Ten Years Gone

Thursday of this week was our tenth anniversary of arriving in New Zealand. In order to celebrate, Nicky and I went out for dinner and Claire went out for lunch with a friend in Dunedin. In some respects we don’t seem to have been here for very long, but it feels like a long time since we left England.

Much has happened. Claire has got a degree, and job, the Ryan and moved to Dunedin. Nicky has worked in more libraries than she did in her 30 years in England (I think), and I have had a job, qualified as a massage therapist, and set up in business as a freelance Mac support technician again. We are in our second rented home, onto our second car, and Claire and I have had to renew our driving licences. I have got my citizenship, a New Zealand passport, and two pairs of spectacles. Nicky has got hearing aids and Claire has acquired a cat. We have voted in three general elections (fourth one next week) and been to some beaches. We have walked up volcanoes, Claire has seen the effects of an earthquake, and we have experienced rain like it is coming out of a hose-pipe. We have not yet had a Christmas Day BBQ on the beach, but we have had fish and chips on various beaches at various times. I now permanently carry towels in the car in case of an impromptu paddle. Nicky is regularly in and out of prison (as a volunteer) and could quilt at the Olympics. Claire has given up meat but has drawn the line at chocolate. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a cheque, and handling cash and mail in the post are now occasional experiences. Finding sand in the car isn’t.

We have watched a couple of good films on DVD this week: United Kingdom about the King of Botswana and his English wife, and Hidden Numbers about Negro women working at NASA. Both were very good.

Work has been lighter for me this week, but the weather has been challenging my laundry skills. Got there in the end. Nicky was working late duty on Thursday which was helpful as she needed some early morning dental care after damaging one of her front teeth during dinner on Wednesday night. I think she might have crunched on a pepper corn in the chicken and pasta dish, so I have altered the coarseness on the grinder. Our booking at Cazador on Dominion Road was also quite late. It is a restaurant which specialises in meat, with the occasional vegetable. We shared a charcuterie of duck, venison, quail and wild boar for starters, and had mains of duck and venison, with sides of spuds and yams. It was a very good celebratory meal.

Nicky had Saturday off so that she could go to her quilting group, and then went over to Stella’s afterwards for Scrabble. She brought folks back from church for tea and coffee today, and this afternoon we have been and found the Rainbow cycleway and had a walk on some more of the paths in the new Waterview landscaping which we really enjoyed (and it didn’t rain, it was quite warm).

So there you go. The next ten years begin.

Take care, Rick.