bully Hayes (Jason Fullerton) is proved to live up to his name as Mrs Buckingham (Lisa Moore) plans to expose him with the assistance of the Barbarous Barber (Andrew Edgar), while former admirer (Melanie Grindell) looks on.

Andrew Edgar

Jason Fullerton

Melanie Grindell and Lisa Moore

Andrew Edgar and Jason Fullerton

Susan Auty portrays the hardships of young motherhood in Life in the Mines, while her good-hearted husband Bill (David Cantwell) slumbers though it all in a touching scene written by Victoria Keating-MacKay.

Susan Auty

David Cantwell

Belinda Fraser gives her rendition of a traditional folk song while practically doing the laundry in canvas town.

Belinda Fraser

In another scene from Rush!, Joe Lawson (Jason Fullerton) and Duncan MacKenzie (Andrew Edgar) discuss the necessity of keeping their discovery of gold a secret from all, including Jackie O'Fea (David Cantwell), everyone's favourite drunken Irishman.

Jason Fullerton and Andrew Edgar

David Cantwell

Margaret and Betty fix up a wardrobe malfunction in Plain Against Jane, written by Andrew Edgar.

Ailsa Williamson and Belinda Fraser

Director Tiffany Menzies has cleverly pieced together the thoughts and written communications of Gabriel Read (David Cantwell), F Walker (Samuel Farr) and Rebecca (Melanie Grindell) in Letters.

David Cantwell

Samuel Farr

Melanie Grindell

In The Proletarian Tycoon (adapted by Victoria Keating-MacKay), Eamonn Nicholas as Jerry proves that beer is the answer!

As Sarah the bartender, Zelia Horrell likes 'thirsty people with gold'

Jane Robertson as Mrs Mac can't wait to 'diddle that mole, Sarah'

Eamonn McNicholas and Jane Robertson

'Without me, I wouldn't have gotten my beer!'

Belinda Fraser is Julia Eichardt telling the audience a bit of local history and offering them a room in the hotel - the first in Queenstown to have electric lighting!

David Cantwell treats us to a poem, The Spell of Otago, which was originally The Spell of the Yukon by Robert W Service.

'I wanted the gold and I sought it'

'There's the land. (Have you seen it?)'

'You come to get rich (damned good reason)'

There's a land - oh, it beckons and beckons

Tales of Gold at Remarkables Market

2012-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Remarkable Theatre's latest production will be Greed, Glamour and Grudges: Tales of Gold to be performed in the Queenstown Botanic Gardens on 27-29 April. To help advertise the show, some of the cast performed a couple of sketches and song at the Remarkables Market at the weekend.

Some apricots are Central Otago's natural golden fruit

Lisa Moore performs a poem

David Cantwell as Gabriel Read talks of how he first found gold in the region

"You can see why people travelled from all over the world to get their share; all because of my discovery"

Lisa Moore returns to the stage as Mrs Beeton to share some tips from Mrs Beeton's book of Household Management.

"It is important to keep an organised home and provide quality food for dinner guests"

"Are you listening, madam?"

David Cantwell re-introduces himself with a a poem, The Spell of Otago.

"There's a land - oh, it beckons and beckons"

"And I want to go back - and I will"

If you are in the area, come and see what promises to be a great show.

Greed, Glamour and Grudges: Tales of Gold, Queenstown Botanic Gardens
Friday 27 January - 6pm & 8pm
Saturday 28 January - 2pm, 4pm & 6pm
Sunday 29 January - 2pm, 4pm & 6pm
Entry by gold coin donation

Race the Train

2012-01-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

Race the Train was another of Adrian Bailey's ActiveQT events. The train in question was the Kingston Flyer and the racers were runners of all varieties. The distance covered is 12km and the train travelled at an especially slower rate of 12km an hour. Him Outdoors raced it and beat it.

Unable to participate, due to calf injury, I rode on the train there and back and took photos. Of course, I was behind the leaders of the race so haven't got any pictures of Him Outdoors until the finish, but there were plenty of others!

Time for tea, anyone?

You could of course stow your luggage and travel in style!

The camera crew were cheating...

A small price to pay!

Uninterested bystanders

Journey's end

That's one way of beating it!

52: Sky Runs and River Walks

2012-01-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

Him Outdoors did the Sky Run, which is one of the many fantastic events organised by Adrian Bailey at ActiveQT. It comprised several different disciplines and lengths - Him Outdoors did the half marathon - four laps around what is a X-country ski run in winter, including an energy sapping 'bog of doom'.

