I listen to those around me share their holiday stories as we change for our aqua aerobics class. I am back at work after two weeks off.
It has been such a lovely break. Even the week leading into Christmas thankfully was starting to slow down. My mother Jen Macdonald comes to stay from Wellington to attend her sister Anne Powrie's 50th wedding anniversary the week before Christmas. Quite a feat, my family agrees, for marriages to last this long. Leading up to Christmas I catch up with family including lunch with my Apatu cousins. I take my mother and her husband David Wright, involved with the Biodynamic Association, to Bostocks Organic Kitchen Kirkwood Road for an impressive reasonably priced organic lunch. We enjoy shared dinners together.
Christmas Day this year is at my house with family Jonty and Maria and their boys Hunter and Kobe. Boxing Day I am off to Jerusalem Bay, Taupo, where Huia Randell resides. I have been coming to this spot for more than 20 years. Over the years the extended Randell family traditionally comes to camp at this spot over summer.
The Randells' whanau land is situated right on the lake -- between little Acacia Bay and Rangatira Point. It is a popular spot for boaties because usually it is calm and sheltered, exposed only to the easterly winds which are not common. It takes Goobs and me a day to organise ourselves and to erect the camper trailer in a prime location on the section. Elevated with lake views -- tucked back into the bush. Goobs' 89-year-old -- (90 in two weeks time) mother Pauline Lee teases us when we arrive back to the house to shower and have breakfast -- "you aren't real campers", she challenges. She recalls how when she with her husband Neil camped with their large canvas tent -- with babies, etc, they managed the whole six weeks with cloth nappies and little refrigeration.
However, as the days drift by we become more and more independent and into our camping. We have an outdoor hot bath for the evenings, we eventually get all eating apparatus set up, water tank, pumps, generators, music, frost pot for keeping us warm in the evenings and dry on the odd wet night. We swim every day, take the dinghy out fishing, share meals with family members and start to relax. Our relaxation involves reading and relaxing on our fantastic $99 on sale recliner chairs we purchase with gift vouchers from Hunting and Fishing (a must have -- go get one, you won't be disappointed). After a few nights of camping we can't believe how well we sleep. We discuss what factors, apart from being on holiday contribute towards having such a good sleep. Is it the altitude, that wonderful mountain air, the fact that it is slightly cooler in the evenings, the glass of wine, sleeping under canvas, the bird chorus in the evening and morning, the sound of the lake which lulls you to sleep, the fact that despite relaxing we are relatively busy and active during the day? Is it due to sharing great food, having a laugh with friends, your body finally relaxing, whatever it is -- it's heavenly to sleep so well.
