VISITORS AND THE GARDEN

 Last week we had visitors, a cousin from the U.K. and his wife.  Last time they visited was about 28 years ago when they came with their toddler daughter who is now 30 and about to be married.  

Before they arrived I checked on their breakfast requirements and was surprised when the reply was porridge and fruit.  We have porridge and fruit every day of the year but I make it with added chia seeds, chopped dates and oat milk.  Yes, that would be fine.  They said the porridge was just like being at home so that went well.  Of course we did the walk to the Whangarei Falls but also added in the A.H. Reed Board walk as well.  

On Friday we walked  the Loop at the Town Basin visiting the Hundertwasser Art Centre and the Clock Museum on the way with a stop for lunch.  It doesn't sound a lot but it took most of the day and by afternoon it was 28 degrees and we were both tired.  Home for a cuppa and biccie.

We decided on a sleep in on Saturday morning instead of our usual 6 a.m. start for the Growers' Market.  They headed north along the coast for a swim and on to Kaikohe where they have cycled the Twin Coast Cycle Trail (the brought their bikes over with them).

We really enjoyed their visit and there was lots of discussion about the family tree and exchange of photos.  They also brought a video they took of our property up north when they visited previously.

Meanwhile our garden virtually stopped producing after the storm.  As we didn't go to the Market I have placed an order with Nadia who has an organic garden just down the road from us and delivers vegie boxes. I have ordered the small box plus a hand of bananas although since I placed the order ours have started ripening.  

New flowers in the garden are.  The top photo is the hydrangea that turns pink as it ages.

There is lots of fruit coming on the   Riesentraube tomato and the peach tree is laden.  I hope that the peaches survive the current humid weather.

We had a pleasant Parkinsons' walk yesterday in spite of the 29 degree heat.

My vegie box has just been delivered 

A bunch of bananas and 3 chillies

A bunch of spinach, a bunch of Swiss Chard, 4 heirloom tomatoes,  4 cucumbers, a bag of salad,  beans and  cherry tomatoes plus some Agria potatoes.  All freshly picked/dug.

IT HAS FINALLY STOPPED RAINING

Thursday and the rain has finally stopped.  Settlements to the north are cut off by slips and bridges washed away and many houses have silt through them.  Unfortunately, people are missing further south, one washed away in  a car and others in landslips. 

We were fine here.  The lawn was under water but once the rain stops it dries up quite quickly.

We decided to walk to the Whangarei Falls this morning. The bottom photo was on January 6th. There was a lot more water yesterday as a picnic table to the left of the photo was almost under water. 

RAIN

The heat has gone and it is 21 degrees C. today which feels quite cold.  We had a lot of rain at the weekend and have a heavy rain watch from 6 p.m. tonight to midday tomorrow with another possible later in the week.

We were lucky here in Whangarei but along the coast north of us things were very bad with a couple of bridges washed away and lots of campers now being housed in Marae unless they have headed home from their holidays early.

The top photo was from the New Zealand Herald and the bottom from the Council website.  Unfortunately, once again the heaviest rainfall is predicted in the same area.  

Meanwhile here the beans and tomatoes are flourishing with beans being given to family and neighbours and it is great not having to water the garden. 

VISITING U.K.

When my parents were alive I visited U.K. several times.  I was on a new Zealand passport and originally, when I got to Heathrow I had a choice of Commonwealth or others, later it changed to E.U. or others.  I always went to the shorter E.U. queue having been born in the U.K. and Max, who was born in New Zealand came with me and we went straight through.

Over recent years I have been thinking about visiting one last time and was about to when Covid hit.  I was shocked to read an article this morning about the fact that I would either need a British Passport or something called a Certificate of Entitlement which would cost 589 pounds whereas Doug on a New Zealand Passport having been born here would only need an ETA at 16 pounds.

I do not know why the U.K. wants to punish me for having been born there. It is not the thought of the actual travel that deters me from overseas travel but all the bureaucracy.  

Here are the relevant parts of the article.

