Part 28 - Two years into a pandemic

The past two years have been ... enlightening, challenging, fun, enriching, fulfilling, hard, exhausting, energising ... and everything in between.

Lockdown came and went in 2020 in NZ, we went 'hard and early' on 25 March - united as a country to eliminate the virus from our shores. There was generally mass compliance and unity, helped by the daily communication about the efforts of our 'team of 5 million'. And it paid off. 8th June 2020 brought glorious news that there were no active cases of Covid-19 in the community. We had beaten it.

Or had we?

Through the remainder of 2020 and into 2021 different regions went into different levels of the Alert Level system as the odd case here and there made it's way from the border and into the community (thank you for all your efforts Auckland!). We watched from afar as talk of the Delta variant taking hold of the globe made it's way to our corner of the world. However, in New Zealand those of us outside Auckland lived relatively free from restrictions.

August 17 2021 brought an unexpected press conference, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. This could only mean one thing; it had returned. The nation returned to Alert Level 4 (lockdown) for three weeks.

Throughout September and October a large part of the North Island remained in Alert Levels 3 or 4 and on 2 December 2021 the Alert Level system was replaced with the Covid-19 Protection Framework (traffic lights). The framework's main objectives were to keep the population safe while also introducing more freedoms and reducing the need for future country-wide lockdowns.

It's intention is to keep us as safe as possible while enabling us to  continue with some sense of normality.

Traffic lights

Key components of the Covid-19 Protection Framework (CPF) are:

• Vaccination and My Vaccine Pass: As of today only 4.6% of the NZ eligible adult population is unvaccinated. Vaccination is key for New Zealand to manage the outbreak by reducing the likelihood of getting really sick (individual protection), going to hospital (protecting our Health resources) or passing COVID-19 on to others (protection of others).
• Capacity Limits: Managing spaces and places to enable physical distancing.
• Record keeping: The government-led Covid Tracer App (QR Codes) are used extensively to track positive covid cases and alert those who may have been exposed to Covid-19. As can be expected the use of the app across the population peaks at times of high case numbers, yesterday alone there were over 2.1 million scans of QR Codes across the country. It has become common practice for many of us to scan into our workplaces and anywhere else we may choose to go.
• Localised protections and lockdowns: For use as required to manage outbreaks.

If you want to find out more about the CPF you can do so here.

So what is life like here today?

We are having our highest ever Covid-19 case numbers. The Omicron variant is beginning it's sweep though the nation; yesterday we had 1160 new community cases: most of which are in Auckland (861), followed - but not closely - by Waikato (73).

The country is in the Red traffic light setting, phase two. At Red, our actions are focussed on protecting our vulnerable communities and our health system - pretty important areas of focus in my view.

In Red we can travel, we can go out to work and study, we can go to cafes, malls and retail stores, we are not in lockdown. We wear masks - in some spaces they are mandatory to protect ourselves and others, in most spaces they are strongly encouraged. Everyone can access basic health needs such as food and healthcare. In non-essential places where there is a higher chance of contracting or spreading Covid-19 (eg cafes and restaurants) there are vaccine requirements to enter. Most hospitality outlets offer contactless takeaway for those who choose not to be vaccinated.

There are plans for a staggered border reopening so that we can welcome back whānau (family) and friends in a way that doesn't unnecessarily put the rest of the population - that has worked so hard for two years to keep ourselves and others safe - at risk.

Yes there are those that disagree with where we're at; we wouldn't be a diverse nation if there weren't.

New Zealand has had 23,509 cases of Covid to date, we have had 53 Covid-19 deaths. We are in an incredibly strong position to be able to respond to the Omicron overwhelm that is about to hit us both in terms of individual safety and the resources available in our Health system.

For that, I am truly thankful.

Part 27: Day two in a locked down house (you should read this title in the Big Brother voice)

So we're on day two of lock-down, and we have a minimum of four weeks of it.

It's taken some structure and scheduling to get us working remotely - and simultaneously parenting sufficiently.

For those who read this and don't know us:

• I work at a University and I am working remotely; some of my work involves participating in online calls, committees and meetings, I also have a team of people who I work with, some of my work is self-paced; creating, connecting and planning.
• My partner works at a pipe and climate control company and he is also working remotely; he is usually out on the road.
• We have a four year old daughter who usually attends daycare, she is (obviously) home too.

That presents some pretty challenging dynamics.

In preparation, I wrote a schedule prior to day one. Then we trialed it. Then at the end of day one I rewrote it. It's now the end of day two and I will rewrite it again this evening. The timing of some activities need to be matched with energy levels (of our daughter and of us) and that's taking some manipulation to fathom out. I take my hat off to childcare workers, you are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Our daily schedule version 2

Our schedule needs to be flexible (due to the demands of work for both of us), so it is designed to capture specific activities that our daughter can do independently, and activities that we parents can divide between us - to give each other time to focus on work - as well as a daily walk / bike ride, which we do as a family (while maintaining physical distancing).
Note: I am taking on the daily PE lesson, I could barely walk when I woke up this morning.

Balancing parenting and remote working is hard. We are, and have always been, very mindful of screen time. However, we have also had to relax the rules a bit so that we can dedicate time to focus on our work. That brings a fair dose of guilt with it (doesn't anything related to parenting?!). However, we are focusing on what matters, we are realistic about what we can achieve, and we are thankful that we have employers who understand.

An obstacle course in the garden

We also have perspective. We are not unique in this situation, there are plenty of families out there who are all locked down together, some have several children of varying ages at home, some are separated (which adds another layer of complexity), others have children with serious conditions and special needs, some are caring for elderly relatives, and there will be many many more in situations way more challenging than ours.

This unique, historic event that we find ourselves part of requires us to be kind, caring, patient, open communicators and trusting of others. Something that we can all find within us if we dig deep enough.

Kia kaha💗

Part 26 - A little note from NZ

In 24 hours, New Zealand goes into lock-down.

No travelling to your usual place of work (unless you are considered to deliver an essential service).

No on-site attendance at daycare, school or other educational institution.

No non-essential places open (cafes, bars, restaurants, malls, etc.).

No children's birthday parties.

No attendance at lessons; swimming, ballet, sports.

No meeting up with friends for a catch up.

No parks or playgrounds.

We can go out in the sunshine, whilst maintaining 2 metre physical distancing from anyone we're not home-isolating with. We can go and buy food from the grocery stores. We can go to hospital, should the need arise (let's hope not). 

