One of the features of living in New Zealand is the weather. Nearly twenty years ago, after a few weeks of living here, we moved into a cute little cottage at the bottom of the owner’s garden on a January day so hot the tarmac melted and I left a pool of sweat with every […]
Tag: Wellington
The Sound Of…
In our new house I spend a fair bit of my time trying to work out what the noise grinding through my head is. Today’s is constant, no dipping and rising in volume or tone, which means it’s a machine driven by power rather than hand, and it is unmuffled, therefore is outside. So it […]
A Mere Flesh Wound
I sliced my finger the other day. It was one of those rare Wellington weekends when the sun shines and the wind doesn’t blow. When we first moved to this city, days like this were truly rare and two together non-existent. Each year we would be granted a handful of days that ruined the plans […]
Hanging Around
We moved house recently. I may have mentioned it before. Moving house is a phrase that reminds me of my mother (there are many). Where I grew up we were the only family who talked about moving house – everyone else flitted. Mum hated that term and it was one of many that, depending on […]
Dodging Politicians
I wrote this a few weeks ago, for no reason other than it popped into my head. I thought I might post it on here someday but it’s a bit random so wasn’t sure. In the light of recent events in (supposedly) the largest democracy in the world it seems strangely prescient. This is not […]
Meri Kirihimete!
I’m not really a big fan of Christmas. As a child I loved it – the sparkling lights, the colourful baubles, huge tins of Roses and Quality Street in a house that rarely had chocolate; watching the Queen’s speech and then the Christmas movie (unless it was The Wizard of Oz – Mum hated that […]
Orange
Wellington has turned into an orange city. Nothing to do with fake tan, rather a plethora of hi-vis and road cones, the occasional yellow thrown in for variety. There are street works, sewage works (ongoing in Wellington due to the crumbling infrastructure), and building works, generally the construction of an apartment block. There’s one next […]
Close to the Wind
A few years ago Neil and I decided to learn to sail. Like our rugby players, NZ sailors are often described as the best in the world and, whilst I’m never going to run around a pitch carrying an odd-shaped ball, there’s something attractive about chilling on the sunny deck of a boat as the […]
Covid: The Return (Part 2)
At 10.13pm when both phones in the household go off with a note that neither of us recognises or has chosen, we know it’s not good news. That cold hand, the one that’s been around a lot the last few days, hovers over me, the hooded claw from Scooby Doo. I shiver, despite that I […]
Alarming
The fire alarm in our apartment building went off last night. Neil was asleep; I was just beginning to doze off. Safe to say it scared the living daylights out of me. We both shot up in bed with swear words. I couldn’t find the light switch, despite having turned it off only a few […]
Tracy Annenberg 