YESTERDAY'S WALK

I posted my photos straight from my phone before writing the blog and they have gone on back to front.  Never mind.  It was another hot day so I had organised another bush walk for the Parkinson's Walking Group. It was a shorter walk with the possibility of adding on to it for the more energetic walkers.  As it turned out there were only six of us and we were all happy to go at a gentle pace. It was most enjoyable and lovely and cool in the bush.

Trees and branches are just left to rot naturally unless they are a hazard, this one fell across the small stream.

photos of the stream from both directions taken from a small bridge

it is a lovely path, much better to walk on than a concrete path.

I love the patterns on kauri bark.

lovely new growth on a Punga or Ponga tree fern

I liked this fern growing up the trunk of a small tree.

A smaller kauri with two smaller trees either side

This is the main kauri tree alongside the boardwalk from eye level and looking upwards.

the valley floor from the boardwalk

Someone must have tied this tree in a knot when it was young.  Often done to make a walking stick.

 

PEACHES AND SWEETCORN

 It is that time of year again. We have a great crop of peaches this year, so heavy that the second branch on the tree has just broken although I am leaving it attached in the hope that the peaches will still ripen.  

The poor tree is so dry that a lot of fruit are falling off.  I also have a very high tech picker (a fruit can on a stick) and have picked a few.

On top of this we went to the Growers' Market as usual early yesterday morning and bought a dozen corn on the cob.  We were going to process them straight after breakfast but had a visit from a delightful 22 year old young lady, she is the daughter of the lady who did a reading at our wedding and, when she was still at school would often call in with her family but we had not seen her for a while.  When she left we were surprised to see we had been chatting for almost two very enjoyable hours.

When she left we processed the corn.  It is blanched then the kernels removed, chilled and this morning it has been frozen.

By the time we had finished it was definitely time for lunch (delicious gurnard and vegies).  Later we both set to getting the peaches ready and cooking them for a short time.  We ended up with two bowls.  These were put into containers and frozen last night.

This morning the sweetcorn was also put into containers and put to freeze.  Lots of summer goodness ready for winter.

Photos back to front :)

The broken branch on the peach tree

One of four trays of peaches so far

One of two bowls processed so far.
 

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.