my views of New Zealand

NZ's sad attitude toward Trump

2026-06-05T20:01:30.572+13:00

The Broadcasting Standards Authority said in a statement that it upheld three complaints about a story broadcast on 1 News on 13 September 2025.

In the story Trump was misrepresented in saying "I couldn't care less" in response to a question, the BSA said.

The BSA said the 1 News report stated: "(W)hen the president was asked what he'd do to unite the country after this tragedy, he said, 'I couldn't care less', blaming the radical left, and vowing to go after political violence.

"This was accompanied by a large banner with a photo of Trump and the words, 'I couldn't care less'."

The BSA said Trump's actual response was: "Well, I'll tell you something that's gonna get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less."

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson

The full statement made by Trump was played later in the 1 News story but the BSA said this did not resolve the inaccuracy.

3 hospitals, 21 hours

2026-05-25T01:29:26.300+13:00

I had a bit of a problem with my heart a few days ago. The local hospital wasn't equipped (I assume) to deal with me in Hawera, so they sent me by ambulance to New Plymouth, the largest town in the district.

Well, they weren't able to help, either, so I got a lovely night-time helicopter ride to Auckland's Starship Hospital (because there was bad weather at Hamilton) where I met lots of nurses and doctors who came to introduce themselves to me.

After they all consulted and read my file, they ended up putting a pacemaker in above my heart. Now, when they told me it was done, after I woke up, my mind went to an old episode of Cheers and Cliff Claven dancing like a puppet on a string because someone else had control of him (I guess that ages me!!)

Anyway, I had asked them to call Hubby each time they moved me and I'm very pleased to tell you that they did. So he knew where to go, since he's not the 'stay at home and watch tv' sort.

They let me go home after only one night away, with a big blob of glue of some sort covering the line of stitches. The glue should fall off in a couple of months. There was a lot of bruising, as you can see below.

I imagine they would have found a way for me to get home, but Hubby was there and talking to the staff and ready whenever they released me.

There was such a difference in my body almost immediately. So far, I don't complain of cold and I actually have energy to get up and do stuff! It's been a very long time since either of those happened. And I hope it will continue to improve.

I think Hubby is just as happy as I am, cuz he won't have to bring in as much firewood as last year to keep me warm. But he always does a good job at keeping me happy :)

Surprise!

2026-05-18T19:26:34.366+13:00

Hubby came home with this Christmas candy today.

I'm not sure what I think about it!

this life and the next

2026-04-02T16:22:00.000+13:00

I grew up watching TV. Even if there were only 3 stations to watch and they all went off the air at midnight, right after playing the national anthem.

Of course, there were conflicts among my older brother and sister and me. But they were both gone from the house when I was about 13 or so. After they left, I watched pretty much what I wanted--back when there was no cursing or intensely bloody scenes before 8:30pm.

Now I watch favorites online. OK, I binge them on occasion.

Situations and writing have certainly changed in all these years (more than 60, I reckon) but I have noticed one thing that has stayed the same--people don't want to die.

As an onlooker in the various situations that are presented, people inevitably beg, 'Save me!'--even when they face an atrocious, extensive and/or painful recovery/life. They endure whatever forces of nature try to stand in their way to hang on.

They rarely 'go' without a fight. Like the shopping won't get done or the cleaning or gardening if they don't do it.

And, I have to wonder if they just fear the unknown or they have an idea about the 'afterlife' and aren't in a hurry to get there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in no hurry to die. But, I'm not afraid to die.

Maybe it's because I have faith that I will eventually be with Jesus when this life is over, but I often shake my head at the dialogue.

Awatuna Stores Ltd

2026-03-04T20:29:00.001+13:00

This little closed-up store, just down the road from where I live now, caught my attention very early in my Taranaki adventures. It is, like so many abandoned buildings, just sitting alone at a crossroads--although, the old Awatuna Dairy Factory is just down the road that runs beside it.

Over the years, it was left neglected. The gas pump was taken out and the building was left to become overgrown with weeds and vines.

Then, a few months ago, we noticed the weeds were being cut and piled up in the back. After much work, I was excited to see that there might be some life in the little place once more!

This is the original store.

Awatuna is a small settlement in South Taranaki, New Zealand, on the Eltham-Opunake road, south of Mount Egmont/Taranaki on the Waimate plain. Awatuna developed from the late 1880s as a dairy factory settlement.

The Waimate plain was once one of New Zealand's most densely populated rural areas in New Zealand. There were small communities, often centered on the dairy factory or school, at nearly every intersection of the grid of roads in the area. Awatuna was one of these settlements.

Click here for some history of the Awatuna area.

Medical update

2026-02-11T23:20:00.000+13:00

Went to the doctor to get results of the tests I took in NP a while back. When the nurse did the usual tests of pulse and bp, they were off the charts LOW, so he sent me to the hospital in the closest town with an ER.

