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.

Just back from a lovely long weekend on the South Island with the parents of our good friend Treats Lady, aka The Bringer of Treacle Sponges, and got a bit snap-happy due to beautiful surroundings, spectacular Autumnal colours and perfect light conditions. (Three unbroken says of blue skies really helped the trip).

Our friends picked us up from Queenstown Airport and en route to their home near Cromwell we stopped off for lunch and a wander round the picturesque historic village of Arrowtown, preserved to give (the many) tourists an idea of what Gold Rush-era Otago looked like.

Work is having a morning tea where everyone brings something thelat represents where they are from.

What can I bring with a Yorkshire feel? It’s got to be mini roast beef dinners!

Something I’m reading up on at the moment is the Greek/Roman philosophy of stoicism and how it can be useful to apply in your everday life.

This book is broken up into daily bite-sized chunks that are easy to take in and think about, and is already helping me to not worry about the things I have no control over and to be more discliplined in my thinking.

The author also has a good website for getting an idea of what it’s about :-

https://dailystoic.com

I never thought I’d have Marcus Aurelius as an inspiration but there you go ….

Got to the first gig of 2024 with a visit to the Opera House to hear Scottish instrumental rockers Mogwai. Wow that was some noise! At times I could feel the kick drum reverberating up the seat and into my back. 90 minutes of proper rocking out, but without the irritating mosh pit.

Here’s a fairly accessible example of Mogwai’s music if you want to check them out (would be good for your ukelele band to rock out to, Dad!)

They’ve been knocking about for 20 years now, so it was nice to go to a rock gig and not be 20 years older than the band and audience. There were a fair few flat caps and long grey beards about that night.

Just hoping the tinnitus fades before my next gig this weekend!

Last weekend we managed to coax The Duchess onto a plane for the first time since 2019 to enjoy a change of scenery and catchup with relocated friends, flying over to Nelson on the South Island ( confusingly it’s about level with Wellington, which is on the North Island).

We were escorted around the sights of Nelson and Richmond, enjoying the arty atmosphere of the area via the Art Gallery, the gardens, an impressive cathedral and some lovely coffee shops and cafes.

We could definitely see ourselves living in Nelson, providing I didn’t have to commute back to Wellington every weekend.

Note for Dad: Our friends are South African, hence the random picture of their tamati sous, which I tasted and can confirm you would like if you ever found yourself in SA (as if!).