Woodlands Estate

On Thursday, Peter, John and Lee and I visited the Woodlands Estate. Sadly, Bryan had worked the night shift the night before, and took advantage of the quiet house to get some sleep!
The estate had been reclaimed from swamp land, and the home and gardens were just beautiful!
We did have some rain, on and off, but we were able to duck under cover until the rain passed. Just like in the tropics, the rain moves in and out pretty quickly.
After our tour, we enjoyed a beer at the cafe on the premises.

The Woodland Estate.

Another view. The french door along the front gave the house a very open feeling.

This is the Kauri room - kauri wood is used in the floor, wall paneling and ceiling. A most elegant room!

The dining room. To the left of the railing are stairs down to a cellar which was used to store food and wine. It was pretty damp and cold down there.

The coal burning stove in the kitchen! That looks like lots of work!

Huge tree in the grounds of the estate.

One of the bridges over the lake.

A second bridge.

The house seen from the back of the grounds.

I decided to have a NZ beer, so ordered a Waikato Draught - turns out it's a heavy, dark "man's" beer! But it was pretty good.

Matamata

After we left Cambridge, we drove to Matamata where Bryan's Mum, Zoe lives. Zoe's house is on the market, and she had gotten an offer, so Bryan went over the paperwork with her while the rest of us went to lunch in Matamata.
While we were having lunch, we noticed a statue of Golom from Lord of the Rings, so of course, we had to have pictures with him! Hobbiton was filmed around Matamata.
After lunch we went to visit with Zoe and pick up Bryan. It was great to see her. She's very excited about selling her house and moving into her new home in a retirement community that is right around the corner from Bryan and Peter.
Sadly, the offer was not a good one, and was rejected, but we are hopeful that her house will sell while we are here and we can help her "shift" (move)!

The clocktower in Matamata

Lee and I with Golom (I probably haven't spelled that right)

Peter and John's turn!

Us with Zoe

Peter and Bryan with Zoe. The next pictures of Zoe will be at her NEW home!

Cambridge

Wednesday we went to visit Cambridge with Bryan, Peter and John. We had a great tour of the town, including visiting the church there, that Lee has been wanting to visit for some time. We tried to do it last year, but we went after lunch, and it was closed. So it was great to finally be able to see it.

There was also a cricket game going on, so Lee was able to get a picture of that.
As you can see, it was a beautiful day, warm, with the typical NZ clouds floating through. The other highlight of Cambridge is that Lee was able to claim his HUGE lotto winnings of $23!

Cambridge clock tower.

Beautiful white church in Cambridge

Interior of the church

Stained glass window

Pipe organ

The cricket game.

Superloo! Entrance to the building was free, but toilets were $1 and showers were $2

The Impossible pie...

We've had a request for the recipe so here it is:

Impossible Pie

(Serves 4 to 6)

3 eggs
90g (6 tblsp) melted butter or oil
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
100g ham, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
1 cup grated cheese (sharp cheddar is nice)
Freshly ground black pepper


1. Place eggs, butter or oil, flour and milk into a bowl and beat well.
2. Fold in remaining ingredients.
3. Pour into large greased pie dish and bake in a moderately slow oven 160oC for 1 hour or until set and golden.

Have fun and enjoy. (Ham can be substituted with your favorite, i.e. chicken, fish, or veggies)

Te Awamutu

Monday morning we woke to a steady, soaking rain, that continued all morning. There were no complaints, though, as the rain was definitely needed.

Monday was Bryan's first day back to work after his week of vacation, which was sad! He worked the afternoon shift, which began at 2:30.

Peter, John, Lee and I left about 1:00 pm, for a visit to Te Awamutu. First stop was the rose gardens. They were beautiful! All roses in full bloom, and bonus, it's wasn't raining there! After a stroll through the gardens and over to the war memorial, we spent some time browsing the shops there. And, Lee was a big lotto winner!! He got 3 of 6 numbers, AND the mega number, and won $23!! So we visited a lotto shop where he collected his winnings, and bought another lottery ticket - wish us luck! Maybe this Saturday he'll have 4 out of 6!!
After visiting town, we went over to Vimala's for coffee and treats, and had a wonderful visit with her.

We headed home about 5, dropped John off at his house and came home to fix dinner. Peter made a wonderful dish - Impossible Pie. It was delicious, and we ate it all! I've got the recipe, so I'll post it. I think that everyone would enjoy it.

Bryan got home just after midnight, and had a horrible first day back to work - all of the nurses on his shift had called in sick! The poor nurse who had begun work at 7 that morning stayed and worked with Bryan till the 11:00 shift came on. Tonight they were full-staffed, thank heavens!

Tomorrow Bryan works the night shift (midnight), so we're going to do some touring around and maybe go to Cambridge for lunch. I haven't had my lamb salad yet! We'll get home in time for Bryan to get a nap before work, and the rest of us are going to Jo's for dinner tomorrow night, too. Truly a fabulous vacation!

The rose gardens

Beautiful fountain at the gardens.

More gardens
Te Awamutu Centennial rose

Rose-lined walkway at the war memorial

Maori/European sculpture. The figures on the left of the sculpture were Maori and the figures on the right represent Europeans. The figures seen here are Maori as this is only the left side of the sculpture.

