What is your favourite food ?

I will tell you something I just learnt.

Possums like parsley. 

In particular they are loving ours ! 

In Bendigo it just grew and grew and was out of control. Here it has been more of a struggle. The heat we thought.

Since moving though, it has just been decimated. I couldnt work out what was going on - I even bought a new plant.

Next day. No Leaves. Just stalks.

Pesky little devils.

Time to look for a cloche or something to stop them having a feast.

Other than that revelation, things are going well. We are enjoying exploring the new neighbourhood and deciding where to hang artwork and photos on the walls.

Winter has arrived. Well winter in a Queensland manner of speaking. It is definitely nowhere near as cold as what we are used to, but it is cooler. A decidedly bitey cold wind some days, but we still haven't felt the need to break out the puffer jackets, gloves and beanies to look like a local.

I have been back on the job search treadmill again since the end of May, but have a temp assignment to start in a day or two and run for a couple of weeks. Hopefully there are some other more promising roles on the horizon.

I've been enjoying going to a regular trivia quiz night since moving and hope to get to a few more of the walks with the walking group I have joined. I have also been trying to organise a regular meet up for current and past students from the UTAS Diploma I studied. So far we have had three meetings and it is fun to share study stories, research and help each other. I've joined the Genealogical Society too and been to a couple of meetings.

Last week I caught up with several friends, some who live here and others who were visiting. Some from past jobs in New Zealand and some from jobs here. And there are more in the pipeline.

It's all about networking - right ?

All I really need now is a job....so that I can have holidays - lol. Isn't the ultimate purpose of working a means to fund your out of work life ? If it is something that you truly love as well, surrounded by great people it is even more perfect.

Surely it is my turn soon.

#52Stories, Week 48, Let the planning begin !

In 1978 I got my first passport.

That September I went to Fiji with my friend Jo. We had both been working for a year or so since leaving school. Jo’s parents had been to Fiji before and had a network of friends there.

I travelled up to Hamilton from Wellington (did I fly ? I cant remember) and stayed at Jo’s. Next morning her sister in law Jane took us to Auckland to catch our plane. Our first night we stayed with the sisters at a convent. Interesting people – nuns.

The next morning we waited at the convent gate with our baggage for a bus and made our way from Nadi to Suva. We stayed in Suva for a few days – maybe a week ? with friends of Jo’s parents.

While we were there we met some other people and when it came time for us to head back to Nadi they gave us a ride – instead of bussing again. We spent a couple of nights on the Coral Coast and then about 3 or 4 more in Nadi. Lots of lazing about the pool, a day trip to Beachcomber and Treasure Islands, cruising the waters in a glass bottomed boat looking at the coral and brightly coloured fish.

It was loads of fun !

When I saw Jo just before we moved from Auckland this year, we were talking about that holiday and decided we are going back. For our next big milestone birthdays.

Rather than 40 years since the first time, it will 41 years instead.

Let the planning begin.

Christchurch: Autumnal Glory and an Air of Renewal

After the frenetic pace of the last few weeks at work, a long planned weekend away was suddenly upon us.

Christchurch has to be one of my favourite New Zealand cities. I really enjoyed living there, even though it was just for 12 months. Returning to visit is always enjoyable. In it's current rebuilding phase, there is always something new to see, always stark reminders of the pain and suffering the city and it's people are still working through.

The autumn colours are much more vibrant than in Auckland where it still feels too warm to be called autumn. The rivers and parks provide opportunities to be amongst nature and to enjoy walking in the fresh air.

Two days was just not long enough really. Time to meet up with friends for meals, and family too as Mum and Dad had come down from Blenheim to see a show. Time for a wander about some of our favourite places - even a drive over the hills to the hidden gem which is Lyttelton, Charteris Bay and Diamond Harbour.

