My 2009 Holiday

Sounds like a school project! Well I've been trying to get round to telling you about my holiday at xmas but work seems to be mad - if 2009 continues like this I'll need triple the holiday time next xmas!!

We headed over to Great Barrier Island - about 60miles out of Auckland and 25miles off the tip of the Coromandel. We stayed at CH's friend's new bach which is set way back into the bush - really remote where birdsong is the radio, fire warms the water and sun charges the lights.

We had amazing weather which meant loads of time for swimming AND body-surfing (which is my new favourite thing). I'm not a confident swimmer and in addition to the pretty rippie seas around West Auckland, over the years I've been shrinking back from the depths. Well, teach me some hand-surfing skills and I might just swap PJ for Flipper! I hadn't spent so much time in the surf since I was a teenager.

There were a few rainy days but that gave plenty of time for gingernuts (Griffins of course!), cups of tea and loads of knitting. It was so cool in the rain and cloud stocking up the fire, boiling the kettle on top and drinking cuppas all day.

There is very little on the island to spend your money on other than a few cafes, petrol station and the odd post office but a New Years Picnic market landed me with this handbag - over-priced for a second-hand leather bag but I have coveted one for ages and it's now my holiday momento.

New friends were made and some were prettier than this fellow! Lots of food and drink all week - the bach had a huge garden of fruit trees and veges (life on Barrier has to be pretty self-sufficient) so we had freshly stewed plums and rhubarb all week. And we had the freshest fish - snapper, hapuka, crayfish - I've ever had. Best hint from the fishermen - only ever wash fish in the sea. I ended up with 2 foodies all holiday which was so good - chatting endlessly of recipes, food stuffs and restuarants.

And talking about vege gardens - the best thing about going back home is seeing the state of your own vege garden. What do you do when the zucchinis are bigger than your cat!