Central Otago

These images are all from up at Spooks work. The first is Lloyd Ferguson's house. He is the gentleman farmer that lives round the corner. Funnily enough, he is the one neighbour who is neighbourly. The next is the Upper Clutha on his river run and the third is his running path.

The wind blew as if it were in Scotland last night, and it rained to match. It really looked like home this morning with the rain driving in at an angle. That went on all morning and then the sun broke through to a lovely warm afternoon. The real cold has gone and the house is about 9 degrees when we get up. That is a big difference from 3 degrees.

I went to work this morning, wearing a Clean Act t-shirt and some make-up. Mary is selling the business and had a couple from Oz over to look around. They are planning to move here soon, so Sarsha and I tried to look worth buying. Sarsha wore her's with the pizzazz of the beautiful 25yr old Aussie that she is. A cream turtle neck underneath and pulled back into a figure hugging shape with a wee knot at the back. I wore mine as befits the 45yr old that I am, with a worn and torn long-sleeved pink top underneath and in a traditional loose and shapeless t-shirt style. We never actually met the Aussies so have to do it all again on Monday, when they will be 'observing' us. We have to make sure we look happy at our work.

We cleaned a wee Bach today - this is how Wanaka living used to be. It was lovely. Wooden with verandah. Open plan living, dining, kitchen area and 3 double rooms and bathroom. Also had a one car garage converted into a sleepout with 8 beds, shower/toilet and laundry. Very small and compact with a terrific wood burner. (The Bach). I'd rather have that any day, than the big shiny house we vacuumed out next. The fancy show home that is seen in some of my pictures of the view over to Sticky Woods. Wanaka wasn't always so expensive!!!

Finn had a great trip up to Lake Tekapo and The Observatory. He saw Jupitor through the telescope and could show us the Southern Cross and all sorts of other constellations. They luxuriated in hot tubs and went skating. He absolutely loved it. It is very special up there.

I enjoyed my glass of red at The Turner Household when I dropped Sam off. And then it was good to have us all back together for our family viewing schedule. We watch Shortland Street 5 nights a week and shout at the TV as the soap characters metamorphosize from good characters into bad and viceversa. We have begun to think that we know them personally, and we all have our own favourites. It is a bit sad, but we love it. The only sporting activity we can do together without anyone falling out! And when they announce the lotto numbers we all repeat the numbers in our best Kiwi accent. We are quite good at it now. I was listening on the radio today and heard a lady say something about a 'flesh of light'. I knew that she meant 'flash', but wondered what she would say if she had bare flesh on show. Would that be 'fleesh'? I am still struggling with Finns rugby mate who is called Alice when they shout for the ball. I looked for the girl but he is a sturdy we lad called Ellis. Apparently Alice in Wonderland is still called Alice.

grateful for:

flaaat vowel sounds.

adaptable children.

Designer Dahling.

Miss Moneypenny got her specs today.She had some difficulty remembering the designer label when telling her friends about them. 'God Dior........no Religion Dior.........eh Hindu Dior......oh that's it, Christian Dior!' She has gone to bed early because

1. she can see better to read her book
2. her brother has gone to Twizel and she has bagged his double bed and needs to get as much time in there as possible as he's only away one night and he told her that she was not to sleep there.

In honour of his trip to the High Country, she bought us all a takeaway pizza. He get's one whenever he goes to Sam's house, so she figured it was ok to save money by making the gesture while he was gone. It really was a treat. Finn was lucky to get away on the trip as he, John and Sam got big trouble from the teacher for flicking each other with t-towels during break time. He said that she was unreasonably upset about it. This probably backs up the story that he told me 2 days ago about how his class was the best. He said that the boys and girls all hung out together, unlike in other class's and that it was quite like a family. So I suppose he's to take the good with the bad - just like in families. I can suffer from unreasonable upsetness too.

I did some work this morning and then Spook did a driveby to pick me up and we got a few runs in on the snowboards. I took a different hat, as they wouldn't let me on the tow on a snowboard with the cute blue one. It was very windy again, but curiously warm out of the wind. Sometimes we were hurled along by it until we could get off the brow of the hill. With Spooks advice, I managed to improve a little and it was even fun - probably what snowboarding is meant to be about, instead of the tortuous and exhausting business I make of it.

