A bit of this and that.

No 2 and no 1 grandsons taken at Easter at a family gathering in Hawkes Bay. (above)

There is no mistaking where these two come from - I could put a photo of their respective dads at the same ages and it would be like looking at twins, lol.

It was my niece's birthday last Saturday and as she too lives in Wellington it was an opportunity to spend some time with her, so once again No 1 GS and I caught the bus into town to take gifts from family and friends in Waiuku. For those who may have looked at the blogs mentioned on my posts, Laura is the author of http://hungryandfrozen.blogspot.com and has some small fame from being on the cover of the NZ Star Times Weekend supplement last year and mentioned in NZ Cleo (I think Feb issue) for her cooking blog (if you haven't it is well worth a visit, not that I am a biased aunt at all, lol). She and Tim (her partner) live in an apartment in Cuba Mall these days and what fun it was visiting. We passed all the shops, cafes, entertainers etc in the Mall and walked up and up to just opposite Real Groovy records to a metal gate in the wall between one of the local sex shops and a tattoo shop and once inside the gate got to press the button to their flat. It was all very American tv when Laura's voice came through the speaker and we had access after being buzzed through the next door. Then two flights of stairs up and we were there. The No 1 GS was extremely impressed by the whole access and then the fact there was a rooftop garden on top of their flat again. We did collectively comment on what an improvement this dwelling was to the student flat first lived in, which was one up from living in a swamp it was so damp. (the clue was the ducks living outside the house, lol).

I was treated to a very fine coffee from Tim while the small person was allowed to try out the very new apple mac, and yes, it worked on the cartoon network just fine, thank you very much. Whilst Laura undid all her gifts (I know, I was like a pit pony lugging them into town in my back pack along with laptop to show her numerous photos), we also indulged in a piece of a delicious cake she had made that had chunks of chocolate mixed through it - a great hit all round. Time flew by as I managed another coffee and then much oooing and ahhhing over the views from the roof whilst the small person took photo after photo with the camera I gave him at Christmas. I downloaded two lots of 178 photos taken in two days, (laughing lots ) - many experimentals (blurry ones, ) but he has quite an eye developing I believe as some were great compostition. We did not have too far to walk this time to catch the bus home and walked through the door to the wondrous smell of lambshanks being cooked for dinner.

Sunday was another family gathering, this time No 1 daughter in law's two sisters and their families and her Dad visited for lunch and then Laura and Tim came round as well as I had forgotten a crucial present the day before. It was a great day, and almost got sunburnt whilst sitting out talking on the deck. Wellington certainly turned out its best weather this week and it was autumn at its best. We were still eating the last of the summer's tomatoes out of the garden so it doesn't get much better than that.

Monday I flew back to Auckland and was picked up by Mum from the airport and it was back to Waiuku for a couple of hours before driving down to Waihi that evening to stay with No 2 son and family. It was several degrees cooler down there I can tell you, though once again the days were beautiful, just the mornings and evenings were crisp. Tuesday morning No 2 daughter in law, grandson and I went to Waihi beach so the lad could have a run around on the sand. All started well, and there was much laughter as he ran along the beach and then dropped to crawl in circles whilst inspecting shells etc in the sand. I was trying to get some photos - got mainly his back lol, when he trotted towards the tide. He had seemed to go just so far to start with and then the next thing as the tide went back, he ran forwards and fell just as a small wave zoomed in and hello, it went right over the top of him and he disappeared from sight. DIL leapt into the water and fished him out and he looked like a drowned rat, crying at first from the fright or maybe it was our fright, lol. We hadn't taken anything spare with us so Nana, ta da, gave up her skivvy type jumper which we rubbed him down with the sleeves and then popped him in it.

He was not totally enthused but was smiles not long after this and it made a good story for Dad once we got home. Later that afternoon we went for the big strawberry hunt. The farm where No 2 son works had leased some land that had the remains of a strawberry garden on it, and it was decided we would have strawberries for dessert that night. This entailed all piling in the 4WD and heading across the farm a good amount of the way before crossing the last two paddocks on foot.

