Mere Kirihimete!

It’s now Thursday 20 November, 2025. Kia ora!

Initially I wanted to see lots of the BIFF films, but I found some of them disappointing.  I saw The North, which was about two friends walking a 665 kilometre track in the north of Scotland.  Like The Salt Path, the scenery was quite amazing, but the story line I found frustrating. Again and again I felt why not just let the facts tell the story? It was nice not to cope with rough sleeping and all the discomforts that may go with hiking, but I couldn’t help remembering that these guys have a camera crew in tow, so there won’t be any real hardships. And they have Wi Fi and Google Maps! It’s so “old school” to use a map.  When they reach Cape Wrath, I wondered what the large building was in the background. Then I realised it was a huge cruise ship!

Last Saturday afternoon I went to see The Choral, a BIFF film that had been very well reviewed in the UK Guardian. I had wanted to go the previous Saturday, when it was on at 2 pm, but that session was booked out. But last Saturday it started at 1:10 pm, (I thought it was 2 pm again, silly me) so I missed the first part of the film. I was allowed to go in late, but it was pitch black in the cinema, and I couldn’t see a thing. Then I realised the accessible seat I had booked had someone sitting in it; I groped my way to another row with two empty seats, and sat there, with apologies for disturbing those already sitting there.

I was glad to see the latter part of the film: it was very moving, but, again, the complicated story line was unnecessary.  The Choral Society are to perform Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. The music is (mostly) quite wonderful, and Fiennes is a very good actor. I may see it again if I get the opportunity.

On Monday morning JD and I had booked to see the latest art film Caravaggio at the Lighthouse Theatre in Wigan Street. Thankfully we could park close by, and a friend of mine sat next to us. It was a very good film, and showed most if not all of Caravaggio’s paintings. They are truly amazing, and we both enjoyed the film. We compared notes about which paintings we had actually seen.

Tuesday was another busy day.  JD had an early meeting, but I had offered a friend a lift to Bible Study. Thankfully he got back in time to take us there. So that was good, and we had coffee afterwards. Then JD and I went shopping at New World in Thorndon.  Although we were careful not to buy unnecessary luxuries, the bill was over $300, even with the Gold Card discount. 

The next day, after hymn singing, I went to town, and then to Brooklyn’s Penthouse Cinema to see another BIFF film, Words of War. But first I went to get a Strawberry Sundae at Midland Park – the annual Mary Potter Hospice fundraiser. I had never been before!  Although it had drizzled with rain earlier in the day, it was almost fine, and quite warm there. The many volunteers were very well organised. I had a delicious strawberry sundae with sliced strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and strawberry sauce. It cost me $7. You could get sundaes to take away, and you could pre-order them too. I hope they did well!

Then I went looking for somewhere to buy stamps. Sadly, the post office that used to be in Panama St is no longer there, so I walked to Manners St where I know there is a convenience store where you can buy stamps and post things. Well, it cost me $2.90 to post each of my handwritten notes to Waikanae!  No wonder no one wants to post anything, anymore, although sometimes I feel as though a handwritten note is far more acceptable than an email saying thank you.

I got to Brooklyn far too early for my 1:45 pm movie, but I was happy to sit down, drink coffee, and read the newspaper while I waited. The film Words of War was about Anna Politkovskaya, who is no longer alive, but who reported on the war in Chechnya.  The battle scenes were very noisy and scary; somehow it was a terribly sad film, with various threats in Anna’s life. But again, the family drama seemed a bit unnecessary. It would have been good to learn more about Anna’s reporting. Anna was played by Maxine Peake, an actress I have a lot of time for.

It’s now Tuesday 2 December.

It’s quite a busy time, of course; we were due to go to Hawkes Bay for my daughter’s birthday; as it turns out three of her four brothers and their wives and children will go up there too! Thankfully we were able to change the motel booking we’d made, and we are all staying at the same motel!  So that will be quite wonderful. Our youngest son and his wife and daughter have come from the UK.

Last Sunday we worshipped at Johnsonville Uniting Church.  The churches are all quite different, but I think that’s a strength. It was the beginning of a new liturgical year, so we were encouraged to look back at what we had achieved, and look forward to the future.  The first candle of Advent was lit: representing Hope.