The rest of life - for now - is on hold while we all take a collective breath and commit to doing what we need to, to save the lives of others.

I love the perspective that this gives

I have ridden the roller-coasters of emotion that come with being told your whole world is about to change beyond all recognition: that the freedom that I took for granted is going to be taken away (to a degree), that the physical touch of others that I rely on, is no longer there to comfort me. That "just popping out to pickup...." is no longer a part of my day. I will continue to ride those emotional roller-coasters too - they don't all show up within a 24 hour period.

AND we are lucky. We are safe, we live in a developed country. We have access to warm clothes, warm houses, a plentiful supply of locally grown food, we have medical and emotional support, should we need it.

We have not seen the devastation and disruption that has occurred in other parts of the world. The worst may be yet to come to NZ but I am hopeful. If we all do the right thing we can beat this, and we can drive the change we are all longing to see.

See, this isn't about us - this is about other people. It's about imagining that we've been infected and are trying not to pass it on to someone in our community who is more vulnerable than us who will die from it. This isn't a game of chicken, this is life or death. Now is not the time for rule breaking.

So for now, we are closed to normality, but we are open to new ways of doing things. When normality returns (which it inevitably will) I hope we are all a little wiser, a little kinder, a little more grateful and a little safer in the knowledge of the things that truly matter.

We are closed, but we're open to new ways of doing things

There's a saying that is incredibly reassuring for me in times of uncertainty:

"There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be"

~ John Lennon

For me, I'll be here, at home in New Zealand. Working remotely, connecting with loved ones (at home and online) and creating precious memories. I hope you'll be doing the same, wherever in the world you may be.

Kia kaha 💗

Part 25 - leaving your heart at the airport

It’s January, 2019. We have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. My mum came to visit us for the first time in New Zealand since we emigrated in 2011 - it was amazing showing her the country we call ‘home’. We visited a living Maori village, we kayaked at night to see the glow worms in a canyon, we went to the beach, we saw waterfalls (lots of them!), we went shopping (lots of that too) and we spent time and energy on each other. It was so fulfilling to see my 2 year old daughter building her relationship with her nanny. Most of all, it was lovely to just be ... together. To have mum around as part of every day life.

Then comes the inevitable time of having to drop mum back off at Auckland Airport for the long trip back to Wales. This is that pit in your stomach that just won’t go away. This is the dread that you feel when you’re on the way to the airport to pick them up in the first place; knowing that next time you’re here you’ll be dropping them off. This is that ball of fire in your throat which hurts and feels like it will never go away. These are the tears which fall inevitably and consistently and effortlessly because it hurts so deep inside. This is leaving a piece of your heart at Auckland Airport, every time you come back to drop off the most precious pieces of cargo you will ever be connected to. Every. Single. Time.

And yet this is the life we chose. We chose to live 12,000 miles away from the people who complete us. We chose New Zealand. Others are not so fortunate and are separated for a myriad of reasons beyond their control. We chose it. It doesn’t make it hurt any less. And so we look forward to the ‘next times’.

Part 24 - Sometimes I wobble

So much has happened since I last wrote here in 2014:  we've moved house - I've lost count of how many times (pretty common out here when you're renting); we've been back to the UK for a holiday - and my big brother & Lucy's beautiful wedding;  I've had the absolute pleasure of one of my younger brothers living in the same country as me for the past 2.5 years (he was on a work holiday visa); we've continued to work and catch up with friends and generally live life. We've also had our first baby - a little girl who is now 16 months old and the absolute light of our lives. Her smiles and laughter fill our days - and our phone memory. She is also the reason for this post - sometimes I wobble.

Up until she was born I was so confident in my decision to live 12,000 miles away from the people I love the most. Up until she was born I was 100% committed to my new life in New Zealand. Up until she was born I could never see myself going to live back in Wales. I was - and still am - a big believer in the quote 'not all those who wander are lost' ... I actually have this quote framed in my house.

And then she arrived - a beautiful, healthy 8lb bundle of joy, light and love. She rocked our world.

So now, sometimes, I wobble. I think about everyone who we're denying her access to - and everyone who loves her so much from so far away, and I wobble. I question 'what if ...?' and 'how can we ...?' and ultimately 'is it still right for us?'

Then we talk about why we emigrated, what we were seeking when we chose NZ, what it means to us - and now to her as well, I look at the support we have around us - people who have our absolute best intentions at heart and are essentially our extended NZ family, and I am comforted. The life she will live here in NZ will be amazing and she is no less loved for living 12,000 miles away.

I'm under no illusion - one day she'll temporarily leave us to do her Overseas Experience (OE) and she'll be thankful to have such a warm, loving family to welcome her on the other side of the world, and UK citizenship of course.

Sometimes I wobble, and that's ok with me.

Part 23 - Billy Connolly, Storm Ita and My first ever detox: how the GM Diet worked for me!

I can't believe it's been 10 months since I wrote my last blog entry - we have been busy bees and clearly just enjoying life in Auckland!

I won't go into detail about everything that we've been up to as that would take forever for me to write and ages for you to read so I will spare you :)

Heaps of celebs have been making an appearance here too which has been nice, I was lucky enough to see Beyonce at the end of last year as well as Dolly Parton (legend, it's got to be done!) earlier this year and Bruno Mars not so long ago! We also had tickets to see the Rolling Stones last weekend but this has been postponed due to the sad death of Mick Jagger's girlfriend L'Wren Scott so we'll be seeing them later on in the year. Last weekend Billy Connolly was here in Auckland and we had tickets in row 5 which was awesome and I was SO EXCITED ABOUT!!! I have some great memories of watching my fave ever live DVD of Billy with my Best friend in Wales when we were younger ... I think we both know all the words to it ... "GIANT ANTS ... ARE EATING MA' HEED!" Ha ha ha - makes me smile even as I type it!

Waiting for the Big Yin to make his appearance ...

We've come through summer so there have been lots of outdoor activities going on which has been awesome and now we're in autumn ... that said we've had a cracking autumn so far (that is ... until the royals showed up!) On that note, it is lovely to have an air of excitement around about Will, Kate & Baby George - everyone seems to have nice things to say about them.

We had a crazy storm on Thursday (it's now Saturday) and that seems to have cleared the air for even more sunshine!

