Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

It has been a varied week. Claire has been enjoying the first week of her inter-semester holiday, Nicky has had a busy week at work, and I have had a significant week at college. It was exam week for me - practical and theory. I passed the practical but won't know about the theory for awhile yet. It was also our last formal week in college, so we had a shared lunch with a few speeches and presentations, which was quite emotional for some of us. Now I have assignments to do over the next few weeks, and the second part of my weekend course. Once all the work is in and marked, if I have passed I can apply for my final assessment. If I pass that, I get my qualification. On Tuesday it was also Nicky's last evening at Maori. A meal and skits (in Maori) had been organised for the families of the students, so Claire and I went along and enjoyed excellent food and the entertainment. Nicky has enrolled again for next term. The weather has changed as the week has come to an end - it has r

We have had a few moments of excitement this week, and some improvement in the weather. On Tuesday evening while Nicky was at Maori, we had a call from her work saying that she wasn't to go into the library in Ranui on Wednesday until lunchtime. The library was to be closed because of the swine 'flu. It transpired that Ranui Primary School had been closed because of a couple of suspected cases in the children. The expectation was that the library might be closed for some days, but this turned out not to be case and it opened as planned on Wednesday lunchtime. However, the quarantine of the Ranui Primary school children doesn't seem to have kept them at home, as they have been tuning up at the library only to be sent home again! On Wednesday Claire did her last exam, so to celebrate she and I went to the cinema (both at student rates) to see the current Star Trek film as it comes to the end of its run. Today, in celebration of our 24th wedding anniversary tomorrow, we went t

It has been a more normal week this week, so there is not a great deal to report. Nicky has been at work as usual, but borrower numbers have be lower. This is probably a combination of weather, which has been cold and wet at times, and various bugs going round. In Nicky's Maori class, 8 people were away sick, and two more left during the evening! It has been exam week number 1 for Claire, sitting three papers during the week. Next week she sits her final paper and then has three and a half weeks off before semester two begins. The exams have gone OK so far; I think she felt best about the history paper - no surprises there. College is the main focus of my days at the moment as the workload increases as the end approaches. We only have one more week of formal tuition, then the last scheduled week which is theory and practical assessments. Then we have 4 weeks to complete at least 6 more assignments (there are some we haven't been given yet from the options course). Then we wait

We have had a more eventful time this week, along with lovely autumn weather. We have had almost 5 days of cloudless skies. It has been great to enjoy the sun during the days, but the clear nights have made the mornings cold, so much so we had to de-ice the car on Wednesday. This was the first time we have done this since moving to NZ. The week started with a public holiday due to the Queen having another birthday. In celebration, she sent us one of her citizens from the UK - Jo Millikan - who lived across the road from us in Loughborough. We collected her from the Backpakers Hostel in town on Monday morning, and headed out west to Bethalls beach for a stroll and a picnic. We didn't spend long on the beach (though I did have time for a paddle) because the wind made it very much like Skegness - bracing. We headed off to the Waitakere Ranges visitor centre and had our picnic there - inside, out of the wind, and with a great view. Back home, Claire and Jo got instantly back into their

NZ still seems a bit of an exotic land to me, and here is one of the reasons why. I can turn round from the desk in my office and this is the view: the palm tree always makes me smile.