Stuttgart

The first stage of our journey was by bus. We still travelled on our Eurail pass but the 'train' from Prague to Nűrnberg was a bus operated by the German rail company, Deutsche Bahn. It was a very comfortable double decker with WiFi service all the way. It was the first sector on our itinerary that had to be booked in advance. There were no advantages in having a pass for first class travel.

It left Prague's main station forecourt on time and arrived in Nűrnberg very late, but it wasn't Deutsche Bahn's fault. Not long after we crossed the border into Germany we ran into a traffic jam on the autobahn. A few hundred metres ahead we could see a police vehicle, and beyond that was clear road. Using my camera on maximum zoom I could see nothing to explain the hold up. There was no twisted wreckage. There was no lake of blood.

Halt!

Half an hour went by. Nothing kept on happening up ahead. Motorists stepped out of their cars. Some of them started playing games; others walked towards the head of the queue. As more time went by additional emergency vehicles threaded their way through the stationary traffic, but nothing happened to get us going again until we had been motionless for an hour and a half. Eventually the police van moved slowly ahead while the rubberneckers hastened back to their abandoned vehicles. Around the first bend, just out of sight of where our bus had been stopped, was a motorway exit through which all traffic was now directed. What we could see of the forbidden autobahn carriageway ahead was innocent of any evidence of disaster. In the event we did see something of the original problem. By chance, the minor road chosen for the diversion was close enough to the autobahn for us to see the vehicles that had crashed, quite a few kilometres ahead of the halted traffic.

We comprehensively missed the train we had planned to catch in Nűrnberg, but there was another a couple of hours later. So we had time to find and consume a sandwich before we boarded an inter-city express that ran on rails and boasted first class carriages.

Through the magic of mobile phone technology we were able to inform our friends in Stuttgart of the delay and, later, of the revised ETA in Stuttgart.

Julian is a friend from my long-ago schooldays. He and his wife, Seraina, have lived in Stuttgart for a long time, but this was the first time I had visited their home. The flat is in a quiet street, with a balcony at the back enjoying a garden, maintained by the ground floor residents, that nicely balances mature trees, flowers, a tiny pond with a wee fountain and a small lawn. The balcony is at just the right height to provide a good view of the birds that forage amongst the trees and a charming red squirrel.

A morsel of the view from the balcony.

That evening the weather broke. After weeks of energy-sapping heat there was a thunderstorm. It was wonderful. There was a fair bit of thunder, and just enough rain to cool the world down to a more benign temperature.  

We were there to see Julian and Seraina, of course, not as tourists, but Julian did guide us round some of the city centre and took us to the Botanic Gardens.

Julian and Seraina Clarke.

Prague

From Dresden we ventured into true adventure. In England and Germany we could make ourselves understood, but between us we spoke not a word of Czech. It was also the first city in which we had used Airbnb to book accommodation. If you are not yet aware of it, this web site links people with a room or a flat to rent out with travellers who desire a place to stay. Both parties give feedback so that those who come later have some intelligence to base their decisions on. Like the Ulmon maps app, this was a tip from Mike Theilmann. And like the app, it was a winner.

In fact, we had an armchair ride into Prague. Our host, Martin Boura, had given us clear directions from the station to the flat as soon as we booked. On the day we arrived he also told us (by txt) exactly where to buy the necessary tram ticket. The name of the next stop was always displayed in the tram, so we didn't need to try and follow progress on paper or electronic map. We arrived at the door just a minute before Martin so 'check in' was very smooth. Hooray, we're here!

Prague had been recommended to us by several folk and they speak sooth. We had a very pleasant few days. Travel is very easy on the frequent trams and a modern Metro. Prices are reasonable or cheap. The beer is both cheap and excellent, and since the warm weather continued this was a blessing.

Although plenty of communist-era blocky high-rise buildings can be seen outside the centre, the old city is pleasing to the eye. The old buildings are painted in pastel shades. We saw the famous ultra-modern 'dancing house' from our first tram, but never went back to take a photograph. The image below was downloaded from the Internet. It doesn't, to my mind, 'go' with the rest of the centre, but it certainly cannot be accused of being unimaginative.

