For the first time since primary school we only needed to attend 1 prize giving this year. At College they do sports (not a Tanner thing!), junior and senior prize givings on 3 separate nights. Parents get a letter to say that their child is getting an award so you know you really do need to go. This year Harriette again walked off with first in chemistry and Alice got 1st in music. They also got various merit awards and Harriette picked up a $1,000 scholarship, awarded to 7 high performing students. Izzy, a good friend of Harriette's gave an emotional and touching, head girls speech and the principal Glenn Rowsell can always be relied of for a humorous speech. Brits was awarded dux. She and Harriette shared the top academic award at Hinuera Primary school and Brits studys really hard (Harriette doesn't), so it was given that it would go to Brits. It has been the biggest ever 7th form at the College due to the recession and they have all had a great year.
Heading off shortly to Roturua to meet The Scotts for brunch at the Fat Dog cafe. Well we have one of them here at the moment, Kat. Alice and Kat went to a surprise 16th birthday for their friend Pip (well another Alice really. It seems to be a thing that so many girls in Harriette's year have a younger sister called Alice)out at Putaruru so I we had to wait up until midnight to go and collect them!
The 2010 Taupo Cycle Challenge was last weekend and I was on the Matamata Rotary relay team. I wanted, and got, the last leg as I have done the other 3. It has the dreaded Haitape Hill but this I think is only bad when you have already cycled all the way round. It was a seriously hot day and of course there was lots of hanging around. I enjoyed it though my training as been rather remiss this year!
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
For Marion!
I Skyped with Marion and Simon for the first time this week. (Marion and I worked together for 9 years when I ran the HDU at Buckland Hospital in the 80's. They have retired to Spain.) Marion commented that I had not posted since 'Miss Saigon' so I have added some blogs that were in my Drafts folder and am adding one for good measure. I am working until about 11pm tonight teaching in Rotorua and then have to take Helen home so I am starting late today. I plan to blog and then attempt to cycle to the end of Taotaoroa Rd and back. Only 28km but seriously hilly so some stretches are very slow going. Stunningly beautiful though!!
I have recently go back on my bike after doing almost nothing since Taupo last November when I did half of the 160km course. My fitness has dropped back hugely and my bum needs to toughen up again! The time in the saddle is as big a challenge as the energy and power to actually ride! I did 55km 2 weeks ago so am getting there. I am doing Taupo again this month but only 40km. I have opted to do leg 4 which includes Haitapi Hill. I blogged about that 2 years ago.Last weekend we had a pot-luck evening with the cycle club - Matamata Peddlers. The club is big for such a small town and very vibrant. It was started by our friends Dale and Sheryl Ertel. Sheryl is a fellow Rotarian (which is how we met). At the pot-luck I had enough wine to feel it but not enough to be drunk. A perfect balance that is a pleasure and does not leave one suffering the next day.
Running is getting easier after the winter lull. With the clocks changing it is easier to get up in the summer, and we have had some beautiful mornings lately. I am just waiting for the pool to be cleaned up. It should be swim-able by the end of the weekend.
We need to work on tidying the place up a bit. I have started working on the garden and drive and we plan to paint the outside of the house this summer. I have also go sowing in the veg plot and with no plans to holiday away this summer I should be able to grow plenty this year. Alice and I spent much of the recent school holidays repainting her room. It has a very high ceiling and we painted it black, and bought the paint down the walls about 50cm. the difference is amazing. I knew what we had done but really had to look hard to see where the ceiling started and the wall finished. We just need to do the curtains now. I have not been able to find any the right colour and was going to make some but have decided to dye some IKEA ones we bought with us that are still in their packets. Problem now is finding the time to do the dye-ing!
I joined Matamata's Women's Club earlier this year. The club meets once a month. It is an excuse to dress up, have dinner and socialise. It is a good size with about 90 attending last night. No committee's or fund raising and they have a speaker. I really enjoy it. Yesterday I presented a 'pen sketch' on my life. One person does one each month. I got lots of nice comments afterwards with 2 people saying I should be a professional speaker :-). How nice is that!
We are coming up to that really busy time of year. Harriette's leavers dinner is next week. She only has a few days left at school then exams and that's it until late Feb! She MUST get a job over the summer. I can't have her hanging around the house for 3 months - much as I'm sure she'd love to!
Rotary has kept us busy lately. There is big fund raiser on for Polio Plus which I am involved in. I spent last Sunday up in the Kaimais at a RYPEN camp. RYPEN is a youth enrichment programme aimed at middle of the road youth who demonstrate positive characteristics. The kids absolutely loved it and developed real camaraderie over the weekend. This weekend we are providing security at a home for the Matamata Home and Garden's Show on Saturday morning. We are also hosting 6 people for Guess Who's coming to Dinner on Friday evening. This is a social event our Rotary club runs a few times a year. We know we are cooking for 6 guests but do not know who they are until they arrive. We do the main course and others bring desert, starter, wine etc. It's usually a very pleasant evening.
Matamata-Piako has a business awards evening in October and this year Eric's firm, Magill Earl, was in the finals for the customer satisfaction category. They did not win but it was still a great achievement, and good publicity. The dinner was very enjoyable and the guest speaker, Marcus Akuhata-Brownm was amazing. Marcus is a Maori guy who went from growing up on the East Coast in a house with no electricity to the world stage meeting Mandela, Tutu, Prince Charles and President Obama in his capacity as a youth leader. His speech was one of the best I have ever heard. A great communicator and motivator for youth.
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Well it's 9am now and rush hour will be over so I am going to head out on the bike. I will probably be passed by about 6 cars in 2 hours now. If I went earlier it would have been nearer 20!!! I LOVE New Zealand!
I have recently go back on my bike after doing almost nothing since Taupo last November when I did half of the 160km course. My fitness has dropped back hugely and my bum needs to toughen up again! The time in the saddle is as big a challenge as the energy and power to actually ride! I did 55km 2 weeks ago so am getting there. I am doing Taupo again this month but only 40km. I have opted to do leg 4 which includes Haitapi Hill. I blogged about that 2 years ago.Last weekend we had a pot-luck evening with the cycle club - Matamata Peddlers. The club is big for such a small town and very vibrant. It was started by our friends Dale and Sheryl Ertel. Sheryl is a fellow Rotarian (which is how we met). At the pot-luck I had enough wine to feel it but not enough to be drunk. A perfect balance that is a pleasure and does not leave one suffering the next day.
Running is getting easier after the winter lull. With the clocks changing it is easier to get up in the summer, and we have had some beautiful mornings lately. I am just waiting for the pool to be cleaned up. It should be swim-able by the end of the weekend.
We need to work on tidying the place up a bit. I have started working on the garden and drive and we plan to paint the outside of the house this summer. I have also go sowing in the veg plot and with no plans to holiday away this summer I should be able to grow plenty this year. Alice and I spent much of the recent school holidays repainting her room. It has a very high ceiling and we painted it black, and bought the paint down the walls about 50cm. the difference is amazing. I knew what we had done but really had to look hard to see where the ceiling started and the wall finished. We just need to do the curtains now. I have not been able to find any the right colour and was going to make some but have decided to dye some IKEA ones we bought with us that are still in their packets. Problem now is finding the time to do the dye-ing!
I joined Matamata's Women's Club earlier this year. The club meets once a month. It is an excuse to dress up, have dinner and socialise. It is a good size with about 90 attending last night. No committee's or fund raising and they have a speaker. I really enjoy it. Yesterday I presented a 'pen sketch' on my life. One person does one each month. I got lots of nice comments afterwards with 2 people saying I should be a professional speaker :-). How nice is that!
We are coming up to that really busy time of year. Harriette's leavers dinner is next week. She only has a few days left at school then exams and that's it until late Feb! She MUST get a job over the summer. I can't have her hanging around the house for 3 months - much as I'm sure she'd love to!
Rotary has kept us busy lately. There is big fund raiser on for Polio Plus which I am involved in. I spent last Sunday up in the Kaimais at a RYPEN camp. RYPEN is a youth enrichment programme aimed at middle of the road youth who demonstrate positive characteristics. The kids absolutely loved it and developed real camaraderie over the weekend. This weekend we are providing security at a home for the Matamata Home and Garden's Show on Saturday morning. We are also hosting 6 people for Guess Who's coming to Dinner on Friday evening. This is a social event our Rotary club runs a few times a year. We know we are cooking for 6 guests but do not know who they are until they arrive. We do the main course and others bring desert, starter, wine etc. It's usually a very pleasant evening.
Matamata-Piako has a business awards evening in October and this year Eric's firm, Magill Earl, was in the finals for the customer satisfaction category. They did not win but it was still a great achievement, and good publicity. The dinner was very enjoyable and the guest speaker, Marcus Akuhata-Brownm was amazing. Marcus is a Maori guy who went from growing up on the East Coast in a house with no electricity to the world stage meeting Mandela, Tutu, Prince Charles and President Obama in his capacity as a youth leader. His speech was one of the best I have ever heard. A great communicator and motivator for youth.
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Well it's 9am now and rush hour will be over so I am going to head out on the bike. I will probably be passed by about 6 cars in 2 hours now. If I went earlier it would have been nearer 20!!! I LOVE New Zealand!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A busy winter
Sitting in bed on a Sunday morning, half listening to Chris Laidlaw (I always seem to half listen to him). I think we had 12 teenagers sleepover last night. Something like that. They took the cottage over. It was not nearly as bad as it sounds. They kept the music and noise down and all seem to get up OK this morning, before us and with no major headaches. It was nice for Alice to get her Matamata College and band/Hamilton friends together. And that she gets to spend the night with Kent is obviously a bonus!!!
I have had the week from hell this week and have been very stressed. Monday was a long day and dealing with some major crap. Not within our organisation but with another one who we cannot avoid dealing with. There is obviously something going on internally with them but they are not telling us and that does not make for a good working arrangement. Tuesday I had 4 meetings booked, one with that included people from this organisation. As it was none of them attended and it made for a free and frank meeting with those that did attend and I left feeling very positive about the whole situation. This is a bit vague I know but this is a public site!! From here i went straight from Hamilton to Te Awamutu to speak at the Rotary club.I then did office work until 11.30pm to prepare for the rest of the week. Wednesday and Thursday I was teaching a Vaccinator Training Course (VTC)which are very early starts for me but then had attend a Victim Support AGM on Wednesday (home at 10.45pm) and teach at an ante-natal class on Thursday evening (hone at 9.15pm!). Friday I had to go out to do 2 clinical assessments in Cambridge and planned to take the afternoon off but was still doing emails and general admin at 5.30pm!!!! There were some nice bits to the week also; I got a card and box of chocolates in the post with thanks for presenting at the national hospital pharmacists conference the previous weekend. My talk had lots of positive feedback which is always nice to hear. My boss gave me a gift voucher with a note saying 'a little appreciation of all you do, and have to go through at times'. How nice is that? And, the individual evaluations from the VTC were fantastic with great comments on every single one which always gives me a buzz.
