Conor & Ildica's Place

Chinese Lantern Festival

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:59:11 +1200

We headed along to the Chinese Lantern Festival in Victoria Square, which seems to get bigger and bigger every year. Plenty of food stalls, plenty of people, and not surprisingly, plenty of lanterns. We didn’t stay until completely dark, with the kids getting a bit tired and cool as the temperature dropped, but very enjoyable; a hot-chocolate and a wander past the Chalice in Cathedral Square rounded things off nicely. The “Face Changer” was a particularly impressive performer on the stage in Victoria Square!

More Twilight racing

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:48:38 +1200

On the way to work…

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:22:28 +1200

Ellesmere Sunset

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:31:29 +1200

A quick trip round to Lake Ellesmere for a potential sunset and a bit of sketching. We left it a bit late, making it a bit rushed when we got there, but still pleasant, and still enough time for Sheila to get a quick sketch in by moonlight.

Digger-tastic!

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:28:55 +1200

A whole weekend of playing with diggers! First the Trimble Sandpit Open Day, and then a mini-hex up at Castle Hill. Big boys toys!

8 logs down

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:20:25 +1200

Great progress down at Natural Log Homes, with the house up to the 8th log. Still a fair way to go with 2 more log rounds to go on, plus a fair bit of detail to finish off including supporting logs, window cut-outs, flyways, etc.

Lounge window from NW	From staircase towards kitchen	From hall entrance towards lounge
Bedrooms/bathroom/mudroom area	Bunk/mud-room windows from SW	Bedroom & hallway arch

Weekend activities

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:11:10 +1200

Ruairi had a trip to Clip N Climb with his friend Cara from kindy (including deciding he wanted to jump the Leap of Faith!), and we had to run to keep up with the kids on their bikes on a "stroll" round Hansen park!

Boys Day Out

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:20:54 +1200

A boys day out at the Air Force Museum Open Day with Grandpa Mike. Enjoyable short air display with the Air Force parachute team jumping out of a Hercules, plus 2 Iroquois helicopters and a Harvard.

More Wednesday night racing

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:01:52 +1200

Lots of fun. Overcast evening, smaller crew, but all of us found it an unexpectedly enjoyable evening to be out. Close racing with the crew on Wildwood, and some nice shots of American Pie and Backlash.

Ildica at Castle Hill

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:32:14 +1200

Ildica at Castle Hill

Bealey River

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:24:28 +1200

Fantastic short tramp up the Bealey River, Arthurs Pass National Park, with Shane, Bernadette, Lauren & Ella. Crystal clear water (albeit cold), warm rocks for rock-hopping, hot sun, good company, what more could you want?

Brighton Kites

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:50:33 +1200

The New Brighton Kite Day couldn't have been luckier with the weather; mostly cloudless, steady sea-breeze (not too cold), and an amazing array of kites on show too.

Day race towards Spencer Park

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:42:50 +1200

Summer finally came through on a weekend, with plans for a race from Lyttelton up to a mark off Spencer Park and back. Onboard were the Trevs, Russell, Dennis, Lindsay & myself. Although the wind died away after we got out of the harbour (and thus an agreed abandonment of the intention to sail to Spencer Park), we had some fantastic sailing in and out of the harbour, under a big sky, and with a few Hectors dolphins for company from time to time.

Woolshed Creek Tramp

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:41:14 +1200

The kids first "proper" overnight tramp to Woolshed Creek Hut on the Mt. Somers Sub-alpine walkway in south Canterbury. We brought along a couple of extra Sherpas who seemed to enjoy the experience too. Had a little bit of everything, sun, wind, cloud, including a reminder of a) how wet the inside of a cloud is, and b) how quickly the weather can change in the mountains. 5 kms each way, plus 400m of ascent, and the kids did brilliantly, especially Ruairi whose legs are somewhat shorter than everybody else's.

Kawarau Bungy

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:23:35 +1200

We stopped for lunch at Kawarau Bungy on the way between Te Anau & Tekapo, and watched a few “bungers” (?). The kids were very interested and soon considered themselves expert at identifying potential “dunkers”. Evie seems slightly open to the idea of doing one, so we said we’d give her a bungy jump for her 10th birthday!