Week 24 - A Break in Beautiful Brisbane.... & a trip down memory lane!

Leaving Wellington ...

Hello Everybody! 

Well after a week away, I'm back and raring to share a little of my week's holiday in Brisbane, Australia. You may have noticed that there was no Week 23 blog post. I'll fill in the gaps now!

WEEK 23 = BUSY! Just preparing for my week's leave meant I was very stretched at work, finishing very late Friday evening, but I do want to mention a lovely end to the week, as I had the pleasure of entertaining a student OT for the day - Gracie - who was just as informative about student life, as I was about work life (hopefully). So thanks Gracie for coming to visit and helping me understand a little more about the process here, for when I get my first student placement in Feb/March next year! 

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

10 years ago I was traveling trough this city as a fresh-faced 23 year old, with a group of people I met on the 'OZ Experience', including my long time Canadian friend Kevin, (who's wedding I went to in Winnipeg, and who I have seen in 4 different countries, across 3 different continents in total...) -and my first real love - Stacey Kwiatkowski, (and good friend of Kevin). So many memories came flooding back to me of that time, though my life is vastly different now! So ten years on, and back in this large working city in a hot, sweaty climate, and no real schedule = time to reflect....

After being here for over 5 months, and significantly changing my life in the process, I thought it would be a good time to have my first paid holiday in 5 years!!!! Some time away would help me reflect on everything and some warmth was much needed, as the last 'summer' I had experienced was back in 2011 in England - so not much of a summer at all! The obvious choice was Australia, not just because it's the only decent sized country anywhere near here, and it does cost the earth to get there... but at around $800 (£400) it was pricey enough!  The other main reason for going to Brisbane was because I had two friends there. 1) Madeline (and husband - Dan - yes very confusing for Madeline!) , and 2) Maree, a more recent friend who I worked with in my last job in he UK just a few months ago. Both friends are actually Australian too! Madeline & Dan had so kindly offered for me to stay at their very nice home in the suburb of 'Sherwood' - 20 mins train ride from the city centre... (Here'a a few pictures from around Brisbane city....)

Brisbane City....

City Sculptures

Man-made beach by river at Southbank....

Southbank walkway...

Go (Wellington) Phoenix (vs Brisbane) - it was 1-1

City sunsets...

It's hard to know how to break this blog up into sections, so I can best describe one of the most relaxing holiday's I've had in years in two easy ways.... A daily diary or a list of things I did:

I can best describe the week in a list;

- Karaoke

- Shopping ( x2 jeans, x2 t-shirts, LFC shirt & Trainers)

- (daily) chic mint ice creams
- read x3 books on kindle

- x3 movies (Looper, Taken 2 & The Bourne Legacy)

- x3 massages (one at airport) - 1st massage one of the best I ever had - still have marks to prove it!

- x5 dinners - both home cooked and restaurants. (Chinese, Tapas, Italian)

- Botanical Gardens

- Man-made beach / riverside resort

- a fair few beers

- x2 random meetings - one with OT Matthew, and meting Liv's boyfriend Richard for 1st time!

- Open air cinema and beer Friday night (with bean bag!) 

= RELAXED

BOTANICAL GARDENS.... as mentioned earlier, my memories of the botanical gardens from 2002, were walking around with Kevin on a hot hot day, who began to tell me about this girl (Twyla - his now wife), that he had just began to start dating. This time around, I lacked the human company, but was able to appreciate all the animal company the place had to offer.. see below! 

all over town! 

Spot the wildlife...

Spot the wildlife...

Bird families...

Big lizards!

sun bathing lizardrs

 The actual plant life wasn't too shabby either!

Funky trees!

RANDOM MEETINGS:

As well as reliving memories from the past, I was keen to just wander around the city, which seemed so familiar to me, without a map or guide, and just laze around in the sunshine... I also had two rather random appointments! Firstly, with an OT Facebook friend, who recently met face to face for the first time at the recent NZ OT conference - Matthew Molineux. Matthew met me in town, on the Tuesday, we went for coffee as Matthew explained some of the current politics and economical issues affecting OT's and the health sector in the state of Queensland (all the different states. have control over how things are run at government level...). Whilst Australia and NZ are not quite as badly affected as Europe with the economic global situation, they certainly have some issues of their own!

