Spring and NZ travels

September 14th. Nice to hear from folks following Blog 22 release. Always good to hear news from UK and get the word from the horses mouth, so to speak.  Very sad news received today from Liz Cobb to say that Brian died last Thursday. It is hard to believe that so many of our close friends have passed away in the last two years. Brian had been ill for a short time which makes it even more shocking I think.

15th September. A really good day today which got the car serviced and its Warrant of Fitness (MOT) and a gold service. All good and the car is in great shape so it has been a really good buy. Also applied for our free bus pass which covers the whole of NZ except for Auckland. We were able to use it to get home after leaving the car and got home within half an hour. Everyone must wear face coverings on public transport so this was our first experience of that. We live directly on a fast link to the city so we are so well placed . The WOF and 30 point service plus valet came to $265.00 which is £130.00!!!! On the way home we searched for a nest in a traffic light which we found!

Safe from predators up there!

Nice to chat at the weekend with Lynette who is back home in Yorkshire after her mum was taken into the William Harvey. Sue and David who are in their beautiful house in France and Marshie who was planning for her last family gathering before the rules revert to six people only. Teaching with Covid sounds a nightmare and not something I would wish to be doing. Our thoughts are with all of you!

September 22. Social start to the week with Dave and Vrons for coffee on Monday and catch up with Cathy at the Coffee Club as she comes up to Tauranga for a minor op. Apart from Auckland, all of NZ are now back at level one so all restrictions lifted...... Yeah!  NZ v Aussie Rugby on the 11th October will have spectators!!!!

NZ has had some dodgy weather, courtesy of Australia. High winds which caused damage on the Auckland bridge and on our garden gate!!!

October 2nd. Busy week with trips to hospital for x rays on both knees. Result came back in eight hours from the doctor via a text message. Outcome is that I have severe loss of joint space in both knees in keeping with osteoarthrosis. Booked to see the doctor next week plus have booked in for Plasma Rich fibrin injection again to see if we can improve matters.

Great Spring lunch today with NZ Scampi cooked in garlic butter and lemon. I sent for them and they were delivered yesterday.... omg they were gorgeous!!!!.

15th October. Quick update on last couple of weeks. Visit to Dr was encouraging and she has prescribed a cream which comes from Chillies. After a couple of weeks it stops the pain receptors communicating with the brain so let's hope. Should have had another injection today but staff off sick so will have it after we return from Queenstown on the 27th. We went out lunch with Dave and Vrons.... first time since Jill went home on March 23rd. That's what lockdown feels like. Also went to cinema yesterday for the first time since Feb to see Jo Brand's film " The more you ignore me" with Sheridan Smith. It was a very sad film but funny at the same time. Sheridan Smith was brilliant!.

Voted in the NZ elections last Saturday. How good was that experience?!!!! One person ahead of me..... had election card...... gave name and then voted and left. Took all of two minutes. Closing votes are this Saturday so fingers crossed for the right result.

Saturday 17th October. Election day and a sunny spring day. New planting is coming on well and Mandarin tree is looking promising.

18th October. Elections over and all went well for Jacinda. Amazingly, considering how she is viewed across the world there are still NZlanders who don't rate her. OMG try and live anywhere else in the world at the moment!!!!! 

Lynn and I have decided to get a company to do a spring clean in our house when we get back from Queenstown. I googled a company and Sue came round to give us a quote. No sooner had she stepped in to the lounge she declared that she knew Lynn and they had met before! We said we don't think so as we only moved here two years ago. Anyway, after seeing all of the rooms she said again that we had met before and asked us if we had travelled to Auckland on a shuttle bus 18 months ago!!!! As soon as she said shuttle bus we both remembered her and her husband who were travelling to the USA for a holiday while Lynn and I were off to Sydney. There were only seven people on the shuttle bus and they were already on board when we got picked up from home. We suspect that when she rocked up to No 15 she knew she had been here before. What a small world eh?

22nd October. All checked in for flights to Queenstown tomorrow...... getting a bit excited now. Hopefully we will get a sunny day so we can show off our beautiful surroundings.

Trip went well....... all flights on time and accommodation was perfect. We had a lovely party at Sarah and Jo's on Sunday and a very cultured lunch out at Amisfield winery, on Monday. 

Sue and David facetimed us while we were away so I was able to keep Sarah up with their news. This whole area is really beautiful and if you click on the link below you will get a brief experience of our five day trip.

Slideshow of trip to South Island

29th October. Had knee injections yesterday and was able to generate more fibrin than last time so she put 7ml in each knee ......... a bit tight and sore today. Fingers crossed the extra ml will help matters.

Quiet month coming up before our next trip to The Forgotten World. Click on the link........Dec 9th -16th to have an overview of our next adventure.

We are living through some strange times and we feel so lucky to be in NZ and Covid free once again. We hear news from across the world and it all sounds horrific. I hope that by travelling vicariously with us we can brighten up what looks like being a very long and miserable winter. Let's hope the US election next week can bring some further joy to liberal minded folk.

Next Blog will be after our trip to The Forgotten World.