While there for 5 hours or so, they figured out one of my regular meds was causing it. Very long day,

Nameless Cat update

2026-01-15T14:03:00.001+13:00

Hubby came in from his daily morning adventures with some news about 'the cat.'

Sadly, it wasn't good news.

His lifeless body had been placed at our mailbox post in front of the house.

I have some questions.

There are several houses on our road that are within the '300' area that was listed in the paper.
Our address was on his chip, but that should have been confidential.
Where was he all this time?
And, most importantly to me, why did he leave in the first place.

At least, he's home.

a few more signs

2026-01-07T00:00:00.000+13:00

Nameless Cat

2025-12-29T21:32:00.000+13:00

About six months ago, we were given an adult cat from someone who rehomes them. The cat seemed rather docile and he definitely bonded with me.

We never got around to giving him a name, but he was cared for as well as we possibly could.

I was petting him as I sat on the couch the other night, as is our custom. After a while I put him on the floor so I could get up for a drink, like I have done many times before.

A couple of hours later, Hubby came over and asked where the cat was. When he wasn't under the couch (his usual go-to place) we searched all over.

No cat. Anywhere.

The only way out was a window in the laundry open enough to vent the dryer--somewhere he hadn't been before.

Strange.

Merry Christmas

2025-12-24T13:15:00.005+13:00

From my blog to yours!

Merry Christmas!

Too much excitement

2025-11-27T21:17:00.000+13:00

Our days are usually very quiet and, frankly rather dull. But I don't mind at all, really. Some days require me to venture outside--to the doctor's office mostly.

Now and then, and more often lately, we have groceries delivered and we have a cleaner that comes once a week. Other than that, our house is quiet--except for the shouting from one room to another about dinner or some obscure fact one of us has come across.

But today....wow, what a day!

I had to go for a blood test at the doctor's, the cleaner came, we had wood for the heater delivered and groceries were delivered. All in one day.

This is way too much excitement for an old lady with a bad heart!

It's all in the details.

2025-11-05T17:57:00.000+13:00

I don't usually pay attention to the writing on cleaning products,

but this one sat at eye level in the toilet and caught my attention.

A bit of the Atlantic in the middle of the Pacific!

signs from all around

2025-10-24T22:19:00.000+13:00

The Last Samurai leftovers

2025-10-07T21:08:00.000+13:00

This is left over from the Tom Cruise movie 'The Last Samurai'. Some of it was filmed outside a little town called Uruti--in the middle of nowhere in northern Taranaki.

We don't drive that way often, but when we do, I wonder why they left just this one bit of the movie set.

How long will it take?

2025-09-11T16:48:00.001+13:00

We had some awful winds howling outside last night.
At one point, I heard our internet dish hit the roof and fall to the ground.

Amazingly enough, Hubby and I hooked up our phones to the desktop

computers and we continued online like nothing had happened!

At times like this, I think back to my 'younger' days and how shocked and surprised I would be back then to see such things immediately resolved instead of having to do without until someone 'who knew what they were doing' could do show up to it for us. Sometimes, it was weeks before we could get back to 'normal'.

This episode took just a few hours from the end of the wind storm to 'fixed'.

Cancer update

2025-08-15T22:29:00.000+13:00

I was back to the doctor this week about my cancer spot. He cut out what he could see and now I have some big, black stitches sticking out of my head behind my ear!

Apparently, it's not an aggressive type of cancer, so deciding what else to do, if necessary, is not something I need to rush.

We decided to just do nothing else right now and keep an eye on it.

It may not be very exciting, but it's more than I care to have to deal with.

Robert the Bruce

2025-07-23T00:01:00.002+13:00

Our newest edition to the family, Robert the Bruce!

It sucks getting old

2025-06-04T12:08:00.001+13:00

I have spent the largest portion of my life healthy and unconcerned about any problems related to my health. At 73, I thought I was doing quite well, but then the symptoms appeared.

I had some trouble breathing, which turned out to be because of my heart. It's enlarged (which I have known most of my life) but never caused any major problems before.

According to my doctor, it also beats too fast. On the occasions that he sent me to the ER, they concur, but, medications for it don't seem to help much. These are what I came back with the last time:

Annoyingly, my memory has gone through the mill for the last thirty years, too. Fortunately, Hubby is very understanding about it and takes it mostly in stride, answering questions that I should know the answers to. The good news is that I have never been very social, so sitting at home and not stressing in the world works just fine for me.

I was taken aback a bit at my last doctor's visit. I have a small rough patch just behind my left ear for a month or two. And when I mentioned it to the doctor on my last visit, he looked at it with a magnifying glass and very nonchalantly pronounced it was cancer. Of course, this was very unexpected, but he said we'll take a biopsy and take it off, if necessary within the next several weeks.

