Here is a small collection of our shipping.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Wow! What a week.
Wow, what ha busy week.
First off Tuesday, at long last the shipping arrived. So it was Christmas for everyone. It was a joy to eat of proper plates ,drink from proper mugs and use proper cutlery. Everything is in one piece- TV, computer , bikes, glasses,DVD etc. WELL DONE ATLAS REMOVALS OF MORCAMBE. The only down side was the dissapearance of the entire box of fishing equipment. Well, the rods and reels arrived ok, but there was a fishing box full of tackle, some which were gifts from Great grandad to Eric, and some untried stuff from Arran. I has spent a whole day cleaning and sifting out old stuff. We can only assume that the lot has been disposed of by MAF.
On a lighter note the weather has remained great , so lots of out door activites and swimming.
Kaitaia A&P show was on as well this weekend. It's a popular local event held on the show ground ,just as you enter the town. Stuart and Paddy decided to enter which various versions of Tracy island. And to our delight Stuart won in catogory for recycled things ,and Paddy came in 3rd. We are proud!!!!!!.
Then on Saturday late afternoon, after sorting out the last of the boxes, we took our tent off to Diggers valley and enjoyed a night there.
First off Tuesday, at long last the shipping arrived. So it was Christmas for everyone. It was a joy to eat of proper plates ,drink from proper mugs and use proper cutlery. Everything is in one piece- TV, computer , bikes, glasses,DVD etc. WELL DONE ATLAS REMOVALS OF MORCAMBE. The only down side was the dissapearance of the entire box of fishing equipment. Well, the rods and reels arrived ok, but there was a fishing box full of tackle, some which were gifts from Great grandad to Eric, and some untried stuff from Arran. I has spent a whole day cleaning and sifting out old stuff. We can only assume that the lot has been disposed of by MAF.
On a lighter note the weather has remained great , so lots of out door activites and swimming.
Kaitaia A&P show was on as well this weekend. It's a popular local event held on the show ground ,just as you enter the town. Stuart and Paddy decided to enter which various versions of Tracy island. And to our delight Stuart won in catogory for recycled things ,and Paddy came in 3rd. We are proud!!!!!!.
Then on Saturday late afternoon, after sorting out the last of the boxes, we took our tent off to Diggers valley and enjoyed a night there.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Another week of firsts!
It has gotten around to Saturday night again and so it is time for a weekly update. I am finding that my time during the week is pnched by all the planning I am doing. So blog updates and lengthy emails are having to wait for the weekend. Thanks for all the nice emails people have sent. It is nice to hear from you all. It does make C and I a little unsure about how to deal with your weather news. It rained tonight but it is so warm that the humidity after the rain has shot up. It can be 100% humid here at this time of year, unpleasant if we have to be very active, but easily remedied by taking a dip.
Anyway the news. chantelle started helping out at a special school in town this week and has been enjoying the work. Not surprisingly they have also been happy to have an extra pair of competent hands as they are shrt-staffed.
Sorry about the typos in this piece, the blogger editor is in overwrite mode, so it is difficult to correct mistakes. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
As for the other firsts .... our first hangi (steamed group feed roots and meat all wrapped up and steamed for several hours), my first te reo Maori lesson ( lots of singing and dancing - the teachers must have trained at St Martins) , our first NZ agricultural show at Broadwood, complete with sheep shearing and log splitting competitions. Thanks to Les over the road, Eric and I had our first NZ bike ride. Awesome as they say over here.
til next week then, eh?
Anyway the news. chantelle started helping out at a special school in town this week and has been enjoying the work. Not surprisingly they have also been happy to have an extra pair of competent hands as they are shrt-staffed.
Sorry about the typos in this piece, the blogger editor is in overwrite mode, so it is difficult to correct mistakes. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
As for the other firsts .... our first hangi (steamed group feed roots and meat all wrapped up and steamed for several hours), my first te reo Maori lesson ( lots of singing and dancing - the teachers must have trained at St Martins) , our first NZ agricultural show at Broadwood, complete with sheep shearing and log splitting competitions. Thanks to Les over the road, Eric and I had our first NZ bike ride. Awesome as they say over here.
til next week then, eh?
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Trip to Cape Reinga
Saturday has come round again and after a very busy week at our schools, we wanted to go on an adventure. Set off for Cape Reinga at midday and after a lunch stop at a wharf near Houhora, we arrived at 2.30. Chantelle liked the rolling grassy hills on the way. I was impressed by the destruction wreaked by a recent bush fire on the Te Paki reserve. Eric reckoned it was great because we live near places like this and were not on holiday. Stuart hated it because it was too high up and he was convinced he was going to die!
Cape Reinga itself is the most visited northernmost point of New Zealand where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We saw a container boat heading round the Cape on its way to Auckland from Oz, Chantelle was convinced it was the Sydney Express on its way back from England. And no, as yet our shipping from its last visit has not yet arrived!