The little flat did not contain a washing machine so host Martin directed us to a laundrette. It was sufficiently popular with tourists that signs were in English and the attendants spoke enough to make the transaction simple. Otherwise we stayed in the tourist zone, where English is the universal language.

The places we visited were from the guidebook's top attractions; Wenceslas Square, the astronomical clock and Charles Bridge (packed with hawkers, almost outnumbering the tourists) in the Old Town; Vyšehrad to the South. We considered an excursion to the Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora, but there was too much to see for the time available and something had to go.

A street in Prague Old Town

Not only is this busker playing plastic buckets as drums, he's playing them very well!  Wenceslas Square, I think.

The famous astronomical clock.

A detail from the clock.

Buildings near Wenceslas Square

One of the best 'living statues' we've ever seen.

The crowds on Charles Bridge

Church of St Peter and St Paul at Vyšehrad.  A bit more colourful than British equivalents.

The roofs of Prague, from Vyšehrad.

Most of the important cities of the middle ages grew up on navigable rivers. It was therefore a big surprise to find that the Vitava River has a weir across it in the city.

Part of the river flows under the houses.

We didn't go inside the Castle, but the Royal Garden was a quiet delight. The garden was patrolled by a guard in camo gear and toting a very large gun. This was a bit disconcerting. He did move around, but it was a slow, almost stealthy, saunter not a march.

The gardens are well labelled in Czech and English.  I was interested to note a Weymouth Pine, but it is a N American tree, not from Weymouth, Dorset.

We attempted to visit the Letná Beer Garden as recommended by Lonely Planet. We found a beer garden, but I don't think it was Letná. Never mind. It served nice beer and we had a long, pleasant conversation with a young German.

Wikitravel put us on to a Czech phrase that every visitor should memorise, “Denni menu, prosim.” Use this in cafes and restaurants at lunch time. Without this prompting the waiter will not provide the special lunch menu, at least not to tourists. Either the day's special will be fixed, or the menu will be in Czech. Each time we tried out this scheme the waiter translated for us, but I wouldn't hesitate to take pot luck and just point to a random item. At one cafe the fixed menu was goulash with dumplings (and delicious). The other two 'denni menus' were both 3 courses; soup, choice of main and a piece of fruit for dessert. All the meals were tasty and satisfying. The cost was around Kč100 or $6 each. A main dish from the tourist menu would have been from Kč250 to over Kč300.

The nearest major shopping area to our studio was Andel. In one of the malls we found a giant Tesco supermarket. Prompted largely by the desire to see how cheap alcohol was, we ventured inside to buy something for dinner. One of the cheapest red wines was labelled as from Australia. How the winemaker made anything on the sale is a mystery to us.

Dresden

I confess that the principal reason I knew anything about Dresden was the notorious air raid near the end of WWII. But some Internet work suggested that it would be a nice place to visit. The boat trips on the River Elbe sounded most attractive.

Our Eurail pass was first class, and there was no pressure for seats in the premium coaches. Our first use of the pass was a very comfortable trundle through the East German countryside. We saw our first 'sun farms' as we called them. Entire fields with solar panels soaking up Sol's energy.

The hostel/hotel we had booked into was a hot and rather longer walk from the station than I had estimated. There was not much shade, but at least the magic map made sure that we did not get lost. And a lavishly decorated container on the roadside made sure we did not miss it.

Germany's hot dry summer meant that the river was very low and the boat trip we had earmarked did not have enough depth for the vessel. So we caught the hop-on hop-off bus instead.

Because of the wartime damage I had expected Dresden to be a very modern-looking city, but in fact it nicely blends new construction with restored original buildings.

After going round the bus circuit we promenaded the city centre streets. Which worked up a thirst. Unsurprisingly, cold beer was at hand to cure our distress.

The river was deep enough to permit smaller tourist boats to operate.

Leipzig

I had booked the train to Leipzig well in advance and thought I'd scored a very good deal on the fare. At the time of booking, 2^nd class seats with no reservation seemed fine. Somewhere on the train there may have been unreserved seats, but we didn't find them. Luckily, there were places only reserved for part of the journey and, by changing seats at nearly every station, Eve managed to sit the whole way and I only had to stand for the last leg of the journey. Not only did she ride comfortably, but Eve managed always to be next to passengers who spoke fluent English and enjoyed rollicking conversations.

