The Nissan Leaf was starting to cause some Range Anxiety (it’s a thing for EV owners) as to whether I could get to work and back on a full charge, and it became more expensive to run now after the Government has put road user charges on EVs.

So … It’s bye bye Nissan Leaf and hello to Nissan Note!

It’s a petrol hybrid which means it has a petrol engine that charges a small battery which then powers the wheels. It’s a halfway house that is cheaper to run and more eco friendly than a traditional petrol engine but doesn’t need plugging in or incur road charges.

TBH it is still a dull, white box but it’ll get me from A to B cheaply and will hopefully last at least 5 years.

For lack of anything interesting happening here is a picture of Penny having a sniff down the park.

The local bus is looking a bit past it’s best…

As is fairly common in NZ someone dumped their dead vehicle by the roadside, in this case at the bottom of our street, then washes their hands of it. The vehicle then slowly sheds parts as it gets cannibalized, before eventually it gets torched or the Council get round to having it towed to the scrapyard.

I do quite like the fact is has “F#ck the System” sprayed on the back and the Police have put their warning sticker over the U to make it more family friendly.

Some might think it sacrilege but we bought a new air fryer to reduce use of the oven and eat a bit healthier, and The Duchess saw some Yorkshire Pudding tins on a cheap online store so we thought we’d give it a go!

First attempt was edible but a bit doughy, but the second batch with less mixture has come out better.

I took a few days leave this week – much like most of the country – between Easter and ANZAC Day and we headed up the coast to a small coastal village called Castlepoint.

We enjoyed getting on the beach with Fluffy and walking up the hill to the lighthouse, though the house we rented was pretty basic and not very clean and the only restaurant in the area was decidedly average.

Perhaps the highlight was getting to see a pack of working dogs help corral a flock of sheep along the road in front of us and into a field.

Good to have seen the place but won’t be in a rush to return.

Here is the view from the front of our house onto the worst house in the street.

Believe it or not the guy did it to the place himself and is a skilled builder. Unfortunately his grand plan for recladding the house fell foul of council approvals and lack of time and it languished for over a year.

They put it on the market a few months ago and have seen a string of developers walk round and likely deem it not worth the cost.

It has now sold and will no doubt be a noisy building site for the next few months until they either move in or flip it for a profit. Either way it will only improve our house value to have it fixed up again

Poor little Pennypops has been scratching herself constantly for the past week so we have just taken her to the vets to be safe.

It’s fleas.

Of course it is, dumb humans! Being cautious given she had her thyroid meds changed recently plus we use the dog wash regularly that includes a flea treatment.

She has now had her first tablet that should help things, but we are both scratching ourselves so whether it’s psychological or if we have it too I don’t know.

The Duchess took a liking to these little timers online, one for brewing the tea and another for timing the boiled potatoes. Guess which is for which!

Looks like Dad should apply for royalties, the gnomes at the local garden centre have a definite look to them. They even called it Davey the Council Worker Gnome!

I’ve got ants in my loo roll. How does that even happen? Currently having to throw the first half dozen sheets into the bath on every visit to get an insect-free wipe.