Thanks

I truly had a wonderful trip around my favourite country. A heartfelt thanks to those who fed and watered me and let me prattle on like a wound up monkey. I missed lots of people I would love to have seen, but I feel reassured that they will be there when I get back.
A fantastic journey over Cairn O'Mount to Fettercairn and another road to add to the list.
Now back with my Mum and Dad and I have had a hot toddy thrust into my hand. The healing powers of whisky and honey......mmmmmmmmmmm!
Spook and the children are back home and having wee adventures out and about. Finn has his uniform lined up for the first day at intermediate school which is within the High School, for Monday, and Meg is delighted that she will have an extra day in bed and start on Tuesday.
Spook is back to work on Monday after a well earned rest. They seem to be coping very well without me so I will need to rethink my role when I get back. Best not to walk back in with any morning tea demands.

Needing to Snooze now.

I love the journey from West to East. I love the roads to Mallaig and Skye, and the A82 over Black Mount and through Glencoe. But the route from the turnoff to Tomintoul over the Lecht to the Ballater/Braemar junction, is awe-inspiring, no matter what time of year.
The morning catch up had continued to be a bonus. Goodbye to Granny and Papa et al, and over to Mels. When my head started to sink onto the table from too much trying to squeeze 2 years talk into 3 days, Mel sent me to a cosy bed, with well-selected reads, and soothing creams for my fevered brow!
Cold and wet outside and safe and warm inside.

A Sense of Belonging

Whizzed around town in a frenzied fashion, careering round roundabouts, pulling into laybys to hug passersby, banging on peoples doors unannounced, and talking fast. One concerning factor was that every cup of tea or coffee made for me was accompanied by such comments as...."what order do I need to put the sugar and milk in?"
"Eh, I just hope I've still got the demerarra"
"If I get this tea wrong, will you be pouring it down the sink?"
I was so happy to drink tea and coffee with people I hadn't expected to see for 2 years, that I really didn't care what went in the cup. I was also very careful that I didn't go back to NZ with folk saying "Aye, she really IS a pain in the arse, isn't she? You can throw the demerara in the bin now, thank goodness"
By 3pm I had burnt out and crawled onto Emmys sofa for a wee sleep by the fireside, to wake refreshed and ready for the next round.
I've had a lovely day - thanks everyone.

Home

My mother brought me a cup of tea in bed this morning. It was presented on a tray, with a plate for my squeezed out teabag, a tiny jug of milk and a bowl of suger, so that I could make it to my very exact requirement. I feel it is important for me to have offered her this opportunity to move around and keep her circulation going. She thanked me for making the effort to come home and assist in this way.
We had a lovely day out, visiting good friends for coffee and walking along Loch Lomondside.
I then headed up to the Highlands (in glorious daylight), where I have been on a desperate mission to catch up. An hour in Glencoe, dinner at Frazer and Aileens, out to find Sarah, and an abortive attempt to visit our dear nieghbours the Camerons. Throughout this process, I have bumped into so many people who took a double take, followed by big hugs. It has been a heartwarming experience, to so quickly be able to soak up the community which I tell everyone in Nz, who tells US that we wont want to go home, is a community second to none.

Potted Plants and Friends

Mum and I went in to town this morning for her first pilates class. She executed this with far more ability than I (I'd rather run up Ben Nevis than an hour of painful pilates). Her teacher is the wee sister of an old school friend of mine from Primary years and she gave me his contact details in Hobart, Tasmania, so that he could have a conversation with an old pal in a similar time zone.
I raced around the town to look for a few bits and bobs for Mum and had a tiny bit of spare time, so climbed the stairs to another dear friends home. I hadn't seen Jean for probably a couple of years. When she answered the door, I told her I had come from NZ and we had 15 minutes to catch up. To our credit, we managed potted histories in 20minutes.........as she said, we can both talk very fast!
Mum bought some primulas on the way home. She showed me where they were to go in the garden and now they are shining like jewels in the greyness of January.
Mum and I are planning a drive, coffee and walk up Loch Lomondside tomorrow, before I head North.

