Serious friendship!

This 'smile' was supposed to be included in the post below - somehow it was missed, so here you go!

Dis al!

Ministers, (prime and otherwise), bachelors, kiwis and christmas trees

So New Zealanders went to the polls a couple of weekends ago and these two chappies had plenty to look serious about. John Key (right of picture) and Phil Goff had idly bantered back and forth and openly slandered one another for weeks and the TV and ordinary folks like us were sighing under the pressure of the opposing ad campaigns. Mr John Key remains the King of the Castle and Mr Phil Goff has resigned as leader of the opposition (shades of scooping up his bucket and spade and stomping out of the sandpit) - in this case being the Labour party. Now just yesterday, the new leader was announced and along with that comes a mountain of work to re-instate the Labour party as a force to be reckoned with. The author and co had the privelege of voting for the first time and speaking only for myself, I have to say that I could not bring myself to place a tick or a cross or anything else for that matter beside the name of the opposition leader. You might ask, "how can you possibly know anything about him? Have you MET the man???" and my answer to you would be" Indeed, I have met the man, face to face and had a fairly long conversation with him ............. and mmm....yes!"

Here is a huge thumbs up for deaf and hearing impaired kiwis - for the first time, a profoundly deaf member of parliament! Mojo was born profoundly deaf and will require a few miracles of modern technology to be installed in the House so that she can be effective for her party and her constituents. A member of the Green party, she lip-reads, so they are going to have to get jacked up with screens and subtitles - something which she says she has been promoting for years - now there is no choice - it shall have to be done! Hearing her speak on the news the other evening, one cannot help but be impressed by her command of language and although one can pick up that she is deaf, you would never guess that she has been profoundly deaf since birth!


Faithful blog followers will remember our little South African lass who has won all sorts of accolades for her hairdressing skills - best apprentice and so on.  If you go way back on this blog, you will also find a photograph of Mauritz sitting on a barstool in our house with a motorcycle crash helmet on his head and strumming a guitar.

Mauritz (pictured here doing the quick 5km bridges run last weekend) and Bonnita are marrying in January and this outfit was designed to make his bachelors party all the more spectacular. He appeared in the Wanganui Chronicle newspaper on Monday morning having spent a while attached to a light pole and dressed in this outfit - (the fishnet stockings are not all that clear in the picture) One of the neighbours beside the light pole apparently came out and asked whether it was his birthday or whether he was getting married. On being told it was the latter, she apparently said he looked like quite a good catch!

Richard O'Brien of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame (he played Riff Raff) has long been considered an adopted Kiwi - not so, we discovered this week. He was officially presented with his New Zealand citizenship at a ceremony in Wellington where a statue of him has been erected at the site of the old theatre which he evidently frequented all those years ago when he was a lowly hairdresser working in a salon across the street!

This is Evan Hill - featured on an evening magazine programme on Wednesday. An orthodontist has said this is the worst case of buck teeth he's seen and will cost in the region of $14,000 to fix - including surgery which will be required. Evan comes from a pretty poor family and the Public Health system is unable (or unwilling) to pay anything towards his treatment. The poor little guy is teased and mocked unmercifully and he is not really able to close his mouth over those choppers.

It was mentioned in passing that if anyone wanted to donate a dollar or two towards helping this family to get the teeth seen to (all the information came from a good samaritan neighbour) there has been a trust fund set up to see if we can help a bit.  Last night the feedback report announced that there had been a pretty good response - the trust fund collected very close to $100,000 in the 24 hours since the broadcast!!! (That's half a million Rand chaps!) And remember too that the entire population of New Zealand is only in the region of 4 million people! The first thing they have done is take Evan and his dad to pick out a small economical run-around car so that he can get to the orthodontic appointments. Apparently, the boy has a little sister who is also going to need the same treatment - so it makes our hearts happy to see that folks do still care and want to help! Fabulous story don'cha think?

And here is the 'Christmas Tree' of New Zealand - it's called a Pohutukawa tree and blooms at this time of year. Aren't these blossoms just gorgeous!

To all our blog 'peoples' - we hope you have a marvellous Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year. We send our love to you all.

Dis al!

Himatangi Beach

 Himatangi Beach is within striking distance of Wanganui and has miles and miles of waters edge - the 'beach' itself, apart from the dark coloured sand, is also for the most part overwhelmed with driftwood. It seems as though an area is cleared for the beachgoers and we had the most glorious day to amble around on the sand. Horses right down into the water were not quite what we expected, but there you go - obviously it's not anything anyone complains about - which is in itself somewhat surprising!

 These fellows were enthusiastically enjoying their game of beach cricket - a swig of beer between each bowled ball and the bottles serving as wickets and boundaries!

The speed limit of 30km/h on the beach has a sign which nobody can claim to have missed!

