One year on. Let's hope 2022 is better for us all and you have a good christmas.

A YEAR ON.

There is no point in recounting what we’ve been doing here for a year, I’ve kept a pretty complete account of things as we’ve moved through the months on ihaventacluerichardinnz.

But yes, it’s a year since we arrived. I stood on our deck a year ago and I remember thinking to myself ‘Have we done the right thing?; have we bitten off more than we can manage’?. I deffo felt daunted.

The less practical stuff has also been on my mind over the year. The stuff up in my head.

Yes, I have missed things from my previous life but as you have seen there have been a whole load of new and varied experiences. I’ve learnt more in the last 7 months than I have learnt in the last 37 years. Everyday is school day.

I did chance across some really wonderful groups of people in those 13 years in the UK. Good people and the accompanying memories are THE BEST.

By a stroke of good fortune Warwick Hospital were very short of radiographers, so looking like a National Bus driver in a maroon jacket and pale blue shirt I went for an interview. They must have been short as I landed a great job on the condition I got my hair cut, where I was surrounded by a generally great crowd of colleagues. They worked hard and I tried to keep up with them. They covered for my dopiness. We laughed almost from the moment we arrived at work, I had the mickey relentlessly taken out of me and we supported each other, well at least they supported me. I learnt a lot and developed a stack of new skills. Yes, there were a few moments of disappointing and surprising turbulence, but in 13 years that is to be expected. My very good bosses nurtured me through the bumps. What more could one hope for in a workplace? It was disappointing to finish 33 years of interesting radiography, learning a lot and 13 great years at Warwick. Yes, it was a sad moment, I snivvled, but I was kindly and very generously sent on my way by those good folks with a smashing gift all of which is now growing as olive trees, Seville orange, tangerine, persimmon, apple, grape, walnut, red currant, black currant and blue berry and a book all about self-sufficiency.

One of my wonderful leaving cakes. Thanks Claire.

Bake Off (that didn’t win, not that I'm bitter)!!

The fun of re-enacting the picture at work. This is why it was a good place to work.

The disappointment was compounded by a rather bizarre, inexplicable to me and inappropriate bark and growl from a senior member of the dept; a sad way to finish one’s 33 year career. But I’ve started another one as a naïve inexperienced 4, now 3 pet sheep, 6 chicken (1 egg a day), 2 spitting alpaca clueless farmer and learning more and more every day. My hec it is fun.

We now live in a rural area, 20kms from the nearest town and our nearest neighbours, Gary and Lois, are 1.5 kms away. They are the kindest people. They have the 660-hectare farm next door. There has never been a time when anything has been too much trouble. They are always ready and willing to help with anything. When the tree got blown down, they were here with the chainsaw, when the kitsetflatpack shed needed unloading from the truck they were here with the tractor with forks to unload it. Along with giving us 2 lambs and lots of advice to the clueless city farmers, we’ve laughed. After we’d been here about a week Lovely Lois came bumping across our ‘drive’ in her ute, jumped out with a bottle of wine and said “I’ve come to meet my new neighbours”.

I had so much fun at the Memorial Park Tennis club. I tentatively turned up with a racquet not having hit a ball in about 50 years. But the good folks welcomed me and showed me what to do, with the occasional yell of encouragement of “REEcardO; NO Pressure”. It was always worth winning the point. Such fun and good chat. The better players taught me a lot and tolerated my inability. I even got promoted up the courts in the Floodlight league. Promotion to division 2 and the standard was very Wimbledon-esque GOOD.

“This is next weeks line up

Court 8 Andy Vinay James Aaron

Court 7 Matt Sagar Alan Richard

Court 6 Stuart Roger Piotr Sat

Court 5 Craig Prab ChrisW Swapnil

Well done Richard for making it to Court 7!” (And then the next week was covid cancelled).

So many fun and fine people that I miss.

Martinborough Tennis Club is grass courts which is a whole new tube of tennis balls and ball game. I have to remind myself that it also took a short while to feel comfortable at Memorial Park. I’m a bit of a social cripple, so I await with eagerness that feeling of friendly comfort from the good folks. It’s coming slowly, they’ve been kind and welcoming. I have been having a bit of coaching from Emily Fanning …………………. who is a New Zealand tennis player. Her career-high junior ranking was 38, achieved in July 2012. She has won three doubles titles on the ITF tour and is currently WTF ranked at 819.

Oh my Gossh. My ‘Football Friends’. You know what; I actually do miss my trips to Wigan to watch the team that ‘often-looked like Brazil’. I loved savouring the delights of warm flat flavoursome English beer, so much so that I had to limit myself to TwoHalves. Yum, those mushy peas and chips and then onto the WC (Wigan Central) to meet friends and laugh. Friends in the WC increased after Anne felt sorry for me, sitting by myself looking vacant, so invited me to join them. More good people I miss. But come the game. The fun, The laughs, The stupidity. The irreverent comments. The goal scoring hugs. The ooos and ahhhs. The Camaraderie. The highs and the lows. The agony and the ecstasy. The atmosphere. The nail-biting edge of the seat final 4 minutes of every game. The removal from the reality of life. It was the best therapist I've ever visited. My golly I met so many of the nicest people, whom I miss. Who remembers the sponsored silence!! And the bike ride to Amsterdam. And the first time I met you Marissa!! Elaine, I use the mug everyday, and Carl, so glad I passed the gruelling interview!! And shhh you know who - the secret is still with me!! Geoff great that you listened into my conversation about refs!!

