This personal essay was published by The Spinoff in April 2026. It explores my experience navigating financial relief with Inland Revenue, and the gap between how systems are designed to work and how they can feel in practice — particularly when illness, bureaucracy and financial uncertainty collide. At its heart, it is about dignity, discretion, … Continue reading The Cost of Proving You’re Poor Enough
There comes a point in every cat’s life when he must ask himself a very important question: Is writing a diary enough… or should it be heard? Weasley, it seems, has reached that point. What began as a few observations — shared here, and occasionally on the Diamond Harbour Facebook page — gradually turned into … Continue reading Weasley’s Podcast — Now You Can Hear It
“Still Here” received first prize in the 2025 Graeme Lay Short Story Competition, judged by Graeme Lay. The wind met her as soon as she stepped out of the car, a salt-bitten blast that smelled of kelp and rust. Mary Bennett pulled her jacket tight and squinted up at Pencarrow Lighthouse, stubborn on the cliff’s … Continue reading Still Here
Some weeks feel like a test of endurance. This one could have qualified for the decathlon. Monday: I had an appointment with the Eye Service at Outpatients, where I was told that despite months of being assured I qualified for publicly funded cataract surgery, I no longer do. The reason? The other eye is “too … Continue reading What a Week (From Hell)
MSD disability allowance New Zealand – the article in The Press I was surprised — and slightly amused — to discover this morning that an opinion piece I wrote about the MSD disability allowance New Zealand had appeared in The Press. I had no advance notice, but someone from the Diamond Harbour Facebook page kindly … Continue reading MS(D) Gets on My Nerves
I’m proud to share that a piece I wrote has been published by the MS Society of New Zealand. It’s called “MS Care Can’t Wait – and Neither Can We”, and it speaks to the urgent need for better access to treatment, services, and support for people living with Multiple Sclerosis in New Zealand. This … Continue reading MS Care Can’t Wait — And Neither Can We
Ten days ago, I got a call from IRD about an Application for Relief I’d submitted online. Within thirty seconds, I could tell the tone was going to be adversarial and accusatory. Since I tend to fall apart in those kinds of situations, I recorded it — so I could digest what was said later, … Continue reading No Relief for Doing the Right Thing
Lately, I’ve been exploring the work of Joe Dispenza, particularly his book Becoming Supernatural. I’ve read a lot of material in this realm, much of it from the Hay House stable—Wayne Dyer, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Anita Moorjani, Gregg Braden, and, of course, Louise Hay. Plus many others that I haven’t mentioned here. While I’ve … Continue reading Curious Coincidences
Earlier this week, I self-published my first eBook on Amazon KDP titled The Woes of Weasley – The Diary of an Orange Cat. It’s a collection of short stories I’ve been writing since October 2018, with the main protagonist being my ginger cat, Weasley, who I adopted as a kitten in August 2016, just weeks … Continue reading Thoughts on Self-Publishing and Artificial Intelligence
It’s the noise of a jet ski in the early morning dawn A leaf blower whining at eight-thirty Sunday morn Dog poo left in plastic bags. Cats that run away Cruise ships in our harbour much to our dismay Chlorine in the water. Chemtrails in the sky Personal opinions, no-one seeing eye to eye The … Continue reading What I love About Diamond Harbour
