Tanya had a new knee installed three weeks ago. In Ormiston Hospital- as for her two hip operations – she felt quite at home, in a room with a view, and with the same surgeon, the same favourite lesbian nurse and the same physio. However, a knee op is very different from a hip […]
Whakaalofa lahi atu…on The Rock…
August 19, 2018 by 3 Comments
Niue is a tiny emerald island set in the deep blue and grey of the vast Pacific Ocean. “The Rock”, as it’s called by Niueans in Aotearoa, is a coral atoll twice raised by underwater volcanic action, and now encircled by a 64km coastal road. The coast is indented with coves and chasms, and just […]
A Summer Like No Other..
March 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Christmas 2017 in the Waitakeres We spent Christmas week 2017 with our friends Farida and Shila in the Waitakeres, being treated as honoured aunties and fed delicious meals from many different cultures. On Christmas Day we drove to the waterfront together and walked from Kohimarama to St Heliers and back, enjoying the vast crowds […]
Te Kura Whare
March 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Ever since we saw the film Ever the Land in the 2015 film festival we have been wanting to visit Tuhoe’s new tribal development centre, Te Kura Whare. The only “Living Building” in Aotearoa, and one of only a handful in the world, it is made wherever possible from local resources by local people, uses non-toxic materials […]
Rēkohu
December 18, 2017 by 2 Comments
In the midst of our house sorting and packing process, Tanya woke up one morning with a dream of escaping to the Chatham Islands for Christmas. After a little research, she found that although there were no touism activities over Christmas, there were two places left on a small group “Forget-Me-Not” tour for a week […]
Orua Bay
December 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
After venturing onto the eastern-most island of Aotearoa – Rekohu – with its unfamiliar landscapes and communities, it’s very comforting to drop back into our favourite seaside cottage- Lupin Lodge, at Orua Bay on the northern tip of the Awhitu Peninsula. We’ve been coming here together for short breaks for thirty years, beginning when we […]
On the move..
November 19, 2017 by 4 Comments
Outside our house we’ve been delighting in summer weather and shades of purple in the garden. Inside, we’re surrounded by bags and boxes and more boxes, and bits and pieces still to be shed, as we enter the last ten days of our preparations for moving. One of the good features of this process […]
Three months adventuring…
October 18, 2017 by 6 Comments
From 1 December 2017 to 9 March 2018 we’re putting everything except a couple of suitcases-full into storage until our new Ockham “Newton” home in Grey Lynn becomes available. Jeanette and Greg, the buyers of our home Unit 8 at Earthsong, move in on 1 December. We have decided to mark our transition by flying […]
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