Living "normally" in extraordinary times

I never quite know what to call these blogs but after several conversations with family and friends, I thought this title apt. Yes, we are living a relatively normal life in extraordinary times, but we really try not to take it for granted. Only last week, Auckland was back in level 3 lockdown temporarily. As I write this (21st February) we are back down to level 2 which means we are living pretty normally but being more cautious. We hadn't planned a gathering of people greater in number than 100 so there has been minimal effect. However, if we'd be in level 3, my work would have been really affected as a. we couldn't teach face to face and b. I wouldn't be able to travel for work. 

So much has happened since I last wrote so I'll try to make this brief as not to bore you. Firstly, we moved!!!! I don't think either realised how positive this would be for us but essentially, we much prefer the area, the house and the proximity to everything. I haven't had a chance to make full use of the playground, but here is our back garden:

We have still got a bit more room than we actually need, but it means we aren't falling over each other if working from home. Our views from our balconies are across to the docks and the harbour so we have seagulls and cicadas as our soundtrack. In case you ever wondered what a cicada looks like, here's one on our balcony.

They are ear-shatteringly noisy on our way to work when we walk across the domain. It really does make you realise that you are somewhere warm, which we are (I'm currently sitting here in shorts and a singlet with all the windows open!) 

We had a whole weekend away visiting Dan and Emma in Whangarei (Northland). It's warmer up there and it's been a particularly hot summer so far so it was nice to chill when we could. We visited the hospital there (Dan used to work with Jonathan at St Georges.) We also managed to get to the beach and I did my first bit of body surfing in ages - I really should do it more often but need to find my wetsuit for a longer time in the water! It was really nice to spend time with people in the normal way. I hadn't been lucky enough to work with Dan previously but he and his family are really lovely, friendly people. 

The day after we moved, the School of Nursing (where I work) had a hui (a gathering). As this was my first visit to the Marae (meeting house), I, along with several colleagues were formally welcomed which is known as the powhiri. Once everyone was gathered in the marae, we were formally invited across the lawn accompanied by an Iwi (elder) and sung communication between the two female leaders. There was then a ceremony in both english and te reo (maori) where each senior and new person introduced themselves. This involves your pepeha, which is details your tribal affiliations and connections to people and space. I need to learn mine in maori, but know that my river is definitely the Thames! I'm still working out which hill I should relate too as I don't think Balham hill counts and whilst I've summited Snowdon on many occasions, it doesn't really fit! The marae is truly stunning inside as it's full of wood carvings and weaving, all with lots of symbolism. However, here is the outside with the lovely people I'm lucky enough to call my colleagues:

I'm still working for Philips a bit, purely teaching on non-invasive ventiators as part of government's COVID-19 response. This meant a trip to the South Island last week, involving travelling from Hokitika to Greymouth for 2 days as there was no accomodation in Greymouth. It turns out the huge coast-to-coast race started whilst I was there so I have never seen so many racing kayaks and bicycles! Hokitika has a cool dude vibe with sculptures on the beach made from driftwood. In case you thought you'd heard of the name, it's where the Luminaries (TV series based on the book) was based.

However, I'm working more at the university and will be increasing my hours from next month (so I can't be doing too badly!) We now have our courses up and running with currently 4 streams in, with 2 more starting this coming week. I'm off to the Bay of Plenty (aka Tauronga) tomorrow to teach on Tuesday and Wednesday as we teach in a lot of the North Island, not just Auckland. 

We managed to get a holiday in too (I know, it's something you all are dreaming of one day, so I'll describe the warts-and-all.) We took our new e-bikes on the Hauraki rail trail. This is a rough track (particularly day one) but relatively flat. It turns out my bike battery doesn't last as long as Jonathan's and my spare battery hadn't arrived from abroad. Thus, day one, I had to bail early and get a lift part way. On day 2, to avoid a further expensive shuttle ride, we did a "there-and-back" from Paeroa to Matamata (123km.) Apparently lots of people bailed out of the route on day one because it was so wet and muddy. The track was "unrideable" - but no one told us! This is the only photo I took as we were being pelted with rain for the rest of the day and cycling into wind. It turns out you can get mild sunburn in the rain too!

Unfortunately, Jonathan fell off his bike twice on the second day, injuring his shoulder (as well as his pride, trousers and waterproof jacket!) Thus, we abandoned the shortest day (Paeroa to Karangahape gorge return.) However, we walked this instead and actually enjoyed it probably more. There are spectacular views there and lots of tunnels and paths to explore.

We then moved on to Cambridge for some R&R. This is a sleepy town but with some nice walks and restaurants, it turns out. We visited Santuary Mountain which is "an island on an island" - a secure habitat protected from preditors to conserve indigenous wildlife. There was lots of birdlife but I only caught this NZ robin on my camera:

So now we're back home, preparing on a Sunday evening for the week ahead. Jonathan is on call and I'm teaching all 5 days in 3 different places! On Friday we fly to Dunedin for the weekend before I teach there on Monday so I'll sign off for now. As ever, please stay in touch as we both really love hearing from everyone. I'll try to reply to emails, whatsApps, or any other methods as soon as I can!