*OK, so, technically not a fashion competition, but, I still totally won a $50 prize for being the best dressed on pink shirt day. I coupled it with my gamblings winnings from buying TSLS a while back and bought the board game ticket-to-ride. Anna took one look at it and decided it was too complicated for now. Hey ho.

Oh, and I also gave blood for the first time. I’m A+ of course ;) NZ only recently allowed people from UK/Ireland to donate because of CJD, so, I finally got round to it. They did have nice biscuits as advertised.

Other than that, went biking, felt very unfit but had a good time.

Had a nice time at the private Physiotherapy pool at Burwood hospital that Mark has access to. That was a fun diversion on a rainy day for the kids.

Anna started playing football, in defense (apparently all Jongerius’ descendants end up in defense, it’s in the genes)

We had the latest NZ Ruby retreat run at The Shakespear lodge, yes, that’s really how it’s spelt ;). Run by Michael and Yuri from Ruby Auckland they did an excellent job of running the event (and I know how much work it is!).

The food was excellent (once we’d found where the delivery people had hidden it!), the venue was great (inside the regional park where there’s a predator proof fence). The regular rounds of talks walks and games. It was a really nice break and thanks to Maaike for being as supportive as ever and pushing me out the door :)

Phil was trying to get me to help organise another ruby retreat up at cheeseman, but, I’m happy to let someone else take the lead this time. I’ve organised a fair few at this stage so it’s only fair to let someone else have the learning opportunity – right?! – right!

A little while ago we bought a follow-me tandem second hand on TradeMe. Our friends Nic and Leigh had one and it looked great. It basically allows attaching a kids bike onto an adults bike so that the front wheel gets lifted up and so the entire thing becomes one connected unit. Works really well.

Anyway, we did a test-ride from Kaiapoi out to Waikuku beach and back again. It was about 40km but I only recorded about half before my battery ran out.

Anna probably rode about half, maybe a bit less, and the device worked really well. It’s super fun to be able to do adventures again where we all get a bit of exercise. We’ll certainly be doing a lot more of this I’m quite sure!

My friend Darragh is exactly 10 days younger than I am.  Every year on my birthday I get an email letting me know just how old and decrepit I am. I love it ;) Darragh was always the smart one in school – and has gone on to be a doctor in the US. He’s now not entirely sure about the direction of the US and was doing a little recce to NZ to see what the story was over here…

Anyway, he came and stayed for a couple of nights which was absolutely lovely. We went for a nice walk out to Taylors Mistake, had lunch at under the red verandah and then did an escape room (aptly enough, school themed, we did very well at the puzzles!)

He very kindly gave us a new game called genius square which we’ve been enjoying. It’s extremely quick to play (just a minute or two) and it’s a bit like tetris. Lots of fun and a very nicely made game.

Looking forward to the next visit.

Castle hill is a lovely “alpine village” about an hours drive from Christchurch. Our friends Sylvia and Colin have friends with a bach up there, so, we headed up for an Easter of games & chocolate & walks.

The weather did not exactly play ball, but, it was dry enough to get out and fortunately it was dry for the village-wide easter egg hunt! (one of the people in the village throws a hunt every couple of years! very generous & the kids obviously loved it) It’s so funny watching the kids just completely miss the eggs and then get into the groove of it. Anna did quite well once she learned to look up in the branches a bit!

And we were treated to a show… I never remember putting on shows as a kid.. but.. definitely all the rage now.