The word of the week has to be 'stoked' as I had to use it to explain myself today. We gave a lift to an 18yr old redheaded boy. He has just moved to live in Wanaka after years of having to travel there from the North Island. I said that he must be really chuffed about that. He had no idea what I meant until I changed it to 'really stoked'.

I told him about Finn hating 'Hug a Ginger Day'. This boy said that he used to hate it too, but now he loves being different and says that he get's free burgers and sweets and all sorts of things on Hug a Ginger day. We also gave a lift to a 57yr old Slovakian, who started snowboarding when he was 47. He regards it as a bit of a science and says he will give me some hints if I meet him up there. He has 'ridden' 30 days of the season so far, and is here until the end of the season. Spook has given lifts to the same people on more than one occassion. And as soon as he says where he is from, it is quickly established that they have also had a lift from his wife. The small town syndrome that we like.

grateful for:

a really good week for time with Spook.

not having to cook the tea - thanks Meggie!

The photos are from Spooks regular run from his work and the sunrise over the mountains at Hawea. The Poo Factory Plain, never fails to impress.

Wow! Who IS she?

I really have to do something about this hat. It is Megans and is nice and cosy because it ties under my chin. The lady in the bank asked me to remove it when I was in today. I assume it was because I could have been a bank robber, but it may simply have been offensive. Spook put his camera on to 'ski chick' mode, but it malfunctioned.

WE really did have great fun today. It is the only sport which we can do equally well/badly. (he says we swim at the same level, but actually, I am better than him). The snow conditions were fantastic. It was pretty windy, but the wind eased as the day went on and it got better and better.

Finn has repacked his bag for his trip to Mckenzie country which was postponed last week after all night rain. It has started to rain again, so it would be a bit miserable if it was put off again.

Meg and her father have taken to communicating with each other via the screensaver on the laptop. I think I said before that we know which pet she is currently interested in. The chipmunk has long since gone from the screen and different horses appear regularly. Meg came home today and burst out laughing as the screensaver was a picture of the shed at home. Last night, Finn asked Spook what he missed the most and he said that it is probably his shed. By the time Spook got home, the screensaver was a mass of banknotes. (Meg got her first paycheck yesterday and is rolling in money).

grateful for:

my playmate in the snow.

Not having to worry about what I look like (well, I'm willing to make an effort every now and then just to remind him it's possible)

That picture of Spook on his bike could be from home.

Spooks beautiful sunrise was followed by a beautiful day. This morning's sunrise was very dramatic and was followed by rain, so maybe there is truth in the saying after all. After a lot of faffing about, Spook and I finally decided to cycle to Hawea on the new track. It's 30km round trip by road, so a bit longer by the track and longer with the wrong turnings we took trying to find it. Signage is always the last part of a new track!! We wore the full lycra outfits, but shorts would probably have been fine. Despite the dull day, it wasn't cold. The problem with his and her lycra, is if the 'his' is a lythesome athlete, and the 'her' isn't, it's not such a good look. I'm hoping any bystanders assumed that I had a couple of layers of thermals underneath.....and that the suit was so tight, it was squeezing my facial cheeks up out the top. We had a great lunch in the shop/cafe - something which they do very well over here. Hawea is cheaper than Wanaka, but it's weird how eating out is relatively cheap when food shopping is so expensive.

I'm feeling a bit crook now and am a little paranoid after sitting in a car with a family of recovering Swine Flu sufferers. They had spent the holidays in Sydney and reckon they caught it on the plane home. The mother had been vaccinated against flu, so the doctor thinks it may have been swine flu.

grateful for:

the bridge on the track being opened as it was a bleeding long trip back or a serious swim over a fast, deep, glacial river.

the fact that only one healthy person (and a few unhealthy ones), has died from Swine Flu in New Zealand, so fingers crossed.

Christian Glasses.

