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Published: October 7th 2008
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The Wallaces (& Paul's hat!) This entry is probably more interesting for the Hamer children than others although there are bits about people some of you may know. Please don’t be bored.
Here we are, feeling quite at home & enjoying spring. It’s more like summer for us. Skies are blue & we’re back in shorts & t-shirts …. temporarily! As we remember our time in Lincoln, (it was OK to do the washing even on wet days because the weather would be different tomorrow). It’s just like that now. One day hot & sunny, the next cold, maybe wet & very windy. Often it changes from one to another while we’re out for a day. The Wallaces are making us feel very welcome. It’s been lovely to meet their boys & families, even Chris we’ve seen on screen in Botswana with his wife, Maggie. It was Fathers’ Day in NZ on our first Sunday here & Karolyn made a Pavlova of Wallace fame.
Lincoln Township has changed. It has spread out & is continuing to grow all the time. However I had my hair cut by the lady who did it 22 years ago. Some things don’t change. The house that was home looks just
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At home - Andrew the same & someone is living in it. The roads through the uni campus are lined with blossom. Just along the road, still on the Lincoln University sight the NZ Cricket High Performance Unit now has a ground so some of the best cricketers play there.
One of our first trips was through Arthur’s Pass, Kea country, to the West Coast, sand fly country! We both got bitten. The scenery now is fabulous as the winter was particularly hard & there’s an excess of snow on the mountains. It doesn’t seem to thaw from day to day with hot sun on it. We can look out of our bedroom every morning to see the Southern Alps which appear to be very close although they are probably more than 50 miles away.
We spent lots of time looking up people we keep in touch with…….
First we called on John & Margaret Hayman, known to Nibby as her Kiwi parents. They’ve moved out of the house we borrowed in ’98 & are staying in Riccarton until their new house-build is complete. We saw it at a later date. Wow, the view they’ll have from the top of the hill in the
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Spring in Hagley Park, Christchurch Cashmere district of Christchurch is stunning. John is still the happy man he always was & Margaret copes amazingly well, continuing to go for walks, babysitting grandchildren & entertaining guests with enthusiasm we discovered. The Haymans have a painting by Nibby hanging wherever they are living. We hadn’t seen it before & were proud of her when we did. They just love it.
We went out for a meal with Graham & Nichola Densem. Their children are grown up & in various places now but we reminisced about the days of small children especially Rachel & Lee, on their knees, head to head, chatting through the hole in the hedge with their bottoms up.
Our next visit was to Jan & Marcus Wright in Governors Bay, out on the Banks Peninsular. Their house also has a fabulous view. Not so good in the poor weather we had while we were there though. The bird song however is wonderful in such places. Jan’s Mum is the great Marni, of ‘Chewy-Marni’ fame, known only to the Hamer offspring. We went to see her, now aged 86 & yes, she made us some Chewy-Marni. She is great! She remembers all the Hamers &
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Spring in Hagley Park Little Nanny in great detail.
We also called on John & Ann Dunn. John worked at Silsoe many years ago so he had lots of names to ask after.
We went via the west coast, Punakaiki & the beautiful Buller River valley, an area we didn’t know before, & Murchison where the tuis, birds that are heard but not often seen in many places are abundant, to Nelson District. Here we visited Muriel Goode, wife of Jim Goode from the days of East Malling Research Station. She is 90 now & so bright & friendly still. She remembered all our children, their names & what they did when they were there in ’86. We stayed with Muriel’s daughter Caroline & C’s husband Karl. Her other daughter, Jane came with husband Richard, for an evening meal. The occasion was lovely & although Muriel is suffering with back problems she doesn’t stop smiling. Richard is now the Mayor of the Nelson District. In important, full time, elected post for three years.
We travelled South on the east coast where many NZ fur seals live. We stopped in Kaikoura, & took a whale watching trip out into the bay. The whales are there
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Christchurch centre because there is a wealth of food for them all the year round in the Kaikoura Canyon, a stretch of sea that goes suddenly down to1Km deep - an underwater canyon. Not only did we see the whales but also some wonderful seabirds such as the wandering albatross, 4 metres of wingspan flying straight towards the boat we were on, and the black petrel, a huge bird that spends most of its life at sea. We saw a flock of shearwaters, an endangered bird that lives here on the cliffs.
It’s been great to have a base with good friends who have joined us on some travels too. When we’d been away for that last trip we met the Wallaces & McPhersons at Hanmer Springs for a few days & enjoyed a mountain drive where Janet dipped feet only into an icy river, a forest walk & a soak in the hot pools with snow on the surrounding mountains. You can’t get better than that.
Our next visit was to the Flemings for an evening meal. They were also neighbours in Lincoln in ’86. They did us proud with a Kiwi roast dinner & we had another very pleasant reminiscing
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In Hagley Park again session. Also caught up with news of each others’ families.
We had a brief visit to Ruth & Errol Wood in Lincoln with more chatting to remember old times & to update with family news on both sides. It’s strange how we’re all talking about what we’ll do or are already doing in our retirement!
The Wallaces joined us for a day in Akaroa. That has to be the place where the best fish & chips are served. Straight out of the sea & prepared to perfection. The weather was perfect so we took a catamaran trip out to see the Hektors dolphins & little blue penguins. The weather changed while we were out there. It got quite blustery but it didn’t actually rain. On the offchance we called on Jim & Pauline Woodward in Akaroa. They were home & it was great to see them. Jim was the magical car mechanic in Lincoln who kept our Aussie Holden on the road in ’86.
On the evening of the Akaroa trip we had a delightful meal with Ros & Peter John. Another catch up & boast time about respective children. They’re all worth it.
We visited Marian & Philip Galloway
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It's the gardener. He's missing his allotment in Kirwee. Their boys don’t remember us but Nibby might remember them from our visit in ‘98. Philip is still doing all sorts of projects on their self-built house. I think he always will.
On the same day we called on the Ballantynes. Vicky was & still is friendly with Michelle & she came to see us at her parents beautiful home in West Melton.
When we are at home or away with Karolyn & Andrew Wallace we enjoy their company well into the night, often playing card or board games until 1 or 2 o’clock. None of us are early birds so when Rachel phoned she had to get us up at about 10am, thinking she must catch us before we rushed out on our travels. Sorry Rachel.
There’s more to come so I’m splitting this blog & preparing a second one for the South Island. Until then….
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