Ruapehu playtime, 4Paws Half-Marathon & the downhill run to the election

I had put writing about the Ruapehu trip on hold with feeling the need to write about the “cost savings” that included Enabling Good Lives contingency. Since then I have seen a press release where:

“The Government has confirmed $73.7 million over the next four years and a further $40.5m in outyears to continue to transform the disability support system, Minister for Disability Issues Priyanca Radhakrishnan has announced.”
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-confirms-additional-support-enabling-good-lives?fbclid=IwAR0bf0aiT8EB0F0jfzJWDnyyWgaoA2bThVCNjXwRMZ6TvuXDapYrrWLctaU

I am not really sure what the true size of the contingency was, but the maths doesn’t add up, it makes my head hurt, and to be honest, I haven’t got the time or energy for something like an Official Information Act request. The “details” at the bottom of the above press release have promise. I really hope that other regional leadership groups are supported better by Whaikaha than MidCentral was by the Ministry of Health. I will talk in my next blog about some of the “crunch points” that I see potentially happening, hopefully, Whaiakaha will have taken on some of the learning from the “unintended consequences” we came across in MidCentral. I guess I am disappointed that the contingency was taken because it will once again slow down much-needed change because of “resource” issues and that $52 million could have provided some of that resourcing.

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April’s Atiwhakatu Adventure

April began with me trying to get the footage I had taken at Alice Nash edited (I’m still trying!), some meetings and preparing to take 3 friends out to Alice Nash for an overnighter. Then I realized that the deer hunting season had kicked off, that there was a lot of talk of father/son hunting trips and that Aotearoa was in full lockdown this time last year…

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And the year is Marching on…

March kicked off with a visit to the local court to see ADNZ Raven’s support crew many of the courthouse staff all chip in towards Raven’s fundraising effort. The place was a bit chaotic due to a change in Covid19 Alert Levels. I don’t think Raven fully appreciates what “Social Distancing” means! Thank you so much for your continued support of Raven and Assistance Dogs NZ Trust.

ADNZ Raven wearing her blue harness. She standing getting a lower back scratch from a woman sitting down in an office setting. A sticker saying "Thank You" obscures the woman's face
Don’t let the judge catch you not social distancing Raven!!
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Life is a Series of Chapters; A tribute to Assistance Dogs NZ Ben

Its time for one chapter to close, and another to open.

If you have met me over the last 6 or 7 years you will have also met my sidekick, Assistance Dogs NZ Trust (ADNZ) Ben. ADNZ Ben has been with me through many ups and many downs over the years, but the reality is that he is now 10 years old, he’s done an amazing job for me over this time but he is retiring. He will be rehomed with a long time friend of mine who will give him a relaxed retirement, where he can just chill. She is also one of the few wheelchair users he will sleep behind so I know he trusts her. I have also been matched with a successor through ADNZ.

A close  up of my left foot and ADNZ Ben's right rear foot.
Together our feet get us there
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I’m still here, I’ve just have been really inconsistent with posting!

I’m still around!

If you only follow me via this blog, you would be right in thinking that I have fallen off the grid! Although sometimes falling off the grid sounds like a wonderful idea I haven’t gone to that extent!  The truth is between working hard on various bits and pieces in the community, going away and looking after myself, writing blogs consistently has been well down on the list of things to do. 

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Road Trip Feb 2018 Part 3

It’s taken awhile, editing a slide-show with voice over is a lot harder than editing video, as you see me state in the video I was a bad vlogger and took lots of pics but no video! A full blog that goes alongside this video will be added shortly.

Part 4 shouldn’t be too far away! Transcript below video.

Enjoy!

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Yes, I’ve been a “bad” blogger

A bit of an update
 

Yes I have been quite the last couple of months.  It’s been hectic, I’ve been tired and had a few health things surface that I have needed to deal with as well. All this led to me having to step away from the keyboard for a few weeks. So strap in for a brief overview of the last couple of months. I guess at times you just have to survive so you can go on to thrive again, so I’ve just been taking the steps to get back to thriving lately.
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Part Two of the February trip

We’ve been on a learning curve
Part 2 February 2018 Trip
 

This blog and video has taken a wee bit longer to get out than we anticipated, we’ve got a new laptop and a new video editing program so we’ve been on a bit of a learning curve in how the new program works.

This is “Part Two February 2018 Trip” and you can find the video at: https://youtu.be/EBQbrqFcY0g
Transcript can be found below the blog.
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