We went to Leipzig to take part in the Golden Oldies Hockey Festival. The International Harlequins are listed as a Canadian team because the current manager lives in Calgary, but the players and supporters come from all around the globe. We were very warm in Berlin, and definitely HOT in Leipzig. Temperatures climbed into the 30s every day, and on the last games day it peaked at 38^oC. I can't run fast nowadays in any conditions, but many other players were also reduced to walking so it didn't matter.

The team was lodged at a smart hotel near the station. The room was very comfortable, the staff were very pleasant and the hotel has the splendid habit of issuing every guest with a pass for the city buses and trams so it was easy to get around the entire city.

Pedestrian crossing lights

The hotel did charge for WiFi Internet access, but only if you wanted the full-speed version. “Crippled” access was free. Since broadband is unknown in our part of the Motueka Valley, the free service was hugely superior to what we get at home.

Golden Oldies hockey is all about having fun, rather than overrunning the opposition, and it was a very sociable week. The official programme involves parties at the beginning, middle and end of the festival. In between we tracked down a series of pleasant restaurants. With temperatures as high as they were it was essential for good health to keep our liquid intake up. We can confirm that Leipzig's brewers maintain high standards. ☺

At the mid-week picnic day we met a third generation Golden Oldie. Her father and grandfather are/were regular attendees at the festivals an she was delighted that she was now old enough to qualify.

International Harlequins at the picnic day

All the walking in Berlin had given Eve blisters. She had unwisely 'popped' them and in Leipzig they displayed signs of infection. The International Harlequins squad includes a professor of nursing, who deemed that a consultation with a doctor was necessary. The hotel summoned a taxi and we were amazed that the driver not only came into the lobby to find us, but shook our hands and conversed with us the whole way in excellent English. When he discovered that we were from New Zealand he mentioned that his niece and her friend were planning to visit NZ later in the year as willing workers on organic farms (wwoofers). We immediately invited them to wwoof with us and they did make email contact, but sadly their trip was curtailed and we never met them.

Ultimately we needed two visits to the hospital. The Teutonic efficiency that makes the trains run on time has not invaded the medical system, and we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting. However, we managed to see doctors who spoke excellent English and who delivered effective treatment.

Eve's sore feet rather curtailed our exploration of Leipzig, but the tram passes enabled us to get around a bit. Alas, there was no way for her to dance with her normal verve at the parties.

A shopping mall near the hotel was displaying this map of Europe constructed from Lego pieces.  It is decorated with models of famous landmarks like Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower.

After Leipzig we would be travelling on a Eurail Pass. This had to be validated at the station before we could use it. I made a second trip to the travel office to reserve seats for some of our planned journeys. I was particularly pleased with this latter expedition because I managed the entire conversation in German.

Near the end of the week we managed a trip to the Wildpark. This is essentially a large tract of pleasant forest with walking/biking trails and a few enclosures for European animals and birds. We saw captive wild pigs, deer, wisents (European bison) and owls. Truly wild birds that we saw included herons, great tits, nuthatches, assorted waterfowl and a raven.

Heron

Wild piglets

This raven made the most extraordinary noises

A wisent

To help her feet recover Eve did not come to Friday's hockey. However, she did manage to hobble to a shop recommended by another lady in the squad and buy some bras. Both the garments and the service were top quality and Eve's account of the instructions given by the shop assistant (“She was so small she didn't look as though she needed a bra herself”) was hilarious.

Berlin

Prior research paid big dividends in Berlin. The first bonus was an app recommended by my cousin, Mike Theilmann. Ulmon CityMaps2Go is amazing. You download the maps for the cities you will visit while you have an Internet connection and then use them in the street without the hassle of finding a local SIM card or bothering about WiFi. So long as your device has a GPS function the map will show your position with a blue dot. We could have used Eve's phone (mine is so old it has no GPS), but decided that the bigger screen of a tablet would make life easier. What we came to call “the magic map” is brilliant We recommend this app unreservedly.

