The weather in Wellington seems to have been mostly cloudy and windy in January

It’s now Tuesday 23 December, and we are inching towards Christmas. Kia ora!

Last Friday my lady from Access did not come; there was no advice, either. I guess there was some confusion between approvals and requests and cancellations over Christmas. But we took the two older grandchildren in New Zealand to the golf driving range in Waiwhetu, where we had a lovely time. It was overcast, but not quite raining, but no matter as we were protected from the weather. Afterwards we had lunch at Caffiend, one of my favourite cafés in Petone, but not always good; this time it was a big success: Eggs Benedict. Scrambled Eggs, Chicken & Kumara Salad and a smoked salmon bagel, with a big bowl of chips.

The weekend was relatively quiet, but we saw the John Clark/Fred Dagg movie on Saturday afternoon. That was certainly a trip down memory lane!  It was very sad that John’s mother lost two fiancés in World War II; she married John’s father, but he, although still alive, was damaged by the war.  John explained that he could never do anything right for his father, but his mother perhaps over-compensated. We both remember him in the Victoria University’s Annual Revues; in those days there were no fees, so you could stay on and change courses.  John moved to Australia after having difficulties in New Zealand.

On Sunday morning I stayed for a special morning tea at the church.  The next day we were taking our older grandchildren to the third Avatar movie, at the Embassy Theatre: JD loves that cinema!  The movie is 3 hours and 20 minutes long!!! We started by parking outside the Welsh Dragon (formerly Taj Mahal, before that a men’s loo), a very convenient spot. But the maximum time there was two hours! So JD agreed to move the car, while I took the children to the theatre. Thankfully there weren’t many people there. Although JD belonged to Cinebuzz, the four tickets (2 seniors, 2 children), two bottles of Coke Zero, a packet of M&Ms, and a peanut slab came to $111!!! That was a surprise. Thankfully I’d taken four pairs of 3D glasses with me, so we didn’t need to buy any more.  We went into the cinema before JD could join us.  We were sitting in the middle of row P, which is very high up! I do wish they’d put a handrail in the middle of the aisles. 

Well, the movie was very long indeed. I had trouble following the story line – I had to read a review afterwards for it to make more sense.  I have to admit that I don’t really enjoy Avatar movies, but taking our grandchildren was fun.  I do wish the characters would speak more clearly! The sound was very loud, but I missed some of what was said.

Afterwards I was desperately hungry, but there aren’t that many places to eat in Courtenay Place, seeing that many kitchens close at 2 pm, and many cafés at 3 pm; it being Monday, Deluxe Café was closed as well! After walking to the car, some way along Kent Terrace, we drove back along Oriental Bay to the Beach Babylon café, an old if rather “rustic” favourite. Thankfully they were open, and would feed us: a bowl of curly fries (now a thing on many menus), and sausage rolls (which took ages to come).

It’s now Tuesday 5 January, 2026. Kia ora!

I’ll start with Christmas, or rather, Christmas Eve. We had the traditional Carols by Candlelight service at my church at 11:15 pm. This time it was hard to stay awake and attend, but I did, and it was lovely, of course.  It struck me that it’s too late for the very old, and much too late for young children.

The next day, Christmas Day, was a Thursday, and the service was at 9:30 am, rather than the usual 10 am. I doubt that there would be any children who haven’t opened their presents by 9:30 am!

I bought some flowers on the way home. The dairy in Khandallah was closed, so I got some from the dairy in Johnsonville. Sadly, they did not last two weeks, which is my usual ambition!

Early in the afternoon we went to one of my son’s homes for a family gathering (vegan) Christmas dinner.  JD and I took a fruit salad, for which we’d bought every kind of fruit, including blackberries. We took Christmas presents for the children, of course.

In the event we weren’t late, although I was really hungry by this time!  One family had brought a tray of pre-dinner nibbles: delicious. The Christmas dinner was very nice, of course: a lentil loaf, with an amazing sauce, roast vegetables, with another amazing sauce, grilled asparagus; and probably more things which I can’t remember. We had a Karakia mo te kai (a Grace, which I’d requested).

For pudding my son and his wife had made a Christmas Pudding! They’d come to me earlier in the week for a bowl and a steamer, and advice about what had worked well for me back in the day: how nice to be asked! Make it well in advance; well, it was too late for that. Wrap the pudding in a cloth: I’ve never done that; top with butter paper; they didn’t do that, of course; and I used breadcrumbs, not suet.  Still, the pudding they made tasted very good. The boys (i.e. my sons, and they’re all men now), tried to ignite brandy over the pudding, and it’s true there was a brief flare as the brandy ignited. This too is very tricky: you need to heat the brandy, but not so much that it evaporates;  t was quite hard to get the pudding out of the pudding bowl, so perhaps it wasn’t hot enough. Still and all, it was lovely to be asked for advice, and lovely to have a real Christmas pudding. (We still haven’t tackled our store-bought pudding that we usually microwave and serve with custard and ice cream).

There was custard, and vegan ice cream, of course, and a pavlova!  Evidently they eat eggs! The pavlova had fallen in in the middle, although it held around the edges; my daughter-in-law whipped lentil fluid, which turned into delicious whipped cream, to decorate it! I guess one could eat it without guilt.

Eventually we went home; we had croissants for our tea.

Since Christmas Day things have been really quiet. Our youngest son and his wife and daughter we due to fly out of Wellington on Christmas Eve. They wer staying at Rydges Hotel at the airport for their 6 am flight to Auckland; we had agreed to meet them and the other parents to have an early dinner at the restaurant there. On the night the weather was terrible, with driving rain and wind making even the crossing from the parking area to the airport really difficult.  And then the airport restaurant was closed until further notice! But we had a meal at Peloton, which has somehow been extended to take in the hotel and the airport.  We actually had a really good meal there, and it wasn’t overpriced.  I was able to hold my granddaughter as we said our last goodbyes.

Then it was home again, and making bookings for the remaining leg of a journey we’re planning for later in 2026.  This caused a great deal of anxiety, but I think it will all work out. I think, too, that I can’t do this again – it’s just too stressful!

After that, the cold I’d been fighting off developed into a chest infection, which was quite unpleasant for a few days. Other than that, it’s been a very quiet time, with not great weather (it seems to be mainly spitting with light rain and overcast), and no great films to see, certainly not any that I’d be prepared to persuade JD to accompany me to.

At some point I ventured out to see the film Sentimental Value in Petone, and there I met three other friends whom I know.

This film was directed by Joachim Trier; I think it was Lars von Trier who made the film Melancholia, with Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg; I recognise some similarities. But when I look him up, apparently Joachim is not related to Lars von Trier, another famous Nordic film maker with a similar name.

It’s said the film is about two sisters with “daddy issues”’; but I watched Trier interviewed by Jordan Klepper on The Daily Show last night, and he spoke about the complexity of family relationships, and the difficulty of escaping from one’s childhood.  It’s also about aging, the complexities of acting on stage, and in a film; the importance of place and belonging; and, of course, the effects of the past on one’s life. Having considered the film afterwards, I feel it’s a misnomer to call it “Daddy Issues”, as one review did:  surely Gustav has unresolved issues of his own, which he may be trying to come to terms with, however inappropriately, and however unfeeling he is of his daughter’s pain.

Having said that, there were many themes in the film: the sister’s childhood house as a living, breathing character; the family history, which gradually unfolds as the film goes on; the father-daughter issues, of course; and the father’s flirtation with other female characters in the film; the older daughter, Nora, is an established actress who is ”fucked up”, to use her terminology; she is having an affair with a married stage hand, and suffers from excruciating stage fright; she claims that therapy will be no use.  Her younger sister, Agnes, is married with a beautiful son and an understanding husband. Their film-director father returns when they are having a wake for their dead mother. Apparently the father left years ago, and the parents divorced, but although the mother and daughters continued to live in the house, technically it belongs to Gustav (the dad).  This time Agnes is very stressed about the catering; the film had screened very early on with an instance of Nora’s extreme stage fright, which threatened to derail her performance in Chekhov’s The Seagull.

The father wants to make a film about his mother’s life (she was arrested by Nazi police, tortured and held in prison for two years; she had taken her own life).  He offers Nora the lead part, but she refuses to even read the script, saying that she can’t work with him. The obvious follow up question would be for the father to ask “why not?”, but he does not. I get the feeling that he thought it was a great gift to give Nora this part.  He respects her acting ability, but detests the stage: he doesn’t even come to her opening night later in the film.  That is really odd, as both media require a form of artifice. But with acting on stage, audience feedback is really important, and almost becomes a character in the play, whether the dramatist is Shakespeare or Beckett.

The film is complex with many flashbacks, as the story is told, so it’s tricky to put it all together. But each scene is carefully chosen. I almost want to see it again!

Failing to get Nora, Gustav appoints an admiring younger American actress, Rachel Kemp (played by Elle Fanning) to play the role of his mother; this is a real stretch for her. Are they having an affair?  That’s not explicit, as I recall, but the possibility is definitely there.

There is very little actual spoken communication in the film. Towards the end, Agnes tells Nora that she was there for her, as they grew up; and when Gustav wants Agnes’ son to act in his film, she says no, but then she reads the script and thinks it would have been all right.

At one point Gustav visits an old friend whom he’d worked with, and is astonished at how frail the friend is now. The latter has issues with his son!  “When did he get to be so old?” asks Gustav. 

So  there is a feeling that the main three characters are trying to be reconciled to/with each other, but they probably cannot; even the sisters are separated at the end, and the future looks bleak. A wonderful, award-winning film? Perhaps so, but I feel a real sadness there.

We had more nice outings with two of our grandchildren, and then I came down with a severe bout of gastro-enteritis. Thankfully no one else has it. How is it that I always feel as though I’m dying when I get something like this? But it’s true, I did feel very weak indeed, and wondered about going to the doctor. Sadly, this wasn’t a 24 hour bug.  But I’m now up and about, and even went out today, although I did not dare go to church.  I tried to zoom in, but that didn’t seem to be working.  I’m still drinking ginger ale and eating white bread toasted with marmite, but I feel a lot more human. Sadly, the weight hasn’t peeled off, although most food still looks disgusting.

There are a whole lot of things happening that I’d love to write about, but that’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

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.

Mirek Smisek Pottery Kilns at Te Horo

It’s now Sunday 26 October, 2025. Kia ora!

