Saturday 28 February

Well here we are again at the end of another eventful week. I spent 2 days in Wanganui again this week and the rest working in Palmy. Work is starting to get a bit more pressured now as deadlines are looming. Home life goes on as normal although I did make a bit of a fuss this week over the standard of cleaning in my apartment. They only clean it once a week because I get a reduced rate for long term rental, which is OK if they do it properly. Unfortunately they haven't been so I complained and that day they did it again. When I got back that night there was a definite improvement but still not spectacular - and I'm not houseproud so not applying critical standards! When I got back last night I received a letter of apology, at NZ$25 voucher for a local eatery - and now they are cleaning every day!
Weather here has become very wet and windy again just in time for the weekend! I have decided though that I am going to go to the Hastings/Napier area and hope for an improvement for tomorrow. The east is supposed to fare best and if I just sit here because the weather is bad I will never see the country!
I have also been uploading photos today so you should be able to see some of my more recent activity!

Wide Open Spaces

I spent yesterday not doing very much and bemoaning the loss of my planned weekend. I did go out and do a few local geocaches - with mixed success, but not a lot else. Today I was up early so after a chat with Claire I packed up my lunch and went out. No real plan except to head east because that was where the sun was this weekend. I ended up on a Hawkes Bay beach (Kairakau) where I dipped my toes in the sea, ate my lunch and had a read of my guide book. This talked about the mountain ranges and I though why not? I checked out the map and worked out the road to take and set off. The book was actually talking about some mountains inland from further round Hawkes Bay so I didn't cross the ones in the book but I had a good drive anyway. The road went from Hastings to Turangi and as I started on the road it said 'no fuel for 142kms'. What it didn't say was that there was no anything for 142kms! The road started off very good and passed through rolling hills moving up to forested mountains. All very nice to look at. Before long it became an 'unsealed' road - my first experience of them here. Compared to those we have encountered in Greece these were childs play - although some bits did have quite a lot of loose gravel which made for some slipping round the bends! In all 142kms I think I saw not more than a couple of dozen cars and even less houses. The vast majority of it was just miles and miles of wide open spaces. Top travelling! In all today I drove over 500kms and have seen sun, rain, sea, mountains and everything in between. Unfortunately it's back to work tomorrow!

Friday again

Here we are at the start of another weekend. I have spent the week in Wanganui with 2 young men - both younger than my own children! It has been a good week though and we have managed to make a big dent in the work. We have also eaten lunch and dinner together every day so that has been quite a change too. We went for a walk before dinner one evening to the Durie Hill Memorial Tower. This involved climbing a very steep hill which started with 193 steep steps or taking the Durie Hill Elevator - we took the Elevator. This is, apparently, unique in the Southern Hemisphere and involved walking 200metres down a tunnel and then what is really just a rather ancient lift to the top of the hill. Great views over the town but we didn't stop there. We then climbed 176 step spiral staircase (closed in like in castel turrets) to the top of the Tower for even better views. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so only got photos on my phone. I am going back for a couple of days next week so might just go up again to get the photos but in the meantime I'm back in my temporary home again. Stay aways are a way of life for the audit staff here but new experience for me. Because they audit central ans well as local government here some of the staff even have to travel abroad to carry out audits.
I was planning to spend the weekend touring in the Taranaki region - mountain, waterfalls, beaches - but events have conspired against me and so I will have to defer that trip for another time. Just as well really as we have had torrential rain today and it is forecast to be showery for the rest of the weekend. When they have rain like this is causes big changes in the rivers, as you would expect, but for a few days they can be quite dangerous. Could make the waterfalls fantastic though. I shall be consulting the map shortly and planning this weekends activity.

Start of another week

Well here we are again, Sunday night and I have to get ready for a week away this week as I am off to Wanganui. It's about an hour away they tell me and we are staying there Monday to Friday. Travel time to clients is included in the working day here so journeys of that length would greatly reduce the amount of work you get done! I will probably take my own car and stay in the area for the weekend too. This will be an opportunity to see another area of the country.
The weather has picked up again and it has been a nice weekend. Yesterday I visited a Medieval Market and Festival at Levin - horse and foot soldier battles, jousting (which I missed) and a wide variety of market stalls and game stalls, many of which were geared to the active medieval particpants. Today I went out geocaching but without much success, only found one. then the batteries died in the GPS and I didn't have any spares so that ended my day's caching!
Might try to find some in the Taranaki area for next weekend - it's a good way to find some of the interesting sites.

How time flies

Can't believe how quickly the days are going - it's been 5 days since I last blogged! The weekend in Rotorua was great - although very smelly! The whole area is a centre of geothermal activity so depending on which way the wind is blowing it can get very smelly indeed! I managed to visit quite a few places over the weekend - Whakarewarewa Maori Village, Lake Rotorua, Government Gardens, Hells Gate (where I enjoyed a mud bath, spa and massage as well as a walk round the mud pools and geysers), the Buried Village, Lake Tarawera, a Maori concert and hangi (traditionally cooked meal), Orakei Korako (Hidden Valley) and Huka Falls. I have taken loads of video and photos of bubbling mud pools, steam vents and geysers which I will upload as soon as I get time. The Huka Falls were truly something else. The drop is not great but the force of the water is phenomenal so I'm hoping for some good pictures of that. The town was hosting the RaggMuffin Reggae Festival on Saturday so town was busy all weekend and most of the 'attractions'. I did consider going to the festival but it was all day on the Saturday and it seemed a waste of a visiting day when it had taken me over 4 hours to get up there. I drove up through clouds and rain but fortunately the weather improved and turned out to be very hot on both Saturday and Sunday. Driving back on Sunday I saw the mountains which had been hidden by the clouds on Friday - they are fantastic too, especially when viewed from across Lake Taupo. There are still a few sites up that way that I want to visit but they are closer to Taupo so I will need to plan another visit and stay in Taupo next time.
Work this week has been a bit different as I have had to spend 2 days on site at one of the councils. Fortunately only about 3/4 hour away so just day trips. Next week though I will be staying away from Monday to Friday in Wanganui which is about an hour drive from here. The weather has also changed this week as we had heavy rain yesterday. Just like UK - one day's rain and the drains can't cope so there was flooding in the towns! Today was Ok but they are forecasting very heavy rain again tomorrow. Sounds like I might need wellies - or swimmies!
This weekend I am planning to spend here in Palmy catching up with a few chores and exploring the local area a bit further than I was able without the car. Hopefully also ge the photos uploaded too!