I'm posting these pictures as I can't seem to get Spooks sunrises from his camera. will try and get them out tomorrow. The trapeze was a bit of extreme play park - Kiwi style. Just a bit of soft bark to catch the kids if they fall!!!!!! The 5 are Zac (expert pig hunter), Luke, Josh, Thomas and his twin sister Hannah. Hannah told me it was her birthday. When I asked if there were any other birthdays in the family, she couldn't think what I was talking about. She is older than Thomas by a minute, so he doesn't stand a chance, really. She went and queued to get this sausage for him and I heard her tell him he was lucky to get it. Their father Vern, is one of the coaches - the bad cop!

Spook went to clean his poo tank on his day off and I went to clean a couple of holiday houses with my lovely colleague, Sarsha. I had to pick up keys for the 2nd one, at the offices of the accomodation people we rented from when we first came here. They were pretty snooty and gave Sarsha and I bit of a runaround looking for keys, incurring a 45 min delay, which was enough to make me miss going snowboarding with Spook. The feeling I got was that the cleaners time was not of great value. I was mad for ages which was not helped by my falling in the bath. It was a huge spa bath that someone had filled to the neck, shaved and exfoliated in and left the scum for me to remove. I'd just about got it done when I had to reach over to the far side and fell in. I made sure I fell in a way that didn't dirty it again, but I banged my head really hard, rattling my teeth and my brain. Sarsha ran to rescue me but couldn't do so until she had stopped laughing. I blame the nasty lady in the office who dosen't speak nice to the cleaning ladies.

Spook had a nice time snowboarding but was a little lonely.

Meg had her optician's appointment today to check her eye progress. But is wasn't the same optician (she had told me it was a $30 appointment), but a man who did a thorough check and decided Meg needs specs for reading and the blackboard. So he charged $55 and it will be $280 for her glasses. At least Meg is very excited. Yet again she was offering to pay. At this rate, she would need to give up school and work full time!!

grateful for:

Christian Dior's last year style glasses - the cheapest ones in the shop.

Big Action

I took a picture of Cromwell on the way down to Alex yesterday, and a picture on the way home again. The pictures don't show the majestic quality of the drive, but Finn wouldn't let me stop and take any more, even though he can't help being impressed himself. The landscape does get under your skin eventually. After my poor impression of Alexandra on my first visit, I now really like it. I look at the hills around and feel the vast emptiness that is just outside the towns. The road out of Alex to the South rises up to a plain, with rocky outcrops that you don't see in Britain. Quite unique, I think.

Finn got more possesion of the ball, but as you can see, there is a price to pay for getting hold of the ball. (that's him underneath the opposition). He had bruised knees and stud scrapes on his thighs, but as I said last night, no broken bits, so that was a bonus. Coach Timu described it as a 'tough day at the office'. The season has all but finished now as I don't think they are going to the last 7's tournament. The prize giving is next Saturday. I felt very sad that I was watching the last games. I have enjoyed watching the team bonding.

Spook worked today. I did 4 hours of intensive cleaning and even managed to carry it home to clean our messy house. Finn went up the hill with The Turners (Sam, Shannon and Steve), and Meg went and joined her dad at work for a few hours, after a good lie in. It was a gorgeous day, and as is usual for Spooks 4 days off, the weather forecast looks like closing in again. I am working tomorrow morning, but probably have the day off on Tuesday (rain forecast), so we will be able to do something together, but not likely to be skiing.

grateful for:

a successful rissoto for tea, date scones and banana loaf in the tins and a tidy house.

Follywood.

I think I did quite well to get Spook into this outfit before he started on the martini's. After the martini's, it was getting him out of the outfit that was the problem. I had some material from Mary, but when I dropped Meg off at her friends party tonight, her mother lent me this sari. I think Spook and I might have fared well in the days of The Raj. We had a lovely night and Shannon, with the wavy hair, was pretty chuffed -always a worry with a surprise party. NOt everyone's cup of tea. We left early to go and pick up Meg and then, of course, had to show her friend and parents how the sari had turned out. It hadn't stayed in this state for long. As we were arriving, a car was backing out of the drive and we thought it might be Shannon and Steve going out. So we dived into the bushes and I arrived at the party wearing running shorts, sports bra and carrying acres of orange chiffon. I have no idea how Indian woman keep their dignity and their sari's intact.