Before this week, my concept of 'cancer' was an overtaking invasion and organ failure. Bit now I know it can be taken care of from a small beginning.

I will keep you posted on the progress, even though it sounds like it will be slower than I prefer.

It definitely sucks getting old.

Gypsy Day in Taranaki. June 1st

2025-05-30T00:15:00.002+13:00

In a nutshell, Gypsy Day is the start of the dairy season and sees a large number of dairy farming families, shareholders, contract milkers and employees move to new farms. The day will see an estimated 5000 farmers pack up and move, according to Jane Muir from DairyNZ

jailhouse accommodations

2025-05-13T12:23:00.000+13:00

Our last night in Christchurch in 2016 was spent in the Jailhouse Accommodations at the locally converted jail. Click here for their website.

Being a backpackers' hostel, I expected it to be loud but the 'inmates', even though most of them were pretty young, were well-behaved and respectful. That's our room with the bunk beds!

Easter weather

2025-04-19T23:52:00.005+13:00

As we all know, Easter comes in the spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern.

Of course, autumn is a time of cooling down toward winter, but not this Easter.

Two or three days ago, we had a fire in the wood stove because it was a bit nippy.

Tonight, almost 11PM, we have windows open and fans going and are commenting that it's finally cooling off.

It just started raining, so that should help.

Strange thing, weather.

Kiore tunnel

2025-04-13T01:00:00.000+13:00

Excavated in 1909 and known by various names, this tunnel provided access to the Stratford area for Matau residents.

https://www.stratford.govt.nz/repository/libraries/id:2cvuccagl1cxbygm8445/hierarchy/Heritage%20Inventory%20Documents/Kiore-Matau%20Tunnel.pdf

RIP Bruce

2025-03-26T00:52:00.002+13:00

You were only a part of our lives for just under two years, but I hope we made your time with us happy. We will miss you.

Makahu/Strathmore tunnel

2025-03-13T00:00:00.000+13:00

A pack track was all that originally joined Strathmore and Makahu, a community that was settled in 1896. By 1902, a dray road was completed to replace this, but it was harsh, and the route over the hill was seen as a formidable obstacle. The erection of the Makahu Co-operative Dairy Factory a few years later embellished the need for a better access route for the produce to be able to be easily carried out.

In 1907, this was dealt to with the building and opening of the Makahu (or Brewer Road) Tunnel. The settlers worked hard, making full use of picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and explosives to eliminate the steep grade. People protested that the tunnel had been built too near the top of the hill to be at all worthwhile. However, the 166 metre tunnel made the journey more than 3km shorter, and saved travelers from battling the windy hill route.

The tunnel was originally made out of an interesting construction of wood, with a timber lining. However, by 1919 the wood had rotted through and the tunnel collapsed at the Makahu end. It was closed for two years while work was done to re-line the tunnel with more solid concrete pillars to ensure no further cave-ins were possible.

Throughout the years, the locals have held numerous impromptu "parties" inside the tunnel, which occasionally forces travellers to join in, or wait until the end to get through.

Observing the Makahu tunnel today, one would be able to see where the floor was lowered, and would note the small orange stalactites drooping from the ceiling. The tunnel is perhaps one of the most attractive tunnels in Taranaki, being strong-walled and perfectly shaped. It is a great feature on this rural road, and is well worth the journey to see it.

In 1998 a major upgrade of the tunnel was carried out by contractor Mac Mackenzie and his team. This had a total cost of $500,000 and included lowering the tunnel floor by 1.4 metres to give triple-deck stock trucks access to the road, installing new support struts, and strengthening the tunnel soffit with 150mm of reinforced concrete.

The upgrade took a total of four months, and was reopened with a ribbon being cut by locals Jim Hopkirk and Danica Wood (descendents of settlers who protested the delay in fixing the tunnel in 1920) on 22 July 1998.

Today, the tunnel acts as an access point to the Makahu and Puniwhakau communities, the Te Wera Forest, Aotuhia Station, the "Bridge to Somewhere" and a large proportion of the Whanganui National Park, including the Matemateaonga Walkway.

https://terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com/story-collections/taranaki-tunnels/makahu-tunnel-1907/

Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries

2025-02-22T19:53:00.000+13:00

We just got back from 5 days in the South Island. We decided to take the ferry across this time, as opposed as flying (as we have a few times).

We chose Bluebridge Ferries and it was a smooth crossing both ways.

On the way there, we spend the trip in the Quiet Room, which was a great place to take a little nap or just sit and be quiet. Hubby took photos as we traveled across the strait.

On the way back we spent our time in the Pohutukawa Lounge which provided unlimited food and drink. The staff were just wonderful, always smiling and eager to please.

I would definitely recommend Bluebridge for the next time you cross Cook Strait.

#Bluebridge