Since July we have not had a weekend to ourselves until now. We went to Hastings where the girls were performing in the National Concert Band Association's annual festival in early August. I travelled down on the bus on the Thursday with the schools band (and Harriette) and Eric came down on Saturday morning. I spent the first 2 nights with Steve and Liz. Steve and I have known each other forever as our fathers were good friends. Liz is a kiwi midwife. They have a pip fruit orchard on the edge of Hastings and 2 young boys. It was sooo nice to spend some time with them and they were delightful hosts and really took care of me. As they are in the midst of decorating bedrooms I was sleeping in a single bed in the office so when Eric came down we spent the night in a motel. Another pleasure of the weekend was catching up with Susie Ironside. Susie and I lived together in Golden Oaks in Hillbrow, Johanesburg in the 1980's I love Susie! She is was always such good fun, and so sensitive and caring. She is a great mom. When we stayed with them in Hastings when we first came to NZ I was amazed at how much fun a family could have together. We just seem to yell at each other in this house!!! I haven't seen Susie for years Anyway, Eric and I met her for lunch which was all too short. We had so much news to catch up on.
The following weekend I flew to Adelaide and 2 weeks after that we were in Auckland for the Uni open day at UoA. Alice also came and we sat in on the session on law (as well as health sciences for Harriette who is planning to do medicine). Alice was actually very motivated and came away with the desicion that she was going to study law. Still planning to go to Victoria in Wellington but she'd be happy with Auckland also. I know it's a long way off but I think Eric would be very proud to admit her to the bar and pas on the law firm to her in the future :-)
At the Victim Support AGM this week I resigned my position on the local management group. On the way over I was telling the chair that I planned to resign the following year as I was so pushed for time. I did not want to resign this year as they had recently lost a lot of staff and I felt I could not add to their woes. Sandra was fantastic though and said I must look after myself and that I should not stand this time round. I must say it was a huge weight removed from my shoulders. I felt guilty that I was not commiting myself to the role in the way I felt I should. I am still very busy with Rotary and WYMA.
I have had the week from hell this week and have been very stressed. Monday was a long day and dealing with some major crap. Not within our organisation but with another one who we cannot avoid dealing with. There is obviously something going on internally with them but they are not telling us and that does not make for a good working arrangement. Tuesday I had 4 meetings booked, one with that included people from this organisation. As it was none of them attended and it made for a free and frank meeting with those that did attend and I left feeling very positive about the whole situation. This is a bit vague I know but this is a public site!! From here i went straight from Hamilton to Te Awamutu to speak at the Rotary club.I then did office work until 11.30pm to prepare for the rest of the week. Wednesday and Thursday I was teaching a Vaccinator Training Course (VTC)which are very early starts for me but then had attend a Victim Support AGM on Wednesday (home at 10.45pm) and teach at an ante-natal class on Thursday evening (hone at 9.15pm!). Friday I had to go out to do 2 clinical assessments in Cambridge and planned to take the afternoon off but was still doing emails and general admin at 5.30pm!!!! There were some nice bits to the week also; I got a card and box of chocolates in the post with thanks for presenting at the national hospital pharmacists conference the previous weekend. My talk had lots of positive feedback which is always nice to hear. My boss gave me a gift voucher with a note saying 'a little appreciation of all you do, and have to go through at times'. How nice is that? And, the individual evaluations from the VTC were fantastic with great comments on every single one which always gives me a buzz.
Since July we have not had a weekend to ourselves until now. We went to Hastings where the girls were performing in the National Concert Band Association's annual festival in early August. I travelled down on the bus on the Thursday with the schools band (and Harriette) and Eric came down on Saturday morning. I spent the first 2 nights with Steve and Liz. Steve and I have known each other forever as our fathers were good friends. Liz is a kiwi midwife. They have a pip fruit orchard on the edge of Hastings and 2 young boys. It was sooo nice to spend some time with them and they were delightful hosts and really took care of me. As they are in the midst of decorating bedrooms I was sleeping in a single bed in the office so when Eric came down we spent the night in a motel. Another pleasure of the weekend was catching up with Susie Ironside. Susie and I lived together in Golden Oaks in Hillbrow, Johanesburg in the 1980's I love Susie! She is was always such good fun, and so sensitive and caring. She is a great mom. When we stayed with them in Hastings when we first came to NZ I was amazed at how much fun a family could have together. We just seem to yell at each other in this house!!! I haven't seen Susie for years Anyway, Eric and I met her for lunch which was all too short. We had so much news to catch up on.
The following weekend I flew to Adelaide and 2 weeks after that we were in Auckland for the Uni open day at UoA. Alice also came and we sat in on the session on law (as well as health sciences for Harriette who is planning to do medicine). Alice was actually very motivated and came away with the desicion that she was going to study law. Still planning to go to Victoria in Wellington but she'd be happy with Auckland also. I know it's a long way off but I think Eric would be very proud to admit her to the bar and pas on the law firm to her in the future :-)
At the Victim Support AGM this week I resigned my position on the local management group. On the way over I was telling the chair that I planned to resign the following year as I was so pushed for time. I did not want to resign this year as they had recently lost a lot of staff and I felt I could not add to their woes. Sandra was fantastic though and said I must look after myself and that I should not stand this time round. I must say it was a huge weight removed from my shoulders. I felt guilty that I was not commiting myself to the role in the way I felt I should. I am still very busy with Rotary and WYMA.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Off to Adelaide
Woke up several times last night to heavy rain. It makes us think of Richard and Robyn (and all our other dairy farming friends) who will be calving in the mud. Mind you they started the season with glorious weather which is an improvement on other years.
I have an early start tomorrow, I have to leave at 4am to drive to Auckland airport for an 8am flight to Adelaide. I have been asking IMAC to send me to the Australian Public Health Associations biennial conference for years now and finally I'm going. Fly out tomorrow (Sunday) and return late Friday night. I have never been to Australia! The conference finishes Thursday lunchtime so I am hoping to get to IKEA that afternoon. We have dinner presentations most evenings (and breakfast presentations most mornings!) but have managed to book a theatre production for tomorrow evening. Pen (my manager) and I are going to see an Ibsen play An Enemy of the People. I am really looking forward to the whole week. (Posted in November!!)
I have an early start tomorrow, I have to leave at 4am to drive to Auckland airport for an 8am flight to Adelaide. I have been asking IMAC to send me to the Australian Public Health Associations biennial conference for years now and finally I'm going. Fly out tomorrow (Sunday) and return late Friday night. I have never been to Australia! The conference finishes Thursday lunchtime so I am hoping to get to IKEA that afternoon. We have dinner presentations most evenings (and breakfast presentations most mornings!) but have managed to book a theatre production for tomorrow evening. Pen (my manager) and I are going to see an Ibsen play An Enemy of the People. I am really looking forward to the whole week. (Posted in November!!)
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Miss Saigon
The weather last weekend was gorgeous. Thick fog in the morning that lifted to reveal bright winter sun for the rest of the day. A contrast to the wet this weekend. Last Saturday Eric spent the day putting the second coat of paint up in the kitchen - it's very bright now :-) I battled with the rest of the family to get my way but I was totally right. The orange looks great - well I think so and it's my kitchen! In the evening we went to Gary and Maxines to watch the Springboks play the AB's at Eden Park. Gary knows mom and dad from playing golf at the same club in the UK and they have recently emigrated to NZ and live in Cambridge (about 15 min drive from us) bringing very much needed IKEA supplies, and radiators, in their container. Great rugby match which we won. Off to the Scott's to watch the re-match tonight. Should be a scorcher as the Boks should come back with a passion!
Sunday we had a great day. The FPS team and their families came for a post trip lunch. Although Kylie is back in Japan her parents came which made the group almost complete. It was a really lovely relaxing day. Everyone was here from about 12md - 4pm then Eric and I sat and read, for the rest of the day. What a perfect Sunday!
On Monday I had a night in. The first weekday evening in for aeons! Tuesday we missed Rotary to go to see Miss Saigon at Founders Theatre in Hamilton. "But I thought they were broke" I hear you say! Well yes we are. I had a call the previous weekend from Squeaks mom, Jackie, asking if we were going. I said no, that I would love to but we could not afford the tickets. "Ah" she said. Did we want free ones. Did we??? Squeak was working as a sound engineer on the show and had freebies which his parents didn't want. It was a fantastic show with great local performers. The lead who played Kim had an amazing voice, comparable to anything I've heard in London. I am hoping that Eric and I can get to see Love Never Dies when it opens in Australia next year. Less than a month before I fly to Adelaide for the PHAA conference. Really looking forward to it.
Last night I had to take Alice and Kent into Hamilton for band practice. Kent had been staying here for a few days. I persuaded Eric to finish work early and we went to the movies to see My One and Only. A pleasant chill out movie to start the weekend.
As I may have said before I am now editing the IMAC quarterly newsletter ImmNuZ. Well I have put my first edition in this week and have had some fantastic feedback on it from proof readers and the person who put's it into In-Design. And I am loving the challenge. Just have to wait until mid-August to see it in print now.
Sunday we had a great day. The FPS team and their families came for a post trip lunch. Although Kylie is back in Japan her parents came which made the group almost complete. It was a really lovely relaxing day. Everyone was here from about 12md - 4pm then Eric and I sat and read, for the rest of the day. What a perfect Sunday!
On Monday I had a night in. The first weekday evening in for aeons! Tuesday we missed Rotary to go to see Miss Saigon at Founders Theatre in Hamilton. "But I thought they were broke" I hear you say! Well yes we are. I had a call the previous weekend from Squeaks mom, Jackie, asking if we were going. I said no, that I would love to but we could not afford the tickets. "Ah" she said. Did we want free ones. Did we??? Squeak was working as a sound engineer on the show and had freebies which his parents didn't want. It was a fantastic show with great local performers. The lead who played Kim had an amazing voice, comparable to anything I've heard in London. I am hoping that Eric and I can get to see Love Never Dies when it opens in Australia next year. Less than a month before I fly to Adelaide for the PHAA conference. Really looking forward to it.
Last night I had to take Alice and Kent into Hamilton for band practice. Kent had been staying here for a few days. I persuaded Eric to finish work early and we went to the movies to see My One and Only. A pleasant chill out movie to start the weekend.
As I may have said before I am now editing the IMAC quarterly newsletter ImmNuZ. Well I have put my first edition in this week and have had some fantastic feedback on it from proof readers and the person who put's it into In-Design. And I am loving the challenge. Just have to wait until mid-August to see it in print now.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
It's all about Alice
Well to start with anyway. Alice has been living in Harriette's shadow this last few months what with FPS, mooting and her success at her first uni paper, but Alice shone recently, well in my eyes anyway (and probably Kent's) at the Hamilton Boys High School ball.
