My Advent Calendar – 21 Dec – We’re on holiday!

Yesterday was meant to be our last day of work in our Nature Foods business till the 7th Jan. But we ended up sending orders out today as well, as we had a few people who were going to run out of things before the New Year.

There might even be some even more last minute panicked phone calls before Monday, from people who forgot to order, or whose parcel hasn’t turned up. And we have a note on our website that we will check emails a couple of times a week in case there is an urgent order. But most of our customers have ordered ahead, and will be happy to wait till the 7th for us to send their parcels. So apart from those possibilities, we’re done for the year and are on Stay-cation for two and a half weeks. What will we do?

From Pixabay

You may not know that there is nothing I like better than lounging about with a book. My mother has always said they could take me anywhere, as a child. As long as I had a book in one hand and a bar of chocolate in the other, I would be happy. Nothing has changed.

So my idea of a holiday is one where I can lie on a swing chair in the shade, reading and periodically snacking. To not have to go anywhere, do anything or talk to anyone all day. Then by 6pm, when it’s a bit cooler, I might feel like getting off my lazy arse and strolling down to the beach, or having a desultory conversation.

I enjoy travelling away somewhere as well, but let’s face it, that’s a trip, not a holiday. It’s enjoyable but not usually restful and relaxing.

But I won’t be getting that kind of holiday yet. There are three more days of Xmas prep and two days of celebrating, and then we can really stop. Oh, the bliss of just lazing about all day, no need to be anywhere in particular. That’s as long as this ^&*(# rain stops.

After we’ve done nothing for a few days, Frot will start getting bored, and maybe we’ll go on some outings. There are some nice places to visit in Wellington, and some we haven’t been to for a while, or ever actually.

After singing at the Museum of Wellington, I’d like to go and visit there. And here are three other outings we might go on, either while we’re on holiday, or later in the summer.

Wellington Zoo

Every year, Wellington has an online advent calendar with a daily deal, and one of those is two for one at the Zoo. As it’s just over the hill from us, we usually make it over there sometime in January.

Since we were there last, they’ve improved the chimpanzee area. They say, on Instagram:

This morning was a very exciting time for us as our troop of Chimpanzees got to explore their all-new habitat! The Chimpanzee troop did a lot of vocalising to show their excitement which you can hear in our video on our Facebook page - this is called a pant-hoot! We’ve incorporated more climbing structures, plants, hammocks and ropes than ever! These features aim to improve the Chimps wellbeing and encourage natural behaviours through environmental complexity. Join us this Saturday and Sunday for our Grand Opening Weekend where you can see the Chimps enjoying their new space, as well as the new immersive viewing area and kid's playground!

Image source

Cable car to Space Place

Would you believe we’ve never been to the observatory? A really nice day trip would be to get the bus downtown, take the Cable Car up to Kelburn, visit the Cable Car museum, have some lunch in the Botanical Gardens, then visit Space Place at the Observatory.

Image source

Zealandia

I’m also keen to visit the bird and wildlife sanctuary at Zealandia. We visited when it first opened but haven’t been there since. Since it opened, there have been a lot more native birds all across the city. Wikipedia says:

Zealandia, formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary, where the biodiversity of 225 ha of forest is being restored.

Photo of a Tui from The Zealandia website

And on another note…

There are actually a bunch of projects I might start work on. The Arthrits class CD player crapped out, so I need to load all the routines onto an old iPad we weren’t using, and set up playlists. Does anyone know if you can import a folder and create a playlist all in one go, rather than having to labouriously build it up?

I’ve got heaps of training videos and audios I’d like to spend some time on.

And I want to do some more on the family photo collection and family tree I started when prepping for Mum’s 80th.

It’s sounding less and less restful all the time! But I promise I will put R&R at the top of my list every day. You can hold me to it.

• Day 1 – Carol singing with the NZ Symphony Orchestra
• Day 2 – Kilbirnie Santa Parade
• Day 3 – Posting overseas Xmas cards & a Xmas themed exercise class
• Day 4 – Last minute book buying
• Day 5 – Last choir rehearsal for the year
• Day 6 – Choosing gifts for the Xmas game
• Day 7 – Xmas lunch with my exercise class
• Day 8 – Xmas spiced nuts
• Day 9 – Xmas tree time
• Day 10 – Last arthritis class for the year, and a sugar free brownie recipe
• Day 11 – A choir performance
• Day 12 – Taking marinated chicken wings to the choir Xmas party
• Day 13 – The NZ local xmas cards & some e-cards
• Day 14 – Planning the Xmas menus and best dessert ever
• Day 15 – Making gluten & sugar free Xmas cakes
• Day 16 – Xmas dinner with the Possums
• Day 17 – Cranberry smoothie & other nourishing Festive breakfasts
• Day 18 – Green Eggs & Ham
• Day 19 – Gingerbread men
• Day 20 – Stop, breathe and plan

Thanks for reading

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