Happy Kiwi Christmas 2016

Kiwi Christmas greetings. Hope that you are having a great holiday wherever you are and whoever you are with.

New Zealand (Jan-April & December)
We are back at home in Queenstown, starting and ending the year in our latest renovation project. Work has almost finished on 2 floors of the house with the ground floor (garage and flat) to start in 2017. It has been a test of our resilience, patience and determination, but the house is worth some TLC for the views alone. Come and sit on our balcony and be mesmerised. Tradies generating endless dust or promising what can never be, slips away from the mind amidst the bliss.
My favourite sunset (January)

This is an awesome place to live, with so much to do and see. Sarah up above Queenstown 1 Jan 2016

We headed north in February, to the Abel Tasman track with Marti and Robbie.  Despite work with a physio, Hopalong (Jo) could not carry a full back pack (artificial hip hates pressure) giving everyone else an excuse to get a porter for the bags. The only way to trip-along in future

The end of the Abel Tasman


Back on the bikes near Queenstown, we biked our own Lord of the Rings scenic tour via a place called Paradise and another via Walter Peak station.

There are more sheep than people in this part of the South Island (despite over 2million tourist a year)

Sarah also tackled the Motatapu MTB race in March, but having finished in good time, decided that was not enough so rode home another 35km (completely in character). After a frantic 4 months of tradies every day starting at 07:30, we ended our time in NZ, with Camilla and Linda visiting for a marathon 6 days of golf in the Central Otago Classic (surviving dust, no curtains, no heating). At least golf meant more of a lie in!

Tibet/Tiger Leaping Gorge (April/May)
We are not sure what Joey Kwok said to her sister Deluth to convince her to go on a walking holiday with us, but Deluth did brilliantly despite not having had the trip explained fully (especially the rough walking and steep slopes!).

We had always wanted to go to Tiger Leaping Gorge (probably since the movie) but even this place of incredible beauty is being over-run by construction. Trip blog is here if you haven’t read it: https://afewdaysintibet.blogspot.com. Low point was the airport food at Kunming - we gave "locust bacteria stew" a miss.

UK and Italy (May- Nov)
After a whirlwind tour of London, seeing friends for walks and dinners (Gillie, Ozzy, Hank and Blick, David and Jude) and culture (standouts were "Elegy" at the Donmar and "Red Barn"at the National) we whizzed past family in Upshire, Martham, Yorkshire,  Portpatrick and Graces Barn ending up in Manchester to see the non staged version of The Ring at the Lowry Centre. This was fantastic; nothing to distract from the glorious music. It enhances the quality of the sound to have the orchestra on the stage rather than buried underneath.

It was another fabulous few months for us in Italy, with amazing weather, vegetables in abundance and new skills to be tried. We extended our Italian vocabulary to include: candle making, ironmongery, palette furniture.

We also had a bumper crop of Antipodeans visiting.








Jessica, Danny, Lily and Henry from Sydney managed a quick visit; civilised dinners

(only the honey bees nesting by a 1st floor window to contend with)













Robbie and Marti survived the earthquakes in August, despite us leading them up a mountain close to the epicentre (behind the mountain range)

We stayed in Norcia (birth place of St Benedict) which has since lost its Abbey due to tremors.
Although we live 100km/60m away from the first earthquake, the house shook continuously for days.
The second was closer. We were lucky that we had no major (structural) damage. Others were not so fortunate. It was sad to see so many people displaced from their homes; old buildings were not safe to enter/go near let alone live in. All the aftershocks can best be described as creepy.

Before leaving Le Marche, it started to snow in mid October.

This is the view from our house in late autumn sun shine.

We managed a last minute weekend trip to Rome to see the Edward Hopper exhibition. He often paints lonely empty places, brooding and suggestive; you can see why the house in the movie "Psycho" was based on one of his paintings.

It was a strange year of change for us. Our friend Marcello died of a heart attack early on in the year. Jo's Mum and Dad both had hip replacements (one planned, one not); they moved house for the first time in 40 years and asked us to help pack/unpack in Martham. Barbara was begging us to stop work by 6pm on day 1.
Sarah is now expert in both types of conveyancing (legal and transportation).

Sarah spent 2 months studying for a STEP will and trust professional qualification, requiring 3 x 5000 word essays (meaning Jo did too; we will make a lawyer of her yet!).  We had yet another attempt at understanding the incredibly complicated administrative procedure involved in renewing an Italian health card (as European citizens, we are eligible, although this may not last) but ended up in the same place as we started; none the wiser but with a lot more documents with official stamps on them in the bottom drawer. Its only been 10 years since we bought a house there.
Although shocked by the Brexit decision, we can appreciate the reasons.


