Blowing a gale and bitter Southerly doesn’t mean you can’t hit the beach for a bonus afternoon doggo walk.

I was lucky enough to see a legend playing live last night – Peter Hook, bassist from influential 1980s Manchester bands Joy Division and New Order. It was one of those gigs where everything went well – almost full, genuine fans, yet sat at the back with empty seats around me so didn’t feel claustrophobic, sound system was great — viscerally loud yet crystal clear — with everyone on (fairly) good behaviour.

Held at Wellington’s Opera House, where the contrast of “The Good Old Days” style Victorian architecture and rock gig staging always seems incongruous, the older crowd were down the front dancing within a few numbers then stayed there throughout, shiny heads supplementing the light show.

The first half was all New Order songs, including absolute bangers Blue Monday and True Faith. The second half went back further into the Joy Division catalogue, where Peter’s voice fitted Ian Curtis’ feral vocals much better.

Unsurprisingly they finished with (IMHO) one of the greatest pop songs ever written – Love Will Tear Us Apart – prompting a crowd sing-a-long that had Peter tearing up.

I drove home afterwards with ringing ears, a signed T-shirt to add to the tour shirts collection and the satisfaction of another bucket list item ticked off.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350278798/joy-division-legend-visits-wellington-memorial-late-bandmate

An annual Upper Hutt tradition is Book Fest, where the local Lions Club hire out a local hall and pack it with cheap second hand books. You turn up with an empty shopping bag and leave with a dozen (or more) interesting additions to the unread books pile.

This year’s trawl takes the unread books pile over 100 so I could really do with a big Lotto win so I can retire early and start making inroads …

Had a very pleasant Star Wars Day yesterday, watching the original film at a packed showing at the local picture house that included lots of kids getting indoctrinated by their geeky Dads.

It reminded me of a vivid childhood memory of my Dad taking.ke to see the film back in the late 70s, particularly walking out of Hull’s Cecil cinema holding his hand, walking up Carr Lane with a head full of spaceships, lightsabers and John Williams’ epic score.

The only sobering realisation on this viewing was that, while I would love to think of myself as Han Solo, in reality I am more like C3P0. Damn.

Finally from our trip I enjoyed how our friends’ village has lots of quirky letterboxes, community libraries and even an egg distribution point and had to post a few.

Our friend is an enthusiastic bee-keeper and Wor Lass took the opportunity to suit up and get amongst the hive to see how it’s done. She found it eye-opening and fascinating – keeping bees is a more complicated business than you’d imagine – but rewarding, particularly when you’re enjoying some home-made honey.

If NZ’s Southland is known for one local delicacy it’s this – the cheese roll. At first glance it’s just a simple rolled slice of white bread with butter and cheese inside, toasted and served with more butter on top.

In reality there are all sorts of closely-guarded recipes (I’m pretty sure the one I included finely chopped red onion and celery) and they taste AMAZING for second breakfast with a flat white- but perhaps being on holiday in the sunshine might have something to do with that.

Couldn’t go to the heart of the premium Pinot Noir producing region of New Zealand without trying some tastings at a couple of local wineries, could I?!

Our friend gave me a guided tour in his pristine MG Sprite (the license plate will give you a clue as to his favourite band), plus on the Sunday morning we headed down to the Old Town for a sweet little craft market and to get The Duchess’ necklace restrung.

During the height of lockdown we had a virtual holiday and spent an hour watching a YouTube video of someone walking round Wanaka filming the experience on their iPhone. This time we actually made it in person. Strange mix of shops, alternating between bike and wool shops with the occasional gift shop.

Pleasant but felt like a tourist stopping off point between bike trails or heading out skiing.