“You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish…”

“…And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.”

Apparently this is taking me a long time to say - I hope it is worth it!

Now where were we...

1. Friday 10th March
Motueka – we got an Aqua Taxi to Bark Bay in Abel Tasman (a brilliantly named national park) and walked 22km back to where we parked the car. 

It was a longer walk than the 19.4km hike up Tongariro, but because it was pretty much flat most of the way it was far more pleasant and less exhausting. My feet were throbbing by the end of it though!

2. Saturday 11th March
It rained like hell all day. And it turns out there’s not much to do in Motueka in the rain. We drove out for a bit and saw Golden Bay (as the name implies, I’m sure this place is better seen in the sun) and we drove over Takaka Hill and saw a beautiful grotto of limestone rocks with trees growing out of them. Creepy and beautiful, though pictures didn’t come out (for which I blame the rain).

It was a shame the day was a bit of a washout but I think rest days were good for us, and I still just enjoy having a lark with CB.

3. Sunday 12th March
Rain continued sadly, but at least we were driving for a fair few hours on to Greymouth. We stopped off at Pancake Rocks which were absolutely fantastic, and we saw dolphins and a couple of wekas!

Greymouth is dull as hell. We walked about in the rain and filled our pockets with any stone that looked remotely green until we were severely weighted down.

CB selecting the perfect 'greenstone'

Not our smartest hobby but it was very funny!

4. Monday 13th March
We left the drab pit that is Greymouth for the day and drove to Hokitika to see the gorge. The water is so incredibly blue because of suspended rock particles from the glacier (glacial flour). Bastard sand-flies were out in force though. Tip #3 be aware of sand-flies at all times. And kill them.

We continued driving to the Franz Josef glacier which had retreated a lot over the years but is still really cool and surprisingly pretty.

CB cleverly brought some binoculars so we got to see the detailing of the ice. Major cool points.

5. Tuesday 14th March
We left Greymouth for good and did not look back.

We stopped just into Arthur’s Pass and walked up the Devil’s Punchbowl (great name) track up to a waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful, but the path up was horrific! All very steep steps leading up. I wanted to kill CB but, as he was in charge of the driving, I didn’t.

We also stopped at some amazing rock formations at Castle Hill Rock and at Peel Forest where we saw some enormous trees and native trees and woodland.

None of my pictures reflect just how incredible these trees are!

My favourite part was the birdcalls, which were so loud, so clear, so melodic, and so numerous.

We arrived at Lake Tekapo about 6pm and instantly fell in love with the place.

There had been thick black cloud cover most of our journey and we had resigned ourselves to the fact that stargazing would be cancelled. However, as we drove over the mountains, the skies suddenly cleared into beautiful sunshine.

The good weather also meant that stargazing went ahead! There was 80-90% visibility (I.e. no cloud) and we could see hundreds of stars. We would have been able to see more but the moon was so full and so bright! It did mean we got a breathtaking view of the moon through the telescopes though.

The 2 hours flew by. We saw Alpha Centuri, and Sirius, and Orion (AKA the Pot when in the Southern hemisphere!) as well as the Orion Nebula, Jewel Box Star Cluster and a Globular Star Cluster. And Jupiter. And 3 of Jupiter’s moons.

6. Wednesday 15th March
Tekapo is really small, with about 300 permanent residents. It’s hemmed in by mountains and has the bluest lake which winks at you in the sunlight. It is my version of heaven on earth. When people tell me to go to my happy place, Tekapo is where I will now go.

We just spent the day relaxing in the sun by the lake, chatting about life and doing puzzles. And I could have stayed forever.

7. Thursday 16th March
Sadly we had to leave Tekapo quite early in order to make our next trip – a boat trip on a glacial lake in Twizel. I hated leaving Tekapo, but I must admit I wasn’t disappointed by the lake. I love boat trips anyway, but the views we got of the glacier and the information we learnt about the icebergs (plus we got to eat icebergs – no joke!) really took this to the next level.

We arrived in Wanaka early enough for a bit of a flop on the bed for a little bit as we were both exhausted, but dragged ourselves up for a wander around the town along the lake.

Again, I seem to have written for longer than intended… Until next time!

*Quote from J.R.R. Tolkien

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door…”

“…You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

I mentioned in my last post that CB and I spent the last month or so in New Zealand, on the holiday of a lifetime. It’s been hard to adjust to life back in the UK, I won’t lie. It is an amazing country – beautiful, varied, exciting, and welcoming. Expensive too, but not as bad as I feared it would be.

