What is this Christmas Present?

Hi there

I got a Christmas present through the post.  But, blow me down, I can't figure out what it is?  It's about the length of my fore-arm and can be squeezed from the sides.

It's probably something that every kitchen-proud person will instantly recognize.  "It's a fizzle gripper," he/she is probably shouting out at me with scornful derision.

But, and here's the kicker, when I rang up the overseas sender of the present, she couldn't remember what she'd sent me!

I refused to send her a photo.  Let her stew in her own juices - oh, wait, maybe The Thing is a lemon squeezer?

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7 December (NZ time):  I've discovered what The Thing is.  It's a jar opener!   I was glancing through a Farmers' catalogue and found a similar object.   But the funny thing Is that I don't need the present at all because I have a foolproof way of opening a jar.
I just give the rim of the lid  a very brisk bang or two on the floor.  You'll hear a sort of click and then the lid will unscrew easily.

Christmas Day, evening. ( NZ time)

Hi there

As I type this, I am watching the Queen's Message on tv.  I am full and happy after Christmas Day luncheon at the West Plaza Hotel.

It was a lovely meal, but it was what I would call a kiwi summer buffet.  There was no roast beef/gravy/roast potatoes.  There were salads, salmon, potato gratin, turkey, ham.  The desserts were cold, nothing hot.  I couldnt work out whether the hard  cold slices of something was supposed to be Chistmas cake or plum pudding.  The mince pies were obviously out of a packet.  There were miniscule pavs (put your thumb and forefinger together and that was the size of all the dessert selections).

I guess that the old English tradition of a full hot Christmas day meal is practically out, which I suppose is sensible because it is our summer over here, halfway across the world from England. It is sad in a way for people of my generation, but young people, of course, don't even know, nowadays,   how slavishly NZ used to follow anything English.

below:  West Plaza Hotel Wellington, Christmas luncheon, 25 December 2017

Scorching Bay, Wellington

Hi there

I went to Scorching Bay yesterday ( 23 Dec NZ time) and had a wonderful day, but it was so hot that I had to cover up a lot to avoid sunburn.  I had three swims.  The photos are a bit silly because I didn't take the actual beach, just the sun-scorched grass behind it.  The bottom part of the North Island has now been declared .... a drought.

Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

Whitianga

Hi there

I'm recovering from my last holiday. Just.

I was all booked in to go to Mt Maunganui on 19 January, looking forward to it.  I am such a holiday bunny in our New Zealand summer.

But ... my 20 December cataract operation appointment at Wellington Hospital has just been postponed till 17 January.  So ....  there goes my Mt Maunganui holiday down the drain!  Sigh.

Anyway, here's some photos from my Whitianga holiday last week.

below:  Along the Whitianga beach front

Above:  Driving Creek Railway, Coromandel Town, an hour from Whitianga. 

Above:  view from Eye-Full Tower on the Driving Creek Railway Line

above: along Whitianga beach front.

Above:  as a member of the Govt Superannuitants' Association I can stay at the PSA holiday homes in Whitianga.  

Taupo

Hi there

A few weeks ago I got it into my head that I'd like to go to Whitianga which is a coastal town higher up the North Island of New Zealand.  And so I went there.

I was in Whitianga for a week.  Lovely swimming, terrific weather.  So many things to see and places to go.  I ate a lot.  I drove there and back.  My driving is on borrowed time because of my poor eyesight.

  Driving back home, I thought that Lake Taupo looked beautiful, and the weather was extremely warm so. on the spur of the moment, I stayed in the town of Taupo for three nights.

On Thursday, it was so hot in Taupo that I had three swims in the lake over a period of an hour and a half.  As I was getting out of the water,  some scientific guys were arriving with signs that they dug into the ground declaring that the lake water was unsafe to swim in due to high levels of toxic algae bloom.  The guys took water samples and were warning people away from the lake.  Apparently swimmers could come down with rash, respiratory troubles, headaches, eye infections, etc.

I've warned my friends that the time to worry is when I start to glow in the dark, or mutate into a weird creature, or if Skittles-like spots cover my body.  My friends are watching me like hawks, afraid it all might be catching.