The previous day, (Monday) I had an even more random meeting with Richard (Boyfriend of my very good mate Liv). I never had chance to meet Richard, prior to me leaving for NZ, So I never got a chance to 'vet' him. I have to say (and not just because Liv reads this blog), but he seemed like a really decent guy - even if him being so tall made me look like a 12 year old! We had a few beers, and he let me interrogate him sufficiently, before we said our goodbyes! Cheers for the beers Rich!

A CITY FOR THE PEOPLE (CITY HALL SPACE)

I loved walking into the city each day, the town hall square (City Hall) had difference events on daily, from food markets, to 'indie' night' markets, and best of all a totally free 'Games Night'. What is that, I hear you ask? Well, it's all kinds of different games, from board games, to giant, jenga, scrabble, chess, draughts and much more... had to imagine/ well here's the proof.. and check out for some horrific school uniforms! 

Games Night @ City Hall

Board game specials!

Free Fun & Games

Srabble!

That's a big piece!

Ultimate Jenga! (not sure about the uniforms)

BRISBANE BY NIGHT:

An equally beautiful and people friendly city by night, Brisbane had lots going on every night. With such warm temperature, I frequently sat outside to eat, without being attacked by mosquitoes. The waterfront was particularly well utilised and with an open air cinema having started up the day after I arrived, it seemed the perfect way to end the week. Madeline and Dan, begrudgingly accepted my gift to take them to the cinema as a way of saying thanks for having me. With some fantastically comfortable bean bag loungers to sit on, we watched the Bourne Legacy, after eating some gorgeous Tapas food at Ole restaurant! A great way to say bye and enjoy the evening entertainment on offer! 

The Palace Hostel from 10 years ago - hasn't changed!

City Hall night markets

Southbank by night

Northbank! 

Open air movie by the river!

My Hosts... Dan & Mads! 

Post movie discussion on the bets bean bags ever!

The only thing left to say is a huge thanks to Madeline & Dan, and Maree for showing me your city and making me feel very welcomed. I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed after a holiday, and I even have a bit of a tan too!

I have some online teaching to do this week, which is always a great experience and it's NZ's Got Talent Semi-final tonight too! I wonder if the neighbors are around to watch it with? Getting back to a wet, and windy Wellington felt almost like coming home, maybe I am starting to feel more settled now! 

 I'll just share a little picture from the plane on the way back to NZ.... 

Coming home above the clouds...

Regards from New Zealand

Dan 

Week 22 - Volunteering, an Italian film, & a return to the Botanical Gardens!

Favourite picture of the week!

Hi Everyone! 

Life here this week has been busy again, though this week has been busy with sporty stuff... quite Kiwi like! The weather has been pretty shocking this weekend, apart from today, probably the worst I have seen it since I was here, fortunately I was indoors most of yesterday for the worst of it! (Pictures are from the Botanical Gardens).

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

There's been the usual routines, Monday Night Yoga, followed by Monday night $10 large pizza, from 'Heaven' - thought it's becoming a bit too routine as the guy at the counter not only remembered my order, but remembered my name too! hmm.... There was a second round of drinks with Ros, an OT from the UK, who I'm hoping to do some teaching with in the next year, and round two of neighbour outings, which I'll come onto later! 

Botanical Gardens

 So the main event this week/weekend was Saturday's Basketball fun day! Basketball I hear you ask??? Yes, Basketball - Having started the volunteering process with 'special olympics wellington' as mentioned in last week's blog, I was invited to come and 'help out' at the end of year sunday in the town of Porirua. I say 'help out' - the athletes have far greater knowledge and ability to know what's happening than I do when it comes to basketball, but I'm always keen to try new things! I was offered a lift by one of the other volunteers, who has a had a long career in the army - and was really interesting to chat with.

Once at the event for close to 150 athletes with intellectual disabilities / learning disabilities, the warm up began - with some kind of boxing / aerobics, that felt a little inappropriate to me! Still, I have to learn to accept the things that are a little different! The exercises and skill drills soon began, and I was happy to be abel to help out repeating instructions for the athletes. I was working up a sweat myself, but enjoying seeing such a diverse group of people from all ages, enjoying the activities and cheering each other on. Lunch rolled around, giving me chance to catch up properly with the other coaches / volunteers. The afternoon games session quickly ensued, which led more pretty amazing shooting including some pretty amazing 3 point shots! 