A month-long holiday is too much to write about in detail in one post, but I thought I would set down the itinerary for the trip. We went for 28 days – 26th Feb to 26th March – including flying days:

1. Sunday 26th February
Flew from London Heathrow to Singapore.

2. Monday 27th February
Flew from London Heathrow to Singapore, and from Singapore to Auckland.

3. Tuesday 28th February
Technically our first day in NZ, but I was pretty sleepy. We picked up the car in Auckland (which I christened “Ron the Porn Car” as he was unequivocally the car-version of a 1970’s porn star with a big ol’ moustache) and drove to Hamilton. Crashed out by the lake there (and, inspired by my t-shirt, had a brief chat about Bruce Springsteen with a Hamilton local) before heading to our apartment for a long nap!

4. Wednesday 1st March
Hamilton – spent the morning in the glorious botanical gardens and picnicked there for lunch before heading to do a truly awful walking tour of Hamilton itself. The place is lovely, but the tour included such prodigious sites as ‘old bandstand’ and ‘closed municipal swimming pool’. Still, CB and I had a good laugh!

One of the Hamilton botanical gardens. 

We finished up the day in Waitomo, having drinks and dinner before exploring the local caves and woods for glow worms. Which were fantastic. We were unable to photograph them properly, and we were blinded by a few overly-enthusiastic American tourists, but the worms themselves were mesmerising. And tip #1 – if you wait until dusk you can see thousands of them for free, rather than paying $50 for a 45 min boat ride.

5. Thursday 2nd March
HOBBITON!! I cried about three times just during the car journey to the movie set. I was so excited and also nervous.

I was afraid I would let Hobbiton down… It was amazing and most definitely lived up to my sky-high expectations. Only downside was the gift shop, funnily enough.

From Hobbiton we drove on to Rotorua. Which had the most motels I have ever seen in one place. Fun fact.

6. Friday 3rd March
We woke up in Rotorua and drove on to Taupo. On the way we stopped and hiked through the Whakarewara State Forest which has awesome (in the original sense of the word) redwood trees.

We carried on driving ad stopped at the Blue and Green Lakes, which I loved - they were gorgeous. We went on to Lake Tarawera, but came back to the Blue Lake for lunch as we loved it so much.

At the Blue Lake

Lake Tarawera

There are a few places to stop for hot springs or geysers, but they charge so much and as we’ve seen our share of geysers in Iceland last year it doesn’t seem worth it. How spoiled we are! We did go to Kerosene Creek, a hot water stream. Very odd! I did go in, but it was uncomfortably hot. And dirty. I felt quite uncomfortable which was a shame – I really wanted to like it, but I just didn’t!

We did one last hike before heading to the hostel, this one to the Huka Falls which did not disappoint.

Huka Falls

7. Saturday 4th March
In Taupo. Which has a lake the size of Singapore. It’s huge.

We were supposed to be hiking to Mount Doom (AKA Tongariro) but the trip was postponed owing to adverse weather conditions. There was an Iron Man Triathlon being held on the main road though so CB and I were kept amused! Top tip #2 – Napier is close enough to drive to. If I could go back we would have spent the day there.

8. Sunday 5th March
The hike up Mount Tongariro. Also known as hell.

Views were absolutely incredible, and I’m glad I’ve done it, but I wouldn’t do it again and I don’t know if I would go so far as to say it was worth it.

9. Monday 6th March
We left Taupo and drove through the desert roads. Some spectacular views of Mount Tongariro, though the memory was too fresh…

We stopped at Gravity Canyon to see the canyon and river used for Anduin in LotR and had a roadside picnic, but I don’t think we made any other stops. It was quite a drive to Wellington!

10. Tuesday 7th March
Be still my beating heart – we went to the Weta Cave in the morning. I loved every second of it. We must have spent hours in the gift shop/museum afterwards (and spent far too much money while we were there too!).

Love at first sight <3

The rain was pelting it down in the afternoon. We had planned to get the cable car and flâneur around the city for a bit, but those plans were off! Instead we swapped with tomorrow’s plan and ran to Te Papa, a fabulous museum which we stayed in until closing.

Wellington is known for fantastic bars and nightlife and we did stop into one bar for a delicious dark beer, but after dinner we mainly drank IPA while doing our laundry in the hotel! But then that’s something I love about CB – that even a boring night doing our washing becomes fun when I’m with him.

11. Wednesday 8th March
Wellington – luckily the weather was fine so we got the cable car (not a cable car but a funicular – and a short one at that!) to the botanic gardens and walked back down the hill to the city. We stopped by the parliament buildings which were pretty before driving up to Mount Victoria for the views. We picnicked in the forest on the side of the hill, though it wasn’t until the evening we realised we had been metres away from a LotR scene (“I think we should get off the road – get off the road, quick!”). Such a shame!

12. Thursday 9th March
We left the North Island and got a (delayed) ferry (for hours) across the Cook Strait to the South Island. We then drove to Motueka.

