Mid-Winter Swim 2026, Hataitai Beach, Wellington

 Hi there

... and a great time was had by all.

The rain stopped just before the swim started, hooray!

I couldn't attend.  About 40 did.

Our lovely Angelina pulled it off.

MID-WINTER SWIM, HATAITAI BEACH, 2026

 Hi there

MID-WINTER SWIM, HATAITAI BEACH, WELLINGTON

11 am,  SUNDAY  21 JUNE 2026.

be there or be .... dry?

Uh, oh, New Plymouth Again

 Hi there

I was in an independent ' I-don't-need-no-driving-licence' mood, trying not to feel sorry for myself, and so I did what I always do when I'm feeling irked by life ..  I shot off to New Plymouth for five nights.  This time, I went by Intercity bus, eight hours each way.  'Nuff said?

Yay, I stayed at the Devon Hotel:  two dinner buffets, one buffet breakfast, and two room service meals - the roast dinner of the day was a true feast.  I almost collapsed under the weight of the huge plated meal as I took it from the wait staff member who delivered it to my room.  

I also went to my fave Asian buffet where the creme brulee was superb.  And I know what you're thinking - "an Asian restaurant serving Creme Brulee, never?" But it was to die for and I always make a beeline to this place for dinner-with-creme-brulee when I'm in New Plymouth.

I swam in the Devon Hotel pool every day.  But - oh my - the pool temp was 30c. ( wasn't acclimatised to such heat. The sea at the moment in Wellington is somewhere around 12c. 

And I did something totally daring ... I got a free bicycle from the Devon Hotel and  cycled up and down The Coastal Walkway.  Goodness, it was exhausting.  I got off the bike more than I was on it.  It was all those mountains I was supposed to pedal up, and ended up pushing the bike over them instead.  Mind you, the passing walkers who I grizzled to, informed me that they were only small rises, not mountains at all.

I also wandered in and out of lots of charity shops down the main shopping road, Devon Street.

And that reminds me of a story my friend once told me -

My friend took a doll's house into a Wellington charity shop to donate.  She had spruced it up by painting the window sills and adding new shingles to the roof.  It was near to Christmas and my friend was positive there would be a little girl somewhere who would love to have the doll's house.

"Oh, no..."  The charity volunteer shook her head.  "We already have one doll's house.  We don't need another."

So my friend's husband lugged the doll's house back to the car.   They ended up giving it to a neighbour's son who loved it to bits. 

And this little story brings me back to New Plymouth.  Inside one charity shop, there were notices plastered  eveywhere asking for more donations. I also saw the same sort of notice inside other charity shops   Good on you New Plymouth.

I walked The Coastal Walkway, as well as cycling it.

As you can see, the above photo is up to my usual professional(?) standard of photography.

Ending my Driving Licence saga

 Hi there

Well..  , it's now all over and done with.  I will be losing my driving licence.  Because of bad eyesight.  

I had given up my car last December, because of rust.  Thank goodness I decided to wait until my next drivers' licence renewal in April before buying another car. 

It's glaucoma.  I've been holding it off for about 30 years (those stupid multiple eye drops!), including glaucoma surgery on each eye.

The weird thing is, I think I can see pretty well.  I never wear glassses around the house. And I may even have posted the information to you about two years ago that I even got permission from the optometrist to drive without wearing glasses; I never did because, you know, habit.... And fear.

Though the Transport Department sent me a full drivers' licence about three weeks ago, with no stipulations at all, they contacted me last week saying that on closer inspection they had revoked the licence ('licence' is British spelling, 'license' is USA spelling).

In the meantime, I had been to the eye clinic at Wellington Hospital. They confirmed everything....

Now, where did I put that bus timetable....?