Sunday, 20th June, 2021

 I mentioned in my last post that it might be time to consider a holiday.  Since we retired in 2010, we always seemed to be on holiday, or were planning a trip somewhere.  But something happened in the middle of 2016 that made us apply the brakes.  Our last overseas holiday was a cruise around Papua-New Guinea.  I recall it was a belated celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, and it was great.  We had a cruise around Thailand for our 40th anniversary in 2006, we sailed around the top of Australia and ended up in Perth for our 45th and had another cruise in 2016 for our 50th.  So, there has been nothing since then apart from a few trips to Wollongong.

Our 55th Anniversary passed us by, almost unacknowledged, in January this year but it would be great to celebrate this milestone, even if it is somewhat belated.  We will probably never go on another cruise: the Covid pandemic has highlighted severe flaws in the cleanliness routines of most ships.  With the best will in the world, ships crews can't ensure that everything on the ship is germ-free.  Passengers are people, with all the dirty habits that people everywhere share.  When we were younger and healthier, we coped but in this new Covid world, it's not worth it to take the chance.

New Zealand beckons.  It has dealt with the Covid pandemic better than most countries, it's only a few hours flight away and the native speak English (of a sort).  I looked at some options.  There are lots of coach tours but that's not for us; there are drive-yourself deals but car-hire firms don't like renting to 78-year olds.  We could fly to one of the big cities and go on excursions from there or we could make use of the wonderful trains and enjoy the scenery for the comfort of a warm carriage.

Tentatively, I've mapped out an itinerary: fly into Christchurch for two or three days, take a train to Picton and a ferry to Wellington.  After a few days there, take the train to Auckland.  After a few days there, we would fly home, probably via Sydney.  The next problem is when we can fit it in.  We're booked to work at the census between July and September, We always help with Exam supervision during November, and the pundits are suggesting we might have an election this year, if the PM thinks he might have a chance of winning.

So, I have only  three possible dates: October 7th, November 25th or January 6th.  And, if Sco-mo calls a snap election, we would have to think again.