And here I will end this blog post as it’s far longer than I anticipated!

*Quote from J.R.R. Tolkien

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit…"

"…and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.” 


Last summer my work colleague Sacha convinced another of our colleagues, Sabina, to teach her how to knit. I was immediately very jealous as knitting is one of those things I’ve tried in the past and not really got the hang of. Crochet I could teach myself the basics, but I although I remember my Grandma teaching me how to knit, the art of casting on never stuck in my brain. 

As I am so super-cool, I immediately renamed this beginner knitting class as Knit Club. Which, as more members joined, became the Woolf Pack (hilarious, non?). 

Sabina is incredibly artistic and creative but more to her credit she has this seemingly unending kindness. Sacha and I must have driven her mad in the early days – constantly counting each stitch as we made it. Adding stiches and dropping others - always panicking and running straight to her for help, never able to fix things ourselves.

She didn’t get to knit anything for herself, poor thing, but she has a lasting legacy in Sacha and myself as we both fell in love with knitting straight away. I now feel odd if I don’t have a knitting project underway, or one waiting in the wings for the next time I have a few hours to kill in front of the telly.

Christmas was my time for publicly ‘coming out’ to my family as a knittist (as CB calls me). I successfully finished cardigans and elephants for each of my niblings:

 

 


And a matching scarf, mittens and hat for my sister:

 

Though that scarf was not how I wanted it to be - 4 months after knitting it that still irritates me...Grr…

I recently spent a month in New Zealand (more on that at a later date) and to my horror I discovered Singapore Airlines won’t let you bring knitting needles in your carry-on luggage. Thank goodness I checked before going to the airport, but still – what else is a Philly supposed to do on a 28 hour flight? In the end I didn’t take my knitting at all. I didn’t have any downtime while in NZ (too much to do!) so without the flights for knitting time there didn’t seem much point. 

Now I’m back in Blighty I can settle back into my knitting. It felt a bit odd for those first few stitches, but it must be like riding a bike because I’m already halfway into my sleeve! Hopefully I’ll have the finished object to show you before too long….


* Quote from Elizabeth Zimmerman.

"Summertime..."

"...and the livin' is easy."


This month I resolved to solidify my positive thinking. 

Sounds like mumbo jumbo? It's just a hoity-toity way of saying that I took a moment at the end of every day to name one thing I'd learned that day, and decide what my favourite moment was. This is a really lovely thing to do, makes you all happy before you go to bed.

Unfortunately I am a waste of a brain as I mostly forgot to do it!

I did spend a lot of time on holiday (to varying degrees) so mostly I was pretty happy and learning lots of new things anyway, so maybe that counts...??

My "Favourite Day of the Month" has a few contenders. Here are my top three:

3. My friend's Hen Party in Cambridge. 

Really fun activities and such a great group of ladies. 

2. Pompeii in Italy with my sister, brother-in-law and CB. 

If you haven't been - go! 

1. Plitvicka in Croatia with CB. 

Absolutely beautiful national park. Even the crowds couldn't ruin it. 

A special mention to my my time in Dubrovnik. I wanted it on the list, but I can't think of a stand-out day as they were all so fantastic! 

My three "Favourite Things I Have Learned This Month" are:

3. Philippa Langley is reopening the 'Princes in the Tower' case. 

She's working with the Richard III Society to find the truth of the longstanding rumour that they died by the last Plantagenet's hand...

2. It's well known that St Paul's was hit by a bomb in WWII. 

What was only recently discovered during cleaning was that this blast blew the dome clean off, but it fell straight back down! Although there is a crack running the entire way round, the City Surveyor has confirmed this remains structurally sound and there is no need to fix it. 

1. There is a story that Dubrovnik asked all men coming to the city to bring a block of stone. 

It also asked all women coming to bring an egg. These all went to build the walls - the cement is supposedly made from egg whites (albumen) mixed with urine. LOVELY. 

So apologies for a rubbish month, but hopefully not for this entry.
Though, apologies I'm writing about August in September. As we have previously noted, I am a waste of a brain.



*Quote from Gershwin

"What good is the warmth of summer..."

"...without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."


This month was one I had planned since I started this New Year's thingamabob:

To go swimming in the Hampstead Heath Ponds. 

It's been quite a busy month actually, so there was only one weekend with the opportunity to go. Which was pretty early in the month. And I was chicken. 

But, true to form, I figured I'd just go ahead and do it anyway. Didn't have a swimsuit, but after doctoring a too-big bikini top (Tesco's finest) and buying some very lairy swimming shorts, I was good to go.

We had a bit of a faff getting in - CB and I had no change on us as we didn't know about the £2 cover charge, so we too a walk into Hampstead to get some out. Then we walked all the way back to find out we could get in for free with our work passes. Sigh...