Tamaki Drive in Auckland during Storm Ita
 

People trying to get to work on Tamaki Drive, Auckland during Storm Ita

Anyway, I decided to do my 1st ever detox a couple of weeks ago and I used the General Motors (GM) Diet plan to do it. I wanted to share what I thought of it with you guys, I hope you enjoy:
---------------------------

Day one Tuesday (also went to gym at lunchtime)

Made a batch of soup the night before I started which consisted of:

• 1 tin of tomatoes
  
• 2 onions
  
• Cabbage
  
• Green beans
  
• 1 green pepper
  
• Celery
  
• Peas
  
• Vegetable stock (3 cubes)
  
• 1.5 litres of water
  
• Chilli powder
  

Today wasn’t too difficult, I am allowed to have fruit only all day (no bananas) and as much vegetable soup as I like. I am feeling motivated and keen to shake off the addiction to refined sugar that a lot of us have!

Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: 2 apples
  
• Mid morning: kiwi fruit, orange
  
• Lunch: papaya, soup
  
• Mid afternoon: kiwi fruit, 2 apples
  
• Dinner: papaya
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water
  

Day two (Loss: 1kg) Wednesday

I woke up feeling bright, thirsty and hungry.

Just the smell of the soup put me off when I was preparing meals for work! I actually quite enjoyed it when I ate it though. I went for a short walk at lunchtime to buy supplies ready for the next couple of days.

Today I am allowed vegetables only, and non-starchy vegetables at that (so no parsnips, pumpkin, squash, corn, etc) and the soup.

Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: celery, small amount of soup, genmaicha Japan tea
  
• Mid morning: soy flat white (not allowed!!) 1 Kiwiberry (not allowed! Got asked to try one)
  
• Lunch: salad leaves, pepper, tomatoes, cucumber. Balsamic vinegar, celery, cauliflower & broccoli (fried, no oil)
  
• Mid afternoon: soup
  
• Dinner: Baked potato, butter & mushrooms
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water
  

Day three (Loss: 0.4kg) Thursday

Woke up bright eyed and surprisingly energetic. I also have a constant feeling of hunger. This is the most difficult morning so far and I am really looking forward to lunch! I am having intermittent small headaches (not prolonged, very short).

I went for a 30 minute walk at lunchtime and felt drained at the end! I have also been quite drained all afternoon.

Dinner was a complete disaster ... I’m really not feeling it today. Ironically I preferred the days when it was all fruit or all veg – not the combination (not sure why). I actually think this diet is putting me off vegetables, which isn’t a good thing as I eat a fair amount of them usually anyway. I tried to abate my hunger in the evening with water, but still went to bed quite hungry.

I made a new batch of soup tonight and it’s not as nice as the original one I made. This one has less stock it and uses fresh cherry tomatoes instead of a tin ... wishing I’d stuck with my first recipe! The original GM soup recipe calls for just using water! Ach y fi (disgusting) as we’d say in Wales, I couldn’t have eaten that. This soup batch was made of:

• Fresh cherry tomatoes
  
• 3 onions
  
• Cabbage
  
• Green beans
  
• 1 red pepper
  
• Celery
  
• Vegetable stock (1 cube)
  
• 1.5 litres of water
  
• A touch of cumin
  

Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: soup, half a nashi pear, 1 apple, feijoa, herbal tea
  
• Mid morning: Satsuma, kiwi fruit, herbal tea
  
• Lunch: courgette, carrot & mushroom fried in a little olive oil with sauce (made of balsamic, mustard & Nando’s hot peri peri), tomatoes. Had to have half of this at 11.30am. Apple, plum.
  
• Dinner: half a nashi pear, half an apple, soup with fried broccoli and cauliflower (not good! Ate some of it...yuck)
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water
  

Day four (Gain: 0.6kg) Friday

After a strict day yesterday and not enjoying it at all – I put on 0.6kgs! It was pretty demotivating, even though I was doing this to cleanse as opposed to losing weight. I actually think my body may have gone into ‘starvation mode’ yesterday – I know little about this but have heard the term banded about when people go on extreme diets your body clings to everything it gets.

Still ... I’m sticking with it – I know I will be cheating on Saturday night as I’m going to see Billy Connolly live and it would be rude not to have a cheeky wine or two while appreciating the Big Yin! (I am SO EXCITED about this!)

That said I woke up feeling very bright eyed and bushy tailed again today (this is definitely the theme) AND I get to eat bananas and drink milk today.

I have been looking forward to this day all week. I love bananas! I can have up to 8 bananas and 3 glasses of trim / skimmed milk throughout the day, along with the soup. I can also (‘legally’) have an espresso coffee with milk (known as a flat white here in NZ) to start my day. I am not a huge coffee drinker, I am more into all sorts of tea – however, I have missed being able to fill up on a flat white. One change though is that I would usually have a sugar in my coffee, I didn’t this morning and I could easily get used to sugar-free coffee having not had refined sugar for a few days. This is a good outcome!

I prepared for the day by making a banana smoothie with 2 bananas and a tall glass of trim milk (half for morning tea and half for lunch). When I had the first half of this for morning tea it tasted lovely and extremely sweet – the sweetest thing I have eaten in 4 days!

I felt very satisfied after lunch with my soup & have a smoothie ... plus after everything I said yesterday about my new batch of soup it was actually OK today – I had put heaps of pepper in it before I went to bed last night and that definitely pepped it up a bit (spot the unintentional pun)!

I had 6 bananas in all and was feeling reasonably satisfied by bedtime. This is usually the day that people put on a pound or so, so I'm frustrated that happened to me yesterday.

Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: Coffee with milk!! Yum (no sugar)
  
• Mid morning: Half a smoothie, genmaicha Japan tea. This left me feeling satisfied – not full and not hungry :)
  
• Lunch: Soup, other half of my smoothie. Feeling full!
  
• Mid afternoon: 1 banana
  
• Pre Dinner: 1 banana
  
• Dinner: soup, 1 banana, 1 glass of milk (smoothie)
  
• Evening: 1 frozen banana
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water

Day five (Loss: 1.5kg) Saturday

This is going to be tough, it’s Saturday. Work has kept my mind off food for the past 4 days and now I have free time to play with. However, I am so excited that I can have brown rice for the next 3 days!! I am also going out on a limb this evening and having alcoholic drinks so we’ll see how that goes. I know, I know – alcohol is not detoxing ... I am happy not to call it detoxing if it makes the reader feel better :)

The lesson I learnt overnight is to trust the process. So glad I didn't give up yesterday as I lost 1.5kgs – there is definitely something in the starvation thing I was taking about on day 3.