We were lucky to catch the early winter sunshine and autumn colours at Austwick Hall.

Congratulations to Michael and Eric for winning the Good Hotel Guide Editor's choice award for the garden in 2017.









We just managed get out of Scotland in November, as the snow froze over the roads.



Scotland is glorious in sun and snow; sadly no chance of golf in these conditions but 'The Marriage of Figaro' in Inverness was great compensation/entertainment.

On our travels south, we squeezed in a few days in Bangkok with 4 rounds of golf (spending hours in traffic jams) and meeting up with Simon Pearson. Followed by an excellent Ring cycle in Melbourne.

We end the year how we started in back in Queenstown. This is the place where  Christmas trees are…free. Just walk up Queenstown Hill and chop one down. If not they will get poisoned as they are not natural to NZ. Just like Broom…Here are the two Queenstown witches with their broom sticks on Sunday 18 December.

Trees targeted for removal in the background…












Traditional Christmas food in this part of the world is Ham; trouble is they only come in huge sizes. 4.5kg this year. Of course we have had to buy another recipe book specialising in Ham and ham leftovers. Its a hoot, with lots of gems. Here is an example (chef reviews a ham recipe): "He gave me that withering look, the one Frenchmen probably practice in the mirror to let you know that no matter how much you study their language you'll never get the subjunctive right"

Our New Year will start 12-13 hours ahead of Europe and 2 hours ahead of Australia.
We will be able to celebrate In New Zealand time, Australia time (with Bev and Simon), Norwegian time (with Kjersti and Cecilie) and Uk time.


Hope that you have a great Christmas and all the best for 2017.

Time to plan your trip to visit us soon whether in Italy or in New Zealand.
Once one renovation project is complete, you never know what we might take on next…and where…

Lots of love
Jo and Sarah

xxx

Oaoa Kirihimete or Happy Kiwi Crimbo

G’day from Queenstown New Zealand.

We are always thinking of family and friends at this time of the year, especially those we have not managed to catch up with on our annual round trip tour from NZ/Australia/HK/UK/Italy and back again.  HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL xxxx

We were out on Lake Waikatipu this morning when Jo’s mum and dad called to wish us both Happy Christmas! Jo almost dropped the phone into the water.

Barbara and Joe have not mastered internet technology or the time difference between NZ and UK just yet, but they are working on it. Soon we will be chatting on Facetime or Skype.

It gave us an opportunity to take some photos.

Hope everyone has as enjoyable Christmas morning as we did.

It has been a strange year; full of change (moving house, location and country)

A big part of it was not all pleasant; this we do not want to repeat.

Jo had a total hip replacement in Italy after being knocked off her road bike by someone getting out of his car without looking (saved the car door, sideswiped Jo). And yes it was a fiat 500 - but at least it was brand new! 3 weeks of hospital  - pain, horrible food (even in Italy, hospital food is horrendous) and eccentric geriatrics; 3 months of activity and culture to be unbooked. 5 months later Jo has only just started getting full mobility back. 

First bike ride and first kayak trip in Queenstown only just now. Weeks of work with a physio to look forward to in the new year to get back to full road bike fitness.

Jo is no longer a 7 handicap golfer but we are fortunate in that NZ does not recognise Australian golf handicaps so we have to start again with 5 cards. Sarah is heading for 36 and Jo for 20+ and then to a big comp somewhere!

Everything else has been brilliant fun and a breeze in comparison.

We had a great laugh with all the ladies at Leura GC this year and will miss them.

Beware Arrowtown GC- the fancy pants were shipped to NZ.

We have bought a new car in NZ called Bumble.

 Here she is, complete with hat accessory. Bike rack will be fitted later.

Our house in Queenstown is a 5 bed ex BnB that we were originally interested in as a rental property. Thanks to the patience of Marti and Robbie, we managed 2 viewings in January 2016 whilst on holiday in Fjordland (a luxurious Hollyford track walk and helicopter ride over Milford Sound with hot showers, beds and 3 course haute cuisine dinner).

Sarah took up sculpture classes (actually an excuse for a very hilly 100km round trip cycle training ride) and produced her first masterpiece. This began a love affair with all things Barbara Hepworth. 

Spot Sarah’s work.

We have been to the museum, gallery and exhibition in London since.

After cleaning gardening and sports equipment with a toothbrush, we imported our household items and wine to NZ in May and managed to unpack enough stuff for an impromptu 50^th birthday party for Jo. Followed by lunch at Amisfield vineyard with Camilla and Linda from Leura GC, Stephen from Wenty Falls, Marti and Robbie.