After the day finished, I joined my fellow volunteer Abbie, in visiting her friend in Whitby (yes there are many towns with English Town names...) Abbie and her friends were in the Army so had some pretty interesting experiences, (I won't go into that here). Just wanted to note the random moments I find myself in - sitting having tea with three Army folk in Whitby! 

Tulips @ Botanical Gardens

After last weekend's social adventures, I found myself invited to the movies on Friday night with my neighbours. The film was at one of those old fashioned cinemas/theatres with real character - The Paramount! The film was Italian 'Benvenuti al Sud' (Welcome to the South), and was surprisingly funny! It's been a while since being reminded of the different lifestyle of Europe, and it was full Italian stereotypes, and had me chuckling along! 

Botanical Gardens

Sunday was a much better day, with the sunshine allowing me to get outdoors, and most importantly get my washing dry - not easy when you live in a studio flat on the first floor! Anyway, I took the opportunity to head up to the Botanical Gardens, and catch up with Iris. It was windy, but I'm getting used to the wind, so I was enjoying adding to my slowly developing T-shirt tan, and enjoying the fresh air! I also got to take some nice photos, as you can see in this blog and my favorite one of the bird at the on the flower at the top of this page. It was good to catch up with Iris too, before heading back home and catching up with NZ' Got Talent semi-final 1! Not too bad, but it was a bit rough around the edges... and none of the judges ever saying anything bad at all... just not in the nature here to say something overly critical about another person... 

Ok, well, it's just 6 days to my first proper holiday - to visit two great friends in Brisbane, Australia! Can't wait to have a week to relax, soak up the sun, and catch up with good friends! It'll also be nice to have the chance to do some decent clothes shopping! 

Regards from New Zealand! 

Week 21 - Social life explosion , dancing til the lights come on & Football comes to Wellington!

Cycle Rides!

Good evening everybody! (it's 22:40 here...) and I'm only just starting to think about how I write this weeks blog, as it's been a week of unexpected fun and activity! I also wanted to discuss how people go about 'building social networks' as it's a phrase I use quite often with some of my clients.. but is the practice is far more complex than the theory?? 

So where to start? I think probably best to give a little rundown of my week so you get an idea of the week and how some opportunities have come about.... 

MONDAY - Usual evening yoga after work (no jokes please) and $10 massage!

TUESDAY - Gym after work & Meeting with Ros - An OT from the UK, working here in Wellington the I met at conference and who I am hoping to do some lecturing with!

WEDNESDAY - gym again after work and then 'leaving drinks' for Sopheary - (a Cambodian girl I met whilst she was working in a restaurant I got to for lunch). Her friends were good value and that led to an offer to join a group of people to watch the football with on Saturday.

THURSDAY - Started the volunteering for kids/adults with intellectual disabilities with 'special olympics Wellington' organization - supporting sporing activities around the city. The people were great fun and welcoming! 

FRIDAY -  Drinks with folks from my apartments, with Sheila (Hungarian property manager), Clinton,  Kiwi Doctor at the hospital, Tibo (?) French student / waiter, and Carla (new to the apartments - lives directly underneath me, and knows what time I shower every day apparently!) These drinks led to more drinks, some brilliant conversation, and then on to the wonder of wellington that is 'BOOGIE WONDERLAND' disco, and 'Alice's' bar which served cocktails in tea pots!!! We danced the night, in what I can only describe as a hole that has not moved out of the 80's, all the way until the lights came on! I have not danced that much in a long long time!!!! 

SATURDAY - had a lunch planned with a work colleague, before preparing for my first NZ live football match watching the Wellington Phoenix - which also led to drinks afterwards.

SUNDAY - bit of skype-ing before a 32.5 km (20 miles) bike ride around the 50+ bays of Wellington, followed by Clinton and Carla coming around to my flat to watch NZ's Got Talent a movie - they brought cake and crisps... perfect guests right?! 

HOW DO WE MAKE FRIENDS?

