I had a break

I haven’t been much of a blogger lately, for a few reasons. There’s some things I’m concerned about I can’t or won’t talk about publicly, which is unusual for me. However, in the new year I’ll blog a lot, because I’ll be doing some daily art challenges.

I had a quick break in the South Island recently. Alan was going to visit his sister MaryRose in Tekapo so I went along for the ride. We visited the Mt John Observatory where she used to work, had lunch up Aorangi Mt Cook (they went for a walk, which I couldn’t do yet) had lunch in Wanaka, visited Haast and watched the Hector’s Dolphins at Jackson’s Bay.

We had dinner out with her two night’s in a row in Tekapo; the restaurants were fantastic, and enjoyed a walk round the outdoor sculpture exhibition along the lakefront. We went for a drive up the Ahuriri Valley, in the Lindis Pass area – the scenery is just incredible. We stopped for lunch at Franz Joseph on the last day, and checked out some beautiful waterfalls along the way.

I took us 5 days to get back to Hokitika after he picked me up in Christchurch. I’d never seen any of the South Island except for Blenheim, Christchurch, Hokitika and Greymouth, so it was a real treat. We ate out for lunch and dinner every day, and I relaxed and left my worries behind.

We got back in time to go to a Christmas party Friday night, which was fun. I’d done quite a bit of shopping so wore a new dress and a new pair of shoes with a slight heel – the first heel in 9 years, thanks to my two new knees.

On Sunday Penny and I had lunch and talked art. I’ve started writing poetry in the books we’re creating and it’s pushing us both a bit. Honest feelings, permanently recorded for others to read, and emotionally hard … but part of healing and moving on.