What strange weather we are having for October. It’s still really windy, although fine and sunny betweentimes. But it’s not summery yet; while it is not as cold as winter has been, one wouldn’t go anywhere without a jacket and a cardigan. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were windy; we went shopping on Tuesday and were again amazed at the effect inflation has on prices. You think you’re being careful, and the bill is still far too high, even with 5% deducted for our Gold card.

On Wednesday I went into town after hymn singing; it was very windy, but nice to see it quite busy too. I went to the Annah Stretton store – a very windy spot – to see if they had the floral denim jacket I’d so admired in Havelock North, but they did not – they had no jackets, although they did have vests. The shop was really busy! 

I got home to find that Thursday’s singing session had been cancelled, for fear of an expected bad windstorm. That was not really a surprise, although it was a disappointment. Trains were replaced by buses, and many things shut down.  Our house was relatively calm, but I went out to collect the newspaper on Thursday morning, and it was really windy. Still, the wind has blown away the blossom that was all over our driveway. While spring blossoms are beautiful, they’re rather a nuisance when they get blown all over the drive, and then trodden inside.  There are still a few camellias blown off the bushes but not so many now.

We went up the road to the local café to have lunch. We drove in the car, rather than walking as we usually do.  I almost got blown into the café, but it was nice to get out.  The concert that evening was cancelled too: Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and Brahms’ 2^nd Symphony. I would like to have gone, but didn’t dare book tickets seeing we’d just come back from a few days away. In the event, I need not have felt guilty: it was cancelled. 

On Saturday afternoon I went to see the new New Zealand film Pike River. JD did not want to see it.  I was glad I did, however.  The West Coast of New Zealand is such a dark, brooding atmosphere, where it rains a lot.  Some great tragedies have happened there as well as Pike River: the Cave Creek disaster in 1995, when 14 (young) people were killed, and the Murchison earthquake of 1929 (I remember my mother speaking of that); some of us remember Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize winning novel The Bone People, which spoke of abuse, amongst other things. Then there’s Jane Campion’s film The Piano, which had its own elements of tragedy.  Sonya Rockhouse did not even know at first where the mine was!  Although it’s predictable, the retelling of the tragedy, (after the tragedy), it brings home again the greatness of the loss, and the frustration of not having anything to show (e.g. a body) of their loved ones. I was disappointed though that there was no Te Reo Māori, no lifting of the rahui; no spirituality at all, and no showing of the funeral. I do remember the televised funeral being a rather wonderful occasion, mixing some very kiwi bonhomie with more serious matters. It was held on a football field, with 29 coffins, and was very moving. I also remember Prince William visiting New Zealand, before his marriage, and speaking very well about this tragedy and the Christchurch earthquakes (I think 247 died there).

I note that there have been several other mining disasters on the West Coast.

It became apparent early on that there had been little or no money for safety measures; that the so-called escape room did not contain anything much, and that Peter Whittall, manager of the mine, had not even been there.

But the film certainly captured the atmosphere of the West Coast, which is certainly apart from the rest of New Zealand;  it had a dark, brooding quality like the recent drama Task on Neon, although it was easier to hear what the characters were saying!

This morning I went to church at St Mary’s in Boulcott Street. They had a sung mass at 11 am. Our usual minister is away, and I was supposed to go to Ngaio Union Church at 10, but I’d had a bad night, and the Ngaio church is a difficult place from which to get public transport home. The music was beautiful, and well sung. What a joy it is to hear Latin sung again. The church was almost full. When they exchanged the Kiss of Peace, they just nodded at each other, no hands involved, no namaste. An admirable habit.

It’s now Saturday 8 November.

Last week I had another adventure. It was complicated, but there was to be a gathering of mostly women in Waikanae for a few days.  My cousin from Christchurch was booked to attend, but the friend who was going to travel and stay with her could not come, so I was invited to deputise for her friend. Wow!  I did not know the other women, but it turned out we all had connections: some ladies had been at school with me; a friend of another cousin came for a day; and we knew people in common.  There were I think nine ladies, and two husbands.  Many of these were related to each other, sometimes by marriage.  Anyway, it was very pleasant, although initially I only knew my cousin. They made me feel very welcome.

The gathering was based around one couple’s home in Waikanae (a beautiful home and garden), but my cousin and I were staying in an Air BNB cottage near by, so that was very convenient. She and I were pretty comfortable with two bedrooms, a good shower, good Wi-Fi, a coffee machine, and plenty of room; the only things lacking were coffee cups (we had to use mugs), and a bedside light in the second bedroom.  The weather wasn’t great for spring, so we were glad to use the heaters. We were very grateful to a friend from the Wairarapa who ferried us in her car to the host venue or anywhere else we needed to go.

The ladies were all in their 70’s, some widowed, and thankfully there was little talk of our various ailments.

The first day JD and I went out to the airport to pick up my cousin and a lady from Nelson, and then he drove us to Plimmerton.  There we had morning tea, and then drove to Waikanae with another friend.  It was hard to pack our luggage into her small-ish car!  With the weather being so erratic, one didn’t travel as light as one might have done. Not knowing these ladies, I had no idea really about what to wear!

On the Tuesday, after settling into our cottage, we went to the hostess’s place for drinks and nibbles. We were sitting outside in their beautiful garden, but a cool breeze forced us inside. We also had dinner there that night.

The next day we had morning tea (bran muffins with blueberries and apple), and then looked at an online photographic display of previous gatherings. Someone prepared lunch (quiche and salad), followed by a beautiful chocolate cake for someone’s birthday in the next few days. That afternoon my cousin and I had a rest again, before the group joined us at our Air BNB for drinks and nibbles. I had brought some Danbo cheese and quince paste from our latest visit to Hōhepa, and some Mt Domett Brie cheese I had brought from Wellington.  After that we drove to Raumati Beach to the Waterfront Café there to have dinner. Although the building was being modified, we had a very good dinner there: fish (Gurnard), mashed potatoes and braised leeks, for me.

The next day was a busy day. We had morning tea at the garden centre at Pekapeka (I’ve been there before); my cousin and I shared a cheese scone. The we drove to Te Horo to see the potter Mirek Smisek’s kilns, which have been recreated when the new expressway went though. It was very peaceful and we were the only people there, although the traffic noise was quite loud. There were some  things for sale; others were not. I decided not to buy anything, but my cousin bought a pottery bowl. After that we drove a few more kilometres to see a lovely garden. By now it was raining steadily – it had started to drizzle when we were at the garden centre. So we explored the beautiful garden in the rain.  Afterwards (after taking off our wet shoes) we had lunch in the beautiful house – filled rolls and a sticky lemon slice, followed by bananas and mandarins.

After this we put on our thoroughly wet shoes again, and drove to where Ruth Pretty used to have her Cooking School. I had known Ruth, and known of her cookery and cookery school.

After that we had look at the Waikanae shopping centre in the village there. There’s not a lot to see, but there is the Mahara Gallery, which was lovely. I nearly bought something there: there was a beautiful vase for $135, but I decided not to buy it. But it was lovely to have a look around there.

That evening we were all going to a Tina Turner tribute concert at the auditorium at the Southward Car Museum. Beforehand my cousin and I had some toast with cheese on it, together with her nice chutney. I’m not really a fan of Tina Turner, but the concert was impressive in many ways. There were many people there, most of them being older people;  and the lighting and dancing were very impressive. But the lady playing Tina did not have a very good voice, in my opinion, and everyone found the sound system to be very loud and yet quite indistinct.  After the interval there was a rumbling noise that went on for several minutes. I wondered if this was part of the sound system, or perhaps a train going by – there’s a train track nearby. When we got back to our cottage, I heard from JD that there’d been an earthquake near Wellington – quite a large one, so that was probably the rumbling I heard.

The next morning my cousin and I packed up for our 10 am checkout. We did the dishes, dried them and put them away, and decided what to do with the remaining food. The JD picked us up, and we made our way back to Wellington and Wellington Airport. After that, JD wanted to go supermarket shopping – he hadn’t bought anything while I was away. So I was jolted back into a different reality, not actually knowing just what we needed. Never mind, we managed to spend up large, with no Gold Card discount this time.  While it’s nice to be back in my own bed, I am more tired than I expected!  But it was fun. I have many friends, but we don’t do “girls’ weekends”. Now I’ve done one!

Last night we watched the film A Room with a View. What a lovely film!  It was nice to see views of Florence (Firenze), and see a film with a happy ending.

That’s it for now. I am back trying to see more BIFF movies, but they seem to be booked up! I will have to book the remaining ones I want to see. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Pākōwhai Regional Park in Hawkes Bay. I appreciate the macrons!

It’s now Monday 20 October, 2025. Kia ora!

We have just returned from a wee road trip. We went to Taupō, and then on to Hawkes Bay.  It was a treat to get away, although we left a messy driveway with wind-blown camellias and cheery blossoms.  We came back to lots of wind-blown camellias, but the blossoms are over and have blown away.

It was fun to drive north again, this time to Taupō; because it was later than we’d planned when we got away, we stopped for lunch at a café called Taper, which we hadn’t visited before. We had delicious scrambled eggs (JD had mushrooms too), and shared chocolate cake with butter cream icing afterwards. The drive to Taupō went well, although there were a great many big trucks on the road. It was good to drive over the Desert Road again, although it was colourful but not quite as beautiful as it sometimes is.

At Taupō we were staying at the Hilton (formerly Debrett’s Hotel) in Napier Road.  I had taken advantage of a special winter offer; fortunately they’d been able to move the booking to October (it was meant to be in August) and I think they upgraded our room. It was a bit of a rabbit warren getting there, but it was a lovely big room with a balcony, although it was too cold and windy to go out on the balcony.  Thankfully we could use a trolley for our luggage, and there was a lift to our room on level 3 of the new block; it was also covered walking there. We had brought lots of luggage to cater for our visit being between seasons: I’d been advised that Hawkes Bay was quite hot, but I felt we’d brought the Wellington weather, cool, windy and overcast, with us.I was glad of my cardigans and my puffer jacket.

As a welcoming touch, they’d left a plate of goodies for us, with a beautiful large chocolate slice, two madeleines one coffee flavoured, one raspberry), and a bunch of grapes. There was a coffee machine, and several coffee capsules which were replenished each day,

That evening we dined in the hotel. It was really too far to walk into the central area of Taupō. We had an entrée -king prawns, with a salad and JD ordered some fries. 