The second thing we did right was to get a Berlin Welcome Card. It's a reasonable price and it immediately removes all city travel hassles. We made sure that we had the right version for the Potsdam zone and we were set up for buses, trams, S-Bahn suburban trains and the underground U-Bahn. It can be purchased from the information office at the airport so you don't even have to stress about having small change for bus fares when you arrive.

The Hotel Adam was booked using booking.com. It was remarkably cheap for a hotel in Berlin at 40 euros per night for the two of us, including breakfast, but had a very high review rating. Do you smell a rat? Well, you are wrong. First, it is conveniently located West of the city centre in Charlottenburg with excellent access to all kinds of public transport. Secondly, the breakfast buffet is superb. Good coffee and all the bread, cold meat, cheese, etc. that you can eat.

On top of that, bus 109 takes you from Tegel Airport to the door. We used our new Berlin Welcome cards and followed our progress on the magic map so there was no chance of getting off at the wrong stop. The hotel is not easy to spot from the street. There is a sign, but you have to go through a little door into a courtyard to find the 'real' entrance.

We devoted a day to the unhappy history of partitioned Germany and the communist rule in the East. There is a Stasi Museum, which chronicles in what used to be their HQ the activities of the hated secret police, and a DDR Museum that describes the controlled lives in East Germany. Did you know that many East Germans holidayed in the nude? It was illegal and therefore a way of protesting. Most depressing is the Berlin Wall 'Museum', where a fragment of the old dividing line still stands. There are copious explanations of how it was built and developed and a memorial to the 120-odd people (including children) who were killed trying to escape to the West.

To cheer ourselves up, we devoted most of the next day to 'Green Berlin'. From a particular U-Bahn station you can ride a bus through the Grunewald (Greenwood) to Pfauerninsel (Peacock Island). The bus was a double-decker and we enjoyed the journey from the top deck. At the end of the route there is a ferry to take you the 80 metres or so across to the island, which used to be a holiday home for the local royalty. The gardens were well past their best, but the woods are a pleasant ramble and there is a wildflower meadow that was a picture. Roughly in the centre of the island is a large lawn with a cafe. We lunched on wild pork sausages in a bun. We ate quite a few sausages while we were in Germany and these were the best ones. The buildings on the island are sometimes quite eccentric. What the Prince probably thought of as a bach is a wooden building with odd bits tacked on to make it look (he thought) like a ruined castle.

A few of the wildflowers

At various points around the island there are concrete models of huge acorns.  Very odd.

Several buildings on the island are occupied.  One resident is enthusiastic about witch dolls.

A holiday home for royalty.  Do you think the 'ruins' are romantic?  Neither do we.

Potsdam started with a long walk from the station to the Park Sanssouci. The route took us past a cafe just at the time a coffee would be welcome. As we sat in the sunshine sipping our drinks a violinist was busking a little way down the street. He was playing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik extremely well. There are a couple of palaces in the park, but neither of us is keen on palaces so we skipped those and enjoyed the very extensive grounds, ending up at the Botanic Gardens. There our tired feet found a bus stop, and we could decipher enough of the information to discover the welcome news that there would soon be a bus back to the station.

Eve admiring some of the flowers in Park Sanssouci.

The Chinese House - a garish addition to the lovely gardens.

Waterlilies and a frog in the Botanic Gardens

In between times we managed to see Unter den Linden, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. We ate some good meals, especially the ones featuring chanterelle mushrooms and Vietnamese summer rolls. Good coffee is all around you in Berlin, but if you want a real treat we recommend Einstein Kaffee.

England

We couldn't go all the way to Europe and not see some of our English relatives, could we?

The journey got off to a dreary start, with a long wait in Auckland for a flight that was then delayed, making it an even longer wait. However, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur in good enough time to make our connection and arrived at Heathrow roughly on time.

My brother Nigel generously acted as a personal chauffeur service. He not only met us at the airport and drove us to his house in Shaftesbury where we were most comfortably accommodated, but taxied us to:

1. my 90-year-old uncle Norman in Bournemouth. Unfortunately Auntie Chick was in hospital;
2. Somerset, taking the scenic route to (a) Marks & Spencer for replenishment of vital underwear supplies and (b) on to meet our friend Viv Winterburn.

