Baiting up the long-line and sending it out to sea, aided by a large air-bag that is blown out by an off-shore wind
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Kaitaia Walkway - second attempt
Mum was helping set up computers this morning so we had a boys outing to Kaitaia Walkway to reach the lookout point this time. Mood was upbeat at the outset, boys collected rations hats sticks etc. They even carried all their own gear. We quickly reached the point at which we had turned back last time. I was thinking that the going was a bit tame a bulldozed, clear flat lane through bush.
We got to the bit in the 3rd photo below where there had been a slip. After that the track was much more interesting. Let's say it was not wheelchair accessible any more. Stuart fell by the wayside so we said we would come back for him in 15 mins. Eric was keen to reach the top. Paddy was taking it all in his stride. Eric in fact stormed off ahead which I was not pleased about in case he or I slipped - nightmare scenario come to think of it - it is a good job I didn't have to do a risk assessment on this trip! Just as I was starting to become concerned as the track was becoming overgrown, with slippy bits going straight down the hillside, Eric appeared. We decided to head back to Stuart who had been waiting for over 15 minutes on his own. Eric was pretty tired, but reckoned he had reached the lookout.
The first picture was the last one taken. (Remember to post them the other way round in future.) They were pretty mutinous by the time that one was taken. I was the worst father in the world for dragging them up there etc etc. I bet they will talk of this walk in years to come as an epic in family history.
In the mean-time, I am up for Kaitaia Walkway no.3 if anyone cares to join me?
We got to the bit in the 3rd photo below where there had been a slip. After that the track was much more interesting. Let's say it was not wheelchair accessible any more. Stuart fell by the wayside so we said we would come back for him in 15 mins. Eric was keen to reach the top. Paddy was taking it all in his stride. Eric in fact stormed off ahead which I was not pleased about in case he or I slipped - nightmare scenario come to think of it - it is a good job I didn't have to do a risk assessment on this trip! Just as I was starting to become concerned as the track was becoming overgrown, with slippy bits going straight down the hillside, Eric appeared. We decided to head back to Stuart who had been waiting for over 15 minutes on his own. Eric was pretty tired, but reckoned he had reached the lookout.
The first picture was the last one taken. (Remember to post them the other way round in future.) They were pretty mutinous by the time that one was taken. I was the worst father in the world for dragging them up there etc etc. I bet they will talk of this walk in years to come as an epic in family history.
In the mean-time, I am up for Kaitaia Walkway no.3 if anyone cares to join me?
Monday, January 24, 2005
Friday, January 21, 2005
Summer Evenings
Tea over and boys in bed and futon assembled I can continue with my ramblings.
We have been swimming nearly every day we have been here. There is a public "proper" pool in Kaitaia but they charge $1.50 each so we have been in the sea or lake or the river at Digger's valley. Had a good swim there yesterday. We were invited over for a bbq and had a swim first.
Paddy is out of his depth in the deepest bits so I played at lifeguard. Saw a crayfish in one of the holes in the rock. There are eels in the water but I hve not trodden on one yet!
We did do some eel observations after the barbie, attracting them with rotten eggs and then getting them on the bank with a bag of rotten meat attached to a line. Very slimey wriggly things. Ruth and I were trying to work out how they breathe as they do not have large gill openings. Any eel experts out there care to inform?
After that we had a family demo of cow insemination which was most instructive. The boys were very interested. I promise to post photos as I am sure people will find them interesting.
Digressing slightly 3 things that are different in NZ to Uk that we didn't know about.
We have been swimming nearly every day we have been here. There is a public "proper" pool in Kaitaia but they charge $1.50 each so we have been in the sea or lake or the river at Digger's valley. Had a good swim there yesterday. We were invited over for a bbq and had a swim first.
Paddy is out of his depth in the deepest bits so I played at lifeguard. Saw a crayfish in one of the holes in the rock. There are eels in the water but I hve not trodden on one yet!
We did do some eel observations after the barbie, attracting them with rotten eggs and then getting them on the bank with a bag of rotten meat attached to a line. Very slimey wriggly things. Ruth and I were trying to work out how they breathe as they do not have large gill openings. Any eel experts out there care to inform?