Flowers at the airport

Gorgeous wallpaper at Little Poms - reminiscent of the airport flowers

Street Art is always amazing in Christchurch

 Some houses are still hurting

 Where once there were homes and streets, now there are pathways

 and signs only visible to those in the know - boundary planting and 

 clues on fences where letterboxes once stood, and telephone cabling at the "kerbside"

 Stoddarts cottage - Diamond Harbour

Sunset, back in Auckland

#52Stories, Week 8, What have been the most important and valued friendships of your life ?

These two, these are them.

I've already told you how important and special Jo has been as a friend through my whole life.

My other bestie was Donna. We had a bunch of fun after we met in Sydney back in 1980 !

I had gone to Sydney in 1979 with another friend and ended up flatting with her sisters for 12 months. Things were good there, and we parted friends when they returned to New Zealand. I needed to find myself a new place to live with the minimal belongings I owned.

My initial thought was to find a place on my own, I'd done living with other people by then. But, that isn't what happened and it was probably the best thing ever as I ended up with a bunch of friends who came from all sorts of backgrounds, and from all around Australia.

I moved into a boarding house. I applied for a room in one in Homebush, which was a lovely old villa with wide verandahs. But ended up with a room in Campsie. The guy who owned the boarding houses - at least three in Sydney, staffed them with a housekeeper. In this case the housekeeper from Homebush was relocating to Campsie and she had picked which boarders should move with her.

Sue, the housekeeper did all the cooking and cleaning through the week and ensured there was food for us all to feed ourselves over the weekends. She and her husband and 3 kids lived onsite.

When I first moved in I shared a room with a girl named Liz. She was from near Newcastle (Red Head I think). She was only there a few weeks before moving back home. Our room could sleep three, and just before Liz left another girl moved in. Her boyfriend dropped her off with her things. 

It wasn't long before we were inseparable, as thick as thieves. We had so much fun, playing cards, drinking (just a bit), playing pool, weekends in Forster, weekends and late nights shopping or just hanging out. She was younger than me but that didn't matter. We moved to another boarding house in Hurstville and were roomies again there. 

We bought a car for $50 off one of our housemates, it had failed it's permit inspection thingie because it had a hole in the muffler. We fixed it by supergluing a 5 cent piece over the hole. Lots of fun times were had driving around in Bertha.

Swimming at Wanda beach in the middle of June. What ?! Were we crazy ?? I think maybe.

Later when I was living in Bexley she moved in too. Then when we were living in Queensland, so was she. There was never a dull moment with her around, and so many laughs.

I don't know how we managed to stay in touch with no cellphones. We both moved around a lot, but the mail always got through.

When we moved back from Adelaide to Sydney we stayed with her and her little family. Our truck full of furniture - and two cats - parked out the back until we moved into our own place.

She was always there for me, my only actual dinkum bestie the entire time I lived in Australia, and both times I moved back to New Zealand we kept our connection strong. Trips to the zoo with our babies, shopping, coffee or just sitting chatting and passing the time. ALWAYS catching up when I visited Sydney, staying sometimes and others just arriving at the door and saying "SURPRISE !!"

We went through a lot together, I don't know what I would have done without her when I was a brand new Mum, living far away from my family. We had differences, but never arguments. She made the BEST cheesecake. She did ironing to earn a bit of extra money - anyone who willingly does ironing deserves a medal in my book. 

Life takes such unexpected turns sometimes, and all of a sudden she was gone. Taken from her family and her friends too soon. She always had a smile, and her family were her world. I miss her so much.

#52Stories, Week 7, Who was your first best friend ? Are you still in contact with each other ? What do you remember about the friendship.

I really am running behind schedule with this !! But I WILL complete the challenge,

Anyway, who was my first best friend ? 

I had friends at kindergarten and at school who I used to have play dates with after school and in the holidays, and there were the girls next door who I played with mostly at weekends.

But, best friends ?

I think it would be Jo. 

We were buds at Miropiko Kindergarten, she was Joanna then. We went to different primary schools, not miles apart - but far enough that we didn't bump into each other at all.

At Peachgrove Intermediate some seven years later we met up again. By this time she was Joey, she still is to my Dad.