The next morning I had a bath in the beautiful bathroom. There was a nice long bath, but although it had handles, it was very difficult to get out of.  The towels were wonderful – very thick and absorbent, on a very effective heated towel rail. There were two hand basins!  It was beautifully equipped. There were very nice scuff-slippers as well.

On Thursday we had breakfast at the hotel. This was quite expensive, but delicious – I had the full breakfast, I’m afraid: I do like to have scrambled eggs if possible; plus juice, fruit, toast and coffee, of course.

We went and visited the cemetery there, and took the obligatory photo of JD’s parents’ headstones. They were in good order in this peaceful spot.  Then we visited the museum, which hasn’t changed much since our previous visit. It’s well worth visiting, though; this time we went inside the Māori meeting house, after taking our shoes off. We also saw a fine exhibition of craft work, including some paintings: I particularly liked some felt work.

We had lunch at Victoria’s Café Kitchen Bar. We’ve been there before, so we know it’s good. I had a salmon bagel, which was beautifully presented so that I could assemble it myself: a toasted bagel, a good-sized piece of salmon, a dish of cream cheese, and plenty of capers and pickled red onion. I had great fun putting this together and eating it.

Our friends who have recently built a new house in Acacia Bay were not there because he was having a cataract operation in Wellington the previous day. But to our surprise he rang JD, and he and his wife were on their way back to Taupō! So we went over there and saw their beautiful new house. It’s very private, and has a lovely view.

That evening we all had dinner at the Hilton Hotel.  My friend and I had schnapper; JD had fillet steak and our other friend had duck. There was salad and chips too, of course. The fish was beautiful.

The next morning we had to check out, but not until 11 am, so it was nice to have extra time. It was a beautiful day, with a glorious view of the mountains, now that the cloud had lifted. It seemed a shame to be leaving.  I had a shower that morning, rather than another bath!  We had breakfast at Victoria’s again – scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee.

Then we drove to Hawkes Bay. There wasn’t a lot of heavy traffic on the road, but there were lots of stops for roadworks, so it seemed to take a long time.

We stopped in Napier, where JD bought a puffer jacket from Kathmandu.  It’s pretty nice, with a hood too – like his original blue one, which is now truly worn out.  With my membership there was a voucher meaning a reduced price. Then we went through to our motel in Havelock North. On the way there, we stopped at Hōhepa Hawkes Bay at Clive to visit our daughter at her workshop, but she wasn’t there – as she had a cold, they’d kept her at home. I visited the shop there and bought some more Danbo cheese, a deodorant, some more quince paste, and some candles.

We were to have dinner at our daughter’s house with other parents, staff and PWS (People We Support) that evening. As we hadn’t met many of them, we were a bit nervous. On the way we stopped to get juice and ice cream as promised.  Our daughter was very pleased to see us, and we met the new House Manager (whom we hadn’t met before). The parents of one of the residents were there, and they were also from wellington, and we’d recently met them, so it was good to talk.

The dinner was amazing: there was marinated baked chicken, garlic bread, coleslaw, asparagus, lettuce salad, lasagna, and a vegetarian curry with tofu and rice. For pudding there was fruit salad and several varieties of ice cream.

The next day it was a family session at Clive, thankfully with a much reduced program than previously. It was supposed to start at 9:30 am; of course, we were late, but we weren’t the only late ones. There were group activities with other parents, and then the AGM of the Parents’ Association. Sadly not much printed information was available.

The afternoon was given over to the Hōhepa Spring Market.  We’d been to many fairs (in March) and some Spring Markets; this was a little different, in that although there were plenty of seats, I had difficulty finding somewhere to sit, although JD kept finding people to talk to. There was lots of food available, although much of it had names that I didn’t recognize. But I bought three empanadas, which were easy to eat, and then my daughter joined us. We shared a delicious Filipino cake – a sponge cake covered with a kind of caramel custard. Amazing!

There didn’t seem to be much to buy, although I have already bought many things at Hōhepa Markets and their shops. There was a lovely cushion cover, but at $125 I thought it was too highly priced. I saw no jam, much less apricot jam, which I wanted to buy.

That evening JD and I walked to Alessandros in Havelock North for dinner. It seemed very busy outside, but they found us a table. We shared a pizza, and I had a mocktail, a peach bomb, while JD had a glass of chardonnay. For dessert he had tiramisu and I had affogato – vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce in a tall glass with wee glasses of espresso coffee and kahlua to pour over it. Yum!

The next day (Sunday) was another early start, with us aiming to be at All Saints Anglican Church in Taradale for the 10 am service. We expected to see our daughter there, and while she was not, several Hōhepa folk were, and another couple whom we knew.  We sang the Lord’s Prayer in Māori, to the tune that we’ve sung it to at my Wednesday morning hymn singing.

Afterwards we went up to our daughter’s house at Poraiti, and took her out for lunch. We went to Adoro Café, one of my favourites. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy. The food is delicious, and they have a convenient rest room. I bought some more of my Shiseido Foundation at Farmers there, and then we went to the antique shop in Tennyson Street. We also got our daughter some more nail polish at a chemist there. It’s complicated in Napier and Havelock North where some shops (but not all) are closed on Sundays. 

In Havelock North the Annah Stretton store was still open, although according to the internet it was only open from 10 am to 2 pm. So JD spent up, buying vests for my daughter and me, and a dress for me – chosen by JD!  I really wanted to get a floral denim jacket, although it was a little small, and there were no larger sizes in any of the AS stores.  When we got back to the motel, I put the dress on, and although I wouldn’t have chosen it, it looked great on me, and I am grateful.

We took our daughter back to her house for her dinner. JD and I retreated to Portofino, an Italian restaurant beside Clive Square in Napier. It was lovely there. We shared bruschetta, and both had veal for our main courses. It was delicious, real veal, thinly sliced, with vegetables.

This morning it was a lovely fine day in Havelock North, although it had been overcast and windy the day before.  It seemed a shame to leave, and of course the weather worsened on the way home. There was a wind warning, but it’s not too bad back in Wellington. We had lunch in Woodville (guest Wi Fi at Café 88 is much appreciated!), and we drove on the new road which replaces the Manawatu Gorge, the Pahiatua Track, and the Saddle Road, which we’ve had to use for the last few years. The new highway, Te Ahu a Turanga, is quite wonderful, and much appreciated: it seemed a long way round to travel on the Pahiatua Track (going north) and the  Saddle Road (going south), both of which are hilly and not great roads.

Now we’re back in Wellington, where, surprise! It is very windy. It is quite nice to be home again.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir with their conductor, Dr Karen Grylls – rather wonderful

It’s now Thursday 25 September, 2025. Kia ora!

Yesterday I went to see Gaylene Preston’s documentary about Dame Jacinda Ardern.  I thought it was not good judgment for her to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, but she appeared on Jon Stewart’s TDS (The Daily Show) on Tuesday evening (our time), and I was very impressed by the interview – Jon Stewart can be very tough, so well done Dame Ardern (just call me Jacinda).

I was so pleased that I saw the documentary. The Lighthouse Cinema at Wigan St was full, although it hasn’t been screened a great deal. I was so moved that I cried several times. What a brave and impressive young woman, and how well we were looked after during Covid, especially during the first lock down. It was interesting to see her in Boston, and at Harvard University: I’ve been there! Photos of the graduation where she received an Honorary Degree reminded me of our eldest son’s graduation at Yale!  Being reminded of all the major events of Dame Jacinda’s terms as Prime Minster was distressing, especially the mosque terrorist event in Christchurch and the explosion at White Island. I was also horrified when public opinion turned against Dame Ardern during the huge protest in Parliament grounds, which seemed to go on and on – a shocking event for Wellington!

On Thursday it was windy, but we went out to The Spruce Goose for lunch. It must have been a northerly wind, because the sea at Lyall Bay was calm. Being so close to the airport, we watched several planes landing and taking off.

On Friday the weather wasn’t great. We drove out to the Charles Fleming Retirement Village at Waikanae to see our friend again. On the way, it rained very heavily, and we were glad to be on the Expressway. This time we had lunch with him:  it was very nice, and very generous: I had salmon with hollandaise sauce, coleslaw, and new potatoes, and cheesecake for pudding. Afterwards we had coffee in his unit.  By the time we drove home, it was fine and only drizzling occasionally.

There’s a Singing Workshop coming up with Lala Simpson and Jonathan Berkahn, at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay. I keep getting reminders of this on FB, but it seems others who might be interested don’t know about it! So it’s been a bit of a mission getting the information out to others.

It’s now Sunday 5^th October.

It’s been quite a busy week. On Monday I went to Tai Chi; on Tuesday I went to Bible Study where we had a nice discussion about 2 Timothy 1:1-12.  Afterwards I went to Dunshea’s Deli with a friend where we had beautiful coffee and cheese scones. JD picked me up from there and we went shopping. On Wednesday morning I went to hymn singing. That was lovely: we sang All Creatures of Our God and King, and Jesu, Lover of my Soul, amongst other lovely hymns. Afterwards I met a dear friend for coffee: another oat latté and another delicious cheese scone.  Although the day had started out to be quite fine, it was now raining heavily and quite cold. JD picked me up; the next day I met several of my Thursday singing friends at another café – we had lovely discussions there. Afterwards it was again cold and wet, so JD picked me up (again!) and on the way home we bought lunch from Dunshea’s Deli. We bought very nice pies: chicken and vegetable and steak and Guiness, which we shared. They were delicious, and large pies, but the food was quite expensive.

That evening we were do go to a concert: Rossini’s Stabat Mater, with the NZSO, four soloists and Karen Grylls’ Chamber Choir, Voices New Zealand. What a wonderful choir! Karen is standing down at the end of this year; I don’t know who’s leading the choir in future, but I hope they’ll continue to be wonderful singers. After this the orchestra and choir played the premiere of a local work, another Stabat Mater by Victoria Kelly. This was a much shorter work, but lovely to listen to.  It’s nice to have an early-evening concert, at 6:30 pm; we don’t try to eat beforehand, preferring to have a light snack afterwards. Sometimes we even go shopping on the way home, as New World in Thorndon is open till 10 pm every day.

