Dousing A Dream Leaves A Burning Spark

The Universe stepped in and delivered us to an island anyway - one I'd never dreamed
of going to - Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

The Declaration

I’d declared Unilateral Declaration of Ownership (UDO). 

Own the situation.  Own the solution.

The declaration followed a head-banging moment which changed my life after sixty.

Labour Pains

There had been labour pains, nine months before I’d made a suggestion to Mike.  A Year in Four-Quarters.  We would each choose two destinations and spend three months in each. 

“I’ll finance it by writing a book as we go.”  I could see by Mike’s expression this was going to be a hard sell.  Why didn’t I shut up?  He might have got curious.  Nope, I launched straight into rules. 

Mike hates rules.

“Only islands, off-season and no luxury destinations.  I’ve chosen St Helena and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.”  

“Why would anyone want to spend three months on a wind-swept rock in the middle of the Atlantic in winter?   
Ask Napoleon, he hated it”, said Mike.  

“You can only get there by boat", I said.  Foolish me, I know romanticism isn’t persuasive as an argument.

Mike moved on.  “Do you know what winter is like in the Hebrides?” 

Mike is very lame so I said archly, “Yes, it has an added benefit; if you walk into the wind, you won’t be able to fall over".

Sometimes women invest big in ideas and present them to men as small change

I'm a woman so I’d thought about this trip and the possibilities for months and months before I presented it to
Mike as AN IDEA. 

Off the cuff, the idea didn't appeal and he dismissed it without a clue he had just asphyxiated a dream scenario of epic proportions.  He was right of course, it would have been bloody cold in Lewis and problematic for Mike landing at St Helena by boat.  And I didn't know how to write a book either.

But a spark was still smouldering. 

The Universe stepped in

For reasons well beyond the scope of this blog, we ended up on an island: Waiheke Island off Auckland, New Zealand. Mike thought it was paradise and wanted us to live there for ever.  Me, I got itchy feet ...  Well, it was only an idea!  

Island Magic

And I had this thing about islands …  Have you ever wanted to live on an island?  Which one?

Mike and I on the Beach in Waiheke