Working on an early which completely tired me out so when I got back home I just crashed on the sofa.

Oh found the most wonderful walk today...... went out for a drive in Bertie to have a look around and decided to take a turn up this side road ending up near the water front. I then found a little wooden pier that stretched far out into the water so had a walk along that and took some photo's, it was very tranquil. The shore line was a mass of greenery and had little tiny sandy coves set amongst the trees. The water was transparent and the sky was blue so I stayed around there for a bit before heading back again only to come across a walk which led into the trees so I decided to have a quick look. It was so lovely I could have stayed all day as I kept finding more and more things to look at, but in the end I had to turn round and save it for another day.

Working on a late so pottered around the house as the weather was a bit crappy, I tried to do some Yoga but couldn't bloody remember it all? so ended up doing some house work and trying to make some more curtains only to realise I couldn't bluff my way through this one and had to buy some pins. Watered my lovely potted plants outside and had a quick chat with them, they are looking good.

Had a yoga lesson at 9am which I really enjoyed today especially trying to get my foot above my head, always gets your juices flowing - not!

I thought this Yoga malarkey was supposed to be a lot easier than other keep fit stuff, I have to say I was grossly mislead but I can't quite grasp how Gerri Halliwell ended up looking so fit just through Yoga? And how Sting seems to look so fit? I don't look any different after 3 sessions, I should be looking like a svelte maddonis by now!

I came back and got changed then went for a stroll down into Katiikati and thought I would pop into the Art Gallery to have a look at a lovely painting, which I first lay my eyes on weeks ago. To my surprise it was now in the sale for half price and I just new I had to have it. I don't mind spending 50p or a quid on second hand clothes but when it come to art I would spend a fortune. This painting was down to only $120 (£40) so I phoned Toby and asked if it would be OK to get it and then send it home with mum next year as she is coming over for a few weeks. He said yes, so I paid and put it by for collection on Sat.

I remember once going to Cornwall and seeing a painting which took my breath away. It was about £300 which to me isn't expensive for something beautiful. I didn't buy it though and I could still kick myself now for it,that 's why I had to get this one.

Evening shift went well and came back to a big bag of fish and chip.

God it is sooooo hard to wake up at this naf awful time in the morning but once I'm up I'm fine. I still have to start so early as I can't seem to get things done in time. I forgot to make a cuppa for one of the residents and he came up at lunchtime demanding to know who the perpetrator was, I owned up of course and said sorry. I finished work and was desperate for a shower only to find out that once again we had no hot water so I went back to work and had one in the staff showers which was really powerful. I am soooooo due on!!!!

I then went home again and did some tidying up then prepared wonderful curry for dinner, I didn't sit down till 6pm that evening Toby just came home then proceeded to sit for the whole evening..............Oh dear he is turning into couch man again

On an early again today and feeling very stressed - must be time of the month, or should I say a couple of weeks before 'time of the month' that's how it effects me anyway.

Did everything wrong again like the day before and felt extremely irate at the lady who was on the Thurs evening shift because she hadn't refilled my coffee pots - that's how ridiculous I get! I set up everything as if I was on an evening shift so all the nurses were asking me what I was doing and then I managed to make a 'Yog-it' (make your own yoghurt) and put in the fridge but instead I just emptied it down the sink? I am a bloody freak.... Good thing was that Lee, the stand in chef, had made some fab scones to go on the morning tea round with me. These were for the residents so I scoffed my face with them for the whole round.......

But I am looking forward to watching Auf Weidersien Pet (new series) which is on every Friday night and settling down with a glass of vino knowing I have the whole weekend with my loved one.

I woke up excited as I was to go down and collect the picture I had bought a couple of days ago. I wasn't sure if Toby was going to like it, but I thought it depicted the travelling thing which is what caught my eye. I showed Toby when we got back and he seemed to like it, though not something he would have picked I'm sure but it looked good on the wall. I noticed a big oil puddle on the floor under Bertie which really pissed Toby off but it should be the responsibility of the garage - we hope!

We then went down to Kauri Point, the area I found a few days previous so that I could show Toby. After strolling down the pier and watching the kingfishers for a while we then went for a walk which took us along the coastline and back into the small village as well as into a large field of the cutest young cows ever. Toby attempted to climb over a small fence to get out of the field but ended up climbing into the wrong field then made a hash of getting into the correct one, so much for the country boy!The weather was actually quite hot and we could feel the sun burning which was making me think what it was going to be like in the summer?