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She might look all grown up to you but she's still my baby!! Kent (pronounced Kint - this is New Zealand)has been in Fiji on a music tour with the school. Got back Thursday night so I took Alice into Hamilton Friday am. Not sure when we'll get her back as schools are on holiday for another week.
I got up this morning to make tea and come back to bed but looked out and saw a heavy frost. At least I could see something, this last 2 weeks many mornings have seen us shrouded in a thick fog. At long last the sun has appeared and it promises to be a lovely winters day. However, I remembered Eric saying he feeds some hay to the cows when it's very frosty. I did not want to get dressed as I was planning a lazy morning in bed with Kim Hill (on the radio) and tea. So I donned Barbour and gummies over my dressing gown and fed Inca, chooks and cows and smashed the ice on the water troughs. I just hoped the neighbour would not be out and about to see me!! And where is Eric this morning? He left at 6am to go to Richard and Robyn's to help Richard shift out their old kitchen units as a guy was driving up from Levin for them. R+R are having massive alterations done to their house and it is going to be fabulous when it's done. The builders reckon Robyn could turn the new walk-in pantry into another bedroom it's so big!! Not sure why Eric was needed so early but he's just got home so will find out.
I have been flat out at work on my new role (additional to my current role) editing IMAC's newsletter ImmNuZ. It's only a small 3 monthly publication but it goes out across New Zealand and I am loving the job. I have had some really nice, positive feedback from people at work and can't wait to see my first effort in print.
Eric has found Facebook!!! He is really in to it. He has not sussed out how to download photos though so I have uploaded my favourite pic of him when I got into his site. Poor guy would like soemthing more macho but doesn't know how to put another one on :-)
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She might look all grown up to you but she's still my baby!! Kent (pronounced Kint - this is New Zealand)has been in Fiji on a music tour with the school. Got back Thursday night so I took Alice into Hamilton Friday am. Not sure when we'll get her back as schools are on holiday for another week.
I got up this morning to make tea and come back to bed but looked out and saw a heavy frost. At least I could see something, this last 2 weeks many mornings have seen us shrouded in a thick fog. At long last the sun has appeared and it promises to be a lovely winters day. However, I remembered Eric saying he feeds some hay to the cows when it's very frosty. I did not want to get dressed as I was planning a lazy morning in bed with Kim Hill (on the radio) and tea. So I donned Barbour and gummies over my dressing gown and fed Inca, chooks and cows and smashed the ice on the water troughs. I just hoped the neighbour would not be out and about to see me!! And where is Eric this morning? He left at 6am to go to Richard and Robyn's to help Richard shift out their old kitchen units as a guy was driving up from Levin for them. R+R are having massive alterations done to their house and it is going to be fabulous when it's done. The builders reckon Robyn could turn the new walk-in pantry into another bedroom it's so big!! Not sure why Eric was needed so early but he's just got home so will find out.
I have been flat out at work on my new role (additional to my current role) editing IMAC's newsletter ImmNuZ. It's only a small 3 monthly publication but it goes out across New Zealand and I am loving the job. I have had some really nice, positive feedback from people at work and can't wait to see my first effort in print.
Eric has found Facebook!!! He is really in to it. He has not sussed out how to download photos though so I have uploaded my favourite pic of him when I got into his site. Poor guy would like soemthing more macho but doesn't know how to put another one on :-)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
FPS WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!!
Well they did it. Harriette, Lance, Kylie and Beth won the Global Future Problem Solving Competition - Senior Division. They beat 58 teams from around the world (a large number from the States). We are so proud of them, in fact the whole of Matamata is rapt!! Everytime we go out someone says to us 'Didn't Harriette do well' or words to that effect. Alice is not impressed at have a world class geek for a sister :-)
The 3 sets of parents (Kylie went back to Japan where she is on a year long exchange) went to the airport at 5.30am (!!) to form a reception committee and in the afternoon the team was welcomed back to the school at a school assembly where the kids gave them raptuous applause. Again the parents all went to watch.
We let Harriette bask in the limelight for a week but told her last night that life gets back to normal now and she can start but by stacking the woodpile which is severely depleted!!! To add to her success she got her final philosophy essay back this week - A+!!! That's an A-, an A and an A+ for the 3 assignments. I think it's safe to say she passed the paper. Not bad for a 16 yr old. Oh, and the mooting finals did not go Matamata College's way, they came second but the advantage is that the 2nd prize is book vouchers. First prise was scholarships to do law at Waikato uni - which none of the 3 team members was planning to do.
Alice's life is, of course, domintated by her hectic social life. She is off to Kent's school ball tonight. I have been trying to get hold of our local seamstress but I think she has gone away so I am going to have to make some alterations to her dress today. It just needs some darts putting in as she does not have the assets to fill the top of the dress :-)
The turbo on the Mistral went last week which means Eric has had his head buried under the bonnet for 2 weekends now so the second coat of paint in the kitchen is on hold. Harriette is not impressed as she uses that car. We sooo need to replace the Mistral but just cannot afford to at the moment. Actually putting food on the table is becoming a struggle but everyone assumes that if you are a law firm partner you must be well off. So, sods law says if you have no money everything breaks. The turbo, the water pump on the bore last weekend (a 5 hour call-out on a Sunday afternoon!!), the kettle died and, you should see the bill from the plumbers. They seem to think we are going to pay for the installation of each of the 3 water cylinders! They are in for a surprise. I may even have to discuss with my lawyer.
We've had a busy week and next week will be the same. Alice had her year 11 dance evening. The classes have to put on a dance as part of phys ed. It forms part of their assessments. As they do so much preparation the school has them perform for the parents and public. It was a good evening with a variety of skill levels on show. Needless to say the music was too modern for the grumpy old man I took with me. Alices class got second place, only 3 marks off first. She really enjoyed dance and I would encourage her to take it up but she is so busy with her music stuff.
We also had WYMA special general meeting last night (I chair and Eric is secretary) and next week we have our formal Rotary changeover (I am MC-ing and have been very involved in organising) and I have a Victim Support meeting.
I have a new challenge at work. Our organisation provides a newsletter to professionals on a quarterly basis and I have been asked to be the editor. Although only a small publication the articles have to be exactly right and everything goes through 3 layers of checking and proofing. I am really enjoying it. It is very time consuming at the moment as I am setting up project management stuff that was lacking.
The 3 sets of parents (Kylie went back to Japan where she is on a year long exchange) went to the airport at 5.30am (!!) to form a reception committee and in the afternoon the team was welcomed back to the school at a school assembly where the kids gave them raptuous applause. Again the parents all went to watch.
We let Harriette bask in the limelight for a week but told her last night that life gets back to normal now and she can start but by stacking the woodpile which is severely depleted!!! To add to her success she got her final philosophy essay back this week - A+!!! That's an A-, an A and an A+ for the 3 assignments. I think it's safe to say she passed the paper. Not bad for a 16 yr old. Oh, and the mooting finals did not go Matamata College's way, they came second but the advantage is that the 2nd prize is book vouchers. First prise was scholarships to do law at Waikato uni - which none of the 3 team members was planning to do.
Alice's life is, of course, domintated by her hectic social life. She is off to Kent's school ball tonight. I have been trying to get hold of our local seamstress but I think she has gone away so I am going to have to make some alterations to her dress today. It just needs some darts putting in as she does not have the assets to fill the top of the dress :-)
The turbo on the Mistral went last week which means Eric has had his head buried under the bonnet for 2 weekends now so the second coat of paint in the kitchen is on hold. Harriette is not impressed as she uses that car. We sooo need to replace the Mistral but just cannot afford to at the moment. Actually putting food on the table is becoming a struggle but everyone assumes that if you are a law firm partner you must be well off. So, sods law says if you have no money everything breaks. The turbo, the water pump on the bore last weekend (a 5 hour call-out on a Sunday afternoon!!), the kettle died and, you should see the bill from the plumbers. They seem to think we are going to pay for the installation of each of the 3 water cylinders! They are in for a surprise. I may even have to discuss with my lawyer.
We've had a busy week and next week will be the same. Alice had her year 11 dance evening. The classes have to put on a dance as part of phys ed. It forms part of their assessments. As they do so much preparation the school has them perform for the parents and public. It was a good evening with a variety of skill levels on show. Needless to say the music was too modern for the grumpy old man I took with me. Alices class got second place, only 3 marks off first. She really enjoyed dance and I would encourage her to take it up but she is so busy with her music stuff.
We also had WYMA special general meeting last night (I chair and Eric is secretary) and next week we have our formal Rotary changeover (I am MC-ing and have been very involved in organising) and I have a Victim Support meeting.
I have a new challenge at work. Our organisation provides a newsletter to professionals on a quarterly basis and I have been asked to be the editor. Although only a small publication the articles have to be exactly right and everything goes through 3 layers of checking and proofing. I am really enjoying it. It is very time consuming at the moment as I am setting up project management stuff that was lacking.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
May news
Another particularly hectic few weeks. First, and saddest is that Rust did not improve. In fact the following day Eric put him down. He was so miserable it was aweful to watch. He constantly had a dazed look on his face and wimpered a lot. Managing a paralysed dog of Rust's size is also very hard. I had recently bought a pohutakawa tree but not got to planting it so we dug a bigger hole and planted Rust under it. It's on the edge of the orchard so when it grows we will be able to see it from the living room. Inca obviously was locked up while all this was going on so does not know where Rust went but when we walk near the orchard Inca's nose is in the air and he sniffs intently! I wonder what he understands of it all. Inca's life on the other hand has improved in quality a 1000-fold. He is now a spoilt house hound. He still sleeps outside (which the other 3 residents of the house complain about bitterly) but spends much of the day indoors, lying in front of the Rayburn (another story) and generally being fussed over!! In fact as he does not disappear off for hours rabbiting in ours and neighbouring paddocks now (obviously Rust was the instigator of such sojourns) I am even taking him for walks!! Inca must think he is the one who has died and definitely gone to heaven!!
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On a happier note MagillEarl had their sign changed when Eric became a partner. His office is the one over the big sign.
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The saga of the rayburns goes on. In mid-April we had the ceremonial lightening of the newly installed Rayburn. It was not right, the noises coming from it has hot water did not do what it was meant to. It sounded like it was going to explode, or take off! Anyway, the plumbers came back, discussed with their suppliers, and decided that the suppliers had sent the wrong tank. Anyway, a new tank (tank number 3!!) was ordered. About 10 days later I chased the plumbers, who chased their suppliers. They had not placed the order (so we are told!). Anyway, the tank was ordered and finally arrived,at about the same time as the area was hit with an incredible amount of rain over a few days. The plumbers were then up to their eyeballs in emergency calls!! Anyway, finally, last Tuesday the 3rd tank was installed and we lit the Rayburn!!! It's great, taking a bit of getting used to but the water heats brilliantly ("nice" hot water as Eric said????) and I am doing as much cooking as I can on it. I have also got the camping kettle out so we have constant hot water for tea/coffee etc. The only problem at the moment is that the wood we have at the moment is not great for burning, in that it burns too quickly, so we are going through wood quickly. Luckily we are not short of wood.
