France, January 2010

Yes, like Joanna I wonder - do we say two thousand and ten, or twenty ten? Anyway, to move on! Off I went on another adventure. I flew out of Auckland on December 30th en route to Osaka in Japan. Spending time at the airport was quite surreal as there was no-one there! I know that airports have different terminals and I was no doubt in one that just wasn't busy that day, but really, it was just weird. In Japan, of all places! And actually, I just read somewhere that Osaka Airport is one of the best airports to get stranded in because of all it has to offer. Hmmm...... Anyway, the Air New Zealand flight to Osaka was good; the Air France flight on to Paris was just OK. And then I discovered that my suitcase had not made the journey with me! Oh, bloody charming!
*What does your suitcase look like?
*Well, it's black and covered in pink, blue, yellow and white spots.
*Any distinguishing features?
*IT'S SPOTTY!!!
C'est la vie. I was planning to change into something warmer before I caught the train, but.... hey, at least I had a nice warm coat!
So I arrived at Angouleme Station about 11.00pm on New Year's Eve. John was there to meet me and we drove back to his little town of Aigre, about 35 minutes away. Saw the new year in with a glass or two of red wine. As is compulsory in France I believe! No shops open the next day so I blobbed around in men's undies and a golf jersey. Not a good look. (Oh, and the trousers I had travelled in. Too cold for any nakedness!)
And that ends chapter one because I am still quite tired and instead of unpacking I have spent a large part of this afternoon putting up the pictures I picked up from the framer at lunchtime. Art works, posters etc I bought during my year in France. And which I love, but which cost a fortune to have framed! But hey, they are not much use shut in a cupboard somewhere. And I love them. :-) The top photo is of the sun setting whilst flying to France, and the other two photos were taken at Osaka Airport.

Tokyo Airport

I was not thrilled at the prospect of filling in 8 hours here, but I found an internet cafe where a.There is no time limit (unless they are very busy) and b. It is free! So already I have filled in 2 1/2 hours!　Nice.
I'm looking forward to　下ッ陳gほめアンd度wんぉあぢんgmyp歩とsアンdTHEんI'll whack a few on here with a few littlesとりえs。。OH goodness - I didn't even KNOW　I spoke Japanese. What I was trying to say was that I am looking forward to downloading my photos when I get home and then I'll put some on here with a story or two. Don't hold your breath - no romantic stories. As I suspected my somewhat elderly fella found it all a bit much having this　feisty Kiwi girl arrive and invade his space. We had a nice time, but.... Anyway, more to come. And I did　love the snow。：－）
I have missed you all!

Cheers.

I'm off to France tonight for a couple of weeks. I'm going via Japan both ways, and it's a long, long flight!
But never mind! Hopefully I'll have a few photos when I get back. In the meantime, have a happy new year celebration, and I send you my best wishes for a wonderful 2010. I hope your year finds you as happy, wealthy and wise as you want to be. And apart from always vowing to lose weight - ha! - I don't do New Year resolutions. I just like to be open to opportunities that may arise. That's enough to keep me on my toes! Talk to you again soon.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all from New Zealand and Australia - where I am staying at the moment with my son and his family, and where it is bakingly hot. But we still cooked a roast dinner! We unwrapped our presents this morning and then ate chocolates. (That's compulsory isn't it?)

The photos are from a common site on the internet, by the way. And are of New Zealand, rather than Australia. (Oooh, why has that underlined itself?)



And so to answer your question Flartopia, yes, our Christmas traditions are pretty much the same as in Britain really. Even to the extent of sometimes sending out Christmas Cards showing red robins in the snow! Crazy really, but it's just stuck from when our forefathers came out to New Zealand about 160 years ago. Australia was settled a bit earlier, but the same thing applies I imagine. Quite often these days people will have a barbeque or similar for Christmas Dinner, but I think that the majority of people still do the whole roast meal thing - turkey/chicken/ham/pork/lamb/whatever, and all the trimmings. Then we are exhausted because it's all just too hot and we've eaten too much and we collapse on the sofa for an afternoon sleep!
Joyeux Noel.

Christmas Lights

Last night a few of us 'gals' had a great meal at SPQR in Ponsonby. It's supposedly where local celebs hang out, but we didn't see any! Great meal though. Then we wandered up and down Franklin Road to look at the Christmas lights. They were really great, and I think I will have to get a flasher camera, as mine really didn't do things justice. But anyway, here a few snaps. Almost all the houses were decorated and there were heaps of people walking up and down the street, as well as cars driving slowly along. A really buzzy atmosphere. It was lovely!

Last weekend

It's hard to believe that I lived in Nelson for 30 years. Certainly, I never thought I would leave. But here I am - in Auckland for 6 years now. But it's always good to go back and last weekend I took a couple of extra days off school and flew down. Nelson has not escaped the horrible late spring/early summer that is haunting the whole country - it was COLD!! But good. I went to my optician because I had an urge to spend $711. Oh well, I will get some new glasses out of it! I had a few other 'business-type' appointments, and lots of coffee and/or lunch catch-ups too. Nice!
Incidentally, for my American friends, Nelson is a coastal city of about 60 000 situated at the top of the South Island. It has a great climate and is often known as Sunny Nelson. It's also very scenic and attracts quite a few tourists. So there you are! It was a great place for my kids to grow up in.
Anyway, one visit I hadn't anticipated was to the A&E department of Nelson Hospital! On Saturday morning I dropped my friend Hilary off at the rehearsal for the concert later on that day. I was chatting to all my Sweet Adelines friends, then was about to head off to the Nelson Market, when Ann tripped on a very low kerb and crashed down on all fours. To cut a long story short, we had to call an ambulance and I went in it with her. My first time in an ambulance! (Ann's too I think!)She was in a great deal of pain and it transpired that she had dislocated her elbow and also broken a bone! So she definitely didn't get to sing with the chorus, poor thing! I was pleased that I was able to be with Ann, and I got back just in time for the concert, which was really enjoyable.
Next day was Carol Singing after the Christmas Parade, and despite the pelting down rain it went ahead. So not much of an audience, but it was good anyway.
A visit to my friend Viv, then off to the airport and home. I caught up with lots of people by design, and I also ran into quite a few unexpectedly which was just great.
So all in all, a great weekend. I was flat out, which possibly explains my tiredness. A kind of "tired but happy!" tiredness I guess. :-)
The photo at the top is the view from Hilary's garden and spa pool! Hilary and Neil live in Mapua, about half an hour from Nelson city, out in the country. And with stunning views, as you can see! And sitting in the spa pool at night with the lights of Nelson twinkling in the distance and all the stars - it's fabulous! The other photos are of Hilary just by the restaurant where we dined on Friday night. Then there's me with my good friends Hilary, Marion and Lois, with Wendy and me in the front. Then there's me joining in with the after-match function (lol), and a photo of the Nelson Chorus (and a couple of guests)singing on the Sunday.

Thanks

Thanks everyone. Chris has had the operation and the surgeon was very pleased with how it went. Obviously Chris still isn't feeling fabulous, but he is going to be fine when it's all over! Then he's got summer at the beach to look forward to with time to recuperate. Thanks again for your positive words. :-)