On Friday it was complicated with several events occurring. I caught a bus to town to meet my cousin and her sister from Auckland for lunch.  It was lovely to see them, although the weather wasn’t great. They go to the WOW (World of Wearable Art) each year – I’m afraid we’ve bever been! We had lunch at The Lab on Customhouse Quay – a café new to me; I rarely go to that rather windy part of town.  My bus was a few minutes early so I had a look at dresses at Farmers first.

Lunch was delicious: I had a favourite, scrambled eggs, which was absolutely delicious; my only quibble was that it came on multigrain toast, together with a wee capsule of olivani olive oil spread (which I like), but the toast was really hard to cut!  And impossible to spread, since the eggs were on top of it! Still, the eggs were so good one didn’t really need toast to go with them.

Afterwards I went with them to the Blue Illusion store, in Woodward St. I hadn’t been there before, but they had a sale on, and I ended up buying a beautiful cream top with short sleeves. It looks like what we used to call bouclé, with a bit of warmth for windy Wellington.  Two good friends of mine have bought beautiful clothes from Blue Illusion. They had a good discount during the French Film Festival, but you had to spend $150 to qualify for it!

Saturday was a quiet recovery day. The weather was rubbish too – sadly my copy of The Post was delivered but very wet, so it had to be dried out (selectively).

On Sunday I went to church in the morning; afterwards JD picked me up and we went to see a movie together: The Man who Promised the Sea at 12:30 pm at the Penthouse Cinema and Café in Brooklyn. We had to park way up Todman St; despite its being school holidays, and the middle of the day, the café was pretty quiet.  I think the lovely theatre could do with a bit of TLC and general upkeep! Still, we had time for coffee and something to eat before the movie. I even had an ice cream, which I don’t usually do.

The film was in Spanish, with subtitles, and explored events around the Spanish Civil War before World War II. There were two plots: a granddaughter searching for her great grandfather’s remains, and a teacher in a village who taught using the Freinet method. He promised to take the children to the sea: they had never been! Of course he had trouble securing parental approval; but sadly he was arrested, tortured and later shot before the trip could take place.  No wonder no one wanted to speak about this incident. The teacher had a printing press, and the children produced several books, most of which were burnt after the teacher’s arrest. All the books had to be given up, although thankfully some were hidden. And there was a connection between the two stories, of course.  Book burning was something the Nazis did in Germany before World War 11; it’s also happening in the US now, and has been for some time.  I think most of us would be more than happy for young people to read, even works like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which was banned for many years. I think Lady Chatterley’s main indiscretion was to have sex with her gardener, rather than another member of the British aristocracy.

The teacher was an avowed atheist, so he fell foul of the local Catholic priest; he was from Catalonia, a location of anti-fascist activity, and he used the Freinet method of teaching, which scared local parents, who mainly wanted their children to grow up to be just like them. It was a harrowing film to watch.

It’s a busy week coming up, with it being the start of Term 4, when Thursday morning singing restarts. Te Reo Māori starts up again on Wednesday morning; and there’s a Singing Workshop at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay next Saturday. This is a big day for me, but very enjoyable to sing with many other strong voices. A number of my friends are going, and we’re car-pooling, with some details yet to be determined.

A cousin of mine from Christchurch is part of a group coming to Waikanae in early November, with lots of exciting activities planned. I was going to join them on the Wednesday for lunch, but one of the party can’t come for health reasons, and so I’ve been invited to join my cousin instead of her friend. Wow!  That is so exciting.  I am looking forward to it.  I do enjoy stimulating activity, but I get terribly tired.

Speaking of tired, I’ve been invited to take part in a stroke-medical-care discussion that’s being run by an Auckland University team. Although it’s testing to go back to my own Sep/11 (September 2011), the questions look very pertinent, and I would like to think I can contribute something to the study.

It’s now Sunday 12 October.

Yesterday I went to the singing workshop at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay. Unlike the previous time when some of us went, it was foggy, overcast and drizzling with rain all day. JD took a friend and me to the Ngaio Town Hall by 9 am, where we met the friend who was giving us a lift to Island Bay. I thought it was a very early start, but we had to pick up another friend in Northland, so we ended up having a “Cooks’ Tour” through Wilton, Northland, Highbury, the Aro Valley and Brooklyn, Mornington and Berhampore, before ending up at Island Bay.  

We were almost the first ones there, but we were singing ina different room from previously, and it had not been set up. It turned out that there were only about 18 of us, and no men. I think with this workshop being at the start of Term 4 many people did not realise it was on.

We broke for morning tea, and several of us retreated to the Cloister Café there, which was open. Although we had 20 minutes, it took ages to have our order taken and coffee served. When it came, it was delicious – my oat latté and pain au raisin. It was just a shame there wasn’t more time to enjoy them!

 The singing was very enjoyable, although somewhat marred by the fact that someone brought her dog, which pooped on the carpet! Several kind people rushed to clear it up, but it certainly interrupted our singing.

Later we had an hour’s break for lunch: a delicious roast kumara, carrot and lentil soup, with bread that you could toast or eat fresh. They were delicious.

After lunch there was more singing, and then soon after 3:30 we went to the Chapel to sing the songs we’d learnt again. This was quite a different atmosphere! We weren’t in our natural groups any more, and it was more difficult to sing in the Chapel, for some reason. I found I was extremely weary, by this time, and found it hard to sing at all. Then we drove home, again in the drizzly fog. JD met my friend and me at Ngaio Town Hall again, and we went home with relief. What fun, though! I was pleased that I’d been.

Today (Sunday) is overcast again, drizzling with rain, and with low cloud all day. It is extremely windy. Every morning now I pick up camellias that have blown into the driveway, and there ae always more. There are lots of blossoms on the drive, although still lots on the cherry tree.

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

Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches. Mine weren’t quite as elegant as these, but they were very neat and they did taste good!

It’s now Friday 12 September, 2025. Kia ora!

What a time to be alive. Charlie Kirk has been assassinated in Utah;  Israel has bombed Qatar, trying to kill the Hamas leaders who are there to negotiate a cease-fire; more Epstein information has been revealed, and none of it points to Jeffrey Epstein being a nice person; and Lord Mandelson has been fired by Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of Great Britain; one week after his deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, was fired for what seemed to be a tax dodge.  Mandelson was not only a great pal of Epstein but continued to defend him even after he was in prison. What to deal with first?

And I forgot to mention Russia’s drone strike on Poland, and then a threat to Rumania.

On Sunday morning I went to church. I was supposed to take a plate for a shared lunch: I took some buttered slices of a ginger loaf from the local New World supermarket. I have a “bring a plate” function later this week – I do not like such things! I’d be much happier to pay for a catered lunch, and I think it’s a retrograde step to go back to shared lunches. It was quite cold, and drizzling with rain. I was glad to wear a woollen jersey, a warm fluffy jacket, and a puffer raincoat! They had morning tea with scones with apricot jam and sweetened whipped cream, yum!

After morning tea the minister spoke about his recent study leave. This was very interesting, since I’d been to Scotland, although not the north of Scotland. This was followed by the AGM. I had to leave for another appointment with JD.  I hope my point about advertising on Meta (formerly Facebook) is taken up. After all, if it’s good enough for Westminster Abbey, I think my church should do it.

JD and I ended up having lunch at Floridita’s Café and Restaurant. It was nice there – warm and comfortable! I started with a Long Black Coffee, followed by a Peach Bellini. 

Here in Aotearoa fugitive Tom Phillips has been shot dead by police, after himself shooting a police officer; a child was with him; his two other children were recovered shortly afterwards. Phillips had been on the run with his three children for four years! Their mother appeared in court on drink-driving charge soon afterwards.  Those poor children! It seems their father was not a hero, rather a thief, with lots of alcohol and fire arms. He moved camp often. Meanwhile the children have had no medical or dental care or education, while supposedly camping in uncivilised conditions; camping in the rough can be charming for a day or two; but any longer than that and one would be longing for a shower or bath, a proper toilet, a hot meal and a warm comfortable bed, to say nothing of clean clothes. It seems that both parents have really let their children down, and now one of them is dead. The eldest child is now a teenager, with all the implications of adolescent body changes. Poor children!

It’s now Tuesday 16 September.

Yesterday I went to Tai Chi, and then JD picked me up and we had lunch at Picnic Café by the Lady Norwood Rose Garden, and the doomed Begonia House. Last time I visited it wasn’t as wonderful as it used to be. Lunch was nice – smoked salmon, hash browns, grilled tomato, and half an avocado with wasabi dressing. My long black coffee was enjoyable too. We ate outside, and it was rather windy, although fine and sunny, and I kept my jacket on. There were no roses out yet, and a sign warned us that spraying was in progress.

Afterwards we walked to the Bolton Street cemetery, which I am ashamed to say I hadn’t visited before, it’s been split by the Motorway, and although it’s a quiet and peaceful place, the traffic noise is disturbing. There are very informative pamphlets in waterproof containers at the entrance to the Cemetery. I would think there needs to be more upkeep of this lovely area.  We did not explore it all – there is quite unstable walking between the graves on uneven grass.  And, of course, it’s hilly, and whenever one walks down, one remembers that one will have to walk up again.

There are some names we recognise; there are graves and headstones there. I was quite moved by the youth of many of the dead: some made old bones to perhaps 82, but many died in their 20’s-30’s-40’s. Many children died – including 5 of diphtheria in one family! Another family lost three children. How incredibly sad, and I well remember what a huge thing it was when vaccines came in when I was a child, and parents no longer had to fear that their children would die early from common childhood diseases such as polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, or tuberculosis.  I as moved too by the Biblical texts on many of the headstones – such as “I am the resurrection and the life”, and sentiments like the deceased person being “Asleep with Jesus”.  No wonder Alzheimer’s was an unusual disease – very few people got old enough to “lose” their memory (using the terminology of my childhood).

On Tuesday Bible Study was cancelled. JD and I did our weekly shopping in Thorndon, and saved, as usual, just over $10. It was really hot!  And I felt really tired, as I tend to in springtime. But today (Wednesday) the weather is awful! It’s really windy, overcast and drizzly, although not too cold, but much cooler than yesterday. This morning I went to hymn singing, but unfortunately there were very few of us there, and my voice was quite croaky. I’m blaming spring allergies for this. After this there was a two-hour session for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, together with a nice morning tea. It was a lovely session. We learnt (again) phrases of welcome. It’s so nice to go over things that one supposedly knows already!

Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and then another bus to get off at what they’re calling Courtenay Central, a bus stop outside the forlorn Reading Centre. Then I walked to Tākina in Wakefield Street. It was very windy but not dangerously so. At Tākina I had lunch first: delicious chicken sandwiches with stuffing and chutney (very tasty) served with some potato crisps (as in an English pub!), and a long black coffee.  It was very comfortable there, and you get free internet!  Afterwards I went to the World Press Photo Exhibition. I was able to leave my bag at the coat-drop. The exhibition was interesting, if confronting. I was glad I’d seen it. I also booked tickets for a concert coming up – Rossini’s Stabat Mater, performed by the NZSO and Voices New Zealand. It is good to be able to see just where you’re sitting. Afterwards I walked to the closest bus stop – opposite where James Smith’s used to be. It was incredibly windy walking back.

It’s now Friday 19 September, and I am waiting for my lovely lady from Access to come. Access is using a new ap, which sends me an informative email each week to say who’s coming and when. But I can’t load the ap on either my phone (it doesn’t do Android), or even on my PC.  So I can’t see the schedule. Still. It is now easier to communicate with Access. In the event someone different came; my usual lady is on leave for the school holidays, although Access had not warned me of this.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the final session for Term 3 for my Thursday singing group. I showered early and made cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, draining the cucumber slices on paper towels first. The white sandwich bread that we’d bought on Tuesday had not stayed as fresh as I’d hoped. Still, we cut the crusts off, and I made two dishes – one to keep at home. JD’s  brother was due to visit while I was out. We had a nice singing session, although I had to remind the leaders that it is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Accordingly, we sang Hine e Hine, but did not sing the lovely Pepeha which we’d sung last year. I did feel that I’d interrupted the program, though!

The lunch spread was delicious, with a good range of savoury food and some sweet food, and grapes and cheese, of course. There were lots of egg sandwiches and asparagus rolls, so I was glad I hadn’t made them, this time.

Sunday was quite a busy day. It was really windy, quite cold, and drizzling with rain off and on. I went to church, which was lovely, We are enjoined to pray for kings and rulers (I Timothy chapter 1), even if we don’t share their views. Afterwards I was going to catch a bus to Johnsonville at 11:12 am. I walked to the bus stop, where it was incredibly windy. I could have summoned a taxi, or an Uber, but I had got to the bus stop and the bus was due to come. It did arrive on time.  At the Johnsonville Library, the shuttle bus had reverted to its weekday timetable – not on the hour or half hour, as I had thought. Never mind, I got home just before 12 noon, when a grandson was due to come!  I did not have Wi-Fi on my Android phone, so I couldn’t communicate until I reached home. Anyway, the little boy came, and we had a very enjoyable time, doing a jigsaw puzzle, playing Monopoly Deal (with cards!), and a car racing game.

Today’s podcast on The Rest is History is about Hesiod’s Theogony. Wow! I have read this as part of a wonderful paper I did on The Trojan War, in terms of mythical background, Homer’s Iliad (of course), ancient literature about the Trojan War, and then (2006) modern archaeology at the Hissarlik site in Turkey, thought to represent the ancient city of Troy.  We studied the Hittites, too.  Tom Holland also talks about ancient language derivations. I had thought that the “family” of Romance or Indo-European languages, which includes ancient Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish and German as having a certain commonality – for example, if you’re looking at menu items in one of those languages, you can usually figure out what they are. Some of my friends are conversational in several of these languages. I enjoy trying to speak French whenever I go there (which is not nearly often enough).  But it now seems that this is too simplistic.  Here is a link to this episode:

What an amazing heritage the Classical world gives us, in paintings, sculpture, pottery relics, mosaics and literature. I think part of its appeal is that it’s just so beautiful, without all the violence, rape, sudden death, and divine scheming. It’s still fascinating. How nice, sometimes, to retreat into the past, while present events are of great concern, even if they don’t appeal.

That’s it for now!  It’s a tough spring, so far, with some beautiful fine days but treacherous winds. Wars and conflict grind on, in Ukraine and Gaza. Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.

A familiar painting by Monet (not the one we saw in Auckland)

It’s now Sunday 31 August, 2025. Kia ora!

It’s been quite a busy weekend. Friday was a quiet day, with some housework done (both by me and the lady from Access), but I missed my previous  activities. But on Saturday morning, just before midday, I got a text from a friend saying she was going to see The Ballad of Wallis Island at 1:30 pm at the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan St! Would I like to come? Of course I would.

So I made a sandwich for lunch, and JD took me into town. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day, and I wore a summer top rather than a jersey.

It was a lovely film, charming even. The only known star was Carey Mulligan, and I marveled at how old she looked, but perhaps it fitted in with the film’s story. Anyway, there was no bad language and no sex (!) and the film was very down-to-earth and quite funny. It had a very good review in the morning’s paper, so I was very pleased to see it.

Afterwards I caught buses home ending up at the Churton Park shops. I intended to make asparagus rolls the next morning to take to church for morning tea after the service – they were having a HUB service with Johnsonville Uniting and Ngaio Union Churches, and I felt bad for not taking food the previous Sunday. Sadly, one still can’t get Watties brand tinned asparagus spears. On Sunday morning the weather was very different: it had been windy during the night, and then it was raining, and much colder.  I got up early, and drained the asparagus and measured out some butter. JD helped make the asparagus rolls.

Oddly, we ended up with plenty of time, although it was still raining. But there was drama to come. When I got to the church an elderly gentleman had just collapsed, just inside the entrance in what is called the Gathering Space. People were attending to him, so I went through to the kitchen to hand over the food I’d brought. They’d established that he was unconscious; was he still breathing?

When I went into the church, someone was doing chest compressions, and an ambulance had been called. So evidently there was a medical emergency, although the person was not a Khandallah parishioner.  We had the service, and at the end we were told that the elderly gentleman had died, and his family were now with him in the Gathering Space, which had been curtained and screened off.

So we had morning tea, and most agreed that actually the church entrance was probably a good place to die. It wasn’t a tragic death, although sad for the family and friends, obviously, and sobering for everyone else. It was still raining heavily.

JD picked me up and we made our way to his next appointment. Then we had lunch at Ombra, where the food was delicious – better than previous times when we’d been there. I had baccalà (whipped salted cod) again. Yum! It was nice and warm there, too.

On Monday I went to Tai Chi at Khandallah. Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and then a bus to Johnsonville, but it was so windy at Wellington Railway Station that I nearly got blown over. In Johnsonville I got a new passport photo taken.

On Tuesday morning I went to Bible Study, and then had coffee and a cheese scone afterwards with some who’d attended. JD picked me up afterwards, and we were due to go shopping, but he had an appointment in Miramar. He dropped me off at Wellington Railway Station, and I walked to Sercombe and Matheson to get some more glasses cleaner; then I caught a bus to Unity Books, where I bought JD a Father’s Day present. Then I went to Farmers to see if they had any corduroy trousers (they don’t), and then back to Smith the Grocer Café to meet JD. They have guest Wi-Fi there too!

JD eventually turned up, but he had parked the car in Harris Street; on the way he visited the Ecco shop in Willis St. He tried on some of their beautiful shoes: they did not fit, which was perhaps a relief, considering the price.

After we’d reached the car, we needed to go shopping – at Thorndon New World, of course, since they offer the 5% Gold Card discount on Tuesdays.  This time the weekly shop was under $200!  I was very tired afterwards.

On Wednesday morning there was hymn singing – about 11/12 of us were there, I think. We sang The Lord’s Prayer in Māori, and at the end one of the singers sang the beautiful Pie Jesu from the Fauré Requiem. After that there was a Te Reo class, with 17 people there!  We worked on greetings and good wishes. It was a good session.

After that I caught a bus to Wellington Railway Station, and then a #7 bus to Brooklyn. I just missed the bus I really wanted to catch. Never mind, there was another one in twenty minutes, and it was fine and sunny at the bus stop. I got to the Penthouse Cinema with half an hour to spare before the 1 pm screening of Mr Burton. I was really hungry and after a cup of coffee, but although it wasn’t particularly busy there it seemed to take ages to get served, and then I realised I hadn’t picked up my movie ticket! The waitress came over to tell me that there were no more club sandwiches, and I’d already paid for one. So I bought a sausage roll, which arrived at a bit after 12:50 pm.  Fortunately I’d ordered a berry slice, which was delicious. So I wasn’t in the greatest shape when the movie began.

I had really wanted to see the movie: I’ve a lot of respect for Toby Jones and Leslie Manville, and the young man acting the young Richard Burton did a great job. But the film is long, at 2 ½ hours, and the scenes in Wales are very bleak and dark.  It’s a positive story, on the whole, but Richard has already become a heavy drinker as a young man, and of course he’s conflicted about his own father (who doesn’t recognize him), and his mother (who died when he was two).  It’s a tough watch, although well reviewed. It relies heavily on Shakespeare’s Henry V and Henry IV, which is great if you’re a Shakespeare fan – perhaps not so great if you aren’t. I was glad I’d seen it, but happy to catch buses home afterwards.

On Thursday there was singing again; it was overcast, but not supposed to rain until 1 pm: it started to drizzle as we left home!  In the afternoon there were serious matters to tackle: renewal of my passport, which was due to expire in February next year (Oops! Just as well I checked), and renewing my driving license.

It took all afternoon to lodge a passport renewal online, although I had the photo and my friend (referee’s) passport number. It turned out that his full name, date of birth, and address were required, so although I found the card with his new address on it, I had to wait for him to text me the other information.  I have to say the online application is pretty easy to do. But the cost! It costs $247 for an adult passport renewal (I hope I’ll still be using it in 10 years’ time), plus the cost of the courier. Well, that was all fine, and early the next morning I got a message that my new passport had been delivered to the courier, and would be delivered to me on Monday, requiring my signature! Oh dear, that was fast. Unfortunately, we plan to be away on Monday – we’re flying to Auckland for the day to see the art exhibition there!

NZ Post courier service was not easy to deal with. They wanted me to be at home, and there was no phone number given, I was asked to arrange an alternative address, or a place where the parcel could be left.  Eventually I got onto another website, where I arranged to pick it up from a Post Office (do they even still exist?)  for this “re-direction” it cost $3.00.  I realised I had to make alternative arrangements that day (Friday), since they obviously didn’t work on Saturdays. I did get an acknowledgement of my redirection – under the front door mat wasn’t offered as an option! So it’s a very expensive passport, somewhat fraught with drama and trauma.

