Windy Wellington but this time the plane lands. The PPTA Women in Leadership Conference...I'm exhausted before I get to the registration desk. I step into a group of chatty, boisterous, enthusiastic women. Not me but I play along. I got up exceptionally early and struggle to stay awake. In fact I doze off during every session, unobtrusively I hope. They're mainly high school teachers with the odd bod, school counselor, principal, thrown in. I make it through the afternoon and go for a walk to increase blood flow. It's freezing and I'm reminded why I would never live in Wellington...the climate, plus I prefer to live on flat ground. I lived here from 1983- 1985, just after I finished university, and had a great time, but I discovered I'm a South Islander at heart. And the wind blows most of the time. I used to work in the Government Buildings, the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere. It's across the road from the Beehive and we used to down tools to watch marches on Parliament, and take half hour breaks for morning and afternoon tea to play darts. I've never been so consistently bored in my life.
This evening we march on Parliament for dinner. I'm stoked to be inside the Beehive, with my builder's eye I check out the marble floor with beautifully proportioned stairs, and the wooden floor. The ceilings curve 100 feet up to concrete beams and when we sing a waiata, our voices soar. The food is delicious, so is the wine, and I have good chats with my table mates. Interesting stories of all kinds, not just teaching. We laugh a lot and exchange tips on everything, as women do. Julie-Ann Genter, Minister for Women, gives an address. I listen but don't remember much. Today I discovered what I already knew, I lead from the back. A back bencher. There's been a phone call to Kirk, but that's all the house stuff today. Nice to have time off.
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