Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

We started the week with a public holiday for Labour Day. We had an exciting day as just before the family had started arriving for lunch last Sunday, we had a phone call from the NZ Bus Mt Roskill depot to say that they had Nicky’s handbag. We didn’t get any details as to the status of the contents, but when we arrived at the office on Monday (Nicky clutching a bar of Whittaker’s chocolate as a thank-you) we were delighted to find almost everything there - bank card, driving licence, cash, diary, hairbrush, etc. The only missing items were Nicky’s sunglass case and a nice pair of leather gloves. It was a surprise and very welcome relief and it almost compensated for the dull and damp weather.  Re-armed with handbag we went off to The Warehouse to do some research and then watched the Paddington film over lunch. Even though we have seen it before we enjoyed it yet again. It brightened up enough in the afternoon for us to have a walk down to Lynfield Cove, an unfamiliar area to...

Unless you have been living in a cupboard this week, you are probably aware that we now have a Labour government, in coalition with NZ First, and with a confidence and supply agreement with the Greens. I don’t want to put the kibosh on this, but since Thursday announcement of Jacinda being in charge, the All Blacks were beaten by the Aussies, and it looks like we are due for some thunderstorms tomorrow. Hopefully, things can only get better! (there’s a slogan in there somewhere). On the domestic front, Nicky went to the optician on Monday and needs new glasses not so much because she needs a new prescription, but because the coating on her current four year old pair has degraded and it affecting her vision. In the afternoon we had fun (not really) organising a new driving licence and bank card for her following the loss of her handbag. We thought her passport was in the handbag but I found it later in the week. The rest of our week has been much more normal, with Nicky being b...

We still don’t have a government but I don’t think that is why Nicky’s handbag was stolen this week. The theft occurred on Friday morning while she was waiting for the train at New Lynn station. This disrupted her working day both because of the shock and the reporting of the incident as her work security pass, bank cards etc, were all in the bag. Fortunately her HOP card was in her hand, so she was still able to get to work and back home again. She only had a small amount of cash in her bag, it’s the inconvenience of having lost all the items and the replacing of bank cards etc, that’s the on-going issue. The beginning of our week was much better as the weather turned out to be much more pleasant than we expected for our Heritage Festival event in Epsom. We thought this was to be three exhibitions located in three businesses on Manukau Road, but this wasn’t the case. We did see some photographs at our second stop, and there we met the proprietor of the first stop which explained ...

The spring weather has been mixed again this week, but when we are getting sunshine it is pleasant and getting warmer. When we don’t, the rain can be very heavy and some of the beginning and end of day temperatures have been on the cooler side. Monday was very windy resulting in our Heritage Festival tour of the Museum Roof being cancelled. I ended up working and Nicky made us some very nice onion soup. Tuesday and Wednesday were also busy with work for me, and even though I had no more paid work at the end of the week Thursday and Friday were busy with admin and domestic duties. I had a good walk with James (friend from D&M) on Thursday and a good MeetUp discussion in the evening, and went up to The Block for a beer on Friday. The library has been very busy this week with the schools being on holiday, and Nicky has been tired each evening. She Scrabbled at Stella’s along with Steve after work on Saturday. I did a couple more Heritage Festival events yesterday: tour of...

Three quarters of the year gone, so it’s all downhill now. We started the week with Nicky taking advantage of the fact that she now doesn’t work Mondays for some health care: the dental hygienists in the morning and the eye clinic in the afternoon. She was quite jaded after the second one and needed a snooze so it was fortunate that she had made her alpha desserts (bread & butter pudding) between those two commitments. We watched, and quite enjoyed, The Curse of the Golden Flower in the evening. Reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in its style. Work has been busy again for Nicky in Henderson, but things are still going OK which is good. She is enjoying having a better manager. She came home with bacon and egg croissants for dinner on Thursday (from the Gloria Jean’s next to the library) and then went up to church in the evening. I have had a good week for work too. I was in town all day on Tuesday with two jobs and a meeting about my new website. Fortunately ...

Saturday was a significant day: Election Day, the first actual day of spring in terms of the equinoxes, and the beginning of daylight saving. The week has really been dominated by the General Election. The polls has the two main parties, Labour and National (the incumbents) very close, so the final result was a bit of a disappointment for those wanting change. National got the greatest proportion of the vote, but not large enough to form a government outright. Labour and two minor parties (Green and NZ First) got enough together to just form a government, but now much negotiating will take place as NZ First may also get together with National. However, not all the votes have been counted. The result of the 340,000 special votes won’t be known until October 7th, and this could affect the proportions of the party votes enough to change the basis of any negotiation. Even though Saturday was Election Day, we have had Advanced Polling Booths as they are known here open for two weeks pr...

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 ...