We went to Wellington on some cheap and cheerful airfares, and co-incidentally the International Arts Festival started the same weekend.  The Dragon Boating competition was also on, there was a lot of hype down at the waterfront for some rugby game being held in Wellington, and the Fringe Festival was on too.

The girls got to bounce around on a bouncy castle rugby field (see pic below), we watched boat races, saw a man dancing with a digger, and watched a man juggling fire and sharp knives.  We visited Te Papa for the girls’ regular fix of all the brilliant activities there that they love, and I went to the Pompeii exhibition.   It was fascinating and sort of made up for the fact that when we went to Pompeii we didn’t visit the museums in Naples that have all the treasures that have been taken out of Pompeii.  And a 3D recreation of the eruption, which was pretty cool.

That night we piled into One Red Dog for dinner, and two out of three girls spent more time under the table than at it, but it got them through so that was fine.  One Red Dog is a Wellington institution and I’ve never had a bad time there.  It was wonderful to have loads of family members in town and we had a really lovely day.

The next day we had landlord business to attend to, so I took the girls to the Botanic Gardens for a play.  I wore a skirt, and remembered why I never wore a skirt in Wellington.  Windy!  I see London I see France I see Emma’s underpants!  The girls got me running around the Roctopus, and another girl came along and joined in too, so I got a good workout.  We popped in to visit the old house, which is still looking in pretty good nick, and then it was time to head off to the airport, where we caught up with some more family members.  A fantastic weekend all around, I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for some more cheap airfares.

Lulu and I didn’t last long in the heat and rather fish-gutsy smell wafting about, and headed up to Bastion Point for a bit of shade and a quick ice-cream. Bess had a fantastic time rolling around in the spots where fish guts had once been…she may be cute but she can be kind of disgusting at times too!

Here’s a pic of the proud fisherwoman at work, and her little fish swimming around in the bucket.

A couple of hours later, after getting home and confessing all to Andrew (I did a really good job of giving him a fright – walked in crying and finally choaked out “I had an accident…but it wasn’t my fault!) my neck and back starting hurting and I eventually spent the next two days off work feeling all stiff and sore.

The great Accident Compensation system of New Zealand paid for physio, which I trotted off to twice a week for a couple of weeks, until I felt like I was back to my pre-crash state of health, and ‘fessed up to the physio that I was cured.  But funnily enough, the physio decided to keep treating me anyway.  (My pre-crash back was sore in all kinds of ways, a physio can make me yelp in pain my pressing any one of about 20 places on my back.)  Because my physio makes that decision, and my physio gets paid for all the treatments, there is really no incentive to stop treating me.

I know, the ACC system is broken and we’re all paying for it.  I went back to work and told my colleagues and they all promptly moaned about how THEIR taxes were paying for me to have a non-accident related back problem fixed, but I’ve overcome my guilt already.   One day, hopefully when the government has finished dealing with scarily high number of sickness beneficiaries who are too ill to work but perfectly well enough to commit crimes at every opportunity, the government will figure out a better way of funding this type of treatment.

Today I was driving along the motorway at 100kph when a woman in a 4WD decided to change lanes without actually checking if there was anyone already there.  There was – ME – and it was only by braking really fast that I avoided another collision.

So I’m just saying, all you crazy drivers out there, watch out for the MINI.  I do not want to crash into another one of you.

Apparently, because he was a “pillar of the community”, and to name him would be a much greater punishment than if he were not well known.

Well, boo hoo.  This is ridiculous on so many fronts.  I think anyone convicted of possessing pictures of child abuse is likely to lose the majority of the respect, friendships, and social acceptance that they once had.  And so they should.  Why does the fact that he was “well known” in Palmerston North mean that he doesn’t have to suffer the same judgment?

The very fact that the judge called him a “pillar of the community” beggars belief.  At the very most, this vile man once managed to sustain a veneer of respectability.  He was never, and is certainly not now, a pillar of any community.  He is a criminal, and there is no reason to keep his identity secret.