Toby then took us to Bowentown which was just lovely, we had some lunch then walked up onto a hill, we had the most beautiful views of the islands and beach below. I took a few photo's then headed back to the car waiting for Toby to finish his photography then drove home.

Toby then got all depressed about getting fat again so as I have said a squillion times before 'do something about it' and stop sitting in front of the computer 24-7 and get some exercise. MEN!!

Didn't do much today as the weather started off a bit crappy so just did housey shite. In the afternoon we went for drive and ended up at the local 'Hot Springs' for a look around. The pool was lovely which meant I could now start coming out here for a swim on a regular basis, I didn't even realise that it was all here......... We then found a track nearby which we drove up and ended up in the hills and the beginning of a couple of walking tracks which we could do on another weekend.

Oh and i forgot that i had put my hair in lots of small knots for the day so when it came to taking them all out before bed i had the fright of my life when i saw that i now had an afro!! I was in histerics and even woke Toby up to show him then took a photo of myself - i look just like my mum in the 70's

Working late today so had the morning to go back up to the hot springs and for a lovely swim. I managed to do 20 laps of a 50 metre pool which wasn't bad for an unfit slob........

Work was pretty tiring for some reason so went to bed early.

On an early today and worked with a lovely lady called Lilian who usually does the same job as me but today she was the chef, the regular chef was on hols and the stand in one couldn't make it today. She wasn't very happy but did a fantastic job and made the best rice pudding ever!

I went to Yoga in the evening with Toby and really enjoyed the session, I seem to be getting a lot more flexible but still have a way to go before putting my leg over my head.

On an early so went down to the pool for a good swimming session - it's great cause I have the place to my self so people can't see my efforts at front crawl......

Day off today so did some Yoga in the morning and some housework (yuk) then went down for a swim again and then went out and about in Bertie Went in to see Meri in the estate agents just for a hello and she invited both Toby and I over for dinner next Wednesday she wants to introduce us to her friends who are our age which sounds really cool, we could do with making some friends and going out to socialise a bit more.

Day off again so once again I headed off for the pool only to encounter another person in my pool!!! it turned out to be a man called Andrew who used to be a teacher but now worked with the environment and he seemed to know just about everything on plants, animals and birds so was just up my street, I hinted about looking for a job in that area, so I hope he keeps his ears open. I didn't end up doing as many laps as usual due to me chatting so much but at least I made the effort. I then settled down for the evening to watch the fantastic series - 'Auf Wiedersen Pet' which both Toby and I really enjoy.

Well on an early today which I don't enjoy so much only cause I want to spend the weekend with Toby. After work we went down for a swim only to encounter loads of other people frolicking about in the water which caused us great difficulty in doing some serious swimming so we gave up half way and went home again in ready to watch ' Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery' which was very funny.

Up again early for another hectic day at work then went down to the Mystic Fair in Waihi for a looksy only to find it had finished for the day so we went up and visited Rita who lives opposite. Rita is the weekend chef who is very kind and mumsy bless her, she loves doing all home baking etc bit like Ma Larkin. She had invited us up for a few hours if we didn't have anything else to do so we took her up on the offer and landed on her door step at about 4pm. We met her husband, Stu who was also very nice and they asked if we wanted to have a look around their farm and see the little baby ba sheep and baby moo cows. We took Bertie as we could all fit in her and then headed off up the road to the track which lead us all around the farm or should I say vast amounts of hilly green fields over looking the sea, beautiful. At one point Toby needed to go into 4wheel drive only to be told from Stu that the wheels weren't locked. So all this time he had been going down little dirt tracks and on beaches whizzing around thinking he was off roading and saying how different it felt bla bla, so he was in the corect gear but the 4 wheels weren't going round............. have I said before about the fact Toby knows zip about cars???? I think this proves my point.

After I had taken enough of the proverbial about this we then headed back not before they showed us the dirt race track they have. Seems on Sat afternoons they have a few races and people can come and watch which of course we will do!! wonder if I could have a go?

We said our goodbyes and apologised for the oil puddle on their driveway - OOPS. Had a quiet evening in, as usual.