Adrian tiggers people on the start-line

Starting out on the second lap - not looking too bad

Ha! Try telling that to some of these runners!

Heading off on the third lap with a slight spring still

The final lap looks as though it hurts a little

Dad looks bemused by it all

Apparently this is a honeymoon couple who ran around the whole thing together

The winner, looking comfortable

Him Outdoors looking relieved to finish

There were bikers in this race too - here are some of them:

Mark Williams - the winner and the only one to ride up this hill each lap

My parents stayed for a week, and Weevil brought the children to visit for a couple of days. Dad reads a chapter of Harry Potter to Nephew Olaf, who is actually much more interested in it than this picture makes him look.

I promise this photo isn't doctored in any way. The evening light on the hill at the back of our house is absolutely glorious.

It's pretty special during the day too, when I went for a walk by the Arrow River with mum and dad.

Followed of course by an amazing icecream from Patagonia.

51: The Catlins

2011-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

Him Outdoors was able to get cover for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year, which meant we could get away. Still on crutches, I can't hobble too far, so long walks were out of the question, but I did want to see the sea as it alwyas has a beneficial effect on my mental state, so we headed down to the Catlins.

The Petrified Forest at Curio Bay is impressive, and even if I couldn't clamber down to the slippery rocks, I could photograph them from above and enjoy them with an icecream in hand.

And this is Porpoise Bay where the curve of the bay and the sloping sand makes a great spot for family play, or for bathing an injured calf muscle in the shallow waves.

Slope Point is the southernmost point of mainland South Island and, although we visited on a perfectly clear and still sunny day, the angle of the trees proves that this is rare.

The lighthouse at Waipapa Point was built after New Zealand's worst civilian shipwreck. In 1881 the SS Tararua was shipwrecked just off the coast with the loss of 131 lives (all but 20 of the people on board perished). At a result of the inquest, the Court of Inquiry recommended that a lighthouse be built here and also that lifebelts had to be provided for every passenger on board. This came into force in 1882 and still remains as a legacy of NZ Maritime law.

The lighthouse itself is gorgeous, and the setting sun in the overcast sky produced a band of light that seemed to work its way down the cylindrical body. I couldn't help but take lots of photos!

This wee cemetery at Tararua Acres marks the site where some of the bodies are buried. It's a peaceful spot to rest lulled by the sound of the waves, the lapwings and the sheep.

I was able to do a short stumble of a walk around Waipohatu Forest (the sign said suitable for wheelchairs so I reckoned I could limp around the half hour circuit), with its beautiful greens and cooling earth smells.

I love the unfurling fronds of ferns, so took several photos of those too - particularly these ones which look to me as though they are standing around having a meeting. I can't help but wonder what they are discussing!

50: Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

We went out with a couple of good friends on their boat on Christmas Day. We cruised around Queenstown Bay and headed down to Cecil Peak where Howdy Neighbour did a spot of water ski-ing in the calm water. Him Outdoors and I drank Old Mout Boysencider - very festive!

Merry Christmas from Me and Him Outdoors

49: Speights Gold Medal Nails

2011-12-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

In loving tribute to Scooter, I painted my nails as best I could with the three stars and drank the drink he swore by (in more ways than one). I can't stand the stuff, but he was a good mate, so what can you do?

Scooter's pint in the Speight's Ale House

Gold Medal Nails

48: Girls' Weekend in Sydney

2011-12-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

Here's the group of girls at Queenstown Airport, ready to go away for a weekend in Sydney and looking dangerous already.

The view from the rooftop terrace of our YHA in the Rocks (No, you don't actually have to be a youth to stay there) is quite special, even if there is a crane in the way.

Dinner at Churrasco, a Brazillian style barbeque with all-you-can-eat meat. The waitresses bring round platters of beef, lamb, chicken, steaks, sausages, ribs, pork belly, deep-fried cheese balls, roasted pineapple, chunks of courgette, and many more delicacies.

You have a little two-sided card which can say 'Yes, please, feed me more' or you can flip it over to say, 'Not just at the moment, thanks, I'm stuffed!' The chicken hearts were outrageously tasty, and we had jugs of red sangria to wash it all down. Yes, one poor girl had to wear a special princess crown as it was her birthday, but she wore it well!

Bright and breezy the next morning, a dozen girls set off for some serious shopping - scary aren't they?

Meanwhile, as I was on crutches, I thought it best not to be too active or stray too far so I hung out in the Rocks for the day.

And I had Mad Alice who elected to stay with me and 'look after' me. Another scary concept!