We prepped the house, downstairs cave (I mean flat) and garage  for rental in 10 days, moved in, then left for 7 months on the return leg to summer in Europe. We had another whirlwind tour of the UK to see family before returning back to Italy.

Our summer in Italy was not all bad. It started brilliantly. Highlights were:

• ·      the veggie and fruit crop from the garden (more fig and mulberry jam and pickles galore)
• ·      Cycle ride to Norcia via brilliant wild flowers around Castellucio

• ·      Trip to Sicily – which was fascinating. If you are really interested see our other blog:http://girodisicily.blogspot.co.nz

It was sad to leave as we made much progress with the garden and surrounds thanks to the help of our friends Tanya, Marcello and Vitali.

Apologies to all who we planned to see and who we missed due to Jo's unexpected sojourn in hospital, especially to:  Arild and Dorette; cycle tour of Northern Italy, The Ring in Bayreuth, Glyndebourne, South Downs Way cycle trip and Ozzy and Hank. Maybe another year!

We had a fantastic visit to Venice on the way back to the UK in late October. First time for Sarah - we had clear skies, few people and no smelly canals.

It was quite magical; but not as magical as Scotland or NZ!

Now back in NZ, we think this is quite like Scotland although with a better climate. I guess the Scots thought so too.

Lots of towns with Scottish names: Glen Orchy, Clyde, Carrick, Bannockburn. No whisky made here but the pinot is excellent and we will have lots of fun tasting!

(Guess which of the photos above are taken in Scotland) 

In early 2016 we will be back on the merry go round renovating our new home - with builder, structural engineer, plumber, electrician, garden designer, double glazing installer, curtain upholstery specialists, kitchen designers, and tile and wood floor, gas fire specialists, wall builders and a painter & decorator. We have been trying to get quotes and confirmed start dates. We are absolutely exhausted! At least the holiday season is one where we can rest too as all tradies are off for a few weeks.

Hope that you have a Happy New Year and relaxing holiday season! Hope to see you in 2016 somewhere in the world.

Lots of love from

Jo and Sarah

xxx

Leaving you with the sunset view from our NZ home.

Answer to Q above: 3rd photo view towards Kenmore, Wester Ross Scotland 

Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas 2014 in the Blue Mountains; the only white out we get is from the mist.

We are lucky to have enjoyed another year full of adventure catching up with family and all our friends throughout Australia, HK and UK for dinners/lunch/walks/golf/culture. 


Here are some of the standouts:

Camping and cycle touring in Feb and April : To Capertee Valley in search of the source of many Warwick Fuller paintings; to Mudgee for wine tasting  (cut short by torrential rain storms);

To Dubbo Zoo (for luxury glamping/roar and snore) and wine tasting in Orange (Ross Hill and Canobolas Smith standout) with Marti and Robbie

Golf Jan-May & Dec:

Sarah getting even more competitive and better at/hooked on golf now off 26. The assessment of a good round has changed from counting golf balls found in HK at Kai Sau Chau to if she has beaten Jo and whether she has broken even (prizes vs entry fee); Gleneagles golf match vs Sarah and overnight in the hotel (Sarah insists on a rematch in 2015 as it is the only match play Jo won v Sarah all year)

Road Cycling:
After much deliberation, splashing out on 2 Roubaix Specialised road bikes for Aussie cycle training. They are a dream to ride!

Meeting the northern 2013 LEJOG contingent (CVO, Snap, Phil, the Don) for a cycle in torrential rain in the Dales in May (which - of course involved a coffee stop to dry out and warm up).

Cycling in the maratona in the Dolomites on 6 July 2014.

Checkout shots at http://www.maratona.it/en/courses2015 

This is a wonderful area for a visit. 

We will be back in 2015 as part of a Lake Como to Palermo in Sicily cycling tour (5 weeks in the saddle)

Germany and Austria holiday - June

Travelling across Germany with bikes: staying in Schloss Lemburg; Berlin for concerts and for catching up with Wee Devi in her Schloss retreat.


A spot of bike cleaning after Sarah, navigating with her Garmin, took us cross country through a boggy forest track in torrential rain. Much un-buddhist like swearing was heard. A welcome cup of tea and a wash was provided!




Baden Baden cycle tour, cycling around Lake Constance,  Visiting the Disney castles at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangenau.

Cycling along the Danube, via Vineyards for a spot of wine tasting.












