Christmas cut-outs

Just had second Christmas today! None of the parcels from my fam arrived for Christmas day, so sat down with coffee and cream to open them this morning. Highlights include the fluffy sheepskin slippers from Ma and Pa (very much needed at the moment) and these felt cut-outs of Lily and Oscar. I thought they were fab, so they are now lining our stairs!

The Golden Spoon

To most, this is a spoon for serving curry borrowed from dAAwAt, the finest Indian restaurant on the planet. To members of the BTMS, this is one of the greatest awards one can receive in an otherwise patchy betting career. It was with great excitement that I opened the airmail parcel from Bermuda to reveal the great trophy - earned when I finally picked one right (at terrific odds of 35:1). My sole new year's resolution is to hold onto it for the year!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning - champagne and pressies.

Our christmas tree was a bunch of flowers bought from Columbia Road the day before, but was laced with some kiwi trinkets: a silver fern bauble and a pohutukawa fairy.

The Queen (and her message) looking gorgeous in lime green:

The Christmas feast - thoroughly spoilt by Karl and Kim who laid on the best spread, all washed down with Moet and mulled wine :)

Merry Christmas everyone

All the best for a spectacular 2007.

Christmas Lights in Canary Wharf

The advantage of it being dark so much of the time is that the light look spectacular:

London Santa Run

Latest news reports out of the North Pole suggest that Santa is getting a little too fat and a little too old to deliver presents this year and has sent out a request for assistance.

As a result, over 1500 people turned out in Battersea Park to attempt to be selected as one of Santa's assistants and it was a strangely impressive sight. Fraser was the third fastest Santa in London - another fantastic run from him. Gabrielle, Alli (Corbett) and I also donned the felt suit, beard and hat and ran the 6km course in the name of the Snowsport disability charity. All good clean stuff and a good start to the weekend!

G and Alli taking it very seriously!

Frasier on the podium:

Cardiff

Welcome.

Cardiff must be the best place in the world to watch rugby - a fantastic ground holding 75,000 right in the middle of town that means people can roll out of the pub and into the stadium for the game and then roll out of the stadium and back into the pub again. Some brilliant singing and an All Blacks victory made our day that much better.

We beat the early morning London traffic and were in Cardiff by lunchtime. Trev had obtained a dozen highly prized Speights that we enjoyed on the roof of a carpark in central Cardiff (in between taking stupid photo's). We met a few of the local wobblers in town as well as plenty of friendly kiwi faces and then took our seats. It was a cracker of a game but it may be remembered more for the fact that the Kiwi's didn't do the haka than for any rugby exploits.

Jersey half marathon

The weather gods shined on our weekend in Jersey Island in the English Channel.

We spent Saturday morning doing a lap of the Island (literally) and dropped in on some of the crucial sights of:

- the vineyard / fudge shop which provided ideal fuel for running a half marathon
- beaches with views to neighbouring France and Guernsey

- lighthouses - clearly necessary given the shallow and rocky coastline

Saturday avo was spent in a fairly relaxed manner as the ladies found a cosy cafe and the men found sanctuary in the pool, Ashes reading and a Pink Panther film.

Fresh from qualifying for the London marathon, Fraser carved the bumpy course to finish a very impressive 3rd overall in an illegally fast time of 1:19, Julia finished third in her age group and I was passed by numerous bow legged 60 year olds in the final two miles - enough to justify 4 Mars bars and a huge feed at Pizza Express.

With broken legs needing a rest we found the comfort of the cinema and Bond to cap off the weekend.

Paris

We had a fantastic long weekend in Paris - thanks once again to the ease of the Eurostar. As Paris virgins, we ticked off the obvious highlights including Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, Disneyland (a rather impulsive visit), the Eiffel tower (numerous times), Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Montmatre and Sacre Coeur and enough cheese sandwiches to last a lifetime.

Notre Dame and the views from the top

I'm not really one for historical buildings but Notre Dame really did impress - marvellous ceilings, statues and a real aura about it. The queue was well worth it!

The Louvre

2 hours in the Louvre is like a hundred metre sprint but we did manage to see past the three security guards to the obvious highlight of the Mona Lisa and also got quite lost in the sculpture section. However, unlike just about every other muppet there, we didn't take any photos inside (nor did we take the Da Vinci Code tour!).

Arc de Triomphe

I didn't quite realise how long the walk from the Louvre to the Arc is!! It seemed so close for a long time and then we finally made it. The two highlights of the walk were the confirmation that a Quarter Pounder with cheese is indeed a Royale with Cheese in Paris (re Pulp Fiction) and 4 of the best street-break dancers you will ever see - better headspins than I could ever do!

Disneyland

Yes - we dodged the prams, wowed at Goofy with 7 year olds and rode the rollercoasters in style. Gabrielle closed her eyes and I must confess to clenching my teeth on Space Mountain - a good day of sugar highs mixed with adrenalin. That said, the highlight for me was definately the Haunted House.

... and check out the two New Zealand representatives in It's a small world.

Versailles Palace

My man tantrum at having to queue for so long wore off pretty quickly when we finally arrived in the gardens of the Palace. There was room upon room of art that was incredible, but became rather tedious after a while, but a real highlight was the enormous corridor telling French history through paintings. And if memory serves me correctly the treaty that ended WW1 was signed here as well.

The Eiffel Tower

We contributed a few more photos to the tally for the most photographed structure in the world - I was very dissapointed that you couldn't walk the whole way up and so we had to settle for a lift from the second level to the top - but the Paris sunset sure made up for it.

Montmatre and Sacre Couer

We spent out last morning wandering around the streets of Montmatre, eating crepes and watching the artists at work. Still yet to try escargot......maybe next time.

My next mission is to teach the French to play cricket - there a plenty of good looking athletes and they have the perfect attitude: relaxed with a twist of arrogance - and the countryside is crying out for heavenly cricket grounds!