ONWARDS TO BLENHEIMWe headed to Nelson and did some Nelson type things- a visit to Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson National Park- the most picturesque lake I have ever seen- a wander round the World of Wearable Art- Kezz didn't enjoy it very much but Mo and I had a ball-the best was dinner in Bar Delicious -fried Groper on a potato stack followed by Crème Brule- Mo and Kezz had pasta with seafood sauce and homemade tiramisu- not a scrap left--then just in time to get to Tahunanui Beach to see the sun set. Not so good was the noisy crowd of English youths in the room next to us in the backpackers and the paper thin walls. Never mind- back to civilisation in Blenheim- a whole detached house in a large garden all to ourselves with a washing machine and a washing line- great what you value!!Jim's mum,Lillian, died just a couple of months ago - I had been to visit her a couple of times in her house near the surgery - she was a very interesting woman but communication was difficult because she was very deaf and had difficulty understanding my Scottish accent. Ruth had cleared most of her stuff out but there is still enough left here- some of her china and crystal and books, her spinning wheels and sheepskin rugs- to make it still feel very much like her home.The house is to be used to accommodate the fifth year medical students who will be based in the practice from mid February but I have the use of the house till then. I have been doing some weeding in the early mornings before it gets too hot and have accidentally pulled out a lone sweet pea and a lone runner bean- self seeded I expect- and have apologised to Lillian as I go- I hope she doesn't mind!! We have lemons off her tree and some small Satsuma like oranges.There are lots of volunteer potatoes almost ready for digging and a patch of self seeded pumpkins out the front where she must have put a load of her home made compost around an old tree stump. The pumpkins are doubling in size every other day- wonderful to watch, but unfortunately won't be ripened before I leave.The social life has been manic- out to dinner almost every night. The first night we had roast lamb dinner sitting out on the terrace with the boss and his family up at the 'new hoose'- the stunning architect designed house sitting up above the airport with a view across to the Richmond hills belonging to Jim and Ruth. The next night we were at Donna's house with her daughter Olivia and boyfriend Tim. Olivia did a similar degree to Morag and now works for a marketing firm in Melbourne-then a party on hogmanay at Penny's house- Penny is one of the doctors at Redwoodtown and her husband Tony is an aircraft engineer and supplies parts for the WW 1 aircraft belonging to Peter Jackson the film director (of Lord of the Rings among others). Mo and Kezz got a gift of a calendar of photos of the planes in flight and an open invite to have Tony show them around the hangar and the workshop. On New Year's Day we hosted dinner for Donna and my old friend Peach- an interesting challenge in a house with no oven trays and not enough dining room chairs. On Friday I drove Peach's car (she is 83 years old and although she has been very fit she has recently developed a peripheral neuropathy causing considerable weakness and poor co-ordination and has been advised not to drive) and we had lunch with another friend Mary who has a real 'Hansel and Gretel' house in Havelock- just a few kilometres outside Blenheim. Things have settled over the weekend but tomorrow night- Sunday- there is a 'welcome home' BBQ held in my honour at Ruth and Jim's house for all the surgery staff and their families. Good job I start work on Monday- I don't think I can stand the pace!!Morag and Kezz are still here in the South Island. They are doing scuba diving course- cheaper to do it in NZ than the UK or Aus- and are hoping to get their Open Water Diving Certificate so that they can dive off the Great Barrier Reef once they get to Australia.They head over to the North Island next week and then on to Australia in mid January. It is head down and work work work for me for the next 10 weeks or so. I can't complain, I have just had 4 weeks off!!