WHAT A YEAR!
Sounds like Sarah-Kate has a lot to be grateful for
Well, 2019, mustn’t grumble, you’ve been a good year for the most part. It helped that I started you by flying to Christchurch and going on the TranzAlpine train trip to the West Coast, followed up by a spot of swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura.
Being reminded of what a beautiful country we live in sure gets a gal off to a great start. Who can argue with 300 dolphins?
There was no big trip this year – the sunflowers of Tuscany had to turn their faces to the sun without me – but I did manage to make it to Queenstown a handful of times for Book Club.
I know it makes little sense to live in a place other than the one where your intense literary get-togethers are held, but if you came to my Book Club, you’d know why it’s worth travelling for.
Luckily, I did manage to squeeze in a trip to the Cook Islands for the only week that the Ginger and my schedules were in sync. Otherwise we’ve been a bit like ships in the night.
But when his work took him to Dunedin, I went with. It was fab getting to know this city which I realised I actually had a slight grudge against. Memories of living there when I was little seemed to focus on crashing the car and wetting my pants, but I’m happy to say neither of those things happened this time around.
The Ginger’s been busy working all year on different films while I’ve had the pleasure (and sometimes pain) of seeing my own TV show come to life.
I had the idea for a thriller called TheSounds back in 2016, but if you think taking a year to write a book is a pain in the proverbial, try writing an eight-part series.
My typing fingers are practically worn to stubs and my listening ears have all but closed up thanks to the endless “collaborating” that comes with getting something from script to screen.
Yes, you’ve been one big learning curve, 2019. But The Sounds is now in the can after a big, talented team of mostly local hard-working bods put it all together – no mean feat when it was filmed mostly outside over the winter. Was the writer fighting for her life in the freezing cold October ocean? No, she was miles away sitting by a fire with a chardonnay in hand.
Of course it’s not the first time I have reinvented myself professionally and it may not be the last. Like many Kiwis, the Ginger and I check our Lotto tickets with a magnifying glass every week in case somebody missed something because although we both love what we do, we would also love drinking champagne poolside at five-star hotels.
You have been something of a disappointment on the windfall front, 2019. Let’s hope 2020 tries harder. If not, let’s hope great work continues to come our way, we remain in good enough health to enjoy it and that our days and nights off continue to be filled with those feel-good perennials – family, friends, food, love and laughter.