Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

The beginning of the week was marked by both of us feeling very tired after our sleeping routine being affected by watching the wedding. This didn’t stop Nicky watching again on Monday evening however. We had watched the BBC coverage live on TVNZ1 and recorded the ITV coverage transmitted by TVNZ3 and Nicky enjoyed the different perspectives. After a late breakfast on Monday morning Nicky went over to see Kanchan who she used to work with. In the afternoon we combined business and pleasure with a trip to see Clem and Pat, and some work for me on the peninsula and in Browns Bay on the way home. We had changed the bed and done some of the washing as it looked like, and transpired to be, a largely wet week. Nicky’s working week has been busy, and has improved as her sleeping has improved. I have been busier though that is partially because I have spent twice as much time travelling to and from jobs as I have actually spent time doing the jobs because of dealing with issues which ...

It was quite a wedding wasn’t it? TV coverage started here at 5pm with some scene-setting programmes, and went on to 1pm this morning with live coverage of the wedding and procession round Windsor. We thought it all went very well (and not just because of the wine that we were drinking), and were very pleased at how good the weather was. Nicky is just watching edited highlights again as I write. It was all done very well and with some excellent touches and departures from the norm. But it wasn’t the only excitement we have had this week. It has been the Auckland Writers Festival this week/weekend, and I have been to four sessions both today and yesterday. Nicky didn’t go with working yesterday and being very tired today what with a number of poor night’s sleep and a late night after watching The Wedding. I enjoyed the majority of what I saw at the festival, and as ever, the atmosphere was very convivial. I noted a couple of amusing soundbites: Alan Taylor, the founder of the “...

The weather is still warmer than would be expected for this time of year (we had a high of 23ºC for a little while today), but just to get us into the mood for what’s coming we had some fog on Thursday morning. Nicky has had issues with getting to work this week, partially caused by a number of poor night’s sleep and partially by a train derailment at Britomart on Wednesday. Delays and fewer trains were still the best the service could provide on Friday, and buses have been replacing trains over the weekend. For those who don’t know, Britomart is currently the end of the line in the CBD. All train services start and finish there, so the derailment has affected all of the Auckland rail network. Thursday was an interesting work day for Nicky as she had ben seconded to New Lynn library for the day. Having worked there for awhile in the past she knew where most things were, but inevitably there had been changes that she had to deal with during her working day. All the same, she enjoye...

We have been enjoying a week of mainly sunny, warm and dry autumnal weather this week - cool mornings and evenings with very pleasant afternoons. We started the week with Nicky’s day off and a trip to Dilworth Hearing to get a replacement hearing aid for the one Nicky lost on the way to the bus stop a couple of weeks ago. Melissa the audiologist paired the new one up and we also installed an app on my phone to communicate with them, which over a short distance might help us locate them if one gets lost again. The insurance company have been brilliant again - the replacement and its fitting hasn’t cost us anything, even though it’s only little over a year ago that Nicky had to have a complete new pair of hearing aids after loosing one of her originals while we were on holiday. We had a little rain in the afternoon and Nicky did some baking and ironing. We had the evening at church for a DVD presentation on the Five Languages of Love, which we both found quite interesting. The r...