As part of the Rayburn's installation we decided we should paint the kitchen. In fact the whole house needs doing. I decided on this colour (see piccie), everyone else hates it. What do you think? It doesn't matter as I DO like it and it's my kitchen.
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Life in this place seems centred around Harriette at the moment. She is on a bit of a role at the moment. She has put 2 assignments in for her university paper (philosophy -she'd 16 still!!) and has got 75% and 83%. She is in the schools senior mooting team and came home the other day saying they had got through to the semi-finals. She looked down so I commented that that was good - wasn't it? "No" she declared, when are we going to have time to prepare!!! They are up to their eyeballs in assignments and Harriette has been preparing for the FPS competition and having to get her school and uni. assignments in early as she'll be off for 2 weeks.
The semifinals were last Tuesday. We were not going to be able to go as we were going out with Robyn for her birthday.Anyway, that went by the wayside as Robyn's father took acutely ill that day and was admintted to hospital. They still do not know what is wrong but Robyn has not gone to Australia as planned. Richard and the girls have gone on their own. She is so disappointed. Anyway, we were then able to watch Harriette, Izzy and Sophie moot at the District Court in Hamilton. Well I was blown away! The girls basically present a case to judges. They act as solicitor, junior and senior counsel and get grilled by the judges who constantly asked about precedents in previous cases and why this and that. They really have to have done their research. they are all real cases. There is no way I would have had the courgae to go through it. They all went in with the intent of NOT getting into the finals as they are when Harriette is away. Guess what? They failed!! They have got through so Izzy and Sophie have to present alond. Harriette is gutted but has tried to help out this week with the research.
As for Future Problem Solving, I am taking Harriette, Lance and his mom Christine to the airport on Sunday. They fly Auckland-San Fransisco where they meet Kylie flying in from Japan and Sue their teacher who is already there visiting her sister - Chicago where they stay a night then Lacrosse where they are billetted with an American family for 2 nights. They then go to the Univerisity of Wisconsin - La Crosse for the FPS Global Competition/Conference. When that is is finished it is home via a few days stopover in Chicago. She is sooo excited!
Alice is at Kent's place in Hamilton again. They spend at least some of every weekend together. Rather longer this weekend as she went to his from band practice last night and is staying until I pick her up on the way back from Auckland Sunday evening. Luckily it is a long weekend (Queens birthday) so she can catch up with homework etc on Monday. Their sports interfere with the weekend as Alice and Kent both have band practice on Friday nights in Hmailton but Kent can't come back as he has rugby, and ALice can't stay there as she has netball in Matamata!! Someone therefore has to do the run aagain on Sat then Sunday! Luckily Kent is on the verge of getting a car and, although he cannot take Alice as a passenger, he can at least drive himself out here.
Harriette is actually a bit jealous of Alice who is going to 4 school balls this year, including the Matamata College ball, which Harriette is missing. Admittedly she is only waitressing at that one but at least she'll be there! She is going to Hamilton Boys ball with Kent, of course, maybe the Air Corps ball with her friend Tim (well she's hoping to, she went last year) and she and Kent have been invited to one in Auckland with a friend of their's from Hamilton. I hope she doesn't want 3 separate ball gowns!!! We are sooooo broke this year that spending is down to absolute essentials only.
A few weeks ago Waikato Schools Symphonic Band (Harriette's band) and Waikato Youth Symphonic Band (Alice and Kent) participated in the Matamata Festival of Msuic competition. Schools got a gold award and Youth Band got Gold plus!!!! Not bad eh!
Finally, my running and cycling are on hold. In the aforementioned rain I slipped on the deck on the cottage and fell landing on a step. I landed on my left buttock and have the most incredible bruising!! That was nearly 2 weeks ago and I still cannot sit on that side. If I do a)it hurts and b)I feel like I'm balancing on top of a large ball! I almost passed out with the pain when it happened and felt ill all day. Everyone had just left so I had to cope on my own. Needless to say my family were totally supportive. For example, Alice burst out laughing when she saw the bruise a few days later.
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On a happier note MagillEarl had their sign changed when Eric became a partner. His office is the one over the big sign.
.JPG)
The saga of the rayburns goes on. In mid-April we had the ceremonial lightening of the newly installed Rayburn. It was not right, the noises coming from it has hot water did not do what it was meant to. It sounded like it was going to explode, or take off! Anyway, the plumbers came back, discussed with their suppliers, and decided that the suppliers had sent the wrong tank. Anyway, a new tank (tank number 3!!) was ordered. About 10 days later I chased the plumbers, who chased their suppliers. They had not placed the order (so we are told!). Anyway, the tank was ordered and finally arrived,at about the same time as the area was hit with an incredible amount of rain over a few days. The plumbers were then up to their eyeballs in emergency calls!! Anyway, finally, last Tuesday the 3rd tank was installed and we lit the Rayburn!!! It's great, taking a bit of getting used to but the water heats brilliantly ("nice" hot water as Eric said????) and I am doing as much cooking as I can on it. I have also got the camping kettle out so we have constant hot water for tea/coffee etc. The only problem at the moment is that the wood we have at the moment is not great for burning, in that it burns too quickly, so we are going through wood quickly. Luckily we are not short of wood.
As part of the Rayburn's installation we decided we should paint the kitchen. In fact the whole house needs doing. I decided on this colour (see piccie), everyone else hates it. What do you think? It doesn't matter as I DO like it and it's my kitchen.
.JPG)
Life in this place seems centred around Harriette at the moment. She is on a bit of a role at the moment. She has put 2 assignments in for her university paper (philosophy -she'd 16 still!!) and has got 75% and 83%. She is in the schools senior mooting team and came home the other day saying they had got through to the semi-finals. She looked down so I commented that that was good - wasn't it? "No" she declared, when are we going to have time to prepare!!! They are up to their eyeballs in assignments and Harriette has been preparing for the FPS competition and having to get her school and uni. assignments in early as she'll be off for 2 weeks.
The semifinals were last Tuesday. We were not going to be able to go as we were going out with Robyn for her birthday.Anyway, that went by the wayside as Robyn's father took acutely ill that day and was admintted to hospital. They still do not know what is wrong but Robyn has not gone to Australia as planned. Richard and the girls have gone on their own. She is so disappointed. Anyway, we were then able to watch Harriette, Izzy and Sophie moot at the District Court in Hamilton. Well I was blown away! The girls basically present a case to judges. They act as solicitor, junior and senior counsel and get grilled by the judges who constantly asked about precedents in previous cases and why this and that. They really have to have done their research. they are all real cases. There is no way I would have had the courgae to go through it. They all went in with the intent of NOT getting into the finals as they are when Harriette is away. Guess what? They failed!! They have got through so Izzy and Sophie have to present alond. Harriette is gutted but has tried to help out this week with the research.
As for Future Problem Solving, I am taking Harriette, Lance and his mom Christine to the airport on Sunday. They fly Auckland-San Fransisco where they meet Kylie flying in from Japan and Sue their teacher who is already there visiting her sister - Chicago where they stay a night then Lacrosse where they are billetted with an American family for 2 nights. They then go to the Univerisity of Wisconsin - La Crosse for the FPS Global Competition/Conference. When that is is finished it is home via a few days stopover in Chicago. She is sooo excited!
Alice is at Kent's place in Hamilton again. They spend at least some of every weekend together. Rather longer this weekend as she went to his from band practice last night and is staying until I pick her up on the way back from Auckland Sunday evening. Luckily it is a long weekend (Queens birthday) so she can catch up with homework etc on Monday. Their sports interfere with the weekend as Alice and Kent both have band practice on Friday nights in Hmailton but Kent can't come back as he has rugby, and ALice can't stay there as she has netball in Matamata!! Someone therefore has to do the run aagain on Sat then Sunday! Luckily Kent is on the verge of getting a car and, although he cannot take Alice as a passenger, he can at least drive himself out here.
Harriette is actually a bit jealous of Alice who is going to 4 school balls this year, including the Matamata College ball, which Harriette is missing. Admittedly she is only waitressing at that one but at least she'll be there! She is going to Hamilton Boys ball with Kent, of course, maybe the Air Corps ball with her friend Tim (well she's hoping to, she went last year) and she and Kent have been invited to one in Auckland with a friend of their's from Hamilton. I hope she doesn't want 3 separate ball gowns!!! We are sooooo broke this year that spending is down to absolute essentials only.
A few weeks ago Waikato Schools Symphonic Band (Harriette's band) and Waikato Youth Symphonic Band (Alice and Kent) participated in the Matamata Festival of Msuic competition. Schools got a gold award and Youth Band got Gold plus!!!! Not bad eh!
Finally, my running and cycling are on hold. In the aforementioned rain I slipped on the deck on the cottage and fell landing on a step. I landed on my left buttock and have the most incredible bruising!! That was nearly 2 weeks ago and I still cannot sit on that side. If I do a)it hurts and b)I feel like I'm balancing on top of a large ball! I almost passed out with the pain when it happened and felt ill all day. Everyone had just left so I had to cope on my own. Needless to say my family were totally supportive. For example, Alice burst out laughing when she saw the bruise a few days later.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Poor Rust
The girls came home from school on Tuesday this week to find Rust paralysed from the waist down. When we came to NZ we got 2 black labs, puppies from the same litter. We called them Ben and Inca. The names came from the wonderful BBC programme called Castaway. I guess it was a reality show, before reality shows became popular. One of the 'Castaway's' was a very well bred young man called Ben (I think he was an art editor with Tatler or some such magazine. Anyway, Ben was a likeable guy with a black lab called Inca. We liked the name Inca and Ben just followed.
The puppies grew up. Eric got a job as the local animal control officer to help out financially while he studied. We resolved that we would not take in waif and stray dogs (we do that enough with people:-)), unless it was a chocolate lab. Ben was always a bit stroppy and, after going for Eric and I on separate occassions we had him put down. Eric shot him as he tucked into a few of his favourite biscuits. Lots of people asked how he could do that but, think about it. It was actually far more human than loading him into the car and taking him into a vet where he would then have a needle stuck in him in unfamiliar surroundings. As it was Inca was not left alone as a few months earlier we had acquired Rust, a chocolate lab that was about the same age as our labs but probably going to be put down.
