May 2026

May was mostly about having last catchups with friends and family before we headed to Northland for the winter. It's going to be a really long time between hugs with our kids and theirs.....not sure how that's going to go!
The month kicked off with duck shooting and the regular happenings around it. This year marked 52 or maybe 53 years that Bob, James and David have shot on opening weekend. Quite the milestone! Barb, Maureen and I had a lovely meal out at Langlands after having a cocktail in the rooftop bar there. We saw what, for me, was the lovliest sunset I'd ever seen in Invers but then we were up high which is not the usual for flat Invercargill.
We caught up with friends and family in Wanaka, Dunedin, Oamaru and Chch.
Three of the grandsons attended a ball on the same night, one in Alexandra, one in Dunedin and one in Oamaru. As you'll see all three looked so handsome and grown up.
We had a special catch up with Jude, in Dunedin, and sat in Doug's special seat at Company Bay. It's the perfect place for him, gorgeous harbour views and native plants all around where his much loved Tuis and Fantails will visit.
Our stop to visit Harper was a bit longer than anticipated. We needed to replace the water pump in the motorhome motor and luckily found a great company who were very professional. It was wonderful to get some bonus time with Harper, who generously loaned us his car which meant we had a great look around and did a couple of lovely walks. We were very happy to have AA Plus Motorhome Roadside Assist which meant we had accommodation sorted while we were there also happy we didn't need them to tow us!!!!
We spent some time in Chch and Rangiora and apart from the catch ups, which we loved, the outstanding discovery was a bakery, Bread O'clock Bakery, off Glouster St is so worth a visit. Their Raspberry or Pistachio croissants are to die for!!
We continued north stopping along the way at Amberley, a night with family, Amberley Golfcourse, Kaikoura, Ward Beach where we watched the great skill of boat skippers driving onto trailers that were backed into the surf, Waiau Diverson and finally Stuart's home in Waikawa Bay. We crossed over on the ferry on the 29th, later than anticipated after the scheduled ferry had a break down. The crossing was great. As usual we booked a cabin, at no cost this time due to the disruption. We were, again grateful for Bluebridge's service. We spent a couple of nights at Plimmerton NZMCA and discovered the lovely village, buzzing with atmosphere, and the gallery at the train station. We love Foxton Beach so stopped there for a night after the obligatory wander on the beach at Paraparaumu and a catch with David's Dad and one of my deceased family members. You could walk for hours on Foxton Beach so we gave it a nudge and then drove further north to Whanganui. Northland is calling! Watch this space!Read more