Our awning for the caravan is now a synch to erect since the mysteries have been re- organised and solved. This is the guitar that we purchased about eight years ago with the view to making it into a 'braaivleis guitar' - we dutifully made the required hole in the body of the sound box - just the perfect size for a wine vat tap - so that we have our liquid refreshment available without having to skip a beat! Maybe we will complete this project over the festive season this year! We are still on the hunt for a wine 'bag' with the required tap which is leakproof - that has been the hold up thus far!

The holiday park at Himatangi beach has got itself organised for the Christmas period - this train full of gifts is atop the kitchen and ablution block at the park. The facilities were really fantastic - five star bathrooms and everything you could need in the way of kitchen facilities. It was quite strange to see that you can leave whatever you want to in the fridge or freezer - as long as it has your name on it! There's a notice to this effect in the kitchen area - in other words, don't expect to find your stuff if it hasn't got your name on it! Kind of quaint! 

And so to the grandchildren - all born this year - aren't they just too fabulous for words? - Henri (top left) with Estan are cousins and this little gorgeous princess is Matilda with the blossom in her hair! This is what it feels like to have hearts walking (well almost - and edited in on the day of this post, Matilda is now officially walking!) around outside of your body!

And a PS - just captured from Facebook - Junè (who has settled in NZ but is in SA for a two month holiday) catching up with Marieta (who has moved back to SA) and who has featured before in the pages of this blog - sometimes friends just stay friends no matter what!

Dis al!

Try out caravan weekend close to home!

We had given the caravan a 'once over' and had a friend do so too before we even went up to Whangerei to fetch it, but it became apparent that the surround of the windows at the front of the van was decidedly 'squishy' and dubious feeling. On closer inspection, we unearthed a rotten wood surround to all the front windows and set about ripping it all out and 'starting over' as it were. We have since become aware that this is a problem with all of these vans - something about the design that doesn't do too well with condensation and such. Below, the new wood fitted and being finished.

Many hours of sawing, planing, sanding and fiddling later, we have a solid and seriously functioning front end to our van. Thankfully there are guys in the world who find a problem, roll up their sleeves and get stuck in fixing it (usually better than the original!). It was quite entertaining finding this particular 'fix' detailed - with step by step photographs on the Internet and discovering that what Jo had already completed was even better than the 'experts' indicated! The author just wondered if the chappie on the Internet 'fix' had a lady with a vacuum cleaner and dustpan and brush lurking behind his every move and keeping the work area clean enough to see what he was trying to accomplish! In my humble opinion, this is a spectacular repair! It preceded a less spectacular repair when we discovered that the inside 'vents' were none too waterproof and the deluge of rain last week had soaked the carpets!

We found a big and tatty looking bag lurking in the 'bathroom' of the caravan - and it was with some trepidation that we hauled it outside and tipped it out onto the lawn. You have to understand that in this life there are no guarantees and the emerging awning could well have been a smelly, mouldy, holy heap of dubious coloured striped canvas. To our surprise and huge relief, we have a pretty well 'never been used' awning (which in this first picture is actually attached inside out!) However, with serious determination and our usual 'jy sal my nie wen nie' attitude, we have it over the top of the 'lady with the wine'.

We finally seem to have this awning sussed - except for some mystery pole-ends which apparently should affix onto the van using some even more mysterious plastic bracket-with-a-hole-for-pole-end-thingy (which doesn't quite fit, nor is it at quite the right angle!) So it's back to the 'drawing board' internet browser to see if we can figure it out before the next weekend away!

Our first Silly Season in New Zealand saw us investing in a Cadac portable braai for the motorcycle - how handy for our caravan too! Folds up into a carry bag which fits neatly under the seats in the van! How organised we appear to be!!

Our friends Martie and Andre (Top Ten holiday park owners) called in for a sundowner/roof wetting - nobody had too far to stagger before hitting a bed somewhere and nobody could give a rogue cop a happy Saturday evening. There is a zero tolerance attitude for even the smallest amount of booze in the blood, so most of us stay on the right side of the law in Wanganui. We had a terrific 'try out' weekend - looking forward to many weekends away! Dis al!

Caravans and Coves

For those of you who have been following the oil slick crisis on the East coast of the island - The powers that be assure us that they are keeping a close eye on things and that the tiny globs of oil found just below the surface of the sand, are being cleared as soon as they are discovered. There was a report the other day about it being the one hundredth clean up day on the beach! Evidently, the oil tanks on the container ship are as empty as can be expected after weeks of pumping it out - and so the next step is to remove the containers (those that have not plunged into the sea that is). Six containers per day is the maximum that can be salvaged off the decks - s'gonna take awhile.

