Out with a bang

Well, that’s January over already. The month hasn’t really finished with a bang, but it has been an eventful week.

It all began with Monday, Auckland Anniversary Day, and therefore a Public Holiday. Jancis (our friend who lives in Loughborough when the weather is nice there) and I went for a “day cruise” on The Spirit of Adventure. This is a three masted schooner used by the Spirit of Adventure Trust to ”offer equal opportunity to young New Zealanders to develop qualities of leadership, independence and community spirit through the medium of the sea.” They take groups of 16-18 years olds on 10 day trips and teach them how to sail the ship. They also do day and half-day trips for oldies (i.e. anyone over 18). 

I picked Jancis up at 8 and we drove into town, which was much quieter than I had expected as I had forgotten that it was a public holiday. We parked and walked down to Princess Wharf for our 9.00 registration and 9.30 departure. Once we had boarded we were given a wee welcome speech by the Captain and the First Mate, and encouraged to help the crew with the raising and lowering of sails. We were not expected to go up the rigging, not that I would have anyway.

We set sail, well set motor actually to get us away from the wharf and into the Waitemata. Our route took us up the east coast of the North Shore and round Rangitoto and Motutapu, before returning to Princess Wharf. The cloudy sky quickly cleared into a gorgeous sunny day with strong winds. Even though the sea was a little choppy, the ship was very stable. We got to pull on ropes and tie things up and ease things off, as well as being able to wander round the ship. Tea, coffee and blueberry muffins were provided mid-morning and a hot quiche for lunch with salad and rolls. The cruise lasted 5 hours and was a truly brilliant experience. The feeling of being “under sail” was quite different from anything which I have experienced before.

Jancis and I had a leisurely stroll back up Queen Street to the car, and she joined Nicky and I for dinner. Nicky had spent the day at home pottering and dyeing. To round off the nautical day, we watched Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World on DVD as Jancis hadn’t seen it before. A great end to a brilliant day.

We have had hot, sunny, breezy, lovely summer days all week. I went over to Herne Bay on Wednesday afternoon, and for the third time in a row the tide was really low (which is not what the tide charts had suggested to my eye). However, I felt in real need of a swim (for my eczema) so against my better judgement went in the water. The swim was lovely (and did help my back) but just as I was coming out of the water I stepped on something very sharp and fell over (I suspect muscle shell). I had managed to lacerate both of my feet. I washed and dried the wounds as best as I could and then drove home. Further inspection after an antiseptic wipe revealed a piece of shell about 1cm long in my right foot. As many of you will know I am not good with the sight of blood or wounds, especially my own, but I somehow managed to get some tweezers and remove the shell from my foot. Then I discovered another cut on my left foot which I hadn’t spotted before, which also had shell and/or sand in it, but I just didn’t have the angle or the resolve to deal with it. I rang Nicky at work and one of her colleagues very kindly brought her straight home so that she could take me down to our local White Cross centre in Avondale (bit like a drop-in centre in the UK, not full A&E but for minor emergencies).

We got there (me with passport in hand just in case), I completed the necessary paperwork and 4 or 5 minutes later a Doctor called me. He gave my left foot a local anaesthetic and got the sand and shell out of the wound, then got a nurse the clean and dress all my wounds and give me a tetanus jab. He also gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I went back on Friday to have the dressing changed and waterproof ones put on, and was told that I was healing nicely. All this was done very efficiently, with little or no waiting time and didn’t cost me anything. Another great experience with the NZ Health System.

I took Wednesday evening very quietly, and then on Thursday morning put the towels onto wash and hobbled up to the pharmacy to get my antibiotics. The machine had half an hour to go when I got back so I continued reading the Prisoner of Askaban as I was feeling quite sore by then. When I heard the washing machine finish I got up to empty it only to be greated when I opened the laundry door with water all over the laundry floor and some of the garage floor. Just what I needed. I later discovered that the drain pipe had come out of the drain hole on the laundry tub. Anyway, I had to rapidly move all the cardboard boxes that were getting wet, and set about getting the floor dry (after hanging the towels out of course). Fortunately with it being a sunny and breezy day, having the boxes in the sun and the garage and back doors open things dried out in a few hours, but it was annoying with it happening at a time when I really didn’t want to be on my feet.

Nicky has also had an interesting week at the library. A member of staff who has been difficult to work with (I’m not going to say more in case I’m accused of libel!) has been forced to resign. Also, her boss Mary who is 5 months into a 6 month leave of absence declared this week that she too was resigning. I think she has found looking after her grand-child far more rewarding.

Having a restful weekend with the lovely summer weather and reading Harry Potter (I’m now onto book 4), has really helped my feet recover. I am walking almost normally again (just wincing quite often) and starting to remove the dressings. They are still quite tender but I expect to be able to drive again tomorrow. Nicky and Steve have been over to Henderson to play Scrabble with Stella today, and we had a good long chat with Dawn and Barry over coffee on the Rattigan yesterday. I have also managed to make lemon curd and do some of the ironing today.

That’s all for now. On to February.

Take care, Rick