Just me and my Dad

does this strawberry patch make my bum look big, lol

my haul

I have to say, it was a lot easier getting these than the 5.30am mornings on hands and knees through wet grass etc strawberry picking of my youth when Mum, Kay and I did a stint at a local Waiuku stawberry farm. There is something very hunter and gatherish about harvesting food in the wild so to speak and though between the rows were clogged up with weeds and not one of these fruit would have graced any shop because of the smallness in size, - these were the sweetest, most strawberry tasting strawberries I have had for a long long time. They were literally the last of the last but oh my, sunkissed with a couple decent sized ones in the bunch, the taste was magic. We did contemplate whether it was the stolen fruit aspect that made them taste better, lol but no, I think it was just that they had not been force grown and picked to soon that made the difference. I was still in the mode of hunting and gathering as we walked back to the car and found two lone mushrooms amidst some thistles to add to the haul so was very satisfied with myself. We had stopped earlier at a large drain/stream that runs through the property whilst No 2 son pointed out a trout that was lurking there - very tempting indeed to complete the day's finds, but decided to leave the fish to another day. The landscape of the paddocks on this farm is very interesting as there is a raised banked area running through it. This was where the railway ran through the property back in the day and is clear to see once you know what you are looking at.

Friday came all too soon so it was back on the road again to Waiuku. I managed to catch up with a good friend whilst in Waihi and came away with an armful of must read books lol. I also paid two visits to my favourite bakery which makes the best Neinish tarts bar none that are nearest to home made ones from the Edmonds cookbook, that I have ever tasted. I will not tell you how many I bought over those two visits, laughing lots, suffice it to say, I had to store up the taste for some time to come - possibly Christmas, as the No 2 son and family are moving back to Auckland in June to return to their home on the North Shore. Both will go back to work as the farm contract has come to an end, as has the DIL's maternity leave.

I am writing this in Perth airport, and it is just before 6am. I arrived here at 10.30pm last night after flying Auckland to Melbourne, Melbourne to Perth. Both flights were good and I slept most of the way. The second leg, the pilot said we were travelling several thousand feet below normal as there was a lot of turbulence at the higher altitude - I must say I did have a split second Erebus thought when they said we were flying lower, but it was all good. We were delayed disembarking in Melbourne for about 10 - 15 mins when the gizmo tunnel thing that you walk into the airport through would not attach to the plane but as we were on the ground was quite ok with that. It was a bit more daunting coming into land at Perth when with my eyes shut I could smell smoke. There were no messages about the plane bursting into flames and just as I was looking out the window to see what might be causing the smell, the pilot along with the usual blurb about landing mentioned the smell of smoke and the haze outside and said it was bushfires further east - welcome back to Australia!!!!!! Had no hassles through customs - my bag was overweight at Auckland by about four books so I had tucked them into a volumious hand bag and was EXTREMELY thankful that neither my back pack or handbag were weighed at any point as I know my handbag weighed nearly as much as the back pack. Luckily I am going by bus back to Geraldton than flying Sky West as they weigh your back pack as well and there is not a book I could part with to leave behind.

It is ANZAC day today and I guess at this very minute there are dawn services kicking off around WA, - New Zealand already having theirs some four hours ago. I was wearing my poppy all through transit from NZ and have had a wee smile because nothing has been said about the pin that has affixed the poppy to my shirt - maybe that sort of patriotism means I would not be likely to use said pin for a terrorist activity, lol. So today is a day of Rememberence, and once again I will miss most of it as for the last three years I have travelled on this day. I know Maori TV in NZ will have excellent coverage of the day and hopefully I will get to see some of the Aussi coverage in the news tonight once I am back in Geraldton. There were some fascinating stories on morning TV, the local newspaper, and the radio on to the airport which I did catch. I received an email from Mum today about the story of the Last Post which was in fact written by a Confederate Soldier and played at his funeral at the request of his father who fought for the other side. I find that always moving to listen to. I have always found ANZAC day an emotional experience and feel extremely lucky that I have not had to have any first hand experience of family at war in my life time, though our family like most others has ultimately been shaped by the experiences of our forebears who did. So today, I along with many others will take the time to pause and remember those who went to war from Australia and New Zealand, and for those who did not come back, and will be greatful to those who did and the legacy of freedom that I have grown up with.

