Quietish week

Well, it has been a mixed week of wonderful calm and great weather, upset by a large 5.7 which shook us up just as we stupidly thought it was quietening down. No problem here though but more headaches for rural communities. There is positive news. The whales, dolphins, seals and albatross seem unaffected by all the events and dolphin, penguin and seal young seem fine. This is fantastic. Residents are now being allowed through the inland road to Kaikoura with convoy of military vehicles, so my guess is that if the earth stays calm and weather not too wild, the road will be open to others. Cafes, shops, farmers markets, etc, also opening up. 

My neighbour visited a cafe in Cheviot, the epicentre of many quakes, and found people in good spirits despite losing so much trade. The owner apologised for the wait, explaining he was cooking on a bbq. Apparently food was amazing. 

As the 5.7 struck, I was sitting with friends and their 15 year old dog. No reaction from him, though Liz said he used to alert them to any quake over 4.0. Either he is now too old, or it has all got a bit boring for him! Nice story.

My garden currently looks as if disaster has struck!

 

I have had 7 trees removed to let in more light and unfortunately the tree cutter had forgotten he was busy till Tuesday and so took off leaving the lawn covered with branches. Luckily he is back to finish off tomorrow. Very nice guy but very laid back!

I was delighted to take delivery of my new spa on Friday. It is smaller than the last one but absolutely perfect. I love it. Please come and try it!

During the day it has the stunning view of my white roses and eventually my gorgeous garden and at night the southern skies full of stars.

 

Kerstin and I went in for the first time Saturday. Heavenly! No flash on ipad camera so not a great photo. We had a fabulous time.

 

It has been extremely windy for several days, with warm, strong norwesterly winds, like the Foehn in Switzerland. When this blows the planes fly very low over the house . You sometimes feel they will land in the garden. The airport is only about one kilometre away. Fortunately the norwest winds do not blow too often, usually in spring!

 

Have just ordered two more heatpumps to keep me and visitors warm in cooler times. We only had one before and it was chilly in much of the house. Should be great now.

Akso have a new pc. David was horrified to see my, what I thought was relatively new computer, was in fact 14 years old! Most things do not function any more, so David chose a good new one for me. Should keep me going till I am 80 😀

Still lots to do. Knees and shoulder coming right so hope for the tennis courts soon.

Big hugs from afar. Looking forward to dinner with Mark  and Emma , and David who is staying for the week. Fantastic to have them near again.

One week on

A week has flown by since we all woke very shaken, literally, after the massivedestructive  7.8 quake in neighbouring Kaikoura. They are still cut off there due to risk of landslides after torrential rains. However, the great news today is that the whales are back and dolphins and seals are also fine. This is very important for this lovely little place dependent on its marvelous marine life.

So here I am writing this in my garden. Beautiful morning, birds singing, sun shining. 

 

My roses which did not look too healthy before I left in 2012 seem to be thriving on neglect! Just gorgeous. Tomorrow the peace will be shattered as I get someone in to start to sort out my front garden. One side looks great, the other awful. I want to clear it and plant native trees and bushes. Will be bare till it gets established!

I have lots to sort out, like NZ pension, leak in the roof of the garage and endless boxes! Still, I have time!

Have enjoyed meeting up with close friends this week. I spent the day visiting two friends on the hills of Christchurch, in two very different, both very beautiful homes. The first is brand new , spacious, with an incredible, uninterrupted view of Christchurch . What a place to sit on the terrace. It was magic!it was great too to get back to speaking German with Andrea my Swiss friend.

 Great for animals too! You can see Christchurch centre to the right. 

My second visit was five minutes away to a fabulous wooden home nestled in to native forest. Sadly it has been earthquake damaged, from 2011, and Maureen , who I worked with for about 18 years, will be moving out at some time. Once again sitting on the terrace was a wonderful experience for different reasons

 

 

Inside the house is a mass of small rooms at different levels, all looking out on the native bush and forest. 

