For new readers: welcome to my day journal — of sundry activities and rambling thoughts. There's a mixture of techie stuff and personal doings, so just read the bits you're interested in ;~]
You'll find previous Kronikles in the ARCHIVE if you want to catch up with past thrilling episodes.
Also you can dip into my alternate blog, where I post all sorts of odd things under the name of boringoldfart.

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For interesting links which change every week, look at my Home Page for Life in NZ and Nice Ones.

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Monday, March 22, 2004

We rose somewhat more leisurely than the last couple of days, as we didn't need to pack and leave. However, the day was shaping up to be rather warm in the afternoon, so we went into town at 10 am. I found a park adjacent to the main shopping streets, and we had a good wander about.

Joan was able to get some clothes that fitted, a brand called Sportscraft that we no longer seem to get in NZ -- good quality stuff. Not much else of interest, so we picked up pies for lunch from a noted Bendigo pie shop and returned to the apartment.

Out again by 1.30 pm to find a place that Joan had been directed to, that stocks 'antique' repro drawer pulls etc. She was able to find something that will go on our new sideboard (which will be made soon). Then round the block to find the sports stadium which has been built on the site of the original cemetery, where great-grandfather John *may* have been buried.

We then decided to go to a rose garden which is on the way back south from our apartment. We found it without difficulty, but didn't go round it because it was getting rather decrepit and not worth the $A10 they wanted to charge to see it.

So back to the apartment for a rest and read -- we also were starting to notice the heat by now, at least 26 - 28 degC. Out briefly at 6 pm for fish'n'chips from a Greek shop down the road a bit at a shopping centre called Kangaroo Flat. Beautiful fish and cooked to perfection.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

We had a quieter day today: into the city at 10 am and spent some time at the library tracking down Back Creek. I found it on an old map -- and it is now called Spring Creek, just to be confusing. We picked up some lunch and returned to our air-conditioned apartment.

In the afternoon, we first called at a second-hand bookshop I'd noticed on our route into town. They had a huge science fiction/fantasy stock, but couldn't see much of what I'm missing. However, I'll take my booklists back tomorrow and look further. We then returned to the research section of the library, but didn't turn up anything new. We did have a good chat with the genealogical ladies on duty, however.

Tomorrow, we'll have a look at the Back Creek area, and at the various art and museum displays in the city.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Yesterday my throat felt sore; it got worse overnight, and this morning I had a good dose of tonsilitis. So we thought it prudent to get to a doctor for some penicillin, as they told me my resistance to infection was lowered after the radiotherapy treatment.

We got some suggestions from the apartment office, and drove out to a suburb to a likely doctor. There we were turned down flat, as the receptionist said the doctor had a full book all day. So we headed for the Bendigo hospital a & e, saw a nurse first, and then a nice Canadian lady doctor looked down my throat, asked lots of questions, then sent me to the hospital pharmacy with a chit for penicillin.

We took the opportunity to head across town to what was once Back Creek, and is now Spring Creek. This is the locality that my great grandparents came to in 1855, and I was eventually able to find a vantage point to take a couple of photos. Of course it is now changed out of recognition, but it was great to look over this area and get the feel of the place.

We spent the rest of the day in the apartment, as by then I wasn't really up to much. We've done a repack of our suitcases, as much a possible, in readiness to leave. We drive back to Melbourne tomorrow; the plane leaves at 7.30 pm so we'll return the car by the late afternoon. The next Kronikles will be coming from home, probably on Friday night -- unless I send something from the airport.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

We booked out of the apartment, and went into the city to visit the second-hand bookshop I referred to earlier in the week. We picked out a couple of paperbacks to read at the airport, and set off on our way south to Melbourne. I wasn't pushing the speed, but a lot of the journey was in moderate traffic -- and it's not courteous to putter along at 80 kph when everyone else wants to do 100 kph. Incidentally, that's something I meant to mention: in Australia in general, speed limits are observed closely. Someone we know was booked while going from a 60 kph zone to an 80 kph -- she allowed her speed to drift up towards 80 while still in the 60 zone, instead of waiting until the sign was reached. A local comment was "That's what living in a Police State is like!"

We stopped for lunch at a small country town called Kyneton -- found a home bakery with attached cafe that turned out superior pies -- then carried on our way. The countryside still absolutely burnt brown from drought. We found the airport without trouble and made it to the rental car drop-off point without damage. I was most impressed by the Hertz people: a guy with data-capture terminal in his hand, keyed in the plate number, checked the km travelled and the petrol level, checked the car for damage, then said "Thank you, you're confirmed checked back in. You may go to the airport departures now." Then he printed a confirmation slip on the terminal for me -- and that was that.

We had a two-hour wait until the Air New Zealand counters opened, then headed straight to the ANZ Lounge for much-needed refreshments and comfy chairs (got to be compensations for paying all that money for Business Class tickets :~} ). We boarded 15 minutes late, but the plane left the airport with surprising speed and wound up the taps to get us into Auckland even a little ahead of schedule, just before midnight. I picked up the car keys from the desk, and the CR-V was waiting for us out in the car park. We headed for the same motel we'd stayed at before, booked in, and crashed. Oh yes -- my throat didn't improve a lot, even with taking double loading doses of penicillin.

Friday, March 26, 2004

We woke up to a lovely sunny autumn morning, and arranged to go over to Deirdre's house after breakfast. We went with her to the offices of Money Managers (the financial advisers who look after our family investments) to initiate the process of her setting up a Trust for her son Michael. That concluded, we returned to her house in Manukau City for a quick bite, then on our way back home to Rotorua.

I'd txted Joanna to make an appointment with our own doctor; we arrived back in Rotorua at his surgery right on the dot. He's changed my penicillin to a broad-spectrum type, and I've got onto it straight away. He did confirm that my chest sounds reasonably clear -- that's what I was worrying about most. I suspect that most of this nasty stuff and sore throat is localised in the nose and tonsils.

We've had omelettes for tea, and I'm now finishing these Kronikles before heading off to bed

Saturday, March 27, 2004

I woke this morning with my sore throat largely gone, but felt much better after a shower and coughing up a small bucket of mucous. However, after dressing and having breakfast, I still felt like a wet dishrag -- so bowed to the inevitable and got back into bed for the rest of the morning.

After lunch (the food situation being non-existent) I dressed and we drove into the supermarket to stock up. Back home with the goodies, I promptly returned to bed. I've checked email and done some surfing, but that's just about the extent of my activities today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be more invigorated.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Again, much improved this morning so was able to bustle around, unpack my bag, and catch up with some chores. I did take it reasonably easy during the day, but I've pulled all the photos off the camera memory sticks onto the hard drive and renamed the files so I know what each one is about.

This evening we watched an old Stephen Seagal movie called Exit Wounds; we'd seen the first 20 minutes before on videotape -- but Joan had overtaped the rest. So it was nice to see the whole thing.