Rust has been paralysed for 4 days now and apart from wagging his tail is not showing any signs of progress. On the previous Monday night, well in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Eric was woken up by Rust barking madly. He looked out to see Rust trying to dig out under the fencing of their pound and even using his teeth and lifting the hugely heaving chain link structure. Eric went out and found he was going mad at a hedgehog walking just outside the pound!! Anyway, Eric moved the hedgehog, growled at Rust and went back to bed. In the morning all was normal and Rust ran out for his breakfast and charged around as usual. I went off early in the morning as I was teaching in Hamilton. The boys were locked up again when Eric, Harriette and Alice went off together to school/work. In hindsight, Alice remembered that Rust was lying down as they drove off, he would normally have been standing up wagging his tail. So, the girls came home and found him paralysed. Eric was with clients so could not be contacted so they rang me. They are lucky I happen to answer the phone as it was on silent. I had just finished teaching my last session. I came home, loaded Rust up and took we him to the vets where we left him for a night and 2 days. Big discussions about possible diagnosis, how far to go with diagnostics and treatment and of course, prognosis. Our attitude is that we need to know he has an 80% chance of recovery in a short-ish period and that recovery means he can run around. Anything less than that is not acceptable. We heard of a jack russell locally that had a year of physio and can just about walk. Things are not looking good. X-Rays do not show anything. We have decided that if after 1 week he cannot support his weight we will have him put down. So now he is at home. He is out on the deck during the day (where he would have spent the day anyway), allowed in the kitchen for the evening (the labs are not allowed indoors normally) and sleeps in the laundry at night. We are not very hopeful as he has showed no signs of improvement so far.
The puppies grew up. Eric got a job as the local animal control officer to help out financially while he studied. We resolved that we would not take in waif and stray dogs (we do that enough with people:-)), unless it was a chocolate lab. Ben was always a bit stroppy and, after going for Eric and I on separate occassions we had him put down. Eric shot him as he tucked into a few of his favourite biscuits. Lots of people asked how he could do that but, think about it. It was actually far more human than loading him into the car and taking him into a vet where he would then have a needle stuck in him in unfamiliar surroundings. As it was Inca was not left alone as a few months earlier we had acquired Rust, a chocolate lab that was about the same age as our labs but probably going to be put down.
Rust has been paralysed for 4 days now and apart from wagging his tail is not showing any signs of progress. On the previous Monday night, well in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Eric was woken up by Rust barking madly. He looked out to see Rust trying to dig out under the fencing of their pound and even using his teeth and lifting the hugely heaving chain link structure. Eric went out and found he was going mad at a hedgehog walking just outside the pound!! Anyway, Eric moved the hedgehog, growled at Rust and went back to bed. In the morning all was normal and Rust ran out for his breakfast and charged around as usual. I went off early in the morning as I was teaching in Hamilton. The boys were locked up again when Eric, Harriette and Alice went off together to school/work. In hindsight, Alice remembered that Rust was lying down as they drove off, he would normally have been standing up wagging his tail. So, the girls came home and found him paralysed. Eric was with clients so could not be contacted so they rang me. They are lucky I happen to answer the phone as it was on silent. I had just finished teaching my last session. I came home, loaded Rust up and took we him to the vets where we left him for a night and 2 days. Big discussions about possible diagnosis, how far to go with diagnostics and treatment and of course, prognosis. Our attitude is that we need to know he has an 80% chance of recovery in a short-ish period and that recovery means he can run around. Anything less than that is not acceptable. We heard of a jack russell locally that had a year of physio and can just about walk. Things are not looking good. X-Rays do not show anything. We have decided that if after 1 week he cannot support his weight we will have him put down. So now he is at home. He is out on the deck during the day (where he would have spent the day anyway), allowed in the kitchen for the evening (the labs are not allowed indoors normally) and sleeps in the laundry at night. We are not very hopeful as he has showed no signs of improvement so far.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Rotary GSE Exchange - Our Danish Students
Be honest. Is visiting Denmark on your bucket list.? No? Is wasn't on mine either. But it is now. This week Matamata have had the huge pleasure of hosting the Rotary Group Study Exchange team from Denmark visiting our district. GSE is a programme where a small team of young (25 - 40 years), non-Rotarians, led by a Rotarian, visit a paired Rotary District to experience the culture and work of that country. The Danish Team visiting us consists of: Peter, Helle, Mette and Claus with their team leader Kjeld. They have been great fun, their English is perfect, their sense of humour wicked and they are all very intelligent and interesting people. We hosted Mette here at Cedar Lodge and she was an absolute pleasure! They arrived on Sunday but as we were involved in a fund raising 4x4 drive for Harriette's GIPS trip we could not pick her up until late afternoon. We immediately took her to Richard and Robyn's were we were having tea. Within minutes of arriving she was entertaining the 4 girls in the living room while we caught up with R+R. We hadn't seen them in ages! On Monday the team went out with the Cambridge Club and I caught up with them for diner in the evening. Tuesday I was on an office day so took a few hours of time owed and joined the team to walk up Wairere Falls. This is a walk that I have long wanted to do but with Eric's leg and 2 couch potatoes for children it was never going to be a family trip (Alice is still insisting she would do it). My calves still hurt!!! It was a 3 hour trip with some serious climbing. The falls are about 380m above sea level and, I think 153m, high. There is a lookout point half way up where you look across to the falls then another actually on the top of the falls looking down. I joined fellow Rotarians David H and Eric M for the trip. The soak in the Opal hot pools afterwards was much appreciated before going back to work for a few hours before the big district welcome in the evening, an event I had the pleasure to MC!!
Before the tramp on Tuesday the group visited a chicken farm. I had asked Mette what she wanted for dinner on Wednesday (the only evening they were at home) and she had said chicken. She changed her mind after the visit and we went for a fillet of beef instead :-) Wednesday they were hosted by a Hamilton Rotary club. Dinner at home, as I said then Thursday they has a vocational day going off in differnet directions. Fred took Mette to Auckland to visit a Fonterra base looking at aspects of the business. Mette works for another dairy co-operative in Denmark. In the evening Peter and Ineke hosted a BBQ at their place for about 30 of us. It was a great evening. Fish was on the menu. Some of the boys had been fishing as their vocational day was cancelled (I think). They caught heaps of snapper and David even gave us some to take home. Eric's unproductive fishing trips are well known in the club :-)
On Friday it was up at 5am to meet at Matamata racecourse where we were shown around by a local racing journalist and met one of NZ's leading horse trainers before having breakfast. The team stopped off at our place for coffe on their way to Tirau to be passed along to the next club. I had come home with all Mette's luggage still in the car. Luckily we were on the way!
We have learnt a lot about Denmark this week and it is certainly on out 'to-do' list now. I am sure we will have at least 5 families hwo would host us. Similarly, we hope to see each of these lovely people again as they return to NZ with their families for a mpore leisuely visit. They will be exhausted when they get back. They have 6 weeks of almost back-to-back activities staying with 8 host families!! We will catch up with them at the District conference at the end of the month.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Matamata's Latest Law Partner - Eric Tanner LLB(Hons) :-)
I will, I will, I will write my blog more frequently. I will, I mean I really, really will!!!! Well I’ll try anyway. Winter is drawing in and so I should start to get better at it as I’ll be less inclined to jump out of bed in the mornings so, maybe....
Where to start? Well the biggest piece of news is that Eric has finally made it. As of 1 April (no, not a joke!) 2010, Eric is a partner in MagillEarl Solicitors of Matamata
In his jeans because it was the weekend!
I cannot tell you how very proud I am of him, well of us both really. I believe that there were several times when Eric may have given up on this journey. As I have explained before, it has taken so very long, from the time when we lived in South Street, Whitstable and we made the decision that Eric would study to be a lawyer, for him to get qualified. Partly because of the poor advice from the legal education council of NZ when we arrived. However, when he qualified he was very lucky to land a job with the afore mentioned firm. The partners were at that stage in their lives where they were looking to pass the firm on and Eric, and Paul, were the solicitors they decided were the right people for this. The handover is a staged affair over 3 years. Last year Paul took on a portion, this year Eric and next year it gets levelled out to a 50:50 partnership between them. We are certainly going to struggle for the next year or 2 but then, I am hoping that our financial situation will improve significantly . On the 1st both the girls were out in the evening so I cooked and we had a very romantic, candlelit dinner with balloons and banners, to celebrate. We went out to dinner as a family on Wednesday this week, Eric’s first full day as a partner.
Another, about to be, major piece of news is that we (nearly) have some form of central heating. Anyone who has been here in the cooler months, or is familiar with New Zealand will know that our houses are appallingly insulated and therefore very cold in the winters. Our, being an old (by NZ standards) house is a classic example of this. We do have loft insulation but our old Jayline wood burner was next to useless. Well, prior to setting off to South Africa our hot water tank developed a leak. We decided to bit the bullet and as we had to replace the cylinder we would get the right one for the wood burner we wanted and get both. We did some rapid research and found a company here that supply’s reconditioned Rayburns www.classiccookers.co.nz . We wanted something that burnt wood, heated our hot water and that we could run radiators off. This is it:
As you can see it’s not yet fully installed. There’s a reason for that! We ordered it in December for delivery mid-Feb. It did not arrive until mid-March. Thank heavens Mark was here when it did arrive (he called in for a tea on his way to Auckland) as the girls and I were not. It weighs 220kgs and had to be moved from the drive, up onto the deck and into the kitchen. It took them 2 hours to get it shifted! Eric had previously relayed the hearth after reinforcing the floor and once in position the next job was to get the council to grant building consent then get the plumbers in to connect up to the cylinder and and install a flue. When the cylinder was installed I asked the plumber 3 times if he was positive they had the right one. Eric was adamant it wasn’t, and when we spoke to the plumbing firm this time round one of the senior guys came out and agreed it was the wrong one. So, we are currently waiting for the flue and correct cylinder to arrive. We are in the process of sourcing radiators but I am hoping that we will at least have heat and hot water by next weekend. The temperatures are dropping significantly at the moment so I am keen to get this fixed up asap. Last weekend, Easter, we spent some time gathering in, chopping and stacking fire wood. With all the tress we have felled in the last 18 months it is certainly not in short supply! I’ll keep you posted.
Next week will be busy for us. We have a Danish student on Rotary’s GSE (Group Study Exchange) scheme. We don’t have to worry about entertaining her as their programme is jammed packed. They will be exhausted by the time they go home. She arrives on Sunday and we are meant to be at another Rotarians for lunch but we will not be available. Harriette’s GIPS (Global Issues Problem Solving) team have a fund raiser that day. We have arranged a 4x4 drive across a whole lot of farms at the base of the Kaimais. I say we, I actually mean the local 4x4 drive club. They pay money and get to drive. We provide morning tea and lunch. Not sure what time it finishes but the students go to Hobbitton (the set of the LOTR’s movies) after lunch and then back to Kevin and Margaret’s do we will collect her from there late afternoon. Our Rotary meeting on Tuesday is a formal affair which I am MC-ing!! The girls are playing music at it so it will be a family affair.
Where to start? Well the biggest piece of news is that Eric has finally made it. As of 1 April (no, not a joke!) 2010, Eric is a partner in MagillEarl Solicitors of Matamata
In his jeans because it was the weekend!