The issue of making friends, and mixing in new and different social circles has been a feature of many conversations this week, with lots of different types of people. It's also something I have experience in, however it's been pretty difficult to do here. In the field of mental health we often look at 'occupational deprivation', and issues around 'occupational justice' - so basically the right of all people's to have the same access and opportunity to participate in meaningful occupations. But even when we have access to opportunities to engage, do we need certain skills and the confidence to get out there and give it a go? Having the opportunity to go and engage in new occupations / actives, can sometimes require money, travel and lets not forget social skills. If you are removed from social circles developed from spending years of time in one place, (where people know your history and share the same cultural ideas - and also share the same ideas about 'normal' behaviour), can be really difficult. You need pretty good social skills to engage new groups of people and real awareness of how people may respond and perceive you and what you say. Making conversations with strangers, can make you seem odd, or weird, and even when you meet people you think could be 'potential friends', they might not have any interest in making friendships with you, simply because they have enough friends already! So you are exposing yourself to potential rejection on a personal level. People who date often deliberate about how long they should wait to text or call after a date, so is the same is true of potential new friendships? So how do our clients, who may have difficulties with self-image, confidence, altered perception, manage this process? If a client/person has no real experience of working or studying, even tackling that first question of 'what do you do?' can be a challenge that seems insurmountable. Teaching people 'social skills' or communication skills in a group can be one way forward, but does that really give our clients enough tools to face the reality of making friends? We all search for common ground, and equality in friendships are important, (awareness of dependency behavior is equally important as we have all had friends that take, and never give). So it is surprising that many mental health clients make friendships with other mental health clients because the common ground leads to a shard peer base, so people feel comfortable with each other? Do other people define us depending on what we 'do'? If 'doing' is so important, should our interventions, be based around a 'doing' activity? I personally have benefitted from volunteering / working which has opened up conversation, and often direct clients to consider volunteering as a stepping stone to engaging / re-engaging in 'worker' or responsibility roles. The other  issue is about seeking out opportunities where there is potential to meet new people. Internet dating is a classic example because despite many people's reservations, having spoke to many people who use this method, is it simply one way to find potential opportunities...???  

Ultimately, I have to say, that only since positive risk taking by being pro-active in starting activities, in new roles, and sometimes even talking to strangers have I been able to start developing new relationships. I have hope some of these relationships become friendships, but there is no way to be sure.    

THE PHOENIX EXPERIENCE

Ready for the 'Phoenix' game! 

 I have to say the overall experience was lots of fun and so I'll share a little bit of it. I met Barry, husband of one of my work mates, in the same pub I had been introduced to on Tuesday with Ros... The 'hard core' group of fans of the Phoenix call themselves the 'yellow fever' - I know I know, I don't think they realise the other connotations of the name! The big news regarding the game was that the away team - Sydney (Phoenix play in the Australian league because they are the only professional team in NZ!) - had Allesandro Del Piero playing for them - the former Italian & Juventus player! This led to a crowd of over 12,000...

looks full ish....

not so full...

Del Piero....

 The crowd was friendly enough with lots of families, though as always in large crowds you get one or two people that think they need to just shout insults at the other team's players - the only problem with the two idiots behind me is that most of their shouting had nothing to do with football and they seemed totally confused about how football is played, - often guys in this country seem to think playing sport means players have to 'smash' each other. Fortunately I was with a mix of kiwis and others who knew a thing or two about the game! One other thing I should mention is that the phoenix have a little tradition - if the team is winning at 80 mins... fans take their shirts off until the end of the game - no matter what the weather! 

Phoenix rituals.....

A LITTLE BIKE RIDE AROUND THE BAYS

Sunbathing @ the lighthouse

So, with yet more gorgeous weather this weekend, I got the bike out again determined to make the ride ALL the way around the bays of Wellington! my first stop was a little lighthouse for a sunbath, (only after stopping at a local cafe to use their free suncream and water).   

Another 30 minutes later I found my way to 'Breakers Bay' and decided to stop and have a little paddle in the sea. I must have discovered at least 50 little bays, some just 50 metros wide, some with sand, and some rocky. I say I discovered these bays - obviously people had set foot on them before I saw them, but that is how it feels here, because you can find yourself in these places all alone and totally secluded. Have a look at some of the pictures of the bays, and the funny crossing sign! 

Breakers Bay

Breakers Bay

Scorcing Bay

Sand Castle Building

Funny signs!

 Night, and regards from New Zealand!

Dan