CATCH UP
Two days worth of images. Enjoy!
It is New Years Eve today and we are all back in town again. Wellington is blustery and not exactly warm but compared to the horrendous freezing cold weather they are experiencing in Illinois it is balmy. 
These are a few pictures from our drive back to the city.
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We popped in to a few wineries on the way.
Saw a few of the sights.
A beautiful old house.
We stopped at a river after surviving the Rimutakas – the most horrible windy road over the hills. The hilly (some people would say mountainous) roads in the North Island are taking a beating. This one has to close every time there is a slip or the winds are too high and the Manawatu Gorge road on the other side has recently closed for good, due to slips. It is quite simply too dangerous to maintain and navigate anymore. These are artery roads in NZ. I have driven through the Gorge (to and from Hawkes Bay where I was born) a million times. It is incredibly weird to have that closed. Alternative routes are VERY scenic (cough). Losing the Manawatu Gorge has also increased the traffic across the Rimutakas.
A river. The water is very low due to the dairy farming and the long periods between rainfalls lately.
And back to a beautiful day in Wellington. The first sunny day I have seen since arriving in New Zealand and I find it in Wellington.
So we wandered the waterfront for as long as the light wandered with us.
I hope you have a lovely day. We are getting ready to see the New Year in, all together at my fourth son’s house.
This morning is blustery and overcast again in Wellington, NZ. The sun is gone. But Illinois is 9F/-12C at the moment with an overnight of -6F/-21C. Tomorrow their overnight drops to -14F/-25. It is awful. The farm is never this cold over the Christmas break. It is my worst nightmare to be away from the farm in conditions like this leaving John struggling to manage the animals in that cold.
Wednesday the last of the fattening hogs are sold (I am making all the arrangements this morning) which frees up the rathouse, and this means that I can get John to bring Molly into their warmer spot in the hut inside the rathouse later in the week. If all goes well I get home on the Sunday after that, thanks gods.
OK
Have a lovely day out there wherever you are and if you are in that cold be careful.
Love celi
24 Comments on “CATCH UP”
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O h Ce, I am so sorry you missed all that sunshine before you got here. Happy New Year anyway.
I know! I am glad i brought my hoodie!
I like the cow skin chairs and you’ve chosen the best time to get away from the American winter!
The weather is just downright mean, pulling a nasty on both sides of the big pond 😦 I am sorry you are stressing about the farmy, difficult when you are so far away. Your Christmas Pav looks divine, yum. Happy New Year to you and yours. Laura
Happy New Year!! Thanks for sharing the pics. Good to see this beautiful country. Hope all continues to go well in IL!
I thought you might be traveling, I haven’t been around much. It sure is nice to be away somewhere warmer than here, I have had the toughest time warming up after being a month in Arizona. It’s the wind that goes right through me. I’ve been wearing two pairs of leggings! Hope you had happy holidays and I wish you all the best for 2018.
Amazing Celi – Some of these photos could’ve been taken in the foothills of Alberta… No matter where they are, so sad to see abandoned homes; even worse knowing it won’t last long now that part of the metal roof has gone missing… Beautiful prairie Sky
Enjoy being where you are, things will work out
Excellent pics. I’ve not been to NZ but I’m sure I’d feel quite at home. My cousin is holidaying at Lake Taupo, Hawkes Bay, Hastings and posting the pics on FB. So I’m seeing NZ in stereo!
Love all the photos but of course my favorite’s the horses under the trees. Speaking of trees, what kind is the very large solitary one in #4?
Probably a macrocarpa, they grow them a lot here as wind breaks.
Oh just looking at your wonderful pictures warms me up! 3 degrees F here (-9 with wind and blowing snow). Brrrrr.
I am frantic about weather changes when I’m away from my farm too. But I’m sure John will do just fine and you’ll be home too soon. It’s so hard when your mind is split between home and where you are~ especially when you were so looking forward to being away.
Well, I know a wee bit more of the North Island again: naturally had to look up Martinborough and found myself in a part of the NZ wine country of which I was unaware. Thank you for some of the family photos even if only the usual ‘back view’ is presented 🙂 ! Well, you cannot ‘hide’ Sophie – know her tattoo too well . . . A very happy New Year to all . . . . Sydney is cloudy and cooler also . . . .
ENJOYED !!! LOVE the Wellington harbour fun, poems, statues and people…
What a shame you haven;t had the sunshine we ‘ve been bathed in here in Coromandel for weeks… watering every alternate day !! Even the wild quails and their babies come to drink from the shallow bowl I have out for creatures
Wonderful photos and I know you are struggling with wanting to be in two places at the same time. I am so worried about all the animals in all the cold places everywhere. It’s hard to fully enjoy yourself when your mind is worried. Infrastructure is fragile in so many places and hard to keep up with unless the area has lots of money from taxes. I am wishing all on both continents a Very Happy New Year.
I love the peace and familiarity of those photos. I get a real sense of how at home you feel. Have a wonderful New Year celebration with all those dear ones around you. See you in 2018!
How delightful and homey your photos are. As close as I’ll probably get to NZ, but I’ve had my fair share of adventures elsewhere. Be safe, have fun, and Happy and Healthy, if not wildly prosperous, 2018!!!
So glad you got a fine day. Wellington on a fine day is stunning.
Happy New Year,Celi!
Hope you are able to enjoy your winding-up days without too much preoccupation about the farm. So hard to have your heart split in two. Safe, warm lovely travels to you.
Happy New Year to you and your family! Love that statue of the man about to dive into the water…fabulous.
And a lovely day to you dear Celi. Gosh I didn’t know that about the Manawatu gorge .. and I would have to say that the Rimutakas aren’t my favourites! 😃 Have a lovely time with your family ..
Happy New Years to you. I know you will be home safe soon. Enjoy and becareful.
A week to go then I will be home. Lots of traveling to go now.
Photos like yours warm me up. Seems warmer? today in Wisconsin…