It’s a quiet day on Saturday. I figure it will be busy tomorrow (Sunday) and of course Monday will be a big day. On Sunday I am to read a passage from Jeremiah 18, about the potter.  It’s very accessible.

It’s now Wednesday 10 September.

On Monday we flew to Auckland for the day – to visit the lovely Auckland Art Gallery and see the exhibition of modern art from Toledo, Ohio. It was a big adventure: we had booked well in advance to get cheaper tickets, and we took spare gear in case we had to stay overnight.  Several weeks earlier I had hoped that we would do a road trip taking in Taupo, Auckland, Hamilton and Hawkes Bay. But that was not to be.

We took a taxi at 7 am to Wellington Airport; the flight to Auckland was smooth and quick. I was going to wear a puffer jacket, but the weather forecast turned out to be colder than previously forecast, and I awoke to the sound of rain!  So I took a raincoat, although I did not need it. We had booked seats in the front row: silly us! The cabin is so cramped you don’t have much room and can’t put your stuff under the seat in front. The formidable hostess stowed my tote bag and hand bag in an overhead locker before I had time to get out the things I wanted. Never mind, it was a quick flight. When we got to Auckland I almost wished that we were going further afield.

Right away we got the bus into the Sky complex in inner Auckland. This went by the international terminal as well. A lot of work has been done to improve the surroundings into central Auckland. The Waterview Tunnel is a big improvement too. Everything went smoothly until we got into central Auckland – there were many cones, and the bus took ages to turn into Albert Street. Some wise folk had alighted at an earlier stop in Queen St.

Eventually we got to the Sky Tower, and set out to walk to the Auckland Art Gallery. It’s quite a short walk, but you walk down to Queen Street and then up to the Gallery beside Albert Domain!

We got there, and our bags were stored at no cost. Then we bought tickets to the exhibition, and it was pointed out that other exhibitions are free – the Robertson Gift (which we’d seen on a previous visit), a Colin McCahon collection, and something else. Then we went upstairs to the lovely café to have lunch: it was almost 12 noon by this time.

After lunch we went to see the exhibition. It’s timed, so they only let a few people in at a time. This makes for good viewing, especially as there’s no rush. Well the paintings are magnificent, of course: highlights include a landscape by Renoir (unusual to have no people), and a painting of his muse who became his wife: a beautiful, if very young-looking woman.  There is a wonderful painting by Vincent van Gogh, and a wonderful waterlilies painting by Monet. The waterlily paintings, of which there are many, remind me of the piéta paintings of the Italian Renaissance, of which there are many, and many styles. This painting by Monet was, for me, the highlight of the exhibition, followed closely by the van Gogh. But there were several impressionist paintings, and a landscape by Whistler.  There’s an amazing painting by Picasso, with a bit of green/blue, which perhaps dates from his blue period before he fully embraced cubism.

After that we saw the Robertson gift again, with another Monet, and couple of paintings by Braque, one by Frances Hodgkins (not one of my favourites), and a painting by Salvador Dali. There were several sculptures as well.

We looked at the McCahon paintings (mostly numbers), and then I had to have a look at the shop.  I bought a large purse containing a tote bag – in the style of Monet. It’s actually really useful to have another purse.

It was a beautiful day in Auckland. We walked down Queen St to the waterfront. Queen St is quite sleazy, but towards the Ferry Terminal there are designer shops, with security guards at every door!  So much for browsing, I wouldn’t dare.

We sat in the sun and watched the ferries come and go, before walking back up Albert St to the Sky City complex.  It seemed much easier to walk back up Albert St.  There was bus having newly arrived, but it wasn’t due to leave till 4 pm.  There was lots of time to our flight, but I had booked later, to get cheap fares, and we did not want to get stuck in Auckland traffic. In the event it tool only 20 minutes to get to the Airport!

Once there, we bought a copy of this week’s Listener (which we couldn’t get in the morning).  Thankfully we could go to the Koru Lounge, and hang out there till our boarding call: 7: 45 pm!  Somehow we were too tired to eat or drink much, but I did manage to do most of the Listener puzzles and read the articles. Unusually since the new compiler, I could do most of the cryptic crossword.

Eventually we flew back to Wellington: again, a calm, short flight. This time we were in Row 2, and so had more room for everything.

Meanwhile, there had been some fuss to do with delivering my passport. I had paid to have it redirected, but while I was in Auckland I received an email to say it would be delivered to my address on Wednesday (today), and please be there. Then on Tuesday morning I received an email saying please pick it up from the Johnsonville Post Office (is there one still? Apparently so, it was in the list I was invited to choose from). I was to bring certain documentation. So I called in, and there was quite a process to redeem my parcel. Fortunately I did have the very long tracking number. And so I got to pick it up, and I checked the package to ensure it contained my new passport. And it did!

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

The NZSO – we’re quite proud of it!

Today is Thursday 28 August, 2025. Kia ora!

It has been quite a tough winter, with some really cold wet windy weather interspersed with some beautifully still fine days. Of course, we still have really cold evenings and mornings, but the days are getting longer, a huge relief for some reason.

At the Khandallah community centre they’ve put on two lovely sessions, the first with soup for lunch (tomato or leek and potato), and then again with a chicken and vegetable curry. It was very nice to attend both, and see some familiar faces there and get to know others better. There was really bad weather each time, so it was nice to get out and see others and get lunch too.

We have switched to doing our main weekly shopping on Tuesdays, seeing as New World in Thorndon now offers a 5% gold card discount, providing you spend more than $40, which is not hard to do.  We used to do it on Saturdays, usually. It’s taken me a while to get used to Tuesday shopping!

We went to two lovely concerts, an NZSO concert at the MFC on the evening of Friday 8 August. The weather was truly terrible, and we got very wet walking from the car. They played Mussorgasky’s Night on the Bald Mountain, Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Stravinsky’s Petrushka, conducted by André de Ridder. What a wonderful concert!  There weren’t as many people there as at concerts I’d been to previously, and many empty seats, with no queue for the ladies’ restroom during the interval. I was really pleased that we’d been. It’s quite wonderful that they send you an email beforehand telling you how long each item will be, and program notes on the musical works to be played.

On the afternoon of Sunday 10 August we went to Verdi’s Masked Ball opera, at the State Opera House, rather than the St James. This was produced by Wellington Opera, but it was a fabulous production, with wonderful music beautifully played, an innovative set, and remarkably good singing. What a treat! JD wanted me to take one of our grandchildren, but they were unwell with RSV.  The State Opera House brought back many memories for us.  JD came late: he was going to enter during the first interval, but the staff insisted on his entering during Act 1 of the performance! The Opera House actually has more room between the seats than the Michael Fowler Centre, although there is no lift. We were fortunate to have spare seats either side of us.

So what else has been happening? One Saturday we went to see the Art Exhibition at Takina.  We used to go regularly to the Fine Arts Gallery on the waterfront, and buy something at the lovely shop there, but now you have to go to Takina, and it cost $11 each. Of course, we had to pay for parking as well. We had lunch at Zephyr café beforehand.

The art exhibition was huge, and we ended up buying a painting – of the Wahine. It has remarkable lighting effects, and, of course, the sinking of the Wahine is memorable for us both. We were in our final years at school; some pupils had come to Wellington Girls’ College, but it was decided to send everyone home by late morning. As a prefect, I had to escort some students down to the Wellington Railway Station! Thorndon often endures terrible weather, but this was next level, with sheets of corrugated iron and other large debris being blown around. Somehow I escorted them, and got back unharmed and caught the bus home to Wadestown, where my parents’ home was quite sheltered, and they were unaware of the extent of the disaster.

The New Zealand International Film Festival has been in town. I managed to get a copy of the program from the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan St, but unlike the French program it’s very challenging to deal with.  The films don’t all appeal, of course, but many of them were screened at night, or were already booked out, with only two or three viewings of most films being shown. Some are now featured for later release in cinemas, so all is not lost, however many of these films don’t have the appeal of the more light-hearted French films. You seldom see anything really unpleasant in a French film, although there can be lots of swearing.  It’s all in French, of course, so it doesn’t have quite the same impact.

I did go to “Two Prosecutors” on Monday 18 August.  It was in black and white, and was set during Stalin’s Great Terror in 1937.  It was well worth seeing, although it was a difficult watch at times, with an unpleasant twist at the end.

Afterwards I wanted to have a cup of coffee and a scone, and perhaps see another movie at the Wigan St cinema, but the timing was tight for this. The film I did see had such an impact on me that I was quite relieved to forgo seeing the other one. But I found Courtenay Place was really depressing! Places like Myrtle and Pandoro have closed, sadly, but it being a Monday some places where I might have gone were closed too. It was a beautiful day, but I ended up walking to Cuba St, as anywhere I passed on the way was full of people. Here’s looking at you, Sixes and Sevens! They had masses of very attractive-looking food, but very few seats.  At Kaffee Eis in Cuba St it was crowded too, and I had to sit on a high stool for a time, but eventually I got a seat at a table, albeit a draughty one. I have always found the food good there.

Then a friend of mine offered me NZIFF film tickets for the following Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Although they were offered to others as well as me, I said yes to either or both, and ended up going to both.  This made for a busy weekend, but both films were really worth seeing.

Saturday’s film was called The President’s Cake, and was about a girl who was chosen to contribute a cake for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s birthday – everyone must celebrate his birthday. The girl and her grandmother were very poor, and it was incredibly difficult to obtain the necessary ingredients. Meanwhile, the Americans are bombing Iraq.  Afterwards we had coffee at Café Deluxe next to the Embassy theatre. It is really a “student” café, with Formica-topped tables, but had really good coffee (and Portuguese tarts) and it was nice to debrief after the quite intense movie. The propaganda in Saddam’s Iraq was quite terrifying, and people were afraid to speak out, or say anything that might be considered political.  We also spoke about the upcoming Wellington City Council election, and the importance of these choices.