How lucky we are here in NZ to have such space. I had forgotten how huge our homes are. Until you have been away, you don't fully appreciate this. 

Yesterday, I took my little car , Ken - due to its number plate ken911- down to see David in Timaru. A two-hour drive  on a straight road with expansive views over endless fields of cattle ( I was surprised how many there are mow!) and sheep to the Southern Alps, with its snowy peaks. Believe it or not, more snow has fallen there since the ski season ended in October than during the season, the last being a few days ago!

I would have loved to have stopped to photograph some of the spectacular riverbeds I crossed, but narrow bridges and nowhere good to stop. The braided rivers meander across the wide river beds which are a mass of yellow with bushes of broom, a weed, and lupins. It looks gorgeous.

I didn't realise how beautiful Timaru was until David took me on a tour. First though, brunch at a fabulous cafe just outside

 

Where we feasted on the 'big breakfast'. It was massive and fed us for the day! Fantastic setting with farm animals everywhere and chickens running around everywhere. Super friendly service. Perfect, in fact.

After watching NZ playing Ireland at rugby, our next stop was the sea.

 Not a spectacular shot but on clear days you can see the Alps clearly and as far as Kaikoura, 4 .5 hours away. It was brilliant to be on the beach again.

Then we went to an amazing reserve area with cycle and walking tracks and heaps of native trees and bush alive with native birds. Brilliant!

 

So, that was lots of fun and it was great to have a decent run with the car to see David. I must admit to having been exhausted when I got home. Not used to concentrating behind a wheel! Luckily not much traffic and everyone seems to be patient and waits for the passing lanes to pass. The main road south is otherwise only one lane each way, but every five kilometres there is about one kilometre of passing lane. Seems to work very well. 

Arrived safely

I started this blog on my second day back. A lot has happened since then, but I will keep this part anyway. 

What a wonderful garden. Thanks to Mark and others I can simply sit and enjoy it. It looks great. The cherry tree in the middle lost most of its blossom in the strong norwest wind yesterday, but it still looks pretty.

 Lots of things to organise . 

I had some fantastic experiences everywhere I went this morning. I had forgotten just how friendly and helpful people are. I am sure a result of such a small population. First, the doctor's surgery. I was welcomed back like a long lost friend. I was pleased to learn that I have probably simply damaged my knee ligaments in my fall and with time they should be fine. My shoulder may need more treatment, but luckily it is not my tennis arm! No tennis for a few weeks sadly to rest the knees, but I will go to the pool instead.

From the doctor I wanted to go to the bank. I arrived to find it had closed. A really lovely young man was also wanting to visit the bank and asked if he could drive me to another. So kind. He even asked if he should wait for me and take me back afterwards! Thanks Harry. 

From here I had to renew my driver's licence. The queue was long but the girls at the counter made everyone feel special and welcome. My young lady was hilarious. She told me all about her hay fever, shrieked as she saw someone spitting on the pavement, and chatted as if chatting to a good friend. All this, whilst working away very efficiently on the computer. Brilliant.

Next stop a shop with 40 percent discount on everything. I have never had such personal and helpful people. It was a delight to shop.

My final nice person of the day was the bus driver. I was delighted to find I had money on my bus card, but he joked with me, asking if I had read the message on the card machine. Oh, he said laughing, it said you need to give the driver 25 dollars! 😃

I hope that people here will always be this way. All the smiles and laughter really brighten up the day - though it is already a bright, beautiful sunny day as well!

So now it is a week since I arrived and as most will know, the land has been moving big time since Sunday! Here we were woken at midnight by the longest quake I have ever experienced. It did not seem to want to stop. Thankfully I had Kerstin and Ollie here and we could sit together in the lounge whilst the house continued to shake sporadically. At about 3.30 we were able to get a few hours sleep. We , in Christchurch, were the lucky ones this ime, with no damage, except to nerves, but Hanmer and Kaikoura, two favourite places were badly hit and two people died. It is chaotic there but people are being amazing, as always. Today the last of those stranded due to roads being destroyed should be rescued by helicopter and ship and at the weekend an inland road should open. 