After that we had a family demo of cow insemination which was most instructive. The boys were very interested. I promise to post photos as I am sure people will find them interesting.
Digressing slightly 3 things that are different in NZ to Uk that we didn't know about.
- You pay $1.50 for each sack of rubbish you put out for the bin-men. It really concentrates the mind on waste reduction. Recycling stuff is (apparently) free.
- Banks are NOT free. They charge for having an account, for cheque-books and for alsorts of other things that would be free in UK
- When the siren goes off at 6.30 am or 9.23pm or whenever, it is not the 4 minute warning as we thought the first time we heard it! It is a summons to the firemen to get on over to the station - they are not on full-time cover. Phew that was a relief!
Summer days
Been having a busy few days here. Spent a frightening amount on furniture on wednesday including 3Xdesks and swivel chairs for boys. Then had to assemble 6 items. By the last one I managed a respectable time of 21 minutes, passing out shortly after 9pm. We also ordered a futon and a dresser and 5xbedside cabinets. The bank account was smoking, but we have never bought any new furniture before and the second-hand here seems to be as expensive as the new.
Remind me to post up some pics if you are interested. The boys immediately went about arranging their possessions on their desks. Pictures from old schools took pride of place, so it was interesting to see what is on their minds.
We have visited 2 more local schools and have decided to send them all to Pamampuria school which is 10km out of town.
More later but tea is ready now!
Remind me to post up some pics if you are interested. The boys immediately went about arranging their possessions on their desks. Pictures from old schools took pride of place, so it was interesting to see what is on their minds.
We have visited 2 more local schools and have decided to send them all to Pamampuria school which is 10km out of town.
More later but tea is ready now!
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
We are back on-line
Sound of trumpets in the background!!!
Chantelle is very good with computers and has managed to get us online again, despite the usual problems with this bit of equipment not being compatible with that bit. What would I do without her?
So now you can expect a speedier response to emails.
Congratulations to Alex for passing her driving test - look out Manchester.
Rang up mum this morning and she said that you were expecting blizzards. We are sheltering inside from the strength of the sun. The sun is fierce here, apparently because of the hole in the ozone layer. The Indian guy who runs the local dairy says that he does not burn in India, but has to be careful here. We are following the local advice to "Slip, slop, slap ..." basically put yer hat on and the sunblock.
Chantelle will be wanting the machine back so I'll just post up some photos. More later. Mike
Chantelle is very good with computers and has managed to get us online again, despite the usual problems with this bit of equipment not being compatible with that bit. What would I do without her?
So now you can expect a speedier response to emails.
Congratulations to Alex for passing her driving test - look out Manchester.
Rang up mum this morning and she said that you were expecting blizzards. We are sheltering inside from the strength of the sun. The sun is fierce here, apparently because of the hole in the ozone layer. The Indian guy who runs the local dairy says that he does not burn in India, but has to be careful here. We are following the local advice to "Slip, slop, slap ..." basically put yer hat on and the sunblock.
Chantelle will be wanting the machine back so I'll just post up some photos. More later. Mike
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
More settling in.
It is now Wednesday. Eric is with me and we are back in the Pharmacy $2 for 20 mins.
Had a sorting out day yesterday. Mostly trying to get boys into a school. Lots of choice and hard decisions to make. Plus all the schools are vshut down at pres so not easy to find out answers to questions.
We went to Lake Ngatu where 4 of us swam in warmish water. Nice firm lake bottom and small crowd there. It would have been very busy in UK.
Tried making bread in evening, Pizza for tea plus 2 loaves. White. Not a total success as the oven is fierce and I didn't let the loaves rise enough. Hopefully the next batch will be better and we can take some to the party we have been invited to on Sat.
Gotta go outta time.
Had a sorting out day yesterday. Mostly trying to get boys into a school. Lots of choice and hard decisions to make. Plus all the schools are vshut down at pres so not easy to find out answers to questions.
We went to Lake Ngatu where 4 of us swam in warmish water. Nice firm lake bottom and small crowd there. It would have been very busy in UK.
