A New Year dawns and may it bring you all that you love best. May it always shower upon you  health and happiness.

I missed writing a blog last week because Christmas Day was on a Tuesday, the day I usually compose my blog. 

The above quote is from an old postcard in the ‘FT series’ that shows the old wharf in Picton and a small steamer heading out towards Mabel Island. The card was obviously designed to be sent by holidaymakers at New Year.  I don't know if producers of postcards still follow this tradition.  It could be helpful.  Annoyingly there is no date on the card but I have noticed that also with postcards produced today.  The makers do not seem to realize how important a postcard can be historically in documenting changes to a townscape or landscape.

I bought my father a digital thermometer for Christmas along with the requested ‘big’ box of chocolates. It tells the indoor and outdoor temperatures and on Christmas Day we were all horrified to learn that it was a scorching 34 degrees outside. The temperature in his retirement village is controlled and sometimes especially in winter I suggest he takes a jacket when we go out which he is puzzled by because it’s so warm inside he can’t believe that it might be different outside. I guess this is one advantage of living in an old villa, you do know how cold it is.

On the evening of 29 December we had the loudest thunder I have ever heard, a temporary power cut and then a major power cut. I went to bed at 8.30pm, very unusual for me as I usually stay up late reading or writing so I have no idea when the power came back on. Now we are having strong gusty north-west gales, the sort of weather that is very difficult for boaties and not enough rain to keep the garden from drying out.

Four NZ King Salmon farms have been approved by the Environmental Protection Authority. The Board of inquiry has released its draft report. The four farms granted are at Ngamahau Bay in Tory Channel, Papatua in Port Gore and Waitata and Richmond in Pelorus Sound. Thankfully the importance of Queen Charlotte Sound as a recreational area was acknowledged. The Board was concerned about navigation, recreational boating, the natural landscape and Maori traditions. Farms that were denied were Kaitapeha and Ruaomoko in Queen Charlotte Sound and Kaitira and Tapipi and White Horse Rock in Pelorus Sound.

The hearing took nine weeks and heard about 1200 submissions.  The full draft report can be read on the Marlborough Express website www.marlexpress.co.nz

Submissions can be made by all submitters and certain other parties until 8 February but the Board has indicated that these four approved sites will go ahead. An issue of concern to Council is that its resource management plan clearly separates out recreational and industrial activity. This decision on marine farming will not please anyone. The final report will be released by the EPA Board on 22 February.

For those travelling by ferry or boat and those not familiar with Queen Charlotte Sound or without access to a map, Ngamahau Bay in Tory Channel is located four bays on the Picton side of Fishermans Bay where the old Perano whaling station can be seen.  The old whaling station is very close to the entrance to Cook Strait. This Tory Channel salmon farm is bound to cause controversy. The last point you see heading towards Wellington is Perano Head where the sailing ship the City of Newcastle was wrecked. Her anchor forms part of the memorial to fishermen lost at sea at the eastern end of the Picton Foreshore (erected in 2012).

Did you read the interesting and well written piece by Cheryl Maister in the Marlborough Express (24 December 2012). Cheryl had been to visit the Aviation Heritage Centre at Omaka in Blenheim with two grandsons. She writes that she was particularly impressed with the skill of Weta Workshop in creating models and scenes. She records an event in World War I when thousands of soldiers at dusk on 24 December 1914 stopped shooting at each other for a short time to celebrate Christmas. Cheryl reports that carols were sung and one carol was sung in German which many British soldiers hadn't heard before: ‘Silent night, holy night ...’ The soldiers took time out to bury their dead on Christmas Day and apparently there were some reports of soccer games being played.

Rower Joseph Sullivan was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours list along with his double sculls partner Nathan Cohen. The pair won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.  Joseph Sullivan also organised a surprise for his parents while they were away visiting relatives in Australia to thank them for the time and effort they had contributed to his career. He arranged for a makeover of their house which they were delighted with on their return.  A huge number of Marlborough businesses got together to assist with the project.

All the best for 2013. Don't worry about the resolutions. You can always keep trying throughout the year and there's always next year.