Gail Dickson .. my blog from Down Under

Last week passed quickly as work was extremely busy with handover stuff.   Next week is the last week before all the contractors head off so I expect it to be even worse!   Between work and lunches out to say goodbye to everyone who is leaving .. I’m going to be extremely busy and probably exhausted by the time next Friday comes.

Other than that, Kyle was at his school disco on Thursday night.   The school had organised a parents update type meeting at the same time so I went to that and Bobby, Kyle and Regan all went to the disco.   It  was quite an interesting meeting as it turns out … found out about new building plans, third language choices, the international programme they are starting next year and finally got to have a say in whether they continue with bible class …. Hmm now there’s an interesting topic!   One which I’m not even going to try and talk about here … bit too emotive me thinks.

Managed to get some more stuff organised for the holidays … now have a tent, camp kitchen, air bed (well you don’t expect me to sleep on the ground do you?), table and some other stuff.   I have also now booked the cruise in Milford Sound for New Years Eve, penguin watching in Oamaru and a train journey near Dunedin.   Tried to book whale watching in Kaikoura but unfortunately they don’t let under 3s on the boats …   :o(   we have a choice of a helicopter or plane too but they’re a bit more expensive.   It will be Reggie’s birthday though so we’ll wait and see ….

Forgot to mention the important bit in the post from last night …. the cicadas and crickets are back!!!   :o)   Summer is here and Gail is happy!   I love the sound of the cicadas chirping outside ….

Work has been busy this week as I’m getting the handovers for my new programme management role and the project that I’m taking over.   By Friday, needed a rest :o)   so my friend Leanne and I took the afternoon off and went for a manicure/pedicure and then out for a nice lunch by the water.   It was a lovely day … really hot …. So it was lovely sitting outside in the sun watching the harbour.   I did think of all those people back in Scotland while I was sitting there … made me feel very lucky to be here!

I’ve had the Wellington vs. Auckland conversation with people at my work quite often but it’s more relevant at the moment because of the lack of work in Auckland vs. availability of work in Wellington.   Personally, I’ve decided that although Wellington is a nice city …. Auckland makes you feel like you’re always on holiday so it wins every time.   The fact that there is water everywhere, it’s much warmer up here and the abundance of lovely beaches minutes from the house, work etc makes it a great place to live.   Two of my three PMs in the marketing programme are contractors so will be either leaving or standing down for two months in a couple of weeks.   We’ve agreed to meet up some lunchtimes over the summer and go to the local (to work) beach for lunch … it’s a five minute drive and is lovely.   (Lynne … talking about the one we went to when you were here).   Not sure that would be possible in Wellington!

Anyhoo … back to Auckland …. Vodafone Technology had a family day out at the zoo today so the four of us went along.   Again, it was a lovely day … so had a picnic and wandered around looking at the animals.   We were lucky enough to walk right into the elephants as they were having a wander around the zoo …. Unfortunately, Reggie was sleeping but Kyle thought it was great as he’d obviously never seen an elephant up that close.   It was a fun day and lots of people turned up from work which was good.   Didn’t get around everything before they were both tired out but it didn’t really matter as we’re going again in three weeks with nursery.

As expected, the Nationals won the election yesterday … will have to wait and see how this one goes.   Helen Clark (like her or loathe her) was the face of New Zealand for a long time so it’s going to be a big change no matter what.

John Key is very much the “Conservative” of New Zealand so I think there will be many changes over the coming months/years … we’ll have to wait and see the impact ….

As Bobby put it earlier today … Election Day is a lot more civilised down here … it’s on a Saturday!   We were allowed to vote since we’ve now been here a year so had to work out which parties stood for what, how to vote etc.   It’s actually not easy … been brought up with Labour, Conservative, Liberal and SNP and suddenly you have to try and work out what the Kiwi Party is all about!   Unlike the UK, where you get bombarded with political junk mail for weeks before any election and also get them coming to the door … we had only got mail from the local National candidate and no-one had come near.   Made our minds up this morning and went to vote … we’ll see what happens later!   Feeling down here is that Helen Clark is going to lose this time and the Nationals will get in.   Not overly happy with that concept for loads of reasons … a couple of which are that the Nationals are pro-nuclear and that as their name suggests, we’d never have got in had they been in power when we were going through the visa process.

Now that I’ve decided to stay at VF for a while (due to lack of jobs out there and the fact that all the contractors are out there just now ..), I’ve become resigned to the fact that I’m staying and although it’s not any easier or more enjoyable … I’m coping a bit better.   I’ve been asked to take on one of the high priority projects once the contractor leaves at the end of the month and also to take on the programme management (short term) for web & online.   My current programme (marketing/campaigning) will be changing a bit too as two of my three project managers are leaving at the end of November (because they are contractors) so it’ll be a sad time as we’ve become quite a close little team … will miss them a lot actually.