Today I am allowed 1 cup of brown rice and tomatoes. If I ate meat then today and tomorrow I would be able to eat beef, but I don’t so it is substituted for brown rice which suits me just fine.

I prepared last night for today's menu of brown rice and tomatoes. I read that it should be 1 cup of brown rice but can't find anywhere if that's supposed to be 1 cup measured uncooked or cooked so, having checked the label and seeing that 1/3 of a cup (uncooked) is a serving and gives you around 250 cals I made the educated decision that it must be 1 cup measured uncooked as that would be around a 900 calorie allowance which is low for normal daily amounts but relatively high on this diet. 1 cup of brown rice is around 210 grams and when I cooked it, it looked like a feast! I cut up 3 large tomatoes and dropped them in and also threw in some cherry toms for good measure (apparently tomatoes are foods from the gods … as are eggs usually).

Breakfast was more of a brunch time wise as I had it at about 11.30am – it was absolutely divine eating rice (I love brown rice anyway) – my taste buds came alive and it was amazing to be eating something of substance. When you heat the rice with tomatoes it turns the toms mushy and I know this dish will become a regular for me, I really like it.

I knew we were going out Saturday night to see Billy Connolly so knew that it was no longer detoxing – what with drinking alcoholic bevvies … plus we ended up going for dinner first! I ordered a small portion of battered fish with smashcut fries (fat wedges of potato deep fried!) and it certainly was a small portion when it arrived, I ate the fish and only had 2 potatoes before I felt full! Usually I would have finished my meal and this time I didn't – my needs were met and I left the rest :) Had an amazing night at Billy Connolly (High Horse Tour), he is so funny and it was also sad to hear of his battle with cancer and the ongoing fight with Parkinsons.

 

Here he is!!

 

We got home at 3am on Sunday(!) and I was feeling peckish when I got in, yet instead of reaching for the rice crackers I heated a bowl of brown rice and tomatoes, perfect!

Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: brown rice and tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper.
  
• Lunch: brown rice and tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper.
  
• Dinner: battered fish & smashcut fries
  
• Evening (actually at 3am Sunday!): brown rice & tomatoes
  
• Drinks: 1 litre of water, 4 glasses of wine, 2 Canadian club & dry ginger ale, 1 vodka lime & soda
  

Day six (Loss: 0.1kg) Sunday

Okay so I weighed this morning and still lost 0.1kg … that said, I think it's dehydration so I will take it with a pinch of salt and see how it's looking tomorrow!

Again I am allowed 1 cup of rice today with veggies (this would be beef with veggies if you eat meat). I am glad I can have the rice, my body is screaming out for carbs after a night on the town last night and I am trying to shut it up with yummy brown rice.

Woke up this morning and there was a tiny amount of yesterdays brown rice and tomatoes batch left so I was able to curb my hunger pangs with that before making my new batch for the day. For today's rice dish I cooked the cup of brown rice then fried some peas, grated carrot and yellow capsicum (no oil) and tossed that through along with some tomatoes and salt & pepper. Yum!

 

My daily allowance of brown rice & veggies

 

Today's menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: Brown rice and tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper.
  
• Lunch: Brown rice and veggie mix with hot sauce
  
• Dinner: Roast vegetables (parsnips, sprouts, pumpkin, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans) with a tiny dribble of gravy (not allowed!)
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water

Beautiful roast veggies

Day 7 (Gain: 0.8kg) Monday

It’s the last day of the diet and I am excited to be allowed fruit juice – even though I very very rarely drink it as part of my usual regimen! I bought the juice on Friday in preparation and have been looking forward to it :) I went for the Simply Squeezed Super Juice (apple, pineapple, mango & passion fruit) as it was one of the few I could find with no added sugars or dairy.

Simply Squeezed Super Juice

 

Having woken up and weighed this morning, I put on 0.8kg ... I knew the weekend shenanigans would rear their head at some point. Need to remind myself that I am doing this for health reasons and not for weight loss!

I only ate half the rice yesterday because I had the roast veggies for dinner so I have brought the other half in to work … and only eaten half of that (for breakfast).

Safe to say that from lunchtime I had stopped the GM diet – not because it was too difficult, more so because I was taken out to lunch with my boss and then later on in the evening I though it would be silly to revert back to making some rice with veg when I hadn’t stuck with it all day so I made a Quorn (vegetarian meat alternative, not soy) curry and had brown rice with it. Very nice it was too!

I thin I was mentally over it by this point, as you'll see by what I ate. Today’s menu looked like this:

• Breakfast: 1 glass simply squeezed super juice, bowl of veggie rice
  
• Lunch: 1 glass simply squeezed super juice, salmon salad (taken out to lunch)
  
• Dinner: Homemade Quorn curry with brown rice (Quorn is not allowed!)
  
• Evening: CurlyWurly, handful of almonds (very naughty indeed!)
  
• Drinks: over 2 litres of water
  

Tuesday

So it’s the 1^st day of officially not being on the GM diet. Overall I lost 1.6kg in 7 days (after losing, gaining, losing, etc) and the main outcome was the change in my mindset and the realisation that fasting is not a bad thing and my portions can be smaller and still fill me up. I have actually started listening to my body as opposed to letting my portion size dictate how much I eat.

Not that I ate badly or HUGE amounts previously, it just could have done with a bit of a review and the GM diet provided that. It also curbed my sweet tooth – I now longer have sugar in my coffee and I don’t need it, I am also rarely craving sweet foods as yet – I just need to keep that under control.

One final result from the GM diet has been that I have realised that I don’t eat enough for lunch – I would usually make myself a green leafy salad with tuna or pumpkin and it’s not enough for me to feel full all afternoon, heck it barely covers the hunger at lunchtime! I will consciously ensure that I eat more at lunchtime and this will in turn reduce my hunger at dinner time and reduce my ‘eating so much that I go to bed feeling stuffed’.

I started day 8 with a coffee to have on the way to work then 2 boiled eggs and a handful of almonds for Breakfast / morning snacking – 3 things I hadn’t been allowed to indulge in for a week and it was amazing! Eggs and tomatoes are going to be cornerstones of my diet from now on – I love them both and they are packed full of nutrients … perfect combo!

I have also decided to dramatically lower my intake of potatoes, pasta and white rice … in fact, I’ll happily never eat white rice again, if I could just get the Other Half (OH) onto it too then I could ban it from the house!

