Friday, August 22, 2008

Our Winter Holiday, Day 4

Well, the day dawned bright & sunny.....we did a little shopping before leaving for points East. I bought a DVD for myself; and another for the kids - Stingray. Around 11am, we left Palmerston North for Hawkes Bay. We stopped for a while in Dannevirke; it's a special little town, as it was settled by Norwegians...! There is a place there called Dave's Den; I bought a reproduction Matchbox car there that I remember owning 35 years ago, but which I had sold, or somehow lost. Dave has 8000 model cars in his Den. We go there whenever we're in Dannevirke. If one of my children is with me when I'm about to leave Dave's Den, I buy him or her a model car; this time Ben was the lucky one.

We back-tracked a little way into Dannevirke looking for somewhere to have a picnic lunch; we stopped at a large park. I went off in search of a public toilet. My mission successful, I drove back to find one of my boys playing with a lad who was the adopted son of a nice couple; Dave & Marthe (their names were something like that). Dave is from Yorkshire; Marthe is from Germany. It was nice to meet them. After lunch, we carried on to Hastings; it was wonderful to see our good friends, Wendee and Mitch, again! And their children! They had written a welcome on the driveway for us; with our names, and footprints we had to follow, to get to their House. We had Soup & Toast (home-made bread) for Tea. It was a lovely evening!

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Winter Holiday, 2008 - Day 3!

OK, so here we are, Tuesday the 8th July. I decided to begin the day with a Swim...so relaxing! First, a little history - many years ago, while living in Palmy, the Council said they would upgrade The Lido (the local swimming pool complex). I thought I'd check it out! Apparently it was upgraded in 2002...only 6 years after we left Palmerston North...

Anyway, so I arrived at the lovely new Lido; I paid the admission to Holly, a chunky, attractive young woman, with lovely teeth. I then tried to put my valuables into a Locker...I couldn't work it! So, I found a poolside attendant, Sara, a pretty, slim blonde, who happily looked after my glasses, wallet & watch for me. So helpful! I had a swim...and a circuit or two, of the Lazy River...then got my stuff back from Sara, showered, and adjourned to the Cafe, where I bought a Cappucino & a cookie from Glennis. Read a Tom Sharpe novel for a while, before heading back to the camp.

Margaret drove me to the University; where, in the extra-mural class, we all watched Went The Day Well? , a WWII British propaganda film. In the film, a group of German paratroopers impersonate British soldiers, and take over a village in southern England. The villagers band together to fight back, until their Army arrives. It was made at a time when England might have been invaded; though when it was released, the danger had passed.

I bought three copies of the Vet Students calendar at the Shop; I thought, I bet I can sell one within 10 mins!...and sure enough, I did!! I had lunch with women from my class, as well as the lady who bought a calendar. The afternoon passed quickly.....then, Massey was over for me, for the time being, again....

We had our Tea with Philip & Judy and their children, in Feilding. We've known them many years. It was good to see them!