A Year at Home and Away 2018

We’re back living in our home, renewed but the same, better and yet familiar. We have had substantial earthquake damage remediated but some of it will have to be redone. Oh, well, that’s not uncommon; we have many friends in the same situation.

Our year began with a quick trip through the mountains to Nelson to welcome our new grandson, Simon’s second; welcome Azriel Moore. 

Their little family are doing well and we are very much enjoying getting to know the little ones.

Once back we packed up and were off around the world. First up was a brief catch up with Nathan in Auckland before flying out to Shanghai en route to Hubei province in Central China, by fast train, to stay with friends whom we had met in Christchurch a few years earlier and whose daughter, Sophia, is a dear friend of ours.

We stayed with them in their spacious apartment, very near the picturesque Yangtze River, which bisects the city of Yi Chang. This city has grown tremendously since the inception of building the world’s largest dam several kilometres up river; the Three Gorges Dam which is so enormous that you can’t see to the other side of it! We were taken on a day cruise trip up the river to a tour of the amazing dam project, viewed from various vantage points. The ability to control the water in the Yangtze means so much for those living downstream, who have lived with annual catastrophic floods until now.   We were very impressed with the close family life of our friends, Yao and Jie and their extended family. Yao’s mum, is 80 and is still a leading paediatrician in China. Everyone was so kind and generous towards us; the weather was extremely cold but the hearts very warm. On our last full-day there, we were treated to a ‘car rally’, which turned out to be very exciting. Everywhere we went people were kind and friendly. I was called upon to cook some desserts for the family that were not sweet; that took some thought, but in the end turned out quite well; the choux paste ring filled with berry-fruit and whipped cream, was snaffled up with a dozen pairs of chopsticks!

Our onward journey was a long one, flying back to Shanghai and then to Munich and then Birmingham, from where we took a train and trundled through a snowy landscape until we reached Newtown in Central Wales and were met by our wonderful Lydia, driving their Landrover Defender. We were just in time for Adelaide’s 2^nd birthday on Waitangi Day and a few days later the arrival much the anticipated Lucie Anastasia.  We enjoyed Wales and a quick excursion through England to Devon and Cornwall where we hunted out a few ancestral sites plus we got to experience a 50year snow storm event, including a speedy drive through the storm’s Red Zone to reach our destination.

We stayed in picturesque Looe gaol overlooking the fishing harbour.

After the UK, we flew into Hamburg and stayed in beautiful Southern Denmark with home-schooling friends. A diagonal train journey right through Germany brought us to visit old friends in Bavaria; they kindly took us to some interesting places including the salt-mining district on the alpine boarder of Austria. We made a brief visit to see Rome on our way down to Andrew in DC, where unfortunately Peter became ill and had to be hospitalised. He is still having investigations and treatment for kidney stones. Our homeward journey took us through Houston, where we were able to visit with dear friends whom we had known in Perth.

Back home and yet another winter! In July, we made a road trip to Auckland and Tauranga, visiting Simon’s family and Nathan on our return journey. We had good catch ups with a number of people. Currently we have two international students living here, making our lives a little more colourful. They bring their friends to Cooking & English too; it’s great when the growth of our club is organic. We’ve had lots of fun with the group this year, settling back at our own home. We’ve see such a wide variety of food produced that it is always an education for us all.

 Michele has had some work at the University of Canterbury and at Burnside High, while Peter has worked in two high schools and several primary schools.  Peter as usual is always at work on some form of car maintenance while Michele enjoys the garden and various gardening groups where she manages to have input as well as entertainment.

Lydia has her in-laws over to experience an English winter Christmas, and Andrew has driven to Chicago to be with Daena’s extended family. However, he plans to visit

New Zealand from early to mid-February, so mark your calendars. Simon and family are in Christchurch over the holiday period and Nathan plans to be here and travel around a bit with Andrew and the boys.

We expect to be at home over the summer so do drop by if you are in town; it would be great to see you.

Our best wishes to you for the new year ahead.

Love Peter & Michele