Christmas and 2022
A very quiet Christmas took place at Kereru as Karen was held in WA and unable to travel. Sad news Christmas Eve as Rick, husband of Sue, died. We only saw him 5 weeks ago when he came up for his scan. We knew things weren't great but it is still a shock when it happens. Even though it was Christmas he was buried on the 27th December. They were on alert level Red so only family could attend.
I saw the consultant re knees and he assures me I will get on the list but not yet. I will see him again in another six months. In the meantime we have put back our South Island trip because it would be too much to do.
April 2022
I haven't written anything for three months as 2022 has been quite testing. Primarily Omicron has hit NZ where cases, hospitilisations and deaths have risen dramatically. Nowhere near what the rest of the world has suffered but still a lot for us to take in on a daily basis. After the shock of losing Rick we were then told of the death of Lesley Donald (who we met with in Rotorua the day before we picked up Janice and Karen in 2019.) Lynn and Lesley taught together at Highworth. This news was quickly followed by the death of Val Robinson, the greatest hockey player of my lifetime. Although I knew Val had been ill and the prognosis was poor it was still a shock when it happened. Katie had asked me if I would write a personal tribute for the Hockey museum and I will include a link to that and the other tributes. The link takes you to the obituaries page and includes her life story, Katie's interview last summer, Superstars link for Youtube and my personal tribute........ for those of you who are interested.
Valerie Robinson OBE, 1941-2022 (hockeymuseum.net)
Sarah and Jo came to Tauranga for a golfing week so it was great to meet up with them for a meal near the harbour. They are both well but cream crackered after playing five courses in five days! They are just as enthusiastic as ever.
We took a trip out to Whakatane to meet Sue for lunch. She is doing OK but misses Rick. She lives in a beautiful setting but there is a lot of ground work needs doing and we hope she will get help in that department soon. It is a beautiful drive down the coast and we chose a great weather day to do it. We also caught up with Julia in her lovely new house so that was nice.
Sadly we have also been told that Malcolm Nunn died on our golf course a few weeks back. I will always remember him......... as when we had announced on Charity Day that we were moving to New Zealand, he came sprinting over to me on the 2nd tee and said" I hear you are moving to New Zealand." Preparing myself for him to say how sorry he was to be losing us...... he said those immortal five words." Can I buy your Buggy!!!!!!?" He was in it when he died so it lasted him well.
Time for some up beat news. I haven't mentioned it before but my Dad was put forward for the Legion d'honneur for his part in liberating Jersey. While we were in Namibia in 2017 and Rex was down in Hythe visiting Mum and Dad........ Dad became ill really quickly and died while we were away...... Two days after his death, his medal arrived in the post. Rex liaised with Dad's friend, David White, for it to be placed in The Hythe Museum, on loan. I decided this year that it should not remain there and that it should be given over to the Baker clan. I contacted cousin Jacquie, whose son is a naval reserve in Wales, to see if she would like it . Of course she said she would love to have it and after much correspondence David delivered it to Jacquie in Windsor. I know Dad would be happy with its resting place.
Jacquie and David.
Continuing the up beat news, we have received our full refund for our South Island trip as Covid put paid to internal travel. However, as NZ finally overcomes the surge in Covid 19 and looks to open up its borders, we have reset our plans to travel to Australia in late August to meet up with Jill before spending a week in Sydney. We fly to Maroochydore on the Gold Coast and stay there for a week.
This is our pad! Five minute stroll to the beach and temps about 22 deg. Really ready for some new possibilities.
Karen might be heading our way at the end of the year with Jill coming after Christmas. Finally some things to look forward to with regard travel and meeting with friends and family.
We have had four months of great weather whilst Sydney has had the worst summer for years. Torrential rain and floods for weeks on end so Jill will be looking forward to a trip out.
The troublesome start to 2022 continues both home and here. Dave and Veronica have both had health issues lately. Tomorrow we will take them the Sgnt. Pepper jigsaw, featured at the start of this blog, to raise their spirits. At home Patsy has been undergoing tests recently and Marshie messaged this morning to say that Steve has tested + for Covid!
Jigsaws continue to keep us occupied although the Women's Cricket World Cup affected our speed of completion for a month. Thoroughly enjoyed the close games and thought Australia were streets ahead of us. I think it shows they have been professional four years ahead of us and we will take at least three years to make it a closer contest. A french scene below.
Returning from shopping this morning, our short cut around Greerton encountered the end moments of an armed arrest. I must admit to being a bit daunted facing a policewoman with a Kalashnikov!
One day to go before Easter and the weather is about to turn. We have a tropical cyclone heading our way so will batten down the hatches and send this on its way. We hope you get a good summer, sending our very good wishes to one and all.
