Wanganui Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's hoping you all have enjoyed a wonderful festive season - it was fantastic to be able to chat to some of our special folks on Christmas day - we do miss you, but hope that maybe by next Christmas we can welcome you to New Zealand and we can spend the day together!
Here's a taste of what we did on our first Christmas in New Zealand.

The day began with a lovely service at our new Church venue in the centre of town - we have managed to add to our little band in the form of Pierre on guitar (amazing what a few guitar lessons can do!) and Bonnita adding some beautiful dulcit tones on vocals. Plenty of old favourites in the way of 'O come all ye faithful'/'Kom alle getroues' and 'Silent Night/Stille Nag' with the stunning South African 'Somer Kersfees' to round everything off, made for a special Christmas day service.



There is nothing like a bit of fun in the sun for building up a good appetite for Christmas Lunch - this volleyball match was fiercely contested and was accompanied by much hilarity and leaping about -(especially Martie who stood on a bee) - her leaping about was definitely without any hilarity!



















Volleyball in the blazing heat was not everyone's cup of tea - some folks relaxed in the shade and caught up on some news from South Africa - the two ladies on the left of this picture are visiting here and spending Christmas with their families - hopefully, they felt as welcome as the flowers in Spring.





















If you really want to, you can make a festive and fabulous Christmas dinner anywhere! The garage at Marieta and Hennie's new abode was spacious enough to set up tables and chairs for all twenty something of us - the main reason being that the weather here in Wanganui is unpredictable and we were concerned about the possibility of rain on the day! We needn't have been so worried - the sun shone fiercely from 11am to 11pm!






Andre with lots to say about Pierre (our visiting 'preacher man' from SA) taking a ride on the swing!

The swing which is just a couple of kilometres out of town on the banks of the river was very popular on Christmas day - some of the braver (and younger) folks took the whole experience to another level by leaping off the swing when it was over the water and doing spectacular back-flip dives into the Whanganui river.

After checking the whole scene out from the sidelines for a while, Jo decided to risk it and take a ride on the wild side and swing out over the water.

As you can see, some folks just weren't too keen on swings 'n things - a little shut-eye after a great Christmas dinner was just what the doctor ordered. We don't think they planned to be caught napping! but they needed all their strength to muster up the energy to tackle the dishes!

Na al die dag se dinge, was dit heerlik om terug te kom van die swaai af en 'n ou koffietjie en

nagereggie te geniet - hierdie foto is vir al julle Bothatjies geneem om te bewys dat die ou blikbeker van Fairy Heights dit al die pad Nieu Zeeland toe gemaak het! Die 'kol' was spesiaal vorentoe gedraai vir die wat ons nie glo nie - ja nee wragtig, dis die eindste beker wat julle almal so goed onthou!! O, en die vla binne in was heerlik saam met die bruin poeding hoor!

Ons stuur ons liefde en beste wense vir die Kersgety aan al ons geliefdes - ons verlang baie, maar hoop julle se 'Krismis' ook heerlik was. Wie weet, dalk volgende jaar is daar van julle wat sommer hier saam met ons 'n wonderlike Kersfees sal kan saam geniet - julle moet nou begin spaar - ons wag vir julle!!

Dis al!

Carols by Candlelight in Wanganui

This lovely grassed area beside Virginia Lake was the venue for this year's Carols by Candlelight which took place on Sunday evening.

The group of South Africans supporting the local Carols by Candlelight and Rotary Club who put it on.

The Wanganui Pipe Band entrance - real stirring stuff and a lovely start to the evening with a couple of traditional carols, the ever-present Scottish Soldier and of course, Amazing Grace.

The little guy on the far left is 9 years old and plays that drum like a seasoned pro - all the rhythmic moves included - we were most impressed by this Little Drummer Boy.

The Wanganui Brass Band accompanied by the combined choirs. The chappie on 'first trumpet' is a member of the National Band - a real accomplishment - and got him special mention and a round of applause!

The Twelve Days of Christmas had the group of South Africans leaping to their feet with each appearance of 'five golden rings' and singing with immense gusto - by the fourth time, we had some of the locals following suit! (Shades of a Mexican Wave). The Master of Ceremonies mentioned over the p.a system during one of the golden rings lines - 'the group of South Africans' - so there was no way that we were going to be incognito at this event!

Enough space for everyone to relax on their picnic blankets and dip into their 'tea' baskets. A few brave folks were in summer outfits, but rumour has it that summer is dragging her feet this year and it's still unseasonably cold at dawn and dusk. We were glad we thought to bring warm jackets (along with the umbrella - since there was a light shower or two in the course of the evening).

By the time 'Silent Night' appeared on the programme, it was almost dark enough to appreciate the lit candles.

Dis al!