After negotiating a number of steps, we were exhausted and in need of breakfast. Fortunately we stumbled across Guylian, a Belgian chocolate cafe, which does fabulous cappuccinos. We shared a slcied tropical fruit platter which was terribly healthy and cleansing, so we strayed a little with a couple of fresh baked pastries each served with a decadent bowl of chocolate dip.

We were now fortified to do some hopping and shopping of our own through the Rocks Market. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were plenty of people meandering through the streets and the stalls.

Between us we bought bright summer skirts, a handmade fringed suede shawl, Aboriginal artwork, Sydney-themed Christmas tree ornaments, a fun fascinator with a hummingbird in a flower, and a bracelet made out of orange peel and seeds. It's like that game of 'My aunt went to Paris...'

A quick refreshment break of iced tea with supposedly anti-oxidant properties. Mad Alice is already wearing one of the skirts she bought.

This sculpture by Bud Dumas in Playfair Street is called First Impressions (1979) - the three sides of the sandstone monument depict the soldiers, convicts and settlers, whose history comes alive in this area.

These fragrant mobiles are made out of dried seed pods of a variety of plants. They clack and clatter in the wind and they smell divine - cardamom, orange peel and cinnamon bark combine to make a fabulously yuletide scent wafting on the air.

Of course, there is not a hope of getting these back to New Zealand. The stall-holder overheard me say so, and she chipped in with, 'Don't even dream about it!' So I took photos and deep breaths, and left them behind.

By now my leg was tired (not to mention my triceps - it's tough hobbling about on crutches!) and was feeling thirsty, so we popped to the Australian Hotel for a pepper kangaroo pizza and a pint of Little Creatures Pale Ale.

Some of the shoppers returned with their swag.

We went out to the theatre to see a fantastic production of Richard III, and then relaxed and debriefed with our duty-free bubbles. We didn't see the signs about not drinking in our dorms until later - oops!

The view the next morning from the terrace was strangely similar but different. A massive cruise ship had pulled into the harbour and as I sat drinking my coffee, I could the football being played on their giant TV screen!

Once again, Mad Alice offered to spend the morning doing nothing much with me so we caught a taxi to Circular Quay and had breakfast (and a glass of Prosecco -well, we are on holiday!) at the Sydney Cove Oyster Bar.

We took a trip to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which had many marvellous paintings and some boxing kangaroos... All too soon it was time to pack up all our new belongings and come home.

47: Winery Weekend

2011-12-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

Him Outdoors was off call for the weekend. This doesn't happen often, but we had not made any plans to do anything or go anywhere, so we fell back on our default option - visiting local wineries.

We walked along the Gibbston River Trail and then visited The Winehouse and Kitchen where the staff are almost unbelieveably friendly. They chatted with us about their wines and then lead us through to the 'secret garden' where we sat in the sunshine enjoying a glass of chilled 2008 Rock Ferry Viognier.

The next day we headed out to Mt Difficulty where we met some friends for a tasting and a long lunch. I had the 'Harissa rubbed pork belly on sumac bulgur wheat with a chickpea, eggplant, yoghurt, lime & coriander salad' which was utterly excellent accompanied by a glass or two of the pinot gris. Him Outdoors had the 'Duck slow-roasted in Pinot Noir with raspberry & cassis sauce, broccolini, gorgonzola cheese & cashew nuts' which looked sublime and was apparently perfectly suited to the pinot noir.

As we sat and imbibed, a helicopter buzzed over the vineyards looking down at the setting, before the passengers phoned down and asked if there was any tables free for lunch. They were accommodated and came down from the sky to join us. It really is that heavenly.

46: Growing stuff

2011-11-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

As I may have mentioned before, I am the opposite of green-fingered, and between me and the harsh Central Otago climate, most plants in my possession end up dead.

However, we have had periods of sun and rain that are apparenlty conducive to good growth spurts, so here are some things in my garden I have managed not to kill. And, yes, most of them are weeds; so what?

45: Afternoon tea and school sports

2011-11-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

For my belated birthday party (of course I've got to still have one!) I decided to have an afternoon tea party followed by school sports' day. Many of the girls came in summer frocks and hats, fascinators or, in the case of the Mischievous Minx, cats' ears - no I didn't draw them on later as someone asked me. Most of the boys went straight for the sporting attire.

As you can see it was all terribly sophisticated with little sandwiches, squares of sweet stuff (one friend did send a text to ask, 'what's a dainty cake?' - she is a musterer so has probably never seen one), and even a tablecloth - thanks Aunty Jo!