Then, scorning our request for a lift to the station, he drove us all the way to Tamworth so that we could spend a night with Eve's brother Geoff and his wife, Stephanie.

So we talked almost incessantly for 4 days, catching up with special people.

Geoff and Stephanie continued the transport generosity and drove us to Birmingham Airport for our flight to Berlin.

Eve, Uncle Norman Heritage, Bill

Brother Nigel Heritage

Oops.  I forgot to take a photo of Geoff and Stephanie.

Annual what-we-did-this-year blurb for 2014

Greetings to all.

Last year I wrote a great multi-instalment account of what I and Eve had been doing in the previous 12 months. My intention is to squeeze the account of 2014 into one episode. We shall see what my stint at the keyboard delivers. I cannot hope to compete in human interest with my cousin Mike's account of his desperate search for a lavatory near Buda castle. But I can certainly promise that this epistle will be illustrated.

At the end of 2013 we hosted our first wwoofer. Wwoof is an acronym for willing worker on organic farms. Through the year we have had a series of delightful young people in the house. They work on the farm for 4 or 5 hours per day and we provide board and lodging. They are usually travellers, working their way around New Zealand, but we have had a Kiwi, too. They have harvested last summer's garlic, hung it up to dry, cleaned and sorted it. Wwoofers helped to plant this year's crop, mulch it and weed it. And they have all been great company.

Christian (Germany), Elisa (Austria), Fabian (Germany) and Eve. For some reason, the two boys would do anything Elisa asked them to.

14 January 2014 was a very important day for us. That was when Laurel Sara Heritage, my first grandchild, was born. She had the great good sense to choose Richard and Tansy as her parents and, as you would expect, is growing into a delightful child. Not that Grampa is biased of course.

Laurel will be very literate. She has no option. Aunty Elizabeth has already started her on Pride and Prejudice and Grampa recites poetry to her; Spike Milligan and Ogden Nash mostly.

In February we booked ferries and drove to Auckland. Eve's niece Leigh was getting married to Glen on Waiheke Island on 1 March and this was an excuse to visit some other good friends. In Pauanui we caught up with Martin Little, who I have known since he flatted with my brother, Nigel, in London in the 1970s. In Auckland, John Vague, one of my many accountant friends, took us out on Auckland Harbour in his launch. We had a wonderful day, even though the snapper we caught were all undersized and had to be thrown back.

The wedding took place under a tree on a hill surrounded by grapevines. The weather was perfect. The groom was dashing. The bride was beautiful. It couldn't have been better.

Glen is from Ulster so we met his mother and aunt. We got on very well, and have pressing invitations to stay with them if we are ever in Northern Ireland. Leigh is a singer, so the reception music was live and featured some very well known (except to me, of course) musicians.

After a good party it was agony to get up early the next morning. But it had to be done so that we could get the first ferry back to the mainland and deliver me to the airport. I then flew to Wellington to play hockey. I was playing in the National Masters Tournament as a member of the Nelson 60+ team. So at the end of my hockey career I achieved representative honours. Not that there was a lot of competition for selection. If you were over 60 and still a registered player in Nelson you were in the team.

Eve drove the car South at a leisurely pace and collected me at the end of the week. After the tournament I retired from competitive hockey (for the second time). I still umpire and I will still play Golden Oldies hockey.

On the work front I fired my biggest client! I had been contracting to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants since 2004 to undertake quality control reviews of chartered accountancy practices. In 2013 this expanded to include reviews of licensed auditors under delegated authority from the Financial Markets Authority. Over time this had changed from being a largely educational process and become very much a policing operation. I have been heard to say that the FMA should have issued its reviewers with jackboots and a steel helmet. I did not enjoy it nearly so much, so I gave notice that I would not be renewing my contract.

Over time I had built up a little list of clients to whom I deliver advice on auditing and technical accounting matters. There wasn't enough of that work to generate a decent income, but preliminary discussions led to talks and then to an arrangement to help one of the national accounting firms. Again I am a contractor, not an employee, but I have the grand title of National Audit Risk Manager for BDO NZ. I even have a BDO email address, but it only accepts internal messages so you can't try it out. (BDO is a global network of accounting firms.) Quality control reviews are a large part of my work, but it also involves training audit personnel, and developing/improving audit policies and practices. And I can still do work for my other clients.

