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| 2010 - No. 5 www.malecek.com | |||
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We had a series of small gatherings beginning on Christmas Eve with Ne. Stephanie joined us on Christmas Day.
Boxing Day found the Whites here. On the 27th we went to mini-Whites for Sally’s birthday (video). Ian was over on the 30th to play Dominion. 
On New Years Eve even more Whites showed up with the Smithers, Ann and Russell joining in. Only 11 jumpers this year. 
 At the pump: $2.00/litre $7.70/gal |
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 My cousin, Linda, her husband, Dale (who I met for the first time) and her elder daughter, Allison, came to New Zealand in December. Allison had been attending Adelaide University for six months and her parents flew down-under to meet up with her and check out where she had lived.
They arrived in the evening and we served them NZ (British) fish ‘n chips and a trifle for supper and from then on for four days it was non-stop story telling, especially by Dale who has an encyclopaedic memory. Good people and good company.  Brought them to Karioitahi to body board surf. Linda a real trooper but waves knocked her about and she soon headed back to the black sand beach. Allison stayed in longer than me and Dale was content to just get his feet wet.
Linda gave me a photo album of her family and we went over them one by one with me adding notes to family tree and had many good stories to tell. 
Drove down to Rotorua and got to the Buried Village (volcano eruption) in time to join a tour after we had looked through the museum with quite a few new things to see. The guide was informative and interesting. Went to Whakarewarewa which is now split into two sites. Decided to do the living village and it has grown with many new houses and a few shops. Not much to see for thermal activity. We took in a Kapahaka group performance that was riveting with an audience participation at the end doing a Maori version of "Hokey Pokey" (video). Dropped the ladies off in town to shop while Dale and I went through the Caterpillar Experience. Dale seemed to know a lot about every model of the tractor/bulldozer machines. On way home I diverted to Maraetai so Linda could scour the beach for shells. 
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| As much use as an ejector seat on a helicopter |
 
Had an extended birthday. It fell on a Friday so we had a cake with our Trivial Pursuit group. The cuzzies arrived on Saturday and we had a baba cake with them. They gave me games and shirts and calendars. On the 10th we went to lunch with Ne and saw “Due Date”.
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Malley Muses A plan so cunning... |
| I have the solution to the Christmas madness. Spread the holiday out through the year. People with surnames beginning with “A” or “B” do Jan 25th, “C” and “D” do Feb 25th etc... | ||
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