Looking Good

Sometimes, you just have a day where the sun is shining, you feel good, you look good and you are relaxed. 

For me, today was that day.

Hope you have a good Friday

Club time

Tonight, we walked along the rail trail. Completed 6km in total.

I love that the weather is causing us to have a beautiful day with warm sunshine and it is lasting till after 6pm

Right Space

I like growing plants but some of them don't like growing!

I am guessing it is a number of reasons:

- I am not good with plants

- wrong pot size

- wrong position in the house for light

- too much water

- not enough water

You get the idea.

I can grow plants, some I have had for a long time and yes, it is possible to kill them, but they seem to survive.

One such plant was this succulent plant 🪴 

It never did anything. It was just there, no flowers no nothing. It got moved into the kitchen and placed on the lower shelf but still did nothing and due to purchasing a coffee machine, it had to be moved up a shelf.

Since then, it has given us a single flower now and then.

And now, as you can see from the picture, it has found its full life.

Flowers in abundance. 

Either I am ignoring it sufficiently or just loving it enough.

Being Replaced

One of my colleagues is currently traveling around Europe on an amazing 3 month adventure.

The day after she left, another colleague replaced her at her desk with a skeleton, dressed in a cute dress.

She has become a valuable member of the 'Dumpster Fire Team' and we feel we may be working her too hard, possibly to the bone!

So, to ensure we are looking after her, I took her to class with me so my students could share their caring side, evaluating her vital signs, as we didn't want her getting overwhelmed with all the work.

She eventually was assessed as doing ok and stayed to supervise the remainder of my class.

She is considering taking a lecture next week

Spring Time

 You know that spring is on its way when the city suddenly becomes coloured in pink and white.

Pink flowers that is, cherry blossom trees

We have early blooming ones and late ones, so for the next month, everywhere is so pretty.

When the sun shines, it looks so cute but throw in some rain and things can look very wet and soggy with blossom stuck to the footpath!

Cheese Scones

I learnt cooking (home economics) in school. I have an O Level in it. Back then it was more than just cooking. We had to understand nutritional needs, and this had to be considered when planning a meal.

The one thing I don't seem to be good at is muffins. They just fail.

Scones, well I need to learn to not mix the dough so much and have it hold together.

Today I did a small batch of cheese scones. They worked, were tasty and got eaten very quickly.

Thank you

I got asked to do a small presentation about parkrun to a community organisation. A small casual Saturday morning chat for 30 mins.

They wanted to understand parkrun and the community feeling of how anyone and everyone is included.

Especially with a focus on mental well-being. 

It was a fun 30 mins and generated some great questions.

They gave me a small gift as a thank you, totally unexpected.

However, what made it even more special is the lady that organized it, via someone else, took 5 mins to ask the other person about me.

And what did she discover...

1 - I don't like coffee

2 - I have a sweet tooth

So, my little thank you gift was not a voucher for a local Cafe to get a coffee, but a box of homemade brownies and biscuits.

Taking the time to find out one or two small things is all anyone wants and it makes a huge difference. 

Pub Choir

 A group of people, getting together to sing. 

A group of people getting together who have never sung before, not even sure if everyone can sing, although I am guessing that if you have chosen to purchase a ticket and show up then you must, at least, have a marginal amount of interest in singing? Maybe, maybe not!

A group of people getting together, who have never sung together before, don't know the song that has been chosen and now are going to learn it, in 90 minutes, to be able to sing a somewhat shaky 3-part harmony.

Welcome to Pub Choir

Yes, 1000 people got together, with a choir leader and we got taught 3 different parts of a song and then we sang it as a group, 90 mins later. We all got taught our parts whilst in the theatre, we all laughed, we all cried and we all had a fun time.

It was interesting, it was fun and it was a great night out.

If you ever get the chance to go along to one of these events, then go.

So, what happens I hear you say......

You turn up and stand where you like in the theatre, although you sort of don't either. At the start you decide if you are high, medium or low and then a little shuffling takes place as people move within the theatre to be with more like-minded people, of singing range.

Then the leader, Astrid, teaches you all the parts, and you sing it back, and you sing it again, and possibly one more time, following the power point slides on the big screen. And then you finally start at the beginning (a very good place to start!) and you sing it all the way through. And just for good measure, you sing it all the way through again and then you go home. 2 hours later, elated that 1000 people all managed to sing the song, at the same time, with a 3-part harmony and it was recorded on a shaky phone camera.

It was totally crazy and totally fun

More walking and art

 The airport of Rarotonga is on the edge of the island. If you know when the big plane from New Zealand is landing, (and if it is coming in the right direction) you can stand on the road that runs along the end of the runway and watch it come over the water and then land over the top of your head. Obviously, it is noisy as ever and very windy when this happens.

This trip, I didn't get to do that, but I did take one of my morning walks along the road and view the water and the artwork on the wall at the end of the runway.

The main road with the end of the runway on the right

The end of the runway and the beautiful artwork

Coming in the right direction you can watch the plane approach

9am was the wrong time for any flights but the right time to miss the heat and still admire that amazing beach view.

