All you New Zealanders would feel completely at home, instead of rain on a tin roof we have rain on a perspex roof – sounds just the same. This is the first rain for about 10 days and welcomed by those who need the stuff – personally, I can do without it. Still, it is harder for Maureen cause she has to go and put the chickens to bed. Fortunately for me it was not raining when we made sure the geese we tucked up safely away from the foxes earlier this evening.

After a very pleasant dinner at Ticton Grange on Sunday, where I had the restaurant all to myself, I spent the night from 12 till time to get up wide awake. So, I thought today would be pretty awful, and I would need to borrow matchsticks to stay awake, but no, today was VERY successful. After a shaky start where the storage man (Derek, or fabulous Derek as I came to call him) denied all knowledge of why I was there, declared the impossibility of what I wanted and generally did a lot of teeth sucking, we managed to sort 4×20 cubic metre storage containers so that 1 got sent for shipping, rubbish thrown away and the contents of the other got spread out so that the auctioneers, who are coming tomorrow, can view them – and all in 3 1/2 hours! Pretty impressive, no?

Derek is an expert shipper and teaches classes in shipping (yes it is true), had walked all the peaks in the Lake District before he was 16, has 5 siblings, one son (chronically disabled) and a wife who he adores. I told him I did not want to have any more than 1 container, and, bless him, everything I wanted to put in he said he could find room for – even after I kept adding this and that and abit of the other. So, all I have to put in is Rob’s bike, and Gary is putting that on his trailer to take from the house to Kidds on Wednesday.

It was lovely to see Gary again and to catch up on the harrowing family eventsof the last two years. But they – Gary, Ben and Bianca – all seem to becoming through and surviving. The same is not true of Anne-Marie, whose lifeis descending into alcohol and chaos from which neither she nor anyone else can save her – so, so sad.

Continuing my efficiency I saw our house management agents and got all sorts of things agreed with them; I talked to our estate agents and got good advice from, another, Derek. Because of all of this I think it might just be possible to finish here by end of business on Wednesday!

I was early to arrive at David and Maureen’s, so I took the opportunity to look around Hunmanby, a small town on the edge of the North Yorks moors. Requisite Norman church, 2 pubs, 1 hotel, 1 of most kinds of shop including a florist come fruit shop and a shop selling an eclectic mix of fresh pies/bread/pizza and home made preserve and pickles – as well as,importantly, Yorkshire Tea, for all you tea enthusiasts.

I decided to go to the pub. Have you ever walked into a room and had EVERYONE stop and look at you? I thought that only happened in bad detective films, but no, it happens in North Yorks pubs. I reckoned they were up to something illegal to do with CD/DVD’s and were just checking I was not the local police. They all turned out to be really nice and helpful and I think I was the first person ever to be served coffee in that pub. But it gave me the opportunity to sit and read and watch for a while, which was extremely pleasant.

So now I am sitting with Maureen and Polly, who is a beautiful and intelligent black lab (David is out at a Parish meeting in his role as local councillor), with the rain beating on the conservatory roof, while we inside are toasty and warm. Who could want for more. Till later, love to all. Ann

Yes, the sun is shining, the day looks beautiful and it is, according to the weather report, going to be about 21C today.

I have been busy contacting people in Yorkshire and have them all lined up for next week. If all goes well – or at least as I have planned – then I should be finished by next Friday. However, we all know about well laid plans …

We have some belongings stored at Candice and Geoffs and I have been re-acquainting myself with them. Now, do I really need a 3 tier cake stand, an Austrian wine filter and a Victorian flower pot, as well as a framed print of Greenwich University (which I suspect is a a goodbye present given to Rob). I have 3 large boxes to take to Yorkshire with me but I may do some culling when I get there (after mature consideration, of course) and get rid of them!

As I was coming through duty free out of Auckland I picked up a device that I can plug into the cigarette lighter bit in a car and the other end into my (well Rob’s really) iPod and can play all my chosen music in the car – a very nice grey car (a Peugeot, so Geoff tells me) – as I beetle up the motorway to Yorkshire. This will vastly enhance my driving experience early on Sunday morning.

