Lynn's BLOG
April 2011 - Summer is over...
Eight months since I have written and now there is too much to catch up on. Our season has been extraordinary - so many lovely people have been through our doors and we have enjoyed meeting guests from Germany, Czecoslavakia, Sweden, United States, France, UK, Canada and the list goes on! We were invited to six weddings this summer and that has taken us around the country. We were in Christchurch the week before Christmas enjoying fabulous hospitality from our friends who lived in the City Centre while attending their daughter's wedding and obviously we were devastated to hear the news of the second earthquake in February. Their house is gone and life has changed in Christchurch forever.
Every year Andy and I like to go to somewhere in New Zealand that we have not visited before - it gets easier to decide with so many recommendations from guests! This years lucky winner was Dunedin combined with a trip to Arrowtown, Moeraki and Wanaka - we have just returned and thoroughly recommend staying at Bluestone On George in Dunedin and Crawfords in Arrowtown. At Moeraki we enjoyed a perfect night staying at a bach right opposite Fleurs restaurant which Rick Stein had highly recommended on a TV programme that we watched - it did not disappoint - i had to book three months in advance to get a table!
So we enter Autumn - daylight saving and a quieter house with children all away at University, London and married with children. Bookings are coming through for the Rugby World Cup - Gisborne is hosting Namibia and our nearest game is in Napier! Come and see us again if you have already been and if you haven't we look forward to meeting you.
August 2010 - Spring around the corner...
Every morning this week I have been on the beach and it has been just so calm - low tide and just perfect. Haven't had any guests for a while but bookings are coming in almost every day for the forthcoming season and we are gearing ourselves up to be busy - can't wait to meet you all.... Next week our lovely agent from Holland - Jean Paul is coming to stay - we have never met him and are so looking forward to putting a face to the name. He has sent us some charming guests over the past two years - we love all our boutique agents and now have them in Germany, Holland, UK and France.
I have been quoting for Christmas parties all week - makes me hungry and thirsty - am always thrilled to see what fabulous menues all our lovely caterers come up with - mind you we are blessed with gorgeous local produce. The Gisborne Navel oranges are now well in season and it is wonderful to have our fresh orange juice back - we only have three months without it but it seems like a lifetime - must get a new juicer from work! Mine has been working overtime for a few years now....
Andy is making marmalade - the house smells of oranges, limes and spices - until next month...
June 2010 - Wainui in Wintertime
We had New Zealand guests last night - I saw them heading down to the beach at 7 am which I thought was very brave and after an hour and a half they came back ruddy faced, invigorated and hungry for their breakfast - it is a simply stunning morning and the beach is completely empty - what paradise winter is in Gisborne!
Lynn is doing quite a few shifts at Interiors the kitchen shop this month - I love it - it is a great chance to catch up with all the latest gadgets and locals. Peter (the owner) has asked me to start up an online shopping service so that is keeping me busy for the moment.
Last week I met a lovely girl who has recently moved to Gisborne and is getting married here in December - she came to look at the Bed and Breakfast accommodation for her wedding night - we got chatting and now she is having her wedding ceremony in our garden, staying the night before her wedding and having a family party here and staying the night of her wedding here with her new husband. I can be very flexible! I am also doing the Wedding Gift Registeries for Interiors so it all ties in very nicely. I think it would be fun being a wedding planner and have always lusted for one of those micophone head set thingies....
This is my first blog - so won't go on - see you next month...
Be careful what you wish for...
I am now officially a wedding planner! It has all happened so fast and one minute I am talking to a few friends about the possibility and the next minute brides are ringing me up asking for advice - I am now in the process of putting a new small business together and looking forward to working with all the wonderfully talented people in Gisborne.
Went to a fabulous launch party last week for the Gisborne Wine and Food Festival happening in Gisborne on October 24 2010. The new venue and format look enticing and we are looking forward to the lucky first four guests coming to stay - hope you don't want breakfast too early the next morning!
Andy is busy keeping me warm this week - he is out collecting firewood in "them there hills" and bringing it home for our lovely open fire - it has been uncommonly cold this past week and we have burned through our log pile.
Talking of which - better go and stoke it up - until next time...