When you are heading into oblivion at high speed, it's nice to have a friend along for the ride

First day this week for the semester two courses at EIT, including my Introduction to Wine Business - lots of new students wandering about the place looking confused and a bit apprehensive. Lots of students in classes with pens and pencils and new refill pads, hanging on my every word and waiting for something to write down. I don't think that telling them that everything we do is in the online course site has reassured them much. All I tell them on day one is what the assignment is going to be, and when we stop for coffee. I hope they relax a bit before the end of the year, and learn that learning can be immersive, that the wine industry is a fluid, ever changing one, and that by listening to me reminiscing about the good old days when I had a job, and wine was $20 a bottle, they may actually gain understanding of the evolution of the New Zealand wine industry. 

Remember that first day feeling though? Nobody likes it, and it creates a vacuum in the classroom that teachers try to fill with words, and the odd laugh. 

Winter in Hawke's Bay

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Winery work is a treat but, when the vines are dormant and the barrels are full, it's good to take a break and go a bit further away. People think of Hawke's Bay as a Summer destination, but if you want to find a little perspective and breathe some really fresh air, an East Coast beach, and a view all the way to Chile can help you forget the day to day trivia.

It did on Sunday anyway, and I really felt better for watching the boys race the waves in under a dark grey sky, with a chill Southerly reminding us that rain would come later in the day.

I enjoy the feeling of open space, of being on the edge of something - and to look at Bare Island and contemplate the forces of the ocean and land and tectonic uplift, while also enjoying the simple pleasure of wet sandy feet and sea-polished stones gave me that nice zen feeling that would probably cost quite a lot to achieve in a clinic .

I also found two stones with holes through them, and everyone knows that they have power, and value. So I feel very lucky today.