Finn and I had a great day down in Alex, where it cerainly wasn't Ice Cold. It was a magnificent day. Frosted ground but warm sunshine. The team played with gusto, but more loss's than wins. There was only one spare man between the two teams, and as the day went on, there were none spare as injury by injury, they dropped out. One broken bone, one sprain and one munted. Lot's of bruises, scrapes, blood and tears. None from the Ginga Ninja, I'm glad to say. I will post some photo's of the day tomorrow, as I feel that Spook and I's outfits may have outshone Finn's rugby shirt, for once.

grateful for:

green lentils and some curry powder.

Spook being there to keep an eye on the sewage system tomorrow, after my big pot of green lentils and curry powder.

Bollyspook

There has been a flurry of peircings in Megs group of friends. 4 have had their belly buttons pierced. Thankfully Meg thinks this is ridiculous. However, she has been doing wee drawings on different parts of her body to demonstrate the tattoos that she likes and where she would like them........when she is 16. This is not ridiculous, apparently. (Spook told her she would look like a gang leader with The Mongrel Mob)

I was cleaning a new build out at Mt Barker this morning, and the fresh snow looked good on the hills over in the direction of Cardrona.

When I got home from work, Finn was not around and had gone to Sam's and Meg was at work. She is tired tonight as the first week of school and work continues on into a whole day of work tomorrow. I reassured her that she would learn to take that in her stride and if she could rationalize the actual time scales, she would soon see that coming home and having her tea put on the table, putting her feet up and relaxing all night, she would cope. Once that first pay packet is in the bank, she will see things in a different light. And a long lie and easy day on Sunday is on the cards, as Spook and I will be working.

It's a couple of weeks since Finn has had a Friday night at Sam's, so it was very pleasant to have my glass of wine by the big fireside again. It took 2hrs to pick up Finn. Just too comfy. Spook will not be so comfy tomorrow night as he has to go to a surprise party dressed as an Indian. He has been thinking 'American Indian' and there is a part of me would like to leave him with this mis-apprehension and let him go in a loin cloth and war paint. However, it is a bit more Bollywood than Hollywood and I was thinking he could maybe combine his kilt and a turban and go as a Gurkha. Need to google Gurkha.

Finns has his rugby 7's in Alex tomorrow and we need to leave at 7.30am. then I have to come home and create some Indian dishes!!!!! Great.

grateful for;

samosa's and onion bahji's, if I could just find some. Hope Alex has a supermarket that has some, unlike the Wanaka shops.

Isa fae Glesga.

Finn wears his hat that his Dad bought him in Canada, back to front and with pizzazz. Tonight he stole my hat and put it on back to front. Some how he managed to look like Isa from Still Game. For the lack of any Kiwiana, I am posting this picture.

It rained all night last night. I know that because I heard most of it and have been awake since 4am. Snow fell on the high ground and Finns trip was postponed until next week. The children were disappointed, but I think the teachers were relieved.

I spent most of the morning with Mike and Maggie, as I usually do on my first day off for a while. That is always a comfortable place to be, but even more so on a rainy day with the woodburner glowing. They are enjoying the precipitation. I had got used to the dry and have taken badly to the rain.

Finn had rugby training, so Meg and I were still able to keep our date of coffee at the Soul Food Cafe. (Fruit Smoothie for Meg). Then we went to make an appointment at the opticians to get her eyes checked to see how much they have improved over the last 2 months. They will only improve with excercise and I seem to remember setting her a challenge of a 30% improvement, or she could pay the $30 fee. She insists that she has been doing her excercises, so it will be very interesting to see the results on Monday. The optician assures me that she can fix her eyesight entirely by excercising and that her vision wont go back once she has fixed it.

grateful for;

Kiwi friends.

Megs offer to pay money towards the rent (no, of course I didn't accept!)

Finn's rowing coach telling me how much she wished he would come back in the spring as he and Josh Timu were the most promising. She said it was as much their ability to listen, carry out instructions and give her meaningful feedback on what happened when they were out on the water, as it was their co-ordination. It is good to have this recognition of the other side of Finn which is the opposite of the 'Kevin and Perry'.......'huh? wassat you said? Eh? But whyeeee? Ocht!!!!', that we get at home.