Bobby bought our new tent today for the summer holidays so we’re getting a bit more organised for that too.   Our itinerary is as below:

Couple of days to get down to ferry in Wellington
Kaiteriteri in Abel Tasman National Park over Christmas
Down the west coast … via glaciers and Queenstown
Milford Sound over New Year
Dunedin and then up the east coast
Kaikoura for Reggie’s birthday
Then back up to Auckland over a couple of days

Still got to book the activities eg we’ll go whale watching in Kaikoura, on the boat trip down the fiord on New Years Eve in Milford Sound and see the penguins in Oamaru.   Will do that over the next week or so.

Both kids have been ill over the last couple of weeks.   Got a call from school last week for Kyle and this week had Reggie off for a couple of days.   Neither had anything too bad … just bad colds so recovering now.

Have now got both of them in a new swimming class … Reggie really enjoyed hers and slept for hours afterwards!   :o)   Kyle started his on Wednesday and this one has a rule about no flotation devices so they learn to swim properly at the start.   Wasn’t sure how Kyle would like that but he did really really well.   By the end of the first session, he was able to swim a little bit on his own with no float.   We were super impressed!

I’m getting worse … I apologise for this lack of blogging!   As my niece would tell me (and anyone else who would listen) … I’m even worse at emailing!   Will try harder ….

We haven’t actually been up to much since the school holidays .. Kyle is back at school, Regan is still at nursery and Bobby and I are still working hard.   Day to day life kind of takes over … it actually makes you forget that you’re at the other end of the world from everyone as it’s all very normal now.   As I sit in the traffic jam in the morning, it’s actually weird thinking back to the (what I thought was a) traffic jam going into Edinburgh Park …   It’s weird thinking of the view from the office out to Safeway/Morrisons and the Gyle when now I look out at Viaduct Harbour and the Harbour Bridge.

The last couple of weekends have been nice(ish) weather … last weekend we went up to Orewa for a walk along the beach and the kids went to the play park (photos on Flickr).

This weekend was Labour Day weekend so Monday was a public holiday.   We decided since the weather was supposed to be very wet, not to go anywhere.   Turned out to be quite nice on Sunday and Monday so made sure we got out and about.   Kyle had decided he wanted a new scooter so bought that on Saturday while it was raining.   Sunday, we went to Auckland Museum so that Kyle could see the dinosaur bones and then went for a walk (scoot) around the Domain (large park in the centre of Auckland City).   Again, there are photos on Flickr and some plant type photos on my Flickr site …   While we were walking around the museum, Kyle decided he LOVED museums so we went to MOTAT (transport museum) yesterday.   There are lots of old cars, trains, planes, trams etc plus a kids zone so I think everyone enjoyed the day.   MOTAT is next to a lovely park so spent a while after in the park so that Kyle could use his scooter again.   It was a great day … even managed to get sunburnt shoulders!   :o(

So what else is new …. I discovered ghd …. And now don’t know how I lived without them!   :o)   Went to a night time thing at my hairdresser and ended up buying some hot pink ones   ;o)   Not like me .. Everything I buy is normally black!

Regan is mad on Elmo!   You’ll have noticed from the photos that he’s now always attached to her, so ended up buying her Elmo Live at the weekend … although a bit annoying, it’s actually quite amusing.   There was a deal at the local Warehouse (NZ shop … can’t think of a comparison in the UK ..) and if you bought Elmo Live (at $30 discount due to Labour Day weekend) then you got the giggling Elmo free.   Thought this was a great deal but Reggie thought different and doesn’t like the giggling one so has decided he’s Kyles ..   It’s quite amusing watching her go to bed with Bagpuss in one arm and Elmo in the other … not much room for her really!

Camping trip over Christmas is now all booked so we’re spending Christmas in Abel Tasman National Park and New Year in Milford Sound.   We’re away for three weeks so really looking forward to the break.   Kyle got a bit upset last week and said he didn’t want to go camping … sat and talked to him about it and found out it was because he thought Santa wouldn’t be able to find him.   Cleared that one up so now he’s really looking forward to living in a tent for three weeks … wish I could say the same for mum!   :o)   Will provide more details on the itinerary nearer the time …

First things first … Happy Birthday to Elizabeth today, I hope you have a great day.

It was also my mum’s birthday today so my thoughts have been with her too … it’s one of those days when I really wish she was here … she would have loved it here.

Reggie is all better now … spots are almost gone and she’s been back at nursery since last week.   She was very aware of the spots and kept pointing at the ones on her face (which were obviously bugging her) and saying “spots”.   Unfortunately for her, it’s now back into mossie time and she’s got a few bites over the last couple of days … so she’s back to saying spots again!   :o(

Kyle is doing great … enjoying the school holidays … even although he’s been at school holiday club most of the time.   He also went to Caylen’s for a couple of days (thanks Katie!) and we went away for a long weekend last weekend so he had an extra day off at the weekend.   Kinda makes the bad mother syndrome kick in a bit when he can’t even stay at home on the holidays but we couldn’t afford one of us to stay at home full time and you only get 4 weeks holiday down here … 3 of which are taken up by the almost close down at Christmas.

