It seems like such a long time ago that all the Forrest-Waghorn family were in Akaroa getting ready for Christmas. Even though it was a while ago we took some lovely photos down there so I thought I would share some with you all. There will also be some recipes to follow in the next few weeks.

We Waghorns have had a  very close link with Akaroa and Banks Peninsula since 1850 when our ancestors arrived on the Randolph from England. At the moment my Waghorn grandparents live in Akaroa, along with my dad Simon’s brother Hugh and his sister Sarah. Uncle Hugh along with his wife (our aunt!) Pip owns a few businesses in Akaroa.

The main one is Akaroa Dolphins , who provide nature cruises around Akaroa Harbour. Of course we would highly reccommend them if you are in the area! Who knows, you might get to enjoy a glass of one of our Astrolabe or Durvillea wines on board!

Hugh & Pip also have another business called Captain Hector’s that hires out kayaks and paddle-boats. We really like their logowhich features their cute dog Hector. Hugh has a good little vege garden going on out the back of the Akaroa Dolphins premises.

We sent out a few raiding parties to augment our summer meals.

Hugh has bought several electric bikes for visitors to Akaroa to enjoy. Libby and Arabella, along with our cousin Rose, took them for a test drive.

Libby on one of the electric bikes

They took them for a reasonably long run and found them really enjoyable. You don’t need to use the motor all the time, just when you need a little boost. They worked well even on some of the quite steep hills that surround the harbour. Libby & Bella even rode them up to the bach where Mum and I were preparing some food for Christmas and I had a go.

I really liked them and thought they would be great for commuting, especially somewhere hilly like Wellington. However, I’m too much of a scaredy-cat for cycling in Wellington yet so I’ll stick with the bus for now.

One place in Akaroa that we hadn’t been before was The Giant’s House. It is a lovely old house and garden filled with amazing sculpture and mosaic. Here are a few photos of us there:

Arabella at The Giant's House

Libby and Bella

The garden at The Giant's House, Akaroa

There are more photos of The Giant’s House and our Akaroa holiday on our Flickr page if you are interested!

-Meg

Boxing day my family and I packed up to head up North to Gisborne, a car trip I haven’t done with my parents since I was 13 (It is about 4 hours from Christchurch to Blenheim, a 3.5 hour ferry ride, and another 8 hours from Wellington to Gizzy!) I was heading to Gisborne to meet up with a group of friends to head to the Rhythm and Vines Festival, I have been to this festival twice before, but this is the first time that it was held over 3 days.

Rhythm and Vines, Vines Stage

Acts from all over the world came and played, including some great local acts, one really good band that played on the 31st was some of my friends, six60. One of the best ones that played, that I had no expectations for was Moby! Gisborne is first to see the sun and it is definitely one of the most beautiful places to see in the New Year.The other Durvillea girls have been scattered around the place, Libby was en route to Guatemala where she will spend the next 2 months, to follow what she is up to check out her blog http://henny-eesa.blogspot.com/ Meg was up in Ohope Beach, near Whakatane and Jane was holding the fort back at Astrolabe Farm in Blenheim. However, after a fabulous holiday, and despite it being a little hard to settle down into being in the office it is lovely to be back in sunny Marlborough. Jane has done a great job covering while I was away, putting through all the orders that streamed through between Christmas and New Year, so there has not been too much to come back to.Photos were just sent through yesterday of Durvillea Wines in Antarctica, (see past blogs to read about how they got there), the team over there have taken some fantastic photos that I have pasted below.

Durvillea in front of Mawson's Hut

Durvillea and Astrolabe in front of Mawson's Hut, Antarctica

The Team in Antarctica getting Creative!

Hemi and Bridget from Wineworks

Luckily we have a great team at Wineworks Marlborough (where we store and dispatch our wine from) who also work as hard as they can to get our orders out!

Not only have we had an increase in orders, but we have especially had an increase in Durvillea orders as we start to get more recognition as a brand and for our wine. The Durvillea Pinot Grigio just won Blue Gold and Top 100 at the Sydney International Wine Competition 2010, which we are particularly pleased about.

