It's a long way home!

Bloubergstrand - The iconic view that even folks overseas recognise as the famous Table Mountain.
Having spent more time flying than anyone in their right mind would care to think about, finally managed to organise to spend some time in the fairest Cape!

And fair she was - turning up with the most spectacular of winter days with barely a breath of wind and clean, clear blue skies. Cold enough in the evenings to warrant a crackling log fire to accompany the warm, glowing red - there is not much to beat it!

Janet (sister extraordinaire) and Julia (niece spectacular) drove up to Storms River from Plettenberg Bay to meet the brand new baby Georgia and equally new parents - the purpose being to exchange the sister/mother/aunt/nana and leave the aforementioned new parents for a little while. Here they are at their first introductions!

A braai on the balcony at Glencairn an option on such fabulous winter's evenings. Three generations enjoying each other's company.

One thing that is certain, little gorgeous redheads LOVE sparkly finger (and toe) nails - courtesy of an aunt who has such things!

A really fantastic day in Kalk Bay.

Wandering along the pier after browsing the arty shops and galleries.

Enough of a breeze to keep the temperature pleasant - we posed for the camera in front of a bluer than blue sea. It's on days like this that one realises how truly gorgeous the 'fairest Cape' is!

In the meantime, one little lassie spent plenty of time on her mama's knee, swaddled in her pinkness and figuring out the 'winding' thing!

We took a drive out to the famous (or infamous, whichever way you remember it) Forester's Arms for a pub lunch and a catch-up after years and years with cousin Sandy and her stunning daughter Kerry. Without touching on sensitive areas like AGE, I have never met Kerry before, so it's b'n awhile!!

And here we are toasting absent friends and relations (much like Rabbit of Pooh fame we have a great many, both absent and related!)

The evenings by the fireside with the aforementioned warming red, saw this jersey and beanie being created for the other princess in my life who lives in Canada and who cannot be forgotten whilst all this visiting is going on. Hopefully, this will be a treasured Nana jersey, sweet Matilda.
Red bush (!!!) tea - more commonly known as Rooibos tea, is just fantastic for little tummies - nana can at least give a bottle of that and feel more connected to her newest princess!

And so the last day dawns and Nana has to say her goodbyes -  it was such a special time and although I am missing being a 'hands-on' grandmother, we are looking forward to loads of photographs and mails for the next little while until the bank balance allows you to visit with us and be a part of our long white cloud adventure!

Dis al!

Georgia!

Expected on 9th June, Georgia arrived a week early and thus sent all the best laid plans awry, Kiwi grandmother gathered all the gifts and loaded up the suitcases, arriving on the 18th as originally planned. This is the picture of serenity that greeted the author at the airport after very long flights from New Zealand.

One could have been excused for believing that this is a calm and peaceful princess - (which she can be, but equally, is capable of volumes unexpectedly dramatic for one so tiny!)

Indeed, once she is fully wound up and extremely agitated, the picture of serenity and calmness dissolves into a face which demands instant reaction times from parents and/or grandparents!

Most littlies, once their caretakers have them better figured out, are capable of settling down and being warm and snuggly and gorgeous - as this picture shows.

Nana adores the 'rock star' hair!

Part of the 'figuring out' involved the acquisition of this kanga pouch and parents who are learning to do things that need doing whilst 'shooshing and rocking' the little one - the result has been a much happier little girl much of the time.

How fabulous to have a new daddy who can also turn his hand to cooking - taking some of the pressure off of both mum and nana - notice the box of red, purchased for the express purpose of enjoyment by the grandmother, since non-bottle fed

babies' mums can't touch the stuff or they run the risk of windy babies!

From a squawky infant (who usually loves her bath, but not on photo day!) to this little porcelain doll! Such gorgeousness!

A perfect new little family!

CONGRATULATIONS RICHARD AND PIPPA! She's gorgeous!

MISS NEW ZEALAND 

A South Africa-born 22-year-old woman will represent New Zealand at the Miss Universe competition later this year after being crowned in Wellington on Sunday.

Miss Howick, Avianca Bohm, fended off nine other contestants, including last year's runner-up, to win the pageant.

The holder of a fashion diploma, she designed many of the outfits she wore during the week-long event.

"Avianca is best equipped to handle the international setting of Miss Universe, and that helped put her into the top place," lead judge Jack Yan said.

Miss North Harbour, Talia Bennett, was runner-up for a second successive year after losing out to Priyani Puketapu in 2011.

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PS: This morning on breakfast TV they interviewed the new Miss New Zealand - she sounds like a kiwi some of the time!! but the dilemma at present is that they may have to 'uncrown' her since she is not yet a citizen here. Permanent Residency apparently doesn't cut it. (able to apply in March 2013, she has been here for long enough to have PR) One of the judges was quoted as saying "she should never have won the crown, since she was not eligible" - now, please, dear readers - surely all that should have been dispensed with at the earliest stages of the competition - ai toggie!!

Georgia !

GEORGIA CAROL VAN DER SPUY - 2nd June 2012 - gorgeous 3,16kg daughter born to Richard and Pippa van der Spuy in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.