Lest We Forget

Oh, frabjous days

Am writing this epistle from Wellington. Storms had occurred last Tuesday night and the news said Wellington was affected so was hoping the airport would remain open. I got to Auckland airport with nearly an hour to spare and when I went to get my ticket with the automated gizmoes that are in the domestic airport now, it would not issue my ticket and said to go to the counter. Just as I was thinking dire thoughts, the chap at the desk offered me an earlier flight which was boarding in 10 mins, so all good, and I took it. Had an uneventful flight sleeping a good amount of the way. We were warned there might be bumps due to the wind on landing but there was hardly a wobble. Walked out from picking up my bag straight onto the airport flyer bus and oh my gosh, the bus has had a makeover. The seats are black leather with a red stripe in the middle of the seat instead of a multi-coloured synthetic fibred material they used to have. A recorded voice tells you the name of each stop coming up and there is a screen behind the driver that shows where the bus is travelling on route, flipping in between news items from "stuff nz". The fare has increased by $3 but I guess that is a small price to pay for all the mod cons, lol.



I had arranged to meet daughter in law and number 1 grandson in town so thought as I was early, I would kill some time at McDonalds whilst waiting for them. I ordered a coffee and went to get some money out on eftpos as I went to pay for it, and they don't give cash out at that store - hmmm. To be fair, the girl took the change that I had, and gave me the coffee as I said in the store I worked at we gave money out, so she must have taken pity on me. I then went to use my laptop, but no wireless connection available - another black mark, as once again, in Gton they have that. Got a txt to say it was a different Maccas I was to meet the troops at so walked back several blocks window shopping on the way. No 1 GS had been to see a play about Robin Hood but that seemed to pale into insignificance by getting a dinosaur that had moveable wings, and a light shining in it with his Happy Meal, lol.



I had gone down dressed for the 3 degrees it had mentioned on the news the day before, only to nearly expire with the warmth as it was a very sunny day. Was glad later on in the evening though as the temp dropped markedly and has done each evening since. Had a slow start to the day yesterday with watching 4 different Batman stories on DVD on disc one of four discs, lol. It was cartoons and had a running commentary on who all the bad guys were during the stories from No 1 GS! The day progressed leisurely and then we decided to walk up the road to get some bits and pieces for lunch. There are a whole new raft of super heroes about since Christmas and a heap of Dragons that I have become acquainted with in the last few days. I think I have been told of every character in Star Wars - all incarnations of that series, and what they looked like as children and when they got older ...... I tell you, my head is spinning, lol. Was more on familiar turf at night time as part of our tradition is for Nana to read the bed time story when she is about. We usually do a chapter a night (unless like last time we had to do a couple in a row cos Nana couldn't wait two nights to know what happened at a crucial part of the story, lol). The book of choice is "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" which I had read to me at a similar age (after lunch at school as was "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"). I have arrived as Aslan was being killed by the White Witch, and tonight the final battle has just begun.



Today we set of by bus at 10am to go see "Alice and Wonderland" at the movies with Johnny Depp playing the Mad Hatter, the movie directed by Tim Burton for those playing at home. More about the buses first - the local bus also has had an interior face lift with the seats covered in black fabric of sorts patterned with green ferns - very NZ I thought. They use plastic cards with a fish outlined on the card - they are called "snapper" cards and you swipe a reader of said card as you enter and exit the bus, therebye using no cash. You load the cards at various venues about town with money which then is debetted as you swipe. Go technology. Back to the movie. After being disappointed at "Where the Wild Things Are" at Christmas, I was unsure how this movie was going to pan out. I have to say here, I saw the original Walt Disney cartoon movie of Alice in Wonderland with my cousin in Papatoetoe picture theatre when I was about 8yrs old and it gave me nightmares with the Queen chopping heads off at whim. To start with, I wasn't sure where this movie was going as Alice was 20yrs old and at a garden party where her engagement was to be announced to a distinctly foppish sort of a lord. She hesitated and went for a walk in the woods to make up her mind whether to accept the proposal, following after the white rabbit that she had seen about the place. Once she fell down a rather large rabbit hole under a tree it sort of became more of the story I remembered. I enjoyed the movie and felt the characters were very much as you would imagine them if you were an opium addict which I believe Lewis Carrol was or am I maligning him and getting him mixed with Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame. Anyway, moving on lol, Johnny Depp plays a very interesting Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts is a brilliant nasty piece of work. If you suspend what you think you know about the original story, it is a great movie, with lots of recognisable bits in it with an interesting take on the rest.

