September flashed by in no time, but, that’s no harm because it turned into spring & that’s one of my favourite times in ChCh. All the trees turn to blossom and it’s just lovely.

Our friend Val came down to visit from Raglan, and spoiled Anna rotten. Very kind of her! Definitely Anna’s favourite at the moment!

We went for some walks and got completely stuck at a few points ->

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And finally it was Anna’s birthday party. We hired out the local scout den which has an awesome climbing wall (and traverse section). Heaps of fun, especially when you’re playing “The floor is lava”. I was super impressed with all the kids giving it a go – even the ones who’ve never tried climbing before – kia kaha

Back to NZ and immediately off down to Tekapo… one way to get over jetlag I guess! Maaike did all the driving, and it was lovely to be greeted by a decent sunset.

We had a lovely long weekend. A few walks, a bit of skiing – and Anna got up her first t-bar. It has been a pretty average & very short season though… I really don’t see NZ ski fields surviving in the era of climate change. Well, certainly not the club fields anyway… they just don’t have the resources to make snow on the cold nights.

I’m incredibly lucky with my new job at Vibrant Planet to be able to (continue) working remotely. It’s a definite privilege and one I’ve been lucky enough to be able to take full advantage of for the last 7 years. So, while Maaike was back in NZ I was encouraged to stay on (thanks Maaike!) and take advantage of the remote job to spend a bit of extra time with my family and friends. It was brilliant. I met up with lots of friends (college and primary!). Visited my favourite doughnut stall, went out for a really nice dinner with my parents & siblings, played games with cousins, and just generally had a really really sociable and fun time.

Oh, and I learned how to make steamed ginger pudding. It was really really yum

And, well, while not all too soon, but, eventually it was time to go back to NZ. It’s lovely to be going back to Maaike and Anna & friends & adventures (and, honestly, for me, a bit of routine ;), but, I do wish teleportation had been invented already. Hey ho.

After Donegal, my parents very kindly lent me their car and I headed off to Achill to see my old college friend Neil who’d very kindly invited me to come stay for a few days.

Achill is a pretty stunning place, it’s where the The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed. I’d not been there in a very very long while, I think while I was still in college, and it was really great to visit again.

Neil also loves boardgames so we had a lot of games of backgammon and wingspan. It’s pretty… what’s the word… humbling & enlightening playing with a mathematician. Especially in wingspan, Neil would say things like “that’s not a very efficient move” or “really that could have been more efficient” ;) hehe. Still, he couldn’t beat my sheer amount of luck at backgammon, so, that was good ;). Neil has had an unfortunate run-in with long covid :( I really wasn’t aware that you could be vaccinated etc. and still have a really negative reaction to it. Sucks.

I went for a walk up the hill behind the house, Slievemore

And another day I headed over to Keem beach where the Banshees of Inisherin was filmed and went for a walk up and around the place. Stunning area.

On the way back to Dublin I was able to meetup with a couple more college friends – Lorna and Brega, and it was super lovely catching up.

Yup, definitely miss my friends back in Ireland somedays…

I haven’t been to Donegal in a long long while.  Probably the last time I was there when I was just out of college (but still hanging around the climbing club) and went to Gola which has some truly incredible rock climbing.  Just sharp granite which doesn’t get climbed on much, sheer into the water.  I used to have some pics somewhere, but, can’t find them any more.  Hey ho.  I lost my trangia (cooking pot) there, because I thought that the waves were doing a pretty good impression of a dishwasher, and that if I left them there I wouldn’t have to do any dishes.  They never came back.  Drink may have been taken.

Anyway, I had an absolutely lovely week there with my family, including all my siblings, which is a rare occurrence and super lovely (as I’ve grown older, I realise how rare and special it is to be able to spend (and want to spend) an entire week with your family)…

Walks were walked, swims were had, Guinness was drunk, games were played, sights were seen.  It was super super lovely.  Pain in the arse that life is so fleeting, but, it does make these times all the more special.