We had quite a ‘to do ‘ list in 2011 and I think we ticked it all off. In addition to what we did, I have also learnt new things. Here are some of the things I can remember I have learnt:
Be patient when applying to emigrate
How to make marmalade.
Be patient when trying to get the garden sorted
Be patient when trying to get the house sorted
Eat seasonally
How to be a substitute teacher (again)
Students are the same the world over
How to live without a regular, salary-paying job
The saying ‘there is more to life than money’ sounds different when you say it and have less than you used to!
Everyone knows everyone else
Be nice to everyone, even if someone is a prat as they could turn out to be (a) less of a prat than you first thought, or (b) the local chiropractor , who you have made an appointment to see, but you don’t know that when you meet him in a different situation!
Kiwis (the people) have got the right idea about how to celebrate Christmas.
Kiwis (the people) have the right idea about many aspects of life.
Emigration means you will miss family and friends, perhaps for the first time.
Immigration will mean you get to meet really great people, who make really great friends.
Living in a beautiful part of the world with rubbish weather is OK, but living in a beautiful part of the world with fab weather is so much better.
I have more recently learnt how to avoid being spat at by Llamas
The list could go on but I can’t remember more at the minute.
We are now in busy holiday season. Each day we take our trailer and car to the wharf in Mapua. It is an idyllic location to have a business at. We sit here at work on the wharf, waiting for people to hire or return bikes, or taking bikes around the area to meet up with tourists heading off to do a winery tour etc. At approx 5 or 6pm, I take the bikes home and clean them, while Lisa goes to work at the restaurant, 10 metres away from our bike hire location. She then works the evening shift which has finished at midnight all this week as it was the jazz festival, so bands were playing each night on the wharf or in the restaurant. Yesterday jazz played during the day, people sat in the sunshine with an ice cream or a drink. We hired out bikes and enjoyed the music. We do a lot of people watching.
The weather is still a bit changeable, so it rained today and that meant we had a day ‘off’. What really happened was that we got all sorts of other emails etc sent and made lots of phone calls. A real day off is not likely to happen in the foreseeable future.
We have set ourselves a target of being in the sea at least once every month for the next 12 months. We went to Rabbit Island after work and had our first swim in the sea (Lisa was off that night as the restaurant was closed for 2 days as it was sold and the new owners were changing a few things). We managed this challenge in Portrush,a few years ago, so with a few mm less of neoprene, we should manage it here…watch this space!
