Home again

Well, it's lovely to be home again, we have had a fabulous few days in the big smoke of Wellington.  Lots of things to do - including a tour of Parliament and the Beehive, we weren't allowed to take photos inside but it is amazing, well worth a visit for Kiwis and overseas visitors alike.

The view from our hotel room, down into the Bolton Street Memorial Park and Chapel.  This was the site of the city cemetery until about the 1890's.  It's a beautiful little spot, but a lot of sad headstones to read, I shed a tear over a family of five children who died over a period of three weeks, presumably from a disease we are now so fortunate to be able to vaccinate our babies for.  This park is at the very bottom of the Wellington Botanical Gardens which we spent a wonderful afternoon walking through.

We started up here, after a trip on the Cable Car from Lambton Quay to Kelburn.

then ventured down through the gardens, stopping of course to try out the Flying Fox in the playground.

For me the highlight was the stunning rose garden..............

while my hubby was quite taken with these sculptures of NZ natives made from fencing wire!

and the girls had fun watching the ducks and ducklings under the water fountain.

Wellington Zoo - where feeding the giraffes was popular.....

It was a lovely few days away, the main reason for going was to select our rams for next breeding season from the stud they are bred on.  That involved a day trip up to Wairarapa and a chance to see some new countryside.  There was some lovely shopping to be done in Masterton, so I did my best! A couple of things can now be crossed off the Christmas pressie list, thank goodness.

And as the deadline girl that I am, I am posting today - the last possible day - my SSCS gift to some unsuspecting recipient out there.  Actually they will be suspecting something will arrive in the mail - but they won't know what it is until CHRISTMAS DAY!!  Here it was all wrapped and ready to go.............

I do so hope that the recipient gets as much pleasure from this Secret Santa gift, as I got from making it.
If you're participating in Chookyblues SSCS exchange - don't forget - it's time to mail!   Tehe, I can sound all righteous about it now that I've finally got mine away. lol

Thanks for visiting today, I hope you are having a fabulous day!  I'm off to check out the couple of hundred posts waiting for me in Google Reader - catch you soon........ Nicky