Estan van den Berg

This morning has brought incredibly sad news with the sudden, tragic death of our nephew Estan van den Berg - younger son of Gratia and Jakes and brother to Jakes Jnr.
Although we have been dealing with the possibility for a couple of days now, the finality of the doctors deciding to switch off the life support has been very difficult for us and we have felt so helpless and so very far away.
Our hearts go out to Jo's sister Gratia, brother in law Jakes and nephew Jakes Jnr - we are just grateful that the other brothers and sister are with them at this terrible time.
We had so looked forward to Estan coming over to New Zealand to spend some time with us as soon as he'd completed his schooling and it's still very hard to absorb the fact that he won't be doing that now.
A very special, mature and 'together' young man, Estan made a positive impact on everyone and his loss is going to be deeply felt by so many people.
There are no words to describe this kind of thing - we are reeling with the reality of it.
We will resume this blog anon.
Dis al.

Wires and wheels

There is almost always a way to fix something - these blocks of wood were lurking in the shed outside and happened to be just the right size for raising the piano enough to be able to tackle the damaged wheels. We are still in the market for any unwanted or unused candlelabra that should fill the holes on the front face of the piano - why anyone removed them in the first place remains a total mystery to us. And once they removed them - where the hell did they put them?

It's not too complicated if you can read and aren't colour blind - it's the remote that somehow manages to get itself 'reprogrammed' that can cause immense frustration when setting up the system.

Everyone who is anyone in our lives knows that without decent music and the option of DVD's when it's raining outside, we are not happy! In the event of not being happy, there are a number of choices as to which ones we incline towards - Grumpy comes immediately to mind!

All set up and testing - beside the piano with repaired wheels

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Christmas Party!

On Saturday evening, MWH hosted their end-of-year/Christmas function in Palmerston North. The theme for the evening was 'hats', 'ties' and/or 'buttonholes' and we thought it would be fairly original to go the African route, since there are only a couple of South Africans in the Wanganui and Palmerston North offices.
We were pleased to find that we were the only 'African' hatted folks there!

Our hats didn't really make too much sense on their own and so we decided to go for the 'complete look' and added the rest of the outfits just for fun.
This picture was taken in the dining area of our house before we left - not bad for a 'set the camera up and fly into position before the flash goes off ' effort!

The 'grass Basotho' hat pictured here is made out of an old unwanted and unused lampshade with it's innards removed. The 'grass' effect is a piece of cardboard decoratively painted and glued onto the lampshade!



The company supplied a bus for us to travel to the function on, all kitted out with a chilly bin containing beverages of the alchoholic variety to get the show on the road!

Half way to the function in Palmerston North, the bus stopped for a 'comfort stop' and 'one for the road' - Jo snapped here with Rachel who keeps the machine -which is the office, well oiled and running smoothly.







Hugh and Glennys with their ties and hats - we ride in the Ulysses Motorcycle Club with them and have heard about very daring costume parties which they have attended. Seems the kiwis can be outrageous too!














Good on ya Robert!


Michael Skelton in his extremely spectacular Christmas hat.






A hat of the feathered variety!































A couple more hats.


For the most part, the music was pretty good and some folks had fun on the dance floor. The DJ for the evening tried very hard to get people to volunteer to take on a karaoke microphone, but there were no takers!

And here is the Scotsman, Andrew, in his spectacular winning hat!

This picture really doesn't do his creation justice - he was a very deserved winner!

Dis al!

Die garage vir boemelaars - Garage for destitutes!

On our arrival in Hamilton, (those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning will know) we were immensely grateful to the folks who donated furniture, whiteware, cutlery and linen etc to be dished out to new arrivals who were waiting for their containers to arrive from across the ocean. When our container arrived, we of course were no longer residing in Hamilton and had brought all the 'donations' down to Wanganui with us. Since our new friends Annelien and Carel Botha visited us here and offered to take things back to Hamilton for us, we managed to return most of the things to be 'recycled' to the next family of 'destitutes'. However, the double bed just wouldn't fit into their car - nor the tumble dryer for that matter, so it was decided that we could hang on to these items until a similar scheme could be established here.

With SAMCA (South African Mid Central Association) now launched, we are in the process of finding storage space for just such items and this picture is to celebrate the first donation to this project - our 'garage for destitutes' stuff with a few additions are loaded onto the trailer in front of our new home in Springvale and all ready to be re-allocated to the next family who needs them.

Pictured here from the left - Stefan, Jo, Mauritz and Pierre.
The extra space in our garage is much appreciated!
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Rosie O'Grady's pub

New Plymouth is about two hours away from us here in Wanganui and Jo needed to be on hand one evening when one of the main roads was closed for repairs - the sub-base and base of the road had to be stabilised and then a new surface had to be done. The majority of the work happens at night (for the least possible disruption to the traffic) and the contractors were due to start work at 7pm. We had some time to kill before Jo's supervisory duties kicked in, so wandered about New Plymouth looking for somewhere to have a bite to eat.
We came across this pub about two blocks up from the sea and decided to give them a try.

The service was prompt and friendly and the dinner was really good - not too overpriced and definitely worth another visit when next we find ourselves in the area.

Apparently Guinness originated in Ireland - making it a pure Celtish drink.

Not really to our taste so we settled for a couple of very good ciders.

A really cozy atmosphere with loads of things Scottish (or pretending to be) - since it's a Celtic pub, it was kind of expected!

