exit interview...

I'm writing this from home. Properly home. The place my relatives have lived for a couple of centuries since migrating down here from Taranaki.

The Australia part of my sabbatical is over and I'm home for ten days. (Although I must say I'm perhaps maybe sort of kind of thinking I might maybe pop in on Sydney next February when I make a trip home. Watch this space.)

At the end of a job, often one is asked to do an exit interview: to talk about how it went and what suggestions might be made and so on. It's time for an exit interview from Australia and instead of going through a list of  questions (Mum just reminded me we're heading north to cousin Jude's place for a whanau waiata practice at 6am so I better keep this brief!), I'll just kind of say some thanks. Thank you to all of the people who had me to stay in their homes: Michelle & Ness, Glenice & Jeff, Auntie Nanie, Karin & Youcef & Aliyah. Thank you to the crew at Warawara Dept of Indigenous Studies in Sydney and the Lutheran Church Archives in Adelaide. Thank you to the 'Gambo's Angels' pub quiz team.

Thank you Aussie - it has been great. Thanks to you, te tau okioki is fully underway.