Spring 2011

By the beginning of Spring Cara still hadn’t heard from the Minister if Immigration about her appeal to be granted a New Zealand residence visa. She gave notice that she’d have to leave her full time job at Civic Video as October 13th was the last date her return flight to Britain was valid for. Cara & I went for a mother-daughter weekend in Mount Maunganui, where we walked up & down & round the mount as well as spending time with Sasha & Matt. Sasha and I had fun treating Cara and showing each other our special techniques on her – Cara felt well worked on! We arranged a Going Away Party for Cara at a favourite bistro, Tuatua, in Whitianga on Friday 7th, as people wanted a chance to say goodbye and give her a good send off. Well…..on that day Cara got a phone call from the secretary to the Minister. He said “We don’t want you to go, so I’ve rung to let you know you’ve got residence here.” This changed the whole theme of the party so it became a Residence Party (see Gallery). We had enough wonderful food (see Gallery) to feed everyone and last us the weekend. Cara received some lovely presents including a photo book putting her in “Twilight” and Jo/Monique performed a veil dance, which required skill to avoid the courtyard fire we had to keep us warm. Cara realised how valued she is here, but decided to take the flight to Britain anyway. She enjoyed 5 weeks visiting friends and relatives, had a bit more stress getting her residence visa put in her passport, then returned to NZ. She’s settling in well and getting work at Civic Video and the Information Centre as she’s known as a good, reliable worker here. What a relief and joy it is to have her back!

Highlights of Spring have been a concert in Whitianga town hall by the wonderful Auckland Youth Symphony Orchestra, where we get chance to feel close to a large orchestra. I’ve been on part of a biodynamic workshop, which I left early to meet Matt & Sasha in the Lost Spring and then swap treatments. I’d like to get into biodynamics, but just haven’t found time yet. Our garden has been producing plenty of broccoli, fennel, courgettes, lettuce, spinach, lemons and herbs. We visited our friends Jan & Michael in Katikati a couple of times and experienced the Stapathya Veda house that they are house-sitting for 3 months. On the 2nd visit we met other meditators Ian & Claire Smiley who were also staying with them and had some group mediatations as well as walks, games and music sessions. We left before the much awaited final of the Rugby World Cup – many people thought we should lose our NZ passports as we didn’t watch the All Blacks beat the French and win the Cup!

My entertainment comes not from watching sport, but things like “The Rocky Horror Show” which was screened at the Monkey House Theatre just before Halloween in Whitianga (see Gallery). My monthly World Dance session in October happened on Halloween itself, so we did witchy, between the Worlds dances and danced with death, keeping smiles on our faces! Further dressing up happened for the annual Dive Festival Ball with its Viking theme (see Gallery). Unfortunately they scrapped the novelty section of the underwater photography competition so I couldn’t win that again. Cara & I failed to find any gold rocks in the underwater treasure hunt and I caught a cold as the water is colder this year than last. However, we each had one of our photos from Samoa printed in the magazine “Dive New Zealand”. I have finally got myself an underwater camera (Olympus Tough & housing) after years of renting and borrowing them, so I hope to improve my skills in that area and I know it will be OK if I accidentally put it through the washing machine!

Alistair & I may be hooked on something else too – we hired a camper van for a weekend in November and went up to the north of the Coromandel Peninsula. This is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while and we did some of the “Bum Bay” walk and half of the 3+ hour Coromandel Walkway (see Gallery). The ideal way to do this walk is with 2 carloads, one going to each end of the walk. The tradition is to meet friends half way and swap keys then pick up their car at the other end. We enjoyed what we did and I managed a skinny dip at Poley Bay before the return walk to Fletcher Bay, where we’d stayed a night in the camper van. We drove onto the camp at Waikawau Bay, which is a stunning long white sandy beach with dunes and some wetlands, which attract lots of birdlife. We liked it so much that we’ve booked a motor home for 3 days of my parents’ visit in February and March next year.

Other things to look forward to just in December are: Dive trip to White Island staying on board “Ma Cherie”; Performance of a Christmas Cantata with my choir in Thames; Christmas with Cara & Alistair; Quaker Summer Gathering from 28th December – 1st January.