Motels are fairly expensive - especially over the holidays, so we did all the research, approached the bank manager and shopped around - in the extreme! Our caravan was eventually found in Whangarei - 617km from Wanganui! North of Auckland! Never daunted, we saddled up our trusty Volksie and drove up there to fetch it!  A 'made in England' two berth with en-suite - our Fleetwood is vastly and dramatically luxurious compared to the 'crawl space only' tent!  And light enough to be towed by the 'what we already have'!

We had to stop and take this picture for you - the colour of the sea is quite incredible. The coast north of Auckland is particularly beautiful and we shall be spending some time there in the future - it's definitely the sort of area one could spend a few weeks exploring! This spot is just south of Whangerei, quite close to Waipu Cove, which has a lovely caravan park right on the beach where we stayed overnight before tackling the long journey back to Wanganui.

Dis al.

Travels and trophies

We took to the roads again last weekend - things to do and places to see! The scenery is still really amazing most everywhere - we continue to take photographs and to stop our car and leap out when another spectacular view catches our attention. This was one of those moments and we thought we would share it with you!

Tauranga has been in the news recently with the grounding of the huge container ship 'Rena' on the reef not too far off shore. You will remember the pictures of the clean-up happening on the beach which we posted for you to see. We drove up to Tauranga and saw for ourselves that the beach is looking pristine again in spite of the fact that the ship is still crippled and stranded. Oil has been pumped out of her holds and although there is still somewhat of a threat and there is still oil appearing here and there along the coastline, as you can see, things are looking much more positive for the fast approaching summer holidays.  Tauranga is on the East coast, hence the 'white' sand (compared with the black volcanic 'sand' you will find on our West coast)

Tokoroa is one of the smaller towns en-route to Tauranga from Wanganui - we came across this 'woodsman' who has been decked out with his

All Black outfit complete with the 'world cup' - everywhere one travels at the moment throughout New Zealand, The Cup is out there for the world to see! This is one very happy (and in our opinion, very lucky) nation of rugby enthusiasts!  In one of the even smaller towns, there is an enormous carving of the native kiwi bird - easily the size of a small house. This fella too, has been adorned with black plasic wrapped around his whole body with silver ferns and All Black logos painted in the right places!

 Tui beer is very popular here and we called in at the brewery in the hopes of catching the live band - unfortunately we just missed hearing them this time, but have an excuse to go back and visit again. The opening hours posted outside the brewery amused us. We did amble in and enjoyed a cold one in the garden before heading on our way.

So here it is folks - The World Cup - and some very relieved All Blacks and Coaches!

 Remember the house in Wanganui with all the flags painted on the wall (see blog post - 20 competing nations ) It took this chappie a couple of days to paint the wall white again and have his congratulations to the All Blacks signs up! If you click on the picture you can enlarge it for more detail! Happy Kiwis! Dis al!

Camping, cousins young and not so!

 The winter is fading into the background of our year and so we joined friends for a weekend of camping in a teeny town called Dannevirke. (originally established by the Danish - hence the unexpected name).
 The campsite was no five star affair, but had all the basic amenities that one looks for and we had a terrific 'getaway' - meeting loads of new folks and making serious decisions about acquisitions that we should think about!


Being the 'Big Day' of the World Cup - the campers were asked (politely!) to dress in the colour (or non-colour, whichever way you might look at it) and prepare for an evening of rugby madness at the Dannevirke Club.
We walked from the campsite to the club en masse and attracted honking horns and waves and cheers from all the passing traffic! Armed with balloons and all in black, we were hardly unobtrusive - it was still light though - had it
been dark nobody would have seen us!!!

Just before setting off - posed for a group photograph - if you had Super Vision, you would notice that at least four of these 'all black supporters' have blood which runs green! But in the event of the best team being out, we will camouflage our disappointment and wear the black of self-respecting mourners!!

The author and co have re-experienced the joys of camping in a tent - our creaking backs and knees are giving us pause to consider keeping our tent for the 'emergency shelter' when out and about on the motorbike, and investing in something a little more sedate for our adventures in New Zealand.

 On a different note - my dear, dear friend Rozanne, who now resides in the USA, took this photograph - she really must have felt a tingle of homesickness, however far away the reality is! Don't you just love the population count?

I have to put this up for our followers to see - THIS is something that I do not have the courage to do - not if my life depended on it, I don't think - so CHEERS to my cousin Patty!!
Amazing!
For those who are either half asleep or didn't look closely - this is Sydney, Australia - from the top of the bridge!! EISH!

Thanks to the children for sending this picture of our two new grandsons - cousins Estan and Henri - in their onesies from us in Whanganui. (parcels finally both arriving after some very anxious months!) 

The volcano and river being represented and the maori wording meaning - "I am the river and the river is me" 

Cuteness! Dis al!

Another tragedy unfolding.

