I then mentally went in the opposite direction and couldn't work out why CGF was only just getting ready when she should have been at work. No, Ruby, you fool. UK is 12 hour behind. That means it is the start of Sunday, not Monday.

It could be because of instant communication. In the old days, communication was by letters that took several days to arrive. The delay between despatch and receipt of messages masked the time difference. It didn't matter that times referred to by the writer were a different absolute time to that of the reader. Now there is no delay between despatch and receipt and so we are aware of the time difference (or not, as I have demonstrated in the previous paragraphs).

Getting my head round the idea that trees here are coming into leaf when ours are dropping is also a bit hard

I have found myself charger-challenged this trip. I deliberately didn't bring my camera charger as mum has a similar camera and therefore a compatible charger. Except she bought a new camera earlier in the year so doesn't. And the phone charger I brought was for the wrong phone. First problem has been solved by borrowing one from Big Sis, and second problem with a NZD 30 purchase from a local electrical store.

Sis and BiL's 50th birthday bash last night. It was a fun event and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Band was good, playing a good selection of danceable music (Sis's youngest child said "Mum, I knew all of the songs") and not too loud (for us old people); enough beer to go round (I worked the bar most of the evening, seeing as I didn't know anyone and couldn't face having the same "who am I" conversation 80 times over); no one got drunk or aggressive. And I made Sis confess that she had attempted fratricide when I was three.

As people arrived and started giving presents we wondered if we should have put to a table to collect gifts on. "No," replied Sis's eldest, "We'll hide them out the back - we don't want to see how popular mum is".

Needless to say, Little Sis didn't make it over fort the party. Her excuses were, quite frankly, rubbish. One was that she had no one to look after the cats; the other was they her husband had to work. Not only rubbish, but also self-contradictory. She could have come on her own and the two problems would have solved each other.

Tiki-tours start tomorrow. I forget where we have planned to go each day - luckily mum has a handle on it. One is a trip to Hobbiton which should be fun (if expensive - depending on how you measure it).