Monday 11th January

I realised just how long it has been since I updated this. The main problem is that all I’m doing is waiting out the time before I can get the house signed up, not till the 17th now, when the Lawyers and Solicitors get back to work, so all I’ve been doing is working out what I have to pack, where everything is, but with Rose and I sharing the Unit, there’s not a lot of room for me to get it all together so I can see just how much there is to pack and have sent by carrier, and how much I can fit into the Pajero.

Plus all my cartons from Honiara are still lost somewhere, with stuff I need to take, as well as my fishing rods and reels. Which never got a chance to be tried out in the Solomons anyway.

New Year was quiet, I borrowed a few fireworks from Damians box, just to keep in practise.

I’m accumulating darkroom equipment slowly, an enlarger I got for a knockdown from the camera shop in Mt Albert, Chromega 670, and the next week I found a Durst 670 with variable printing filters and timer on Trademe that I picked up for $100. Still have my developing tanks for negs, so I’m practically set up again once I get to Golden Bay.

Damian and family arrived back from Melbourne on Friday last, picked them up from the airport, Kahu was asleep by the time we left AKL International, they’d been up since 3am getting to Tullamarine Airport, plus the flight.

Hopefully I’ll know more about the house by next week, they are working on getting all the compliance certificates done before Friday, for the extensions, the bathrooms, so it should all got through reasonably smoothly.

The weather continues warm to hot, not a lot of rain lately, the beach has been crowded out every weekend, and a fair few people during the week as well.

Hayden was going to Christchurch this week to have his cochlea implant retuned, and hopefully upgraded to a better one. He’s lost a lot of the higher frequencies, so talking to him on the phone becomes a study in frustration.