Hard Work

Whilst my husband headed back to the slopes, where all his entertainment is prepaid by a season pass, work vehicle fuel and a packed lunch, I headed out to work in order to pay my fines. It is with fear and trepidation, that I step out of my door these days. Finn tells me that a girl in his class is the daughter of a Mongrel Mob member, living in Hawea. He has heard that this is a very nasty gang. I suppose it will only be a matter of time before the Black Power arrive, as you don't seem to get one without the other. However, it is the police that I am in fear of. Sarsha told me that a policeman followed her into the supermarket and asked her why she hadn't been wearing her seatbelt. She said she was sorry and had no excuse and he told her she was an idiot but he wouldn't be charging her this time. She said she also got pulled for not taking a junction neatly, even though she could see clearly that nothing was coming. It is not tolerated to cross white lines, though she just got a warning. Evidence that being young and pretty is helpful. I suspect the police are desperately avoiding Hawea and it's unsavoury new residents and are justifying their existence in other ways.

I thought I should take my camera with me to record other aspects of my life, other than the view over the hedge. (Expect to see a nice photo of me and a nice polis man.) The first picture here, is from Heritage Park where Mary and I spent an hour of work this morning. The 2nd photo is of Mary's house, which she has not long purchased and is a very happy lady as it sits on 20acres of peace and quiet. This is her and her cat. We spent 2hrs over lunch, here. The other 2 hrs of work in Hawea were not photograped. 5 hrs out and 3hrs work. It will take me a while to pay the fine.

Meg went to work after school and came home with a kettle full of delicious hot chocolate, made from melted Schoc chocolate (pudding tonight, yipee) and a contract to sign. She asked for Saturday afternoon off to go to a birthday party but didn't get it as Cathy is counting on her. Good discipline. She treats her very well, but she is not a softie. Meg is fine with that.

Spook is back to work tomorrow and Finn is off up to the Mckenzie High Country on a school trip. He will stay the night and go to the Observatory. Cant think of a better place to star gaze. They also get a dip in the spa pools. They are a collection of hot tubs and cabins which sit on a bit of tussocky ground. They look a bit like allotments, with the cabins and smoke coming out of the chimneys.

Meg has booked me to go for coffee after school as she is not working. I'm hoping she's paying.

grateful for:

one cup of hot chocolate and not so grateful for the 2nd one which was gluttony and made me feel sick.

Nee-Naw, Nee-naw.

The overthehedge webcam pictures say that it really was a waste of time, Spook driving to Queenstown to go cycling. Well, it was actually the shock of discovering there, that we had spent all his money 2 days before pay day. It will always be unfortunate for him to have his 4 days off in the lead up to pay day. And we did have a birthday, a dinner out, 2x ski hire and the cinema, so what does he expect? However, it still wasn't exactly that or the rain, but the fact that he couldn't find the cycle route he wanted to do and couldn't affort to buy the map!!!

So he came back over the hill as the thunder rolled and sat in the house looking disgruntled. Can't blame him really. He is lucky that I didn't come home with 2 more fines. Meg made sure we all buckled up in the car this morning, including the friend we gave a lift to. As we came round the corner to the school (it is a 10 minute walk and a 3 minute drive), the police car had us pull over so that the police man could check we all had belts on. Every car had to do the same. When I drove Meg to work after school (because I was free and it was raining), I turned down a road and saw flashing blue lights in my rear view mirror. Thankfully it was following the car behind me, but my heart lurched and I wondered if I had perhaps crossed my arms when turning into the junction - you know, not guiding the steering wheel gently with my hands meeting at the top. When I got stopped yesterday, the policeman had been sitting all day waiting to catch drivers who didn't physically stop at the STOP sign. It's no good slowing down and casting a quick look up and down. He must have been really chuffed when he got me, but I'll bet a rake of drivers shot over the sign when he wasn't looking.

Rugby was cancelled because of the rain. The day had got steadily worse, from a dry 9 degrees to very Scottish wind and rain. The thunder and lightning was a wee bonus.