Road Trip

Trying to plan my wee road trip North and cant remember anyones numbers. Have no phone book and am saying the sounds of different number combinations in my head to see if they sound familiar. Like singing number songs.
Got to get my coffee spots (11am slot) sorted for Thurs, Fri, Sat, and can work everything else around that. Was looking forward to driving over Highland roads, beautiful light, snowy mountains, but the way my timing looks, I will be driving everywhere in the dark. Had forgotten about early dark. Was out with Mum this afternoon and panicked that we'd been out too late as it was so dark. It was only 5pm. It was a lovely mild day, with gentle winter sun, and I felt that the climate transition is going better than the clock transition. Am keeping my watch set at NZ time, so I can imagine better, what sort of things they might be doing over there.

happy Burns night

Woke up at 3am this morning and that was that. Body definately confused.

It's probably struggling for having bacon for dinner tonight and not haggis.
Damned cold outside. Cant quite imagine the children and Spook running around on the beach. And not having to hide under a blanket to keep out the wind, iether. Finn tells me that his Dad is feeding him beer. I think he thinks it will get me on the next plane home!! They sound very well (phoned me this morning) and pretty well-adjusted to me not being there.

wheels

Had a great walk with mum and dad today, down to the old St Peters Seminary. It is a very run down building of architectural repute, and covered in amazing graffiti. As it is out of the way, the artists have been able to work undisturbed. would love to know who they are. The place is dark and dank and eerie. I think my good pal Richard could take some great photographs here, on a sunny day. I still was glad to walk away from the place though.
Had afternoon tea with my sister Marion, which was a great chance to catch up. will be seeing my old neighbour, Mrs B, for coffee tomorrow morning.
Marion has set me up with wheels for the rest of my visit, so will probably head North on Wednesday/Thursday. Fresh snow in Glencoe, but an awful avalanche today. Hard to believe as the weather is mild and dry here today.
Jet lag herbal remedy is failing me as I am awake half the night and struggling to stay up past 8pm!!

Nelson or Bust 24.1.09

Spook and kids have arrived in Nelson for some serious holiday time.We spent a night in Hanmer Springs after dropping Mo off at the airport.There is a fantastic spa pool complex there although the kids were not impressed with the very hot rotten egg smelling pools.We managed 2 visits to the tubs before setting off north to Nelson.
It was a long drive thru some fantastic country over the Lewis Pass to Nelson.We arrived at Roddys and went straight to the local swimming hole which was great after 4 hours in the car and my farts smelling just like the hot tubs.
On Friday we went to Nelson recycling centre as Meg was suffering from not getting to Wanaka Wastebusters and then to the beach at Rabbit Island.Finn was into the water first and could not belive how warm it was compared to Arisaig,Meg was slightly wary of sharks but was soon in having a ball.The beach was massive with great waves to play in.
Today a visit to Nelsons Saturday market and then the beach is on the cards

It's a wee bit grey.

Blogging at 3am is not condusive to a good nights sleep, so I thought I would do it earlier tonight. There was a nice blue sky when I got up this mornig, but after a few hours, it became very wet, with an icy wind. Winter in a town can be very grey, but I know it will have many different colours in the country. As Spook has not mastered blogging (or is too busy having a nice time), I can tell you that the children had a lovely day at the beach. the waves were big, and no-one got eaten by a shark, so that's good news. Finn had a rotten nights sleep in the tent, as a lilo is not a good sleeping mat and he spent the night climbing back on it again.
They are going to visit the McNeillies, ex of the Achintee Inn tomorrow. I'm enjoying the e-mails from the children, and admiring their spelling!

