CHANGE, CONCEPT AND COSTS

This week it is exactly 18 months since I left Waiwera for the multi-cultural village of Sandringham, in Auckland. How time has flown and life changed from living alone in my unit next to the Waiwera Holiday Park, looking out at the Hauraki Gulf in one direction and native bush in the other.

Now I live in Unit 1, at Abbeyfield House sitting at my broadband wireless laptop, waiting for sunrise to look out at a native garden planted by the local Rotary including my favourite cabbage tree (just one) and 2 dwarf pohutakawa. A planting in an urban environment , rather different from the Bird (Banded Rail) reserve on Waiwera Road and the planting of donated flax, pohutakawa and cabbage trees. What a difference from what I saw when I came to Waiwera in1991 from Hamilton. It was as a disbanded hydatids strip and was developed by Waipora (Waiwera Property

Owners’ and Residents: Association Inc..) with assistance from Rodney District Council. Still no notice board with illustrations of the Plants and Birds for the information of visitors, especially those going up the Waiwera valley to see the work on the Alpurt extension.

What can I look forward to to-day? I still have breakfast at five o’clock, laying out the cereals, jams, marmalade, honey, vegemite and the bread for toast making. This is the only meal we prepare for ourselves as Abbeyfield House is an alternative living system for older independent people. It is affordable family-style living of people who seek independence, privacy, companionship and safety.There are 10 units each with an en-suite and furnished by the resident ,

A resident housekeeper Kathy who cooks our lunch and dinner, cleans the communal areas and helps with gardening of vegetables and flowers. There is an all-inclusive rent which covers food, staffing, power, heating, maintenance , and management costs. This keeps rising at regular intervals so is above the government pension –but I have my teaching pension but savings are falling.

The building is new and purpose built. I was the fifth to arrive and was at the official opening by the Prime Minister, our local M.P. There are over 900 Abbeyfield Houses worldwide.

At 7.30 Kathy and I leave to visit the local market on the Wesley reserve -– the only Auckland one open on a Tuesday. The trundler gets filled with carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, mandarins apples etc. as it does on the other day Friday. Then to Gilmours for the monthly purchase of caterer’s packs of frozen vegetables, tinned fruits and vegetables, tea, coffee etc. I push the trolley An excellent way to keep fit and then the loading and unloading of the car. Then to Countdown or Foodtown with our reuseable eco friendly bags for the normal twice weekly shop, armed with our shopping list and prices of specials from the flyers

There is a tight budget for food, so specials are important, as is the comparison of contents of products and what is most economical per unit. Time consuming but necessary and easier with our early start. Looking out for day specials in meat and discontinued lines Then loading on the conveyor belt at the check out so frozen foods get packed together, household cleaning materials, etc. this makes it easier when we unload and place in the freezers, fridge, and cupboards.

My days are busy with gardening - planting vegetables for the table, on the internet and knitting. It is only recently that after 18 months I have finished unpacking and getting rid of some more of my books. The local Rotary are having a Book Sale soon, like Orewa Rotary who took 50 banana boxes full of my accumulations from school galas and op shops, before I left the Hibiscus Coast.

Reading the Herald on line these days leads to thought on the future. The recent food and oil prices rises combined with the international credit squeeze, the high dollar, drought and inflation meant New Zealand was now "confronting the most uncertain and potentially challenging global environment we have seen in recent times”.

Skyrocketing prices and media reports of a global rice shortage are driving many New Zealanders, especially Asian and Indian immigrants, to stockpile - as their once inexpensive staple continues to scale record-high prices.

In Auckland, the price of rice has tripled since Christmas - and a 25kg sack, which used to cost about $25 six months ago now costs up to $65. One shopper Jessie Lee said: "Rice is our staple, so whatever the price, we have no choice. [Ref: New Zealand Herald , 8 May 2008]

Sustainability is a keyword in the mind of the Management Committee and the Consumers’ Price Index. Several ideas from the internet are shared and often appear in Waiwera Words, which has been renamed WORLD of WORDS as they now come from Auckland!!

My links with Waiwera are still strong with attending the Environment Court on Redevelopment project for Waiwera, (where agreement was reached between Rodney District Council and Waiwera Stage 1) and at Couldrey House, Wenderholm Regional Park as volunteer guide and

on the Management Committee. A highlight last Friday was meeting and seeing the art of the Artist in the Park. She was keen, only days from finishing her month to ask questions and take photos of Couldrey House and I was keen to see the use of leaf skeletons, magnolia fruits, nikau palms - always a favourite of mine as they grew on my Waiwera land.

To-morrow I am off to Paihia to the Country Music Festival, while to-day I have a second interview on being childless for a Ph.D student.

No wonder I enjoyed a recent Herald article on “Retirement should be fun”. I retired in 1987, so after 21 years teaching at Hamilton Girls’ High School is equal to my years retired.

However I have begun to suffer from rheumatism which will no doubt slow me down, but I can still climb onto the buses as I no longer drive – a car is unnecessary when you can travel on a day’s senior pass for $6.50 which also includes ferries and rail.