Hi,
Friday night we caught up with Vivienne and John and Benjamin so they could say goodbye to Mum and Dad. We got Thai takeaway from Miramar and it was yummy! A highlight of our visits to Dunedin is the local Thai takeaway down there... and they've opened a Miramar shop now, which has us overjoyed. It had a really nice restaurant too, we may have to eat in next time.
Saturday morning saw us away early to collect Mike's mother from the airport. The airport was manic because of the Christchurch earthquake. Absolutely rammed full of people meeting passengers off planes. Consular officials from Australia and other countries standing around in day-glo jackets ready to help. Shocked, tired and bruised passengers disembarking. Polly transited through Christchurch, and reported that it was totally chaotic at the airport there. And this is after they've been flying 747's on shuttle runs to Auckland for days. There are a LOT of people leaving.
Off quickly to Toby's swimming. Toby swam well again and even did a perfect breath stroke on one of his efforts. Mike's mother ventured forth into Lower Hutt to look at houses for sale and we returned to Wellington to collect my parents and meet Sally for lunch. Mike got a haircut and we enjoyed lunch with Sally at the Occidental. The food was average though. Company was great! Heheheh. my parents appreciated the symmetry as they went to that pub on their first visit to Wellington many years ago, and now they visited it on their last weekend.
We dropped Mum and Dad back home and went out to Percy's Reserve for a walk with Jack and his parents. They also brought their dog along for a romp and we had a ball getting lost amongst the suburban streets we accidentally came across. Even ended up in someone's backyard at one point! At least it looked like someone's back yard. We were a bit suspicious that their back yard had encroached into the reserve...
Back home for a relaxing evening. Sort of. Mike took the gib off around Toby's window so the builder could assess it for a French door. Toby helped out, and loved the idea of smashing holes in his wall with a hammer, of course! After dinner I was so tired I went to bed quite early.
Sunday we were up and tackling the day. Mike took Toby and Jack to Waikanae for a party and judging from the excited way Mike filled us in when he got back, Mike loved it! It was Nerf war and Mike and Josh were the enemy against 12 8-year old boys. Wow!
I stayed home with Mum and Dad and we got ready for the airport. We tidied up as we had an afternoon tea planned for the family tramping club. Then Vivienne arrived to drive us to the airport. So glad she did as I think if I was by myself I would have been crying after leaving them. Vivienne was a perfect distraction as we took the long way home in the gorgeous weather.
Home for the afternoon tea to start. We managed to clear some storage boxes into the newly reconstructed garages and make a space for Mike (and his mother) to tackle the gib around the window in the green room. We also want a French door there too.
Mike had borrowed Sally's Mighty Red Galant because we needed two full-size cars to deliver people to Waikanae and to the airport. So he returned it and collected Andrew from Kaitoke as well. Andrew's running the Southern Crossing in two weeks. A three day tramp that he's going to run in under 8 hours. Whew! He'd done most of the southern crossing in 7:30, and could hardly walk at the end of it. Mad!
After that Mike came back with the MX5 at long last - it had been in Sally's garage. A bit of cleaning up and it went into our shiny, new, finished garage! It's all done except for some 'other people's work' - garage doors and spouting. But it's full of the builders' rubbish. Mike got one side cleaned up and he'll tackle the other side sometime this week. Then at least both cars are under cover and off the street.
I'm still watching the stories unfold in Christchurch, along with everyone else. It has affected loads of people all around the country. Hopefully the rescuers find someone alive to buoy their spirits.
I have Keas tonight and Cubs tomorrow. It is also Cub camp this weekend so we'll be busy once more. Phew! Best to keep busy and not dwell on my parents departure, eh? Good plan.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Thursday with lovely weather
Hi,
Eventually got home. What is it with public transport this week? A concerted effort to get me back on my bike? Ok - I give in! I'll ride home today! Honest!
Yummy dinner last night from Ma - pasta with salami and chickpeas. Scrumptious. Tonight we're hoping for Indian takeaway and hopefully catch up with Vivienne and John and Benjamin. If we're lucky. Sally is working though.
Not much else going on. We're busy this weekend with swimming, lunch with Sally (so she can say bye to my parents), haircut, tramping and a free Saturday evening (maybe). Then Sunday Toby has a birthday party in Waikanae and then we see my parents off at the airport. After that we have afternoon tea at our place for the family tramping club people.
Phew!
I heard that my sister Karen has her finger in the splint after a netball incident. Hope that gets better soon. Ouch!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Angela
Eventually got home. What is it with public transport this week? A concerted effort to get me back on my bike? Ok - I give in! I'll ride home today! Honest!