Forgot

I was so busy soaking up the chance to be with my parents, after such a difficult time to have been parted from them, that I forgot to blog. I suppose there was a big motovation in the beginning, to keep up this blog, from the picture I had in my head of Granny Joy reading her morning blog over a strong coffee and a slice of buttered toast, and Dad and Mum downloading it and reading it over 11am milky coffee and chocolate biscuit. I forgot that it was possibly on the coffee table of a few others. I do love a fancy book for the coffee table. Always felt it would impress visitors. So I quite like the idea of me being there. Sadly, it's bound up in a computer screen, rather than a gilt-edged, leather bound volume. But there you go - modern times.
I left instructions with spook on how to write on the blog, so we have a wee window on life from his perspective over this time, but realise, I should have given the instructions to Meg!
I was woefully unprepared for traveling through time to winter. Having spent a lot of the evening before snuggled up with my daughter instead of packing, and then slept-in the morning of the flight, I managed only to have one pair of pink crocs on my feet and one pair of ski socks in my bag. It was so warm in Christchurch that I left my cardigan in the car, and arrived in Glasgow wearing flight socks and a purple hue with orange spots on my skin (always had that poor circulation look about me). Not the tanned, sophisticated, traveller I had hoped to portray. I could see other passengers looking at me with disdain. At least my warm, winter jacket was in my bag in the hold of the plane, even though it wasnt going to match my crocs.
Sadly, it wasnt in the hold of the plane I was actually travelling in and arrived by some poor wee carrier pigeon, at 6pm that night, 7 hours after me. I can just picture the flying helmet bedecked, Disney like character careering through the skys, trying to catch up with us.

Dubai

Phew. Thought I couldn't blog there, for a minute. The writing at the top of the page is in arabic and I couldn't work out which bit said 'sign in'. Then I remembered that the writing goes right to left and found it on the other side of the screen.
The flight was fine. Turbulence, but not a huge big drop, like on the way over. So that was ok, and a lovely smooth landing. Have no sense that i'm sitting on the edge of the desert. No particular sense of the middle east iether. But I AM sitting doing my blog in the mustering spot for Glasgow. I asked a member of staff, if there was a particular area where my computer could pick up the internet. He looked surprised and said 'the whole airport'. Here was me thinking there was a wee hotspot somewhere. It's a modern world.
I'm wondering what kind of washing powder people use out here. Their whites are very white. It doesn't matter what country we Munro/Aitkens live in, our whites are all tinged with grey.
Only 8 hrs flight left, I think, and half an hour until I get on the plane. So not too bad. The children will be in Nelson by now, if Spook has managed to get them out of the hot pools.

quick blog

in sydney now and a q for the internet.  Fine flight but turbulence before landing and pilot was clearly tired with the way he shot onto the runway and rammed his foot on the breaks.  think his tea was on.

Very sad to say goodbye to the family.  but hear theya re having good time in Hamner.
will try and blog from Dubai.

Last Night!

Past the inspection with nearly flying colours. Called in tonight, to see Coleen and Stuart for a wee blether and a cheerio. They said they chat to lots of people who live around the place, but don't usually get to know people very well. They thanked us for being so friendly - that's the Scottish neighbours for you!!!! I've left them my address and phone number.
Meg is having big teenage worries about me being away. Didn't realise how much we talk about things and I have to find a way to keep contact when I cant MSN. Will need to have a daily phone call the way she's feeling just. I had thought that Finn would be the vulnerable one, but now that he has a large, flat screen TV, I don't think he's going to notice I've gone.
At least they have a great camping adventure ahead, with the first camp about 2hrs further from the airport at Hamner Springs where they have terrific hot pools. Then they will have a 3 hr drive to Roddy at Nelson and will stay for 3/4 days. The junior Sinclairs are in Oz.
Not looking forward to parting at the airport. Meg will be fine when she gets her first day back at school under her belt. I will be fine once I start chomping on my herbal remedies. Spook will be fine, because he is finally on holiday. And Finn.....well, we know he'll be fine.

First Night

The children are excited and Spook's too tired to notice. Both children had a shower. Meg said that when the water 'hit' your head, it spread over the rest of you - she may be grasping at straws, but they washed without being asked to do so, as if to make a point to their father!

One has to wonder if the large, wide screen TV has anything to do with their enthusiasm. (It's not in the shower).

Meg's riding instructor never turned up for her lesson last week, so she scored when she was invited to join her holiday programme group instead, from 1 til 4.30pm tomorrow. She's pretty stoked!! (chuffed).

Finn has to dismantle his den at the old place before it changes the course of the creek, otherwise we are all out of there and have an inspection at 2pm to see if we've left it in good nick.

