The Traveling Kiwi

I was booked to head back in Saturday but on Friday we finally managed to meet with the local elderly rehab team and get all the cares in place for mum to manage without me. They wanted me to monitor everything fir a few days before I left. So flight is now Wednesday but what a difference already. Their focus is positive and on giving skills to be comfortable and safe in your own home. Physio has already been and things so far are working well. I feel much more confident now about leaving which is great. I snuck out on Saturday morning and visited the market and my friend Michelle and her delicious smoked garlic salt. Just amazed that there were daffodils and blossom and spring flowers out already and it’s still autumn.

They were still setting up when I got there but it wasn’t long till it was humming with people and delightful aromas. I couldn’t resist the bacon butte from bacon bros. I miss this market with its real foodies and local flavours. Almost tempting to come back to Christchurch just for this.

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I haven’t posted for a while and I would like to say its because I have been too busy taking fungi photos. But its actually because I am in Christchurch taking care of my mum who managed to tear her rotor cuff and has been unable to be by herself. She is failing fast and this has just accelerated things. Diagnosed now with dementia and Alzheimer’s its funny as she will constantly say “well at least I haven’t lost my marbles” A sewing/knitting/doll making/art project pack rat, I have been swimming in boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff and trying to help her let go of them of she can have some space on the table and in the house. I would say to date I have been about 10% successful which, although small is better than any of us have been able to achieve at any other time. It’s so hard for her to lose her memory and she is aware that she is and its frightening her. It’s full on but we are finally getting some support and I am hoping this will allow me to have a wee break while I am here and leave maybe by the end of the week.

Fortunately for me I have been feeling better and seeing the sun down here has helped. I am pretty sure Rotorua is trying to be the new Atlantis with the non-stop rain and weather bombs.

When I do get back I will of course be back to my fungi photo obsession. The green mushies will be just coming out if the rain hasn’t completely destroyed them and then there is always the treasure hunt for the blues. Something about being out in the wild natural bush that is very calming and at the same time quite exciting, scrambling up banks and skidding down gullies and seeing how the whole forest can change with just a little sunlight from a tree fall or a change in the moisture level. After the emotional intensity here I think even the rain won’t keep me out of the forest.

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After having fun taking way too many fungi photos I decided to join http://www.inaturalist.org to identify some of them. When I posted this photo, which I think you have already seen, I found myself chosen as photo of the day for this worldwide website which has thousands of uploads a day. Posted on their website, Instagram and Twitter we are now famous for these lovely green mushies. Random but kinda cool 😎

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I have been trying to get down to Christchurch to see mum for a while but Covid and losing friends and health surprises kept getting in the way. I knew mum was starting to forget things when I was down last and she is 89 but this time I am shocked at how much short term memory is gone. It’s upsetting and difficult for her because in every other way she is fine and with it. Day one she forgot what day it was and took her medication twice. By day 3 we realised she can never manage her own meds again but getting reliable 7 days a week help is incredibly difficult. Food has become a real issue as she forgets what she bought and buys it again and forgets she ate and forgets she has diabetes and buys a huge can of V forgetting she has AF and heart issues. So my trip has extended. The house is very cold in winter but double glazing is out of the question as is a heat pump so I have been clambering over furniture and boxes to install the insulation film and line the curtains. Zipping around in Mums wee car till last night I noticed the warrant was 3 months out of date. Lined up in the rain this morning to get one, it only took 2.5 hrs so just enough time to get to the airport for my flight back. I am exhausted and worried about how she will cope. Everyone here is still working full time and live out of town so it’s a challenge. I think I will be back sooner than I think. Hopefully next time I will have a few moments to catch my breath and spend a wee bit of time enjoying Chch maybe catch up with some old friends.

