3 March, 2021

A new year and a new position in a school again. I am giving it another go at Rolleston College and seeing whether I still have any teaching mojo left. It’s a much longer commute than previous roles and the school is going through some pretty hefty growing pains but it is generally nice to be working with young people again. On a positive note I now have a lot of time to listen to podcasts while travelling so am working through a mix of education and punk focused discussions. I am definitely in survival mode as I come up to speed and create four new courses so things are up and down a bit but I have hopes that it will go well.

Over January we travelled around Otago and Southland to visit places from my childhood. Both C and I spent our teenage years in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) so we spent a few days there before heading down through the Catlins towards Waihōpai (Invercargill). A visit to my old primary school (no longer a school) and some old haunts before heading off to Aparima (Riverton) and Tuatapere on our way to Te Anau. I was born in Tuatapere and it was great to finally see it as an adult. The Waiau river runs right through the middle of the place and we were able to follow it up as we travelled. Love that river. I was surprised how connected I felt to the Southland region and how familiar and comfortable it felt. A great trip and we are looking forward to planning more trips around Aotearoa as there are so many places we have never seen here.

Another interesting year appears to be in progress.