Marigold display at the war memorial garden.

Sunday the 17th

Sunday we had a nice leisurely morning. After breakfast and some newspaper reading, we decided to go to Hamilton Gardens for a walk and to see the "Lily Show" which was going on during the weekend. In addition to the show, we wandered through some of the gardens which are truly amazing.

Here's some of the lilies that were entered in the competition.

This one won first place.

Bryan wants to plant this one in his garden.

We found this bed of daisy like flowers in the Indian garden. So bright and vibrant in the sunlight.

Bryan and Peter at the Indian garden.

We found these daisies in the Italian garden.

Bryan, Pat, and Peter at the Italian garden.

The guys enjoying a break.

Here we are under the grape arbor at the Italian gardens.

A nice view of the Italian garden.

Reflections under the stone bridge leading into the centre of the Hamilton gardens.

We had a nice leisurely afternoon with some napping going on after lunch. Gin and tonics followed at 5 pm in the garden. Dinner was at 7 pm. Bryan and Lee had mussels while Peter and Pat had ham. Dinner also included a yummy salad, rolls, and Wither Hills sauvignon blanc wine.

Dinner at Richard's

Saturday afternoon/evening, Richard had a dinner party for 13! We began the evening with a stroll around his one plus acre manicured and densely planted, very colorful property! We were amazed at how much his garden had grown in the year since we had been there. I suspect that when we are here next year, you won't be able to see any of neighboring homes.

Richard was christening his new built-in bar-b-que, and patio, and we were all able to take part in the festivities.

After our stroll around the grounds, we all had a glass of bubbly and some nibbles, and divided into three teams for a rousing game of Patonk, which is similar to lawn boules, but is played in a gravel field. There is a small ball, that is thrown onto the gravel, and then each team attempts to get as close as possible to the small ball, by throwing very heavy metal balls to get close to it. It wasn't as easy as it sounds! The first team to get to a score of 13 wins. Richard assisted by moving about the grounds and answering questions. Unfortunately, we aren't a competitive lot - our team decided that a bubbly break was in order when the score was 8 -7, and the other teams quickly followed suit. One of the teams neglected to keep score at all. But it was great fun, and a game you can play with a ball in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.

And then we moved to the patio area, where Richard fired up his wood bar-b-que, and cooked chicken, sausage and burgers, which he served with a mountain of home-grown vegetable dishes. It was a veritable feast, followed by cheesecake and fresh fruit, and then tea/coffee with after-dinner mints! Needless to say, we all waddled out to the car at 11:30 pm, came home, and went directly to bed!

Truly the social event of the week!

Richard's garden.
More garden and garden views.

Richard and I surveying the placement of the balls, in relation to the small ball, which is the dark dot at the top of the gravel. I think this ended up being John and Jo's point!

Another team debating who is closest to the small ball.

Vimala, getting ready to launch her ball toward the target.

Roger and Richard, with a bit of "bubbly".

Bryan, me and Jo, deep in discussion.

Richard, Peter, Adrian, Roger, Luanne, Dianne and John, enjoying the pavilion that Richard had put up.

Jo.

Bryan, wearing the hat we brought him from SF. Everyone had a turn wearing the hat and we all got a kick out of it.

Thanks, Richard and Vim! It was a wonderful evening - good friends, good food, good times together.

Saturday is market day...

This morning we left about 9 am for the open air market in Tamahere. The market is held once a month on a Saturday. They have wonderful produce, fruits, veggies, breads, cheeses - everything you can imagine! We all came out with bags, and as we compared, we discovered that we hadn't duplicated anything!

Lee and I got bread (big surprise!), broccoli, cheese, green beans and avocados. Bryan and Peter got tomatoes, bell peppers, bananas and plants. So we are all set for veggies and fruits this week.

After Tamahere we went to the antiques fair, and looked around there. We actually made a couple of purchases - a plate for John that matched his coffee service and a book for Richard that we are sure will inspire him!

Then we went to Frankton Market - it's held in Hamilton each Saturday. It also has produce, but lots of other things as well - clothing, etc. It reminds me a bit of Dukes Lane in Hawaii! Lee found some t-shirts and a hat and I got a pair of sunglasses to replace mine, which I think that I lost on one of our walks - in any event, they were nowhere to be found.

Below is a picture of Frankton Market.

After all the marketing, we came home for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Some of us got a nap before the social event of the week - dinner at Richards! Stay tuned for lots of pictures of the gathering - there were thirteen of us, and we played patonk! Amazing game! : )

Lunch at John's

John had one of his famous "ploughman's lunches" on Friday. It was a beautiful, warm day, with just a bit of a breeze.

He outdid himself, with a wonderful setting, both the US and California flags flying, and a lovely dining canopy! We all had such a good time that lunch, which began at 1:00 pm, concluded about 5:00 pm! Fortunately we had picked up sushi for dinner, as no one felt like cooking!

The guys! Lee, Peter, Richard, John and Bryan.

Isn't this a beautiful setting? The garden is in full bloom, and a beautiful summer's day!

Good food, great friends! Luanne, John, Peter, Pat Richard and Bryan.

Richard, Bryan, Lee, John, Luanna and Peter. A wonderful time was had by all! Thank you, John!