Escaping Auckland!

It has been about ten days since I moved to Thames. Why did I head out of the big smoke? Auckland is a wonderful place and it had been my home for the last 55 years. I had witnessed it growing form a city of 450,000 in the early 60's to one of over 1.5 million. I watched and lived through massive growth in the traffic and the increased diversity of its people. I enjoyed the beautiful beaches and the long summers and relatively short and mild winters. Auckland provided me with employment for all of my adult life, but finally I threw in in the towel and headed to another part of the Hauraki Gulf---Thames. About two years ago, I started looking on-line for a quieter place, one by the sea and one whereby I could enjoy a 'slide into retirement.' I remember a dozen or so years ago dreaming about living on Dominion Rd, and I managed to make that dream come true. I loved our little flat at the end of Dominion Road and although it did not measure up to all of the words in that famous song about Dominion Rd, it certainly hit the spot for us---for ten plus years. But the dreams recurred, this times about the Thames Coast. I let them come and go but eventually, a raft of contributing factors emerged, leading me to a new decision. I felt that I had reached a time re my work in a busy high school was coming to an end---a natural one and that after a health scare, that it was time to look for a quieter pace on my life journey. I had gone through the 'Bariatric Surgery process and that gave me hope for an 'extension' of life, but the 'heart' of the matter was ---just that--- the heart was giving me some warning signs that could not be ignored-----so I knew it was time to listen to my dreams and head for the coast. Things moved incredibly fast. People have commented on my impulsive nature---yes---that is me, be it for purchasing 'As Seen On TV,' products or other life changing decisions---I DO NOT MUCK AROUND, when it comes to making changes! So---- I had been looking at real estate on the Thames Coast for quite some time and I only needed two visits and a second visit with my parter to make the decision to sell the Mt Roskill home and but the little cottage in Tararu, Thames. Sure I had a few 'cardiac episodes,' during and after this hectic time, but here I am, starting each day with a walk along the rocky beach near where I live and planning all sorts of adventures for the future. Yes, a camper van may come, but I am not in a hurry. Sure, I still work---maybe one part-day a week, back in the big City of Sails, but I am experiencing a whole new way of life, taking time (so much that I forget where I have parked the car!) to think, read, write and enjoy LIFE!~ I miss my friends and former workplace, but I know you are all still up there and no doubt you will be coming my way at some stage. You can look forward to a few postings about the mischief I get up to and some pretty tall tales. It's up to you as to whether they are true or not! Hell, I have time to make up OR LIVE some real beauts! www.authorneilcoleman.com

I want to have a little 'push' for ROSKILL and Talk To Me.

It has been a while since I pushed Roskill and Talk To Me. Both books are on Kindle and can be accessed via my website. Just follow the links. There is even a free Kindle AP on there. The two books are totally different, but I think a 'bot of me comes through. You just can't take the 'Neil,' completely out of my books. I am 'pushing them,' because I am leaving my employment as a school counsellor, after many years. The job has informed me in ways that sometimes come out in my stories and although not 'factual,' the stories are the tears, laughter and experiences of both myself (re the food and geographical settings) and my clients. There is no doubt that I am entering a different world re finances! The 'good and very dependable salary' is going to be a 'resource' I can no longer take for granted. Yes, I shall be seeing a few private clients so that IO can keep my counselling skills current and will also be offering supervision to other counsellors. I do not intend to let that take more than about a day and a half----so what am I intending to do--to spend all that TIME? I am moving out of the big smoke and becoming a JAR! That is the 'nice' term the people in Thames (NZ) use for Aucklander---JUST ANOTHER REFUGEE!) So---apart from the clients I will come back to see in Auckland, using a 'yet to be purchased campervan as an office, I shall be gardening, fishing and just---whatever comes my way. Will I be writing more books. Well---I do have a huge incomplete work--that needs to be split into three books, but I no longer have the means to self-publish that. I thought of trying to 'Crowd fund it,' but that seems like a pathway with too many hooks, so I guess it will come back to achieving some real sales figures for my two books, already 'out there,' ROSKILL and Talk To Me. Please share my website with your friends and circles and let's see if that can act as a de facto 'Crowd Funding exercise.' If that fails, I shall return to 'subsistence gardening and swapping produce at the Thames Markets! OH---there are the chooks, of course. Expect some blogs re my move to Thames, with lots of stories about my trials and tribulations. SHARE and then some peeps. www.authorneilcoleman.com

THis has happenned before---this time it's Germany!

Every so often I get multiple hits on my blog from one country. Usually it has been from Israel and any attempts to contact Google for an explanation are met with---no response! I simply do not believe that the 'hits' are genuine. Why would I achieve hundreds, if not thousands of hits in one day from one country? This time it is---Germany---920 hits all of a sudden. Can anyone shed any light on what might be happening? I see a 'dark side,' and worry about what my blog is being used for. Sure the numbers look good and I wish it then equated to 'downloads' for my books, but no----I can see no benefit re these 'hits.' Oh well. Perhaps forces are operating 'out there' that I am completely unaware of.

It seems that I have graduated from being a JAFA to to JAR!