Anyway, don’t panic – my blog is not going to be focussed on food from now on, I’d bore you all to tears. I just wanted to share my experience of the GM diet.

----------------

It's now Easter weekend and I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter :) We have Good Friday and Easter Monday as public Holidays and on the 25 April is ANZAC Day so we have taken the 3 days off in between and got 10 days off for the price of 3!

We spent yesterday (Good Friday) out checking up on our boat (that's another story for another blog post!) and ensuring it was still on it's mooring following the storm this week, luckily it was and I feel for the owners of the 2 boats below which didn't fare so well.

We stopped in town and had a beautiful lunch at Federal Delicatessen which is owned by the Chef Al Brown and the food was absolutely glorious. Then attempted a walk along Takapuna Beach but the wind was a wee bit chilly!

Looking forward to spending some time with the Other Half (OH) in Whangamata for a few days and enjoying some good food, good NZ wine and good company. I hope you all have a fantastic long weekend.

Part 22 - 20 things you have to love about New Zealand

When you are emigrating to a new country it's really important to do a fair bit of research about the country you're moving to...not only so that you know what you're letting yourself in for but also to limit the 'settling in' period - it's not such a shock to the system.

I was a bit addicted to the different expats forums prior to moving (namely http://britishexpats.com/forum/ and http://www.enz.org/forum/ and http://www.expatforum.com/expats/new-zealand-expat-forum-expats-living-new-zealand) and they provided a plethora of information which was really useful both during the information gathering and visa application stages as well as during the transition geographically and later on when settling in.

What I am hoping to achieve with this post is to give you some insight into living in New Zealand (specifically Invercargill & Auckland) and some of the things that stood out for me...based on my previous 29 years living in Wales, UK.

There's nothing worse than people constantly complaining about what they miss about not living in their home country anymore (although we're all slightly guilty of it) so please don't think I am doing that...it's just my insight into the things I have come to know and love about my new home country and more specifically, the Kiwi's who I have met.

So here they are: 20 things you have to love about New Zealanders:

1. No one crosses the road without the little green man telling them that it's ok to cross. This is understandable to some degree in a busy city like Auckland, but I witnessed the very same thing in Invercargill and it's the same in Auckland on tiny roads which are clearly visible. You even get a countdown after the green man, saying how long you have left to cross. Everyone pushes the button to cross and waits to be told before they do. Even the dogs here know the sound of the beep and know they can cross the road. If you feel like risking life and limb by crossing without the green man then everyone watches you...I'm sure they are admiring the courage and rooting for the individual to make it across but you feel like an outsider doing it. I now wait for the green man every time...I feel like the kiwis know something I don't.
2. The language is quite old fashioned. I have never before used the words 'stockings' to indicate 'tights', 'slips' and 'singlets' to indicate undergarments, 'pants' for trousers, 'lollies' for sweets, I have never owned a 'pantry' (I've always just had kitchen cupboards) - and yet these are now in my everyday vocabulary. In fact I didn't even own a slip until very recently and yet it's a staple piece of clothing here to wear under your dresses.
3. We use truly seasonal fruit and veg. In the UK we were used to getting any fruit and veg required at any time of the year for the same price month in, month out. Yet here we have seasonal veg, seasonal prices. You can still buy a telegraph cucumber in winter but you'll pay almost $5 for it. It has made me so much more interested in using different veggies that I hadn't even considered before.
4. People talk about it being 'freezing' in winter. When we lived in Invercargill we had a flurry of snow and hail and it was pretty cold (we emigrated from a severe UK winter to a pretty cold Invers winter). Since living in Auckland I have gone soft...as have most of the people around me. So far I think the lowest temperature we have had this winter has been 9 degrees (we may have had one day last month where it was 5 degrees in the morning) but it's usually about 16 / 17 degrees by the afternoon - yet I am guilty of saying how 'freezing cold' it is! The other evening I had to pop out in the car at about 7pm on a Saturday night and I was really feeling the cold; checked the outside temperature gauge on the car and it was actually 16 degrees. That was the same night I got my flannelette (there's another old fashioned word for you) winter pjs out of the closet ready for winter.
5. They say 'no' to Starbucks. This is a bit of a generalisation but I don't know anyone here who would choose to go to Starbucks over one of the local coffee shops (of which there are plenty!) The coffee here is damn good and it's no thanks to Starbucks.
6. We officially use UK English here in NZ to spell words (like colour, flavour, etc) and yet the pronunciation of many words is in US English (eg garaaage as opposed to garage, darta as opposed to data, etc)
7. The bars get away with charging insane prices for alcoholic drinks and no one complains. In fact, there is a British bar in Auckland CBD called The Spitting Feathers and they have extremely cheap drinks and great meal deals (Wednesday night = steak night, a sirloin steak and real chips with 2 pints or 2 glasses of wine or 3 bottles of beer for $20) and they were banned by Auckland Council for advertising their drink prices on FaceBook because 'they're not competitive' - basically other local bars had complained because they couldn't compete on price. They just ended up being very creative with their advertising and putting up a picture of Heineken bottles with an image of 3 male deer next to it...3 bucks for Heineken. They are back advertising freely again now so I assume it was overturned.
8. Auckland is a truly multicultural city...yet the amount of tabloid style racism or multicultural angst I have come across is nil. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I'm saying I've never heard it. The UK could learn a lot about living happily alongside other nations from New Zealanders.
9. No one is in a hurry. This is completely awesome...unless you are in a hurry. This is probably best illustrated when you're waiting behind someone at a red traffic light...the light turns green and for a few seconds nothing happens - they don't have their foot on the accelerator waiting for it to turn green so that they can speed off...people just take their time.
10. The men are very gentleman-like. In the office I work in we need to get into lifts to get to the relevant floor that we work on and I noticed recently that the men usually hold back and wait for the women to get into and out of the lifts before they do. I was heading to work the other morning and I walked through the mall underneath our building...as I was about to get onto the escalator there were 2 school boys heading towards it as well from another direction - I didn't even notice them until one made a point of waiting until I had got onto the escalator before he did. His friend had already hopped on - so it's not the same with everyone but it struck me that it was quite beyond his years to have done that. They were only about 15. I'm not one of those people who think that women should necessarily go first and I find it quite awkward to go in front of someone who was waiting before me (male or female)...that's the queuing Brit inside me...but it's quite endearing. This isn't to say that people aren't gentleman-like in the UK...it's just something I've noticed here.
11. New Zealanders pronounce 'e' as 'i'. This is purely an accent thing (and I am not one to talk on this subject!) but it has resulted in some comical misunderstandings...when simple terms like 'check in' become 'chicken', 'bed' becomes 'bid' and 'pen' becomes 'pin'. I won't even mention the confusing about going out on the deck in the summer...
12. We have loyalty cards for everything. In the UK we had loyalty cards for supermarkets, like Sainsbury's and Tesco where you earn points which eventually convert into a 'reward' voucher to spend in store. Well...this is on a whole new level - I have a loyalty card for Countdown (supermarket) and I use my FlyBuys card at New World (supermarket) and Z (petrol stations) but I have also been coerced into having loyalty cards for my favourite coffee shops (every 6th coffee is free), the Asian vegetarian shop (spend over $20 and you get a stamp...when you have 10 stamps you get $10 off a shop), fast food outlets like California Burrito (buy 5 burritos get your 6th free) and Pita Pit (like Subway but with filled pita breads...divine). People have huge wallets here and I think it's due to the amount of 'loyalty' cards they have...
13. There are 2 songs that you need to know to fit in at a sing song here, and the lyrics are questionable. You can learn them here (Dragon - Rain) and here (The Exponents - Why Does Love Do This To Me). We first heard these songs in a social club in Riverton and the whole crowd went insane singing at the tops of their lungs. So we made a point to find out what they were and learn them. Now I can be like a real Kiwi at a sing song.
14. What I previously understood to be a newsagents, is called a dairy here. Cute!
15. We have chips...and we have hot chips, and neither of these are what we know as real chips. So chips here are what I know as crisps and hot chips are kind of like chips you get in a chippy in the UK - except more often than not they are frozen. This is not a sneaky hidden thing...many of the chippies are proud that they use 'McCain' frozen chips and advertise it. Hence why we were so excited when we found real chips at The Spitting Feathers (still haven't found any curry sauce though)
16. Loads of the restaurants have BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine) and they charge a minimal corkage fee for you to drink it on the premises.
17. Everyone is willing to help. Maybe I have just been very lucky in the friends I made both in Southland and in Auckland, but it has struck me that everyone has time for everyone else. Nothing is too much trouble.
18. The 2nd of January is a public holiday...it's called 'Day after New Year's Day'. Need I say more?
19. They don't beat around the bush and have quite relaxed radio / TV regulations which allow for this. The first time I heard swearing on the radio here was in the morning - on the way to work, I was very surprised - but glad that they didn't feel the need to put crazy rules on everything. Let the people decide what they want to listen to. I was watching the news the other week - and they were showing the queen at one of the BBC Live Lounge shows...and it all looked pretty awkward...the NZ commentator said "the queen enjoyed this not at all awkward concert at the BBC' - say it like it is.
20. We celebrate mid-winter Christmas. In fact we had a mid winter Christmas with friends last night - it's winter so it feels festive and we got together for a nice roast and a few glasses of bubbles. We pulled crackers, listened to Christmas songs and watched Elf. It's July. I questioned the whole mid-winter Christmas thing when we lived down south and was told that 'it feels Christmassy in winter so we have another celebration then' which baffled me even more...it's Christmas at summertime here so how has it come to 'feel Christmassy' when it's cold? I guess it's because the population is largely NZ Europeans so their roots are in the northern hemisphere. Anyway, I'm not complaining, I heart Christmas so I am more than happy to have 2.