As I have mentioned previously, we were approached by David Jensen several months ago in regards to supplying the l”Astrolabe ship with wine, on its recent trip to Antarctica. As the ship was called l’Astrolabe we thought it seemed fitting that we supplied the wine, giving them a mixed case of Astrolabe and a mixed case of Durvillea. The ship finally set out on Friday 4th December, and reached Antarctica yesterday, to follow the blog of where they are, and how the Mawson Hut restoration is going click here. We look forward to reading about their progress, and hopefully seeing a few photos of Durvillea being drunk in Antarctica!

As I also mentioned last time, we have partnered up with Sounday to be the wine for this music event that is held in Hagley Park, 30 January next year. The line up has now been announced, and to buy tickets you can go to the Fabel or RDU website, it will no doubt be a great day, and some of us Durvillea girls will be there wandering round too!

Another exciting event that Jane and I are also already thinking about is the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, this is a couple of weeks later on the 13th February, this is the first time Durvillea will be at this festival, so we want to do it well.

With all these things coming up, there is lots to plan and organise, the 2009 Durvillea Pinot Noir was just bottled on Friday. As we have made so little of it, it must be allocated out so that everyone who has requested and is interested in it has enough to last them through to the next vintage, this is always a bit of a guessing game, but generally seems to work!

Another thing that must be organised is Christmas, as I write this, I have just come back from Nelson where I finally started my Christmas shopping! This year we are having Christmas in Christchurch (home) with the Forrest- Waghorns (mum’s side) and the McLernons (dad’s) all of us cousins are all around the same age, so I am looking forward to catching up with them all and having a few drinks with the family!

Merry Christmas everyone, till next year! Sophie

Libby, Arabella and Simon survey the tent before the party

Last weekend was a big one for the Waghorn family. Simon turned 50 and we threw him a big party at Astrolabe Farm. Sadly, none of us took many pictures but hopefully some that my aunt Nicki took will surface soon. A great time was had by all – particular highlight for me was watching Dad pogo-ing around the dancefloor to the B52’s later on in the evening…

Having the whole family together (along with lots of extended family and old friends) got us thinking about the next big occasion in the family calendar – Christmas. Every family has their traditional Christmas (or other seasonal holiday) foods and recipes. We’d like to share one of ours, the Christmas Cake. It’s not that original but , as for many other families, the making of the Christmas cake carries with it a lot of meaning and memories.

Ruthie using the Christmas Cake recipe for Jane & Simon's wedding cake

Our recipe comes from our maternal grandmother (Jane’s mother) Ruth Forrest. Our lovely Nana is sadly in a home suffering from severe dementia but we think of her often, particularly in the kitchen as she was a phenomenal cook. This is Nana’s recipe and the copy we have is precious to us, as it is hand written by her. The hard copies of recipes are so evocative, this one has the smears and smudges of a well used recipe as well as the conversions and additions written by my mother, Jane (and a few extras from Dad/Simon). It’s a very visual reminder of my family tree.

This cake has been a Christmas Cake, a wedding cake and a Christening cake in our family. The lucky way to make it is to let everyone stick their hands into it and mix it up a little.

Here’s the recipe:

Ruth’s Christmas Cake

625gms Butter

250gms Brown sugar

250 gms White sugar

750 gms Flour

12 eggs

Tbsp almond

1 kg Currants

1 kg Sultanas

375 gms Sunmaid raisins

125 gms cherries

60 gms almonds

250gms peel

2 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1/2 cup brandy

Pour brandy over fruit – I leave overnight. Better to line tin the day before also (easier next day). Cream butter & sugar, add essence. Add egg yolks & mix well (little flour with eggs [I can't quite read this bit - Meg.] won’t curdle.

Next add flour & fruit [and SPICE! - Simon's note]. Lastly beaten egg whites.

Cook six hours in lined tin, light cardboard base – newspaper folded about 3 thick then grease proof. Paper above tin about 2 inches – I put piece of cardboard over cake [can't read here! - Meg] about an hour, won’t burn but smells like it will. [Some hard to read instructions about lining tin]. Bake 300 for 1 hour then 250 – cook 6 hours – place middle – tray underneath.

Use 1/2 recipe will be big enough. 1/2 cooking time – don’t panic if getting too brown – turn to 200. Don’t open oven too much.

Leave in tin until cold, then remove.

Good luck.

- Ruth (& Meg)

Meg, Libby and Bella making the Christmas Cake