Today, there was a gas leak in the air condition which made people ill. At around 3 pm the shopping centre was declared a state of emergency, was taken over by the fire department and was evacuated, including my office. Later in the afternoon, we were advised that it would not re-open that day. So I went home.

I managed to shut down the server, grab my backups and handbag and we went to the evacuation assembly area for my zone. The assembly area was not to my liking so I re-assembled at the restaurant across the road. It must have been a good idea because a number of people followed suit. Whatever discomfort came from leaving my office was soon put to right by the service at the restaurant.

I picked up my husband at the airport later in the evening. He’s home now for a while. I think he has one more trip to the Philippines, but not Noumea anymore.