It was very busy there, everyone camped out on their towels like sardines, but everyone was friendly and I was happy to leave my bag while I went off for a swim.

CB and I both opted for the 'whole-body-submersion' technique, rather than 'gradually-lowering-yourself-in", and I was very grateful as it was FREEZING. After some brisk swimming (staying mainly in the sunshiney patches) you do warm up, and it feels very refreshing. Plus the joy of being in a park rather than a swimming pool is very novel to me and I absolutely loved it.

We went for two swims, but the second one was cut short by my incessant goose pimples. In fact, once we got out I noticed my fingernails were a lovely blueish hue, and the feeling in the pad of my right thumb didn't come back until later that night!

Despite the frostbite, I would thoroughly recommend this to everyone, and will happily accompany anyone who is unsure!

*Quote from John Steinbeck

"I have not failed..."

"...I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."


Today is my 10,000th day alive.

My 10,000th diemverary, if you like. (And I do like.)

Now I am officially old, I have come to realise that I don't really give a crap what other people think of me anymore.

Now I realise that many people probably never cared too much about what people thought of them, and I am know for unashamably being a weirdo, but there are certain things that I just can't be bothered to care about anymore.

1. Noisy wees. 
I'm sure it's different for men, but we ladies can find it a bit cringy when we wee noisily in a public loo. I know this isn't just me because you'll hear someone start to tinkle, then stop after a couple of seconds and try again. They are trying to muffle the noise. 
I don't know why we ever cared, but it's stupid. Why would anyone judge you for a noisy wee? What are they going to do? Drop by your table 5 minutes later and mention to your mates "Your mate, that blonde one there, pisses like a HORSE!" If anything, that would be hilarious.
Anyway, I have noticed that I now wee away and do not stifle my urination.
Personal growth? I think so.

2. Being a fatty.
I have a bad habit of booking gym classes, like a good human, and then cancelling them on the day because I want to go home and sit instead. Or go to the pub. And I've always felt guilty about this in the past, particularly when others are proper gym bunnies, but I have now reached an age where I just don't care who knows if I am ridiculously lazy.
Maybe my purpose in life is to make others feel better about themselves? Who cares!

3. Being a fool at work.
Anyone who works with me might be surprised to know I ever tried to conceal my idoicy, but it is true. I am clumsy. I am excitable. I am easily amused by immature things ("Where's the stapler?" "UP YOUR BUM!"). And sometimes I forget the limitations of my own body. Example - I was sitting at my desk the other morning, legs curled up under me as usual, when I had to go to someone else's desk to discuss something. I got up, stepped out, and realised my entire leg was numb. So I fell - slowly - arms flailing and possibly shrieking slightly. One of the Members (AKA An Important Person) turns to my boss and says "Is she fit for work?" obviously thinking I was still drunk from the dinner the night before. My boss, the amazing woman she is, replied "Yeah, she's pretty much like that all the time."
Been there almost two years people, no need to hide my inner-idiot.

There are other things but, as I mentioned previously, I am lazy and I can't be bothered to list anymore.

My name is Philly, I am 10,000 days old, and I am an odd human - and proud.


*Quote from Thomas Edison

"Green was the silence, wet was the light..."

"...The month of June trembled like a butterfly."


I have kept a diary since I was about 13 or 14. At times in my life I have written every day, other times it's been more sporadic. I'm not really sure what I write about...I tend to shove everything in there that I shouldn't share with the people around me.

It's great to read back on; remember how I felt about something, see how I coped before if I'm encountering a similar problem, trying to remember the good/bad things about something or someone when I can only feel the opposite...

• If I'm worrying and ruminating incessantly about something, and everyone is sick of the back teeth of hearing me talk about it, I can fill up a few pages full of every possibly scenario...and it's out, I feel better. 

• If I'm in two minds about doing something (going somewhere, messaging someone, etc) I can list out all the pros and cons - even if they are things I wouldn't necessarily want to share with someone!
  
• If I am so full of a feeling and I just want to capture it in some way... I am a verbal creature and I am most comfortable using words rather than any other creative outlet.
  
• If I am lacking in feeling and I want to assess what's wrong...
  
• If I have resolved to do something (lose weight, stop smoking etc.) recording that resolution in the diary makes it feel more official, harder to break.

This month I resolved to write in my diary every day. It's been a couple of years since I've consistently written in my diary, and my head feels untidier for it.

Although (surprise surprise) I didn't remember to write every night, I'm not too bothered. There were nights I wrote and didn't have a lot to say. I think the whole exercise has been beneficial - when I'm troubled I will think to vent in the diary sooner - but it reinforces that a diary is a creature born of desire. A need to write, not just a record of what I did or thought that day. It is an overflow space for my brain, not my calendar.


*Quote from Pablo Neruda