I have no idea how we managed to accumulate so much stuff. Suspect the visits to the Dump may have something to do with it. I looked around to see if there was anything I could take back, but it all seemed vital. I seem to have some kind of need to recreate the chaos of our home in Scotland.

Early Blogging

Not a lot of sleep was had last night, as poo issues caused a lot of anxiety. The day, today was spent moving most of the remainder of our things to our new home, and for Spook, dealing with work as usual. Things will change there after his holidays and we will all be having a fresh start from a new location, after I come back from Scotland. Hopefully we'll get out on the bikes together and a few inches of our midrifts will melt away. We will all be queuing up for the good shower tomorrow morning before I condem us to 2 years of a trickle. This is the last night in this house which has been a good start, right in the town, with lovely neighbours. Hopefully we'll not lose touch with them. Pat has booked me to water the garden when Keith goes to hospital in Dunedin for 3 days at the end of February. And Suzy still insists that she'll still get us over to dinner as promised. She's also our doctor, so I daresay we'll see her occasionally anyway. I have only yelled to Stuart on the way past that we are leaving, so will need to call in for a chat tomorrow. It's a Spanish family moving in now.
The weather has changed to cool again with a low of 6 degrees promised for tonight. Fine, I say - lot less sweaty all round. We're all going to bed early for a good nights sleep.

Alexandra the Great

Spook and I got up early to see the first swimmers come out of the water. Iether Richard Ussher is a very poor swimmer, or he didn't turn up, but when the athletes began to change shape further down the field and we still hadn't seen him, we decided to do the sociable thing and go to Alexandra for the day rather than follow the Challenge. I discovered a lovely, unassuming little town, with a fab campsite. Probably not changed since the 1970's, with a terrific river running through it and lots of space for the children to cycle about. Spanish type hills all around for the grown ups to cycle in too. We stayed til late, but came home as Spook needs to go into work.

The night sky looks very different. The milky way is as clear as anything. Will take some time to get to know any of the stars. The children only just forgave us for not camping, but we will need to camp there soon.

Spook relaxed for a few hours. Alexandra lost it's Muttonville title.

Spookitto

Spook had an early finish of 4pm today to reward himself for the 5am start, so that was good. It also meant he had time to get a hair cut. I took a before and after photo to see if it made him look more athletic without having to train. He went to our favourite family salon - Alibabas - where Meg got her hair streaked, Finn is happy to have hair removed and where I have been supported and cared for since our second week here. Sandy lovingly sheared him and cultivated his eyebrows and Jayne insisted that he still make it to her wedding even though I will be in Scotland. He came home feeling shell-shocked and rejuvenated from 2 woman fussing over him. The second photo has a touch of the Frazer Couplands about it. This is what Spook looks like when he's not working. Main difference being that Frazer goes out on his bike! Even when we went down to watch the light weight triatlon in town tonight, he was still attached to his phone. Tomorrow is the heavy weights with Athletes from all over the world. Richard Ussher, who stayed a couple of nights with us a couple of years ago when he was competeing in the World Champ Adventure Race, is pitting himself against Iron Men. This is not his sport, so we will be watching with great interest. He is quite highly rated, but in a kind of controversial way. Unfortunately, it has started raining, after days of loveliness, though that may be good for the athletes. The town has erupted again, like it did at New Year, so when Spook is not attached to his phone, he is watching the poo swell up in his tanks (via a computer link - it is very exciting to live with Spook and see the world from a different perspective). You simply can't imagine unless you live with it! We had a couple of glasses of wine and enjoyed the Best Mate Craic, which we've missed over the last few weeks.

Beans meanz Watties

Word on the street is that we are moving to a new street. The new family has not paid the deposit yet, but the rent lady thinks we are fine to move on. So Meg, Finn and I spent the day cleaning and making the new place our own. Spook worked from 6.15am to 7.50pm. He needs to be at work for 5am tomorrow. I really don't need a job, as he does more than enough for both of us. He is looking forward to taking me North and putting me on a plane - I think that's because he get's a holiday out of it, but it's possible he may move all our things back to the good shower house as soon as I'm out of the way.

