Officially, it's autumn

A busy week in some respects. Nicky has been off work all week with a virus which is giving her headaches, nausea, and aches and pains. It seems similar to a bug going round at work but the locum who signed her off for the week has run a couple of blood and urine tests.

The weather on Monday and Tuesday was lovely and sunny. Mike returned from Hamilton on Tuesday and took us and Claire & Ryan out for dinner at Malt. Tuesday is also their quiz night, so we participated. We don't know quite where we finished up because we felt it was past our bedtime at the end of the last round but and didn't want to wait for the final scoring. We know we didn't win or come last. We enjoyed the evening and the food (though the music was a bit loud), and I bumped into my senior massage tutor (Shelly) from three years ago. It was good to see her and catch up.

The weather was a little dull on Wednesday. I had some Mac work, Mike went up Sky Tower, and Nicky popped along to the Church AGM in the evening. Thursday was a bit brighter. I had a couple more Mac jobs, Claire came over for lunch, and we all took Mike to the airport for his trip to the south of the north island. He flies from Welling to Australia at the end of next week. Claire has now finish her internship at NZ Archives, has started her Diploma with the Open Polytechnic, and return to Whitcoulls later in the week.

Friday was overcast and the forecast not good. Nicky has been generally improving during the week, so we did the shopping together. We had an excellent evening at one of the Council organised Music in the Park events. Midge Marsden with support act The Desotos were playing in the BHB Beach Reserve from 6-9.30pm. We had had some rain in the afternoon so packed some rugs and wet weather gear along with our folding chairs and headed off. First stop was the chip shop for gurnard and chips twice ($9). They were still hot when we got down to the beach and found Jan & John Clearwater. We joined them and scuffed our hot grub, followed by fresh strawberries (bought road-side earlier, $6) with thick cream and dipping chocolate. The Desotos mix of blues and rock was OK, but Midge (who we have seen before) was even better, as was the sound balance. We had a little rain but is held off for most of the evening. The audience was small, as is the reserve, well behaved, and very eclectic, though I suspect about half of them have or were eligible for SuperGold cards (aka Bus Pass) and one or two were enjoying some whacky baccy. A young family arrived with a very bouncy little girl who was great to watch. While mum carried the baby in a sling-type affair, the dad kept his eye on their daughter while letting her run free and thoroughly enjoy herself. A silver-haired Polynesian lady, who I guess must have been at least 85, carefully ambled to the "dance area" (flat section of grass), slipped off her her shoes, and then jived as though she had a pair of new hips. We decided to stay longer than we expected so I went and bought hot tea and coffee ($7) after the sun had set, which was very welcome, unlike the rain. The last half hour was wet, but it didn't dampen the crowd's spirits. It was a really good evening, especially for just the $22 we spent on our food. All the excellent organisation was paid for by the council, which I think is an excellent use of our rates. By Saturday morning, apart from the recycling bins which were still present, you couldn't tell that anything had been happening the previous night.

The rest of the night was very windy, and warm (18°), and by breakfast the predicted "weather bomb" had arrived. We had major downpours and very high winds. By late morning they began to abate and by late afternoon the sky started to clear. During one of the quieter periods we popped up to the newly opened Auckland International College as they were having an open day. They have moved from a tower block in the centre of town and taken over the site and buildings of the Hill Top Primary school which closed a couple of years ago when the recession really started to bite. This is where we had enjoyed a couple of very good November 5th fireworks displays.

The school teaches the International Baccalaureate for years 11, 12 and 13 for University entrance for top UK, US, and Japanese Universities. It only has 360 students, but it's presence in the small community of BHB could have quite an impact. We had a tour of the school and a short presentation by the Principle. It was an interesting visit.

Due to the inclement weather, we had decided not to have a BBQ in the evening, but instead provide Gail and Steve van Veen and the Moss-Mason clan (less Lucy) with a beef casserole (actually the pie filling from the Hairy Bikes which I made a few weeks ago). Nicky made an Austrian coffee cake to complement the fruit salad and ambrosia which Gail brought, and I added to Stella's carrots and garlic bread with new spuds and road veggies. It was great to catch up and for some people to discuss old times of when they were little.

The weather people had promised that the weather bomb for Saturday would be followed by a glorious sunny day on Sunday, inspite of autumn having started on Thursday, and the weather came good. We woke to clear blue skies with the colour of the light having a slight autumn tinge. As Nicky went off to church I got a couple of loads of laundry out. After tea and coffee with some ladies who came back from church with Nicky and then a quick lunch, we set off to Muriwai to meet Becky and her folks, Tim and Netta. We got to the car park within a few seconds of each other (they had been over on the North Shore) and wandered down to the beach. We sat for awhile and even though the sun was strong and warm, the wind on the beach was even stronger but NOT warm. So, after sitting and chatting for awhile we walked up the cliff paths to view the Gannets. They called in at our place on their way home to use our technology and print some e-tickets for the next part of their holiday, and stayed and chatted while looking at photos. Later Nicky and I had soup and left over garlic bread, and watched some telly before heading for bed.

A quite busy but enjoyable week.

Take care, Rick