Tried making bread in evening, Pizza for tea plus 2 loaves. White. Not a total success as the oven is fierce and I didn't let the loaves rise enough. Hopefully the next batch will be better and we can take some to the party we have been invited to on Sat.
Gotta go outta time.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Sunday in Kaitaia
Patronising Hackers for this post!
Lovely day yesterday. Went to church and I was impressed. Mixed congregation all seemed friendly enough. Priest gave a sermon on our mission to fight for the poor, citing Oscar Romero as a role model. That was a good start!
In the afternoon we went to Diggers Valley to see Ruth and Stephan. Fantastic place, lovely people and duck, activities included swimming in the river, putting your foot in cow manure (optional!), walking through the bush to see the cattle, playing pooh sticks with your sandals (not reccommended by Eric), eating omelette, injecting cattle, and feeeding eels. Got home at 10 and did those boys fall asleep on their feet.
More later, we get the home connection on Friday (fingers crossed)
Mike
Lovely day yesterday. Went to church and I was impressed. Mixed congregation all seemed friendly enough. Priest gave a sermon on our mission to fight for the poor, citing Oscar Romero as a role model. That was a good start!
In the afternoon we went to Diggers Valley to see Ruth and Stephan. Fantastic place, lovely people and duck, activities included swimming in the river, putting your foot in cow manure (optional!), walking through the bush to see the cattle, playing pooh sticks with your sandals (not reccommended by Eric), eating omelette, injecting cattle, and feeeding eels. Got home at 10 and did those boys fall asleep on their feet.
More later, we get the home connection on Friday (fingers crossed)
Mike
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Stop press: we have arrived in Kaitaia
Well we are here. Sat in the Pharmacy on Commerce street writing this. Stuart is pestering me so it will be a short post.
To cut a long story short, we drove up from Whangarei yesterday in heavy rain. Spectacular scenery through the clouds. Arrived at 12 midday, by 6 we had a fridge and washing machine installed, all got beds, phone online and had received lots of help from various people. What an efficient friendly bunch!
House is ace! Massive inside. LOads of room to spread out. Loads of light from all the windows. Bit short on furniture but that will be better when the shipping arrives!
More later....
To cut a long story short, we drove up from Whangarei yesterday in heavy rain. Spectacular scenery through the clouds. Arrived at 12 midday, by 6 we had a fridge and washing machine installed, all got beds, phone online and had received lots of help from various people. What an efficient friendly bunch!
House is ace! Massive inside. LOads of room to spread out. Loads of light from all the windows. Bit short on furniture but that will be better when the shipping arrives!
More later....
Friday, January 07, 2005
Photo of arrival
What a star Colin is!!!
javascript:ol('http://www.airliners.net/postcard/view.main?id=8/2/1/uPTGZL');
This link should take you to a super photo of us arriving into Auckland.
If not try www.airliners.net
Then go to show me photos ,and choose Cathay pacific from the list of airlines.
javascript:ol('http://www.airliners.net/postcard/view.main?id=8/2/1/uPTGZL');
This link should take you to a super photo of us arriving into Auckland.
If not try www.airliners.net
Then go to show me photos ,and choose Cathay pacific from the list of airlines.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
UPDATE
Just as i sit here surfing, the shift manager has come in to tell me that we do have a booking- but at another hotel with almost the same name!!!! He had phoned the company ,not ebooker, whi deals with booking in NZ ,to find that ebooker had given us the wrongaddress . But the good news is ,that they are the same company ,and they have had 2 cancellations, so we can stay!! Thanks to someone upstairs..
Look out NZ! We have arrived!
Chelmsford to Auckland – update Wed 5th Jan 2005
A lot has happened since the last entry on Sunday.
We are sat in The New President Hotel central Auckland. It is 5.30 am and Chantelle and I have been up since 3.30. That must be the jet lag. Feel a lot better than yesterday- when dazed and confused about summed it up. It was a LONG journey with long periods of low-level stress whilst sat on the 2 planes alternated with short periods of higher stress, at Heathrow (horrible – don’t park on the top level of T3 short stay- the view is not compensated for by the wait for poxy little lift – but it was a good idea Nick!). Heathrow and Auckland were both heaving, Hong Kong lovely and spacious and quiet.