Sarsha, the lovely Aussie I work with, said that she and her parner were sitting up in bed when the earthquake struck, and for a confusing moment, she thought the bed and house were possessed.

grateful for:

a warm and dry house (well, the warm bits are dry, and it's not leaking) and food in the cupboards. (just because there is no pudding doesn't mean it's a tragedy, Finn)

Shame-faced

Forgot to admit that I got a speeding ticket today. I took the scenic route home as it was so lovely, but couldn't see the view or the police car for the bright sunshine and was caught going 62km ph in a 50. $80 fine. serves me right. At least I don't get any points or deported. and yes, at least I didn't run anyone over and yes, I have learnt my lesson.

Kiwiana.

The 7.45am webcam over the hedge gave Spook the confidence to have another day on the slopes. There were loads of cars in the carpark, but he doesn't know where all the people went.

I didn't have time for such frivolities and cleaned a lot of toilets at high speed. The woman who manages the units we clean had said it should take 2 of us no more than 22.5 minutes to clean the first one. We rose to the challenge but only managed 35 minutes and heavy sweating. If I had seen her straight afterwards, I would have been tempted to poke her in the eye. But unfortunately she works with the kids who need support at the primary school and wasn't around. This is enough reason alone, to poke her in the eye, as that should have been my job.

Meg didn't want to come to Harry Potter with us as Smithy came round after school. Spook and I would have been happier to hang out with Smithy too, as we reminded ourselves tonight that we don't actually like Harry Potter. Thankfully the seats were very comfy and we enjoyed snuggling up in a darkened room, so all was not lost.

We found Meg and Smithy making Pinnyada's (don't know how to spell that), out of large balloons and all the newspapers I needed to light the fire. The house had descended into chaos.

grateful for:

It's Monday and Desperate Housewives are on. So much better than that wee wizard.

BUT....we did really enjoy the glimpses of Scotland.

Spook has decided he wants to have a Kiwi 'word of the week' so that he has a glossary. This weeks word is 'Kiwiana.' It means Kiwi style, we think. The manager of the snowfield up in The Mckenzie country said that the skiing was Kiwiana. Folks arrive in their wellies, get the barbecues out the boot of the car and there is not a designer label in sight. I'm imagining them all skiing in very short shorts. One can also collect Kiwiana.

Spindy drifty

It dawned like a beautiful spring day. Clear blue skies and calm. So we all headed up the mountain. There were a few cars coming down as we headed up about 10.30am. Always a bit of a worry. And sure enough, there were strong Southwesterlies, which are not as warm as Westerlies and not as cold as Southerlies. But put off a great many Kiwis who are so used to great conditions. It was pretty windy on the chairlift and looked like pure ice below, but over the other side of the mountain, in The Captains Basin, it was a little more sheltered and the wind had created powder snow in places and the icy bits proved to be nothing like Scottish ice. I.e, they were perfectly ski-able. Meg and I had hired skis and it really was a pleasure to have them back on - that surprised me, but I am far more competent on them and felt like an Olympic Skier. I am well aware that that is not how I appeared, but who cares? The spind-drift swirled around us at times and looked magificent in the sunlight. Meg's skis were sometimes her friends and sometimes her enemy, and that made us enemies too as I was really enjoying the conditions, but not the teenage tantrums which were erupting in the spind-drift making her appear like she had called up the wind!! She overcame that and proved that she can ski well. A lack of other intrepid snow-worshippers only added to the fun. Spook is in the other photo.

The cat has not returned and I realise now that it is the earthquake that scared it away, not the guinea pig. She was outside at the time, and whilst we were able to rationalise (better than the uptight neighbour), the poor cat will have run and run, to try to get away from the wobbly ground, but it would have had to run to half way up the North Island. Possibly, that is where she is. Spooks workmate said that his 3 cats shot straight out the catflap, but came back the next day.

grateful for:

fun.

Cheers.

This is the jacket that put the girl out to work. And while Spook monitored the poo situation and I cleaned toilets, she waltzed out to her lovely job where hot chocolate sales were down and she spent most of the day decorating packaging for the online business. In between times, she sat out in the sunny courtyard with her boss Cathy and her husband Tim. Cathy gave her a lovely t-shirt from the shop, beautifully wrapped of course and with a lovely note of appreciation. She got a whole heap of pressies and letters through the post and has had a terrific day. The lady in Amigos remembered her from The Kahu Youth night and made a bit of a fuss of her. She had the whole restaurant sing happy birhtday to her just as she was leaving.

