Well, J is back on the ol’ night shifts again and so I am vacating the property between the hours of about 9am-3pm, returning for a few hours with my beloved and then he tries to sleep again in the evening (and I retreat to the toilet with the computer and a DVD!)

What to do with those daytime hours? Well today I…

• transferred NZ $ to pounds and also bought some US $ – hoo ha it means it’s not long until we get to NYC!!
• bought my Wraight secret santa gift!
• browsed a sweet gift store which had a whole lot of things I loved and wanted to buy but didn’t buy anything – the whole ‘we have NO space in our luggage’ thing is a great deterrent!
• went to the library and read (reading ‘Freakonomics’ – a rather interesting book!)
• went for a long walk on the beach – bare feet in the warm black sand, the waves crashing, the sun shining… need I say more?!
• listened to a sermon
• and then just enjoyed ‘The Mountain’ which looked splendid today!

I also had a good view of where we’re staying from the other side of the river

do you see the window third along with the white curtains closed? That’s cause J is sleeping!!

So all in all I managed to fill the day. Now, what will I do tomorrow?!?!

I’m guest blogging because Morv has inexplicably got acute onset dyslexia. I didn’t even know you could get that but it means she has to watch Grand Designs Revisited instead of blogging. Last time this happened it was because she had developed the rare ‘Jamais Vu‘ – a condition (essentially the counterpart t to ‘Deja Vu’) where you know rationally you’re in a familiar place but it feels like you’ve never been there. So she had to go out to a familiar shop and buy a familiar drink (diet coke) to get over it. She got over it in 24 hours. Maybe I should write it up for the journals.

The most frequent walk we do is down to the river – how good is it after work to sit on a rock and dangle your feet in the water and listen to the Tuis.  This was yesterday.

Today Morv picked me up from work and we went up Paritutu which is (I think) a little volcanic hill. We got jelly-legs by the time we got to the bottom.

It’s got a steel cable up the side of the path at the steepest bit – a reminder  that you shouldn’t have worn slip-on shoes!

there’s our wee car at the bottom – vertigo anyone?

We are into our last 5 days here in New Plymouth and our last 5 days here in the little motel by the big mountain. I’d say 5 more sleeps but for me they’re almost all night shifts!

Yesterday we went to church in Eltham which is about a 40 minute drive away. We went to this particular church because the minister here used to be the minister at Tim and Katy’s church in London. And then after the service we went out for lunch with said minister and his wife.

There have not been many days when you can see ‘the Mountain’ but yesterday was one of them. This photo was taken at the end of our driveway.

J was working yesterday evening and in fact ended up staying on an hour and a half after his shift was supposed to finish. I usually stay up until he gets home but I confess I may have slipped off to sleep just before he got back around 12:30am!

Today was his last day off for a week; he’s now working through until we leave Taranaki next Monday! And so we had a slow start to the day, skyped Dave and Maz, went to town and cruised the art gallery, walked a bit by the ocean and then came back and had our wedding classic – coronation chicken for tea!

One of the things J’s been loving today is honey from a honeycomb. One of the members of the church yesterday has an apiary and very kindly gave us some honey. Oh boy is it delicious! J likes the honeycomb and I like the clover and so thankfully we got a container of each – so thoughtful!

I was worried we wouldn’t get through it before we left – I now don’t think that’ll be a problem. J is having to ration himself from eating it almost constantly!

How to celebrate the end of a set of night shifts? Go out for breakfast of course! And so we did – and it’s now 6pm and we’ve still not eaten anything since then – that’s what a good breakfast can do for you!

We also went for a different walk a bit further up our wee river – reminded us of the Deeside area!

There was an excellent swimming spot in the river a bit further down from the spot above – if only it was slightly warmer then J would’ve been jumping in in a flash and I’d have probably followed him!

And now I have the fun of trying to keep J awake this evening until a respectable time!

Well, J has done two nights so far and they’ve both gone well; a steady number of patients so he doesn’t get bored (and sleepy) and yet not too many so that it’s stressful. The shifts are only 8 hours long (2 less than in Freo) which I think he quite likes. The thing about the accommodation we’re in is that it is just one open plan room and a toilet/shower room and so when he sleeps during the day I go out and entertain myself and then he wakes up around 3pm and we have a couple of awake hours together and then around 7pm goes back to sleep until 9:30/10pm. While he’s sleeping in the evening I don’t go out, instead I make camp in the toilet since it’s the only place I can have a light on without disturbing him! I’ve got cushions to sit on and the internet cable just stretches and I take a wee pile of books. Last night I made the error of not taking in enough to do but today I went to the video store and rented a DVD – well prepared!