I am not saying that New Zealand is without it's issues but this should provide you with a snippet of the things that I absolutely adore about my new home. I hope one day you'll come and visit and experience all of these things for yourself.

Part 21 – Easter: time to relax and recuperate

Well hello my lovelies! I know it has been far far too long … I blame my Kindle (more on that later).

 

I'm going to start way back at Halloween and give you a little taster of what that's like for us here in New Zealand. I absolutely love Halloween and in the UK would spend a wee while in the lead up to it preparing my pumpkins and stocking up on sweets for the kiddies – this all stems from when I lived with my mum, who used to go all out decorating the porch with fake spider webs and a spooky pumpkin lantern on a stool greeting the kids (and occasionally adults dressed up scarily too!)

 

It's somewhat different here – the Kiwis haven't hugely adopted the trick or treat lifestyle and in 2011 we didn't have many trick or treaters at all – maybe 2 (I can't really remember). But 2012 shocked me – we had around 18 callers! Luckily I had stocked up on enough sweets ('lollies' as they're called here) to cater for everyone and the costumes were fab.

 

Because it's coming into summer for us when Halloween happens the nights are very light so pumpkins don't have the same effect...they're also out of season so quite expensive to waste! Needless to say my pumpkins have stopped...but I do eat them all the time now so that more than makes up for it!as I would never have dreamt to eat pumpkin in the UK!

 

Change isn't necessarily a bad thing though – I also don't have any fear of being egged over Halloween here...I remember in the UK you would be less likely to pop to Asda on Halloween night for fear of the gangs of kids deciding you were an easy target but I have gladly seen no evidence of that malice here.

 

 

My pumpkins in the UK - 2010

Witch pumpkin - 2009 

Wolf pumpkin - 2009

Halloween was followed by bonfire night – you can only legally buy fireworks in New Zealand for 3 days of the year (prior to bonfire night) and during those 3 days a number of little stalls pop up on the sides of the road and in shopping centres where you can purchase to your heart's content.

 

As we live on the North Shore and have pretty awesome views over the city we decided to just drive up the road and watch from afar, it was lovely. They don't seem to do bonfires here though – just the fireworks (not that I have seen anyway).

 

Not long after bonfire night the OH (Other Half) and I had a free weekend and made a last minute decision to go to the theatre. One of my favourite films is Little Shop of Horrors (the Rick Moranis spoof version...not the black comedy) and it Auckland Theatre Company were performing it...and there were 2 seats left for that very night...perfect! When we got there were assumed it must have been a cancellation as our seats were on the very front row at the side of the stage...our feet were literally on the stage! It was an awesome show and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We came out of the theatre into the bar area and there were canapes being served and drinks lined up along the bar...turns out it was the opening night and we were free to help ourselves! That was a turn up for the books! The cast were around enjoying a drink with family & friends and the director got up to make a speech...it was all very fun and a very random evening! You can read a review of it here.

