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August 2004: Snow in Dunedin
After the excitement of having Ouma Leila and Nadine visiting, life at home returned to it's normal happy routine. The year 2004 was Lisa's final year at school, so she had some serious studying to do. Leta also returned to university during the second semester to do a paper in "Computing Concepts and Web Design", and that is why you are now able to read about us on these pages.
We must tell about the Otago Farmer's Market, the weekly Saturday market held at the train station and that we heard people talk about, but that we only "discovered" for ourselves in the second half of 2004. We now regularly go to the market at about 9 o'clock in the morning, come rain or sunshine! Willem has a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup while Leta fills the basket with wonderfully fresh goodies — seasonal vegetables and fruit, cheese from the nearby Evansdale cheese factory, bread, wholesome meat pies, chocolate truffles, cut flowers, and so on. We love the friendly carnival atmosphere and often meet up with acquaintances at the market. There are stalls of just about any description, and on a good day tables, chairs and umbrellas are set up in the central area.
During August 2004 Dunedin saw one of its heaviest snowfalls in many years. It was certainly the heaviest snow we have seen in the six years since we came to Dunedin. This meant that for several days we could not take the car out and we walked to work and back home again every day. The following pictures were taken around 8 o'clock in the morning, with the sun rising during the walk to work.
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The following photos were taken on the way back from work, at around 6 o'clock in the evening. It was nearly dark again by then and it had started snowing again. The picture on the left shows the last steep hill on the way home, with our house a sillouette on the skyline. The other two photos are of the neighbouring homes, taken from the windows of our upstairs bedroom. And, finally, our beloved cat Sabrina sitting on the windowsill.
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The next notable event was the performance of Orff's Carmina Burana by the City of Dunedin Choir and the St Kilda Brass Band on 13 November. Since Leta is now a member of the choir, Willem and Lisa were oblidged to attend the performance, but it was no hardship. It turned out to be a memorable evening.
Then there was Lisa's Year 13 Graduation Ball on 2 December. For this occasion we had to take the covers off the sewing machine. Lisa designed the ball gown and Leta had to deliver the goods. Similarly, Lisa designed the hair–do and Leta had to deliver! We were both relieved that it turned out to be a success on both accounts and Lisa looked lovely and quite regal. A friend from the Kung Fu group, Matthew, accompanied her to the ball and they had a pleasant time.
On Saturday evening 6 December the City of Dunedin Choir sang Christmas carols for the lighting of the city's Christmas tree in the Octagon. It was a merry family evening and the city fathers deemed it good and proper that free biscuits in the shape of the traditional tree be handed out to the people gathered there.
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The year ended on a high note with a visit from Jacques and Hester, who braved the unusually cold Dunedin weather to be with us during the last week of December. They found it necessary to huddle in front of the fire in the middle of the day! However, we loved their company and believe that they also enjoyed the visit.