Day Trip

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The highlight for me this week has to be my day trip to Dunedin yesterday. Claire had found the photos that Nicky sent of my mother very challenging, and it had been 18 months since we had last had some time together, so I booked some flights. I had quite an early start and arrived in Dunedin around 9.15 where Claire and Ryan met me at the airport. The weather was very sunny, but a crisp -2ºC. After coffee and a good chat at their place we headed into town for a bit of shopping and then onto Emerson’s Brewery for a very enjoyable lunch. We had time for a tour of the office where Claire works (which I hadn’t seen before and which was interesting) before going back to the airport. My 4.40pm flight was being called as we arrived so after having last hugs I boarded the plane. On the way down I enjoyed some great views, and Claire was able to take a picture of my flight coming in as they drove to the airport:




My day trip was not my only social event of the week. Stella kindly invited me over for dinner on Monday night, and on Friday I went to Warwick and Helen’s. Two very enjoyable evenings with lovely food.

I have had some work every day this week which has been good, though I have actually spent more time driving to and from jobs than being on-site doing them. That happens sometimes.

The lighter laundry and shopping demands while Nicky continues her tiki tour of the UK has been interesting, in that I am not surprised about the laundry, but I am with regard to the shopping.

Nicky seems to be enjoying herself, though how she finds time to see anybody in-between writing emails I am not sure. This week she has enjoyed visiting folks in Loughborough and Chester and is currently near Truro.

The weather has been gorgeous today, with sunshine and clear skies, and very little breeze, though chilly when you feel it. As rain is forecast for the first half of next week I had three loads of washing on the line by 9am, which has now dried and been ironed. After doing my admin and having a coffee, I drove over to Taumanu Reserve for a walk along the waterfront. The sunshine was very lovely.


This afternoon I finished reading The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J. Harris, which was very good. I’ve been picking it up regularly all week but found it difficult to read for any length of time until today. The main character is an autistic boy with synaesthesia and face blindness so he find’s it very difficult to figure out what is going on. I felt like that with the book until today when things started to come together, and I wondered if the writer had done this on purpose to try and give a sense of what life was like for the boy. Read it if you get the chance.

Take care, Rick

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