Pages

Friday, October 05, 2007

Four Seasons in One Day (Make That "Week")

Yes, I'm back. In fact, I've been back for a few days, but very busy doing laundry and dealing with a month's worth of e-mails and snail mail, not to mention catching up at work.

At my newer job they just continued without me, but at my other job I found that there was more work than I had hoped piled on my desk. A lot of things had been only half done, and not done quite correctly, so I went back and fixed things up. Since nothing too bad would have happened if I had left them as is, I guess I am being a bit anal. If they had actually been finished, it would have been too complicated to alter them and I would have left them as is. Just a matter of changing a few figures here and there...

Back to the title of the post. When we left the UK last Friday it was definitely feeling like autumn. The trees are changing colour and there was a chill in the air. The heather is starting to bloom in Scotland. Then it was Singapore where it is meltingly hot. And humid. I couldn't call it summer as they really only have a dry season and a wet season (and the wet season is fast approaching, but fortunately it didn't rain while we were there). Then it was back to Christchurch where it should be spring. The daffodils are fast wilting, there is blossom on the trees still but they are breaking out into green leaf as well. But the day after we returned there was hail, sleet and slush. Winter in October? That's definitely not right in the Southern Hemisphere. And the next day there was a small earthquake. It sure makes a girl feel welcome!

We were watching the news late one night in Singapore when the subtitles came up "Earthquake in New Zealand. Australia on tsunami alert." That was a bit worrying, until the caption changed to "earthquake near New Zealand" which is not quite the same thing. In the next morning's newspaper we found that it was a 7.4 quake centred near the Auckland Islands which are 350 miles (or is it kilometres?) south of New Zealand - far enough to be about two countries away, if we were in Europe. So, no real problem.

I was busy unpacking on Tuesday evening and discovered I didn't have my camera. I was stressing out, thinking it had fallen out of the luggage trolley in the carpark, until I rang the airport in the morning and found that I had actually left it at the security check on the way through immigration. I was able to collect it from the airport police kiosk. They had quite a collection of cameras there. P. suggested I could have chosen the best one and I replied that mine was the best one.

I put my forgetfulness down to tiredness from the long flights and a lack of caffeine. I cut right back on coffee for travelling. Then I found research that suggests drinking coffee protects women from Alzheimers. (Not men, strangely enough).

So my new excuse is that drinking coffee is good for me. (Though there's bound to be a study somewhere which says it increases my risk of something else).

We took about 15,000 photos between us. I need to get them transferred to my computer from P's laptop, then I will start posting a diary of my trip with pretty pictures. My daughter thinks it's very odd to blog about my trip a month later. Well, maybe so, but I couldn't do it while I was there due to a lack of time and lack of internet connection - and when we did have free time, P was mostly using the laptop anyway.

Watch this space!

12 comments:

Michael K. Althouse said...

15,000 photos! Wow! I could do that though.

Glad you got your camera back... mine is insured against damage, but not loss or theft.

Coffee IS good for you... it has to be, it's the only vice I have left!

Michele sent me over here to ramble aimlessly,

Mike

WendyWings said...

I too was happy to hear about the coffee thing, I drink far too much of it.
I didn't even know there had been an earthquake at all until I read it on another board somewhere.
Welcome back, Michele sent me today.
Kia Ora :D

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Welcome Home Catherine. I look forward to seeing your pictures...I LOVE that you took so many...That is what I would do, too!
When you get them all sorted out and begin posting it will be like reliving your trip all over again only this time WE will all be with you, too! (lol)

Anonymous said...

Good to see you back. You can post a few of thosepictures for us. I look forward to that.

Glad Michele sent me here to welcome you back!

gautami tripathy said...

I like the title of your blog. It conjures up images of the seasons. Michele sent me back to tell you that!

BreadBox said...

What a lovely post:-) Here from Michele's today to see that you are back, safe and sound, and from the coffee and lack of earthquake, it would seem, "stirred, not shaken":-)

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the best of your photos of the trip!

N.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Michele sent me back to you tonight, dear Catherine to just say, once again...I Look Forward to ALL your pictures of this fabulous trip! I LOVE pictures with all my heart! Hope you get it all sorted out soon.

Anonymous said...

Everything in moderation...even seasons I think. I love when it's still winter and I can drive south to spring and if I keep driving I eventually it summer. Michele sent me.

WendyWings said...

Michele sent me back again, hi from Auckland

flleenie said...

I think it's cool that we are able to travel from one season to another in a single day.

I definitely want to see pictures!!

Pat said...

Hi Catherine! Shame you didn't see the heather on Exmoor but you can see it on my blog. I am really looking forward to seeing your pix. Of course you need time to organise it.
Have a good sleep and Michele says night night.

Pat said...

PS All of you - don't overdo the coffee thing. Personally I drink decaff but moderation is the key.