Anyway, today I went to the wee town of Stratford and went to the pioneer village and then saw the glockenspiel play. All very pleasant. The weather was fab too!

And then after J woke up (while they were ’servicing’ our unit) we went to the beach – lovely lovely!

Just want to give a wee shout out to Doc Martin – we’ve finished season one and are on to season two. Now it’s no West Wing or MOTG but we’re enjoying it all the same!

Just in case anyone was wondering what the job / life after NZ situation was like… well far from getting clearer our future plans are becoming less clear. Literally at the moment we have no jobs, no prospective jobs and nowhere to live long term… It’s all rather exciting!!!

We are delighted to welcome baby Bethan to the Wraight family! Congratulations Tim and Katy! (For those keeping a tally (is anyone?) I guessed a girl and on time (which we defined as within two days of the due date) although I thought she would be called Hannah. J’s guess of a boy called Steve was clearly wrong!)

We had a lovely walk today in Pukekura Park (the Rosies were right – it’s fab!) Great trails, interesting trees, a few lakes, sweet wee benches and awesome smelling rhododendrons and azaleas.

And so tonight J is doing his first night shift here (how many times in this blog have I proclaimed his last night shift?) Anyway, they only have consultants on at night but it’s generally pretty quiet and so he is the only emergency doctor at the hospital tonight!

I was on tea tonight and made a tomato fettucine with crispy bacon on top. I’m not known for my amazing tomato sauces but J lauded it continually all the way throught the meal – really he almost went over the top – and then at the end he said (in all seriousness) “that was so good it’s almost as if I’d made it!” Now those of you who know my husband know he’s not given to big headedness but there’s also no doubt he makes a mean tomato sauce – I’ve learned from the master!

Well, we had a brief window this morning of clear skies before the rain started and so we walked up the river – so beautiful!

And then it P O U R E D and so we had a lovely stay at home afternoon drinking cups of tea, playing cad rum, reading books, doing sudoku and chatting.

PS We’re thinking of you Tim and Katy!!

Today J’s working the late shift and so we had the whole morning and half the afternoon to make the most of – and we did!

It was another sunny day and we decided to explore our immediate surroundings further. There’s a sweet wee bush walk right on our doorstep – literally – and it takes us up the river. Lovely! The smells of the forest and the native trees and New Zealand birds – we love it!

And then we headed off to a local ‘historic’ house and gardens to have a wander and visit the farmers market they were hosting. The house was downriver a bit from us and so we got a pretty good perspective on what is on either side of us.

And now J is at work – his first shift with no other consultants on – He’s the man!!

Big happy birthday today too to our favourite Ruby!

J here. We’re just back to the house after a a walk on the Coastal Walkway which they say was part of the reason New Plymouth was voted  the best place in the WORLD to live for it’s size. One of the cool things – apart from the light evenings which  we are LOVING – is this…

The Wind Wand. Looks like a red pole with a bulb on top. Which is exactly what it is.  Basically it sways with the prevailing breeze, kinda gracefully. And there is a red light on top – which we haven’t seen yet.

It looks warm but was surprisingly chilly.

It is a beautiful coast. Great to be on the west again with sunsets on the sea.

Earlier in the day we went for a walk round  Lake Mangamahoe. Nice forrest/lake/hill combination.

A koru or uncurling fern – one of Morv’s favourite shapes (and words).

The mountain (Taranaki) almost visible. We tried to go for a walk earlier in the mountain up the side of it but got rained on…

Between the two walks we went to see movie Up which was great. Definitely recommend it. Some pretty moving bits and deep themes for a kids movie too.

Back home and the mountain finally showing itself. Good day all round.

We’re never long in a place before trying to find the nearest beach and so yesterday I picked J up from work (which went well although it always takes time to find your feet – and get used to the new computer system!) and we headed to Oakura and had a lovely barefooted walk and paddle

Today rained and rained and rained (the way it can on the west coast!) J was off work though and so we headed to Puke Ariki which was great! We went round the Museum and then had lunch watching the rain fall. This afternoon sky movies came to the rescue – The Spideriwck Chronicles – did I metion our room has sky? Including sky sports 1 and 2 – hello Premier League football! I’m seriously considering staying up all night when Jonathan is working nights and watching the football!

So it’s all good here! And J’s making a delicious smelling dinner in our wee kitchen… off to sample it…