Of course, this time we had a tsunami threat to most of the east coast. The evacuation of homes by the sea went well. As my cousin said, even the cattle are smart and moved to higher ground ( I am sure you all saw the picture of the poor cows on quake island!)

It is a timely reminder to everyone to keep their emergency supplies fresh. We have now updated ours. 

Is it safe here? Yes, absolutely, especially so I think  inChristchurch. Wellington must continue to upgrade buildings and of course there is always the risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful blue Mazda Axela - colour very important - and a smart phone! Eeeeeeee! Scary! So I now have Whats App if you want to call.

 

Look forward to hearing. Will leave you with an artistic creation - a hot chocolate nz style

 

Wine ships and farewells in Zurich and Pfaeffikon

What wonderful days I have had with my friends. I have not felt too busy and strangely enough not too sad - yet 😌 knowing I will see Mark and David and Kiwi friends soon, plus returning next year in May helps a lot.

Thursday, wine ships in Zurich and before that a last visit for 2016 to my favourite little restaurant, chetis, where you can always be sure of a friendly welcome and very tasty food!

As I sat eating I could not help noticing how the light on the ceiling cast fabulous patterns on to the glasses on the bar!

 

The walk across the new square by the Opera house was gorgeous. It was such a warm day and the square beautifully empty!

 

The 63 rd time for the wine ships! Amazing to think they started this event when I was 2 years old. I have enjoyed visiting the ships over the past 6 years.

 

What a fantastic setting to drink good wine from around the world. 

 

I spent the afternoon at the New Zealand stand and then enjoyed Spanish and Italian wines with Guto and Dennis in the evening.  It was such fun 😀

 

 

Farewell party in Pfaeffikon. Before friends arrived I had time to enjoy the lovely view and autumn colours  from the balcony

 

It was brilliant that I could have this little get together at Nik and Irene's beautiful flat. 

 

Now I am writing this on the rooftop of Singapore airport. So great to break the journey here. 

 

First, an incredible five and a half hours of  heavenly sleep in my luxurious room in terminal one.  I could have invited along some extras if I had known!

 

Then, as always, my swimming pool visit. I cannot believe that so few people use these amazing facilities.  The water and outside temperatures are perfect. Will enjoy a few hours here before going to the waterlily and butterfly gardens. 

  

I now have a cute little neighbour! A real poser!

 

Now getting very excited about the prospect of seeing Mark and David really soon. It was so sad to bid farewell to Marco, Dennis and Guto at the airport  but good to know we will meet again soon . 

How lucky I am!

Pfaeffikersee

I am so thankful that I have time this week to once more enjoy meeting friends in this spectacular area and to relax. Autumn is my favourite season and this year autumnal colours seem more intense and dazzling than usual.

 

It was great to have a visit for the day from Jonathan, a friend from high school, who lives in Geneva. He had never been here before and was of course impressed by the beauties and amenities Pfaeffikon has to offer. We had a super walk around the lake with a stop at Jucker's for lunch. It was incredible how many people were there on a Tuesday! Luckily the pumpkin display was still there and in surprisingly good shape considering it has been up for months.

 

From the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento to temples of pumpkins! Equally impressive and beautiful!

 My favourite tree - even more golden than a few days ago!

 

Thebeautiful reeds lit up by the last rays of the sun

 

I think this will probably be the last sunset I will enjoy this year at my lovely lake. So many thousands of photos and yet I still find this view , the tranquility and the evening hues captivating. 

 

Looking towards the mountains was equally breathtaking and the soft pastel colours so restful.

 

I am just returning from a wonderful day in Zuoz preparing for next year. How marvelous to know I will be back there next year with my brilliant teams of teachers and assistants.

On the way home I saw this sign, celebrating 65 years. They have been amazing years and I am looking forward to the next!

 

Tomorrow wine ships and tasting. Will continue blogging!