The delights of Trellinoe Park

Hidden in the ranges on the road from Napier to Taupo is Trellinoe Park. An amazing garden created in among the forests and fields of sheep. Set among beautiful scenery.
We have been trying to visit it for years. Every time we arranged to go something would happen. Last time my youngest came down with Chicken Pox.
This time we did not plan to go. We just got up one day and I said its time we had a trip out to see that garden. So we dragged our youngest into the car, with promises of KFC on the way home, and off we went. Visiting gardens is not high on a nine year olds fun time list. I am so glad we did. The trip was fantastic, we all enjoyed it. Tramping through the garden being explorers. It was such fun.

Next time you wake up on a Sunday with nothing to do, take a picnic have a good day out. Just remember the picnic. There is a cafe there, but I would recommend the picnic, that is a whole other story, ask me about it sometime.

The Vistas of Trellinoe Park

I could not belive that one man had dug such a beautiful garden out of the Hawkes Bay ranges.

Each path invited you too explore further.

Each corner brought another amazing view.

The Ponds of Trellinoe Gardens

I was blown away by the vistas and then I saw the ponds.

Could you get a more perfect view than this.

And they just kept on coming.

The Plants of Trellinoe Park

I was too blown away by the views and vistas to take many pics of the plants. Here are a couple of the ones I did take.

Amazing bark on this acer. I just wanted to peal it off.

I did not remember seeing these irises at Trellinoe Park. Then it dawned on me that they were from my own garden.

Down at the Creek today.

It was feeding time down at the creek. The big fat old eel was coming up out of the water to take food out of my son's hand. You would almost think it was smiling.

Roses

Summer is on the way, the roses are in full bloom. After being here in NZ for 4 years, warm weather and Christmas are starting to grow on me. Although I don't think you could ever beat a winter Christmas, there is something very nice about eating Christmas dinner in the heat in the garden. When I think of Christmas here, for some reason I think of red roses. I don't know why, but one year I will manage to get my red roses in the garden flowering for Christmas.

The rose above lives in the beautiful garden of my friend Yvonne. Keriann and I had lunch there last week. I lovely relaxing break.

Daisy Update

For six months after I broke my ankle I had to take warfarin to prevent me from getting another blood clot. The side effects were tough going, I was cold all the time and tired all the time and my hair fell out.
Now the six months is up I am glad to have my energy back and my hair. The being cold side of it would have been good now that summer is here. But there is one strange side effect of taking warfarin. Not one that I had heard of before, my sense of taste was intensified. Everything tasted so absolutely, incredibly, wonderful. I thought, at first, that it was Peter's cooking. Until I stopped taking the warfarin and my taste buds returned to normal. It was a bit of a shock. No wonder I put on so much weight.
Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with the daisy. Well the answer is nothing. I just thought it was a great picture.

Bet you thought you would never see this!

Do you know what is happening here?

Where you right then? Yes, my eldest son is really taking a guinea pig for a walk. Peter bought me a guinea pig lead from my birthday. I really have no idea why he thought that a guinea pig lead would be something I would need. But I suppose it is the thought that counts. My eldest son thought he would give it a try. The guinea pig was a bit bemused and seemed to enjoy the experience.

Moving on from Daisy Hill to Elephant Hill

A few weeks ago Peter and I went out for lunch, with our friends Keriann and Ian, to Elephant Hill winery.

The setting is amazing.

And so was the lunch. Most of the food disapeared so quickly there was hardly any time to take any pictures to show you.

I managed to hold them back from the desserts almost. Lemon merangue pudding above and a chocolate something below.

Holiday Daisies

There is always a daisy or two to be found while on holiday. Even if they are on a rather blurry bottle of wine. I could not belive it when I found it in the supermarket. We just had to get a bottle. Can you tell what this is?

It is a door handle from a Christchurch tram.

These daisies were so beautiful at the side of the road, that I managed to reach home with one bag of shopping missing. I think I put it down to take the picture and then walked away without it. Hope somebody made good use of my two loafs of bread and a bottle of milk.

Kaikoura - On the way home

Stunning scenary at Kaikoura. The snow capped mountains were quite breathtaking. No whales though. I thought they would be there to see me, but no. Maybe next time.


The last of our holiday pictures. You really don't want to know about the ferry trip home!