Tuesday

It was a bit cloudy this morning to start but the sun soon came out.

I went to my keep fit class and worked really hard! After the class, when we were chatting over coffee I was told of some really nice walks around here and Diane was telling me how Whakatane (pronounced Facataney) got its name. The word means 'be a man' and came about because some Maori warriors landed there in a canoe and left all the women out at sea in another canoe while the checked the place out. Unfortunately, a storm blew up and one of the women, who just happened to be a princess said she would have to be like a man and take charge of the canoe and managed to get them all to the shore safely. The word Whakatane means to be like a man. There is a statue of this princess in the harbour. Nice story. She also told me about the Tui birds. I have seen these quite large birds in Rotary Park and their song is lovely, they look like they have a white beard and their feathers are dark blue. There is a beer here named Tui, I must have a look on the label next time I am in the shops as there is a a bird on it.

After lunch I put my new sun lounger up and sat in the doorway of the deck and it was really very hot. Half an hour out there every day will soon get my colour up.

I went to a Lions business meeting tonight and I picked Janice up and then we changed over to Helen's car and went with her. I really hate driving with her as she is awful. When she talks she looks at the passenger in the front seat, doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between red and green and although, I believe, she has lived all her life in Tauranga doesn't know her way around that well. I was a nervous wreck by the time we got to the meeting.

The meeting went on for a long time, I really don't know why they need to read out all the correspondence. We split up into our groups and we then discussed fundraising and a long discussion was had as to how many raffle ticket they should have printed and what price should be charged for them and if it would be cheaper for 'us' to staple them into books! Doh! I do find Kiwis are very mean with money and for a few extra dollars I would get the job done by the professionals. My task in the next two weeks is to approach shops and businesses and get three prizes for the raffle, something that I feel quite uncomfortable about doing. Elizabeth, fundraising chairman suggested I go with Janice and Helen and we hit Bayfair together going round all the shops (that will be a total of nine prizes). On the way home Helen suggested we go next Thursday and as Janice is still not allowed to drive said she would pick us up at 11.30 as it is on her way!!!!! I will have to have an 'appointment' at Bayfair at 10.30 I think as there is no way I want to drive with her more than I have to!

Jon told me tonight that he will now have to go to Australia on Monday as he has to go to Canberra, too and he won't be back till Thursday night so I am not very happy about that. He did say he would take Friday off but as I work in Red Cross on Fridays I don't see the point but he says he feels bad leaving me for so long - that's life.