Phew! It is Friday! Having coughed and sneezed through the week, taken a trip to Nelson and not got as much sleep as I would like, I finally feel I have some time to catch up with myself. So, what went on this week?
1. Result – finally!
I am quite sure the majority of readers do not follow New Zealand politics, but we had a general election on 23rd September, and only last night did we learn who is going to be our next government. Jacinda Ardern is now Prime Minister, the third woman to hold that office in New Zealand. Want to learn more? Click here and here.
2. Flying
I went to Nelson on a work trip, despite my cold. The weather was glorious, as you can see from the pictures from my flight home.


3. New dance
I managed to get to the Harry Haythorne Awards this year at the Royal New Zealand Ballet. This provides an opportunity for new and emerging choreographers to take ‘first steps’ by creating a short work for studio performance by dancers of the company. The award is named after the RNZB’s longest serving Artistic Director, Harry Haythorne MBE (who was also with Scottish Ballet for several years). The winners will be announced on Saturday, and I will be most interested to see who wins.
4. The weather this week…
…has mostly been good. The birds are in full voice early in the morning and nature feels awake, even giving the city a tiny wee jolt on Wednesday with a 3.8 quake centred near Lower Hutt.

Anyway, it is now Friday and the start of a long weekend as Monday is the Labour Day holiday here. Let’s hope the weather holds! What happened this week in your part of the world?
Title inspiration from Douglas Adams: Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistleandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com