Good Evening,

Feeling a lot more chilled now I am surrounded by greeeen & no traffic.

Big thank you to Bill who had to get up early this morning to take me to the bus station.

I left Auckland in the pouring rain & after sitting in a traffic jam to get to the bus station can honestly say there is not a single aspect of city lfe I miss.

4 hour bus journey to get here & my first sightings of Matamata which looks pleasantly small & friendly. Looking forward to having a look around tomorrow.



Cedar Lodge

The Tanners were just as friendly as I had remembered & how can you not be impressed with a host who says 'You can't have had lunch - here, have a bacon sarnie' Top drawer.



Si - it !



"Get orf my laaand !"



Chilli

This afternoon I unpacked, spread my things around the lovely little flat which will be home



I live here !


and then we swapped potted life histories as we ate an incredibly tasty curry & quaffed some delicious red wine (Ribena for adults)

My story was tame compared to the Tanners offerings & all I can say is if ever a family deserves good luck then it's these guys. They laugh at calamity & should be offered up as a role model to the type of UK resident who whinges that 'the state owes them a living'

I don't want to speak too soon in case I get asked to leave in disgrace but it is such a refreshing change to speak with people who are 'normal' & whose values & ideals are so appealing.

I have spent so long considering my every statement & looking carefully at people's faces to see if I am offending them (or boring them) that to be able to relax & have a giggle over a good meal has made all the difference.

I also love the way Michelle came straight out & asked me about my personal life & my family in a way that was interested without being intrusive. I can imagine she must be a damn good nurse.

Tomorrow Eric goes to work in the morning & Michelle is taking the girls & I into Hamilton. She has said we will take a nosey at the Trelawney Stud on the way. She has also recommended I look at the Hamilton Gardens (apparently a bit like Kew but smaller & free)



Rhododendron



Orchid

I am keen to look around Hamilton, the little bit of it I have seen when driving through it was tremendously appealing. (not so the out-of-town end, a business park, redolent of the Purley Way) The Waikato river wends through it & it is a proper honest-to-goodness river not a sad, dried-up stony bed. It is very reminiscent of the broad stretches of the Avon.

I have offered to do any work around the place I can help out with so hopefully will get stuck into some jobs in the fresh air.

Hope to take & publish pics to Blog to show you guys around.

I am out of tx credit for now & won't be able to top up until tomorrow so if I don't reply to any good-night texts you'll know why.

Just before I go tonight, I heard today that the guy who bought my Blade had binned it. It seems he lost it on a country road & damaged the right hand side. He needs a new pipe & fairing but it's not a write-off.

If I didn't bore you with the tale at the time, this was the chap who said the Blade had broken down when it ran out of fuel & asked me to feel sorry for him due to his escalating insurance costs.

I was torn 2 ways when I heard. Part of me was glad he had smashed it up as I never thought him a capable enough rider to deserve the bike. But a bigger bit of me felt real physical pain to think that my (it's still mine despite money changing hands of course) baby had been damaged. Strange priorities I know but perhaps I am getting a more balanced outlook as I thought that Bill's youngest William was very easy to like.

Imagine that, Auntie Cruella is mellowing.

And on that bombshell (Alan Partridge fans, take note) I will bid you goodnight & go to my quiet ickle sanctuary.

Night-night,

Cx

ps. How did I almost forget ? The Tanners are Radio 4 fans & have said I can listen to R4 on-line. Wonder if they like ELO or would that be too much to ask. Deep joy.