The Last Summer

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The Last Summer

I have many happy childhood memories spent at the local swimming pool. It was a large but simple complex, where I spent school swimming days and had swimming lessons in summer’s evenings. Occasionally we’d have a barbecue dinner with another family at the pools; my parents passing out plastic plates and opening bags of crisps. I thought of those summer evenings of my childhood over this last summer; my last summer before becoming a parent.  My third trimester of my pregnancy spanned the summer. The days grew hotter and then…

Heartbeat

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Heartbeat

Heartbeat The morning we first saw you, the little flicker of you, started as rainy and wet. It was the first day of Spring, although it still felt very wintry.  Your daddy had fixed the brakes on my bike, and I followed him up the hill from our house, on our bikes, in the dark of the weekday morning.  Your daddy has always looked natural on a bike. I’ve seen a photo of him at only 4 years old riding a bike, with the same confidence and poise that he…

Blessing

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Blessing

Blessing A couple of weeks ago I was standing in the chemist, with my 3 month old babe in her almost comically large buggy. Why did we feel we needed the widest buggy we could buy? I was there to buy cream for her,  because her bottom was sore.  I couldn’t bear to see her skin in pain, I couldn’t bear to know there was something in my power to make things better for her than I had not done.  My Mum, bless her, had already spent about $50 on…

A Brief and Unusual Obligation

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A Brief and Unusual Obligation

It was a brief interaction. He was in need of help but unwilling to accept it and clearly prone to impulse. Me, just a woman out for a morning jog, not expecting to have the fate of another life placed into my hands before I’d even had my morning shower. I had noticed him as I approached the part of the footpath that ran between a wooded reserve and a busy road. It was an unusual place for him to be; crouched down close to the footpath. It was before dawn and still…

All This Love If You Need It

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All This Love If You Need It

One out of four seemed a reasonable turn out, given our geographical spread these days. For Dad’s birthday last weekend, I was the sole kidult physically present to wish him a happy birthday. But on the morning of his birthday, there was a kind of digital party created, with first a video call to my brother, then as Mum and Dad continue talking to him, I answered the landline to one sister, and we chatted in the lounge as I could hear my parents talking to my brother in the…

Some Kind of Wonderful

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Some Kind of Wonderful

The photo above was taken at the island Tiri Tiri Matangi. It’s a magical place, in the Hauraki Gulf and accessibly by a ferry from downtown Auckland.  Going there feels special because you can only approach it by boat, and only a few people are able to stay each night. It also feels like one of Auckland’s many well kept secrets. The last time I went, the day I took this photo, it was the middle of the New Zealand winter. In some of the photos, we’re wearing shirts and…

Don’t Fear The Reaper : La Plagne Part II

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Don’t Fear The Reaper : La Plagne Part II

And so there I was, sliding down the slopes of La Plagne in Savoie, with Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ playing on a loop in my head.  That 70s guitar riff playing out in my head as I did my best to control my speed and follow the girl in front of me, who I had decided had good technique.  It was quite a beautiful moment. As much as my story of learning to ski was about overcoming my mental blocks about not being good at sport, it…

You’re Not The Girl You Think You Are : La Plagne Part I

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You’re Not The Girl You Think You Are : La Plagne Part I

He said “But Freeeeyaaaa, you must reeelaxxxxx” his teeth parting in a smile while still clutching half a cigarette. I’d said it was fine for him to smoke as we took the ski lift together, in my desperate attempt to appear not as uptight as I obviously was.  On the list of things that might kill me in the next 15 minutes, passive smoking was the least of my worries. I wanted to turn to my relaxed, slightly stoned ski instructor and say is “I’m sorry, sorry, but you’ve clearly…

By George! Trends in Brands’ Names

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By George! Trends in Brands’ Names

What a shameless ploy, to use the image of a famous hollywood hunk to grab your attention. Can you name him though? Did I hear you say ‘George Clooney?” – By George, you’re right! ‘George Clooney,’ is probably the best known of the #brand’s going by the name ‘George’ at the moment, but he is by no means the only brand ‘George’ on the market. Just as parents worry over the right name to give their baby, wanting something unique and  pronounceable that sums up the very essential of their…

Liquid Gold: Lewis Road Creamery and Whittakers Chocolate’s Co-branding success

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Liquid Gold: Lewis Road Creamery and Whittakers Chocolate’s Co-branding success

  “It’s a world gone made” muttered the Saturday supermarket shopper, as he pushed his trolley passed the queue waiting patiently near the milk section of the New World supermarket. The queue had about 12 people in it when I walked by at 12.30pm. According to the staff member I talked to, the queue had been there since 9am. The public had been queuing for over four hours  to get their hands on less than a litre of chocolate milk. “Are they queueing for samples?” asked my partner. “Nope” I explained, a…