I’m not sure of the rules elsewhere but here in New Zealand we’re allowed out of our homes for daily exercise as long as we stay within our social bubbles and our local area. So, for us, that means not driving across the city to the local beach or to my favourite Wellington walk. Which […]
Lockdown: Day 6
There are many benefits to living in New Zealand. This is one of them – it’s a Tim Tam. I’m not a big biscuit person (I’d rather have a bag of crisps) but this is the most divine piece of deliciousness on earth. (I’m also a huge fan of the humble digestive, but only if […]
Lockdown: Day 5
One of the disadvantages of living in the city is noise. The first apartment we rented was by a busy three-lane road where traffic noise was constant, and alongside a building site where piles were being driven. When you’re four storeys up in an earthquake zone and the building shakes every ten seconds or so… […]
Lockdown: Day 4
But wait – there’s more! I’ve never watched much TV in the daytime. Even now I’m not sitting in my dressing gown watching endless soaps or shows where people yell at each other as a presenter tries to restore calm, or others exhibit horrendous physical problems they’re apparently too embarrassed to talk to their doctor […]
Lockdown: Day 3
When you make the choice to live twelve thousand miles away from your family there’s every chance that you leave someone after a visit knowing you may never see them again. Yesterday we received the sad news that this lady, Esther (Ettie) Annenberg, Neil’s Nan had died. She was 111. I heard some sharp intakes […]
Lockdown: Day 2
We went shopping this morning. I used to have to drive to shop, then we moved into the city. Now the car is a five minute walk from our apartment, ridiculous to use that, so I walk and carry everything back. The first time I made the rookie mistake of filling my trolley – by […]
Lockdown: Day 1
I often speak before I think (and equally often my words are accompanied by a horrified look from my husband or a whispered ‘inner voice’ and shake of his head) and I did so this morning. On our first day of level 4 isolation, chatting on the phone to my friend Brigitte, I said that […]
Great Britain: Part Five – The Frozen North
Circumstances have stymied my blog posting in recent weeks, including lack of access to decent internet that would allow upload. I’m still playing catch up from our travels last year and, given the current situation with the covid-19 pandemic, expect to have plenty of time in the next few weeks to do so. As we […]
Great Britain: Part Four – Grabbed by the Trossachs
October 2019 I’m a big sky girl and Scotland is a big sky country. So I’m a little disappointed when the clouds close in and truncate the view, flatten the tops of hills, hide beauty that I know is there. We turn to the Queen Elizabeth forest (clearly not Scottish Nationalist territory) surrounding Aberfoyle, walking […]
Great Britain: Part Three – Lakes and Hills.
October 2019 There’s a stark beauty to Bowness. Here the houses aren’t the warm hues that make other parts of the country picturesque, rather they are shades of grey. The stones here are harder so even though they seem to be haphazardly piled on top of each other, random shapes and patterns, they are straight-edged […]
Tracy Annenberg 