It seems that I have never really made good decisions when it comes to buying real estate. Oh well, the cosmos has other plans for me when it comes to making money. I guess I will have to measure my 'happiness,' using other factors. Yeah, I know, some of you will be saying I that just making excuses for being a 'financial non-entity!' BUT--I have reached a sage in my life, whereby i can say---WTF! Do I care-----NUP! BUT, again! This time, perhaps I have made a 'good move.' It certainly ticks the boxes for factors that matter to me---'lifestyle, less stress, contort and shear bloody beauty! About six weeks ago i signed up for a little cottage, not too far form the sea, in Thames. It costs about 40% less than the property i out on the market in Mt Roskill, Auckland. This is the result of several years of researching, thinking and finally coming to the point where--'I wanted out of Auckland, but live close enough to return for a few days a week re work and retaining close ties with all that is good about Auckland. I made another very risky decision---I went through the auction process re selling my home in Auckland. That is very 'different' for me. Yes it was a bit frightening, but i had an agent, whom I trusted (Ian from Mike Pero, Blockhouse Bay) and reached a price that I felt OK about. It was good knowing that the purchaser was happy too. Now, looking back and watching the Seven Sharp item last night about JARS, (Just Auckland Refugees---or is it another?) and the positive spin Thames people put on us invading their domain, I feel quite good. I suspect the prices in Thames took a turn for the heights, given the momentum that is building for the diaspora of a certain group of Aucklanders,' the 'provinces.' Don't worry too much, recipients of that 'movement,' wherever they may go---we will be humble and not try to impose our values---Oh shite---I can't speak for the others, but I am just so damned happy to escape and will do my best to fit in and bring something you value. Hell, I may even write another book using Thames as the 'fulcrum,' and it won't be about Gold mining! Hopefully, Perdy doesn't make her presence known for the wrong reasons and restricts her 'chasing to the rats! www.authorneilcoleman.com

I'm going to miss you, big time, Mt Roskill.

Selling one's house can be an emotional roller coaster. Not only are you preparing to leave your house and an area that you thought you would stay until---well until you COULDN'T, but somehow economic reality, combined with changing aspirations and slightly dodgy health, means that you can no longer stay. That's how I feel about Mt Roskill. It is a fantastic place to live; close to the city, via very useful public transport links, having a plethora of ethnic food outlets and shopping possibilities---these are just a few of the qualities I am going to miss. Friends and family? Yes, but some of them are also embarking on the same journey and I think that the new abode may well attract more visitors than I have seen in Roskill, given that it is on the main road to some pretty cool 'out of Auckland, places. 'When I drive home to my immaculately presented home, I think of the garden, the great indoor/outdoor flow, onto the deck and the office, under the pergola, festooned with flowers and creeping vines, I know that I am going to miss this place. Then add in the waiting---the 'open homes, whereby one has to maintain a constant vigilance, in case 'someone wants to check out the above place, the need to keep on top of clutter, rubbish, food smells---all the normal aspects of living in a home, that you have made your own. Now, it feels like I am sharing my home with the world, in the hope that someone is going to come up with the price that will propel me to my new life, in a town, not too far away from Auckland, but still more than a walk up the road, or a quick drive to visit friends and places. Sometimes, when I think too much, I wonder why I am doing this----but necessity rules, so Thames---here I come----in a few months. I just want it to happen soon, so I can get on with the next chapter in my life. I will not be saying, 'goodbye, Auckland,' just----'don't forget me!'

Great to see you---UK!

I am happy to see the UK coming back and reading my blogs, All I need now is for you to download or buy my books. Hey---I do speak the language of my forefathers, albeit using an Antipodean accent. I do write it in a quaint sort of post-colonial fashion, with that sometimes brash New Zealand twist on events. I do take the piss out of 'institutions' that need a bit of a 'sort-out,' but don't let that bother you. SO---bring it on and share my posts so that I can come and see you. I need to hand deliver a copy of Roskill to Her Highness! I think she may find "Talk TO ME' a bit of a giggle too. She can pretend that Perdy, my Jack Russell, is one of her dear doggies! www.authorneilcomean.com

There are 'seasons and I am entering a new one in my life.

You probably know that famous song about there being seasons in our lives, a song based on scriptures. Not that I am religious in the traditional sense, but I can relate to the word as expressed, either in song format or from a 'good book.' For quite a while (indeed, even in the introduction in some of my books!) I have been saying that I am preparing for retirement. So what I am about to say, is hardly a secret. I am entering a phase of my life whereby I 'tone it down a bit,' take more time for myself, leave behind the stress of full-time work and indeed, the craziness of a big city. I will not be doing this immediately; I shall take my time and gradually enter a more peaceful time of my life, yet still be involved in working with people. I have let my employer (for my full-time job) know that I intend to leave. It is time for someone else to take over that role, one with more energy. I will miss the students and my special friends, but hey---they are hardly going to be rid of me. They will know where I live and get to know the sound of the campervan (yet to be purchased) as it trundles up their drives or glides into the school car park----oops no---I will get CLAMPED!) . My presence on FB of course, will keep me in touch too. When will this all happen? Well---there is the issue of finding a home in my target area---Thames/Paeroa. Once that aim has been achieved (I am working on that from this weekend on) I shall give my notice. For my new clients (they know who they are) and 'supervisees', nothing will change, other than where I come from geographically. My aim is to travel to Auckland on Thursday and Fridays, stay in my campervan and see my supervision clients on those days and evenings. Of course Perdy will accompany me, but she will be sent to doggie care most of the time. So---my friends---watch out for how things proceed. I do not want to hurry this phase in my life. I want to achieve a balance that supports my health and allows me to keep on working in a job I love. Nothing has changed in that respect, just the manner in which I achieve my aims. OH---one last thing---will I still be 'writing? That all depends on how the books sales go for Roskill and the downloads for Talk To Me, the latter is now on Kindle, via Amazon. Much love, Neil www.auhtorneilcoleman.com