I love summer.  I love the sunny days, the general feeling the everyone is on holiday and the positive mood people always seem to be in.  I love watching cricket and tennis and eating outside with friends, lingering over another glass of wine and wondering if it is OK to have another burnt sausage.  I love the feel of the sun on my skin and the pleasant tired feeling in the evening after having spent the day outside. 

Today is one of those days.  A day that almost makes you believe that summer isn’t quite finished, that maybe we will get another 2 weeks of sunny days and blue skies.  There is one small change that makes you realise that summer is fast heading into autumn and that is the sky.  Yes, the beautiful deep blue skies of summer have changed into the light baby blue skies of autumn almost overnight!  As the summer of 2009 fades into a memory of sunny days, bbq’s, holidays, family and fun, I can’t help but be excited by the fact that is a few short months (4.5 to be exact) I will be in the midst of another summer albeit in the southern hemisphere.  I will be looking forward to more deep blue skies, bbqs, holidays, family and fun!

So, as summer turns to autumn and the leaves begin to change into the browns, yellows, reds and gold I am struck by how beautiful this season is in Europe.  My last Summer and Autumn until I return for a visit.

Auf Wiedersehn Sommer. Auf Wiedersehn Herbst. Bis zum naechsten mal!

Gx

OK, I love sport! In fact, my brother describes me as the ‘worlds greatest armchair sportsperson’. I kind of agree. I can watch anything (except snooker and darts which are surely pub games!) and tend to switch the TV on to Sky Sports as soon as I walk in the room. I can easily spend my weekends flicking between rugby, cricket, tennis, cycling, F1, football and athletics. I drive my family, friends and fellow viewers crazy with constant facts on players, teams and sports that I’m not sure they need to know but I find amusing.  Actually, I think I ‘prepare’ to watch a game with the same intensity that a commentator or TV pundit does and often think that I missed a trick somewhere along the way and should have pursued Sports Marketing so that my research isn’t wasted on an uninterested audience!

In Europe I have 11 or 12 sports channels with sports from all over the world.  Sports played in UK, Africa and Australasia are usually played at ‘reasonable’ times for watching and those in the US aren’t too bad.  But, to watch all these sports when back in NZ I will become a nocturnal creature waking only to switch on the TV to watch Wimbledon and Roland Garros, European F1 races, Barclays Premier League, Champions League and Guinness Premiership to name a few!  I will become relient on internet sites that show live sport to catch those all important matches not shown in NZ and will trawl sports sites for blow-by-blow accounts.  Definitely a different way of life.

But on the flip-side, I look forward to supporting local club rugby in Wellington and frequenting Westpac Stadium to watch the All Blacks, Hurricanes and Black Caps play.  I may even make it off my couch during the weekends and check out the dragon boating on Wellington Harbour, do the Round the Bays run (although maybe I’ll walk!), head to the mountains to watch some skiing, check out the sailing, follow the rowers, catch up on the cyclists and hope that A1GP is still in Taupo.  I will read up on X sports, appreciate those who partake in Multisport and cheer on the Netballers. I will bet on the horses, golf-clap the golfers and hand out refreshments to the marathon runners.  

Yep, even though I may not have all my ‘usual’ sports, I’m sure I will be OK and can only look forward to adding a whole load of new sports to my armchair repertoire of crazy sporting facts…bring on the lawn bowls!

Gx

OK, so the countdown is on for the big move home…who would have thought that after 14 years living in Europe I would finally decide to head back to NZ.  I really believed that I was going to be in Europe for the rest of my life but something happened in the past few months and the pull of family, friends and even the country has made me reassess my plans.  I guess the state of the economy and the fact that I don’t have a job at the moment have all played there part as well!

Have to admit I am excited about being back there but how much has NZ changed since I left in 1995! I await with anticipation!

Gx