Accommodation

 One thing I pride myself on is being able to find good accommodation when travelling and great seats at concerts/theatre shows etc

This trip proved to be no different

The villa we stayed in was just perfect, enough space inside, plenty of sitting area and cooking facilities and a lovely large, covered deck area outside.

The bathroom, well that was another story, it was definitely great. The main bathroom had a sink and a toilet and a bath/shower, just that the bath/shower was a little way from the main room....

Like outside, through a large door leading from the bathroom.

All perfectly enclosed and private area, even with a small roof over the bathtub itself, but if it is raining you get wet getting to the tub!

It was peaceful and a lovely place to stand and shower out in nature, but you definitely had to wait for the bathroom to be free to use the toilet, otherwise they got a full shot of you naked in the shower!

Sunshine and Burgers

 An afternoon walk along the beach was called for, so a gentle stroll was enjoyed

Yes, the water was cold on my toes. Not sure I will be going in there to swim any time on this trip!

It was still relaxing and carefree to spend an hour strolling along the beach.

Whilst currency in Raro is in NZ dollars and all food is imported, mainly from New Zealand or Australia, it can still be a little more expensive to eat out. However, there are very good, relaxed rules about bringing in food to Raro, so most people get self-catering accommodation and then bring some frozen meat with them. We did that and brought some beef mince, steak and chicken mince with us. We made the decision to eat in every other night and frequent a restaurant on the in-between nights.

One of the popular ones is Villi's Burgers.

Fresh juicy, full of flavour and so much better than anything I have ever had in NZ!

We visited here 2 years ago, and all of this restaurant area is new, in fact, I discovered that this new part only opened last week. It is definitely an improvement.

Definitely a favourite place to visit

Coffee trip

 I may have mentioned before that I do not like coffee!

Not the smell or taste at all. Ex hubby knew to even kiss me in the morning before he drank his coffee and not after!

However, there is a great little cafe on the island of Raro (there are several cafes, it is not a barren land that only has 1) and we visited it when here last time, so it was only fitting to return again as they do good ice chocolates, that I do like.

What was even stranger, was that my phone automatically logged into their Wi-Fi: Not unusual I hear you say, however, it is a new phone, so technology informed my new phone that I had logged in once before and it already had the password stored in the memory!

Only problem is that it is halfway round the island compared to where the accommodation is located, so won't be visiting too often.

Walking

 Rarotonga is the largest of the 15 Cook Islands in the South Pacific, even though it is a small island. A 32km round the island road is the only way to get anywhere. Add in that the speed limit is only 50km/hr and majority of locals drive mopeds, then you can see that island time kicks in very quickly and no one is in a rush to get anywhere. Rental cars make up at least 75% of the traffic on the road and yes, you have to go as slow as the mopeds!

There is a bus that goes in each direction every hour, but seeing as you are on island time, there is no rush.

Obviously, I was not prepared to give up my walking whilst here and seeing as the main road around the island is all flat, then apart from the heat, it is easy to go for a quick 5km stroll. It would take you over 3 hours to actually walk all the way round the island, and maybe I will come back in the cooler months and give that a go one time.

So, on the first morning, I got up and took myself off for a little walk and just a moment of peace in the surrounding environment.

Who can resist a view like this through the trees.

Sun, Sea and Sand

 I have arrived in Rarotonga, and it is warm enough to make me very happy but not hot enough to be tropical.

The island is actually behind NZ on the date line, so whilst we left NZ on Sat 1 Aug, we arrived in Raro on Fri 31 July. This has caused my phone to start getting confused with when and where to allocate pictures I have taken, as it has already gone through 1 Aug and then suddenly, I am getting it to do it again. It got very confused lol 😀 Therefore, there are several posts going to happen all on the same day because technically, they kind of happened on the same day somewhere in the world!

After finding the accommodation, a quick walk to see the beach was definitely needed.

It was just as I remember it from 2 years ago and I am so glad I have come back. I can feel the stress leaving my body just in the first evening.

Winter Sun Trip

 At the start of the year, I got the idea to go and find some sunshine and warmth in the middle of winter. A weeklong trip was secured to Rarotonga, Cook Island.

Today I left NZ to go in search of the sunshine.

Despite the cold weather in NZ, the morning bloomed amazingly and was a spectacular scene at the airport whilst waiting for the flight

Just a quick 3.5-hour flight and then hopefully the sun will be shining, and I can relax for a week.

Crisp Morning Walk

 Today's Sunday walk was at a reserve near the zoo. A place that I had not been to walk before. I have been to the zoo but not the surrounding area. Like yesterday that started icy and extremely fresh, we had the same today and it made for a spectacular scenery.

I truly appreciate the nature of the world and even after 50+ years on this world, I am still in awe of the spectacular natural beauty that we have to appreciate.

Winter is well and truly here, although the blue sky and sunshine make for the day to be lovely, once the sun warms it up, but sadly, once it goes down about 5pm it is cold again. I know we only have about another month of this before suddenly it will be heading towards spring and winter will be passed.

I actually have an overseas trip coming up in 3 weeks' time to the sunshine paradise of Rarotonga, Cook Islands, only for a week, but enough that it will get me through the cold and boast my stores of sunshine to get me through the winter and spring ahead. Sunshine is definitely my enthusiasm boast and keeps my body running.