In the middle of the year, Senpai Vivian from Auckland Seido Karate Morningside, one of this country’s most committed and capable Rainbow allies and a good friend, organised a beginner’s class for rainbow identifying and rainbow allied people who wanted to give this karate thing a go. We started our karate journey at Morningside and […]
Surgery
In 2024, I had my standard bout of surgery, in this case, a new left hip. I already have an artificial right hip, a metal left knee, and a ‘piano wire’ joined Achilles tendon. This new surgery was scheduled for six months ago but, being sick of taking pills, I’d made the unilateral decision to […]
University of Auckland IDEA Brain Study
We had a couple of young wāhine come to our door and ask whether there were any ancient people, antiquaries almost, geriatrics, in the whare. Cushla said yes, as apparently, I qualify. The two young wāhine were academics from the University of Auckland who introduced me to a major study that was being undertaken through the University […]
Medical Scans or ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Health System’
I’ve spoken briefly about my health and the health system, but I haven’t spoken about being made redundant by AUT. Redundancy is always a shitty process, but AUT still managed to make it about as bad as it could possibly have been. Not just for me but for all of those made redundant at the […]
RymanHealth ‘Senior New Zealander of the Year’
In early December, I was contacted by the people who run the New Zealander of the Year Awards and informed that I was, once again, a semi-finalist (top 10) for Senior New Zealander of the Year yet again. I must admit I was really chuffed as it’s a nice acknowledgement of the work I do […]
I love travel!
This weird life of mine! It feels as though I’ve been a few times round the block which is a bit crazy considering I was eighteen years old before I ever climbed onto a plane – Ōtautahi to Whanganui-a-Tara in 1963, a return trip for my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding – and fifty-two before I left […]
China and Korea without Moi
I love travel, but this year I didn’t go anywhere. Unless you include Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. I don’t, which is not to say I don’t like Te Whanganui-a-Tara – I do – but flying in or out of that city isn’t my idea of a great way to spend even a few terrifying minutes on any given […]
The All Blacks v The Wallabies
Early in the year, Cadbury ran a promotion celebrating volunteers. This involved submitting the name, a brief CV, and a photograph of the person you were recommending as a top volunteer and Cadbury would turn this into a cute, animated cartoon video featuring that person. This seemed like fun, so I submitted details for both […]
Health
At my age, and discounting mobility, I have say I’m blessed with extremely good health. Please note the qualifier ‘at my age’. I have a karate associate in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Eiko Hanshi Renzie Hanham. with whom I went to school. We shared a number of courses over the years and sat next to each other in […]
Hikoi and Hui
It’s been a challenging year with many of the things I hold dear under serious threat from the current government, and internationally. Not least among these is the status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. A couple of years ago, Cushla and Finn began to explore their whakapapa – Ngāpuhi nui tonu – leaving me as […]
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