CONGRATULATIONS!
(Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents ecstatic to welcome another Princess - cousin for Matilda)

Manawatu Gorge

The Manawatu Gorge road has been closed for just on nine months following this landslide. Generally speaking, the roads engineers talk about a 'slip' - meaning some earth has slid down, adjacent to the roadway, causing a temporary closure while the clearing crew gets the road safe again. Sometimes, there is a little work to be done in the way of securing the earth beside the road with boulders along the road's edge, or wire 'netting' securing all the debris likely to tumble onto the roadway. In the case of the Manawatu Gorge, the 'slip' pictured here is certainly spectacular and has taken almost a year to clear enough for a single lane track through the section. More than just a little slip, the section that 'fell' was 180 meters high and will cost in the region of $9 million to 'sort out'.

A couple of weeks ago, the gorge road was 'opened' enough for the public to go and have a look at the incredible amount of work that has been going on there and to see for themselves the enormity of the task which has been tackled in clearing the road. This picture was up on the notice board at the beginning of the earthworks, where loads of pictures and information had been put up for folks to read all about the civil engineering challenges that this slip has presented. One of the biggest issues was the fact that this route has always been the main one for goods into the area and some towns on the other side have been effectively cut off from civilisation. (there is another way around, but it's an old and tedious road and many industries have just decided to wait for the 'fix' before heading that way again) Needless to say, folks who had to, or really wanted to, used the tedious route.

The slip has been cleared from the top down - meaning they got right up to the top of the 'slip' and with heavy earthwork machinery, cleared the rubble down to the solid 'rock' attacking section by section - called benches, each one has to be completed before tackling the next. Of course, there are other fixes needed besides all the earthworks - bridges under all that have been smashed beyond repair and other structural issues which were needed to support the roadway are no longer in existence - you get the picture!

It was a clear and pretty cold day, but loads of folks turned out to go and see for themselves - we took the motorbike as far as Palmerston North and then hopped on one of the courtesy busses supplied for the day. We were dropped off about a kilometre from the 'slip face' and took a walk up there.

The view from the roadside which is still operational and leads up to the major works - the river has been almost swamped by the slip and there has been significant earth removed to ensure that the river continues to flow. There are hopes that someday in the not too distant future, the road will be open again. Apparently, at the time of writing, there is a single lane open through the gorge for those who can, or have to, face the delays which that involves. Dis al!

TV Broadcaster in trouble - again.

Broadcaster Paul Henry's done it again - this time, offending Australian audiences with remarks about asylum seekers while hosting a morning TV show.

Henry was commenting on news reports that the Australian federal government would pay households up to $A300 a week to accommodate asylum seekers to help deal with increasing numbers of arrivals.

"If this is all about saving money you could broaden it out. Why not criminals? Not murderers, but low level criminals," Henry said

"The jails could be smaller and you could put them in homestay situations ... The mentally ill could go into homes."

But it was Henry's next comments - that putting an asylum seeker up in a linen cupboard for $300 a week was "a good idea" - that have him in the firing line.

"You'd want to get the linen out, wouldn't you? Otherwise (inaudible) 'oh, these sheets are dirty. Ergh'," Henry said.

He continued: "'Don't ask. These towels... (sniffs) oh no, don't ask. We've got someone living in the linen cupboard kids, just don't go in there'."

His co-host, Andrew Rochford, said on air that Henry had taken his comments a step too far.

Henry has since been criticised on ABC's Media Watch programme, which said his "sick" comments were "enough to (make you) lose your breakfast".

"Henry's been imported from New Zealand specifically, it seems, to kick Australian television's political correctness in the goolies," Media Watch said.

"What's sicker still is that Henry's bosses at Ten will be delighted that their struggling little breakfast show has featured on Media Watch. If they'd had any shame, they wouldn't have hired him in the first place."

Henry, who joined the new Australian show's team earlier this year, is no stranger to controversy.

As host of TVNZ's Breakfast he drew criticism for comments suggesting former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand was not a real New Zealander, and his ridicule of Indian diplomat Sheila Dikshit's name, which led to his eventual resignation.

A little while ago, Mr Henry was creating all sorts of chaos here in New Zealand. Some of us who enjoyed his strange humour and risque wit, were quite disappointed that he had stepped over the line and as a result was banished - it meant that he took up a position in Oz and now, having overstepped the proverbial mark (yet again) is likely to face even more criticism and find himself unpopular even with his die-hard fans! Oh Paul - sometimes it's just better to shut up!!
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Wanganui Chamber Orchestra

The Wanganui Chamber Orchestra gave a concert at one of the fancier retirement villages on Mother's Day. Originally a chamber orchestra with a couple of  'blowers' like oboes and flutes, this concert saw the importation (from Wanganui Brass) of trumpets, a trombone, a couple of clarinets and a percussionist who made a drum kit sound truly orchestral!
The selections were really audience-friendly and contained a medley from West Side Story and some well known favourites from the Leroy Anderson compositions which had some glorious foot-tapping rhythms and terrific 'big band' sounds for the brass.

The Classical part of the programme was the ever popular Peer Gynt Suite (Grieg) and the overture from the opera Titus by Mozart.

The author, being a pianist, has had playing in a real, dinkum orchestra on her bucket list for ever, so now we have a big tick next to that entry! Needless to say, it took some serious practising and plenty of concentration to finally do the job, but I can honestly say it wasn't as difficult as I had always imagined it to be and was great fun! Hopefully, there will be many more such concerts to look forward to in the future!  Dis al!