Changing seasons

 It's been a while since I wrote mostly because I've been busier at work having increased my hours. We've also had a lot on so I thought it was time for an update.

After the last blog where lockdowns and tsunamis were a bit of a feature, life has been more straightforward in a lot of ways. I'm settling into my job at the university and just feel like I'm getting to know the students although many are now about to finish their courses with me. I teach the same subject (clinical assessment) but at two different levels, to 5 classes (hence my brain gets a bit confused at times!) Some of my students are newly qualified nurses who are called NETPs here (Net - P for short). Others are more experienced nurses from a very wide background and location. I have one student who flies up from Christchurch! I'm now very much in "marking and exams" season, so I'm spending more time at home marking than previously. It's a nice place to work though.

My walk to work takes about 20-25 minutes and is through the Domain, which is a large park. Like most parks in Auckland, it's a distinct volano, so I walk over the top, past the hospital, cross the road and I'm at work! I miss the noisy cicadas who have all died off now, but they used to be deafeningly loud on my commute. Some of the flower beds are still gorgeous though so here is a snapshot from the other day.

 

 

The Domain, Parnell

                                                                    

                        

It's autumn here now and the clocks have changed. We are now 11 hours ahead of London which makes communicating with family and friends a bit more sociable and feasible! It can be very warm in the day and I rarely need a coat/jumper on but it's chillier in the evenings. Unlike many homes, ours is relatively easy and not to expensive to heat, so one of the radiators has been in use in the evenings.

The lockdown at the beginning of March meant that our planned trip to Napier was postponed, but we made it there at the end of the month instead. Why Napier? Because Crowded House played there in a winery, so we made a weekend of it. It didn't start well as we left Auckland on a Friday evening (their Friday evening rush-hours are infamous) and had dinner in Hamilton. We were underwhelmed by Hamilton, but I'll be spending quite a bit of time there next semester, so hopefully I'll be more impressed. We then drove on to Taupo where we'd booked accomodation. Unfortunately, the pub across the road had a band playing until about 1am and then the crowd barriers were erected for the rest of the night in time for the World Ironman race which was 10 metres away from our window. Our car was stuck on the other side of the course! We escaped the backpackers (for that's what I'd accidentally booked us into) the next morning and managed to extricate the car. Then we headed down to Napier.

We vaguely remembered being disappointed by Napier when we lived here 16 years ago. It's famous for it's art deco buildings as the city was levelled by an earthquake just before that period. However, they've really been working on it since and it's a really nice spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beachfront at Napier

We spent a pleasant afternoon meandering around before checking into an Air BnB style place for the night. The family had a couple of rooms they rent out so we had one of those. It felt a bit weird staying in someone else's house, but they seemed nice enough.

In the evening, we headed off to the Church Road Winery for the concert. It really was an all-inclusive singalong with all age ranges represented. A good night in all (Jonathan wasn't as impressed but he still sang along like the rest of us!)

The next day we explored the local farmers market which was awesome. Hawkes Bay (the region Napier is in) is renouned for it's agriculture so the produce was amazing. There was even a quilt show next to it! For those of you who know me well, finding a quilt show after a year of COVID-19 was like finding a box of your favourite chocolates!

In case you think quilts are just bits of patchwork to through over your bed!

We then went for a walk in Te Mata park which has loads of trails through huge redwoods. The views from the top over the bay were spectacular but the smell of the trees was lovely too.

 

 

So now we're back in Auckland for a bit and trying to plan our next excursion. It's been difficult though as Jonathan's work life isn't as smooth as mine. I won't go into details here but suffice to say, they have a high staff turnover for a reason.  Thus, planning annual leave with on calls and my courses is a bit tricky but hopefully we'll sort something out.

In the meantime, I've had TWO massages with a local massage therapist and we are both using it as a CPD thing. Having not practiced massage for over 18 months, I've felt rusty but had my first volunteer on the couch a couple of weeks ago (thanks to Paula's daughter!) I'm about to widen up the offer to willing local guinea pigs, so getting back up to speed shouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately I appear to have injured my left foot (the second bunion-operated one) in December and am now in new orthotics. I probably injured it dancing at the work Christmas party whilst almost sober (I'd only been in the job 2 weeks.) However, it is taking a long time to heal and thus long walks aren't really a thing at the moment. I've become a regular at the local university gym - mostly for spin classes and reformer pilates which seems to help. 

 

Time at home and a change in the season has spurred me on to get back into my sewing so I've managed to make some leggings (for pilates), a dress, a skirt and a blouse so far. We've also managed to get a VPN to watch iPlayer, although only on a computer so far. This has enabled me to keep up with the Great British Sewing Bee though! 

We're back to being regular movie-goers and there seems to be some relatively good films around (let me know if you need any recommendations.) We also made it to the Ocean Film Festival - always an inspiring lot of short films and it didn't disappoint.

Thanks to Roger for the sweatshirt!

I've been back out on the water and did my first Swim Escort as kayak safety on the swim from Rangitoto to St Heliers. It was actually quite enjoyable although trying to spot swimmers veering off course is harder than you think! It was a good excuse to spend 3 hours in my boat and to meet some new people too. My 3-part kayak appears to be unique in NZ and there are gasps as I dismantle it to put it in the car!

So, it's Friday evening and dinner + a gin and tonic awaits so au revoir for now. Please keep in touch - it means a great deal to both of us particularly during the more difficult days so thank you.