I was yearning for my brother’s place and decided to fly over in January (rather than in December when the fares are horrendous). H picked me up from the airport. For a change there was no problem. (When I say she picked me up from the airport, she actually parked down the road, avoiding overpriced parking fees.) Unfortunately, it was just before the “5 o’clock rush” (actually an hour before). I thought we’d be ok, but it took forever just to get to the centre of town. Wellington’s traffic infrastructure is ridiculous. In short, it took two hours to get to Upper Hutt. Was great to see bro, and I spent several days there.
On the way to secluded beach
I accidentally hit a camera setting I don’t normally use. Amazing the different effects for the same place – one looks tropical and the other looks quite ominous.
I stayed briefly in PN. I didn’t have a car so couldn’t visit people and had no real desire to visit Massey or advertise my presence. I only met a close friend for dinner one night.
For the rest of the time we travelled to Napier and surrounds and returned to my bro’s on the way back to Wellington.
I got a bit of bird-spotting in.
Yellowhammer
Bertha, the goose, was still overseeing her flock.
I spent some time with my grand-kitty.
She was adorable and affectionate as a kitten but has grown into a rather aloof cat (not a lap cat at all).
Cider tasting in Napier
A pleasant trip overall.
Back to work it was. Last I wrote, I think I mentioned going full-time at one job and ditching the other. Sadly, the place I wanted to work full-time can’t guarantee they’d have enough work. However, the good news is that the hourly rate has gone up $6. Since then, a law has passed allowing casual workers to apply to their employers to go permanent. The hourly rate would be less, however. I worked out the difference allowing for time off, paid and unpaid. I’m better off staying with what I have. In the meantime, I’ve decided to cut back on the hours worked at the other place, taking more Saturdays and weekends off, so I can actually do stuff. I just had a three-day weekend and enjoyed it tremendously, getting out on a local bird trip, going to the Escher exhibition and generally relaxing and enjoying myself.
I’ve booked a holiday in the Cook Islands for my winter getaway. It’s a difficult place to get to from Australia. Although there is a direct flight (one day a week) from Sydney, it arrives at something like 2 am. My friend in Auckland wanted us to travel together, so I’ll be travelling to Auckland both ways, which, unfortunately, involves an overnight stay as the flight times are not conducive to safely connecting to my flights to and from Australia. The Cooks being on the other side of the date line doesn’t help. Anyway, something to look forward to however brief the stay.
I’m sad that summer is coming to an end. Even though it’s often in the 30s, I enjoy the sunshine. Already it’s getting dark in the morning. Last week we had a cold snap (20 deg only) and I hated it.
That’s all, folks.
Reflections 