My friend Dave Aubrey & partner Jess were over visiting from Canada. One thing Dave had really wanted to do was to go for a trip down the Hurunui. The original plan had been to pack-raft. I’ve never been in one of these before. The Hurunui was running pretty high (it’s usually 30 cumecs, it was running at 145 or something). So, much faster and pushier than it normally is. I’d borrowed a single from my friend Hamish, but, on the day they asked me to go down in the double with Jess (Dave and Warick were safety-boating, and Neil wanted to go in a single).

So, Jess and I gave it a go, almost capsized on the first turn into the river (I’m just nervous and leaning “into” the turn doesn’t come naturally). Anyway, after a couple of very tenuous crossings I decided that this really wasn’t for me. I almost never give up on an adventure, but, yeah, while I don’t think it would have been massively dangerous, it would have meant some long unpleasant swims, and quite possibly putting a hole in the raft. Jess quite agreed with me that stopping was a good idea.

It did give a bunch of time for chatting and taking pics, so, that was nice!

Short Christmas holiday this year for me, have plans for holiday later in the year :) Anna in holiday programmes a bunch. We try to do no more than 3 days a week as otherwise it’s a bit tiring. It’s pretty cool all the things you can try as a kid these days. I think from next year she’ll be able to try bouldering, and in a few years sailing possibly? Very jealous!

I got out for a few rides while we had some half decent weather (it really has been quite the rainy summer. Again.). Also very nice to be back with a decent coffee machine at work!

We headed up to Palmy for Christmas to see my Aunt and cousins. It’s lovely for Anna to see her cousins, it’s a special kind of relationship I think. Lots of games were played (Carcassonne our current favourite, packs up nicely into a box too).

We also went on a quick walk around the new bridge. Pretty cool to see the earthquake-responsive suspension in the system.

Then it was on down to Paraparaumu to see my cousin Jon & Amelia and spend time with them. It’s a lovely setup they have, living close to the grandparents and just in a pretty idyllic spot.

So, a lovely time there, exploring their backyard a bit. Anna definitely enjoyed being the older cousin. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of them over the years! Lovely to have more cousins in NZ.

After that it was down to Wellington to spend a few nights with Glynn and Jayne and their kids. It’s always such a lovely time there, we really feel like family. They’re also incredibly good cooks which doesn’t hurt ;) , oh, and Glynn’s an excellent brewer. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything on tap while we were there. Next time.

We went to The Breathe Exhibition at Te Papa. It was good, but it was unfortunate that the VR goggles were all booked out, as I suspect that would have been next-level!

Lots of wingspan was played. The oceania expansion is worth getting if you own the game.

Finally, it was time to fly back to ChCh. Anna was brave and asked the stewardess if she could give out the sweets…

Is that year 2 or year 3 Anna just finished? Year 2 I think. Time flies. Finally her first tooth fell out. Major milestone. She has been looking forward to that happening for months, if not years.

Bought Carcassonne which I’d been meaning to get for a while. Anna definitely gets the game and it’s interesting enough to be fun to play. Has a nicely structured sequence of scoring mechanisms which can be gradually introduced as you get more comfortable with the game. Fun.  And her art is a lot better than anything I ever did already!

First off, my trusty old Patagonia gilet died. I brought it to twin needle and was quoted > $100 to fix… but.. they said that Patagonia had a lifetime warranty, so, I should check with them. So I did. And they do! That jacket is literally 24+ years old so I was astounded they’re going to fix it. So happy.

My friend Syliva turned 42 and had a HHG themed party. Super fun. Nick coming with a towel wrapped around was well done! Laser tag was great fun, and the cheese selection delicious.

I went for a nice bike ride using up some of my lift passes. We’re very lucky in ChCh to have a mtb park very close by.

I tried making french toast. Don’t really think I did it justice. Even had brioche for the bread (and left it out overnight). Just wasn’t quite as good as I remember it. I suspect I’ll stick to pancakes.

Anna had Sinterklaas. She wanted something we could only get in The Netherlands. Fortunately Sinterklaas got confused and dropped presents to us for Oma and Opa, and presents for Anna he left in NL… so, she can pick it up when we’re next over…