ESTELLE'S FUNERAL

We traveled home to Chch for the night, and hen left the next day for Nelson, again, taking our home with us!

On the way, we bought a new badly-needed camera.

Still learning how to use it!

It has panorama, so we practiced some shots when we stopped at Pukeko Junction for a bite to eat!

So, it has a 'smile detector' on it!!
You press the shutter and the camera simply will not take the picture until a smile appears on someones face!
You can even set it on slight smile, medium smile or nice big smile!

So we were practicing smiles with the camera too!

Whoops, this must be 'grimace'!
(We had to work our way through the various levels of smiling!!)

Slight smile??

Medium smile??

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We met at Peketa, one of our favourite camping grounds, about 15 k's south of Kaikoura.

Paul and Marianne (who were also at Wanaka) had their new caravan, which they have imported from England. It is really beautiful!

So we all met and stayed at Peketa.

The screaming seagulls showed some interest....

so Heath sacrificed  ( ?? ) his vegetables from tea    

and this bird (and all his cousins) came to join us!

I always wondered what the seagulls are screeching about, 

but no doubt they are spreading the good news about free food...

Interestingly enough though, he must have had the same leanings as Heath.

He ate the meat remainders, but discarded the veges also!

Kaikoura - by now it was an achingly cold wind.  But we bravely visited the seal colony.

We were rewarded with seeing 3 seals on the rocks....

and then found some ducks...

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Next morning,  we set off ,  but stopped for breakfast down the road here, and what a gorgeous wild piece of coastline.

The weather was NOT improving!

Had to slip this one in seeing there seemed to be two of me! I never realised I had a siamese twin going on!

Some of the coastline where we stopped..

We parted here from Paul and Marianne, as they could go a lot faster with a lighter caravan.

We stopped at Havelock, and there was a Marine shop there with a motor which was $35,000!

We left Havelock, to only get a few k's down the road, and were stopped!

Reason, a terrible accident 12 k's further on in the Rai Valley, where a 50ish year old man from Britain was on a motor bike and crashed headlong into a truck carrying gas.   

The wait was for at least an hour.
The British man was killed.

THE FUNERAL

Andy, Sharee, Mical, Levi and Tempany.

Dad, Marilyn and I went to visit a woman who was one of Tracey's school teachers from Clarkville School, when she first began school. Perhaps she also taught Fiona?

Anne Tremaine. 

Sadly, she wasn't quite as well as she might look in this photo.

In the next room of the same rest home, Helen lives.

John and Dad have been friends since very young.

The whole Fiddy clan, and some others all went to Alana's that evening for more eats and drinks, and just to be together after the funeral.

Aunty Betty (Estelle's sister) and Seb

Heath playing with Paxon

Many family pics, and Marilyn took mine for me... but the battery went flat so that was that!

Here are a few from all taken.

Estelle's three sons...

Craig, Paul and Mike.

In Aunty Betty's garden the next day...

BBQ breakfast back at the camp, with Bill and Caroline .

Brieanna pondering life....

Tahuna Motor Camp is right near the airport.

The planes flew really low, and apart from the constant noise, were a beautiful sight coming in and going out.

Almost time to go. Paul and Marianne left on Saturday morning, and we left the next day. 

Just us now.....

Betty and I went and picked (free) black currents  in the Upper Moutre valley.
We had such a fun day!!

Betty wanted to know how the current picker worked!  This is INSIDE the actual machine... the tunnel bit you walk into the picker through is what goes over the rows.

Gorgeous day, excessively hot though!!

Not bad for 83, eh!!