Cathay Pacific seemed a good airline to go with, the crew were always helpful and polite even when I kept the help button by mistake. They looked after the boys well. Food was tasty and plentiful with fresh fruit or a salad at every meal.
In-flight entertainment has moved on since my last international flight (20 years ago). Little screens in front of every seat with controls on the armrest. I caught up with some films “Motorcycle Diaries” (perhaps better on a bigger screen but ok), “Minority Report” (great idea), “Wimbledon” (predictable but oddly stirring to imagine a Brit actually winning Wimbledon). Played chess – easy to beat computer even on “hard” level. Favourite for lots of people was “Airshow” - a real time series of screens showing flight data : global and local maps of current position, altitude, distance travelled, airspeed etc. What was weird on the approach to HK was that hardly any of the window blinds were up even as we went over the Urals and Chinese mountains. Reminded me of going to the races at Newmarket where everyone watched the huge screen in front of the stand rather than the horses that were thundering towards us.
Other memorable bits of the journey were: Paddy sleeping half on and off his seat, passing over Oz - we had window seats by now and could see the coast 37,000 feet below, Eric being awake for the whole of the first leg, bloke trying to squeeze into overcrowded lift at Heathrow, shop at HK called “Fook Ming Tong” ( can a Cantonese speaker translate it into English?).
We were denied an aerial view of Kataia as we overflew it, being on the wrong side of plane and cloud cover was thick even when we were over land on our side. Nz is not called “Land of the long white cloud” for no reason. Boys were “wickeding” like crazy as we came through the clouds and could see the city and harbours.
Talking of boys - how are they adapting? Eric and Patrick are doing well, E seems happy to be here and is looking forward to a more active life. He has decided to get some weights so he can start working out; following brother Walt’s advice. Paddy is going along with the flow seeking his thrills in every moment. Stuart seems a bit more bothered. He has been moaning a lot, arguing that NZ is not as good as UK for this and that reason. (eg pointing out bits of litter when the rest of us are marvelling at the cleanliness of the streets.) I think he is missing his home comforts, stability and Matty.
Cannot finish this without a big thanks to Colin and Heather who fought through the crowds to pick us up at the airport. We had tea and cake on their “dick” (deck) listening to cicadas and trying to talk in a civilised fashion, whilst stopping the boys from trashing the joint. They then drove us right into town to our hotel, what a pair of stars!
Should also mention that we were not too impressed that the hotel were not expecting us and could only put us up for 1 night. Mind you it would have been a lot worse if they had been full last night. E-bookers failed us on that one and shall be hearing about it.
Current plans for today are to go shopping for essentials (SIM card, sunglasses, bird id guide etc) then find a room for the night and do some sight seeing.
A lot has happened since the last entry on Sunday.
We are sat in The New President Hotel central Auckland. It is 5.30 am and Chantelle and I have been up since 3.30. That must be the jet lag. Feel a lot better than yesterday- when dazed and confused about summed it up. It was a LONG journey with long periods of low-level stress whilst sat on the 2 planes alternated with short periods of higher stress, at Heathrow (horrible – don’t park on the top level of T3 short stay- the view is not compensated for by the wait for poxy little lift – but it was a good idea Nick!). Heathrow and Auckland were both heaving, Hong Kong lovely and spacious and quiet.
Cathay Pacific seemed a good airline to go with, the crew were always helpful and polite even when I kept the help button by mistake. They looked after the boys well. Food was tasty and plentiful with fresh fruit or a salad at every meal.
In-flight entertainment has moved on since my last international flight (20 years ago). Little screens in front of every seat with controls on the armrest. I caught up with some films “Motorcycle Diaries” (perhaps better on a bigger screen but ok), “Minority Report” (great idea), “Wimbledon” (predictable but oddly stirring to imagine a Brit actually winning Wimbledon). Played chess – easy to beat computer even on “hard” level. Favourite for lots of people was “Airshow” - a real time series of screens showing flight data : global and local maps of current position, altitude, distance travelled, airspeed etc. What was weird on the approach to HK was that hardly any of the window blinds were up even as we went over the Urals and Chinese mountains. Reminded me of going to the races at Newmarket where everyone watched the huge screen in front of the stand rather than the horses that were thundering towards us.
