For the last two weeks of December I ventured to NZ for a Xmas gathering with the NZ whanau.
A lot of the family were present but many others due to work commitments, unfortunately were unable to be there. Some of the Whanau of the Crallan's and the McRae's got together, some living locally and others from further afield made the trip up to the KariKari Peninsula for Xmas Day. Anyway, those that were there, were great company and fantastic that the Jordan's made their beach batch available for the occasion.
So Xmas 2013 was celebrated at the Jordan Batch, Tokerau Beach in Doubtless Bay, Northland, NZ.
MY MUM
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| Chris McRae - mother, grandmother and great grandmother to the whanau - 83 years old and still going strong and mellowed somewhat ... |
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| Noreen (eldest McRae) and Mum |
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| Jean (2nd eldest Crallan) and Mum |
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| Rimu (daughter-in-law), Mum and Jack (eldest Crallan) |
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| Noreen Jordan (eldest McRae) and Valerie Whittaker (3rd youngest McRae) - SISTERS |
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| Bev(baby McRae) and husband Richard Dampney |
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| Alan Dampney (nephew), Bev and Richard's middle child, and Angie his girlfriend |
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| Clinton Jordan (Nor and Don's eldest) with his two fine looking kids - Sophie and Max |
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| Rimu and Jack Crallan - my favourite sister-in-law |
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| Big bro and sis - Jackie and Jeanie! - tee hee |
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| Jane Crallan with her 3 gorgeous looking kids - Melvedene, Jonelle and Julian |
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| Nor and Fred the cat. Fred and I share an extra toe in common! |
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| Kerrie Jordan - Nor and Don's daughter |
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| Mervyn Crallan (Jack's 3rd child) and Shiloh |
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| Melissa (Missy), Symon's partner, Val and Kevin Whittaker's son |
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Little sis and big sis
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Xmas meal a la kiwi style - enabling it to be a sort of team effort with all the responsibility falling on DON!
Preparations - women peeled vegies and pieced the meat ...
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| The Kai cooker - pakeha equivalent of a hangi |
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| Don - chief chef |
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| Out of the cooker and ready to be eaten. |
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| Laying out the food |
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| Rimu oiling a salad |
In true kiwi tradition, pauas, mussels, crayfish and tuatuas - all magnificent shellfish magically appeared, coinciding with the Aussies presence, below Kevin (Ugg) is dealing with the paua
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softening the paua with a rolling pin on the concrete
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| Mum is making sure Ugg does it right! |
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| minced and battered, Ugg is cooking the delicious fritters |
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a bucket of tuatuas - they were in abundance close to shore and picked in about 15 minutes ... yummy in hot water or frittered
LONG LINE FISHING |
One evening while up at Whatuwhiwhi, one of Don's relations invited us out to help him launch his 'torpedo' and long line and chance catching some fish.
Long line fishing is a form of fishing conducted by many people in NZ who don't have boats and so "fish" from shore. It comprises of a means ( a kontiki torpedo) of transporting the long line with 25 baited hooks out to sea or offshore for a certain distance to catch fish.
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| Setting the hooks with bait |
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| Inserting batteries into the torpedo |
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| Galon walking the torpedo to the water |
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| Murray adding the bait to the long line |
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| The winch in the back of the vehicle which will haul the line in after a certain period has passed. |
Everyone waits around waiting, waiting for the fish to be hooked or whatever!
Unfortunately on this occasion no fish were caught, all 25 hooks still had bait, weed or rubbish on - the fish were smarter!
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| the catch, some rag |
However unsporting as it may be in fishing practise, it is a very communal and social form of fishing, a very enjoyable experience.
Mums little 'whare' (house) in Kaikohe
Her very colourful driveway garden ...
Whilst in Auckland, I managed to catch up with a couple of 'old' friends from boarding school days. I stayed with Coll and Russ in Browns Bay and Peggy came up from Whangarei to spend a couple of days. We reminisced of teenage days, boarding school adventures, exchanged family achievements, boasted about our grandchildren and of course compared notes of ageing and all the boring bits that go with it!
It was lovely to spend time with old mates, on this occasion Peggy and I were going over to Waiheke Island for the day.
I managed to also visit the Auckland War Museum.
It is a small museum by international standards but contains spectacular collections about the People of the Pacific (Polynesians and Maoris), geological origins of the oceans, forests, volcanoes and animals, and galleries containing military history
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| front entrance to the museum |
It's location commands a stunning view of Rangitoto Island with the harbour in the foreground
A Maori cultural performance - they were very good, very professional and great examples of first class performers
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| The famous haka! |
The women had beautiful voices and they were all athletic in actions and lovely to watch
They were very handsome as a group and the harmony was superb
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| The pose with the 'warrior' was free ... |
As part of the war stories galleries , NZ's involvement in WW1 and 11
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| A Japanese Zero from WW11 |
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| a stunning stained glass roof over the military section |
This exhibit caught my eye in the early settlers section, a tea cup for moustache wearers
In the stories of the land section, featured the famous flightless birds, both extinct and living
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| The extinct Moa ( a relative of the Emu) |
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| the different types of kiwis - the brown, the striped, and the ?? |
For my dragonboating friends, a real waka - the tail end
Whilst in Auckland I enjoyed the hospitality of my neice and sister-in-law, Lorna-Jen and Jovy. Lorna-Jen was great company while Mum Jovy was at work, she visited her Dad's grave with me and was a great tour guide round different parts of Auckland.
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| Prince the dog, Lorna-Jen and Jean |
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| Brother Harry's resting place at Mangere cemetery |
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Lorna-Jen and I at Harry's grave
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It was a memorable visit to kiwi land, the weather was mainly pretty good and the relies were very generous with their time. Mum excelled in the behaviour department and we all got on very well. One other comment, I even let Jack win at golf to allow him to feel good in that he can beat his sister at something. An enjoyable game still the same!
