Last day

Well today was my last full day at work. I will be in tomorrow morning but that's really a token gesture to hand in the computer and stuff. I was kept busy right to the end of the day but unfortunately we didn't quite make it to finish. The hot review that would have been the end of the process at this stage isn't until 4pm tomorrow so I will already be gone. That's a bit disappointing really because I feel that I didn't really finish the job. Still, I did as much as I could.
Tonight I have been washing and packing - my apartment now looks quite bare and impersonal, much more like the hotel room it really is. Tomorrow I board the plane to Christchurch where I will meet up with Jerry and start our holiday. He has come down from Singapore today.
I am unlikely to blog now for a few days at least as we will be touring the South Island. On 11 May we move on to Hong Kong and arrive back in UK on 15 May. If I don't get to blog between now and then I will complete this blog when I get home.

Prezzies

This morning they had morning tea at work in my honour. Morning tea is a custom here - novel experience, every one stops for a tea break! I shall miss it. Normally that is all it is - chat over tea or coffee and the 5 minute quiz from the Dominion Post but on special occasions we have sandwiches or some other snack too. Today it was my farewell - a few days early but most of the others are going to be away this week, and we had chocolate cake and raspberry & white chocolate muffins. They also had a huge card for me and some prezzies - a greenstone pendant (only ever to be given as a gift and not bought for oneself - various styles with different Maori meanings), a buzzy-bee key ring, Kiwi fruit pieces in chocolate and some NZ fudge (yummy). I was very surprised and touched by their thoughtfulness. Now I know that I will be missed.
I have still had to work hard again today - but only 2 more days to go!!

Thoughts on my time in New Zealand

I am just about to start my last week at work - well 3 days really - here in New Zealand and thought that this would be a good time to record my thoughts on how it has all been. When I came out here I didn't really know what to expect - the main task was to be audit of the Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCP). This is described on the Audit New Zealand web site as 'auditing the future' and is a pretty fair description. This makes it quite different to anything we do at home and therefore quite a challenge. The councils have to write a plan for the next 10 years in which they forecast all of their financial information making all kinds of assumptions. They have to comply with all the usual legislation and some specific to LTCCPs, and get audit approval with enough time to have a month's consultation with residents and make any necessary amendments before a publication deadline of 30 June or they can't strike the rates! Consequently there is a very short time line for auditing and hence the need to bring us in as secondees to help, and also the reason why it has become very time pressured towards the end. So, that has been the work. Sometimes we have had to stay away to do the work as the clients are more widely dispersed than back home. Although I have not been away as much as some of the others. I have worked in the local office for much of the time and that has enabled me to get to know some of the staff better. I have always been made to feel welcome here and found the people very friendly, although it has taken until the last few weeks to feel that I belong.
In the time I have been here I have travelled to a lot of the usual tourist places of the North Island, although not as many as I had intended due to the broken arm. I have seen mountains, lakes, beaches, cities and everything in between. I have found it to be a beautiful and welcoming country with wide open spaces we only see in places like the peak district. Even the cities have lots of green space, trees and parks, and the people mostly live in detached bungalows not terraces and high rises. I think it has been a very long time since there has been that amount of personal space for the people in UK! I have played at being a tourist rather than treating it as my home although I know some of the others have joined activity groups where they have been so that it has been a more 'normal' life for them.
I have missed my family desperately but have kept in touch with everyone in their own way - some through emails and photos and some through Facebook. I will be really glad to be back home and to see everyone again but I will miss New Zealand too. In the meantime, my husband is on his way here - just arrived in Singapore, and I have 10 days to tour the South Island and 4 days in Hong Kong before I make it back to UK and normality. I have enjoyed my time here and am glad I came. I have always wanted to see Australia and New Zealand and now I have - maybe one day I will get to come back.

Anzac Day

Today is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand - the day when they remember those who died in war so very much like our Rememberance Day. I got up early this morning to attend the dawn service in The Square - 6am start. I was totally amazed at the number of people there - many hundreds of all ages. I had been hoping to get some photos to post but I was too far back to get any photos of the memorial and wreath laying itself and those I took after, which I hoped would show the dawn breaking and give some idea of the numbers of people there, were out of focus! They have a second service at 9:30 when the Mayor of the city and a variety of other organisations lay wreaths but I'm afraid I didn't attend that one too. I did go back and take some photos of the cenotaph and the wreaths between the services and again after the second one. As you can see from the photos, the wreaths they lay are very different to ours - hardly any poppies although they do wear poppies, but only from the day before.

The rest of the day has been spent trying to prepare for the trip home. I have packed some of my stuff and prepared to take some to the charity shop. Will probably do the rest on Wednesday night now!

New hair

Yesterday I treated myself to a new hairdo - it was the longest, most expensive session I have ever had with a hair dresser but I am so pleased with it. I have tried to take photos of it but it's not easy to take photos of yourself so the one I am attaching is not the best but it is the best I can do at short notice. Will try to get a replacement tomorrow which might show it better.

You can't see it but there are at least 5 different colours in it!

This week has been quite quiet at work while we wait for a council to get its act together. I think it might change tomorrow as the replacement document is expected to arrive. Then only 3 working days to go. It occurred to me the other day that in all my ramblings I really haven't given my thoughts on New Zealand as a place to live and work - plan to remedy that at the weekend.

Sunday

Another weekend draws to a close only now there is just one more to go. Time to leave is racing closer. I have spent today trying to sort things out so that I can pack within my 25kg baggage allowance. I think the charity shops here are going to do alright out of me! I have also been transferring all my photos and video from the pc to cd so that I can take them home, although a lot of them are already on Flickr anyway. I did realise today that I hadn't uploaded any from my short sojourn into Napier so I have remedied that too. It is all surprisingly time consuming. I have been using my right hand as much as possible and the more I use it the easier it gets - I just wish the swelling would go down!

Happy birthday to me

Today is my birthday. I had a few cards from home and one from the staff at my apartment block - along with a bottle of fizz. I also had one yesterday from the people at work and a few birthday wishes by email and on facebook. I have spent the day doing not very much at all. This afternoon I had a pamper session at the beauty salon which I have been using here. They were all very nice and friendly, as they have been all the time. They even sang happy birthday to me! I will celebrate properly in a couple of weeks when Jerry comes to join me to tour the South Island.