The children love moving house. It's a very Kiwi thing to do. They get bored and move on. It's so different from us. We would never have left Fort William without this offer coming along, and I can't imagine any of our friends nipping down to live in Glasgow for a wee change.

I have pinned the beans to some wood work at the our new abode, and will have to see what a couple of days sunshine can do. They don't look too perky. (Finn can't see the point in the beans unless the tomatoes are to make into a sauce. There's only Watties beans here, no Heinz). The tomatoes didn't like the move iether, but only one tomato fell off. Between Spook and the produce, it's all the children and I can do to keep up the enthusiam! (Actually, nothing could dampen the childrens enthusiasm for this house).

Clay Bake

More flowers on the bean stalk and reaching ever further to the skies. Will need to get Jack to unwind it if we don't get a move soon. Our house has been taken off the market, which is obviously positive, but still no phone call. I took Spook over to get a proper look at the new house, now that Michaela and Max are away on their holidays and we can just look on our own. One flick of the trickly shower and Spook had a stony face. So not so good there. I still think it's a light and airy house with an outlook on 2 sides and that it's ramshackliness means we can shape it into a family home, rather than the smart 'fait a complet' that we have here. Spook will take some convincing! He's working hard, to not have a good shower at the end of the day. (Actually, he's got a perfectly decent one at work, so he doesn't really need one at home).

He put in another 11.5hr day and the children and I explored the bays on the Lake and decided that the one closest to the new place (yesterdays photo) is tops. I managed to submerge myself again and the children dived for clay from the bed of the lake. Like Pearl Fishers without anything so pretty to show for it. They brought it home to make 'things' with it. They were very united by the whole process, so I just let them get on with it.

Spook had a visit from an extremly fit looking young man who is living and working here for a few months and looking for a cycling partner. He's just arrived from a year of mountian bike guiding in Spain. He'd heard Spook was here, through a friend who knew about No Fuss. Spook looked a little pale under his tan. This guy will certainly be waiting for him at the top of the climbs.

No News

The beans continue to creep further up the sycamore tree. It's amazing how fast things grow when you water them and the sun shines on them all day. I must take a photo of my beautiful green tomatoes. No news on the house move. As time draws nearer, I start to worry that this house is peaceful and shaded. Need to be mindful of frosty winters. Easy to forget in this summer.

Meg went swimming with friends and Finn and I did some messages and made muffins. Then we cycled to the quietest bay and even I was tempted in for a swim. It is sheltered and shallow for a long way out, so was nearly warm (after a 10 minute adjustment as I crept out into the lake).

Spook had highs and lows at the poo factory, in keeping with the flows.

Waiting Game

Meg and I checked out the rent lady today and she said there was a very good chance she had let the house and would know tomorrow morning. We would only hve to pay rent until the 1st of Feb and we could have all our stuff moved to Beech Street by 20th, the day before I fly home. This would be the best thing for all, so fingers crossed for tomorrow. (Or tonight, for those in the Northern Hemisphere). Meg came home and packed regardless, plus stripped all the beds in Finns room apart from his own. I'm not quite sure how she's going to get through the week - or cope if it doesn't fall into place. There were 2 people looked at it the other day and both interested, plus Hoons sitting outside staring at the place today, in their throbbing V8. There was a couple of girls looking too, and a nice lady from Christchurch turned up just as I was shouting at Meg for bossing me about. I think the rent lady will move fast to grab the nice family that want it, before the Hoons get a chance.
If we are moving, I shall have to start unwinding my beans, which have wound themselves round the small Sycamore tree in the garden. Not quite sturdy enough for Jack. I could move them to Beech street, where they could join the grapes growing over the back door.

Sweaty Sunday

The team manager got me out of bed at 8.30am and told me that registration had just opened. So I had to get a quick cup of tea, with her hanging over me, before going to sign the parental name on the registration form. Then I took herself home to polish up her bike and had to go over to Max's house to get the running leg of the team out of his kip. I found them sound asleep in a darkened room with 25 minutes to the start of the race (well, there were 3 age groups before theirs). There was a definate lack of enthusiasm here, but Max came along for support and we managed to get a slice of toast into Finn to build up his strength. When we got to the race field, Meg had already arrived on her trusty steed and met up with Vicky, the swimmer, who had a tender ankle from trampolining the day before.