Yummy dinner last night from Ma - pasta with salami and chickpeas. Scrumptious. Tonight we're hoping for Indian takeaway and hopefully catch up with Vivienne and John and Benjamin. If we're lucky. Sally is working though.
Not much else going on. We're busy this weekend with swimming, lunch with Sally (so she can say bye to my parents), haircut, tramping and a free Saturday evening (maybe). Then Sunday Toby has a birthday party in Waikanae and then we see my parents off at the airport. After that we have afternoon tea at our place for the family tramping club people.
Phew!
I heard that my sister Karen has her finger in the splint after a netball incident. Hope that gets better soon. Ouch!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Wednesday where chaos ruled the world
Hi,
After such a late flight to Wellington on Tuesday night, we were completely disorganised for Wednesday morning and it was miraculous that we even got to school/work on time. I had left my bike at work on purpose to keep it safe while we were away (the garages are still out of commission, although one more day is apparently all that is needed to finish them, and then we get the doors on and we're done). So I took the bus in. But it meant I got bike gear separated and had no pannier to take stuff home. So I took a bus home.
Big mistake. 50 minutes on the bus to get about 1 kilometre. The roads were absolutely broken.
Home in time to stuff Burger Wisconsin down and say hello to my parents and then off to tramping club for New Members night. We all all stickers on saying "Hello, my name is...". Toby quite enjoyed it. We were flat out talking to interested people for ages.
Then home to collapse in bed.
And then it started all over again this morning. Go figure. Mum and Dad will relax a bit today and hopefully we can sort out dinner to enjoy together before they leave on Sunday.
Still busy at work. But the day looks gorgeous and makes up for a lot of hassle.
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
After such a late flight to Wellington on Tuesday night, we were completely disorganised for Wednesday morning and it was miraculous that we even got to school/work on time. I had left my bike at work on purpose to keep it safe while we were away (the garages are still out of commission, although one more day is apparently all that is needed to finish them, and then we get the doors on and we're done). So I took the bus in. But it meant I got bike gear separated and had no pannier to take stuff home. So I took a bus home.
Big mistake. 50 minutes on the bus to get about 1 kilometre. The roads were absolutely broken.
Home in time to stuff Burger Wisconsin down and say hello to my parents and then off to tramping club for New Members night. We all all stickers on saying "Hello, my name is...". Toby quite enjoyed it. We were flat out talking to interested people for ages.
Then home to collapse in bed.
And then it started all over again this morning. Go figure. Mum and Dad will relax a bit today and hopefully we can sort out dinner to enjoy together before they leave on Sunday.
Still busy at work. But the day looks gorgeous and makes up for a lot of hassle.
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Samoa hints and tips
Here's some quick tips that we'll remember next time we go to Samoa. (Because there'll definitely be a next time.)
Arrange rental car to meet you at airport. Rental car is probably the best way to get about, especially if you're staying on Upolo. The airport isn't huge and doesn't have rental car companies ready to rent you a car there. But the company we used in Apia - Funway rentals - would meet you at the airport for the same cost as the taxi ride in. So phone and arrange this in advance.
Arrange rental car to meet you at airport. Rental car is probably the best way to get about, especially if you're staying on Upolo. The airport isn't huge and doesn't have rental car companies ready to rent you a car there. But the company we used in Apia - Funway rentals - would meet you at the airport for the same cost as the taxi ride in. So phone and arrange this in advance.
Carry cash, not cards. There are a few ATMs in Apia, and some places in Apia take credit cards - but that's it. Carry enough cash to do everything - and if you run out you have to go back to Apia to get more. Accommodation, rental car, lunches, drinks, everything. Even departure tax from a Westpac bank branch had to be in cash, not visa! Also break up the bills you get from an ATM. Shops struggle to give change for $20 notes, so the $50s and $100s you get from the ATM may's well be $1M notes for all the use they'll be to you. I got money out from the ATM and then went straight into the branch and changed it all for $10s and $20s.
Aqueous cream for chafing and stuff. (We were always wet and salty :-) )
Farmer Joe supermarket on the way south out of Apia (to stock up on water, chips, bread, snacks, UHT milk)
General list of things we'll bring with us (from home/from Apia) next time:
Snacks for the plane trip
USB chargers
Few clothes pegs
Mozzie coils/insect repellent
Vegemite tube
Snacks for airplane
Milo
Lots of SD card capacity
Quick drying shirts/shorts/towels
Sunscreen (more sunscreen than you think you need!)
Bottled water
Sarong/lava-lava - women need something that covers the knees when you're off the beach.