On a late today but didn't have Bertie so couldn't go for a swim so ended up going for a walk down to the sea, did a little drawing then spent the rest of the day dossing and getting very depressed at how much weight I have gained since settling down, both have got into a bad eating habit i.e. eat everything at all times and have turned into the blobs.

Cleaned the front asphalt as best I could of the vast amount of oil but the fairy liquid and water didn't touch it (surprise) so will have to get some lethal chemical of some sorts to clean it up, I could call the local environmental department to come and spray the oil with that special foam stuff they have? I could say some local oil tanker had washed up outside our house causing the disaster and to send in specialists to rescue and wash all the local sparrows which have been affected by the oil spill??? mmmm maybe not.

Toby came home saying the leak had been fixed but I won't hold my breath...

Patricia and her husband and kids popped round and had a cuppa then i had to go to work.

Really excited today because Meri ( from the estate agents) and her husband Barry invited us over for dinner along with two friends, Ross and Susie both of whom are about our age. We had such a fantastic evening and we all seemed to drink too much! Meri was hysterically funny especially after a few tipples. I asked everyone over to our house for dinner the next Thursday to thank everyone then we had to get home as I was on an early in the morning.

Oh dear didn't feel so hot today and couldn't get into the swing of work at all! I kept losing the plot and was a complete waste of space I don't even know how I made it through the day.............

On another early but now feeling a lot better after a good nights rest thank goodness. The only bad thing about the day was that I had to work with Lee the stand in 21yr old chef again. God he is such a plonker, he thinks he knows it all and if you have done something then he has done it better than you or he knows someone who has. This boy hasn't been anywhere and he thinks he has, basically I could just stab him with the bread knife if he talks to down to me one more time.

Just dossed in the afternoon looking forward to having the weekend off.

Weather was very very windy so we decided to give the zorbing a miss as I think we would have been blown out to sea. We decided to go into Tauranga and to Mount Manganui for a looksy then thought we should have a walk around the mount. It was a wonderful walk and the weather was cold but sunny, the views all the way round were lovely and the beaches!! Toby wanted to have a walk to the top but I wanted to have a walk into town to have a look at some of the shops, I was amused at the amount of young kids (mostly boys) who have these 'flash' or should I say 'twat' cars and drive around all day with the music blaring and just trying to look cool. Whilst I was sat down outside at a table I think I saw about 9 twats all just going around and around trying to show off to all the people who were sat outside having lunch. I also went past a carpark in the town and it was full of them - where do the young kids get the money to get the cars? did you know they can apply for a licence at the age of 15 over here, can you believe that!! the amount of accidents are really high and they wonder why............. I actually laughed at a group of lads all sitting in their knob machine whilst shaking my head, they saw me and said something so I just kept on laughing and calling them idiots - boys!! god they rile me. Lee the chef is just like these idiots

By the time we got home Toby was in a foul mood again ( recurring problem) and was really horrible so I left him to it

Had a bit a lay in - well got up at 7.30am and went out for a round of golf (9 holes) at the public golf course. I like watching the game on TV and always think it looks like a piece of piss but I was very badly mistaken and nearly ended up walking away on the first hole. I could not hit the damn ball, I did however make a ditch all the way around the ball which Toby panicked about and I got a little frustrated to say the least. I did manage to get a little better as we went round and in the end was hitting better shots than Toby! I seemed to hit them quite high where as Tobes sort of shot across the ground. He won of course but it was a great few hours out and in the afternoon we went to visit Kathy (Toby's work colleague) and her husband who live on top of a hill in a beautiful house. The views are breathtaking and to come out of your kitchen and see that everyday would be wonderful.

On a late so did a couple of hours of Yoga at home then farted around tidying up the house and reading.

Toby came and met me at work to walk me home! how sweet is that

Went swimming first thing for an hour then went down the Library and joined, had an hour in there as I just love library's but ended up taking out a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle which I can't wait to start - sad I know

Prepared Toby's dinner for him for when he gets home then went to work

Went down stairs and sat with Freda and Patricia for an hour having a natta and putting the worlds to rights - specially men

I borrowed a huge piece of hardboard from her for my puzzle building and then did some Yoga before heading off to work.

Phoned up a few insurance companies regarding Bertie but it seems it could be quite expensive due to not having any proof of 'no claims bonus' from the UK, we cxl ours before we left so didn't have a replacement form sent out to us. We have one that is 2 years old but I don't think they will except that.... We also need to sort out Personal Insurance as ours ran out on the 10th Sept and I bet my arse one of us will trip over a leaf and break a leg or something now.