Eve went travelling without me in June. The original idea was to go with a friend, but the friend eventually couldn't go so Eve took off by herself. She went to the UK to see friends and relatives. These included her brother, Geoff Franklin, and my brother Nigel. The visit to Geoff and his wife, Stephanie, coincided with the death of Stephanie's mother, Doris. Doris had been ill for some time, so it was not unexpected, but it still made for a sombre visit.

Eve took a brand new camera with her but she didn't use it much. You will not be surprised to learn that nearly all the photos she brought home were of plants.

While Eve was away it fell to me to replace the car. The old one, which had given no trouble at all, suddenly developed several ailments at once. We have remained loyal to Toyota, but have gone up to a Camry because (a) it is very comfortable and (b) we got a really good deal on a not-quite-two-years-old vehicle. Luckily Eve likes it as much as I do.

After Eve got home we had less than a fortnight before we were off together. This year's holiday was to Fiji. After trying snorkeling for the first time in Hawaii last year Eve was very firm about doing some more. We did lots more.

We actually went on a package holiday. What? The Heritages are famously independent travellers. The deal we found was an 11-night tour of some of Fiji's offshore islands; the Mamanucas and Yasawas if you want to look them up. We selected the grade of accommodation and the tour operator selected five different resorts for 2-night stays and the last night was at Beachcomber 'party' island. Naturally we selected the most basic “1 coconut” resorts, but took the “Full Monty” package with lots of activities included.

Every day a large, yellow, fast ferry leaves Denarau in the morning and follows a route to the most distant of the Yasawa Islands. Then it turns round and heads back to Denarau. Along the way it picks up and drops off passengers and freight at the many resorts. Only one resort has anything so sophisticated as a jetty. The ferry merely slows down and drifts while people, luggage and freight are transferred to and from the resort's launch. Then it powers off to the next mid-ocean rendezvous.

We had a wonderful time and I could enthusiastically write at great length about out time in Fiji. Our resorts were generally small and run by the owner family. Our fellow guests were mainly young people on backpacker budgets. Both groups were invariably friendly and good company. Our bures were simple and comfortable and with one exception had en-suite facilities. At one resort we had a tiny private yard with an open air shower amongst the hibiscus. We generally had cold showers, but that's no penance in the tropics. The food was variable, but if the dining was sometimes ordinary, the dinner table conversation never was.

Every resort had at least one delightful, sandy beach. The sea was packed with coral and our snorkelling equipment got plenty of use. We saw all sorts of marine life, from living cowrie shells to sea snakes to manta rays. The new camera was a waterproof one, purchased with snorkelling in mind. For all that, it was an effort to break the habit of many years and put an expensive camera under the surface the first time.

One activity was advertised as feeding the sharks. The guides made much of the sharks' alleged preference for white skinned flesh. In the event, we didn't see the sharks eat anything, but we did gape at the way the guides played with them – grabbing them and bringing them up to the surface so we could all stroke the captive.

Fish amongst coral

Eve, Bill, Jess (UK), Simon (Germany) and Celine (Sweden)

A cowrie shell with the owner still inside

Eve caught the most fish

Who wants to pat the shark, then?

There are more photographs on my Facebook page if you are interested.

When not actually immersed in the sea we lazed in shaded hammocks, played/watched volleyball, fished, were serenaded as we watched the sunset from an open boat and, at one resort, dined al fresco just above the beach – again at sunset.

Our favourite resort was Naqalia, despite it having the coldest shower. They put on a lovo (earth oven feast) and a wonderful demonstration of Fijian dancing followed by a kava ceremony.

The tour operator was Awesome Adventures Fiji (http://www.awesomefiji.com). We recommend them.

Last Christmas I recklessly promised Eve that we would adopt a puppy from the SPCA. In August she exercised this option and we brought home Flossie.

