Holiday Time
We decided it was high time we had an overseas trip. Vicki has too much leave and is a liability to her employer. “Phuket!” exclaimed Alistair. “We should go there!” Vicki organised it, because therein lies her expertise. However, she has no influence over the weather so we started the trip by being stuck in Blenheim for a few hours waiting for the fog to clear at Auckland so we could land there and board our connecting flight to Hong Kong. The previously ample time between our flights at Auckland became quite compressed, causing us to run at maximum speed from the domestic terminal to the overseas terminal. A couple of weeks earlier, we had signed up for the Saint Clair Half Marathon in May 2019. Now at the airport, we became acutely aware how unfit we were. Anyway, we both made it onto the flight, but one of our bags did not. Luckily we were staying two nights in HK so the bag eventually caught us up.
We did as much as we could in HK then pressed on to Phuket. We stayed at the Metadee Resort on Kata beach. It was hot and humid so one couldn’t do anything too strenuous. Luckily the bar staff were very skilled and attentive. Also the Metadee had an extensive swimming pool with a giant inflatable unicorn, so that was nice.
We went to the elephant sanctuary to give Natalie the elephant a mud bath; we went to the Big Buddha to take a selfie along with all the other tourists; we went to a Thai cookery class and had a grand old time; we went on a kayak trip out to the Hongs. Everything we did was great fun and highly recommended.
We also had another holiday – a weekend excursion to Mapua to meet up with Sally and Andrew and cycle around the place on the Great Taste Cycle Trail. It was therefore necessary to taste many things, both solid and liquid. We also stayed at accommodation that was pretty flash, with it’s underfloor heating and whatnot.
Music
It wasn’t supposed to be a year of back-to-back shows. Mary Poppins of course was a big show where the theatre levelled up their skills in having to fly actors around the place. Next was the combined colleges production of Grease, which was a shorter season and contained easier music. But somehow I found myself in Little Shop of Horrors. I’ll try to do less next year, right after Phantom of the Opera… oh, and there’s talk of Les Miserables too… so right after those.
Pizazz of course is ticking along, and we’ve played at some really nice venues – a couple of weddings, spectacular fund raisers, The Captain’s Daughter in Havelock, 5-Tapped and Chateau Marlborough in Blenheim, plus two appearances in one day during a wonderfully creative ‘magical mystery tour of Marlborough’ called Gumboot Epicurean. It involved playing predominantly train songs at the miniature railway station at Brayshaw Park, then high-tailing it to Framingham Winery to entertain the same punters later in the cellar. There’s even internet footage of me wearing a rainbow Mohawk wig, skilfully playing a djembe.
The Job Front - Alistair
This year I started a new job at WineWorks, a bottling and warehousing facility. The workplace is close enough to cycle to, weather and after-work commitments permitting. The work is actually fascinating – who knew there was so much involved in putting wine in a bottle! I spent most of the year learning the ropes on various bottling lines, and now I supervise one line by myself. There’s still plenty to learn and look forward to. The seasonal dynamic is different – we’re extremely busy and operating 24 hours a day leading into harvest time as wineries free up their tank space and get their remaining finished wine into bottle. Then we’re quieter when the wineries are full and fermenting. Vicki claims that my work stories have become terribly boring, but I can’t believe that – I’m sure she loves to hear about label heights and pallet stacking patterns.
Vicki
Why is it, that the older you get the faster the years go by? Work continued to be a big part of my year and some clients have gone on some amazing holidays, which I have found a pleasure putting together for them. I walked the St Clair half marathon again this year and my work colleagues also participated, I organised an 18k training walk on Anzac day which was useful for some and painful for others. My walking buddy Donna didn’t take part this year, however, her sister Nerida did and she stayed with us. I did a really good time so was pleased that I put the training in. Alistair, Nerida and I enjoyed lunch at St Clair vineyard afterwards. Alistair has decided to take part next year so it will be nice to have a training buddy. I still go to spinning and recently my spinning wheel received an overhaul which after 24 years of inheriting it, I think it needed it. Having Iona & Col now living in Blenheim has been really good and we get together socially quite often, they have also become groupies of Alistair’s gigs so it’s nice to have the company. Excess leave continues to be a problem and this year I am finishing work a few days before Christmas, I am going to help out for the day at John’s Kitchen who are putting on a community dinner one evening.
The House
Iona Bichan stayed with us for a few months while she looked for and found a suitable house to buy. Col, her partner, is now down here too, and landed a job at Cloudy Bay Vineyards on their bottling line, so now Vicki can listen to more stories about label heights and pallet stacking patterns.
During the harvest of 2018 we had one of the nicest humans on the planet, Katrina stay with us, oenologist at Delegat, usually based in Auckland. She was on the night shift, which was a new experience for us, so the house was pretty quiet for a month.
The insurance came through for the damage caused by the earthquake and we were able to get a new log burner and a flue for the coal range. So now both are functional, with a wet-back to boot. Winter is now bearable. Comfortable, even.
In June we said farewell to the tenant of our sleep-out, Ajosh the chef. After staying with us for two years he went home to Kerala in India to help look after his father. He’s back in NZ now, cheffing up a storm in a fancy restaurant in the Hawke’s Bay.
Gracie
Gracie has successfully attained the advanced age of 14, which is very pleasing. She still likes to interact with us at every opportunity, including in the small hours of the morning. She is doing very poorly at keeping the birds from nesting in the guttering, but then again, we’ve seen hardly any mice.
We wish you much brightness and merriment during the Yule, and beyond.
Alistair, Vicki and Gracie