Getting out the posh frocks in Austria for The Ring cycle in Vienna

Italy - July-Oct

Another 4 months of peace in our house in Italy where the vegetable garden again excelled in the volume produced. In common with the rest of Italy a nasty little insect demolished the whole olive crop. But at least we had no plague of "cimici" this year.

We redesigned the living area this year by opening it up to more light and air, replacing 2 doors with more windows and mossie screens.











More fabulous walks in the Sibillini although Sarah did manage to lose her walking poles by trying to lead us off a cliff just above Lago Di Pilato.

cycling around Cortona and Montecatini Termi, Lucca and to the beach for chips; Rossini festival in Pesaro; Jo’s parents visiting  (Dad even made his own pizza topping )

Scotland May/Nov

Starting the garden design at Grace’s Barn – thanks to Annie Mason our friendly horticultural teacher (we provide the manual effort to execute her plans)

A gorgeous walk up Beinn Allign; on a clear day you can see for miles








and a fabulous kayak on Loch Torridon for 32km from Arrina to Torridon and back.

The sky was blue, the loch was like glass as there was no breeze (unheard of in Scotland and certainly something we have never ever experienced before)

There were of course some things we did not enjoy so much, such as

Resuming a competition that neither of us want to compete in or win; 

food poisoning (once again out of date pasta) eliminating Jo from the NYE/NY day celebrations in Sydney.

Jo stayed home eating dried biscuits; Sarah (iron gut) got the harbour walk, seafood, champagne and 2 sets of fireworks with Deb & Pete at 69 Milson Rd.

We decided that it was silly to carry recipe books around the world so began a blog to store our favourite recipes that work (4 per month)  http://www.tattyandneepworkoutrecipes.blogspot.com.au

Courses: Sarah has an impulse every year to attend a course on something or other and drags me along. Last year chair making, this year we schlepped to Lismore for a week to attend a wood turning course. After losing all fingernails and some of our fingertips, chiselling and sand papering, 2 bowls were produced. I dread to think what she will dream up in 2015.

Work: It is a lot of fun working for your own company but much more on demand and less predictable than a regular office job. SPQRLTD is ticking along but we are surprised just how difficult it seems for people to get on with writing their will. They all know they need to do it, but doing it seems challenging.

Going Grey Jo is 50 and Sarah 55 in 2015 (how did we get to this age so fast?)  We are both getting grey. Our major question is when to reach for the hair dye? Sarah (ably assisted by our Kiwi friends Marty & Robbie) tried her first DIY hair dye in 2014 and ended up ginger; Not satisfied the first time she again selected honey (dark blonde) hair dye. We think the label should have read "honey dew melon" not just honey as it was bright orange! Third time lucky for Vidal Neep and Ginger Pearson?

Finally, the weather. Can't complain and we get summer and autumn all year. Hopefully we have avoided the worst of the Aussie bush fires this year; here on Cliff Drive, life returns.

We will be off for a long walk and then cooking turkey with bitter orange and prunes (recipe from Maggie Beer) on Christmas Day. Whatever you are doing, and wherever you are, we hope that you have a great holiday and all the best for 2015. We hope you will find time to visit us, or we will come and visit you!

Love

Jo & Sarah

xxx

G'day from Om Shacki

One of the many blessings of this time of the year, is that we have both time and an opportunity to connect with you, our friends and family. This year is via a Crimbo blog.

 We are writing this from the deck of “Om Shacki” just before Christmas in the Blue Mountains but it is far from wintry here; 29C , sunny, humid, blue sky, with multiple squawky birds to add to the ambience.


We have started our own sculpture garden; other things include cement mixer, an old manual lawnmower, a baby elephant and a watering can painted in silver (Sarah loved the colour!) Fortunately the Buddha was spared.

We have developed a love of gardening especially gardens with loads of different colourful plants; sadly neither of us can remember what they all are!
Fortunately we know hydrangeas when we see them! Very much suburban and middle class plus 1920s mountains-look (apparently).

We are not totally devoid of culture, living in the Blue Mountains (home of the dwarfs according to The Hobbit part 1) we have radio 4, via Internet, National Theatre and Met Opera broadcasts and we occasionally pop into Sydney for musical, operatic or party events thanks to the generous hospitality of our Sydney friends.

There is nothing like a day in the office. Spot the desk and Mac, if you can…? 

Both sad and happy times have hit us both this year, but here is a quick summary of the highlights of our 2013. 

Happy browsing and we hope that your 2014 is fun-packed and very Merry Christmas to you all.

Lots of love from Jo & Sarah

xxx

JANUARY

 Tour of Western Australia South of Perth. 

We camped and walked!  