We had lots of fun, in class, at lunch times, after school and at weekends. At Intermediate we got to take cooking and sewing class. Jo was a whizz at sewing ! I was extremely jealous as it seemed I had inherited my Mum's genes and sewing frustrated me. Like Mum I did a lot of "negative sewing". Later though, away from school I did manage to overcome some of the frustration, and these days, if needs must - I can sew with the best of them. (well maybe not THE best, but there isn't as much negativity going on).

When we moved to Wellington, Jo and I became pen pals. In the school holidays she once came and stayed with me, and another time I went and stayed with her. If we visited at other times, I always made sure to meet up with her. 

We continued to write letters all through college, and our early working life. Our first overseas holiday (without parents) was to Fiji for two weeks, just us.

When I moved to Australia we continued to write, I must have used up all the pages in the "D" part of her address book with all the moving around I did ! (Ashfield, Artarmon, Campsie, Hurstville, Werris Creek, Bexley, Oatley, Clontarf, Margate)

When I moved back to NZ briefly in the early eighties, we actually saw each other again. Both married, and Jo with two little girls. I think we still wrote when we were here - long distance phone calls were an extravagance back then, and it was at least a decade before cellphone (bricks) or the internet.

Then it was back across the ditch for me and the writing resumed. Swapping recipes and news from Adelaide and then Sydney again. Then I joined the Mum club and we had more to share and compare. When I visited NZ we caught up again and the girls met each other too.

And so it went on. When I moved back to Hamilton we saw each other more, and then I moved to Wellington. The writing continued, and phone calls too on the odd occasion. New Zealand Post must have LOVED us. Some school holidays I rented a car and we managed to visit.

The internet came along and letters were replaced a bit by emails, and phone calls became cheaper - then text messaging too.

Today, we email, text and facebook each other to keep in contact AND visit.

Jo is the only friend I have constantly kept in contact with for most of my life. Whenever we see each other, it is like we had only seen each other the day before. Nothing is ever awkward. We still laugh about the same things, our interests have changed a little, and our lives have taken different paths, but our friendship has been constant. 

I hope it stays that way.

#52Stories, Week 6, Do you mingle with a large circle of friends, or do you forge deep relationships with just a couple of close friends at a time ?

So February’s topics all are about love, relationships and friends – yay. All things I am an expert on – not.

I thought I’d have a go at some of the friend topics.

Do I have a lot of friends ? Social media would suggest so.

Do I mingle with a large circle of friends ? (like run around town in a pack ?) No.

Do I forge deep relationships with just a couple of friends at a time ? I guess so.

I have been thinking a lot about all of the friend groups I have been a part of growing up. They have mostly been girl groups – maybe that’s why love and relationships remain a mystery to me. Anyway, I'm focusing on the girl groups for now.

My first friends and playmates were the children of my parent’s friends. One was born the same day as me so we had shared parties sometimes. As I got older friendship groups sprouted in various places - mostly there was no crossovers. People were in that group, or in another group.

There were:

Neighbours, kids in the same street, or family friends and cousins

Kindy friends

Classmates

Brownie buddies

Skating friends

Gymnastics mates

Bike buddies

Mostly when I was at primary school these friend groups were all quite separate. I only saw the skating people on a skating night or at a competition, the same with most of the Brownies. Some of them were in my class at school, but maybe not in the same little cluster as me.

At intermediate things changed a little - suddenly there were Kindy friends back in my circle, some girls from Brownies materialised at my new school too. People who had been in my classmate group at primary school moved into other groups, and their places were taken by new people who had come from other primary schools.