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Linde passed away on Feb 22nd in Seattle. She was a very special friend to me, someone I could talk to for hours and never run out of things to talk about. Irreverent with an awesome sense of humour. A friend of the heart who welcomed me into her family. Everyone called her Supernana and she was a Supernana in every sense of the word, a supercarer of everyone she loved, a tiny powerhouse who was always on the move taking care of everyone who needed her. With heavy oxygen bottle in tow she would never let anything slow her down. Linde your legacy lives on in all our hearts and memories. I wish I could have come back to see you but you knew I was thinking of you. ❤️❤️❤️

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In between rain storms and cyclones I took a trip to Mokaihaha Ecological Reserve about an hour out of Rotorua. Stunning huge moss covered trees and ferns, the path leads down a very steep muddy path to a lake of perfect reflections and back up paths made of tree roots and steep clay banks. This is one of a few places you can find the blue mushrooms that grace our $50 bill. Like a treasure hunt it’s so much fun to look for them and find some perfect specimens. The torrential rain has destroyed most of them but we love in hope that a few weeks of fine weather will bring out more.

The last storm, Cyclone Gabrielle, that came through last night did so much damage to the forests around Rotorua with dangerous sodden trees still coming down. I think it will be a few weeks till I venture back. We are lucky we are so much further inland here and the wind and rain was so much less.

I am slowly getting back to normal, whatever normal is, but my fitness took a hit. Bike will get dusted off as soon and the roads dry out and the mud level goes down a bit.

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So I finish the antivirals (yuk) and find I have gastritis .. probably from the antivirals. Got worse and worse and they tell me it may be up to three weeks to improve, then this morning feel even worse and flu like so I test …. Bloody positive again. WTF. I feel like I have spent the whole of 2023 in bed. Weather has been awful so I haven’t missed much but I have read 1.3m books and the news is not worth reading. I need to escape soon! I have booked and cancelled my trip to Christchurch again – it’s the whole Hotel California thing again – you can check out any time you like but you can never leave.

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What a start to the year… and just when I thought it might finally stop raining I get COVID – I am day 7 and still wiped out and testing positive so it’s going to take longer than anticipated to get back to normal. I feel like I have slept almost all of 2023 so far.

But then tonight, still feeling grumpy and tired I looked outside and saw a wee secret rainbow pop out and then disappear. Maybe something is telling me to stop looking at the dark grey clouds and see the rainbows of possibilities inside them.

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Wishing everyone every happiness and peace for 2023. It’s been a very hard Christmas losing a good friend and going into the New Year with helping plan a funeral. Unfortunately there are no florists open in Rotorua till Jan 9th and all the suppliers are closed so the closest flower farm is in Auckland but no couriers so my job on Tuesday is to drive to Auckland and pick up the flowers in time for the funeral Wednesday. Only 3 hours each way with the new motorway, so long as I miss the traffic. At 93 Pauline deserves an abundance of flowers at her funeral and I am determined to make it happen. Smart as a whip and a glorious sense of humour she will be missed.

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It’s been so wet It’s almost like living back on the west coast. One day of sunshine this week and back into the endless rain. At least it’s not as bad as the poor Aussies whose swimming pools are now full of tadpoles and frogs. My poor garden has been challenged and somehow the plants I don’t want have flourished while the rest have drowned.

It’s that time of year that I wish I had grandkids to have a reason to get out and enjoy the festivities rather than avoid them. I would borrow some if I could and head to the beach. However I am headed for the other end of the spectrum with planning Christmas get togethers with my orphaned over 90s.

Yaap is a local celebrity, emigrated to NZ from holland in 1949 and worked at forestry research institute here. He has a huge native bush project along a stream and springs that flow into lake Rotorua that he has been working on for last 30 years reclaiming it from invasive blackberry, barberry and gorse. Now over 90 he is an inspiration and font of knowledge for others. Kor and Hettie are also Dutch and in their late 80s, Kor is a UN specialist on carnivorous and air plants, just two doors down from us they are also going to join us for lunch. I have never cooked a Dutch meal before so it’s going to be fun and challenging.

Luckily I am feeling better and have had almost a week back to normal, fingers crossed Zebo is finally gone. I think I lost most of 2022, I have read a whole library of books but really done very little. I hope next year is much more active, I am looking forward to getting back on the bike and heading back to Christchurch to catch up with family.

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