Visits and Weddings

---

Hi De Hi to any one that reads this. It's been a little while since the last one. seem to be busy all the time.

Phillippa, Annemarie's daughter, got married Labour weekend up on Waiheke island. As usual with all these weddings, it was quite an event. Weather was ok, food was great, refreshments were fantastic,the location superb, the bride and groom looked a million dollars and the families and friends all had a ball. Lucie and Tim from Aussie were there with the 3 boys and it was fantastic to have Pete and Helen over from England with the 2 girls for the event, and a bit of a trip around the North Island. So the Phillips brothers and sisters were in abundance, except for John who couldn'rt make it.

Pete, Helen, Alex and Georgie had a few days with us in Wellington before heading up country to get to the wedding. It was great to see them and catch up on all that is happening in their busy lives. One day we walked the old 5 mile track into the Orongaronga valley and I wondered to myself why I don't walk this more often. It is a beautiful walk and the valley and river are awsome when you get there. We are very lucky to have this type of country right on our doorstep. Di and I drove up to Auckland for a couple of nights prior to the wedding and then went over to the island with Amy, Jeremy and the kids. The night prior to the wedding Annemarie had a family get together and it was fantastic to see all the cousins together, and to catch up with every one. The wedding was a magic day, not only for Phillippa and Tariq, but all the guests, who all seemed to enjoy themselves, with a few of us old timers making the usual fools of ourselves on the dance floor. Next day was a mamoth effort with everyone arriving at Annemarie and Corrado's for a lunch and dinner and with the help of Anne and Roy and others pitching in it was another great day. Although we were confined to indoors for most of the day because of the rain, with the pool being indoor it all went well. Di and I, with Viv and Charlie, had another few days in Auckland, were the casino didn't treat us very well, but we ate and drank well, and had a decent look up the coast from Auckland, which we were very impressed with. Its been awhile since Ive driven up that way. Di and I drove back down via Cambridge and dropped into see Leanne and Emma. They took us to NZ Rowing Headquarters at Lake Karapiro, were Emma spends so much of her time training. Very impressive, the whole set up. No wonder we do well in the world of rowing.

So back to Wellington and the prep work for the arrival of the family from Norway. I have my lists of what I have to get done, so you can imagine that I haven't had much of a chance to go fishing or any of the other things that I'm meant to be enjoying myself at during my retirement. Looking forward to seeing the kids though, so its all worth it.

I have now had the first pay from the NZ super. One days pay went into my account on my birthday, and from now on I recieve fortnightly payments from the tax payers of NZ, as it should be,for all my hard work and dedication to the NZ economy during my working career. YEA. RIGHT!!!!!

Will catch up again soon.

---