Vicky swam the best she could with her sore ankle and Meg managed to pick off a few competitors while Finn stood mooching at the start, complaining that 2 laps was a bit over the top for the runners, and that he was really a cyclist, more than a runner. Certainly, he was at a disadvantage, having got into the bigger age group. Meg tagged him and he set off with his faithful pal running along beside him and encouraging him all the way. He ran a steady, relaxed lope, passing 4 competitors, and declared himself to be more of a runner than a cyclist. Each child thoroughly enjoyed their race and got some great prizes and a t-shirt from the inaugural Junior Challenge Wanaka. The big Challenge is next Saturday, with the country's top athletes competing. A great way to get the children interested.

Finn had decided enough was enough, and sailed off into the distance with Max on a 30ft yacht. He spent the rest of the day swimming and speeding around on a 'biscuit' on the back of a boat. He has refused to come home.

Meg and I went to Cromwell with Nicky and her children to see how our menfolk had faired in their road race. We passed David looking hot and tired still out on the course, and found Spook propped up against a tree, having been in for about 10 minutes. It took him 3 hours and 11 minutes and there were girls under 20, who had done it in 2hrs 20 mins! They looked like the most ordinary girls. The winners out of 475 entrants, had won in 2hrs 19minutes, so there was nothing remotely ordinary about these girls. Spook enjoyed his race, but is a wee bit tired.

We will end the weekend by going down to the park at dusk (10pm) to watch Grease on the outdoor screen - if you cant beat them, join them. I wonder if I should do a few laps round the park, just to feel part of the family.

It's a hard Life

We thought we better explore some parts of town we hadn't looked at yet. Spook has been working hard so we took a visit to the spa pools to help him relax. It was very good of us. Also a good pre-race relaxation for the athletes that will be competing tomorrow. This town is so expensive, yet it cost £10 for 5 of us to stay here for 2.5 hours. Money well spent and a glass of wine and beer by the pool was a wee bit extra. Spook is very relaxed now, but maybe we should have been doing this AFTER his big race.

Ice Cold in............Muttonville.

We legged it out of here this morning before we could mess up the house. I had applied all my professionalism to the cleaning process, so there wasn't much more we could do. Don't know whether they took the bait.
I had a chat, rather than an interview, and it's a bit of a slow-burner, where they wont know if they have the contract until March/April, so still not employed. The children and I continued on to Alexandra as we're a bit over Queenstown. Dramatic landscape - pretty bleak scree slope with jagged rocks and a green river running alongside the road, leading to The Clyde Dam. Alex is a town in a big bowl and I got a lecture from Meg when I said "I wouldn't want to live here!" She said that was a bad attitude, especially when I had just said it about Cromwell. They are towns on flat plains with no particular features, though the simple clock on the rocky hillside of Alex was quite cool. But when I drove out over the Muttontown Creek and past Muttontown Road, I still hadn't quite warmed to the place. Nice cafe though.
It's been great to see Nicky and David from Invercargill and talk so fondly of Fort William and good old No Fuss. David and Spook are doing a 96k road race on Sunday. Meg and Finn are doing the Puzzling World Triathlon on Sunday - Meg has organised her team re-union from the Queenstown Triathlon, filled in forms on line and delivered her payment to the organisors. Hasn't actually been on the bike since the last race. Neither has Spook, now I come to think of it.

Big Brother.

