13th Nov day 30 slower start day

It was planned that I take Simon to school then drop off Nicholas but when I woke up I wasn't feeling great. One of the challenges when doing such long flights is to avoid all the bugs that are flying around in the air conditioned environment. I obviously failed on the long trip Los Angeles to Sydney as there was a guy in my row coughing and sneezing the whole way. When I woke today my throat was sore and I felt I was going down with something aargh. As those of you who know me well realise if I get a cough they often last for months, so I wanted to prevent that scenario by taking it easy, staying warm and taking in loads of vitamin C. I waved the two of them off and marvelled at how ordinary and yet special this felt.

Sleep eluded me so I got up and read, blogged, did some washing and ironing on the new board whilst watching UK programmes (they really are the best in the world), what a treat. It was Nicholas's weekend with Philippa so I wasn't picking him up.

Simon and I had planned to go to Ocean Spa after school but we decided to leave it as I wasn't 100%. I wanted to see Napier which is the world's only Art Deco city, it's stunning and only about 5 miles away. En route we stopped and bought some freshly picked home produce, scrummy, then he took me to see his school in Meeanee. I don't know how I had the perception that it was a poor run down place because it's the exact opposite. It's a scenic, rural area and a well-presented school with great facilities which includes a gigantic playing field for a relatively small school. He is thoroughly enjoying working there and I love that I can now visualise him at work.

I made my old faithful cheese and bacon pasta for dinner at Simon's request and we chatted for a while before needing to clear up as Carol was coming around at 7.30pm.  I have lived for so long away from my kids/grandkids that I don't think I will ever take for granted 1-2-1 time with any of them. Carol and Simon were very sweet and watched my photos from Canada through the big TV screen. Niagara looks a tad better on that scale than just on my iPad. We watched a funny programme and then I went to bed early to help fight off the infection.