Anyhoo, back from our weekend break .. We went to the Bay of Plenty which is south east of Auckland.   Travelled down on the Friday night and stayed in a town called Waihi that night then in the morning went into Tauranga for brunch and a wander then on to Mount Maunganui (the local resort) and then drove down to Gisborne.   When we were here with my mum 14 years ago, I must admit I wasn’t overly impressed with Gisborne … my opinion hasn’t changed much.   Not much to it and the only way to get there from Auckland is via two very twisty and horrible roads so don’t think I’ll rush to go back.   Stayed at Wainui Beach just north of Gisborne on Saturday night … really lovely motel.   Sunday we drove up the coast road between Wainui and Whakatane where we were staying on Sunday night.   Now on to the reason we came down this way …..

When we were here with mum I took this really nice photo of Bobby sitting on a log on a beach “somewhere” … mum took one of both of us on the same log and it stayed on the shelf in her caravan.   We looked at those photos often and couldn’t remember where the beach had been … since coming here we’ve tried a couple of places but no.   We decided a while back that it was on this coast road hence one of the reasons for the trip … in search of the elusive beach.   And we found it!!!!   It’s a place called Tolago Bay and apparently it is where Captain Cook first landed in 1769 … probably why we went there in the first place … mum would have been into that …

Anyway … work is horrible just now …. But very slow out in the PM market so will stay where I am for the moment.   Looking forward to the weekend.

Work has been getting me down a bit over the last week or so, so haven’t been much in the mood for picking up the laptop to blog when I got home … sorry!   Had a really bad day last Thursday so left early and then worked from home on Friday.   By the end of the day I felt much better and much more positive about the whole thing.

Monday morning, went in, moved desks (needed a change of scenery and it’s really easy in VF as everyone hot desks …) and got on with it.   Still feeling positive and may actually go as far as starting to enjoy it again.   One of my PMs left last week so have got some more interesting stuff to pick up which I think is helping.

On the down side … Reggie now has chickenpox!   When we were bathing her on Friday night, I noticed 5 or 6 little spots and thought “Oh Oh!” … by the time she got up on Saturday, there were a lot more and looked like they were blistering.   She is now completely covered and Bobby and I are taking day about at home with her.   Now that Reggie has discovered Elmo DVDs, we are actually managing to get work done when we are off with her as well.   She has this talking Elmo which she holds onto tightly while she’s watching the DVD … it’s soooo cute (if a very annoying toy).

Last weekend was the Auckland home show so on the Saturday we went along to check out double glazing, kitchens etc.   Got lots of numbers and bought a couple of hammocks for the deck.   Bobby put the hammocks up at the weekend so spent a couple of hours sitting out there on the Saturday morning with Reggie fast asleep on my knee.   A perfect excuse for not getting out the hammock I can tell you!   ;o)   It was warm on Saturday so really nice to be swinging in the hammock but it’s going to be great in the summer as you get a nice breeze up on the deck since it’s on the middle floor of the house and we are part way up the valley.

Didn’t do much else at the weekend since Reggie was all spotty!

School holidays next week so we’re going to go to the Bay of Plenty during the middle weekend so that at least Kyle gets a bit of a holiday.   The rest of the time will be spent either at Caylen’s (Katie has offered to take him for a couple of days) or at school club or at home with us working from home.

Playdate with Caylen and Righard was exhausting last weekend.   Went okay though and they seemed to enjoy themselves.   It’s now spring in NZ so the ice cream shop has opened up again (it closes for winter) so we ended the day with chocolate ice cream at the beach … just in time to send them home to their respective parents!  ;o)

Week went okay although I have to say I’m not enjoying work at all at the moment.   I think I’ve made my mind up re whether I want to stay although it’s not going to be easy to move considering the economic state of the world at the moment … job market is very slow and it’s full of ex-VF contractors!   I’ll keep an eye out and see if anything comes up …

Bobby had a bad week work wise last week but is feeling much more positive again.   It’s not good when we’re both feeling the strain … especially as the kids are a bit full on at the moment.

As it’s Father’s Day today, we had decided during the week to go away for the weekend … luckily we didn’t book anything as Reggie wasn’t feeling too good on Friday when I picked her up from nursery.   She was fine by Saturday though and it was a lovely day so we went to Bethell’s Beach for a walk.   The west coast of Auckland is gorgeous … cliffs, big waves and a bit wild (east coast is very calm and good for kids) …   The last time we went to Bethell’s I didn’t have the camera but remembered it this time so there are some photos on Flickr.   We had a great day out.

Today’s weather was a bit wilder so went looking for tents for the summer holidays and then went to Takapuna to watch the kite surfers … I hadn’t realised how much they could fly when it’s really windy … it’s quite cool to watch.

Back to summer holidays … we’re going to the South Island for three weeks over Christmas and New Year so really need to book asap as it gets booked up really early.   Will try and at least book the ferry tonight.