Other memorable bits of the journey were: Paddy sleeping half on and off his seat, passing over Oz - we had window seats by now and could see the coast 37,000 feet below, Eric being awake for the whole of the first leg, bloke trying to squeeze into overcrowded lift at Heathrow, shop at HK called “Fook Ming Tong” ( can a Cantonese speaker translate it into English?).
We were denied an aerial view of Kataia as we overflew it, being on the wrong side of plane and cloud cover was thick even when we were over land on our side. Nz is not called “Land of the long white cloud” for no reason. Boys were “wickeding” like crazy as we came through the clouds and could see the city and harbours.
Talking of boys - how are they adapting? Eric and Patrick are doing well, E seems happy to be here and is looking forward to a more active life. He has decided to get some weights so he can start working out; following brother Walt’s advice. Paddy is going along with the flow seeking his thrills in every moment. Stuart seems a bit more bothered. He has been moaning a lot, arguing that NZ is not as good as UK for this and that reason. (eg pointing out bits of litter when the rest of us are marvelling at the cleanliness of the streets.) I think he is missing his home comforts, stability and Matty.
Cannot finish this without a big thanks to Colin and Heather who fought through the crowds to pick us up at the airport. We had tea and cake on their “dick” (deck) listening to cicadas and trying to talk in a civilised fashion, whilst stopping the boys from trashing the joint. They then drove us right into town to our hotel, what a pair of stars!
Should also mention that we were not too impressed that the hotel were not expecting us and could only put us up for 1 night. Mind you it would have been a lot worse if they had been full last night. E-bookers failed us on that one and shall be hearing about it.
Current plans for today are to go shopping for essentials (SIM card, sunglasses, bird id guide etc) then find a room for the night and do some sight seeing.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
New Years Day
OK - so it looks like we can't do pictures at the moment, not until our computer is connected. In the meantime we can post text from any computer, so you will have to make do with that.
It is windy, dark and raining in Chelmsford UK. We are all chilling out at Karla and Nick's house before we go out for a Chinese.
As Chantelle pointed out this afternoon, we are eating in a Chinese tonight and flying over the country tomorrow night.
Time is warping quite markedly for me, pretty much since we left Lancaster, as in slowly down.
We blew out the cobwebs in Southend with a blustery walk along the front tody. Thames estuary on one side and lots of people and cars on the other. Plenty of stuff to keep the little'uns amused, an amusement park, sand , doughnuts.
I was surprised to see small flocks of turnstones raiding scraps of food off the pavement, mixing in with pigeons at one point. I have never seen feral turnstones before! Even better were the wateredge flocks of sanderling. Haven't seen these for several years.
Wake up those of you who don't know your sparrows from your starlings.
Today does not feel like New Years Day! It seems like arrival in Auckland should be New Years Day. Anyway it isn't, so best wishes to all our readers, with their hopes and dreams.
Final thing: if you have a New Testament check out James 5 v15. It is where the book fell open on me today. An omen or what?
It is windy, dark and raining in Chelmsford UK. We are all chilling out at Karla and Nick's house before we go out for a Chinese.
As Chantelle pointed out this afternoon, we are eating in a Chinese tonight and flying over the country tomorrow night.
Time is warping quite markedly for me, pretty much since we left Lancaster, as in slowly down.
We blew out the cobwebs in Southend with a blustery walk along the front tody. Thames estuary on one side and lots of people and cars on the other. Plenty of stuff to keep the little'uns amused, an amusement park, sand , doughnuts.
I was surprised to see small flocks of turnstones raiding scraps of food off the pavement, mixing in with pigeons at one point. I have never seen feral turnstones before! Even better were the wateredge flocks of sanderling. Haven't seen these for several years.
Wake up those of you who don't know your sparrows from your starlings.
Today does not feel like New Years Day! It seems like arrival in Auckland should be New Years Day. Anyway it isn't, so best wishes to all our readers, with their hopes and dreams.
Final thing: if you have a New Testament check out James 5 v15. It is where the book fell open on me today. An omen or what?
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