Cape Reinga itself is the most visited northernmost point of New Zealand where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We saw a container boat heading round the Cape on its way to Auckland from Oz, Chantelle was convinced it was the Sydney Express on its way back from England. And no, as yet our shipping from its last visit has not yet arrived!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Back to skool!
Our apologies to those of you who have been waiting for an update. This week has gone by in a whirl what with school starting properly on Tuesday. The boys set off bright and early to catch their bus to Pamapuria, only to see it leave earlier than expected. We now leave at 7.55 and hang around at the bus stop. Their bus stop is outside the College, so I can drop them off on my way in. Handy eh!
They seem to have settled in OK, enjoying the activities and especially the daily swimming. the only sour note was some teasing on the way home on the first night, but this seems to have been promptly nipped in the bud by the principal. Stuart and Eric are in separate classrooms after all but meet up at break. They haven't said much about it, we are probably heading into the period where what happens at school remains a mystery to us parents apart from brief insights at parents evenings, or when one of them deighns (?) to enlighten us with a tit-bit.
My first few days back have been ok really. I have a range of classes from Y9 to Y12 none of which are particularly frightening especially when compared with UK classes. The Y12's are biologists and I think that class will stretch my subject knowledge nicely. All the classes have responded favourably to my teaching methods. One of the big surprises is the level of parental finance that is expected over here. Our boys were each given a bill of about $75 each to cover their stationery and trips and photocopying for the year. Students at college are expected to provide their own stationery including exercise books. Senior students have to buy their own textbooks costing around $22 each for maybe 4 or 5 subjects. The crunch comes when students sit in a lesson without this stuff and there is a grey area over what teachers themselves should provide for needy students!
Beyond school, we have had a quiet week. We managed an after school swim on Thursday down at Ahipara. Fantastic breakers which attracted surfers and body boarders. As it has been very humid here, it was great to get thoroughly doused in the surf. Not so good when Patrick got hit by a surf board and we had a few anxious hours assessing the emergency health system. The upshot was that he was bruised and shocked but there was no lasting damage.
Today is Saturday. Patrick and Stuart have signed up for the local football team "The Pirates".
Eric and I checked out the local recycling facilities. They have a rate of 45% recycled here. This is a lot to do with the $1.50 charge for each bag of rubbish removed on bin day. Not a lot of evidence of fly-tipping either.
This afternoon popped down to school to the opening of the new Library. Guest of honour was the PM Helen Clark - see pics below. Again the comparisons with UK were marked. Not only the Maori protocol of greeting and extensive speeches, but also the suggestions that Ms Clark go back to Wellington and get Mr Mallard to send up a big cheque to pay for a new technology block, marae and swimming pool. I didn't get to talk to the great woman in person, but the cream scones were nice.
They seem to have settled in OK, enjoying the activities and especially the daily swimming. the only sour note was some teasing on the way home on the first night, but this seems to have been promptly nipped in the bud by the principal. Stuart and Eric are in separate classrooms after all but meet up at break. They haven't said much about it, we are probably heading into the period where what happens at school remains a mystery to us parents apart from brief insights at parents evenings, or when one of them deighns (?) to enlighten us with a tit-bit.
My first few days back have been ok really. I have a range of classes from Y9 to Y12 none of which are particularly frightening especially when compared with UK classes. The Y12's are biologists and I think that class will stretch my subject knowledge nicely. All the classes have responded favourably to my teaching methods. One of the big surprises is the level of parental finance that is expected over here. Our boys were each given a bill of about $75 each to cover their stationery and trips and photocopying for the year. Students at college are expected to provide their own stationery including exercise books. Senior students have to buy their own textbooks costing around $22 each for maybe 4 or 5 subjects. The crunch comes when students sit in a lesson without this stuff and there is a grey area over what teachers themselves should provide for needy students!
Beyond school, we have had a quiet week. We managed an after school swim on Thursday down at Ahipara. Fantastic breakers which attracted surfers and body boarders. As it has been very humid here, it was great to get thoroughly doused in the surf. Not so good when Patrick got hit by a surf board and we had a few anxious hours assessing the emergency health system. The upshot was that he was bruised and shocked but there was no lasting damage.
Today is Saturday. Patrick and Stuart have signed up for the local football team "The Pirates".
Eric and I checked out the local recycling facilities. They have a rate of 45% recycled here. This is a lot to do with the $1.50 charge for each bag of rubbish removed on bin day. Not a lot of evidence of fly-tipping either.
This afternoon popped down to school to the opening of the new Library. Guest of honour was the PM Helen Clark - see pics below. Again the comparisons with UK were marked. Not only the Maori protocol of greeting and extensive speeches, but also the suggestions that Ms Clark go back to Wellington and get Mr Mallard to send up a big cheque to pay for a new technology block, marae and swimming pool. I didn't get to talk to the great woman in person, but the cream scones were nice.
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