The next day (Sunday) turned out to be quite complicated. JD dropped me at church in the morning; too late I remembered that I’d agreed to buy two containers of soup as part of a fund-raising exercise. Thankfully I was able to pick them up from the fridge in the church and send them home with JD, as after church I would have to get a bus into town to see Sunday’s movie. It would be really difficult to pick up the soup at any other time. It was also my eldest grandson’s birthday, and we needed to visit later that afternoon and drop off his present. JD had an appointment in Kingston, and I hoped that he would pick me up, from town, although I got the times a bit mixed up. Anyway, I saw the movie (in French), which was wonderful, and although there were many people in town on this fine day, JD picked me up outside the Tasting Room restaurant, and we went to have afternoon tea and birthday cake with my eldest grandson.  Thankfully the presents were well received (his and his sister’s!), and we weren’t too late. My other son who lives locally and his family were there too so it was lovely to see them. When we got home, we were thankful to have soup for tea (from the fundraiser).

The next day a dear friend visited; it was lovely to see her again. On Tuesday I went to Bible Study, and then a friend gave me a lift into town where I met another friend whom I hadn’t seen for months at Smith the Grocer’s Café. We had a great time catching up, and then Wednesday was busy as well.

There was hymn singing in the morning, and another friend bought me coffee afterwards. Then I caught the bus home; unfortunately I missed the shuttle bus that goes along our street, so I ended up at the Churton Park Shops. We were to visit a dear friend who had recently moved to the Charles Fleming Retirement Village at Waikanae in the afternoon. There were hold ups, of course; we were supposed to leave by 12:30 pm and although I was ready JD was not.

It was wonderful to see another very old friend again, and see his “hotel”. The retirement village is like a hotel. Our friend is in the main building, not in one of the many villas there. He’s on the third floor (I think) and has a view of Kapiti Island. In the public areas there is a fountain, and many paintings.  Our friend has a unit with a living room, bedroom and ensuite bathroom.  There is a kitchenette – like in a motel unit. He gets a main meal each day, and his unit is serviced, with clean towels and dish washing.  There are many activities, including Catholic and Anglican services, and they’re all free to residents.  He can have friends or family to eat meals with him providing he gives the kitchen 24 hours’ notice. There seemed to be meeting rooms where perhaps you could have a birthday party, as long as it wasn’t too noisy!

Our friend also showed us through the main building with its manicured gardens, pétanque lawn and croquet lawn. There is a Te Reo Māori class, but it’s virtual, which I assume means it’s online using zoom. Perhaps he should teach Te Reo!  He plays the grand piano in the lounge. 

It’s all very nice and very civilized, with medical assistance on call, and a pool, of course, and a gym; but we saw no children or young people while we were there, although it was reasonably early in the afternoon when we went there. Apparently there’s a hospital and a dementia unit.

I wondered, again, about going outside: if you have your own home, or villa, you can put on a bathrobe and go outside and sit on a deck or under a tree;  our friend has to walk to the lift, and then go downstairs to go outside. I’m sure you’d want to be properly dressed for that.

It’s now Friday 29 August.

Someone from Access is due to come this afternoon to do some housework.  Access is now using a new ap to communicate, which does not work on my Android cell phone.  The good news is that I get an email each week advising me who will be coming and when (very welcome), but the bad news is that I cannot see the schedule.  Still, it’s always been difficult to communicate with Access, so on the whole it’s an improvement, but I wish I could see the schedule.

It seems very quiet today after all our activity (I had my Thursday singing session yesterday), and I’m really tired, but missing exciting things to do. Housework is not exciting! 

But there was a thrill: I had a phone call from my grandson in Taipei on Messenger! I spoke to him and his sister.  They start school again next Monday, on 1 September. Meanwhile we have been watching our granddaughter’s dancing videos – K-pop, I think! It’s very energetic, and JD casts it to the television set. They don’t seem at all traumatized by their visit to New Zealand, despite the cold!

Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Outside Weta Workshop

Today is Sunday 27 July, 2025. Kia ora!

Our loved ones from Taiwan visited for a few days at the beginning of July.  JD and I worked very hard to make them feel welcome, but unfortunately it was really, really cold while they were here.  For two days there was a heavy frost, although beautiful days afterwards; the rest of the time it rained heavily, and was still very cold, of course.

I did warn them it would be cold here!  It’s very hot in Taiwan – our son returned to 36C, but I think it was down to 3C here. The air is different, too. Everything’s different. For some reason our heating, which usually works well for us, was totally inadequate, although there is a strong heat pump downstairs and heaters in all the bedrooms. 

Our daughter-in-law and two children were due to arrive early on a Sunday afternoon, flying from Hong Kong to Auckland and then on to Wellington. But their flight from Hong Kong was delayed, and so they missed their connecting flight to Wellington. All day we were on tenterhooks as to when they would arrive.  An aunt of mine also died that day; I wasn’t particularly close to her, and they had a private family service (I and my cousins evidently didn’t qualify   as “close family”).  So it was telephone tag all day, with some confusion between New Zealand and Taiwanese time zones (they are 4 hours behind us here).

Our visitors are vegan, which makes it challenging to find good food. In Taiwan,  there are many vegan restaurants, serving beautiful food; there are very few here, although there are quite a few vegans, including another son of mine who was away at that time. He was very helpful, giving us a list of possible restaurants, some vegan cheese, and telling us about a dairy-free Tip Top ice cream – chocolate and honey comb. Yum!

The first night I had prepared a lentil dish with potatoes, peas and spinach and garlic and chillis, and a salad and some bread rolls.  There was plenty, so we had the leftovers the next night, along with roast kumara and pumpkin and corn on the cob. The first night we had fruit salad with ice cream; after that we served vegan trumpets and dairy-free miniature ice creams.

The next day, a Monday, my daughter in law was flying to Dunedin, while our son (her husband) was arriving soon afterwards. Meanwhile our other grandchildren came to visit, seeing that it was school holidays.

We walked up to the local park, which our Taiwanese grandchildren enjoyed; but it was really cold there, although it was sunny. I had to warn the children about crossing the busy road we live in, while remembering their safe and narrow streets around their home in Taipei.

The next day we took things quietly. In the afternoon we drove out to Ohiro Bay – our son wanted to walk to Red Rocks and see the seals.  We parked in the parking lot nearby, but it wasn’t easy to cross the stream: I think a recent storm had made crossing far more difficult than I remembered on our previous visit.  It looked rather dangerous to me, since there wasn’t even an obvious stepping stone arrangement, so JD and I stayed in the carpark, watching the sea and other visitors. JD bought coffee from a coffee cart nearby – much appreciated.

Then we drove to Miramar and to the Weta workshop. We were too late to join a guided visit, but we did have a good look at the shop.  Our relatives were keen to take gifts back to Taipei, so visiting gift shops was de rigueur. The children bought some modelling clay, which they later fashioned into shapes which had to be baked.

The next day we planned to go to the Southward Car Museum at Otaihanga.  We found a park (at Raumati, perhaps?) and a café that served vegan food, It was very popular, and we sat outside in the sunshine. JD and I shared a roll with pickle and haloumi cheese. There was soup too, and a variety of cakes. Afterwards we walked to the beach nearby.

The car museum was a great success – our grandson was very interested in the cars, as we were too. I showed them my parents’ first cars: a Morris 8 and a Ford Prefect.  I can still remember the smell inside. I was so ashamed until they bought a smarter Ford. We browsed the gift shop too. Then we called at the Waikanae New World – we kept running out of food!  Next we visited cousins who have a life-style block in Te Horo for afternoon tea.

That night my son fixed food for his children, while I think JD and I had organic baked bean toasted sandwiches.  The organic baked beans from Chantals are much nicer than other tinned baked beans!

The next day (Thursday) the weather was terrible. My daughter-in-law was due back from Dunedin, but there was a car problem – we couldn’t fit six of us in the car, and JD was the only legal driver. JD dropped my eldest son, my grandson and me off in Cuba St on his way to Wellington Airport. We visited a design shop, a graphic novel shop (not my usual haunt!) and Whitcoulls, before going back up Cuba St to meet the others and have lunch at Nolito. 

We were well looked after at Nolito, but I have to admit that I didn’t really enjoy the food there.   After that we met them at the Lego store in Willis St: I think JD drove me there while the others walked. We bought our grandson a birthday present for his eighth birthday! Afterwards, I caught a bus home, leaving the others to travel by car.  The bus was fine. I should have bought Snapper cards for our visitors, but I hadn’t done so.

That evening we had my lentil dish again, which I had prepared earlier – a spicy version and a non-spicy one. I also made another salad, although this time they didn’t seem interested in salads.

The next day the weather was awful again. We were to celebrate my grandson’s birthday, since his father was leaving the next day. I made the vegan fruit cake (I hadn’t made it for years, and I’d never cooked a cake in my new oven).  Again we had a transport problem. JD was going to drop me in Johnsonville, where I could get a bus into town – they go every 10 minutes. In his wisdom, he insisted on taking me to the Railway Station and dropping me off there. Although it’s a transport hub, it was a long way to the buses from where he dropped me off, so I set out to walk to The Old Quarter where we were to have lunch.

After walking in the rain for a while I gave in and took a bus to Manners Street, where I bought some cupcakes from the Sweet Release Café in case the cake I’d cooked didn’t turn out well. Then I met the others at The Old Quarter for lunch. It was really full there, and despite the awful weather, people kept coming in.

The food there was amazingly good – I really enjoyed it. They had vegan options as well as non-vegan food. I remember some delicious zucchini and corn fritters, a spicy sauce for dipping, and some yummy sticky rice.  There was some nice salad, too. It reminded me of Taipei, where a meal is often served on a tray with different items in wee dishes.

Then we walked along Courtenay Place to the Embassy Theatre, where we were to meet another nephew, and see the F1 movie.  It was not raining so heavily now, so our walk wasn’t too difficult. There was hardly anyone at the theatre!  It was nice to see the movie in a big family group. My grandson insisted on sitting between his grandfather (JD), and his cousin, although he is four years’ older. There was so much advertising, and popcorn, of course, but it was fun to see the lengthy movie.

I think we had takeaway pizzas from Hell Pizza that night. The ones with vegan cheese taste really nice, better in my view than their usual pizzas! One evening we had Indian takeaways: there’s an Indian takeaway in Newlands that serves lots of vegan food.

That was the Friday. On the Saturday our son was due to fly back to Taipei, catching a 6 am flight to Auckland to join his international flight there. He wanted to leave home by 4 am to check in before 5 am, so I set my alarm for 3:15 am!  We got to the Airport in good time; nothing much was open there, and although JD and I could have gone to the Air NZ Lounge, you had to go through Airport Security to get there. We did manage to get coffee and some fruit while we waited for his flight to take off.