Brush/shovel to sweep sand out of the fale
Brush/shovel to sweep sand out of the fale
Aqueous cream for chafing and stuff. (We were always wet and salty :-) )
Farmer Joe supermarket on the way south out of Apia (to stock up on water, chips, bread, snacks, UHT milk)
General list of things we'll bring with us (from home/from Apia) next time:
Snacks for the plane trip
USB chargers
Few clothes pegs
Mozzie coils/insect repellent
Vegemite tube
Snacks for airplane
Milo
Lots of SD card capacity
Quick drying shirts/shorts/towels
Sunscreen (more sunscreen than you think you need!)
Bottled water
Samoa weekend - in depth
Hi,
Our trip to Samoa was a spontaneous thing - when grabaseat.co.nz had cheap flights around my birthday, we leapt in and bought us return tickets. It seemed to take ages to come around, but once it was close, before we knew it we were strapped into our airline seats and waiting for the adventure to begin.
We left Wellington on Friday, Feb 18th at 10am. Dad had dropped us off and we only carried three daypacks so it was an easy check-in. We got tickets all the way through to Apia. An hour later we touched down in Auckland and walked over to the International terminal. Mike bought me an early birthday present (early, because despite it being Feb 18 in New Zealand, we were about to cross over the International dateline to have Feb 17th again) - a waterproof digital camera. Woo hoo! Armed with a camera suitable for taking snorkelling pictures and enough chocolate and snacks to sustain Toby through the flight, we were off.
We had purchased Seat Only tickets. The cheapest option, but it comes with the following caveats:
But you did get tea or coffee and a huge range of television episodes to watch. So we had no bother there. And you can buy food onboard via credit card in your seat. But we made do with snacks bought in the departure hall. Toby seemed happy to eat chocolate bars and chippies for some reason.
We crossed into my birthday again as we approached Apia. Low cloud meant we had no view at all landing at the airport. The plane pulled right up to outside the terminal and we walked down the stairs to the gate, through immigration quickly (no bags to collect) and into the throng of people asking us if we wanted a taxi. My method is to walk quickly through like I know where I am going (probably hopelessly obvious that I had no idea) and if accosted would wave behind saying "Talk to my husband". Poor Mike!
Anyhow, we got a taxi and started the drive into Apia. Fa'leolo airport is about an hour from Apia to the west. 15 minutes if it was Melbourne and we had a clear run down the Tullamarine Freeway to town. But on the potholed main road on Upolo (the island Apia is on), at a maximum open road speed of 56km/h, it took an hour! Toby expressed concern at his inability to find a seatbelt in the backseat for us to wear. He was very put out by this, until he realised he now had freedom to move around in the back. I told him many countries don't have strict seatbelt laws, and this might be one of them.
Toby took a lot of interest in the things we were passing - especially coconut trees. His aim was to try and climb one (which he did a bit later on). And he read the phrasebook section of our guidebook and practised on our taxi driver. Our driver weaved through puddles and around potholes along with the rest of the traffic.
We stayed at the Samoan Outrigger, on the road over to the south coast, but just on the edge of Apia as it starts to climb up the hill. We checked in and dumped our gear in our room, and then went out for a walk to get something to eat in town. Toby's main concern was to swim in their pool. Ours was to eat something more substantial than chocolate bars and chippies.
We wandered around trying to make sense of the map and the roads. There are no street signs in central Apia that we could detect. So navigating is a little fraught. By the time we got close to the restaurant, a huge downpour hit. The sort that gets you soaked to the skin in 30 seconds. Mike flagged down a taxi and we got a lift to the Bistro Tatau. It took all of 1 minute. We were very close. But we would have been drenched if we'd continued walking. Toby uttered a squeal of excitement when he thought he had no seatbelt, only to discover his side of the back seat had one, and my side didn't. I made him use it.
The restaurant was very nice. It was my birthday dinner after all. I had a medium-rare tune steak (scrumptious) and Mike had chicken breast. Toby ate chicken nuggets but tried our food and liked it. Shame they had kids menus available I think. We caught a taxi back to the Outrigger, where Toby was disappointed to find he had a seatbelt to wear, and perplexed to find my side again didn't have one. He convinces me to swap sides next time we get in a taxi so he can be the one without a seatbelt. Funny kid. We checked it was far too late for Toby to swim on the pool (yes, it was) and fell into bed.
The room had louvred glass windows, with flyscreen netting, and a lazy turning ceiling fan. We slept on top of the sheet and slept well!
Up for breakfast and Toby was keen as we told him he could swim after we ate. We got toast with butter (and jam - Mike used the jam) and fresh fruit. Toby discovered the joys of real passionfruit and he liked it! Shame they are so expensive in NZ. Perhaps for a special occasion I can get some in.
