Goodbye 2011

Another Christmas and another year has passed. We had a marvellous Christmas Day with friends and family dropping in over the course of the day and several joining us for lunch. We happily showed our photos from our cruise to New Zealand - stunning scenery ashore and much luxury on board. I didn't sail very well in the first day on the Tasman Sea but after some medication, found my sea legs. Eion had no problem at all. We encountered some rough weather - 5 metre swells and 50 knot winds and for a while were completely fog bound as well. The towns and cities we visited were all interesting in their own way but Napier with its art deco architecture and style was a highlight, and the train or coach trips out into the countryside were excellent. Eion has realised that he prefers to spend a few days in a city so he can absorb its atmosphere, but even so we are looking forward to the cruise around Norway and the Baltic next year.

I failed miserably in continuing at the gym for more than a few months but am now trying a clinical Pilates class run by a physiotherapist. Not sure if I have the self discipline to persevere with this either. Although it was horrid at the time, a bad bout of asthma (after bronchitis caught on the NZ cruise) has at last persuaded me to stop smoking for good! So that is one healthy outcome from 2011. Here's hoping 2012 is healthy and happy for all my friends, family ..... and us, of course.