The next day I went to Tai Chi, and quite enjoyed it! It was quite gentle! 

Today has been busy. I had a haircut (this was the only time they could take me before Christmas), and then I met JD at the North City shopping centre.  I find these shopping malls quite disconcerting, especially with the odd smells!  Firstly we posted our grandchildren’s Christmas presents to Taiwan – quite a mission, especially filling out the customs forms!  They seem to require more information every year. I waited in the queue: needless to say, I had done all the work of wrapping and packing and addressing the parcel. Eventually we sent it off.  We then went to w nearby café (not Starbucks!) to have morning tea. By now I was rather desperate for a cup of coffee and a break.

We still needed to courier a birthday pack for my daughter in Hawkes Bay, as we won’t be there for her actual birthday. JD had picked up a few things at Paper Plus there – they do have very wide selection of things to buy besides books!  So we found some space at a café, and wrapped the things we wanted to send right away, and not keep back for Christmas; then we went back to Paper Plus to courier the package.  While we were at North City, we bought two packages at Farmers (perfume, soap, hand cream and suchlike – they have lovely packages there) and a very nice handbag from the Strands store.

After all that, with a huge feeling of achievement, we went to do our weekly grocery shopping at New World in Thorndon.  This time it was less than $300, which I suppose is an achievement of sorts. I do feel for families with hungry children; after all, we don’t eat very much.

Last week was really busy, with several unexpected events. We had the final session for hymn singing, followed by coffee at a local café; there was a break-up for my Te Reo Māori class, at the same time, which I couldn’t go to. Then on the Thursday morning we had a concert. This went really well, and we had a good audience, although none of my family came!  They missed a treat!

It’s now Tuesday 16 December.

Last weekend we went to Hawkes Bay for the weekend. We saw my daughter, or course, but it was extra special because three of our sons and their families came too. What’s more, we all stayed in the same motel in the beautiful Havelock North. We all spent a lot of time at the Havelock North green, where there is a wonderful play area. Although it had been really hot the previous week, it wasn’t that hot while we were there.

We ate at Alessandros after we arrived: that was nice, of course.

The first night, the Friday night, it was really cold, but it turned into a lovely fine day. We had lunch at Birdwood Café again on the Saturday: that was really nice. In the afternoon I took our daughter shopping at the lovely Farmers store in Hastings Street in Napier. I bought her two lovely blue tops: one lacy, the other seersucker, with a frilly bottom.  She wore one of them the next day.

On Sunday morning we attended the 10 am service at All Saints Church in Taradale, with our daughter and one of her house mates. We had planned to have a picnic for lunch on Sunday, but although it was a beautiful day, and we’d bought sandwiches, and made our way to Marine Parade, it was really cold and windy. But – full credit: they had street wardens so that we could cross the road safely. How cool is that! They also had bagpipes playing there.

After that we enjoyed the birthday cake I’d brought from Wellington with my daughter, and many of her family. We all enjoyed singing the birthday song, and we had cherries too!

We visited Hohepa at Poraiti on Sunday afternoon. On Monday morning we visited my daughter at her workshop, and took the remains of the delicious vegan chocolate cake we’d enjoyed at our motel for my daughter’s birthday. I also visited the shop there where I bought deodorant, Danbo cheese, apricot jam and orange and lemon marmalade.  Then we drove back to Wellington. We had lunch in Woodville – delicious scrambled eggs. This time we were glad to get home.

Things are winding down, that is, activities; this week it’s been much cooler, and rained heavily. Yesterday I made my way to the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan St where I was a French Film Festival film: My Brother’s Band. What a wonderful film! I really enjoyed it. Warning: it has wonderful music, including Ravel’s Bolero. To my mind this was the best film of the festival, and I’m so glad that I saw it. 

Today we had our final Thursday singing session, with a very nice catered lunch to follow. After that I caught a bus into town to meet a cousin of mine at The Lab. There was a nervous moment while I waited for the bus to turn up – it was a few minutes late. Then there was quite a walk to the Lab, but my cousin was there and it was lovely to see her. Later on her husband and 5 year old granddaughter arrived too. She reminds me so much of two of my granddaughters.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.