I cannot tell you how very proud I am of him, well of us both really. I believe that there were several times when Eric may have given up on this journey. As I have explained before, it has taken so very long, from the time when we lived in South Street, Whitstable and we made the decision that Eric would study to be a lawyer, for him to get qualified. Partly because of the poor advice from the legal education council of NZ when we arrived. However, when he qualified he was very lucky to land a job with the afore mentioned firm. The partners were at that stage in their lives where they were looking to pass the firm on and Eric, and Paul, were the solicitors they decided were the right people for this. The handover is a staged affair over 3 years. Last year Paul took on a portion, this year Eric and next year it gets levelled out to a 50:50 partnership between them. We are certainly going to struggle for the next year or 2 but then, I am hoping that our financial situation will improve significantly . On the 1st both the girls were out in the evening so I cooked and we had a very romantic, candlelit dinner with balloons and banners, to celebrate. We went out to dinner as a family on Wednesday this week, Eric’s first full day as a partner.
Another, about to be, major piece of news is that we (nearly) have some form of central heating. Anyone who has been here in the cooler months, or is familiar with New Zealand will know that our houses are appallingly insulated and therefore very cold in the winters. Our, being an old (by NZ standards) house is a classic example of this. We do have loft insulation but our old Jayline wood burner was next to useless. Well, prior to setting off to South Africa our hot water tank developed a leak. We decided to bit the bullet and as we had to replace the cylinder we would get the right one for the wood burner we wanted and get both. We did some rapid research and found a company here that supply’s reconditioned Rayburns www.classiccookers.co.nz . We wanted something that burnt wood, heated our hot water and that we could run radiators off. This is it:
As you can see it’s not yet fully installed. There’s a reason for that! We ordered it in December for delivery mid-Feb. It did not arrive until mid-March. Thank heavens Mark was here when it did arrive (he called in for a tea on his way to Auckland) as the girls and I were not. It weighs 220kgs and had to be moved from the drive, up onto the deck and into the kitchen. It took them 2 hours to get it shifted! Eric had previously relayed the hearth after reinforcing the floor and once in position the next job was to get the council to grant building consent then get the plumbers in to connect up to the cylinder and and install a flue. When the cylinder was installed I asked the plumber 3 times if he was positive they had the right one. Eric was adamant it wasn’t, and when we spoke to the plumbing firm this time round one of the senior guys came out and agreed it was the wrong one. So, we are currently waiting for the flue and correct cylinder to arrive. We are in the process of sourcing radiators but I am hoping that we will at least have heat and hot water by next weekend. The temperatures are dropping significantly at the moment so I am keen to get this fixed up asap. Last weekend, Easter, we spent some time gathering in, chopping and stacking fire wood. With all the tress we have felled in the last 18 months it is certainly not in short supply! I’ll keep you posted.
Next week will be busy for us. We have a Danish student on Rotary’s GSE (Group Study Exchange) scheme. We don’t have to worry about entertaining her as their programme is jammed packed. They will be exhausted by the time they go home. She arrives on Sunday and we are meant to be at another Rotarians for lunch but we will not be available. Harriette’s GIPS (Global Issues Problem Solving) team have a fund raiser that day. We have arranged a 4x4 drive across a whole lot of farms at the base of the Kaimais. I say we, I actually mean the local 4x4 drive club. They pay money and get to drive. We provide morning tea and lunch. Not sure what time it finishes but the students go to Hobbitton (the set of the LOTR’s movies) after lunch and then back to Kevin and Margaret’s do we will collect her from there late afternoon. Our Rotary meeting on Tuesday is a formal affair which I am MC-ing!! The girls are playing music at it so it will be a family affair.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A huge catch up blog
Why, Oh Why, Oh Why do I leave it so long??? How on earth do I catch up after 2 months of no blogging? Well actually it shouldn't be too bad as I don't think a lot has happened lately.
Freckles had a calf. Typical, she required the assitance of a vet on a public holiday (Waitangi Day). Still the bull calf is heathy, and cute!!
On 10th February, at the end of a horrendously busy week, and when it wass nost inconvenient, the contractors baled our hay. This means it has to be colelcted in that day. I had thought we had got away with it as there was no sign of the contractors at 5pm but Eric came home at 5,30pm and said they were baling!! I had already asked Helen if Phil and Tom could help. They were able to come over, well not Tom as he was busy but Helen, Phil and Geaorge (11) came. Alice told Ketherine thatw e were baling and Richard phoned and offerd assistance so the evning turned out to be incrtedibly hard work but fun and sociable. I stretched our planned Mexan meal to feed 11 of us at 9pm!! At least we have heaps of hay in for the winter, and actaully very little stock. With the country/region heading for drought we are in a better poition than lots of others.
Emily also had a calf, rpoduced on her own, we think on the night of 18th February:
Mark and Eric have had some boy-time lately playing with chain saws:
and fishing. Well Eric fished and caught these while Mark threw up all day!!:
Freckles had a calf. Typical, she required the assitance of a vet on a public holiday (Waitangi Day). Still the bull calf is heathy, and cute!!
On 10th February, at the end of a horrendously busy week, and when it wass nost inconvenient, the contractors baled our hay. This means it has to be colelcted in that day. I had thought we had got away with it as there was no sign of the contractors at 5pm but Eric came home at 5,30pm and said they were baling!! I had already asked Helen if Phil and Tom could help. They were able to come over, well not Tom as he was busy but Helen, Phil and Geaorge (11) came. Alice told Ketherine thatw e were baling and Richard phoned and offerd assistance so the evning turned out to be incrtedibly hard work but fun and sociable. I stretched our planned Mexan meal to feed 11 of us at 9pm!! At least we have heaps of hay in for the winter, and actaully very little stock. With the country/region heading for drought we are in a better poition than lots of others.
Emily also had a calf, rpoduced on her own, we think on the night of 18th February:
Mark and Eric have had some boy-time lately playing with chain saws:
and fishing. Well Eric fished and caught these while Mark threw up all day!!:
Sunday, January 17, 2010
WOW!!! That word summed up yesterday for us. We went back up to Outshoorn to visit Cango Wildlife Ranch. Now we had been there on previous visits to SA and assumed that the girls would not want/need to go back but they did! If we’d have known before we went to Cango Caves we could have done both visits in one day but they only announced this after we had done the caves. Anyway... we planned to head back there yesterday. The weather has been so fickle here, totally unpredictable. Dense cloud makes you think you can’t do the beach so an ‘activity trip’ is planned for the day and then the sun comes out and the temps hit the high 30’s, or 42 degrees C as was the case yesterday!!! Anyway, the park had changed a little and we arrived and immediately were directed to a tour, obviously this is what you do as no one asked if we wanted to! The place is small, and with a tour under your belt you don’t need a map. Firstly was the Valley of the Ancients tour, and we were first taken into a giant greenhouse like structure, hot and damp, to look at fruit bats (I love these), turtles, some small buck (blue duiker) and gorgeous birds. Then it was vultures, crocs, pygmy hippos, etc etc. Next were the cats. Cango is part of a cheetah conservation project and has reared over 100 cubs. They had 8 cubs about 7 weeks old, sooo sweet and 3 Bengal tiger cubs that were a few months old – totally and utterly adorable. We looked at adult cheetahs, tigers and lions and then did the encounters. Into the lion’s den, well the cubs dens. First, the cheetahs, then the tigers. The experience was amazing; we were all so excited, awed and overwhelmed by a sense of privilege. How many other people have been able to sit with and stroke these animals? OK lots but have you??? The cheetahs, we freshly fed, remember it was 42 degrees C and totally out for the count. They barely stirred for us. One of the tiger cubs though was awake and playful. He was stalking single leaves blowing in the breeze and light patterns on the rock as it filtered through the tree above. I fell totally and utterly in love!
Another encounter you can experience at Cango is to get in a cage which is submerged in the croc pond! We saw a couple of Brazilian teenage girls do this. It was very amusing!
The South African kids have gone back to school now so the place is a lot quieter. I suspect that Cango Ranch was so quiet because no-one would be daft enough to go the The Klein Karoo desert on such a hot day. Mad dogs and Englishman and all that!
The previous day, Tuesday, Trish, Simon, Ashley and Sue came back from their Durban and Drakensberg trip. They had some great game drives seeing the big 5 within an hour on their last trip that morning, including a leopard with a cub.
On Sunday we went to Knysna. We started off at the Knysna Quays and had a very nice lunch at The Dry Dock restaurant. Gorgeous food and a great setting. We then had a drive around and viewed some of the dramatic scenery about the place. Much of the time Trish and Simon were away we took advantage of the privacy at the house to sunbathe and chill out. At Lynne and Vaughn’s there is never any privacy. Even if we stayed in when the Dukes went out there is the maid, the gardener etc around. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with them but here we have been able to get some decent sunbathing in. Eric, as usual, has sneered jealously at my brown skin as he curses his red, then peeling self. I, of course, am totally smug. I might not be blessed with good looks or a decent shaped body (OK it wouldn’t be too bad if I didn’t eat so much) but at least I can tan nicely. Please God do not make me pay in later years.
Another encounter you can experience at Cango is to get in a cage which is submerged in the croc pond! We saw a couple of Brazilian teenage girls do this. It was very amusing!
The South African kids have gone back to school now so the place is a lot quieter. I suspect that Cango Ranch was so quiet because no-one would be daft enough to go the The Klein Karoo desert on such a hot day. Mad dogs and Englishman and all that!
The previous day, Tuesday, Trish, Simon, Ashley and Sue came back from their Durban and Drakensberg trip. They had some great game drives seeing the big 5 within an hour on their last trip that morning, including a leopard with a cub.
On Sunday we went to Knysna. We started off at the Knysna Quays and had a very nice lunch at The Dry Dock restaurant. Gorgeous food and a great setting. We then had a drive around and viewed some of the dramatic scenery about the place. Much of the time Trish and Simon were away we took advantage of the privacy at the house to sunbathe and chill out. At Lynne and Vaughn’s there is never any privacy. Even if we stayed in when the Dukes went out there is the maid, the gardener etc around. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with them but here we have been able to get some decent sunbathing in. Eric, as usual, has sneered jealously at my brown skin as he curses his red, then peeling self. I, of course, am totally smug. I might not be blessed with good looks or a decent shaped body (OK it wouldn’t be too bad if I didn’t eat so much) but at least I can tan nicely. Please God do not make me pay in later years.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Africa 3: Thursday 7th January 2010
Well a very Happy New Year! I am sitting on the elevated deck at Trish and Simon’s house in Wilderness, about 450km east of Cape Town. Their house is all wood, the living area above the garage and rain water tanks. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 on the next floor up, the main on this level and a smaller one on the ground level. All have en suites, which is beginning to seem like the norm for new houses in S.A. Harriette is in the spa out here on the deck, over the bush, Eric is suffering from a night on the loo but has just woken and moved from the couch to the shaded part of the deck, Alice is sunbathing next to me. From the deck you can just see the ocean in one direction and the inland lagoons in the other. It is beautiful, peaceful and seems to be safe here – totally different to the atmosphere in JHB.