That day our daughter in law and her children went to my son’s place in Newlands to visit: then they went to a dance class in town in the afternoon (they’d found it online). 

On Sunday morning I went to church; when JD picked me up afterwards, we all went into town to Te Papa, where we met the other cousins. We had lunch there – we were going to go to Sweet Release, but the weather was terrible, as usual, and one did not really feel like going there.  The café had vegan options. Afterwards we went for a walk outside down to the Wellington Museum. Sadly, the first floor with the Wahine exhibition was closed, but the hologram with Joanna Paul is still there upstairs!

The next day was the last day for our daughter in law and our two grandchildren.  We met their cousins at Porirua, going first to the North City shopping centre, and then to Kai Tahi for lunch – a wonderful food hall where there were hardly any people. Although they didn’t have vegan restaurants, it was quite possible to get vegan food there. I had a Banh Mi – a favourite of mine.

Afterwards we went to Aotea Lagoon and walked to the play area there. The children had a wonderful time. Our eldest granddaughter and her ten-year old cousin held hands. That evening our daughter in law cooked a beautiful pasta dish for dinner, and we went to bed early as they were to catch the 6 am flight to Auckland, as their father had done three days earlier.  Along the way, JD read stories to his grandson, as requested; I talked to my granddaughter about English Literature, although sadly my voice wasn’t great, I was so tired. But I will have attached some of my favourite extracts in a future blog.

I talked to her mainly about the works I had studied for my Masters degree in English Literature, where most writing was done in “blank verse” or iambic pentameter, with great knowledge of the classical myths. Shakespeare used blank verse to great effect in his plays. 

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

Today is Tuesday 24 June, 2025. Kia ora!

I have been to several French Film Festival films recently, although the lineup hasn’t been as good as in recent years. Still, some of those I’ve seen have been very diverting and enjoyable, and I’m glad to have seen them. I’ve tried to fit them into my schedule by catching the #25 bus from Khandallah, and either walking to the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan Street or switching to a #83 bus at Wellington Station to go to the Lighthouse Cinema in Petone.

It’s now Thursday 10 July.

We had a lovely visit from our family in Taiwan. It was very cold here, and very different from the atmosphere in Taiwan!  Suffice to say, lots of things happened, and I will write about them later.

Back to the French Film Festival.  This took place during June, and I tried to fit in as many movies as possible that I wanted to see.  I hope that some that I missed will come on general release in the cinemas.

The first one I saw was Loveboat, starring Daniel Auteuil.  I always like to see him in films, although he was being a bit of a villain here. Anyway, the film was very amusing and light hearted and, unusually for French movies, featured the heroine trying not to have sex with Auteuil.

After this I stayed at the Wigan St cinema to see The French Job.  This latter film I did not enjoy: there was lots of foul language.

Then I saw The Stolen Painting, being very interested in art and art thefts. Again, I was disappointed. I had ideas about seeing movies with JD at the weekend, but alarmingly they were mostly booked out. I saw Riviera Revenge, recommended by one of my cousins: again, I wasn’t really impressed. I saw The Thread, again with Auteuil: this time a legal drama, with a surprising twist, but not Auteuil at his best.  To see that film, I booked almost the last seat at the Wigan St cinema. I was told Bolero was good, but I had written it off, having seen so much of Ravel’s Bolero in Divertimento last year.

I did quite enjoy Three Friends, although someone had warned me off it. But I found it diverting, although frustrating at times. One of the women is really beautiful. I also saw Saint-Ex, a film which took me right back to his Vol de Nuit and my French 1 classes.  I can’t think of his night-flying without remembering Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony.  The film was quite remarkable, if it seemed a little unreal at times. Those tiny planes look so hazardous!

And that’s all I got to see. I did see Tarrac, which wasn’t part of the film festival, but was all in Irish Gaelic.  

In amongst all this we had the Matariki celebration. I am happy to say this means more to me each year. This time our Te Reo Māori group were following an official Matariki celebration booklet put out by the New Zealand Government, and I was to say the karakia for Waitā, the water of the ocean. There was a community morning tea which was delicious and was very well attended, with several more people coming than was expected, and some new attendees to the fortnightly Te Reo classes.

Yesterday afternoon I went to see the movie The Great Lillian Hall, about an aging actress who develops dementia, and somehow the cast and her longtime companion get her through a live performance of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard. This was American, of course, but it reminded me of the remake of The Dresser with Antony Hopkins, and Sir Ian McKellen as his dresser. They’re trying to get him though a performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear, and I remember him saying “Have I done ‘Oh reason not the need’?  The film about Lillian Hall  was well reviewed, of course, but great reviews don’t necessarily make for great movies, in my book.

This morning JD and I went to see a film about Michelangelo at the Lighthouse Theatre in Pauatahanui.  It’s a lovely place to go to, and with the Transmission Gully highway we can get there really quickly.  Well, that was a very good movie, and covered most of Michelangelo’s great works.  I am very happy to say I have seen many of them, some more than once:  the Piéta in St Peter’s Basilica in Roma, and in Florence, and in Milan (the Rondanini Piéta); the statues in the Louvre, and his Bacchus (with the weird eyes).  What is his greatest achievement? The David, now in the Accademia, perhaps, or one of the Piétas?  Then again there is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and his painting of The Last Judgment.  All sources of amazement. Once home I got out my book about Michelangelo, which I got as part of a prize for being the top student in Renaissance studies for my Master of Arts degree in English.

After the movie we went to the café up the road to share a pizza and a chocolate éclair.

Last Saturday (19 July) we went to a performance of Fauré’s Requiem (and the Vierne Requiem) at St Mary’s Cathedral in Boulcott St, sung by the Bach Choir, with Douglas Mews at the organ.  At the same time there was a performance of Handel’s Messiah at St James Anglican Church in Lower Hutt, sung by the Festival Singers and the choir of St Mary’s with Jonathan Berkahn playing the organ. Needless to say, I would love to have gone to both concerts. I knew several people singing in the Messiah, but JD had a hankering to go to St Mary’s again. Unfortunately we forgot to take cushions! The pews there are rather uncomfortable, although the footrests (kneelers?) are appreciated. Anyway, it was a beautiful concert, although JD found the organ playing in the Vierne uncomfortably loud. But the Bach choir sang the Fauré beautifully, even better than the Brahms Requiem in the last concert we went to there. Sadly I managed to cough during the Pié Jesu solo – I think I swallowed some saliva in a rather strange way. Thankfully I’d brought some cough pastilles with me and I had one left.

We had great trouble finding somewhere to park. JD had suggested having lunch in town beforehand, but we were too late for that. We drove down Boulcott St hoping to park there, but ended up driving around and around as the minutes ticked by. Finally we found a parking space up on the Terrace, and walked down to St Mary’s, arriving just in time.

The next day (Sunday) I went to a discussion at the church of the movie Conclave. JD and I had both seen the film and read Robert Harris’ excellent book, as well as watching the Pope Francis’ recent funeral. There were about a dozen people at this discussion, including several non-parishioners. I compared this ceremony to King Charles III’s coronation, where both men and women (and the Royal children) were all part of the centuries-old ceremony. Who can forget Penny Mordaunt holding the sword? Or a Scottish churchman giving King Charles the most precious possession, a Bible. Unlike the very secretive Conclave ritual, that of the Coronation, while scripted, was a very public ceremony. I did feel when I saw the movie that it was stripped of the book’s spirituality, and another parishioner agreed with this view.

It’s now Sunday 27 July.

Our church is meeting in the Hall rather than the Church at present (it’s supposedly warmer there and easier to heat), and we’re supposed to enjoy a hot drink and something to eat while we worship.  It’s a bit frustrating to be expected to bring a plate of food to share!  As it’s only 10 am, one feels one should bring savoury food. Anyway, I’ve not long had breakfast, and my first cup of coffee, and I still feel strange about combining food and drink with worship. Nevertheless, I do as I’m told and dutifully bring a plate (with food on it).

Last week was quite busy. On Tuesday morning we looked at Luke 11 where Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.  This comes up in Matthew 6 too, where it is very similar.  For a long time the injunction ”Lead us not into temptation” was part of it, then it became “Save us from the time of trial” or something similar. I remember a dear friend of mine explaining that a God who loves us cannot lead us into temptation.  I looked up the actual Greek text, and it is far more nuanced.  The verb is aorist and subjunctive, which is missing in translation which renders it as a command. The subjunctive expresses something that might happen; perhaps would that it may not happen. I think the sense is for the Lord to protect us from being put to the test (and perhaps be tempted to deny Him?) What a wonderful mood the subjunctive is, in both Latin and Greek.

On Wednesday morning there was hymn singing followed by Te Reo Māori, where we began to learn about the poi. It’s hard to swing it correctly, although it looks so easy. Many of us managed to hit ourselves.

On Thursday morning it was singing in the Khandallah Town Hall, where there was a great turnout.  It’s been really cold the past week with severe frosts in the morning followed by fine sunny days, before the temperature drops again. It’s lovely to have fine days, but they come with very cold evenings, nights and mornings.

On Friday morning there was a funeral service for the daughter of a friend of mine, who died from the return of her cancer a few days ago.  I went to that, and although I was 20 minutes early, there were already a great many people there. The service did not finish till well after 12 noon, and I slipped away to get home as I had someone from Access coming at 12:30.  Usually she comes around 3 pm, but today for some reason she was scheduled to come at 12:30. I did manage to get home before she came, but I missed having refreshments in the church hall after the service. It was nice to go to a Christian funeral.

The sermon this morning was about prayer, as was the Tamariki time. We are reminded that if don’t know how to pray, we can say the Lord’s prayer, which covers all bases. The woman who did Prayers for Others also spoke beautifully. I guess we’re all thinking of the dreadful pictures of emaciated children in Gaza. We also remember how special children are to the Lord.

That’s it for now. I’m looking forward to going to another concert on Friday week with the NZSO playing music by Stravinsky, Dukas and Mussorgsky; also to Verdi’s Masked Ball. What a treat! 

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza drag on, seemingly with President Putin of Russia and Prime Minister Netanyahu being prepared to sacrifice hundreds of lives, including children and other civilians, to wars with seemingly impossible endings. What tragedies. Meanwhile, we can pray. Slava Ukraini!

I will write about the visit of some of our loved ones in my next blog. Ngā mihi nui.

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