Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

We started our week with the first public holiday of the season - Labour Day. Paul and Jenny had invited the family over for a shared lunch, so we had a relaxed start to the day and Nicky made a green salad which included pomegranate seeds, a first for us. Lunch was good, the weather was warm and sunny, and the atmosphere was relaxed and low key. We lingered until late afternoon. On our way home we called at Sylvia Park for Christmas present shopping for me. Nicky wanted to buy me some new shorts, and we had a much better selection than I was expecting and ended up buying a couple of very nice pairs. The evening was a combination of watching telly and reading. I finished Wild Fire by Anne Cleeve, her last Jimmy Perez novel, and enjoyed it. Nicky has now read it and also enjoyed it. Work has been very similar to the last few weeks for both of us, but the library does seem to be slowly picking up, especially when there is an event on. I had a good Deep & Meaningful meetup on Thu

I am given to understand, Dear Reader, that even those on foreign shores are aware that we have had a long and tumultuous week in politics. The main instigator, Jamie Lee Ross, has been admitted to a mental health care hospital this afternoon. The specifics of his allegations are starting to be overshadowed by the bigger questions that they are raising; how sexual harassment is treated in large organisations, how donations to political parties are handled, how the polotical parties manage themselves, and how MP’s are selected for the parliamentary list. I wonder how much we will see really change. On Monday we had a bit of a treat. A trip to the cinema to see First Man, and then dinner at Bodrum Kitchen in The Brickworks. The film, if you haven’t already seen it, is very good, and is the first that I have seen that really tried to portray the dangers faced in the Apollo missions. I thought it was done very well. Bodrum Kitchen is Mediterranean style food. I had a couple of kebab s

The weather has turned decidedly nippy again towards the end of the week, as I particularly noticed yesterday morning while standing at the old Tram Shelter in MT Eden. I was there waiting for my last Heritage Festival walk to begin and was very pleased to be wearing two layers of icebreaker merino with my wind & rain proof jacket. The walk through the centre of Mt Eden was very interesting as we learned about the geology that formed the area, the settling and architecture of the area, and then how the buildings have been adapted and repurposed. We concluded at the Crystal Palace Theatre which is currently undergoing refurbishment and it is hoped will open again in the future. For my final Festival event I drove over to Nathan Homestead in Manurewa to see a film called Pressing On, about printing enthusiasts in the USA who are keeping hot metal and wood block printing technologies alive. It was quite fascinating (especially as I have quite an interest in typography)

The second weekend of the Heritage Festival draws to a close as I write this post. Yesterday started a little cool but clear and sunny, so I set off for the 8.45am 24B into town with my summer shorts and pale legs as Nicky made her final preparations before going off to work. My first booking was a tour of Eden Park, New Zealand’s National Stadium and the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby. I arrived in time to grab a coffee in Kingsland before the tour began and took us straight to the sixth floor (top level) of the stadium. We saw corporate boxes, function lounges, changing rooms, coaches boxes, the undercover walkway that goes all round the stadium, the smallest RSA in NZ, and almost got to walk on the pitch. It was very interesting to see the “insides” of the stadium and our guide was entertaining and informative. The Smallest RSA in NZ Back out in the sunshine I caught the train to Grafton and then a link bus over to Ponsonby. After consuming my picnic lunch