It is a perfect summer’s day in Auckland today and I took a walk around the Orakei basin. It’s the kind of day on which I remember my mother saying “Look at the sun shining on the water” when I was a young child. For the first time I was aware that on certain days when the sun was shining and the sea was not too ruffled by wind, the water took on a shimmery, glinting appearance and watching it made your heart lift. Since then I have noticed how few days there are like this, despite the lingering feeling that all the days of my childhood were shiny and bright.