Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas all. We hope that everyone that occasionally reads this blog had a great year and gets a good opportunity to relax with family and friends over the summer.

We had a big year. Little Mae has grown from a baby into a toddler and going along with her on that journey has kept things a changing. Penny began the year at home and is now back working as a Paediatric Registrar. Jamie began the year managing the Valley Flyer & Runciman bus companies and ended it as a house dad.

There are plenty of highlights already recorded in this blog, but looking at the last few months, Tasmaniacs stands out, our annualish reunion with a group of friends, which this year was centred around the Cradle Mountain tramp in Tasmania.


We love taking Mae out in the outdoors, and she seems to love being out there. The Cradle Mountain tramp has motivated us to plan further adventures for this summer while she is still relatively portable (though getting heavy). We are lining up tramps in Nelson Lakes, as well as our local ranges, and bike rides in the Central North Island. The great work done by so many people to create NZ Cycleways is certainly going to benefit the likes of us.


The main purpose of this blog now seems to be to record Mae's development and provide a critical mass of cute photos to family and friends. Here is another one. Immediate family got a whole book load for Christmas. Our secondary goal in providing these photos and trying to live a reasonably enjoyable outdoor life is to encourage our friends to have kids, so they have to go as slow as we do.

We have both been staying reasonably fit, doing bits and pieces of orienteering and mountain running. Penny is a hardcore cycle commuter. Karori to Porirua currently. Jamie and Mae wander around stoat trapping, mtb track building, or on easy days visit Zealandia or the Zoo. We are thinking about playcentre next year which might constrain the lifestyle choices a little.Plenty of plans for summer will report on their outcomes here. Kia kaha and merry Christmas.


Slip n Slide