We’re back in beautiful Auckland. Yesterday the rain was teeming down and the wind blew right through you – but I loved it. Today the sun shone and the sky was a bright New Zealand blue. I bought a couple of bunches of daffodils and they bring the spirit of spring into our bach. We took a walk through the local reserve and stopped at the top of the hill to marvel at the view of the Tamaki estuary. We went into a supermarket and bought fruit, vegetables, meat and wine for dinner – what a treat! But best of all we’ve seen and spent time with both our girls. We feel on top of the world today!

Our girls arrived safely at Auckland airport on their Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur. When we dropped them at KLIA, the news of the downed flight MH17 was already on the front pages of all the papers. We spent an anxious day thinking about both our children on one vulnerable little plane, longing for the text message to tell us they had arrived in Auckland. We were lucky, we got that message. But it made us think of all those whose loved ones will never return and the gross injustice of all those innocent people being blown out of the sky. Life is short, life is precious and has never seemed more so than today.

Maungakiekie

On New Year’s Day, 20 days (and another life) ago, my daughters and I visited Cornwall Park in Auckland. We recalled the first time we’d picnicked there when they were two and four years old – they are now 20 and 22! We clambered up the circular pathways that lead to the summit, through paddocks of sheep, skirting the archery area, where a lone archer was honing her skills. Half way up a rain squall forced us to take shelter under an olive tree. Then it cleared the way it usually does in Auckland and we proceeded to the top, encountering a traffic jam and scores of tourists. I noted again Sir John Logan Campbell’s grave and thought about his splendid gift of the park to the people of Auckland. We slowly walked around, pointing out landmarks and reminding each other of places we’d lived and the loveliness of the city below, where they both live and where we’ll be returning when our work in Ipoh is done.