We walked to Cuba Mall from Redding Theatre and Burger King was the lunch of choice of the small one. I had sympathy for the girl serving there as she was obviously new, and felt for her struggle around the till and getting the order correct, lol. A spot of clothes shopping for the lad at Farmers, and yippee for 30% sale as of course all the Ben 10 clothing, and Bakugan (not sure if that is spelled right, lol) has a higher markup than non super hero clothing!. In a bout of speed shopping I managed to find myself a pair of boots that go right to the knee woohoo and as they are not leather but a passable fake, they did not break the bank at $70 instead of the $300+ prices for the real deal. Another walk drifting past several shops all the way up to Lambton Quay (for those playing at home) which is a fair hike, deserved an ice cream, so sharing the love, it was Mc D's this time only to find their machine had broken down, and luckily there just happened to be another Burger King almost next door so the small one did not have to faint from hunger, lol. It was two very weary excursionists who caught the bus back to Karori for the short walk home to a restorative coffee and slice of lemon poppyseed cake. Woohoo.

Town and around.

The headcold did not disappear quite as soon as I had hoped and required taking pills for sevcral days. I still have a residual thick head, and no comments from the cheap seats, lol. I went to buy Sudafed at a chemist in Pukekohe only to be told they no longer sell it, that it used to be kept behind the counter (ingredient for making P in it) and now have other lesser products instead.

First up when I got back home, was to pick up my car. Kay picked me up from Mum's and we did half an hour on respective pieces of gym equipment at the JYM (bro and sister - in - laws fitness centre in Waiuku) before going to pick up my newly warrent of fitnessed car. Next step was to get it registered so dragged myself to the Post Shop the next day only to be told they could not use eftpos or register cars because the road builders outside in Bowen Street had cut the cable. Of course they had! - when I was at the hairdressers, they had done something to the water supply as well!. I remarked to the person in the Post Shop, I hoped that excuse would stand up in court if I got stopped by the cops and marched out. What happened to be able to do things by hand and process later I asked myself ?????


The powers that be have decided that Bowen St in Waiuku will be a one way street from henceforth and in conjunction with that, they are creating parking bays either side of the current road, with the idea of increasing park and better traffic flow in the town. If there are any businesses left open by the end of this exercise, good luck to them. Trying to shop or gain access to vital services (cafe and hairdressers, lol) meant risking life and limb whilst negotiating traffic cones and hazard barriers, torn up pavements with a fake grass matting laid down in several places and parking a cut lunch and a map away, walking with trepidation only where necessary with no casual strolling about. I was reliably told (by hairdresser) that all businesses are suffering from the lack of foot traffic and the impulse buyers and some are struggling more than others. Such is progress I guess.


One of the reasons for the timing of my visit was to attend a wedding which was last Saturday. Remarkably, the weather remained fine (still pinching myself here) and naturally the bride was beautiful, the wedding was lovely and it was a great reunion catching up with friends. I had gone home with minimal clothes and was able to cobble together an outfit to wear from things I had left behind including shoes (had forgotten up them but retrieved them from the top shelf of Mum's wardrobe). It was a bit of a Cinderella effort with the shoes as these were my pointy toed, somewhat heeled shoes from my dressier Dio days, lol, but did not have to do a heap of walking in them so just managed to last the distance but was feeling a tad crippled by the time I got back to Kays that night.

I paid a fleeting visit to Hamilton on Monday as I had not caught up with friends from my social worker days at Waikato Hospital for the last two visits home. Amazingly enough, it was the one night in two weeks we were all free and after a zillion emails between the four of us, we arranged to meet for a dinner at a local restaurant. It must be coming up to annual budget time or tax time in NZ because there seems to be an inordinant amount of roadworks going down the motorway from the airport all the way to Hamilton (and probably beyond) so it was a bit like doing a slalom course squeezing between cones, two lanes going to one, etc etc most of the trip.

On the way down to Hamilton, I stopped in Pukekohe to renew my drivcrs licence - therefore making it 10 years since I offically became a legal driver for the third time, lol. (my licence lapsed twice since I passed it for the first time at 15 yrs old, so drove for some years, not technically licensed). Luckily all I had to do was pay money, do a basic eye test and offer up two forms of identification then it was the new photo which will go on the new licence. Ouch, am never prepared for these things but at least think my hair was brushed this time (aussi licence look as though I have been dragged through a birch bush backwards, lol). I was feeling extremely legal by the time I drove off I can tell you with WOF, Rego and licence all attended to.