Sarah bought a new hat (and promptly left it somewhere)

We loved both the beach and the wine in WA.

Soon after, we flew to Singapore for a weekend of catching up with friends and colleagues from Macquarie for Linda Newman's wedding. Proving that we do get out of shorts now and again. Wonderful party, amazing dancing….. 

FEBRUARY: More beach, walking the circuit of Lake Waikaremoana, mountains (including Volcanoes) and golf in NZ with Marty and Robbie.

 Virtual golf on the beach with Robbie and Sarah getting serious (but note the fault - S's lifted left heel - tut tut) - just before our big match Poms/Aussies vs Kiwis at Cape Kidnappers. Sunrise and sunset on the beach in Waimarama.

Getting up early for golf has its benefits.


APRIL/MAY

Easter Sunday - Six Foot Track (46km in one day - Jenolan Caves to Katoomba) with Peter Curran (with vital car and breakfast support from Deb). Fortunately no leeches this time and a fabulous celebratory stew at the end at Om Shacki!

2 weeks in Arrina, Wester Ross in Scotland in late April/early May along with Sarah’s school friends: Hank, Gillie, Ozzy;

We climbed a Ben or too, but were hampered by snow. Sarah has decided to buy and bring crampons in future!
Funny lot, the old girls from Cheltenham. Cheers!

JUNE/JULY

After too much red wine and pasta with Maria Scott and family, we were persuaded to enter a Land's End to John O'Groats charity cycle ride. This dominated the next few months as we looked at the training schedule and took a deep breath.  Smiles all round as we found out we could eat everything and anything 4-5 times a day and not put on any weight :)

It started out a bit snowy in Italy too but soon heated up. 

In between, purchasing new road bikes and touring Le Marche by bicycle, we did more gardening; once again the tomatoes were a stand out. My Mum and Sarah's step mum Angela were happy recipients  of tomato sauces and chutney. 

AUGUST

Opera season, with Sferisterio in Macerata, Rossini festival in Pesaro and Glyndebourne (our annual visit) this time with Dude (Katie) to celebrate her 21st (again…). 

This was smartly followed by President's Day golf with the extended Neep family at GT Yarmouth and Caister GC. Fortunately we managed some sneaky (but much needed) golf practice with Alison Baker and Lynn Parkhouse beforehand. The Neeps (Jeremy and Jo) made off with most of the prizes from the golf day and Sarah, consistent with her evident golf prowess, won lots of prizes in the raffle.

SEPTEMBER– Rome (true home of SPQR) visit with family and friends

Of course we took bikes too and went to see the Trevi fountains as well as the Vatican. We also cycled in the pouring rain to Villa D'Este - on what felt like the Italian equivalent of the M25 only with more swerving and under-taking....

Lands End to John O'Groats: 1534km in 11.5 days; made new friends and learnt how to deal with welts from soreness on the saddle! For more detail on the cycle training and LEJOG event in September- check out our other blog at:

sarahandjolejogblog.blogspot.com

OCTOBER:  Flew down to Bristol from Inverness for a very enjoyable reunion with Debs Jenner and Mangie Wright. Next day - week of outdoor greenwood wood turning course in Westonbirt Arboretum. The autumn colors were wonderful. Jo enjoyed the colder weather and lack of physical activity - and wore every item of clothing she had. We made 2 fab, Windsor chairs out of ash.

NOVEMBER – More catching up with friends in Glasgow, Austwick Hall visit, culture with Angela in London and golf in HK (en route to Oz) with Nancy, Kin and Hooichin. 

Trip to Victoria state and to Melbourne for:

Wagner’s Ring with Kitty and Marcia from NY. There had been so many cancellations and changes leading up to this event we were very concerned. But it was a great production with a very memorable dragon, fabulous singing and orchestra - well done to Opera Australia and Melbourne. 

Ned Kelly history tour - well, pilgrimage really - through Beechworth, Glenrowan and even to Melbourne Gaol and the Victoria State Library. Sarah has developed a fascination for everything to do with Ned Kelly. Is it because she is a Kelly herself?

Garden visits - to Cranbourne, Cowra and the botanics in Melbourne CBD 

3 day cycle tour around gold fields of Bendigo.

Rail trail around Yarra valley.

Mornington Peninsula wildlife park

who is wild and wonderful?

where Ned was hanged; curious light underneath - this was natural light

I am sure he was not that tall! or has Sarah shrunk

 Excited Kelly detective...

Working goldmine in Victoria.

And so to December, cliff top and valley floor walks Om Shacki garden and to Christmas..

Have a very joyful one, and look forward to hearing your news

xxxx