Now Voyager: Monday to recover

Busy morning at Memphis, with Gloria, Tom and Anita all making an appearance. My cold is unfortunately turning into a dry cough which I do not wish to happen, could last a long time. So I have decided to cut my losses and cancel all activities until I am better as I need to be in top form for my Sydney trip in four weeks. I am expecting Julian to return today and want it to be good for him at the house.

The weather in Wellie today is cold but sunny and a beautiful day for a walk along the bayside.

News of the world is increasingly dark with more race killings in the US prompting an outburst from Barack Obama and a return from his trip to Europe. The killings are not stopping.

You really don't have to read berween the lines these days to see that the world is in a crisis and ploughng towards more wars and mass deaths. At home we in the Antipodes are so spoiled sometimes we just don't know we are alive. The International Film Festival is arriving soon and people are queuing to buy tickets for forty movies costing a random $700! And some of these movies are about the world in crisis, but it is just on the screen. This is not to say Kiwis are not in the hotspots, they always are and most often being the leaders and most resourceful, for that is the Kiwi way.

In OZ thay have slipped into yet another toothless Lib National Government and PM Malcolm Turnbull smiling, albeit, a bit grimly, acceptng Bill Shorten's speech of election loss. But it was close and he was warned. It's now up to the minority parties to make a difference by helping the government make good changes and the first should be a scrapping of the Gay Marriage plebiscite and just leave it to parliament to vote and it will be passd with a stern majority. What a waste of money that plebisicite, like the Kiwi flag referendum, really!

Obama is visibly upset, tired and very worried about his country, although he tries to put some good spin on it. But how can he? It's in a bloody mess.