Had a great night with the social workers. We went to a place called Pummice which I am told has won awards. The food was well cooked and interesting and everyone enjoyed what they ate. Things certainly have got more expensive over the last two years. I was charged just under $11 for a glass of wine you would barely use as an eye bath with the amount that was in the glass. Needless to say, it was the one and only "glass" that I had that night. Up until last year, the four of us had met around the time of each of our birthdays for dinner out for nearly ten years now. I was blown away to receive birthday presents as we were there to celebrate a birthday coming up at the end of this week as well as the catch up. Needless to say there was lots of laughs, remember when's, with some photographic evidence presented of some of those moments. I feel very blessed with this group of friends as the eldest one of the three is the same age as my eldest son, and the youngest the same age and number two son and yet as work colleagues, that difference in age never seemed apparent. Maybe because I was a student social worker at the same time as one of them and they all were, and are, such excellent practitioners, that I learnt heaps from them during my time at the hospital. Being a social worker is very like being a cop or fireman in that there is a huge amount of black humour that goes with the job, and we certainly had that in spades.

Managed to catch up with three other friends in the space of a few hours the next day and then once back to Waiuku to fly to Wellington the next day to visit the number 1 grandson. So far, so good with the weather, have not had the windscreen wipers on in the car yet, woohoo.

Homeward Bound

Easter was a bit of a blur. Good Friday I had the morning to myself, so booked tickets from Auckland to Wellington (check) and woohoo, for the first time in my life managed to get one flight on airpoints. Also did some internet banking, putting money on the prepaid mobile etc, all in preparation for the big trip to NZ. Saturday I worked, and OMG, there seemed to be back to back people the entire shift. I did an extra hour so thankfully got a half hour break which was just enough pause to catch my breath. Gerard had bought series one of Glee (high school glee club musical type series) so after watching two discs the day before, finished the series once I got home. I had seen the bits of the last three programs in NZ at Christmas and enjoyed it. There is some great singing on it and some very interesting characters.

Easter Sunday Bronwyn and the girls all worked so Gerard, the boys and myself went out to what we thought was just a gathering for a barbeque at Janette's Mum's place only to find they were collectively celebrating four family birthdays and Janette (office lady from Tardun)and Geoff's 18th wedding anniversary. There was a massive spread, including an Easter egg hunt for all the kids. My personal favourite was skewers of garlic prawns that were barbequed. Got back home early afternoon and started organising my packing, checking I had all the electronic stuff with charged batteries and all the bits required. Also had to pack study as am in the midst of assignments.


Woke up early next morning, stripped bed and finished packing, showered, dressed and got a lift to the bus stop after dropping one of the girls at work by 8am. I travelled to Perth via Transwa and have to say, for a long bus trip (six hours), it was very comfortable. As we were going to go through Dongara, I started to txt Jude to say goodbye when my phone went and it was Jude to say she was going to meet me at the next bus stop (there are two stops in Dongara). Very nanoo, nanoo, lol. Lo and behold there she was, and as there were several people to get on, I shot out for a hug goodbye and received a block of chocolate for Easter, bless her heart. Back on the bus, it was time for a shut eye and next stop I remember was the road house half way down where we had half an hour to grab something to eat and for a comfort stop for those so inclined. The bus had seat belts, and I am not sure I have ever been on a bus that had them before - certainly not in NZ but that might just highlight how long it has been since I have travelled by bus there for any length of time. I had a book with me so dozed and read the rest of the way to Midland which is where there is a train station, bus drop off - a sort of junction before you get to Perth which is still about half an hour away.

There was no bus to the airport from there unlike Wellington where you can catch the flyer from numerous points about the city, so there was nothing for it but to catch a taxi to the airport. Now, most places I have been to in NZ there are taxis everywhere with shuttles as well at a main depot, but no, here was quite a different sort of set up. There was a pole with a sign on it with a phone number to ring a cab. Luckily I had a phone otherwise would have been stuck like a spare fairy in a pantomine, for the duration. I rang and had to press a button for a normal four seater taxi, press the number on the sign and was then given a number and lo and behold, a taxi responded some short time later to pick me up. Most ingenious I thought. At $22 for the ride to the domestic airport, the fare was just under half my bus fare. The driver never spoke a word on the way, which I was fine with, so just sat back and realised some of the trip had become quite familiar by now. In fact Perth airport is almost like home away from home. I arrived, walked straight to the seats with the electric sockets behind, pulled out my computer and woohoo was in business, lol.


