2005-08 (AUGUST, 2005)

Visitin' The Olds - Christchurch, New Zealand

This weekend we took Holly on her first aeroplane ride. We flew her down to visit her Grandparents for the weekend (and Monday) and she was as good as gold on the flight. My Mum collected us from the airport and took us home via a few detours (one to pick up some baby clothes that Andy had bought on TradeMe, the NZ version of eBay).

The weekend was a lazy one and the bulk of my days were spent scanning childhood photos from my Grandmother's photo albums. Most of Holly Dolly's awake time was spent in the arms of a Grandparent (or Aunty), but we did manage to prise her away from them in order to give her a bath in an adult-sized bath and a shower (both with Dad, and both firsts for her). Other activities included a trip to the Christchurch City Art Gallery and myself & Andy's first evening out without the Dolly-girl (went to see the excellent It's All Gone Pete Tong at the Christchurch Film Festival). Andy, Mum and Milly managed to get a half-days shopping in on the Monday, too. Otherwise just fine food, chat and DVDs on my Dad's monster home theatre system. Sweeeet!

A Weekend Away - Martinborough, Wellington, New Zealand

We spent the weekend just gone at a holiday house an hour or so away from Wellington in the middle of our nearest wine region (Martinborough). We stayed in a delightful cottage called The Willow. We went with a couple (and their baby) who we don't know very well (friend of Andrea's from her IBM days in Sydney). Suffice it to say that it is unlikely that we'll be going away with them again (they turned out to be very different people from us and their public domestic disputes weren't much fun to sit through). We had a good time when we went off on our own, though, and would definitely go back to the area again. Our half day pushing the baby buggy between cellar doors was most pleasant (baby buggies can fit such a lot of wine under them, can't they?) - attracted a few raised eyebrows, though. ;-)

A Hint Of Spring - Wellington, New Zealand

We went out for dinner without the Holly Dolly on Friday evening, did lots of DIY project stuff on Saturday day, cooked a slap up roast dinner on Saturday evening, went hiking in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday day and watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou on DVD on Sunday evening. Spring is almost here (I'm wearing shorts today)!