by Sue Lusk

“The Waikanae Volunteer Fire Brigade will be doing the Christmas Eve lolly run spreading Christmas cheer in their trucks again this year (thank you so much, you lovely lot!) –

“The maps give a rough idea of where the two fire trucks will be going. They will be starting at 6.00 pm so if you hear sirens — pop out and see them!”

[It’s not specified where the start point is and even with two trucks this route could take an hour or more — Eds]

We had a little drive through some of the town tonight to see the decorations that several folks have put up around their houses and gardens, and here show two houses as examples, and the Baptist Church display, which is a must see. It’s hard to do justice to them with still photos since so many of them change constantly, but we gave it a good try!

Those travelling north near Taupo over the holidays will find these appealing garden ornaments at Lava Glass on State Highway 5 near the intersection with the Expressway. They aren’t for sale (interior ornaments are), and would probably be expensive if they were. We asked if they suffer from the elements, but they don’t seem to; most have been there for 3-4 years.

For those wanting to experience giant size glass sculptures like these, the place to go is the Dale Chihuly exhibition center in Seattle; Chihuly must be the world’s most famous glass sculpturist

“There you go, last post here on this, Jacinda was saying she would be consulting us before signing. Winston consulted a lawyer, he says. Not the same thing by a very long shot. Done & dusted. Ah, but ‘it’s not binding’ is the sugar coated line to get you all trusting again. I think I recall Winston telling us he would be opposing 1080 aerial drops? Not even. The pact is not binding, but watch this space. Like most things pollies dish up to us these days, it will just be the thin end of the proverbial wedge. As usual dished up right on Christmas so we’re all too busy to notice. The end game is UN global governance. Ask Helen Clarke, she worked on it for her tenure there. Just another chip in our walls of sovereignty.”

“We are at present working discreetly, with all our might, to wrest this mysterious force called sovereignty out of the clutches of the local nation states of the world. And all the time we are denying with our lips what we are doing with our hands.”  Arnold Toynbee – International Affairs, p.809, November 1931

Full article

In flood? Using ‘native’ to refer to a person would be frowned on today.

A pic taken in Reikorangi that may be the closest local scene that brings to mind the song “The hills are alive with the sound of music.”

The title Della Randall has given to a new property listing in Puriri Road and the photos bear that out: some of the scenes on the 2.73 hectares (yes!) are above. Needless to say, you get an impressive big house and garage to go with it. Several more pics are on her website here

(Sent to us by a reader)