Sunday 20 June 2021

A Winter Break

 I have just realised that it has been nearly a full month since I last posted.

As I wrote at the end of my last post the lack of activity on this blog should not be viewed as a fall off in interest or even a lack of hobby activity. Rather I have been extremely busy with a somewhat secretive project, the results of which can be revealed in a few months’ time. This is a rather spectacular project (especially the terrain) and has been progressing well with 46 terrain items plus some 370 foot and 35 mounted figures completed to date. To finish the project, I still have another 270 figures and somewhere between 20 and 30 terrain items to go. The target is to have all this completed by the end of August.

I also expect in the next month or so to complete the artillery for the Great Paraguayan War and add a few battalions to my AWI British collection, the order for which will be placed towards the end of this month. And now the Perrys have released the first of their Franco-Prussian War range...there goes any plans for an early retirement!

In the meantime I am in the South Island again, in Wanaka to be precise, on a short break for our wedding anniversary on Saturday and my birthday on Monday. This is a truly spectacular part of the country, but with temperatures peaking at a mere 7 degrees C and dipping to -2 C overnight it is cold spot at this time of the year. That said, the sun was shining, we have a warm hotel room with a view out across the lake and there is a roaring fire in the bar!

The  view from the room
Looking back across the glass-like Lake Wanaka towards the township, with Mount Iron rising abruptly in the centre distance.
A very frosty sunrise over the lake on Saturday morning.
And the brilliant sunshine continued all day

The famous “Wanaka Tree” lacks some of the impact of summer when it is in full leaf, but it’s reflection is captured nicely in the calm water of the lake.










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Saturday night proved to be a bit of a comedy of errors. The town was busy because of a local Matrariki (Maori New Year) Festival and we were unable to get into a local Indian restaurant that we had enjoyed on previous visits. Now Wanaka is not short of eating establishments, but dietary requirements restrict us, so we headed to a local Chinese establishment that looked reasonable. We had just ordered and our wine ha$ been delivered when the fire alarm went off. Out into the cold night we went while we waited for the local fire service to arrive, verify the false alarm and turn off the alarm. We went back inside to find that the establishment was far from reasonable and the food quality was sub-optimal. It was hardly the  pleasant evening we had expected for our anniversary. The only high point was the Matariki fireworks display.


Sunday dawned a little overcast and a degree or two warmer, but the lack of  sunshine made it feel colder. We drove across to Arrowtown where we had a very satisfying lunch before spending the afternoon in the hotel lounge near the fire with a drink and reading - my choice being Adam Zamoyski’s “The Rites of Peace: the Fall of Napoleon & the Congress of Vienna” that has been sitting unread on my bookshelf for more than ten years! Dinner at the Indian restaurant we missed on Saturday made Sunday an altogether a more satisfying day.

It’s the last day tomorrow then back to Auckland on Tuesday and work on Wednesday...groan!

 

24 comments:

  1. Looks stunning Mark and the weather seems to have been kind to you. You probably read/heard that we had atrocious weather here this weekend , including a sudden tornado in Papatoetoe around nine am Saturday that did huge damage and very sadly killed one chap.

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    1. Yes the deep south has escaped the miserable weather. Oddly rain and high winds were forecast for Tekapo just an hour away, but it has remained calm here and that is supposed to continue today and tomorrow. We saw the reports of the tornado...looked awful.

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  2. Glad your trip came together, eventually. Good fires in fireplaces cure a lot.

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    1. Indeed a gorgeous view, a blazing fire and a glass or three of Pinot Noir takes a lot of beating...maybe a table full of wargames figures could enhance it a little.

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  3. Lovely photos, Mark. Happy anniversary and happy birthday!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. Sixty-three today and a mere 801 days to retirement...well maybe longer now that those Franco-Prussians are coming!

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  4. Happy birthday and congratulations! Lovely pictures and intriguing details, I have been thinking of you as I have been doing a terrain project using a bag of matchsticks inspired by your blog!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. I have just restocked on matchsticks...the last bag of 2000 lasted me for several years, but finally ran out.

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  5. Not a bad winter break Mark…
    Very beautiful scenery indeed…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Yes it is a lovely spot with stunning views along with great walking and cycling options. In fact part of this trip is looking at possible retirement locations, but I think property prices along with her indoors’ inability to handle the cold will scupper any plan for here...although I could never tire of the view.

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  6. I was only thinking the other day that it had been a while since your last update and wondering what you had been up to, but had forgotten that it could be the secret project that was taking up your time. Wanaka does look great this time of year. Isn't that your third trip there for 2021, or am I getting confused?

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    1. Second time this calendar year but third inside 12 months. This is by far the coldest of the visits.

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  7. Happy winter break, Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday Mark

    It appears that your personal anniversary precedes my own by a whole one day ... and a couple of years. Sadly from my perspective you seem to be better preserved than I! 8O)

    I look forward to the grand unveiling of the secretive project.

    Salute
    von Peter himself

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    1. Thanks Peter. June is truly a blessed month!

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  8. Great scenery and such a nice place to celebrate in, aside from the disappointing restaurant. High Summer here (Longest Day) but looks and feels more like late Autumn:(

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    1. And the shortest day here, of course, and a stunningly sunny one too. That said I was born on the longest day, having been born north of the equator.

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  9. Sounds intriguing this project Mark! Sorry to hear about the restaurant - care to name and shame so my wife and I don't make the same mistake! We're likely to visit at some point, so useful to have some reconnaisance on restaurants/hotels etc! :)

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    1. I shalln’t name, but its the only Chinese restaurant in town, but strongly recommend the Bombay Palace!

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  10. Looks like you have joined Keith in working for tourism NZ Mark! Gorgeous photos.
    Regards, James

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    1. We are really enjoying traveling around the country.

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  11. Happy birthday and anniversary, and lovely photos. Wanaka was a highlight of our last visit (Christmas 2017 - a circuit from Christchurch down to Queenstown and back via Mt Cook and Hanmer Springs, before heading off to Tauranga for Christmas with my in-laws). We were due to visit Marlborough again last Christmas, but that pandemic thing happened....

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    1. Thanks Giles. It is a beautiful spot - there is just something about mountains and lakes…I would never get tired of the view. But alas I am back in Auckland looking out my office window and road works, traffic cones and queues of vehicles without a mountain in sight and the only water is the falling rain… We too were due overseas last year - no my relatives in Canada until that insidious little bug arrived.

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