However, first, Ed and Jan are coming over to Candice and Geoffs for lunch today and I am so looking forward to seeing them. Candice and I have prepared lunch, Geoff has set up the table on the lawn and – as I said – the sun is shining. Now, what more can one ask for, good food, weather and friends, so I shall have a very pleasant afternoon, before packing this evening for departure tomorrow.

Ticton Grange, where I am staying on Sunday night has no internet contact, so I will blog from Yorkshire , but possibly not till Monday or Tuesday evening when I am with David and Maureen. So, thats all for now. Love to everyone of you. Ann

It doesn’t matter how much or how little I sleep on a flight I still get the 3am wide awakes. So here I am at 5am drinking tea and eating peaches. The flight was long but as comfortable as any flight could be. Unheard of, it took 24 minutes to clear passport and baggage at Heathrow and to come out the other side where Candice and Geoff were equally surprised. What struck me – just lots of people, lots of cars, lots of busyness. Candice and Geoff as usual cossetted and cared for me and fed me – delicious food – and by 9pm (well 8 actually – but that was in front of the TV) I was sound asleep in bed, so that I could wake up totally alert at 3am and wonder why the rest of the world was absent. I am having a lazy day today and collecting the car, shopping for lunch for tomorrow when Ed and Jan come to join us and then after Candice has returned from work (about 2pm) we shall be off to Bluewater for some girl fun. So, I hope all of you are just fine out there. Will log on soon. Love. Ann

Well, OK it’s not Christmas. But the sort of intense work I have done the last few days makes it feel like the run-up to Christmas, and I am exhausted. But everything is done. Rob has his recipes, work has been tidied, Daisy and Sissy will want for nothing – even the worms have been tended, turned, fed and fixed up for the next few weeks. I’ve even finished packing early and have come in at a respectable 36kg. Not bad considering I left with 45kg last time. I have made sure I have no knives (unlike last time) in my hand luggage, and certainly no creams, gels or potions – so I guess I shall arrive like a shriveled up prune.

I think all this intense preparation is my attempt to control what I can and to de-emphasise how open and relatively uncertain/unorganised my time away is at present. Because of not knowing how quickly things will resolve themselves in Hornsea the rest of the time has been left open-ended. So I have not been able to plan my itinerary in the way that I had all dates times sorted when I last travelled. I am not anxious, and although I don’t know where I will be sleeping for a lot of the time, I do know that there are lots of beds available to me and if I am not near one, then there is always the credit card!

Anyway, I hope the next time I log in I shall be with Candice and Geoff in Hextable, waking at ridiculous times of the night as jet lag receeds and getting ready to travel to Hornsea on Sunday 16th. Till then, lots of love to all.

Meanwhile, try these 3-4 second videos taken on a visit to Russell. The reason they are so short was that I didn’t realise I was taking them!! Ann

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Yes, I made it. Arrived this afternoon back on the island. Will tell all when I get my act together.
Thanks to everyone who has written to me. It was very much appreciated. Have a look here in a couple of days. I should have unpacked and sorted myself out by then. xxxx

Hi and thanks to those who have written. I am SO tired. Things went swimmingly through to Epinal. Travelled along the roads less travelled; hardly another motorist in site along the stretches of l o n g, s t r a i g h t country roads. The previous night I’d picked up a directory of a certain hotel chain and made for their Epinal one. Close to my destination, I stopped in a car park to collect my thoughts and book the room when I guy asked if he could help. I told him the hotel and he said for me to follow him as he knew exactly where it was. Half an hour later, along a vast stretch of dual carriageway, darkness settling in together with rain he pulled over at a cafe and announced he was lost!! Satnav had taken me within what must have been half a km of the hotel so I was absolutely furious with him. In fact I told him to … off! In the cafe, I calmed down and asked where the hell I was and did anyone know of a nearby hotel. A guy said he knew of one and if I would follow him he’d take me there!!!!!! My brain was numb. I said OK. Bingo. And here I am in.. um… Remiremont, south of Epinal, having put in ten hours of driving. Not to be recommended. Night all!

