Wet, cold and windy

We slept in until 8am this morning - most unusual for us - then went for a slow and, for me, painful walk before breakfast. I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that walking fast and trying to get faster each week is not in my best interests, so it’s slow walks and/or cycling, at least for the foreseeable future. We had a very leisurely late breakfast, then pottered around until it was time to go out to pick up the open home signs.  Mum came with us for the ride and then later we went over to have a drink with her.  The rain and wind were building up as we walked back home and there is a strong wind warning and a heavy rain watch for Auckland from early morning Monday until early morning Tuesday.  Basically, Monday is going to be a washout.

While we were out walking this morning on a very grey day, we saw signs of spring - two quite different Magnolia trees in bloom.  How lovely.

There are 5,535 new community cases today, and the seven-day rolling average is 8,563 compared to 9,847 last Sunday. The number of people in hospital is 720, including 21 in ICU. Today another 14 deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of publicly reported deaths to 1,990 and the seven-day rolling average to 24.