Sunday 1 April 2012

Big Weekend up North!

We left Auckland around 4:30-5ish on Friday night.  6 adults, 4 children, 1 dog and 3 cars traveling in convoy.  Considering the sheer logistics and that we left in the middle of Auckland's notorious rush hour, we made good time and arrived in Kaitaia at 10pm having stopped for dinner in Kawakawa.
Because Little Brother didn't really remember how to get there, he insisted that he maintain middle position.  To facilitate communication we had walkie talkie radios.  The communications between cars was nothing short of hilarious!  We rolled out of Auckland blasting that old song "convoy" on the stereo and arrived at the parents home blasting it as we rolled through the gate.


Party day was Saturday, we were up at sparrow fart, bacon and eggs for 18 people cooked by the hubs on the bbq.  Oldest brother (that's him on the far right with the grey hair) lives up there across the road from the 'rents, he'd sacrificed a hogget (older than a lamb, smaller than full grown cutting it's 2nd set of teeth) for the spit.  First the fire was built on a couple of sheets of corrugated iron, while it burned down to coals, he and his other half C went into Pukepoto to retrieve the hogget from the chiller where it had been hanging.  

The Hubs (2nd from right), middle brother (on the far left) little brother (not shown) and the boys (the man child and my nephews) stoked the fire and rebuilt it until they got back.  We ladies watched and critiqued their technique.  That's the man child in bright blue, hanging with the men.


Just before lunch, the coals were deemed coaly enough, the beast was spitted and the spit moved over the hot coals.  It was laced with huge branches of rosemary, basted and seasoned.  The spit motor was plugged in and the turning began.


We had lunch, cold meats, salads and fresh bread.  Then we made preparations for ladies punch, oh what a punch we made! Lots of ice, fruit juices and a judicious amount of spirit.  The men had their beer, the stereo was on and we sat chatting while the menfolk kept an eye on the main course.  We ladies noted that had we roasted a leg of lamb in the oven, we wouldn't have sat around the oven window watching it cook, but the menfolk pooh poohed us.

Bored with watching the round and round action of our dinner, we decided it was time to give the Patriarch his gift.  Toasts made, speeches spoken and gift unwrapped, we made preparations to serve the dinner which had cooked to a turn!


Having primed ourselves with 3 very good meals, we settled in for a convivial evening of song, conversation and mirth.  A wonderful evening followed with lots of fun and we all went to bed at 1am having set our clocks back for daylight saving ending Sunday 3am, making it midnight again.

3 comments:

  1. I just love that picture of the men (and man child) standing around the fire. It's such a 'man' thing isn't it. Looks and sounds like a fabulous time away.

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  2. We always joke, "men cook with fire, ug ug ug" they were all very into the whole fire thing.

    The man child and A his cousin 5 weeks younger than him were noticeably hanging with the adults this time round while the younger cousins and WG (poor thing was the only girl in attendance) hung out in the farmhouse watching cartoon network and rode the bikes around appearing only at meal times or when summoned. The WG is the eldest of the younger children and was quite content to be in charge of them though.

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