2006-02 (FEBRUARY, 2006)

Rugby Sevens 2006 - Wellington, New Zealand

Bex & Pete came down from Auckland to go to this year's International Rugby Sevens Tournament round in Wellington. They had a great day on the Friday and Bob and I accompanied them on the Saturday. We had been unable to get tickets to either day this year, so some jiggery-pokery was used to get in to see the games. Bex and Pete were able to borrow some unused passes into the stadium on Friday, but all of us were looking to pick up tickets outside the grounds on Saturday. After about an hour's effort we had secured four spare tickets. None of our seats were together, but we played musical chairs for the day and were able to stick together. We actually ended up seeing more Rugby than last year (even though just as much beer got consumed). A great weekend's entertainment - shame the Kiwis didn't win this year, though!

Molloy, Et. Al. On Tour - Wainui, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

This year's gathering of Molloy's (and extras) occurred in Wainui, near Gisbourne. We had hired a house on the beach to accommodate us all, ten in total (plus Holly). All of the gatherer's, except Tim, passed through our house on their way to Wainui - Bex and Pete departed from here after the Sevens; Mum & Dad passed though midweek; and Milly & Mike stayed with us on the Saturday before we all headed North on the Sunday. Tim arrived from Sydney on Sunday, too.

We had a glorious ten days beside the sea. Bex, Pete and Tim only stayed for the first 7 days, but Ma, Pa, Bob, Andy, Milly, Mike, Holly and myself stayed for the duration. The weather was generally sunny and warm. We swam in the sea at least once every day we were there. Holly was particularly taken with the crashing surf. The days involved walking, swimming and reading in the sun. The evenings involved good food and chat and board games like Cranium. I spent some of the evenings wiring up my indoor solar-powered lighting project. A great ten days with the whanau.

The Return To Wellington - New Zealand

Instead of heading straight back to Welly from Wainui we meandered South over a period of 4 days. We stopped in Napier/Havelock North for two nights and visited several vineyards - Sileni Estates and Ngatarawa, both excellent - plus indulged in a fabulous lunch at Te Awa Winery. We stopped in Greytown and took a tour around the magnificent Stonehenge Aotearoa, a recreation of what Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England would of looked like in its heyday, and adapted to facilitate astronomy in the Southern skies. It is a fascinating exhibit and well worth the trip out to see it.