I have left it longer than I meant to blog so will try to re-cap. Our stay at Lindani lasted until Monday 28th December. The week remained lazy except, I tried to get Eric to try out the bike. He was pathetic!! Even in the lowest (or is it the highest, I can never remember, anyway, the easiest gear) he could not manage. His leg has a lot to answer for. We were only on the farm tracks and went about the same distance I run in the mornings but that was his limit. I went on ahead then caught up with him on the return journey. I really do understand that it is not his fault and don’t resent him, just the fact that he has this injury. As I have got fitter, not scrub that, as I have become more active, I spend less and less time with Eric and the kids as I pursue the cycling etc. I really wish we could do these things as a family. If Eric and I could do them together then the girls would have to come along, but with Eric staying at home they do so also. Oh well!
We drove home from Lindani on Monday 28th December. It was good to have internet access again. At Lindani it was intermittent, through Vaughn’s TG3 card, and only available under one tree. By the time we all had a quick go the computers battery died! Poor Alice always seemed to be the one whose, urgent, Face book checking was interrupted! On Tuesday Eric and I headed off to the Eastern Transvaal, or the Mphalunga District as it is now called, to the Mount Sheba hotel. We stayed there in 1989 and loved it. We booked months ago and paid online. Afterwards Eric said we should have gone to the Lost City at Sun City and when we got there we decided that would have been the letter option. It was definitely below par, a bit disappointing. The restaurant was nice looking and the food sounded great but was a bit tasteless. On top of that the weather was overcast so all the spectacular scenery was hidden behind clouds. We stopped in at Pilgrim’s Rest on the way to Mount Sheba, an historical mining town, and had lunch at the lower end. On our anniversary, the 30th, I went for a run in the morning. Now Mount Sheba is seriously high up but in a dip, almost like a crater, surrounded by high peaks so the road down into the grounds is seriously steep. I run almost all of the way on my way out, though have to confess that I did resort to walks for very short sections at its steepest. Later, we headed off to Hazyview. We wanted to do a canopy cable trip, sort of like a series of flying foxes, but they were fully booked. As we drove into Hazyview I got pulled over for speeding. The (black) cop was very professional, and after long discussion let me off with a warning. I was pleased, for 2 reasons. A. We did not get a fine but more B. He did not try to elicit a bribe! This is common practice here. Lynne was stopped a week or two ago and the when the cop tried to get money out of her she went ballistic at him yelling ‘Are you trying to bribe me!” Some colleagues were nearby and the cop was horrified and shooed her away in a big hurry hoping the other cops had not noticed!! Also, when we were stopped in SA once before the cop tried to get money out of us – failed!! At Hazyview we had coffee and looked around some art galleries. We then headed off to The Pinnacle. I took photos of it they seem to have been downloaded. Maybe they are on the video camera. From here we went to God’s Window but could see nothing there. I was surprised that we now have to pay to park at these sights. Lynne and Vaughn also were and think it is to do with ‘2010’ ie the Soccer World Cup which comes here in June. We then went to Lisbon Falls
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Lisbon Falls
The morning of 31st December was bright and sunny. Typical, we were leaving that day!! We drove up out of the hotel grounds and parked to do a walk to the Mount Sheba lookout along this path. It was quite lovely.
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This was the view of the hotel from where we walked:
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The Mount Sheba Hotel
When we got back to the hotel I made Eric come to do a walk to a waterfall. I had it in my head that this was a short walk but after about 5 minutes the path was becoming treacherous. There was no way Eric could make it so I sent him back and I pressed on. The path got steeper and more rugged but after about 15 minutes I came to this grotto/waterfall in the woods. I was all alone and it was quite divine.
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I got back to the hotel and we checked out. When we got back to JHB the house was empty apart from Brian, the gardener. Lynne and Vaughn had taken the kids ice skating. Apparently, the purpose was to get H and A to appreciate how hard it was to ice skate before they went to see the Imperial Ice Stars in Cinderella. They had obviously had a good time. While we had been away they had been out for several meals, horse riding as well as ice skating. Mark, Claire, and her boyfriend Chris, had taken them to the movies to see Avatar. They loved the movie and I think we will probably go and see it sometime. Avatar was made at Weta studios, in Wellington.
For the NY’s Eve celebrations we went to the Barnyard at Broadacres. It’s a cabaret venue. The tables are long refectory type tables that accommodate large groups. You can take your own food or buy pizzas there. We went with Ali and William, H, A and Michael. H, A and Michael have been getting on brilliantly. The act was Broadway Musicals and great fun. We sang all evening and danced for some of it. It was a great night.
I think we have shopped every day when in JHB! The choice is fantastic. I cannot get over it. Living in JHB you could shop forever! I had forgotten how I had gotten used to such little choice living in NZ. I think I prefer it how we are in NZ, so little materialism by comparison. I guess you used to what you live with.
The 1st January 2010, and I guess the first day of a new decade, started off sunny but clouded over and stayed that way until we left JHB on the 5th. On NY’s Day Lynne’s family came for a braai in the afternoon. Vaughn, Marks eldest son, (yes there are two Vaughns!) came. I hadn’t seen ‘little’ Vaughn in over 23 years! I think he was about 7 then! Needless to say we had lots of embarrassing tales to tell him from my recollections of his early years. I also had photos with me, taken at Marks place in about 1985! We all did a lot of reminiscing!
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January 1st at the Dukes
On Saturday 2nd January Lynne, Vaughn, William, Daniel and I went mountain biking again.
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Well no mountains in JHB but there was an interesting mountain bike trail along the spruit (river) from the Dukes place to Emerentia Dam. It was about 15km one way. Once there we went to a very nice, packed cafe for a well earned drink. I had gone through some muddy puddles and looked a state; hot sweaty and very mud sprayed. We sat amongst JHB’s beautiful people and drew a few looks!!! I was very amused. On the way back I had a moderately serious fall. Nothing broken, but definitely more serious than a simple tumble. I was thrashing it and just about keeping up with William, a serious biker, when we went round a sweeping bend at speed. Immediately there were 2 short, sharp downhill bends. I managed the first but on the second I think I went up the side slope, overcorrected and caught my peddle in the ground. I crashed spectacularly. I hit my head hard, hurt my ribs, both arms and was generally stunned. The rear wheel came off the bike and the handle bars bent. No one actually saw me fall but Lynne came round the bend a few moments later to find me flat out, not moving and tangled in the bike. I heard her call out and, knowing how she panics, struggled to call out I was OK. I had visions of her leaping on me and doing CPR!!!! I felt her checking my pulse and pupils and eventually pulled myself into the present. I pulled myself together, assessed my injuries and assured everyone I was OK. The guys repeatedly told me they would go and get a car but I decided I would be able to carry on. They spent a few minutes reconstructing Michael’s bike and eventually I was able to complete the journey. Unfortunately we were near the start of the return journey so it was a long trip back. I had lost my confidence and took it slowly. Vaughn had to carry my bike in a few places as there was no way I could push or carry it across the streams. Back at the house Lynne’s nursing skills were put to full use and I was settled in a hot bath with muscle ache relieving stuff in and plied with tea and pain killers. Just as well as the sympathy from my own family was sadly lacking!!! My face (left side and across my forehead along the ring of the bike helmet), ribs and arms were sore for quite a few days but I was surprised how little bruising I sustained considering how I hurt!!
On the same evening we four and Stephanie, went to see the Imperial Ice Stars (mainly East European ex-Olympic ice skaters) perform Cinderella on Ice at the Teatro Theatre at Monte Casino. It was amazing! I cannot believe that I was not aware of the show when it was in NZ. They are ¾ the way through a 2 year tour. I will certainly go and see them again if I get the opportunity. We all really enjoyed it. On top of the amazing ice skating skills the choreography and costumes where spectacular.
The following day, Sunday 3rd, we decided to head off to the Roof Market at Rosebank Mall. It took ages to find (Rosebank has at least 3 huge malls) and when we got there it was not there, closed for a few weeks over the Christmas period. So, we headed off to Newtown, a busy hub in downtown JHB, where the Market Theatre is housed. It was dead. It seemed that JHB was empty for the holiday period! We then went to Zoo Lake (an old haunt) to a new, and amazing restaurant called Moyo’s. There we were entertained with live music, all (yes including the adults) were face painted, and had a great meal before walking around the lake.
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Monday 4th January was the day of our drive down to Wilderness, near George on the Garden Route. We left at 4.30am and arrived at 6.10pm. It actually was not a bad journey. We listened to audio books on my iPod, finally orientating Eric to the Twilight series. We got through book one and started book 2. Books pass the time so easily. We drove in 3 hour chunks and only had to fill the Kombie once. 1250km (about 750 miles). Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon live in the UK but love Africa. Over the years Simon has travelled extensively across the continent. They have built an elevated log house on the huge dunes between the Indian Ocean and Langvlei lagoon. The property is surrounded by dune scrub/bush and has large decks. Trish and Simon arrived from the UK a few days earlier with some friends, Sue and Ashley.
Tuesday 5th January Eric and Simon went into George to run some errands while I ran, then waited for the girls to get up. We then headed off to buy groceries and birthday pressies for Eric. We came back to a wonderful braaied giant prawn lunch for Ben and Liviana, friends of T+S. Ben’s company built the house, in fact they also built the Caboose Hotel in Taupo!! After lunch we 4 headed off to the beach off Buxton Rd. I laid there thinking this could easily be a NZ beach ie gorgeous, quiet, long golden and sandy! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It was perfect. Unlike the meal we had that evening!! We went to the Wilderness Grille. Don’t you go! We were seated then waited about 30 minutes before anyone took our drinks order. What was galling was that a young Afrikaans guy was standing not 4 feet from us doing very little. When we asked for some service he said our waitress would soon be along. To cut a ong story short although the actual waitress was nice the general service and time we waited was terrible. We refused to pay the 10% ‘gratuity’ which resulted in Eric having a heated discussion with the manager, a very rude Afrikaans women who sat smoking all evening although the place was obviously understaffed for the evening. I felt sorry for Simon and Trish as they had booked it.
Yesterday, the 6th, Eric woke with the trots so I took T, S, A and S to George airport with the girls. We then shopped and made our first trip to an internet cafe. R39 (about NZ$8, GBP3) for 25 minutes x 3. I thought that was pretty good. I started off telling the girls to remember to send Sarah an email for her birthday then promptly forgot to do so myself until I walked out the place!! I then decided I would text her from home but could not send. I was out of credit and we have not been near a Vodafone shop since (you cannot top up by credit card as I usually do). So Sarah, if you are reading this, we were thinking of you and hope you had a great day. And sorry I did not get a card to you. I could not add my blog entries as I did not have my hard drive with me but will do next time. Gosh I am so disorganised. It was overcast all day and we did not get back from shopping until mid afternoon so spent the rest of the day at Bakatad. And that brings us up today – phew!!