Flossie is a 'summer' dog. She's summer this breed and summer that breed ;-) She is certainly good, exuberant company. We took her to puppy school where she learned to 'socialise' with other pups, which appears to be code for 'become uncontrollable'. We are trying very hard to mainly feed her the recommended, scientifically correct puppy food, which costs rather more than a restaurant steak. Flossie much prefers the supermarket's own-brand dog sausage, sheep poo or (if she is lucky enough to find one) a rabbit or hedgehog that has been dead for a week. When we first got her, she was miserably car sick. Now she sees a ride as a treat to be secured at all costs. A few days ago she spotted a stranger's car parked near our gate with a door left open. She immediately leapt inside and to our mortification ignored all commands to get out. She is now six months old and has successfully charmed us both.

October brought high drama. We had a French couple, Nicolas and Charlotte, wwoofing for us. Their English wasn't very fluent, but it was improving noticeably as their stay progressed. One of their tasks was to trim the twigs off broom stems that Eve's son Matthew had cut, and chop the stems into firewood length pieces. One day they arrived at the house in a very agitated state. Nicolas had been using a machete and had slashed his left thumb.

I immediately phoned for an ambulance, while Eve applied first aid. Both Nicolas and Charlotte were in a bad state, and Nicolas would not let Eve bind the hand properly. It was, Eve said afterwards, the first time she'd seen the inside of a living bone – and she would have liked a closer look. The machete had gone right through the bone and his thumb was attached only by soft tissue. Anyway, Eve did wrap it up in a towel and made Nicolas keep his hand elevated.

Rural properties are often difficult to identify at the roadside, so I was instructed to go down to the gate and make sure the ambulance came to the right place. It seemed to be taking an awfully long time, and then a helicopter appeared, circled once and then zeroed in on the house. Once I had climbed back up the hill I learned that the ambulance had been replaced by the rescue helicopter. The pilot had managed to land on the only level-ish piece of ground near the house.

The medics praised Eve for doing exactly the right thing and put a huge bandage on the injured hand. Nelson Hospital does not have the right specialists for sewing thumbs back on, so Nicolas was whisked directly to Hutt Hospital, in the North Island, which has a Plastics Department. The next morning the surgeon did his magic and the day after that Nicolas and Charlotte were back with us. The last we heard, the thumb is healing well.

Charlotte and Nicolas after the surgery

As if to compensate, November brought a piece of luck. BDO asked if I would help to present a week-long training session being run jointly with BDO Australia in Sydney. Did Eve want to come to Sydney with me? Of course she did.

The flight from Christchurch to Sydney was remarkable for what happened on the ground at Sydney Airport. Our plane was not directed to a gate with an air-bridge, so we had to be bussed from the aircraft to the terminal. We were seated close enough to the front of the plane to get on the first bus. When it was full the driver started the engine and pressed the switch to close the doors. The front doors closed, the rear doors hissed shut but the middle doors only waggled a bit. Open the doors and try again … After several attempts, some with physical assistance, all the doors closed – but the bus's electrics apparently didn't believe it because the vehicle would not move. By this time the passengers still on board the 'plane must have been getting very fed up.

The second bus had arrived, so we all shuffled off the first one and traipsed over to the replacement. The doors all closed to a subdued ironic cheer. The lady driver backed out into clear space, turned so that the bus was facing the right way and engaged forward gear. Nothing happened. It was an electric vehicle, and we could see her pushing buttons, but every time she attempted to move off one of the buttons popped out and the bus stubbornly stayed where it was. After several minutes she turned off the air conditioning and by some alchemy that allowed the motor to produce forward motion so we could proceed to the terminal.

We managed to have some time to ourselves at the weekends before and after the course. We took the ferry from Circular Quay to the zoo, which has a splendid collection of Australian fauna. We saw wild kookaburras and heard a clamorous reed-warbler. The latter has a loud, tuneful song, which it delivers without ever seeming to take a breath. It was in a fairly small cage but neither of us could see it! We visited Eve's friend Tasneem and her husband Don in Brighton le Sands. Eve had repeatedly told me that Tasneem is gorgeous. I can now confirm that she is.

