I have been remiss, haven’t I? So long without writing to you may have made you feel that I had lost interest or forgotten about you. I apologise for the delay between posts, but life has just been too full and enjoyable to catch a moment to sit down and write.

What’s been pulling me along so fast? I hear you ask. To that question, there is no definitive answer except a series of enjoyable events, with brief periods of recovery in between. Let’s start from late November when our dear Dutch friend Rina, paid us a visit here in New Zealand. Her yearly jaunt to Australia has been switched to a New Zealand adventure. Soon after Rina left us, Phil and I headed off to Christchurch on the South Island. A few days rambling around the city and its surrounding hills kept the energy levels depleted. Upon our return was the 40^th birthday event, which turned in to a week of eating nice food with excuses such as pre-birthday and post-birthday celebrations. And now, it is the Christmas/New Year period and I have just worked 2 and half weeks with 2 days off! The New Year will see my mum and niece, Chelsea, visit here in New Zealand, followed by a trip for Phil and I in March to Niue. In April, I am back to Australia for a few days as part of a course I am studying. So, I had better get to it………..XXXX

We are what we repeatedly do. (Aristotle 384 BC – 322 BC)