I only had about a two hour wait before heading on the first leg of the trip to Melbourne. I was flying Qantas, not without a little trepidation after having two planes requiring emergency landings in the previous week. Better practiced at using them for domestic flights, I asked for a blanket as soon as the flight began, and receiving same, fell promptly asleep, nice and warm. Arrived in Melbourne and walked from domestic through the building to the International lounge, scoped out a McDonalds for a coffee and found another electrical socket to plug in the computer again. Had some hours at this airport but because I had slept so much on the bus and flight, I managed to stay wide awake, catching up on several games etc so managed to keep myself occupied until it was time to decamp and catch the next leg to NZ. Flew Qantas again but their international flights come automatically with blankets etc waiting on the seat for you so was cosy again in a short time. I read and dozed my way to NZ , declared the chocolate that I had and went through customs without a blip. Have been watching the NZ and Australian Customs shows on tv which are almost compulsive viewing, watching how people think they can get away with taking prohibited items through customs, which is enough to scare the average person into being very careful indeed. Had a moment in Perth when a dog came and sniffed my backpack and sat down. I was asked if I had fruit in the bag and said no, so the dog did not get a treat, then as the handler was walking away, I remembered I had fruit in the bag each day for lunch when I was at work, ooooops, laughing lots, so the dog was bang on the knocker with its sniffing. (Much relief on my part though that I had not forgotten and left a piece of fruit in there).


Landing in NZ was a breeze, zoomed through customs again and was the quickest I think I have ever been processed. Got outside waiting to be picked up and wow, it was not raining, lol. In fact the weather since arriving has been perfect autumn weather - nice fine days, cool mornings and evenings definitely much cooler. With the nearly 10 degrees change in temperature and all the plane flights, the day after I arrived, I had a streaming head and felt almost like I was coming down with a cold. Banking on it being more like a sinus situation, have been to the chemist, got pills and after feeling lousey last night and today, I am coming right, nose has dried up and feel good to go again.



Am staying at Mum's for the meantime which was just as well as I needed to ferret out some warm clothes that I had packed away at Christmas. My bag only wieghed 15k on the way back so have plenty of space to fill for my return, lol.

Too many titles to choose from!

Where to start, 'Home Alone' as the WM & WMH go to Brisbane for 10 days, I can now (possibly) save your life bought to you by Senior !st Aid (Australian), Home, home on the range - as my skills on the fryer are noticed , all I want for Christmas is a new set of teeth, (more about that) or a new set of feet, ......... you see my dilemma lol.



The WM & WMH left for Brisbane on day one of my two day Senior First Aid course which was a very intensive 8.30am - 4.30pm with a half hour for lunch on the dot two days. It was intensive as the training was delivered by being talked at as the trainer read off notes that were on overhead at the same time, followed by LOTS of role play with bandaging, checking scenarios out of mayhem using the DRABCD steps to aid recovery of same. DRABCD you ask - well let me tell you, being SENIOR first aid, I have gone up several notches from the ABC of old regarding CPR and now am able to administer a defribulator and oxygen (be afraid, lol) which is the extra D at the end. I tell you, am not far away from open heart surgery, except I do not do icky bits, do not do well at the sight of blood, definitely do not do needles, so the short version is do NOT need first aid in front of me, lol. I was fine when it was A for check airways, B for breathing and C for CPR and the idea if anyone ever needed CPR they were already dead, so anything you did was a bonus ( I always liked the idea of dialling 111 for help, lol).