Waitangi Day

Tomorrow is Waitangi Day in New Zealand - a celebration of the signing of the treaty with the Maori in 1840 - so it's a bank holiday and we all get a long weekend. This is great as it means that I get longer to visit some of the places on my list of to do's while I am here. The car will make that easier too.

This week has been very quiet still at work - I hope it doesn't keep on like that or it will get very boring. As the deadline for completion of the Long Term Council Commity Plans (LTCCP) gets closer though I expect it will get quite hectic.

On Tuesday evening I went to a yoga class for the first time ever! I found it quite difficult as I am not very flexible and have lousy balance! Still I do intend to go back again, and to some other classes to get back into good fitness habits.

After work yesterday the social club put on a barbeque to say farewell to a couple of interns who go back to University next week and to welcome me and Mike who has emigrated from UK with his family and is an Audit Manager now. Used to be head of finance for Durham Police force so has changed sides! I think we must have put the british barbeque jinx on it though because it was cloudy all day and started raining just as we lit the barbeque! They use gas ones here though not charcoal!

Having bought the car I had to investigate insurance. It is not compulsory to have car insurance here but advisable to have at least 3rd party. Unfortunately, because I am only here for a short time I can't insure through the usual annual policies so have had to go to the only company who do short term insurance. They only offer 3rd party, no fire & theft etc, and the premium is based solely on the age of the youngest person who will be driving the car. Because the majority of people who need this type of policy are young backpackers they are high risk groups so the premium is high. It has cost me over half as much for 3 months 3rd party as for TPF&T for a year on a regular policy. The other down side is that they only do 3 month blocks so I am now about 5 days short of the time I will have the car. It was either that or pay for 6 months insurance! Still couldn't risk having to pay for damage to someone else's car!

So no update for the next few days as I will be luxuriating in mud baths and spa pools in Rotorua! That's where I need the peg! Oh yes - photo at the top of this post is a bird which lives in the park on the Square - not sure what it is - looks like a cross between a duck and a turkey - but I think it must be the same one which Neil took a photo of last November.

Mobile again

This lunch time I went out and bought a car! And even better I took possession of it tonight without a penny changing hands! It will take a few days to get the money over from UK but the garage doesn't have a problem with that - how trusting! Deep red, well burgundy actually, 1995 Mitsubishi Galant GXSi 2 litre. Cost NZ$3,000 (about £1,200) and expectation of about half that back when I am ready to leave. No picture yet but I will get one as soon as I can and post it next time.

February already!

Forgot until now that it is February 1st today - I have now been away for 5 weeks. Not really much to report this week. Work is very much like UK although the actual job I am on is different as it is auditing council's future plans. They are able to do this because their funding is not dependant on Central Government allocations - much more locally funded. However, they are very much like UK councils because they can't get things done in time and are providing information in bits and pieces. This means that you can't do the whole job in a co-ordinated way - you just do the bits you have. I have working in the local office every day this week and it will be the same again next week. After that I don't know - I don't yet know which council I am working on so don't know whether it will be close enough for day trips or whether it will mean staying away.

Yesterday I did a bit of research on buying a car. I have checked out hiring a car and to rent a car to cover all my weekends and the 10 days at the end will cost in excess of NZ$2,000 - about £800. I found a car to buy yesterday (Mitsubishi Galant) which will cost me NZ$3,000 to buy (all on road costs and a service included) and an expected buy back of about NZ$2,000 in 3 months so would actually cost me about NZ$1,000 and would be mine 24/7. There is, however, a third alternative as one of the girls at work has recently bought a new car and is selling her old one. I don't know what it is yet but I will be seeing it tomorrow and hopefully we can come to a 'hire' agreement so that I don't have the selling problem at the end. Either way I expect to have a car to use before the end of the week. Which is just as well as I have arranged to go to Rotorua next weekend. We have Friday off work but it will take about 3-4 hours to get there so I am planning to start off early on Friday morning and then return on Sunday night. Quite looking forward to it as there are lots of spas there and Maori culture attractions. My hotel is in the centre so I should be able to get around quite easily.

Yesterday afternoon I walked down to Victoria Esplanade which is by the river and about 20 minutes walk from the apartment. It had become quite sunny so made a nice afternoon out. Lots of things for the kids there - large paddling pool and lots of play equipment. Also a miniature railway which takes you on a ride all through the park.

I have been to the gym this morning - step class! Nearly killed me - it's been almost a year since I last did anything and even longer since I did step. I am planning to go to a yoga class on Tuesday evening too but continued attendance at either of both of these will depend on my work locations and what plans I have for the weekends. I am doing some research on what places I want to visit while I am here and when I might do them. I think it will be best to alternate longer trips with short local ones so that I can have some 'normal' weekends too when I will be able to do things like going to the gym. This morning has made me ache quite a lot so I need to do something regularly to ease that. Hopefully it will improve the fitness for walking too as my plans include a fair bit of that.