So then I did some research and it is definite that on the 25th of February if you're a dual citizen and you're born in Britain, then you have to have a British passport.

 "If you as a Kiwi [born in NZ] wanted to go to Britain, no problem at all - just use your Kiwi passport."

It put British citizens in a worse position in their own country than visa-waiver travellers - such as New Zealand-born citizens using ETAs, he said.

His shock at the cost was matched by his outrage at the bureaucracy involved - including finding a UK passport holder to confirm his identity, form-filling, the possibility of an in-person interview at the embassy in Wellington, and having to post his New Zealand passport.

"If you don't want to send the passport, which I didn't, you have to send a photocopy of every page. And they make the point that even if the pages are blank, you've got to send a photocopy. So I sent 42 pages, 41 of which were blank. Isn't that fantastic? So, yeah, this is bureaucracy gone mad."

Vince considered whether he could get around the rule by hoping authorities assumed he was New Zealand-born - but then realised his NZ passport reveals he was born in the English city of Coventry.

The wait for a new British passport would be worrying for people with travel already booked or who had an emergency, he said.

A new passport seemed a better option than an alternative the UK government is offering - a 'certificate of entitlement' costing £589/NZ$1373 compared to £94.50/$220 for an adult passport - but it is still much more than an ETA (£16/$37 for two years), and a lot more work.

"Up until now, it's cost me around about $600, copious amounts of form filling in, and now we're still waiting to see what else they want. It has to go by special delivery - there is only one way the post office will accept old passports and that costs $121. Absolutely ridiculous. And we're in our 80s, we'll probably only ever go [to England] one more time."

COOLER

Yesterday was 32 degrees C. but we still managed a lot between us.  Doug has been busy having a clean out of his workshop and I cooked a leg of hogget in the slow cooker on high.  It doesn't heat the room like the oven does and we ended up with beautiful tender meat.  I also managed to catch up on several routine jobs that needed doing.  Luckily, today has been cooler just 28 degrees but still hot.  Everyone was pleased with the walk I had chosen for the Parkinson's group today which was alongside the Hatea River in the bush.

At least lunch was easy, leftover hogget with salad.

Going out to water the garden when it cools a little - 32 degrees in the back porch.

SUMMER

It seems as though summer is finally here. Well, I wrote those words about ten days ago when the temperature was the early 20's and it stayed at about 23/24 degrees C. (my comfort zone ) until today.  There is a devastating heatwave  with wildfires in Australia, mainly in the south, and their weather tends to come over here.  Today it is 29 degrees, possibly 30 and tomorrow is forecast for 31 degrees.  The first load of washing was dry when I put the second load out.  Watering every night again. Still, apart from going to the Growers' Market I managed three loads of washing done and folded, made a loaf of bread and cooked mussels in white wine for lunch.  Will shortly put my feet up to read for an hour then we will both be watering.  The forecast is for the days to get cooler with 26 degrees C. on Friday.

It has been a busy week with the Walking Group starting again, a visit to meet new great-grandson, a meet up at the Town Basin with a friend from the Far North who now lives in Auckland and was driving north with her two daughters who were 4 and 5 when we first met and are now in their mid 50's, one lives in Auckland the other was visiting from Melbourne plus visits from daughters and cousins.  

The garden keeps changing and I am picking a good quantity of beans daily and giving a lot away. 

 Tomatoes on the first five plants are just starting to ripen.

NEW YEAR'S DAY AND THE START OF THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 21ST CENTURY

We haven't been walking over the Christmas break as life has been busy but decided to do one of our favourite walks this morning, A.H. Reed Park to the Whangarei Falls.  It was 26oC. and most of the walk is in the shade.  We also did the extra part of the walk by going up and over the Falls itself.  

Two shots of the old chestnut tree

I don't know whether this will work but the link should go to the New Year's e-card I have been sending this year.  I don't usually send New Year's cards but this was just too good not to send.

I SWIPED IT TO HIGHLIGHT,  THEN DID A RIGHT CLICK,  THEN GO TO "......jlcards......."

 https://jlcards.com/kU2xn9