 

November was busy in work as I had 80 or so summer interns starting and I look after their initial induction day – but they're a great, fun group to work with!

 

In November we also had a total eclipse of the sun in new Zealand for the first time in 25 years – we were all watching it out of the window in work but it was super bright! The day was quite overcast but I managed to get a better picture through the cloud is it gave some respite from the glare.

 

Auckland, New Zealand - total eclipse of the sun November 2012

 

Auckland, New Zealand - total eclipse of the sun November 2012

 

November usually signals the start of the cruise liners too – and we have many of those throughout the summer season. I have a pretty good view of the docked cruise liners from my kitchen in work.

View from the kitchen in work - often accommodating cruise liners

 

December starts with the unofficial beginning of summer – Crates with Mates day. The idea is that you get together with your mates and all bring a crate of beer to celebrate the start of hopefully an amazing summer! Quite a nice start to a season I think (although I'd prefer a nice NZ sauv...)

 

In December we headed down to Whangamata for the weekend as we had been invited to a friend's 60^th birthday celebrations. The theme? Americana! So I decided to dress up as Sandy from Grease and the OH went as Barack Obama (what a couple eh?!) Christine (whose birthday it was) and her husband John had arranged to book up all of the baches around theirs and a load of us headed down for a weekend of celebrating.

 

We got there on the Friday and settled in with a few drinks then on the Saturday the OH and I headed to the beach for breakfast and coffee before we all reconvened at Christine & John's for the activity they had planned for all of us. Basically it was a treasure hunt around the local town – we got into groups of 4-6...one person needed a camera and one needed to drive – the others were to complete the tasks laid out. We were given our packs and sent on our way! The pack contained an American flag hat, a list of things we needed to collect (think pine cone, staple, flexy straw), a map of the local area and a list of the activities and photographs needed to complete the task...things like leap frogging over a stranger, pictures with strangers on a roundabout, etc etc. It was all great fun!

 

The activity ended with us all having to go to a local pharmacy which had already been given the heads up that we were going to be arriving and printing out our photographs and returning to John & Christine's bach to be judged.

 

The group are quite a competitive lot and this was apparent when the judging was announced! We all had to agree that the creativity of the winners was unparalleled and we celebrated with a few drinks (and a nap in my case!)

 

Saturday night was party time and we all got dressed up and had food and drinks into the early hours. All in all it was an awesome weekend. HUGE thanks to John & Christine for the invite and for such a fabulous time.

 

Whangamata beach

Christmas crept up and before we knew it we were wrapping up in work and preparing for the festive season (my office closes down for 3 weeks over Christmas). I had pretty bad toothache coming up to Christmas and ended up having a root canal a few days before Christmas day which made it all better! Aside from that Christmas was awesome.

 

It usually takes a wee while to wind down after work and ease into the Christmas holidays but this year we started our holiday by driving up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands after the last day of work and spent 2 glorious nights in a hotel up there. The result? Instant relaxation! I hadn't been there since we went for Valentine's day when we were here on holiday in 2010 so it is filled with happy memories for me and this trip was no different.

 

Lazing by the pool in Paihia

 

We had been invited to celebrate Christmas day with the kiwi family (like last year) but hadn't had a Christmas just the 2 of us since 2008 so decided to do just that. We awoke on Christmas day, had eggs benedict for brunch then headed for a walk along Takapuna beach while dinner was cooking. The day was quite overcast so it was perfect for a roast! Well, it was still very warm but no blazing sunshine so a roast seemed do-able!

 

My main gift from the OH was a Kindle. I absolutely love reading and have never really looked into getting one for myself – I love cracking the spine of a book, it's all part of the enjoyment. However, now that I have a Kindle I absolutely love it. Books are quite expensive here in NZ (you don't get the great deals you get in Asda!) and the Kindle allows be to indulge in my passion for reading without costing me a small fortune! For fear of sounding like a Kindle advert – it's just so convenient to take on the bus to read on the way to and from work and I head out at lunchtime to lounge in the sunshine and catch up on my latest characters. I have just checked my archive and I have read 28 books since Christmas day (see, I am a real book worm!).

 

A festive Sky Tower

Festive Lily

 



Mmm ... Christmas dinner

 

For New Year we also decided to have a quiet one and invited Ange & John over for a nice relaxing evening of bubbles, beer and games! At midnight we took a walk up the road and watched the fireworks from the Sky Tower and across the city, then headed back home to teach Ange & John how to play Oh, Hell (cards) and finally called it a night at around 4am!

 

New Year's Day the OH and I brushed off the cobwebs with a couple of hours out cycling in Long Bay on the craziest mountain bike track I have ever been on...some of the hills were so steep I was far to scared to ride down them and had to get off my bike and run down! We did find a nudist beach though which I found rather amusing (childish, I know!)

 

At the top of a scary hill

 



The OH taking on a hill like a pro'

 

Beautiful views

Beautiful views

 

The OH was working in between the public holidays over Christmas but I finally was on leave until 14 January – it's pretty quiet all around Auckland until the kids go back to school in February (after their summer holidays) as everyone heads North for the summer.

 

During the Christmas break our landlady told us that she was selling her house (next door to us) and going travelling to the UK and Europe so we consequently decided to move house. We knew we were going to move in 2013 anyway and thought it would be good for her to have secure tenants in the unit while she was away so we just brought our plans forward. We just needed more space. I may have mentioned previously how crazy the housing market is here (both buying and renting) so apologies if I am repeating myself! When you are looking to rent a place here you really need to get stuck into it because the houses are snapped up within hours.

 

I started looking while on Christmas break and found a few places which were gone before I'd had chance to even look at them but managed to squeeze in a few viewings. We found a place just up the road from the unit we were living in and it had just been listed so I arranged to view it at 4pm that same day and by the next day we had sent in our application forms to live there (yep, you apply to rent and they choose who they think is the most suitable tenant) and by the following morning we had it secured. Within 3 weeks we were moved in to our new 4 bedroom house (well...3 beds and an office space really) with a spacious garden and decking area. Perfect!

 

Lily has settled in quickly and loves all the space she has to roam around, and she didn't go missing (bonus!)

 

Lily

January saw Auckland Anniversary weekend when we headed to the Auckland Seafood Festival with Ange & John and had a great time eating seafood, drinking bubbles and listening to music. It was a great day out and I managed to taste my first ever oyster at teh Bollinger & oyster stall! The Bollinger was lovely, the oyster...not so much! To be fair it wasn't as slimy as I thought it would be but it just tasted of the Tabasco and vinegar which I put on it so I didn't really see the point. I may try them again somewhere else 'cause the OH loves them so I'd like to see if they grow on me!

