An Absence of Loneliness

The loneliness epidemic

It was great and unusual this half term to have time to read and surf the net. I came across this article about how loneliness is reaching epidemic proportions in the UK. It is rarely talked about and people are often unwilling to admit that they feel that way. Apparently it is particularly common amongst women with children and it brought back many memories for me.

When my youngest was born we had just moved in to a new estate in Wiltshire. We were one of the last houses to be occupied and the estate was full of young families like ours. I went to all the local play groups and library groups in an attempt to make friends. I met a few people I could chat to whilst the children played but the friendships never went beyond that. It never extended to a suggestion of coffee or a play date for the kids. I feel I must point out at this point that I am (honestly!) not weird or smelly and I don't have any noticeable bad personal habits that would prevent people from wanting to be near me.

I am however reasonably shy and so would be unlikely to make the first suggestion or invitation for coffee. However I was friendly when approached and was a bit disappointed when not one of my neighbours commented or congratulated us when we arrived home from hospital after the birth of our second child!

Since moving to the other side of the world I have strangely, not felt lonely once. Even though I am about as far away as it is possible to get from all my family and friends. In this country, or possibly in this particular area, it is impossible to feel lonely. I think expats can often feel isolated, homesick and alone in a country with a different culture and sometimes a different language. New Zealand has a very similar culture to the UK and apart from getting frustrated and continually being corrected when trying to pronounce Paraparamou and Paekakrikie, I have not felt any sense of isolation.

People in this country are very friendly. We cannot make a visit to the local shops without meeting someone we know and having a conversation. It is lovely to be invited to meet friends for coffee and have a conversation with neighbours. I can't help thinking that the UK has lost some of the community spirit and openness, that thankfully, New Zealand seems to have held onto.

We visited the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park this weekend. So I was testing out my new camera again.

It was a bit windy!

But very sunny.

Cold, Cold, Cold!

I am sitting typing this with two jumpers and a large pink and extremely fluffy dressing gown on. It is freezing. We were warned on the news last night that a wintry blast was due to travel up the country from the south and it has well and truly arrived this morning.

The girls are very excited as you can see snow on the hills across the valley. Its just cold and wet in Whitby itself but it does look a bit like a winter wonderland across the top of the Puatahanui hills.

We are no longer equipped as a family to cope with this level of cold. When we first moved here from Brussels over two and a half years ago now, we left behind a foot of snow on the streets of the Belgian capital and arrived in New Zealand to the last rays of a hot summer. We have since had little need for our multitude of woolly hats scarfs and gloves. However every now and then the wet wintry weather suddenly surprises with a particularly cold blast. This is why the other half was getting very agitated this morning at his inability to find the other half of a pair of long lost thermal gloves and any woolly hats whatsoever.

The climate in this part of New Zealand is not that much warmer than most of northern Europe. Don't get taken in by the local populations ability to continue wearing shorts and jangles even though the temperature is in single digits. It can get cold and the houses are extremely chilly, as I have repeatedly stated many times before!

I was having a chat with a group of friends a few weeks ago when the subject of "Earthquake weather" came up. Now having gained a Geography degree many years ago I was adamant that the weather has absolutely no influence on earthquakes whatsoever. However the locals where unconvinced. They began to swap stories  from childhood ,when they knew earthquakes would be more likely to occur in wet windy and blustery weather. Hogwash, rubbish and just plain nuts. These were the thoughts that went through my head. But I was far to polite to voice them!

But...several times now we appear to have had earthquakes in just this weather. Last night, as the house was being shaken repeatedly by gusts of wind, Indiana Jones and the the last Crusade was rudely interrupted by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Perhaps there is something to this "earthquake weather" theory. However when you google "earthquake weather" it seems to suggest that they should occur in calm, clear days not blustery cold windy ones. According to that theory, we should be fine in Wellington. I can't remember that last calm clear day we had!

Article on Earthquake Weather

Photography in the winter sun

The girls and I headed out to test out my new camera at the Pautahanui Wildlife Reserve this morning. The light is amazing in this country. The clouds and colours of the vegetation were combining to produce some beautiful landscapes.

The girls brought their own cameras and enjoyed messing about taking hundreds of photos of each other.

We hid in the huts and searched for wildlife.

A is clearly a dedicated and determined photographer.

If only this picture was not at this angle it would be great.

I love the colours in this one.

The one and only bird shot I was happy with.