Finn had his lonesome day and I left him a list of things he might do. Like write overdue thankyou letters for his birthday, tidy the living room, fold washing etc. I suggested there might be $10 in it for him. He managed to earn $2. But he was quite contented with his day. He phoned me at work to say that Anne and John had called round to ask if we wanted to go for a run at 4pm. I had been thinking a run would be good, but I think that a lot and still don't run so it was good to have a plan. It had been a fairly physical day already as we were in 2 teams of 2 at work and Mary issued a challenge to see who was fastest. She is a very competitive womand and her team won, but it fairly moved us along.

It rained a wee bit tonight for the first time in weeks. It had been warm and sunny earlier with strengthening Westerlies which were warm but eventually brought the rain. Think that might put the stoppers on a family ski day tomorrow.

We are watching Billy Elliot now.

grateful for:

independant children and their sense of humour - they are making me laugh a lot just now.

Last Day of 13.

The Sinclairs left this morning. It was misty, with a damp feel when they left, but I knew there would be sunshine not very far away. They were heading up throught the Lindis Pass into the Mckenzie High Country. These pictures are from their trip down, but I'm guessing it will still look like this, as it is usually above the clouds. It's a pretty remote place to live, but fantastic. Roddy was planning a wee dip in some thermal pools he knows of, near The Lewis Pass. Robbi is still coming to terms with the concept of taking clothes off outside in winter, instead of putting more on.

I worked hard for 5hrs and then got a call from Meg to say she was too late to walk to work as she thought I would have been home. Indeed I would have if Mary's girls moved a wee bit faster.(apart from Sarsh from Oz, who works like a Trojan) I can't remember if I was like that at 22. Probably, but if Mary told me I wasn't moving fast enough (on a daily basis), I would certainly have sorted myself out. They are nice girls, but they couldn't really give a toss. It was a little ironic to cut my own work short (by about 10mins) in order to help Meg achieve a 25hr week! By the time she works her 7.5hrs tomorrow, that is what she will have done, if you count Sat to Sat inclusive. I will have worked about 10hrs. And she doesn't even have to pay rent.

Everyone is talking about the earthquake......."where were you when the quake happened?" Apparently it is the biggest recorded in the world this year and about the 2nd biggest in NZ's history. Spook is still talking about being a 'survivor'.

Poor wee Finn is foot loose and fancy free tomorrow morning and we haven't quite worked out a plan of action for him tomorrow as all three members of his family are working. Of course, I will be home long before Meg. I have booked Amigo's for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate Meg's 14th. And I've booked tickets for Harry Potter on Monday. It has been a long time since we all went to The Paradiso.

grateful for:

a loan from Meg, should she ever be so kind.

Gandof's Tree

Spooks first words to me when he woke this morning were (not "Did the earth move for you last night?")

"We survived an earthquake!!!" It was 7.8 on the richter scale and epicentred south of Milford Sound, about 200km's away. It was registering around 6.1 in Wellington and was felt in Australia! It was a 'rolling' earthquake, which causes the least damage. Spook said even he felt sick during it! His kilt was still moving on it's hanger for about 15 minutes after the swaying of the floor stopped. The children are wanting another one. I'm sure, if anyone had actually been through a damaging earthquake, they wouldn't have coped so well with last nights.

We went over to Queenstown today, via The Crown Range. These pictures are at the top of The Range. Finn calls this Gandol

f's Tree. It was misty and frosty, but as you can see, still no wind chill factor! Meg was able to go into the shop and pick up her jacket for which she had been allowed 3 months to raise the money. The girl was surprised to see her and couldn't quite believe it! I gave Finn the opportunity to explore how much he wanted one for himself. I said that I would give him some serious opportunities to raise the money over 2 months, if he put the deposit down from his own money and had it put aside for him, like Megs. He said he really wanted one, but couldn't face the pressure of having to tidy his room. So I guess that means he didn't really want one. At least I didn't feel bad about it!!

