Last week I was out to the Zonta meeting. Donna had asked me to be the guest speaker, to talk for about 20mins about my experiences in Peru, Chris's near death experience and my struggles with altitude sickness. I said that the problem with this particular story was that it didn't have a very happy ending. She said 'at least he lived'. So it became the 'at least he lived 'story, with lots of funny little anecdotes. Donna also said that if I talked about sex, I would get a round of applause.They all laughed at that but it wasn't exactly true to call it 'Sex on the Inca Trail'.

I planned to talk with no notes and talk as if I was just simply telling one new member about what had happened. I was a little more nervous than I thought I would be, but it still went down well. Lots of folk came up and thanked me afterwards.

One of the topics on the agenda at the meeting afterwards was the Unifem Breakfast. Once a year, there are meetings to make money for disadvantaged women- the money from Marlborough goes to one of the Pacific Islands. Unifem is an arm of the United Nations- committed to fostering gender equality across the world- I had to look up that bit! I have only just realised that the meeting was on Friday because it was International Women's day. Because there is no Unifem committee in Marlborough, the Zonta Women's group organise the breakfast and I bought a ticket. It meant getting up early and missing my early morning swim, meeting in a Blenheim hotel just after seven.

The guest speaker was Anne Harvey- no, not the one who makes the out-sized clothes in the UK. This one had lived 'down the sounds' as a young wife and mother, and started her business career running two pre-school nurseries in Blenheim. She has gone from strength to strength, gathering business awards as she went- and now is a Business Mentor, a Life Coach and runs a workshops for mothers of teenage boys (having four of her own)- looking at the behaviour of the mothers, not the boys, of course.

She was gorgeous, dressed in an amazing pink coat- like woven silk on the yolk and smooth silk to mid thigh with what looked like an assortment of brightly coloured silk scarves stitched into the lapels and cuffs, teamed with a narrow pair of white linen trousers.She lives in Nelson and Nelson is famous for its arty/crafty creative businesses, including clothes manufacturers. She got a round of applause for showing off the coat, saying she had brought a little bit of Nelson with her. I have looked for photos of her in the coat, but can't find any on the internet. I appeared in the paper as a blob at the back of the room full of women, but none of Anne Harvey appeared- shame about that, she looked better than the rest of us.

She was very charismatic and told lots of stories about women and mothers, mostly funny but I found myself with tears in my eyes a few times as she talked about violence towards women and women's violence towards themselves. At one point I turned round to see two other women at my table, both with glasses off, wiping away a stray tear! It sounds really maudlin but it was an uplifting speech and I went off to work with a spring in my step.

Friday night was dinner at Tony and Penny's house and goodbye to a knackered Donna who is finally out of her house and car, leaving for Oz today. 'Orphaned, jobless and homeless' as she says, but with the whole world at her feet. I think she is too tired to worry about having no job to go to. She is a very experienced nurse and I guess will pick up work in Australia in no time. She is off for two weeks with Olivia in Melbourne and I will join her there for a few days. She got her British passport on Thursday- just in the nick of time. She is planning to come to London to work in 2010 and I am trying to encourage her to come to Scotland instead and stay with me in the flat. What fun the two of us would have 'on the town'.

Saturday was a goodbye day with Peach, who is off for a trip round the South Island with some friends and then she is off to the Philippines again- taking old glasses and hearing aids to the poor of Manila. I filled the boot of the car with left over vegetables from the Vause's fridge and bits and pieces of cosmetics I was planning to donate to Mary and we headed to Havelock. At the last minute, Mary phoned to say she had to go to her dad's because the cat needed 'put down', or some other feline emergency. So, Peach and I used her garden for our picnic lunch and then went for a drive round the little hill road between Havelock and Picton, between the Pelorus Sound and the Queen Charlotte Sound. All with stunning views. We needed a cup of coffee. Peach is never short of someone who will provide coffee (I think she knows everyone in the South Island) and we ended up at Norman's house, high above the Queen Charlotte Sound. He turned out to be a fascinating man. He has been carving greenstone and whalebone for about 40 years, but has diversified into 'home stay', (i.e. bed and breakfast) and massage with various kinds of energy work such as Shiatsu and Reiki. I ended up getting my shoulders and back massaged and am going back on Wednesday for some of his energy work. Not what I had expected of my day at all.

I then went down to the farm to say goodbye to Rob and his two cows, one bull, four sheep etc etc. Escaping animals was the order of the day, one of the sheep met me at the gate, on the wrong side of the fence- i.e. a short distance from the road- state highway one with very fast moving traffic, and the bull was in the garden eating the silver beet and standing on the strawberry patch (though I don't think bulls have much of a taste for strawberries).

Next week there are more goodbyes. I am going to the pictures on Monday night with Heather, who stayed with Chris and me in Edinburgh while she was researching her family tree. Next Sunday is a lunch in my honour at the St Clair 'cellar door' with the staff from the surgery.

I have been trying to meet up with Steve, another of Peach's friends. He handed me his card one day and said we must meet- I then discovered he plays the ukulele (very well) and Peach had told him that I also play!!!!! I had to disillusion the poor chap. He is the director of the Marlborough museum (currently showing a wonderful display of the history of the wine trade in the area) and would be really interesting to talk to, but he is even busier than I am and I think we are not going to manage to meet up.

On my way out of the Unifem Breakfast, Marewa, one of Donna's friends said 'we must meet before you go'. My heart sank a little initially but when she handed me her card, I discovered she also does massage and I thought, I am going to make use of all the opportunities life throws into my path and am hoping to have a massage from her at some point next weekend. Hopefully, by the time I am heading to the airport, I'll be floating in a sea of calm. Ha- not very likely!!