The Broadwood show - about 50K from Kaitaia over the Mangamuka Gorge
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.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Gone fishing
Just as we were heading out to Taipa Bay to check out the fishing competition, we got an invite to do some fishing on 90 mile beach. Ended up at Cooper's Beach for some body-boarding then had a look at the weigh-in. Didn't hang around for long, looked quite relaxed, lots of beer being drunk and prizes given out. No fish on show while we were there.
Our own fishing was fun and is mostly explained by the pictures below. It was great to see the boys running in the surf and up the dunes. That was one of the main reasons why we moved here, to see them doing more active things outside.
We got home at 10.30pm and Stuart was complaining that he had not had chance to watch his daily 2 hours of TV!
Our own fishing was fun and is mostly explained by the pictures below. It was great to see the boys running in the surf and up the dunes. That was one of the main reasons why we moved here, to see them doing more active things outside.
We got home at 10.30pm and Stuart was complaining that he had not had chance to watch his daily 2 hours of TV!
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?
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