WE had to get back in time for Meg's work. Thankfully, I am going to work tomorrow, and although am too late to accumulate as many hours as herself, I should be able to hold my head up in the household. The Sinclairs are away tomorrow. Hedgehog the guinea pig will be going to, so maybe the cat might come home. It has been too hard for her to live with a beastie that she is not allowed to eat.

grateful for:

a rolling earthquake that has not created any cracks in Spooks poo tanks. When Spook txted Pete last night to ask if they were covered for earthquakes, he responded back with the news that they had not taken out that option. Once Steve got the movement back in his legs, he sent Spook a panic txt to check the plant was ok.

The computer that Spook can consult his poo tanks condition on, so that he did not need to venture out into the post-earthquake town.

A Plan

It is bed time and we have 5 children to get to sleep! We have made an earthquake plan for the night in case there are aftershocks. Each room has a bunkbed in it, so we all dive onto the bottom bunk in each room, if necessary. Hard luck on Hamish, who will get Shannon, Robbi and Roddy in his bunk. Finn will get Cameron jumping on him and Spook and I will only get Meg joining us in our double bunk.

Earthquake.

We have just experienced our first substantial quake. I wondered why my chair was wobbling and it felt as if we were at sea. I felt a bit queasy and the pictures onthe wall and the ski passes were swinging. We all looked at each other and realised at the same time what it was. Meg dived on her father, and Robbi got the kids under the table and then Meg changed her mind and shot under a counter. I looked outside and heard Tony shouting to us to get out the house. Our house is so insubstantial that I wasn't worried about anything heavy falling on our heads. Outside, the washing line was swaying. It was pretty weird. No noise came with it.

Shoe Heaven.

I managed to do about 1 hr of work this morning. Mary has been working for days and has grown tired of such pursuits. Especially as her water ran dry at home and she found a neighbour with as much wine as water and came to work clean, but with a hang-over. It was great to catch up with her again, but while I was happily wheeching about with the vacuum cleaner, she got bored and pulled the flex out. The next unit we went to service asked us to come back in an hour so she gave them the linen and towels and left them to it! So I got home in time for coffee. Meg managed 2 and a half hours of work later in the day. Robbi took her to work and managed to get this self-conscious photo of her outside The Little Brown House.

The boys and I went back to Diamond Lake as they were so fascinated by it's frozen state. That is Finn trying to scare me by looking like he was falling in, and Mt Roy in the back ground of the other photo. The ice must have been at least a foot deep. Not a creek or groan and no moving bubbles under the surface. Although it was in the shade, and probably is for most of the day, hence it's deeply frozen-ness, it was amazing to stand for so long, in fleece-lined crocs, jeans and a buffalo jacket and not be cold. No wind chill factor. It was boredom that got me in the end. It seems that children don't get bored with ice.

grateful for:

Robbi's fine cooking and the order she keeps in the crazy household. Apart from the shoes. No-one can keep them in order, but it gives the cat a feeling of security.

Wheeee!

I got a picture from Robbi's camera of the moment Finn got his 3 points at the game. They always gather around the coach after the match and they are always hopeful. You can see his pleasure!
All the Sinclair children became snowboarders today. I think all the practice last night must have paid off as after shaky starts, they were off and boarding. It was very gratifying to see (if a little embarrasing after the many years that I have been struggling along with it). The conditions were perfect. Warm, no breeze, and a great beginners slope. They didn't have passes for any further than that and are all bruised enough to want to let them heal before taking to the Rainbow Slopes up near Nelson, later in the season. Meg decided to hire some skis to see if she could still do it and they felt like familiar old friends on her feet. She was really chuffed with it. So after all the frantic purchasing of boards and boots, we may all ski as a family on Sunday, if the weather holds as good as this. It would be nice to do that together. Just perfect slopes for building confidence. And with Sunday being the last day of the holidays, people from further afield will probably be away home, and it will be quiet again.
I have to work for a wee while tomorrow and then I think we are going over to Queenstown as The Sinclairs haven't been.
grateful for;
Beautiful weather,
great start for kids and the sense of satisfaction they got today.
A house full of children who all get on very well together.