Ist Feb, very, very rainy day

Well, I have to report that after the worst drought since records began, the people of Russell are dancing in the streets and giving thanks to the Maori rain god...except the local man who, with his tanker, tops up people's water for an extortionate price when the tanks get really low. He's off to Fiji for a 5 star holiday.

This morning while relaxing, watching the rain and knowing that our two tanks will be full again (which will be plenty and last for the rest of our time in Russell) we discussed what we can now worry about!! Dawn's identified a couple of small things that will keep her going for a few days and Brian can concentrate on why he's lost the ability to play golf with any consistency. But once those issues are sorted we might be in the serious situation for westerners of being able to relax totally without a care in the world. How's that for scary!!!

Even the garden is progressing nicely. The pick-axe now has many miles on the clock, paths and terraces have been created and we have a fairly solid plan. Just need to buy bark to cover 600sq mtrs, gravel for the paths and when the sales start a lot more plants . Looking out of the window the flowering plants seem to be happy after the rain, perky and colourful. Photos of progress on garden next blog.

That's the weather and garden covered, now for Christmas and New Year. Although this was our 5th year of being somewhere warm for Christmas, in lots of ways it still feels odd. Brian's quite a fan (as he is of anything to do with warmth and sunshine), but Dawn struggles with getting the true Christmas feeling.

Putting up the decorations, tree and lights only marginally helped, especially as it is not something the people of Russell seem to do much of. So the lead up to the big day lacked some enthusiasm and snow. But you'll be pleased to know that it all came good. On Christmas eve day, Dawn prepared and cooked a lovely meal while Brian searched for sports on the tv and channel surfed (trying to act like a traditional kiwi man). We then had a quiet, romantic and fun evening. On Christmas Day, after opening the presents, we went to the Boat Club where they cooked a traditional English style Christmas lunch, turkey with all the trimmings followed by Christmas Pudding. We sat outside on the deck and made new friends. In addition to the seagull, who took a particular shine to Dawn, there were Bill and Dorthea (American and German) who live a life similar to ours.

We'd agreed to take a break from working on the garden during the period between Christmas and New Year, so lazed about, boated, hiked and read.

New Years eve was a blast.

First we went to a winery and sat in the garden listening to Jazz, and of course drinking the local wine and eating an excellent cheese board.

For the evening we'd booked a table overlooking the bay at the "best" hotel in downtown Russell. They laid on a feast, we drank NZ bubbly and when we reached the "over stuffed and merry" stage of contentment, we got up and danced. The band were great and like most local groups they played "our type of songs" ie over 25 years old. The wonderful thing was that all the youngsters at the event knew all the words and sang along without inhibition. The lead guitar player, who looked like an All Blacks scrum half, was particularly good.

Just before the year of 2010 was reached everybody went outside to watch the fireworks over the Bay. Quite a show it was too and it feels somehow nice to know that you are part of a population who are the first to welcome in the New Year. The younger people certainly did their bit, jumping in the sea from the pier, or, as with one young man who was obviously feeling the heat of the evening, removing all your clothes on the beach and wading in for a swim. Unfortuately, we didn't have a strong enough zoom to get a good picture for the blog.

January has now been and gone and we have enjoyed the boat, for which launching is no longer a trauma.

One of the first major events of the new year, was the annual tall ships race, the biggest event of the year for the boat club. The race (sorry, no pictures) is followed by a traditional NZ Hangi, where they light an open fire and heat stones in a pit and bury enough food for close to 800 people. It's then left for hours before a team of local men, especially selected for their excellent dress sense, dig the food up. The meat was good, but the vegetables reminded Brian of how his mum used to cook them, very well done... Nice memory though.

Life in the Bay remains a delight and I expect you could say we have settled into some sort of routine. Dawn does some work instructing locals on computers and iPods, one customer being an 81 year old who gets so excited about new technology. He rang Dawn raving about the launch of the iPad!!

Brian goes to the golf course to make himself irritated (but won't give in to those independently minded little white balls). We attend yoga once a week where Dawn flows through the positions while Brian creaks. We sit on the deck in the evenings and watch the wonderful variety of sunsets that happen here. So all in all life is good and we hope all our friends are achieving their New Year wishes for 2010.