Went to work in the afternoon and found out Lee the stand in chef was off sick so I would probably have to come in tomorrow morning and do Lilians shift whilst she did Lee's shift, I really didn't want to do it as we had Meri and and the gang coming over for dinner and I had to prepare everything.

Oh well I did the morning shift and both Lilian and I complained about the job amongst ourselves all day. She hated doing the cooking but was left with no choice as she was told she was doing it. She said we should write a letter about the amount of extra time we both put in just to get all our work done and don't get paid for it. All the staff seem to be a bit fed up as they are all stretched to there limits being under staffed over worked and under paid. I'm sure things will change for the better very soon though.

Anyway I I finished early (12.30) so that I could get back home and start all over again. I had to clean the house and then move the new computer that Toby had bought back from work over to the other side of the room which turned out to be more trouble than first thought. He had so many bits and pieces attached to the damn thing all plugged into different sockets it was worse than my jigsaw. I did get everything tidy, so I started cooking a huge chilli which was the only thing I could cook due to the fact I have only a very limited amount of cooking utensils so I had to borrow a huge cooking pot from Lilian and plates, glasses, cutlery, from work. Meri had to bring over a chair bless her and the table mats were cut up bits of material samples I had stashed away. The evening was great fun and they all enjoyed the dinner which was just as well....... they had shop cheesecake for dessert as I hadn't made any puddy. Meri and Susie thought the house was great and were surprised at the size of it.

Had a day off so just cleared up last nights mess which wasn't a lot cause Toby had done most of the washing up - bless 'im

I did some Jigsaw which looks like it's going to be a monster.... then went down to the doctors to make an appointment for the Monday. I have been suffering from a lot of pins and needles in my arm at night which is now keeping me awake and is quite painful. I have had it for quite a few weeks now and I'm getting quite fed up with it, I don't think it's a trapped nerve in my neck as I have had a bad neck and back all my life and haven't had this before and the pain is coming from near my armpit.

Finally went to visit the bird gardens, they had been closed for the winter months. It was a fantastic place and the gardens were beautiful, can't believe i forgot my camera though so i asked if i could come again to take some pictures (without paying) and he said i was more than welcome!!

On an early with Rita today and I always enjoy working with her so the day wasn't bad. Toby had some lunch for me when I got home

Went down to the bird place again so that Toby could talk to the ducks, like he does!! Lots of fluffy babies everywhere but my favourite were the Cockatoos who were just adorable and very funny.

On another early with Rita and then went and played 9 holes of golf with Toby in the afternoon. Seems I'm getting better at this game, well I can hit the ball only after 6 attempts but when I do I can hit it bloody far!! on the second hole I hit the ball so hard it went down the fairway over the green and into a field of cows!! Toby seems to hit the ball so it skims along the top of the grass and always to the left? He tried so hard on one shot standing for ages looking like a pro but when he hit the ball it I shot off to the left again travelling quite fast straight into a tree quite far away, the ball bounced off and landed back at his feet again!! Well I nearly pissed my pants I laughed so much, all the other people of the course all stopped to see what we were doing as both Toby and I were crying.

I did another couple of good shots but I find it hard when the ball is not on a tee and off the ground, when the ball is on the grass and I have to use a normal club rather than the driver that is when I tend to cause great damage to the ground......... mind you I did hit the ball way into the air with a number 7 club so that is the one I use all the time, can't understand why there are so many different clubs when you can just use the one??

On a late today and had my doctors appointment which was all OK but he thought I should have some X-rays to make sure I didn't have a seventh rib or something.... hope not as it would cost money for surgery!! as it was the visit to the doctors cost $45 - no national health over here!!!

Went back down into Katikati at lunch time and walked into the X-ray place and had my chest and neck done and was then asked to pay $143 for the privilege. How the hell people afford to pay the money for all this if they had something wrong with them is beyond me, you can get all this done at the hospital for cheaper but the waiting list is years just to get anything done. I asked the Radiology lady how did everyone cope, she said the whole medical system was in turmoil and people had to get insurance but this only covered for accidents not anything else, I think the answer is just don't get sick.............

NEW ZEALAND OCT 2002 >