The name suppression laws in New Zealand are becoming a joke, albeit a joke that leaves a very sour taste.  If you’re prepared to commit a heinous crime, be prepared for the punishment.

Andrew carefully investigated the options, and a starter kit was settled upon, which came with tank, filter, decorations and three goldfish.  We took the gear home, set it up, waited the recommended two days for the water to, well, do whatever the water was supposed to be doing, and that Sunday three goldfish came home.  Harry, Fred and Riley became merry little members of the household.

But alas, that wasn’t the end of the story.  On Thursday I was woken by Madeleine thrusting a dead fish in my face and screeching “Harry’s dead! Harry’s dead!”.  The horror!  What had we done?  I was overtaken with guilt, but actually neither of the girls were upset, and Harry was fairly quickly dumped in the rubbish bin.

But it still wasn’t over!  Fred, who they had thought was “sleeping”, was dead too!!  My guilt was doubled, Fred was paraded around the house in Lulu’s hand, and then he too went the way of the rubbish bin.

We went back to the pet store.  Oh dear, they said, that fish tank is FAR to small for three fish.  Two fish at the absolute MOST.  They tested the water, found the ammonia level was off the scale, and recommended that we immediately change the ammonia soup that little Riley was currently swimming around in.  It was a miracle that he was even still alive, apparently.

But hey, we protested, you SOLD us this tank and three fish, TOGETHER!  What’s the story?  Yes, they agreed, its a stupid kit and we’ve told head office, and here is a voucher for $25, which was actually enough for another three fish, so they obviously expected us to kill off a few more.

We went home, changed the water, waited a week.  Then we took another jar of water to the pet shop to check the ammonia and see if we could perhaps have one more fish.

Nope, still off the scale.  Riley must be a super fish, and further, maybe he is actually a poisonous fish, emitting the very chemical that usually kills fish?  Killing off the competition, Andrew suggested.  Who knows.  We have another plan, more chemicals, Riley is on a diet (maybe over-feeding created the problem?), and we’ll see where we’re at next weekend.

I don’t know though, I’m kind of fond of little Riley The Superfish, and I’m not sure he wants roommates.

People are complaining about the humidity, plants are dying, and some of the earth in our back garden is so dry it is cracking open.  But, I love this heat.  I’m not bothered by hot nights, and now that I’m on to my second Auckland summer, my hair isn’t getting frizzy in the humidity anymore.  (If you could see my hair you’d be pretty impressed that it ever got enough life to get frizzy at all, but it did, for about a month, last summer.)

This afternoon the girls didn’t even want to go to a park, which has literally never happened before in their lives.  So we jumped into the pool instead, which was a much better idea and I’ve got no idea why it hadn’t occurred to me earlier.

But as I put Lulu to bed she noticed that some leaves were blowing off the tree in the front lawn, and asked me if winter was on the way.  No, I cried, its miles away, but it was a good reminder – enjoy summer while it lasts!  Get outside, all ye in the southern hemisphere!

Despite these crushing blows, she has remained the most gentle and tolerant dog I’ve ever come across. She’s a supreme child magnet, and cannot go to a park or sit outside a cafe or school without being inundated with pats and tickles, and she bears it all with great composure.

She is so well behaved that when we pick her up from the kennel after a holiday I sometimes wonder if they are going to give her back, and when we last took her to the dog groomer they liked her so much they gave us $5 off and put bows on her ears!

So here she is, the cutest, most good natured dog in the world.

In fact, we all need a holiday from the holidays, because MAN they go on for a long time.  Lulu went back to pre-school last week, and its really been a good thing for her.  Poor child was getting desperate for some play time with children her own age, and I think Madeleine is about to expire from boredom.  Although we’ve taken her to every park, museum and other child friendly attraction we can think of at least 10 times these holidays, its all got boring and stale to her seven year old tastes.

Madeleine turned seven yesterday, and was thrilled with all her presents and the attention that having a birthday brings.  Here’s a pic of the two little monkeys hard at play at a local park.

So, here are two photos taken at the bach, one at a fantastic pizza place at the Tutukaka marina, and the girls being cute with a flower.  Happy days.