May is often a good month in Wellington. The first time I came here, for a short holiday in 1987, there were lots of days like this: sunny, calm and pleasantly cool.

And today. I couldn’t just sit at my desk and stare out the window. So I’m out in it, the pleasant working bustle of Queen’s Wharf contrasting with the calm of the outlook. Cool fresh air. Haze over the eastern hills slowly dispersing. A ferry leaving for the South Island (they’ll have a crossing to remember: the sea’s diamond plate sparkle and an escort of dolphins). The sun on the stacked suburbs of my adopted home town.

But I’d better get back to work.