Good morning. Yes, the holiday hiatus is over and The Wash is refreshed and ready for whatever lies ahead in 2012.
Firstly, a big round of applause to the "Detours" team of reporters who have done such a great job looking after this important space on Inside One. I hope I can maintain their high standards.
I want to start the new year on a positive note by handing out a bouquet to Dunedin Passenger Transport, an operator of the public bus service in the city.
I have become a "busie" in recent weeks, thanks to my seriously ailing and ancient Mazda being off road with what I hope will not be a terminal illness, and have been really impressed with the service to and from Corstorphine.
There is no shortage of buses at peak times and the drivers I have met have all been friendly and helpful, even when I've handed over a large note for a ticket when they'd much prefer loose change.
Last year The Wash expressed some reservations about the city's bus service, from the outside looking in. Now, from the inside looking out, I've been "converted".
• Got one of those flash new smartphones yet?
You know, those high-tech whizz-bangs that feature the whole "qwerty" keyboard and can carry out a zillion other activities just by the touch of the screen.
Well, they are way too technical for me. Besides, if I was forking out all that dosh for a new-fangled one I'd be wanting cellphone coverage in Otago to have a lot fewer dead spots, especially when travelling between Dunedin and the heart of Central Otago and back.
In fact, a Central Otago woman reckons her ageing mobile outperforms these newer phones, which she attributes to it having a decent-sized internal aerial.
And while she gets a bit of ribbing from her friends for sticking to her "very old" mobile, over the holidays she had the last laugh more than once when able to use it in such out-of-the-way places as Owaka, Cattle Flat and the Ardgour Valley, when others could not.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who can identify other "no-go" areas for cellphone reception in our region.
You'd think after all this time, and all that technology, there would be no such thing.
• After years of avoiding Dunedin's annual Thieves Alley market day, I joined the masses who choked the heart of the city on Saturday morning and had a fine time.
The bargain-spotter in me was well catered for and I went home with a bag full of great buys.
But the real highlight was watching a three-piece band, Jayden TJ and the Nuggets, rocking out some credible covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, especially after being told two of the group from George Street Normal School, are just 7 years old.
There were lots of happy faces in the crowd around me as the band went through its routine with youthful enthusiasm and confidence.
A big thumbs-up to Thieves Alley organiser Hazel Murtagh who surely deserves a medal - or something bigger - for making this enduring event so successful. Is there anything like it elsewhere in New Zealand, I wonder?