Then at the end of 1972 some of my classmates became part of my growing penfriend group, as we moved to Wellington. I had to start again. Over time I had

Girls' friends - who attended Wellington Girls' with me

Train buddies

Rangers

Soccer teamies

Netball teamies

Some of these friends came along with me after school when I entered the big wide working world, others vanished and became distant memories. Then I had a variety of workplace buds (over time)

Bank of New Zealand peeps

Medical Benefits Fund people who welcomed me in Sydney

Mutual Acceptance acquaintances

New Zealand Electricity Corporation mates (young and old)

Westpac buddies - the CBA and the Wales'

the Yellow family

the Corrections crew

the international bunch at Hawkins

intermingled with these and sometimes crossing over like venn diagrams are supposed to 

Parentline Hamilton,

Hamilton Day Care

Girlguiding Wellington; Pencarrow and New Zealand

Wellington Cruise Ambassadors

Plus there were the flatties in Sydney, the roomies and housemates, and just like my parents - things went full circle and sometimes the parents of friends of my daughter became my friends.

Donna M, Jo, Nini, Dot, Ann, Mary, Coralie, Jillian, Kay, Beverley, Cynthia, Maureen, Diane,Marie, Sheryl, Sadie, Faith, Jan, Denise, Lynette, Carey, Susie B, Susie B, Robyn H, Robyn W, Debra W, Debra W, Elva, Joy, Donna R, Julie K, Bernice, Donna J, Margaret, Linda T, Maree T, Linda R, Sue, Patsy, Nell, Juliana, Helen, Michelle, Barbara, Claire, Sigrun, Joanne, Jane, Beverley, Lynne, Debra B, Debra N, Debbie H, Deborah S, Vicky, Barbara, Christine, Ruth, Louise S, Selina, Sue H, Sue G, Josette, Heather S, Linda P, Sue C, Debbie F, Karen, Lynne, Sue, Tracey, Trish M, Cushla, Prue, Heather L, Fiona M, Megan, Michelle, Cathy, Cath, Debbie C, Astrid, Donna S, Jan, Angie, Louise, Sue, Yvonne, Jenny, Trish D, Debbie W, Paula, Lee, Sasulu, Jamina, Shelley, Ann M, Ann M, Linda K, Linda B, Kim J, Kim B, Rachael J, Cindy, Sheila, Kirsty, Jacinta, Jacqui, Ruth, Kate, Emma, Livvy, Belinda, Lizzie, Becs, Trish C, Michelle, Sarah M, Lianna, Carol, Julie B, Lynda T, Tanya, Grace, Fran, Coral, Cheryl, Margaret, Fiona, Rae, Shell, Penny, Julia, Monique, Glennie, Trish P, Louise, Louise, Anna, Nicki, Nicola, Diane, Sue B, Julie F, Jill, Carri, Leonie, Colleen, Nikki, Nicola, Cheryl, Margaret, Pam, Ann-Marie, Judy, Carolyn, Katy, Rhonda, Marianne, Pamela, Michelle, Sarah M, Sarah C, Miriam, Lara, Carol-ann, Yuan...and probably masses more I will remember as soon as I hit "publish".

Christmas

The lead up to Christmas was met with a bit of apathy and remorse. To be honest as much as it is my favourite time of year normally, this year just did not seem right. 

We wanted a white Christmas, on the other side of the world. Not another warm one down under. But we made ourselves get jolly and celebrate anyway. I got a new job so my disorganisation just got even worse with limited time but, baking did happen and presents were got. 

Mother Nature came to the party too, and we had a couple of interesting shakes on Christmas Eve, to remind us where we are living.

Presentation is key for me...and it seems to be rubbing off on the next generation too.

Cinnamon apple fritters with maple syrup for brekky

Awesome pressies made with love; vanilla chai candles and rose sugar body scrub !!

Just a bit spoilt.

Nut roast and veges for lunch - cooler here than some places, so it was nice to enjoy a hot meal. No wine though as nurses don't get Christmas off, but look what I found in our local supermarket !!

A little bit of our English summer - come to Aotearoa. Love Belvoir !! We have a cupboard full now too.

Then pavlova roll (filled with white chocolate, cream and berries). YUM !!! Thank goodness we could take all the leftovers to Blenheim for a Boxing Day Christmas, or else we would have been eating it all for a month !!

Hope you all had a great celebration with friends and family too.