Agriculture

 New Zealand is the land of land and boy do they use it. Agriculture is massive here and especially in the center of the island I live in, they grow crops or farm animals, and it is huge. Lots of export opportunities for our produce.

So obviously they have a 4 day event where you can come together and see all that is agriculture, all the new tractors, farming machinery and anything else you can think of. Companies offering their products for farmers to see what they need new. Like that million-dollar tractor that is a tall as a 2-story house and has all the latest gadgets and gizmos to make it run well, go fast and be more efficient.

It is open to the public, and it can be an enjoyable way to pass a full day, from 9am to 5pm, you wander and view and go wow at some odd machinery and fascinating equipment. The thing that caught my eye this year was the drones. Now we are not talking little ones with a phone attached to view the world below, oh no, we are talking massive things that fertilize the ground for you. I think my car was about the same size as this one drone I saw!

We don't go every year, not that much into agriculture, but once every 5 years is enough for you to see the changes taking place in the future of agriculture.

And sometimes, you dream of having a garden big enough and steep enough to have a robot lawn mower that goes up hills

Or the ability to need enough power tools to create your own transformer

Of course, everything on offer is in large size, so all advertising is done large.

We were lucky enough to get a beautiful blue-sky day to wander with, which makes all the difference, otherwise a day of mud is just not as much fun.

Sunset

 Even the sunsets can be spectacular, and I love and appreciate them every day

Working

 And just sometimes, you have to stay at work whilst it is dark.

In New Zealand, whilst we do have daylight savings, our wintertime is never a time that we get really early sun sets, usually 5.30pm will be the earliest and it will only be for a very short time. Unlike the UK that can have sunset as early as 3.55pm

So, if I am still working and it is dark outside, then something has gone a miss and, in this case, it was to get a student assessment completed for them.

Colours of the World

 Autumn is well and truly here and it is beautiful.

It is just amazing how the different shades come together to create magic

All Grown Up

 And suddenly, this young man is all grown up and turning 21

Happy birthday baby boy, you will always be my baby.

Thank you for keeping life interesting and fun.

Music time

I love musicals. Will happily watch live theatre, and in fact, I am trying to see more, when the opportunity comes round.

Living in New Zealand, then travel to other parts of the world is expensive and timely, due to having to travel so far. Therefore, I am happy to spend my money on entertainment. 

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of professional productions here, companies have to travel and bring sets with them, and of course, that gets expensive for them and then the tickets are expensive. Whilst we get them, we can go months with nothing showing.

So any time there is something to see, then I grab the experience and enjoy it.

Today's entertainment:

The local Operatic Society and Symphony Orchestra bringing together an afternoon of Andrew Lloyd Webber music.

Now there are plenty of his works that I enjoy, and some that I am not such a fan of! But overall, it will always be an enjoyable experience (even if it is Cats 🐈)

The afternoon of entertainment was amazing, and we have some wonderful talent local to our town.

We also have a brand-new theatre that just opened in January.

It seems very close and tall, which it is, but it still allows for a spectacular view of the stage. I was able to secure last minute seats for this performance, and they were the closest seats you could get to the stage (not that that is what I wanted) but in the circle (first level up)

Not a bad view at all. Ok, I couldn't see if someone was stood on the very edge of the stage on the left when looking at it but seeing as most performers tend to come on to the stage, then I didn't miss anything. I would even consider these seats again, depending on what it is that I am watching.

Friday Home Time

After a long week of work, a walk home in the fading sunlight, despite the temperatures getting cooler, is still enjoyable.

What makes it even better?

An ice cream