It's not all work at the Tree Trust. Here we are, socialising at a mid-winter lunch at Karapiro.

We had been treating ourselves twice a year; mid-winter and pre-Christmas, but as the later time has become busier, with more grand-children, many living in different towns and even countries, we have decided to have only the mid-winter event. It provides a welcome break at a time when there's not much on. Once King's Birthday and Matariki are over, there's a long stretch to Labour Day at the end of October. Mid-winter, for us, is determined by the temperature of the weather rather than the time of year.