I have left it longer than I meant to blog so will try to re-cap. Our stay at Lindani lasted until Monday 28th December. The week remained lazy except, I tried to get Eric to try out the bike. He was pathetic!! Even in the lowest (or is it the highest, I can never remember, anyway, the easiest gear) he could not manage. His leg has a lot to answer for. We were only on the farm tracks and went about the same distance I run in the mornings but that was his limit. I went on ahead then caught up with him on the return journey. I really do understand that it is not his fault and don’t resent him, just the fact that he has this injury. As I have got fitter, not scrub that, as I have become more active, I spend less and less time with Eric and the kids as I pursue the cycling etc. I really wish we could do these things as a family. If Eric and I could do them together then the girls would have to come along, but with Eric staying at home they do so also. Oh well!
We drove home from Lindani on Monday 28th December. It was good to have internet access again. At Lindani it was intermittent, through Vaughn’s TG3 card, and only available under one tree. By the time we all had a quick go the computers battery died! Poor Alice always seemed to be the one whose, urgent, Face book checking was interrupted! On Tuesday Eric and I headed off to the Eastern Transvaal, or the Mphalunga District as it is now called, to the Mount Sheba hotel. We stayed there in 1989 and loved it. We booked months ago and paid online. Afterwards Eric said we should have gone to the Lost City at Sun City and when we got there we decided that would have been the letter option. It was definitely below par, a bit disappointing. The restaurant was nice looking and the food sounded great but was a bit tasteless. On top of that the weather was overcast so all the spectacular scenery was hidden behind clouds. We stopped in at Pilgrim’s Rest on the way to Mount Sheba, an historical mining town, and had lunch at the lower end. On our anniversary, the 30th, I went for a run in the morning. Now Mount Sheba is seriously high up but in a dip, almost like a crater, surrounded by high peaks so the road down into the grounds is seriously steep. I run almost all of the way on my way out, though have to confess that I did resort to walks for very short sections at its steepest. Later, we headed off to Hazyview. We wanted to do a canopy cable trip, sort of like a series of flying foxes, but they were fully booked. As we drove into Hazyview I got pulled over for speeding. The (black) cop was very professional, and after long discussion let me off with a warning. I was pleased, for 2 reasons. A. We did not get a fine but more B. He did not try to elicit a bribe! This is common practice here. Lynne was stopped a week or two ago and the when the cop tried to get money out of her she went ballistic at him yelling ‘Are you trying to bribe me!” Some colleagues were nearby and the cop was horrified and shooed her away in a big hurry hoping the other cops had not noticed!! Also, when we were stopped in SA once before the cop tried to get money out of us – failed!! At Hazyview we had coffee and looked around some art galleries. We then headed off to The Pinnacle. I took photos of it they seem to have been downloaded. Maybe they are on the video camera. From here we went to God’s Window but could see nothing there. I was surprised that we now have to pay to park at these sights. Lynne and Vaughn also were and think it is to do with ‘2010’ ie the Soccer World Cup which comes here in June. We then went to Lisbon Falls
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Lisbon Falls
The morning of 31st December was bright and sunny. Typical, we were leaving that day!! We drove up out of the hotel grounds and parked to do a walk to the Mount Sheba lookout along this path. It was quite lovely.
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This was the view of the hotel from where we walked:
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The Mount Sheba Hotel
When we got back to the hotel I made Eric come to do a walk to a waterfall. I had it in my head that this was a short walk but after about 5 minutes the path was becoming treacherous. There was no way Eric could make it so I sent him back and I pressed on. The path got steeper and more rugged but after about 15 minutes I came to this grotto/waterfall in the woods. I was all alone and it was quite divine.
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I got back to the hotel and we checked out. When we got back to JHB the house was empty apart from Brian, the gardener. Lynne and Vaughn had taken the kids ice skating. Apparently, the purpose was to get H and A to appreciate how hard it was to ice skate before they went to see the Imperial Ice Stars in Cinderella. They had obviously had a good time. While we had been away they had been out for several meals, horse riding as well as ice skating. Mark, Claire, and her boyfriend Chris, had taken them to the movies to see Avatar. They loved the movie and I think we will probably go and see it sometime. Avatar was made at Weta studios, in Wellington.
For the NY’s Eve celebrations we went to the Barnyard at Broadacres. It’s a cabaret venue. The tables are long refectory type tables that accommodate large groups. You can take your own food or buy pizzas there. We went with Ali and William, H, A and Michael. H, A and Michael have been getting on brilliantly. The act was Broadway Musicals and great fun. We sang all evening and danced for some of it. It was a great night.
I think we have shopped every day when in JHB! The choice is fantastic. I cannot get over it. Living in JHB you could shop forever! I had forgotten how I had gotten used to such little choice living in NZ. I think I prefer it how we are in NZ, so little materialism by comparison. I guess you used to what you live with.
The 1st January 2010, and I guess the first day of a new decade, started off sunny but clouded over and stayed that way until we left JHB on the 5th. On NY’s Day Lynne’s family came for a braai in the afternoon. Vaughn, Marks eldest son, (yes there are two Vaughns!) came. I hadn’t seen ‘little’ Vaughn in over 23 years! I think he was about 7 then! Needless to say we had lots of embarrassing tales to tell him from my recollections of his early years. I also had photos with me, taken at Marks place in about 1985! We all did a lot of reminiscing!
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January 1st at the Dukes
On Saturday 2nd January Lynne, Vaughn, William, Daniel and I went mountain biking again.
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Well no mountains in JHB but there was an interesting mountain bike trail along the spruit (river) from the Dukes place to Emerentia Dam. It was about 15km one way. Once there we went to a very nice, packed cafe for a well earned drink. I had gone through some muddy puddles and looked a state; hot sweaty and very mud sprayed. We sat amongst JHB’s beautiful people and drew a few looks!!! I was very amused. On the way back I had a moderately serious fall. Nothing broken, but definitely more serious than a simple tumble. I was thrashing it and just about keeping up with William, a serious biker, when we went round a sweeping bend at speed. Immediately there were 2 short, sharp downhill bends. I managed the first but on the second I think I went up the side slope, overcorrected and caught my peddle in the ground. I crashed spectacularly. I hit my head hard, hurt my ribs, both arms and was generally stunned. The rear wheel came off the bike and the handle bars bent. No one actually saw me fall but Lynne came round the bend a few moments later to find me flat out, not moving and tangled in the bike. I heard her call out and, knowing how she panics, struggled to call out I was OK. I had visions of her leaping on me and doing CPR!!!! I felt her checking my pulse and pupils and eventually pulled myself into the present. I pulled myself together, assessed my injuries and assured everyone I was OK. The guys repeatedly told me they would go and get a car but I decided I would be able to carry on. They spent a few minutes reconstructing Michael’s bike and eventually I was able to complete the journey. Unfortunately we were near the start of the return journey so it was a long trip back. I had lost my confidence and took it slowly. Vaughn had to carry my bike in a few places as there was no way I could push or carry it across the streams. Back at the house Lynne’s nursing skills were put to full use and I was settled in a hot bath with muscle ache relieving stuff in and plied with tea and pain killers. Just as well as the sympathy from my own family was sadly lacking!!! My face (left side and across my forehead along the ring of the bike helmet), ribs and arms were sore for quite a few days but I was surprised how little bruising I sustained considering how I hurt!!
On the same evening we four and Stephanie, went to see the Imperial Ice Stars (mainly East European ex-Olympic ice skaters) perform Cinderella on Ice at the Teatro Theatre at Monte Casino. It was amazing! I cannot believe that I was not aware of the show when it was in NZ. They are ¾ the way through a 2 year tour. I will certainly go and see them again if I get the opportunity. We all really enjoyed it. On top of the amazing ice skating skills the choreography and costumes where spectacular.
The following day, Sunday 3rd, we decided to head off to the Roof Market at Rosebank Mall. It took ages to find (Rosebank has at least 3 huge malls) and when we got there it was not there, closed for a few weeks over the Christmas period. So, we headed off to Newtown, a busy hub in downtown JHB, where the Market Theatre is housed. It was dead. It seemed that JHB was empty for the holiday period! We then went to Zoo Lake (an old haunt) to a new, and amazing restaurant called Moyo’s. There we were entertained with live music, all (yes including the adults) were face painted, and had a great meal before walking around the lake.
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Monday 4th January was the day of our drive down to Wilderness, near George on the Garden Route. We left at 4.30am and arrived at 6.10pm. It actually was not a bad journey. We listened to audio books on my iPod, finally orientating Eric to the Twilight series. We got through book one and started book 2. Books pass the time so easily. We drove in 3 hour chunks and only had to fill the Kombie once. 1250km (about 750 miles). Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon live in the UK but love Africa. Over the years Simon has travelled extensively across the continent. They have built an elevated log house on the huge dunes between the Indian Ocean and Langvlei lagoon. The property is surrounded by dune scrub/bush and has large decks. Trish and Simon arrived from the UK a few days earlier with some friends, Sue and Ashley.
Tuesday 5th January Eric and Simon went into George to run some errands while I ran, then waited for the girls to get up. We then headed off to buy groceries and birthday pressies for Eric. We came back to a wonderful braaied giant prawn lunch for Ben and Liviana, friends of T+S. Ben’s company built the house, in fact they also built the Caboose Hotel in Taupo!! After lunch we 4 headed off to the beach off Buxton Rd. I laid there thinking this could easily be a NZ beach ie gorgeous, quiet, long golden and sandy! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It was perfect. Unlike the meal we had that evening!! We went to the Wilderness Grille. Don’t you go! We were seated then waited about 30 minutes before anyone took our drinks order. What was galling was that a young Afrikaans guy was standing not 4 feet from us doing very little. When we asked for some service he said our waitress would soon be along. To cut a ong story short although the actual waitress was nice the general service and time we waited was terrible. We refused to pay the 10% ‘gratuity’ which resulted in Eric having a heated discussion with the manager, a very rude Afrikaans women who sat smoking all evening although the place was obviously understaffed for the evening. I felt sorry for Simon and Trish as they had booked it.
Yesterday, the 6th, Eric woke with the trots so I took T, S, A and S to George airport with the girls. We then shopped and made our first trip to an internet cafe. R39 (about NZ$8, GBP3) for 25 minutes x 3. I thought that was pretty good. I started off telling the girls to remember to send Sarah an email for her birthday then promptly forgot to do so myself until I walked out the place!! I then decided I would text her from home but could not send. I was out of credit and we have not been near a Vodafone shop since (you cannot top up by credit card as I usually do). So Sarah, if you are reading this, we were thinking of you and hope you had a great day. And sorry I did not get a card to you. I could not add my blog entries as I did not have my hard drive with me but will do next time. Gosh I am so disorganised. It was overcast all day and we did not get back from shopping until mid afternoon so spent the rest of the day at Bakatad. And that brings us up today – phew!!
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