Christmas Day

It has been a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, friends visited and cooking and eating the Christmas meal was relaxing and enjoyed by all the family.

First up we opened presents in the traditional way – in bed. Here is Noreen wearing her new earphones and surrounded by numerous small gifts from the children.
Jenny loved her Phoenix gear.

Sam presented me with this magnificent Akeake which is destined to be planted up the bank.

Noreen’s best present was this bike which Sam has refurbished for her. She intends competing in a triathlon in February so needs to start training now.

We had breakfast croissants on the deck.

Andy looked very suave in his new hat.

After sitting round and chatting with people who turned up for coffee and mince pies we started the main meal preparation about 1, first making sure the wine would be palatable.

It was served about 4 and you can see Noreen has caught the sun, as she is wont to do.

We felt like some exercise after the meal so went for a stroll through the Botanic Garden. Jenny and Sam played in the playground that they loved so much when younger.

Rudderstone is one of my favourite pieces of sculpture. I’ve shown it before, but here are some more shots of Sam inspecting it.

Apparently, the void is in a rudder formation and symbolically memorialises our migrant cultures. The rudder is a guiding principle, a device that steers us on our journey.
On the near side, black mica-flecked granite alludes to the night sky, and the Old World.

On the far side – the New World – blue azul marble from Brazil (the sea) and white Carrara marble from Italy (the sky) together create a panorama that is in “the mind’s eye of Pacific Coast dwellers and maritime voyagers”.

To walk through Rudderstone “engages the body in a metaphor for the journey that the New World we live in challenges us to take”; the transition from old to new.

Sounds a bit pretentious to me but I’ll take his word for it.

We hope you all have as enjoyable a day as we did.