5mcintyres: Ben's Christmas Party

Ben had his work Christmas party in late November at the Pencarrow Lodge in Eastbourne. It was a beautiful stead with interiors of a typical lodge complete with stone fireplace. To get to the lodge you must drive on a private gravel road past the Pencarrow Lighthouse. The hospital chartered a bus that picked us up at our York Bay bus stop. The ride was fine until we got close to the lodge. The lodge sits on a hill so to get to it, you must go up a sharp, gravel road incline. Old man river (aka the bus driver) did a great job maneuvering the bus although we had one rise of excitement as we headed up the hill. We had to make a sharp turn left to go up the hill and as you can imagine, taking a sharp turn in a full-size bus is no small task. He went up and then we slid down to get the right angle which was quite the adventure, for those that enjoy the feeling of sliding down a cliff. We finally made it and Old man river got a round of applause for his strategic driving. It was even more scary going down this hill in the dark! We made it home in one piece and had a great evening! And to top it off...we were kid-free! A neighbor's daughter came over to babysit.

The cast iron Pencarrow lighthouse, on a strategic location once occupied by Māori at the entrance to Wellington harbour, was first lit on 1 January 1859 to guide seafarers before being discontinued in 1935. This is the first permanent lighthouse in NZ.

Waiting on the beach...

Yes, Batman and Robin made a special appearance to the party. What's a Christmas party without the dynamic duo. When Ben asked his buddy (aka Robin) what the attire was for the event, Jonathan told him he was going as Robin. Ben, of course, took this as a joke but as you can see, he was telling the truth. :)