During the working week I was coaching BDO senior auditors in how to do even better audits. Eve ambled around some of Sydney's tourist spots, had an extravagant lunch with Tasneem and devoted one day to the botanical gardens. She reported back on a number of shops, but did very little actual shopping. Her most notable purchase was a range of teas from a bookshop cafe.

On our last day we walked the Manly Scenic Walkway. The route is all within Sydney. Some of it is through suburbs, but an astonishingly large part of it is genuine bush. We enjoyed great views of the harbour, heard more kookaburras and saw many interesting plants.

A pied currawong

Eve had spent most of the week on her feet and had walked up some blisters. Near the end of the scenic walkway a large blister burst and the raw skin underneath was agony to walk on. Luckily we were approaching a residential area and the sight of a bus stop promised relief. The bus took us to the Manly Ferry Terminal, where we caught the fast ferry back to Circular Quay and a taxi to the airport.

My parents' estates got (mostly) settled during the year. We have paid off a chunk of the mortgage, but kept enough back to make us think of owning a boat. We have already inspected a few launches and hope to report on nautical adventures next year.

My Uncle Norman celebrated his 90^th birthday in December. He is clearly confident of eclipsing his brother's 91 years and 5 months because he has already invited us to his 100^th birthday party! And look out for the celebrations next October when he and Chick will have been married for an amazing 70 years.

Christmas was on a smaller scale than usual. Matthew has been living with us for the last few months and the only others to share our roast turkey were our most recent wwoofers, Minako and Naoto from Japan. They are a lively couple, who managed to maintain smiles on their faces even after 3 weeks of weeding the garlic. Minako is a qualified teacher and she spent a couple of days at Lower Moutere School observing the end-of-school-year chaos. She also enjoys cooking and has promised to come back in the New Year and cook us a Japanese banquet. Yummm.

You didn't think you were going to get away with only one photo of my granddaughter, did you? This is Laurel at 10 months.

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Eve here now, but where to start? Bill has told you all of the news really but perhaps I can add a few comments.

First of all I'm fully in favour of having wwoofers to help on the farm. They've made things much easier for me and I don't have to worry so much about getting things done, especially in the garlic field. As Bill said, we've had a lovely mixture of young people here to help out. In spite of a neighbour telling us not to have under twenty year olds, this nationality and that, because they're lazy, useless etc., we have had very good experiences with all of them. Apart from being hard workers and lots of fun, we've had some very good cooks here too, so have tried many different ethnic foods.

One of the best things to happen this year is Bill giving Practice Review the old heave-ho. He is far more relaxed and happy with his new working life than he has been at least for the past two years. He even manages to take the odd afternoon off! Here's hoping that when we get our launch, he'll find even more time to relax.

My trip to England was quite leisurely. I spent time with Nigel in beautiful Dorset, and had a lovely few days there visiting stately homes and gardens with Vivienne, a family friend of the Heritages. We also had a great morning, Vivienne and I, ratting round in charity shops. We went back to Nigel's with some great bargains. I then went to visit my brother and sister-in-law near Tamworth. The countryside around there is very pretty, though in the circumstances we didn't go out very much. Next, I went on to stay with a friend in Port Sunlight which is a very interesting and attractive town, built originally by the Lever brothers (Sunlight soap) for their staff and their families.

Another train journey took me to Winchester to visit my cousin Geraldine and her husband Paul. It was great to see them again. Winchester is amazing and has a most beautiful old cathedral which was consecrated in 1093. There was a church there before that which was built around 600 AD (the Old Minster).

I then moved on to our friend June's home in Norfolk near Norwich and had seven or so days there doing her garden and going out with her to visit nature reserves and other beautiful places. We didn't go to the Broads this time.

After being home from my travels for about a fortnight, Bill took me to Fiji for my birthday. It had to be the best birthday present ever! He's told you enough about all that so I won't carry on.

This  year has to be the best one for the vegetable garden and it's simply because I now have drip irrigation for it. It makes such a difference to just turn on the pump from the stream and leave the garden to soak up the water. Everything is growing very well although I haven't got everything planted yet.

All in all it's been a very interesting and enjoyable year but I feel as though I'm never going to catch up on all the things that need doing around here! At least I won't be away from home as much next year.

We wish all our friends and relations a very happy and healthy 2015.