January 31, 2021 We’ve had a lovely couple of days! We packed up our little cottage in Whangarei. It was a delight to meet the owners before we left. Then we drove to Auckland. We drove down the west coast, through Helensville, but on the way, since that part of the North Island Read more
Just a quick update at the end of a busy to week to let you know that we are alive and well and doing considerably better than the US team in the Prada Cup. Although they deserve much credit for plugging the hole and rising to the occasion. The Americans Read more
This week is mostly a work week for Frances, so not too much play to report. She’s commandeering one of the upstairs bedrooms as the research house south. The Wi-Fi here is fast, but has been unstable at inconvenient times during meetings. So Jim added a 10 metre Cat6 cord Read more
The big news here is that yesterday (Sunday here) a 56 year old woman, travelling from Europe, who had been through 14 days of MIQ in Auckland and had tested negative for COVID on Days 3 and 12, began to feel unwell a few days after discharge and was confirmed Read more
Packards and Avos may not seem to go together but they combined for a very nice day today! In the morning (after walking the Loop) we visited the Maungatapere Packard Motor Museum. If you have never heard of Maungatapere, you are probably not alone. It is a “settlement” along Highway Read more
We are continuing to explore the Whangarei area. On Tuesday, we stayed close to home, still walking our loop in the am – we are becoming regulars! My sister, Helen, came over for lunch – this was her trip into the big city (Whangarei population: 98,000) from her farm about Read more
Yesterday we had afternoon tea with my sister Helen, niece Katy, and nephew Nick’s partner, Danielle at Nick and Danielle’s new house and avocado orchard. (This morning I had avocado toast for breakfast. The avocado was handed to me by the grower!) Afternoon tea is a highly civilized institution that Read more
We’re figuring this out… After an excellent night’s sleep, we felt much more relaxed and refreshed this morning and decided that it would be fine just to veg a bit. I enjoyed the loop walk again this am. It is much cooler at 7:30 am than it is at 11 Read more
And so we are free! It turns out that even as we developed some skills in quaran-time — e.g. we can amass many steps in a very small area, we can be (mostly) kind to each other even when there is no place to escape to, we can pay attention Read more
Safely in Whangarei after a much longer day than planned. Arrived here about 8:30 pm instead of the planned 5 pm. Didn’t even leave Auckland until 5 and still had a three hour drive. Eating a late dinner. More tomorrow. (posted about 9:30 PM Jan 14 NZ time)