 The stricken Rena - perched on a shallow reef, her containers hanging at precarious angles and her hull damaged and leaking oil.
At this stage nobody is saying anything about how this could have happened on a beautiful, calm Spring day - the captain and the 'watchman' have appeared in court already, but no -one is admitting much about anything.
This is not a reef which has suddenly appeared out of nowhere - it's evidently documented loud and clear and always has been.

 It has all been so unbelievable - the pictures which are being broadcast of the stricken container vessel which ploughed into the reef just off the beautiful Tauranga Beach, are becoming more and more horrifying as the days go on.
The beaches for kilometres up and down the coastline are being suffocated with the thick oil - apparently the consistency of marmite - and a massive clean up effort is beginning.
The locals are up in arms about the evidently 'tragically slow response' to this newest disaster - the Prime Minister Mr John Key emphasising that there has been work behind the scenes which ordinary folk couldn't be aware of and were even less able to actually see, so in fact, in his opinion, the cleanup began inordinately fast.

This could well be the case, however, four days of apparently NOTHING happening was too much for most folks to bear and many took matters into their own hands and got stuck in. Now that volunteers have been asked for, there are at least a thousand people who have registered to be 'trained' so that they can help.

 There have been requests from the powers that be, to leave the oil pollution for the 'experts' - that it is toxic and should be handled a certain way - blah blah de blah - the locals will have none of it - they have been streaming down on to the beach in their hundreds, armed with buckets and rubber gloves and spades and sticks and whatever else they can lay their hands on, to start the clean up and see if there is any chance of saving any of the birdlife.
There have been some lucky ones.

It has been such a mission to get parcels delivered safely to our special people over the past months that when friends were heading off to South Africa for a month's holiday, we were delighted to accept their offer of courier service! These 'boards' were made for our new grandsons, and each came with a special 'made in New Zealand' hand knitted jersey - complete with the requisite fences and sheep!

 Preparing for a music competition which has taken place in the small town of Hawera (about an hour from Wanganui) - Eden and Hannah are working on a violin duet.
It is so good to see that although the children in New Zealand are much like children everywhere, there are loads of opportunities for those who wish to, to get up on a stage and take part in eisteddfods and competitions and compete against children of similar ability. An 'expert opinion' in the form of an adjudicator is often really positive encouragement too.

Some of our faithful blog readers have mentioned that they have enjoyed the odd 'smiles' that we have put up here, so here is one which gave us a chuckle.
Dis al!

Stars and stripes, stained glass, sketches and sets

Wanganui has been host to the rugby team from the United States of America - the traffic island fairly near our house looks to me like it has been planted to be reminiscent of the Star Spangled Banner. Nobody we know has mentioned it, we haven't seen it written about anywhere in the local press - so maybe I'm dreaming! Perhaps after the fiasco of the team's very reluctant paddle down the Wanganui Rivier in a Waka - the powers that be decided they wouldn't bother to tell them about the 'island flowers' in their honour!!

We took an adopted granddaughter to a piano recital/Chamber Orchestra performance at one of the retirement villages here - this is one of the stained glass windows in the Chapel at the Centre.
The music was mostly Beethoven  - Pathetique Sonata and a Concerto with the Wanganui chamber orchestra - who are in need of second violinists and have approached the author - have not decided yet - will keep you posted!

 Speaking of Beethoven, this sketch has winged it's way to Marike in South Africa for her birthday - busy on a set of composers - am wondering if the set will ever be complete - especially if the artist keeps giving them away!

When you live really far away and want to send parcels for little people - paint their name in letters! They are really pretty and really light for the postage!
Thanks to the miracles of technology we could enjoy Julia opening her present from us via Skype!

"New Zealand's biggest television recycling event! The Great TV Take Back, supported by the government's Waste Minimisation Fund will run from September 21st to October 4th and will enable Kiwis to return old unwanted televisions to 20 participating The Warehouse stores throughout the country. The sets will be recycled according to strict environmental standards. Televisions returned to The Warehouse would be recycled by an approved specialist recycler. (We have never met one of these in the flesh, but have to assume that they do indeed exist!)Recovery rates of the embedded materials in each television are estimated to be as high as 96%. To encourage participation, The Warehouse will also offer prizes and discounts on new televisions and digital receivers to anyone returning their old sets. The free recycling offer is available to all households with unwanted televisions of any brand - regardless of any intent to purchase."

We happened to catch a moment on telly about this recycling effort - haven't seen it since - and loaded up our old sets (it's a long story) and took them to The Warehouse in Palmerston North (our one is not part of the scheme!) where the chappies there loading up the container with the old sets told us that in three days they have collected about 750 sets!!
We done gotta voucher and they took 20% off a flash new flat screen for us - utterly necessary with the World Cup an' all!
Dis al!