Hi guys! Here I am, sitting in the reception area of a hotel near Arras in France. I really did NOT want to leave UK. It was a terrible wrench to do something I didn’t want to do. Dad had left early to attend a samba band gig and when I couldn’t find anything else to pack, eventually left at 11am. News… I bought a Sat Nav. It is the most wonderful thing ever. Got here without a hitch AND I now have the confidence to drive faster – 100kph, no problem! So, I may even tell the satnav to take me via motorways rather than the B roads – as nice as they are, so far. Just want to get the journey over and done with. As far as I know, Skopelos has not burnt down.

Hi Everyone.

As you might know the Blog I’ve been using since 2005 has become corrupted by spams. The way round this – so that I don’t lose my text – is that I have created this new blog and have copied and pasted all my old stuff into this one. So, you can totally ignore everything below because you may have read it already. There is another blog that Rob and I have but that is mainly about Rob’s recent trip to England and some of you are already readers of that one.

I am sorry that all the photos have been lost from the ‘recovered’ 2006/2005 blog – but I shall work hard to get more for this one. Try this address, I have posted some photos there.

Anyway, it is just one week till I set off again. On Wednesday 12th September I leave New Zealand for five weeks to England, Scotland and Greece. The main purpose of my trip is to dispose of our possessions which are in storage in Hornsea. So, after that is done then I have time to play – and to blog. I hope you will keep me company again; it comforts me to know I am not out in the big wide world all alone, but am watched over by my blog friends wherever I go. So, until September, bye for now. Love to all. Ann

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Birthday Treat

Hello everyone,
A birthday blog – since I went on a trip! Rob has planned a birthday trip for me for the last few years (Paris, Cambridge, Melbourne) and this year we flew to Christchurch. He keeps this a secret from me till the morning we are departing, so I have lots of fun trying to wheedle it out of him – and my friends, who he co-opts to care for Daisy and Sissy. Christchurch is, as everyone has told me, a bit English – lots of red brick, gothic centre of town buildings, oak, ash, beach trees and lots and lots of roses. It is a very substantial town of 400,000 people and covers an area larger than Auckland. It sits on a plain with mountains behind and large hills to the south. It has a river running through it and a huge park (HagleyPark) just off the town centre. We arrived at lunch time and after settling in our hotel (The George – you can find it in Small Luxury Hotels, or at www.slh.com; our suite was very comfortable – ask Rob about the spa bath, if you want to embarass me!!!) and then visited the Arts Centre where we had lunch (the Arts Centre has taken over the university bulidings since the Uni has moved out of town) and looked at the craft shops, then we looked at the Cathedral, the Art Gallery (very modern – glass and steel – but I liked it) and then the botanical gardens, before arriving at our hotel for a rest and then dinner. The hotel had very poor choices for a vegetarian so when we had booked for the evening I had asked them to make me a vege meal – and it was suberp.

The following morning we set of for Akaroa in the chaffeur driven mercedes that Rob had hired. Akaroa is 1.30hrs away and over some high hills and low dales. We saw lots of cows and lots and lots of sheep; we visited a cheese factory and bought some to take home; spent some time in Akaroa and bought a beautiful kouri bowl with inlaid ebony and pau shell – as well as pressies for friends. Akaroa is a French settled town although it has lost most of its French influence and you can see it in the names of the streets, some shops and the cemetary. There were three impressive little churches, a pretty harbour and again the ubiquitous idylic hills and outlook from the town. Our driver, Lyndal, was knowledgeable about the area and kept us informed of all sorts of information about the area. We went off for lunch to the French Bay Vineyard – good wine and food, wonderful views, lovely weather – the superlatives just go on and on!!! On the way back we went over the hill to Oakin Bay where there was a very quaint Maori Museum – which had not seen a duster since it began I think. However, there were lots of very interesting Maori artifacts in the main museum as well as some colonial buildings with contents – I am so glad that I live now and not then – a couple of cottage, a smithy and a chandlers as well as a couple of Maori traditioanl buildings.

Back to Christchurch for a frustrating wait at the airport, but we arrived back in time to drinks – and cheeses – with Sue, Alex, Julia, Coralie and Philip as I opened my birthday presents. We were all in an unusually good mood – perhaps the bubbles helped – and there was lots of laughter and good humour, and it was good to be with friends on my birthday, although I thought of others that were not there too. A VERY GOOD BIRTHDAY, and thank you to everyone for my cards, good wishes and presents