We wondered if the importers of this set of bagpipes had to go through all the hassle of proof to New Zealand customs regarding the end-pipes which traditionally are made of the dreaded IVORY! Like us, did they even know where the ivory came from?

Ok, so the photo is a little out of focus - I thought at the time it was the cider - but there you go - New Plymouth is 12147 miles from Glasgow and having checked the map of Scotland out in our World Atlas, it looks like the difference in flying time from here to Edinburgh and here to Glasgow cannot be more than the quack of a duck - depending on which way around the globe you happen to fly - we look forward to the day when Jo and Allan can come over to New Zealand for a visit and we are thinking that if you should feel slightly nostalgic, we can call in at this pub and enjoy the good food and company - all on the tartan carpeting!

Dis al!

South African Mid Central Association

Since there are South African organisations and associations dotted about New Zealand, but sadly, nothing happening in this part of the island, it's been decided to band the motley bunch of us into some sort of team, in and around Wanganui.
The big launch was held at the Top Ten holiday park and took the form of a whole weekend of 'pret en plesier' with something for everyone.
Folks came in from the surrounding districts and either booked chalets or pitched their tents and joined in the 'getting to know you' atmosphere, with good food, good music and company. The 'sports' were an aside for those who were so inclined and provided lots of laughs and good prizes!
So many of the local businesses came to the party with sponsoring prizes and so on and we were really quite chuffed that the mayor of Wanganui pitched up and gave a positive and encouraging speech.
All in all, a very successful launch and a fun weekend of R and R.

The team of 'die spesery meisies' - main organiser of the event and the new association, Pierre is second from the left.

The ladies team of 'die mal koeie'!

Teams were chosen for the day and challenged other teams to beat them at rowing, paintballing and cooking!!! These chaps really got into the spirit with their basketball theme.

Even some of the ladies were prepared to take on the river and row their way across and back. The current is fairly strong and since the river is so close to the sea, it tends to be somewhat tidal - most of the ladies did an amazing job and no-one needed rescuing! There was a motorized boat out on the river with them, just in case!

The 'mare' of Wanganui, Michael Laws - gave a really good account of how New Zealand has grown as a result of migrants from all over the world and how kiwis want to embrace and celebrate all the various cultures - in our case "especially the food"!

He has evidently visited SA - albeit only Johannesburg but at least knows where SA is!

There is a 'biggest dinner' (that's the most people catered for we gather) elsewhere in New Zealand each year and Michael Laws thinks Wanganui should host the 'biggest braai in New Zealand' and put Wanganui on the map. He's promised financial support for this to the tune of $10,000 for next year, so that sounds 'good as gold'!

Rapt attention for Michael's speech - especially the part about council support for next years' event!

The Boesenkool children making music at the fees - that's Mum in the red blouse, keeping the music from blowing away. Just shows you - there is even real culture going on amongst the South Africans here in New Zealand.

A lovely touch of class with these incredibly talented children playing tunes everybody knows and loves.

Here's a team of guys planning their strategy before the big paintball war - to be honest, we have no idea who won! There was a lot of shouting and shooting and raucous laughter going on - it seems that a great time was had by all the big boys playing cowboys and crooks!

Even the ladies were game for a spot of paintball and some came away with very dramatic bruises to prove it!

The gentlemen armed with the clipboards are the 'judges' of the best potjies! Some folks really take this type of competition seriously, but then who wouldn't when the first prize was a very large and impressive hamper of South African products sponsored by one of the local supermarkets for the event. Good on ya Countdown!

After a full day of river paddling and paintballing and potjiekos for dinner, folks let their hair down and danced the night away.



Dis al!

Move from Parkes Avenue to Kakaho Drive

Crates of pianos en-route to Kakaho Drive (we meant to include this picture with the ones in the next blog entry, but somehow missed this one)

Some things fit into neat little (or big) boxes - other things just seem to naturally fill up a van!

Lunch break! Mariaan arrived at 12.30 sharp with pizzas, chips, salads and drinks - organised to the last plate and plastic glass! Everyone took a breather over lunch before the last big push to get everything safely delivered to Kakaho Drive.

It was just so incredible to us how folks just kicked off their shoes and got stuck in packing and wrapping and chatting. The linen lurking in this picture was as back-up in case there wasn't enough paper and/or bubble wrap to finish the job. We fortunately didn't have to wrap glasses in pillowslips!

There goes the last load from Parkes Avenue - garage tools and woodworking machinery.

This photograph demonstrates how things are prioritised - no matter how disorganised we are and regardless of how much chaos there is around us, first things first - the piano is in it's place and there is a clear and comfortable sofa to park your tail on while you take in some relaxing music since the sound system is connected - wires everywhere, nothing pretty about anything, but hey - we will get there eventually!

One could be excused for thinking that you might need wings to get out of that sliding door! Chaos is reigning supreme on Saturday evening, but the one good thing was that although we had no idea where anything was, at least we knew for certain that all our belongings were amongst that lot somewhere!

By Sunday evening there is a semblance of order in the kitchen/dining area - enough space has been cleared to create something delectable at the stove! Note the couple of bottles on the counter top - Bertrams it is not, but good enough to wet the whistle!

Dis al!