You never know who's reading the blog! The letting agency phoned to say they had someone wanting to see the house tomorrow, and someone else very interested, but not needing to see it as they used to live here before it was renovated. It would be fantastic if we could make a move before I fly home, as it would be pretty inconvenient for a move to be required when we are all in transit - Spook and the children up North on holiday and me on a plane. And very good for the children to be settled in the new place at the start of school, with school buddies to walk with, when their Mammies not there to see them out or home for the first week. Can't quite believe it could work out first time. It would not be good to lose this place and miss out on the next. Not sure where the homeless go in this town.
Meg had a riding lesson today as part of her Christmas present. She had wanted to learn to 'rise on the trot', and got that sorted pretty quick. I met her instructor through the Riding for The Disabled and felt sure Meg would like her. She's got another lesson next week and then may get a weekly slot after school, where she has an hour and a half, in which to catch her horse, brush and saddle it and learn a few tricks, along with a group of school children.
Only if I get a job. I have an interview tomorrow, but don't get so excited these days.
We scrubbed and tidied the house today. Good that we'd already planned that.
And the couple who won the first No Fuss prize to Scotland are coming to stay for the weekend, so we are well clean for THAT.

Boobies and Belly's

28 degrees and lovely wind. Not good for the bike, should one choose to go out on it, but very pleasant for those of us who choose to take the car up the west coast road a wee bit, to gather some nice drift wood. Probably about 30kms from here. Finn had been there fishing with his Dad, so knew where we could get parked by the lake (Hawea). Meg is sporting a slash of red/pink, freshly bleached and stained into her hair this morning - very fetching. (Michaela got a streak of blue).
We strolled along the shore line, with the water rushing noisily ashore as if it were tidal. I had my eyes to the ground, so didn't notice the couple sun-bathing in a sheltered spot. Meg did and frantically tried to about turn me, without my knowing why. Finn had been looking for the perfect skimming stone and we were almost tripping over their toes, by the time Finn and I looked up. Didn't bother the couple at all, but Finn was grinning from ear to ear and was wondering if it was legal for ladies to be topless in public.
We had huge ice-creams in a cone at the village of Lake Hawea on the way home. We sat outside to eat them and had to slurp noisily and forego any conversation before we could get them under control in the melting sun. We were wearing a substantial amount of gooey stuff by the end and I now have severe belly ache from the unaccustomed scoffing of such a portion. The children are fine.
We checked to see if our current home has been put back on the market. It has, and can be viewed at www.accommodationwanaka.com by any prospective renter. Look under long term rental. First on the list. This is what it looked before we moved in and while Robbi was living here and keeping it in order. Meg and I decided we might spend some of tomorrow trying to get it closer to this state.

Chicken-LIcken

There seems to no end to the jet boat/jet ski disasters. Having watched them racing around Lake Wanaka without too much care and attention, skiers clinging on to the back and jet skis zig-zagging about, it's no wonder that when it happens on the rivers, disaster befalls. These past weeks there has been a death or two in the papers each week. I will not be bungy jumping, jet-skiing , jet boating, heli-biking, para-gliding or ski diving. A wee run round Mt Iron every now and then will be fine. It's bad enough getting on a regular plane. Driving to the plane will be dangerous too. Lot's of accidents on the roads. And Spook has just purchased me a road bike. How dangerous is THAT?
And people lost in the mountians. Best not go there iether. Just as well this is a nice wee town. And it's easier to cross the road now.

Warm and Windy

We waved goodbye to The Sinclairs and I went off for 5 hours of cleaning which involved 10 toilets. That's quite a lot so I don't need to do any more for 5 weeks unless the new girl from the agency doesn't work out. That means I can be around for the children and we can try and have some wee adventures. Only 3 weeks until I fly to Scotland.
I remembered my tennis game tonight, having forgotten it last week. We had lot's of fun and were all grinning from ear to ear. I think we get as much from it as each other. Can't think that anyone would have been impressed by our game, but WE were.
I gave notice at the rent office, that we want to move out. We are committed for 3 more months unless they can get anyone to take on the lease. Meanwhile, Kate and Tony are trying to get some holiday lets for their old house, but still have a few repairs to do first, so fingers crossed it all works out. It has a wood burning stove, plenty beds and lot's of light. Also nearer the school for winter walking.
Spook made some enquiries about Tonga today. Pete told him that his sister-in-laws Mum and brother sailed to Tonga and disappeared! Apparently everyone else on the boat came back but not them. So that's fine. I think we can cancel Tonga. This may or may not put Tony off. He wasn't keen on the bibles iether - just the adventure.
Spook looks very tired, despite a good nights sleep. He actually managed to drop off while Mama Mia blasted through the night and it started to seem like not such a social thing after all. Shouldn't think much off the town got to sleep until it finished, around 11.30pm.
It would seem like a good idea to attend next weekends showing, rather than lie in bed with the sound and no pictures. Don't know what the film will be.