So, the first D is for Danger - make sure it is safe for you to assist (hmmmm does the icky bits count here?), R means are they responsive - which means are they breathing and or conscious, A good old airways - check they are open, (if all good go straight to rescue position and that has a few new bits in it as well, lol), B is for 2 breaths, and C 30 chest compressions followed by another 2 breaths. This is about the third or fourth permutation of doing CPR that I have learned since having to do these courses, it amazes me that anyone gets saved at all. The last D is for Defibrillator - woohoo (have to be non-responsive to use this machine of course - the patient I mean, lol). Of course everyone carries around a spare tank of oxygen with them - ya think - but it would seem more and more serious workplaces will have one in fact and oxygen can be applied for anything from a minor wound to death - aiding recovery much faster than anything else we were told! Apparently if you happen to drop said oxygen bottle, it can go off like a torpedo - back to D number one, (laughing lots). Topics covered were injury, suffocation, heart attack, electric shock, anaphalactic shock, massive blood loss, crush injury, abdominal and pelvic injury, sprains, strains and dislocations, broken bones, asthma, chest injuries, burns, poisons, bites and stings, eye and ear injuries, heat stroke, and hypothermia. The other complication is that the emergency number over here is 000, so have to forget 111 and 911 which are the two most common numbers that come to mind. The scenarios involved not only doing CPR practice, and how to approach a real injury scene to ascertain if person is conscious or not, but also bandaging in a host of different ways. At the end of the course we had to sit a test and wonder upon serious wonder, I got 19 out of 20, woohoo. The wrong answer was nothing to do with first aid but a systems question on what to do post giving first aid, and I only answered one part instead of the two part answer. The other comforting thought (not) is, that the trainer reckons you forget 80% of the course after completing it - so am back to using the phone calling in the emergency, lol. The creepiest of course was the spider and snake bite bit, not something I have to worry about when in NZ thank goodness. Cutting the snake bite area and sucking out the poison a la John Wayne is no longer an appropriate response (there are some plusses to this, lol). Placing a dressing over the site with the time the bite occurred and the time you start giving 1st aid written on it followed by applying a pressure immobilisation bandage from bottom of affected limb to lymph area is recommended as well as urgent medical aid. Note to self - at no time swim in the sea in Australia as there are numerous, (well, several) things that can bite and sting with much pain and or death involved. Was told funnel web spiders like lurking just above the water line in swimming pools and dive into the water once it is disturbed so no pools either!

Am not quite flying solo yet at work (not taking drive in orders) but after my first week at work am becoming mildly proficient. The frier has become my particular speciality and have mastered the basket in each hand under the filler machine to the fryer, hitting right buttons and then post cooking, bagging at speed in three different sized receptacles. Was truely tested yesterday when I walked in 15 mins early and went straight to fryer and did not stop to draw breath for another hour and a half while the place went crazy. I received comments of praise from one of the trainers at how I managed during that time so all good. Have also had high praise re my appearance - there is a way you are meant to wear your uniform and I am hitting all the marks. Have not had too many hassles with understanding what people want to order except for the first day on the till on my own. "How can I help you" "I want a large fries and coke" . "Thats fries and coke - do you want a meal with that ?" "No" (notice splendid salesmanship there, lol) ok so just a large fries and coke" "yes" - whereupon I proceeded to get a large fries and coke, rung it off on the till, to look up to an astonished look on said blokes face, only to hear him say once again "I wanted a large ...... and wait for it ........ frozen coke!!!!!! Cue me nearly wetting myself at my interpretation. Oooops, sorry bout that, lost something there in the translation, lol. The other staff thought it was hilarious and got grief from Gerard about my accent again.

I had been taking fruit for lunch to work and this is where the next tooth story comes in. I was reading my book during lunch and biting into a gala apple when there was sort of a crunchier sound than I expected, and once again a feeling of something going wrong in the tooth department, when I felt a right hand side bottom molar give way, and ended up with half a tooth in my hand as it broke in half in my mouth. Mercifully once again, there was no pain (except future pain in the wallet being stored up, lol) or blood and guess the old fangs are getting to their use by date - ouch. I can still manage to eat, though somewhat gingerly, on the teeth I have left and am rueing the fact we can not be more like crocodiles or is it sharks, where they can lose a tooth as an adult, and hey presto, there is another one to take its place. I guess there is a dentist out there somewhere working out their retirement plan on what will need to be done.

Whilst the WM and WMH were away in Brisbane, I stayed home though not quite alone with the four kids. One of the Tardun crew came to stay the first four days with her two small boys so it was quite a household and I was extremely greatful that she was back up while I had the two day first aid course and worked the weekend. Of course the next two days own my own (and working) had one of the boys off school Monday and the other on Tuesday - both unwell. Luckily they were able to spend the day with Claire and I did the night shift once I got back from work. Monday was the first day I worked full time, and I thought I was going to die as my feet were on fire up to my calves. I could barely cope with driving home, then had to drop one of the girls up to netball practice and pick her up and hour later. I am pleased to say by Thursday I was in much better shape, and on Saturday worked an extra hour woohoo without being utterly crippled by the end of the shift. It has been a shock to the body to be vertical for hours at a time after a year of doing a lot of sitting about, lol and being opposite to its preferred horizontal state lying on a couch or on a lounger outside, or on the floor in front of the heater (in NZ) reading a book. I wonder how I used to waitress for much the same amount of time in high heels!!!!!!! and then go and dance for several hours after that. Ah youth!!!!!! lol as Oscar Wilde once said, is wasted on the young!

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter and its back to NZ next week until the 24th April.