It has been a while since I posted on this blog. In fact it has been so long that I have had to do a revamp and change the whole theme and layout. I’m no designer so I am sure there is plenty to critique, but I’m more concerned right now to get some relevant content up here.

What do I mean by relevant? Relevant to me I guess, as since 2017 the date of my last blog post things have changed a lot in the world. They say a week is a long time in politics, and nearly seven and a half years since my last post means a lot of weeks. Back in 2017 the acronym COVID had not been heard, Ukraine was not at war with Russia, Brexit was still a boiling hot topic, and climate change was not on the lips of every politician. I was still an IT Consultant working in Birmingham and had just taken over as Head Coach of Wombourne Swimming Club in South Staffordshire on a part-time basis.

Now it’s 2025; COVID is a fading memory, and the temperature around Brexit has likewise cooled. Russia and Ukraine have been in a horrendous conflict for nearly 4 years, and the Middle East is again in turmoil with the Hamas and Israeli conflict, plus the fall of Assad in Syria. What has been going up is the temperature, as climate change floods our daily lives. I’ve looked back on many old posts here where I took a climate skeptical approach, not that the climate was not changing but that not all the change is due to human activity. I’m still of that persuasion. But that is not to say that we should continue to gamble and keep burning those fossil fuels, they need to be cut back on and awareness of the issue is half the battle right?

My situation has changed too. I retired from IT Consultancy in July of 2023, and within 3 months I had moved to New Zealand on a 3 year work visa, taking up the role of Head Coach of Napier Aquahawks, and with my wife Sandra we have been touring this amazing set of islands. That is one reason for me to re-hydrate this blog to share with you the images and experiences of our trip and to have a record of our adventures.

I’ve also really got back into astronomy and have got on board with astrophotography 21st century and wanted to log and share my experiences in that field.

Finally I have gotten to be a history nerd, and now follow 3 podcasts, The Rest is History, The History of Byzantium and The History of England. This all arose during the pandemic and through a series of twists and turns has led me to self-publish two historical novels under the pen name of Justin Isaacs entitled “The Guardians of Byzantium” Books 1 and 2. I’ll talk about those more later in other posts suffice to say they are available on Amazon with Book 3 in the process of being written.

So that is me back again, and next post I hope will not be in seven and a half years time, but rather in the next week. I’m not sure what I’ll do it on, but it will be probably part 1 of our recent journey through New Zealand’s South Island.

Cheers

Dave Mc