We had Pimms in the teapot so could serve it in an assortment of mis-matched cups and saucers, and gin and tonic in the water jug. In case you're about to condemn our irresponsible hosting, there was plenty of un-alcoholic water in the tap.

And so to the school sports. Him Outdoors was the master of ceremonies, while I was the scorer and the administrator. There was much to do so I am extremely grateful to the Dairy Queen for all the photography.

We divided the guests into 'houses' all named after local (South Island) beer: Classy Red; Wobbly Boot; Clydesdale; Dark Horse. The first event was to sprint, for which boys stripped off, girls tucked their dresses into their knickers, and they were off!

All the races had heats with the top two going through to the final, amid much cheering and yelling (and a little cheating and interference) from the sidelines.

Photo-finish final

Next up was the egg and spoon - there were clear rules (i.e. you must have one hand behind your back and you must not touch your egg with anything except the spoon) which were explained with much seriousness. I joined in this event and won my heat! I was a Dark Horse - no further comment.

The serious business of the egg-and-spoon final

Following on, we had the skipping races, and here the Dairy Queen excelled herself with video footage. Listen and marvel at the screaming of the crowd; watch and laugh at the appalling technique - as the tallest competitor, CJD picked the shortest rope (but stole a kiss and a subsequent bonus point at the turn-around); Spik trialled a one-handed skipping 'style' and was subsequently disqualified; I pulled a calf muscle and subsequently learned that sport is dangerous (more of which later...)

After three events (of the total nine), the Clydesdales were in the lead which is where they stayed (although hotly pursued by the Wobbly Boots), and the Dark Horses had three points, which is where they stayed (hotly pursuing no one at all).

At the Standing Long Jump, the Naki Boy took out the honours for the Classy Reds. I don't know who was more pleased with the achievement; he for winning it, or The Dairy Queen with a smug smile as it was confirmed that he was seventeen centimetres longer than anyone else.

The wheelbarrow race caused much entertainement as the Dark Horses discovered that you can't get a grip on shiny tights. The things we learn...

The three-legged race really was a game of two halves, tortoises and hares, not over until you cross the finish line and all manner of sporting cliches.

The sack race caused much controversy with interference, line changes and underhand tactics - the girls previously agreed on the shuffle technique, which some of them rapidly abandoned out of necessity. There were appeals to the judges (does the whole body have to cross the line?) and vociferous protests as the competition got serious.

The Great Galah is jubilant to be crowned best in the sack

Of course, all good sporting events finish with relays and ours was no exception (although the term 'good' may be subjective). We had the sprint relay followed by the medley relay involving three-legged, wheelbarrow, skipping and sack. Marvellous fun and many hidden talents... remained hidden, really.

The oh-so-high-tech scoreboard at the close of competition

As an exhibition event, Him Outdoors somehow persuaded Squirt to have a go at flipper racing. She was extremely game (even going so far as to limber up) but collapsed at the final hurdle - beer drinking while still wearing the facemask - so Him Outdoors was triumphant. He hadn't been able to join in any of the games previously so was thrilled with the chance to participate (and win), bless him.

The evening ended, as it so often does, with music and dancing - The Naki Boy, Him Outdoors, Spik and CJD try their hand (or rather, feet) at Cossack dancing - they are crap but entertaining, a winning combination.

44: WWWBC 10th Anniversary Outing

2011-11-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

Our book-club tenth anniversary was celebrated with wine and petanque.

The Wakatipu Wild Women's Book Club

We all went to Brennan Wines where we wine-tasted. It tasted good, so we had some more.

And then we played petanque for Lupin, our gnomic mascot who is hotly fought over each year in a variety of challenges (we have previously 'won' him in mini golf and snooker competitions). It began with the heats...

As the Dairy Queen prepares to bowl, the Mischievous Minx pulls her supportive face

As oposed to this one...

It didn't work for Jonny Wilkinson this time round either

And so to the semi-finals.

Petanque technique or Eric Morecambe impression?

And then the serious business of the final when the crows went wild.

The Dairy Queen makes the grand presentation to Crazy Legs Crane

And this is the miniature object of intense rivalry!

43: Travel Trophies

2011-11-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

This is what we brought home from our holidays. It's made from mango wood but is treated so we were allowed to bring it into New Zealand. It's lovely to have reminders of our travels around the globe, around the house.

I also imagine in some parallel universe if we were ever interviewed and photographed for House and Garden, we could say, "Oh yes; that's a little piece we picked up from a market in Borneo" and sound like a pair of pretentious prats.