Dear Blog...

It has been so long since I posted that it's taken me half an hour to find out how to sign in!

I must apologise, dear Blog, for my shameful neglect of you and all the friends you have found for me.  I have no excuses, just reasons which I won't bore you by listing.  Let it be said that life has been hectic.

On with some of my doings of the past little while...

I spent Christmas and New Year in New Zealand with my family.  Queensland has been a trifle damp for the last couple of months so it was lovely to see some sunshine for most of the time I was there.  I flew in mid afternoon on Christmas Eve and was met at the airport by my brother with my mum and stepfather.  

Christmas Day was spent on my cousin's farmlet...an absolutely idyllic spot with a lovely lake.  We had a rather peculiar game of cricket, by peculiar I mean there were no rules and one was batting until sick of it.  (I missed every ball...par for the course).  There were lots of laughs and plenty of bubbles...which didn't really help the batting average. 

A couple of days later we drove 2 hours north to see Brooke and Harry at their father's place.  Most of their family were there and we had a lovely afternoon.  They, too, are on a farm which runs right to the beach with the house on a hill giving the most wonderful outlook of the ocean and outlying islands.


New Year's Eve was quiet...out for dinner and then home by about 10.30 pm.  None of us could be bothered staying up until midnight but Harold set the DVD to record the celebrations at Sky Tower, Auckland's casino, which we watched the next day.


I must admit I was pleased to get home to my own bed and to the cats.  I put them in the cattery...much to their disapproval, they wouldn't look at me when I said goodbye.  Anyway they were as pleased as I was to be home.


So, dear Blog, that is a little of what I've been doing.  Even my book was placed on the back burner until the craziness of the silly season passed.


I'm still working and really enjoying it.  I get asked, in total amazement by some, why I'm still working.  Well, it keeps my brain active; I work my own hours (except leading up to Christmas, when the hours were loooong, to get the work out); I enjoy it and I have the most wonderful lifestyle because it's very well paid and besides, what else would I do?  Talking of well paid...I had a lovely fat payrise plus an unexpected bonus for Christmas...why would I give that up?


Now I'm planning my next trip.  A friend and I are talking about taking a week long trip out west (once it stops raining...in the Dry Season, hopefully) on the Spirit of the Outback.  So we are going to meet in a couple of weeks to organise a time that suits us both and go from there.


The next overseas jaunt is the very strong likelihood of a cruise...I'll keep you posted on that one.

Below are a few photos taken in New Zealand...

 One of NZ's native birds, the tui or parson bird, so called because of the tuft of white feathers at the throat.  This one is feeding from the nector of the flax flowers.

 This is the flower of an enormous water lily called the Victoria lily.  The alien looking growth behind the flower is a new leaf pad, which will be about 2 - 3 m across when it opens fully.

  

My brother cooking bacon and eggs on the barbecue on Boxing Day.

I took a liking to this fish and the feeling was mutual!

But there's no love lost on this guy, a 5.1 m salt water or estuarine crocodile, originally taken from Darwin Harbour and now residing in a suitable habitat in Auckland, New Zealand.

Harry and Brooke with their great grandmother.