Last Day

Sinclairs are leaving in the morning. We had a last game of rounders and both Spook and Roddy pulled muscles, so they want to do a bit of limbering up before such activities. We went to see Madagascar 2 at Cinema Paradiso and missed the mid-day heat. The children spent the rest of the day, skating, boarding and scootering. I took Max home at 9pm and had a small rum with his Mum and Dad, who own the house we are interested in. Tony is a very energetic and enthusiastic man who sails, skis, paraglides, trials bike rides....you name it. He wants to sail to Tonga in June and asked if Spook could sail and did he want to go? Apparently Spook does want to go, despite shark infested waters and like Tony (brought up a Catholic), is thinking he could overcome the fact that it's a bible run!!!!!!

When Meg and I got home at 10pm we heard Mama Mia and remembered that there was an outside showing down at the park. we drove down and sure enough there were lot's of people sitting around the large screen - good sound too. Meg was desperate to stay, but I think we'll wait for the next show. I think there's to be a few throughout January/February.

Language Difficulties

I was in the Health shop with Robbi and the girls the other day and they were trying on hats. I asked the girl if she had a mirror. She looked puzzled and said 'What's that?" I said, "Something to look at their relflection in!"
"oh, you mean a meera!"
Spook is getting to grips with the language better than me, being a bit more embroiled in things up at the works. He said to Pete today,"She's a pretty big job! I'll need to get a bloke in" And Pete said, reassuringly "You'll be right" (which was actually a bit hopeful for a job that probably wont be alright). And Spook says "You reeckon?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTWjG4n19GM (or google Youtube - mitre ten sandpit ad.
I did catch myself saying "yees" the other day, which is how my boss Mary, indicates the affirmative. And when I said at the hairdresser that I wanted to know how much grey hair I had, she didn't know what I meant. I should have said 'gri' (as in eye).
So please be gentle on me when I come home as things are changing without us meaning to.
Spook and I are negotiating to a new home for the winter. Max and Michaela's old house, which is ramshackly with a wood-burner and heat pump and plenty beds, plus a spare toilet. We've done pretty well here, with sometimes 11 people and one toilet, but two would be good.
Meanwhile, if you are managing the you tube - put in a search for 'mitre ten classroom advert'.

Pooy Hoons Pull out.

Rainy day in the Southern Hemisphere. We were all easily occupied in the morning, but were too late to book into Cinema Paradiso for Madagascar 2. Everyone else had got the idea before us. So booked us in for Sunday - The Sinclairs last day with us. We lit the fire and did a jigsaw. I read the Sunday Herald on-line for the 1st time since we got here. World News is extremely limited and it was a bit of a shock to read the reviews of the year. In a bit of a vacuum here. They talk of money worries here, but there hasn't been quite such a melt down. I do read local stories - like the American who got knocked off his motorbike when riding on the wrong side of the road. The police spokesman said "He's a very lucky man.........his legs are munted!" (didn't sound lucky to me, whatever munted means). And the 77 yr old woman who had her zimmer pulled off her by a bunch of Hoons and she managed to kick their butt. But a bit of a financial melt down and rain probably saved us from the enslaught we could have had. Spook knew from the poo works that the bulk of them left by about 2pm. There was lines of traffic heading out of town all day and hopefully we will be able to cross the road safely tomorrow, and get out of junctions in under 10 minutes.
We went for a walk after a late dinner (Spook at Poo factory until 7pm) and the children needed to burn of some energy now that the rain had stopped. We walked past the yacht club and along the lakeside. The number of 4 wheel drive vehicles launching boats on the water was amazing as everyone who'd been stuck inside all day came out to play. And the Hoons who deliberately drove fast through the big puddle to splash Roddy and Spook were lucky they didn't wet their points and stall, after the day of wet, smelly stuff that Spook had endured.