SIR Ben Watson SCORING the winner in the FA Cup Final May 2013.

I still watch Wigan on the small screen and keep in touch with my friends via WattsApp, but it just isn’t the same. I’ve given up getting up at 2.30am. The after effect reminds me of doing a night shift, and yes, I do remember those days, well, nights. But the 07.45 kick-offs are good. The time difference means I know the result before they do.

Trying to re-create the excitement of the big match at 04.00am.

In Coventry we lived in a 3 room 3^rd floor flat with a small balcony. Now we have 8 hectares. I sit and watch the lambs. I admire the big Australasian eagles soaring above the chicken house. I’m so fussed that I miss the gulls, pigeons and squirrels. I watch the sunsets, peep at Venus, make cheese, stay up to see the eclipse of the moon and I watch the hillside slowly change colour with the changing seasons.

Our brie.

We used to walk 15 minutes to the allotment and spent most of the time chatting to the other allotmenteerers. We’d solve many of the world’s problems, laugh about the latest comment in the Guardian by John Crace, curse and swear about the squirrels that stole all our sweat corn. We’d chat about my haphazard and natural bee keeping methods. It was such a good group of folks at the allotments. Now our vegetable plot is dotted around our section in raised beds.

Leeks and celery are better than any allotment leek or celery. Competition winners of every competition and they don’t get a fluid ounce of greyhound urine.

Look at that leek.

‘Pete the Bees’ has about 20 hives in our woodland, does all the beekeeping and gives us bucket of honey and some grapefruit in return. That’ll do me.

Ali collecting our first swarm in Coventry.

All the swarms we don’t have to collect here.

The group of friends that used to hang onto to me as I scrambled and thrashed up the routes at the climbing wall, and tolerate my occasional emotional collapses as I got frustrated with travails of life, including intolerable events around Ali's brother. All good kind people.

NZ has done well with regards to Covid but now seems to be lagging behind a bit. I’m sure it’ll come good. It has been pretty much 'life as usual', which is nice as I spent the last 9 months of my working life being constantly very scared and anxious. It wasn’t a nice way to work, not helped by the slight underlying nervous disposition I have!!

I look back at memories and photos and recall being in complete PPE to take a chest x ray on ITU and it taking 2 of us up to an hour. I can vividly see folks standing outside CT in so much PPE it looked as if they were preparing to go to the moon. Now I wear PPE to feed the alpacas. I get so upset and angry with anti-vaxxers and covid deniers. Kiwis don't believe me.

I’m here. I now only have an inkling of what others are still experiencing wherever you are. I still have a feeling of survivor guilt. I got out. We arrived to Jacinda and Ashley and a pretty open society. We left behind who we left behind. Johnson, the clown without a costume and his pratfall are hard for me to comprehend, but at least they are enjoying endless partying..

The death of my dad was of course sad but he was 96, however, the horrible, unkind and totally unnecessary subsequent mess, with my siblings which got worse and continued even once I’d arrived here, didn’t help anything. Yes, that event does upset and confuse me, and I honestly have no idea what precipitated it.

Guess who is in red, white scarf and black hat!

This is what he looks up at, at the woodland burial sight.

I’ve described lots of good experiences over the year, as for bad experiences ……. They have been few and far between. In fact, I can only think of one. I did some fun and very physically hard work at the local vineyard. I won’t do it again. I struggle to work comfortably with an overt racist who is happy to express his views and yet employ those very people who are making his wealth for him. I was a bit hacked off that he said he’d pay me $20 /hr cash (below minimum wage), but when I got my pay, it had mysteriously gone to $16/hr, $4 "for tax". Never again will I work for him or drink his wine. As well as that I have decided I hate living in the country next to a farm. It is carnage. Huge trucks come along empty and go away full. We are kept awake at night with deafening noise of calves being separated from their Mums. Howls of screams from thousands of lambs as they have their tails chopped off. If that is all. That’s not bad. I want a city centre flat to live in.

Pressing the grapes. Hard manual labour. 'Athletes Foot' Chardonnay.

We have met some of the loveliest people. We prune grape vines and pick olives for Geoffrey and Carol. We laugh and chat with Roberta and Glen. We collect walnuts and eggs from Burton and Melissa. We have helped Gary and Lois (well, I think it is help) across at the woolshed. We have a laugh at the tennis club. Adrian and AnneMieke offered us crayfish. Kristy and Nadia welcome us like locals into their café. I exchange limes for cinema tickets. Simon and Amanda give us chickens. Darlene keeps us on track with rural eco life. The trouble is. There are loads more wonderful people but too many to mention.

As you can see, I miss the good, fun caring and nice people. I could mention more specific people but the problem with doing that is there will always be someone that is forgotten. So, I’ll just say that you probably know who you are, so count yourself in. Thank you for the good memories.

We do miss Ali’s wonderful Mum, who does amazingly well and keeps pretty fit. Sadly, her mobility is compromised a bit now. That makes it hard for her and for us.

December 1st 2020

We have been too busy in our new environment and hampered by covid to miss our travels but anyway we are on a different journey at present. Will I come back? One day I may, and I’d love to come and chat with all those good folks I’ve described. But right now it is too soon and too difficult.

But for now, I'll close by saying Ali and I wish you all a very happy, safe and healthy christmas. We'll also wish for you a really fun, hassle free 2022. I suspect that is wishful thinking so we'll say - lets hope it is a lot lot better than 2021. I don't like it that 2022 is pronounced 2020-too.

Love from ................................