 

Auckland Seafood Festival 2013

Mmm ... scallops!

Great music

 

Then Waitangi Day followed closely in early February – we spent the day at the beach and then headed home to discover that we were under tsunami watch as there had been an earthquake off the Cook Islands. We didn't have a tsunami thankfully.

 

February was crazy in work as we had our 90 or so graduates starting with us and again I look after their initial induction day – again, they're a good bunch of new joiners to work and interact with and a good day was had by all.

 

We also headed to Devonport food & wine festival in February with some fellow Welshies Clare & Ben. Great food, great wine, great company and topped of with music makes a fun day out! We also randomly met a guy who has lived in New Zealand for 10 years but is originally from Blackwood (where we lived before we emigrated) so it was good to chat to him and his wife – and their friend Scottish John!

 

Devonport Food & Wine Festival 2013

 

Throughout summer we also managed to get tickets to see Stephen Merchant live on his Hello Ladies tour - he was absolutely hilarious. For those of you who can't quite place him he co-wrote The Office with Ricky Gervais as well as Extras (which he also starred in). If you get chance - see him, he is funny!

 

Waiting for Stephen Merchant - yes the room did full up!

 

We have been to the Silo Cinema at Silo Park in Auckland a few times over the summer - it's a great Friday evening out. Basically there are tall silos at Silo Park and each Friday they project a film onto it - people head over there with pillows, duvets, bean bags, snacks and drinks and settle in for the night. They have food stalls which serve up some pretty tasty food (the Hungarian breads and clay oven cooked pizzas are personal faves!) and a couple of market stalls too.

 

We went to watch Top Gun there a few weeks ago and it was like being at the cinema with a HUGE group of naughty (but funny) people...they were swit swoo-ing and whistling when Tom Cruise was getting lucky with Kelly McGillis and singing along to the theme song Taky my Breath Away. It was great fun. We spent Valentine's Day there too as they were showing The Princess Bride (one of my favourite films from my childhood) and the OH had never seen it! It was a perfectly lovely evening.

 

 Silo Park, Valentine's Day

 

Silo Park, Valentine's Day

 

In February we headed out to see Auckland Lantern Festival - it was a great reminder of how busy places outside of NZ can be! I don't think I've seen that many people in one place since I moved here...there were literally thousands of people looking at all of the amazing lanterns and the food stalls were swarming with people...it was quite difficult to get around and see what was on offer!

 

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

 

So summer is now over for us and we are heading into autumn...you'd never know it though, we have had an absolutely outstanding summer (even according to the kiwis I know!) and the sun continues to shine – much to the dismay of the farmers who need the rain. We have been officially declared a drought zone due to the lack of rainfall. I am absolutely loving the weather but I do feel for the farmers and the animals who are out in the dried up baron lands.

 

In March we headed to Diamond Day at Ellerslie again (we went last year with the OH's parents and the kiwi family) and enjoyed dressing up to go to the races with friends Ange & John and Andy & Heni. It was a beautifully sunny day and a couple of people had wins which is always nice!

 

Diamond Day at Ellerslie

Diamond Day at Ellerslie

 

The day after Diamond Day I had signed up to run the Round the Bays fun run again along with around 70,000 other participants. I wasn't sure if I'd feel up to it after a day at the races but I got up and ran the 8.4km and even knocked 3 minutes off last year's time. You can't really be competitive with the run as so many people prevents it – you don't usually get to the start lines until around 5-10 minutes after the start gun has gone off and for the first 3kms or so you are ducking and diving between people to find some space. It's great fun though and all for a good cause. The OH declined running it this year, opting instead to have a coffee and sit in the sun on the decking!

 

I was able to spend a fab evening catching up with a friend who I used to work with in 2008 last month - Stacey - who was here with her work. It's so nice to see a friendly face from the UK. You always take for granted having lots of family & friends around and when you emigrate it becomes apparent how much you miss just being able to catch up with people as and when you feel like it!

 

One thing I must mention (it would be rude not to) is the amazing rugby match that Wales won on 16 March 2013 to secure the 6 Nations winners title again for the 2nd year running. They played a spectacular game against England (who were looking for a 6 Nations grand slam) and beat them 30 - 3! Simply amazing - well done Wales! Now I'm not a Daily Mail reader but you can read a pretty spot on account of it here and a more accurate moment by moment replay courtesy of the Guardian here.

 

A couple of weeks ago the OH went out on a stag do and I went on a hen do for friend and her fiancé who are getting married next weekend which was good fun. The stag do consisted of early morning golf (the OH sat that one out) then a day at the cricket, then drinks in town and the hens night was quite sophisticated starting out at a very nice Italian pizzeria , closely followed by drinks in town and ending with her dancing on a bar ... 'nuff said. So we are looking forward to our 1^st kiwi wedding next weekend – should be fun!

 

But first things first it's Easter weekend this weekend. Last night (good Friday) in the absence of family we had friends over for dinner and drinks – I managed to successfully cook a leg of lamb and potato salad followed by my very rich chocolate mousse. Ending the night at around 2am singing Delilah with guitar makes it a good night by my books!

 

We're out for dinner this evening with our fellow Welshies – heading to Tanuki's Cave in Auckland … awesome place, amazing food & great atmosphere!

 

Tomorrow I am hoping we'll get chance to catch up with a friend who is here on holiday with her husband and son. Also planning to head to the beach over the weekend for a nice stroll or two as next week is going to be a little hectic in work – I'm heading to 3 of the other offices to facilitate a programme in the space of 2 days so I am planning on resting and recuperating as much as possible over this long weekend.

 

Luckily, Easter in New Zealand means that you are forced to relax – none of the shops are open on Good Friday or Easter Sunday by law which I think is great. Coming from the UK where you can pretty much shop 24/7 (even Christmas Day sees some local shops open) it's lovely not to have that option available to you. The dairies and essentials are allowed to open but none of the big supermarkets are open and many of the bars close at midnight on Thursday before Good Friday and reopen on Tuesday morning. You are not allowed to buy alcohol anywhere on Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

 

So I am now going to head off and relax. I wish you all a happy, healthy, relaxing Easter … with a bucket load of chocolate thrown in for good measure.