As soon as he could, Toby was off to the pool. A young man was cleaning it so Toby had to wait for ten minutes. Then he was in. And trying out our new waterproof camera. We have great shots of the pool ladder and pool liner. Look out for links to those coming soon to a blog near you - or not! Heheheh.
Then we jumped into a taxi - I can't remember the seat belt situation in that one though. Bet you Toby does. Anyhow we went off to visit Robert Louis Stevenson's Museum. It is housed in the beautiful house RLS had built when he moved here for his health, up high on the hill above the Outrigger. Entry includes a tour and we wandered around the house hearing about the family life here. RLS only lasted 4 years before a stroke killed him and he was buried on the hill behind the house. Toby got a little bored during the tour and played on the grass outside till we were done. Then we made to go off on the 30 minute walk up to the tomb when a huge downpour hit. Even running to the toilets around the back of the house got you soaked. Someone magically produced an umbrella and Toby gallantly escorted me to the Ladies toilet. However, when I was done and came out, all I saw was an abandoned umbrella on the footpath. He was hiding and running around in the rain the cheeky thing!
Another taxi ride back to the Outrigger to wait for the rental car agency to arrive with our car. The room we were in was already devoid of all furniture and being repainted. Fast huh? Not so much with the rental car. It was scheduled using Samoan time, but we didn't mind lounging around the lobby waiting for it. I think I fell asleep on the lobby couch. Oops. This is where Toby attempted his one and only go at climbing a coconut tree. He selected a likely target in the hotel front yard, put his hands around the trunk and put one foot up... Then leapt off the tree like he'd been bitten. Turns out he touched a bug on the trunk and he never mentioned climbing a coconut tree again.
Toby watched television after his climbing attempt so he was happy. Eventually the rental car arrived and we paid for this and that until we got the car. Pay for drivers license. Pay for extra insurance. Pay tax. Pay for extra drivers (we decided against that one and Mike volunteered to drive everywhere). We had a cute RAV 4 for a few days. At least it was cute on the outside. Inside was another matter. We now know why it had so many dangling air freshener things. It was musty smelling and infested with cockroaches. When the car had been left for a while, the cockroaches evidently sensed an opportunity to explore. When you opened the doors, the wee beasts scuttled away from you like mad.
We drove immediately to an ATM and a petrol station (only fuel is around Apia) and then to a supermarket where we bought a huge packet of Oreos (American biscuits), some chippies and drink and some flyspray to deal to those cockroaches. At every opportunity when we parked up, Mike would spray the car out and close the doors and windows to try and kill off some of the resident insect population. He used a whole can of fly spray in the end. We think it helped - and that is the main thing!
We set off then across to the south coast - the road is called Cross Island Road. It climbs the hills above Apia and pops over the hill to a wonderful vista. Or it would have been, if it wasn't quite so cloudy and a bit damp. Not that Toby noticed. He was comatose on the back seat within minutes of an exclamation of glee that said "There is no seatbelt". He was unaware of the cockroach infestation at that point but they tended to stay away from us so he probably wasn't crawled over - much!
We stopped at a waterfall on the way over - the wet season meant the waterfalls were in full flight.
The drive down the south coast is long (takes the best part of an hour to cover about 40 kilometres) but the scenery is wonderful. We saw a car that had rolled recently (the occupants were out of the car and another had stopped) so obviously the 50 km/h speed limit is there for a reason. But once we start getting close to Faofao Beach Fales (where we're staying) we start seeing evidence of tsunami damage. Concrete fales have been twisted by the power of the wave and some have not been rebuilt.
We get the the place where the map says Faofao is, and don't see a thing of our accommodation. Just as we're about to turn back, we happen across it. And I have to say, the beach fales are paradise on earth. They are very traditional looking, with thatched roofs and woven sides that you can pull up. We had two mattresses, smothered in mosquito netting and a view that is well worth any money. We are about 20 paces from the lapping sea, and that is about 100m from the pounding surf on the reef.
Faofao has a restaurant across the road that provides breakfast and dinner for your money. It cost us ST175 a night for the fale and meals - ST70 each and ST35 for Toby. As we threw our gear in the fale (well, we kept a lot in the cockroach infested car too), the rain started again. Toby's mattress was getting dribbled on so Mike climbed into the rafters of the fale and re-arranged the thatch leaves to provide better coverage. The fale was lovely and even had power (a single long life light bulb). We were impressed.
Of course, we naturally started snorkelling almost straight away. The sheltered reef was great with little current and small waves. Toby did a bit with his mask and snorkel but Mike and I stayed in enjoying it immensely. I have used Toby's mask and snorkel in the past and know it isn't the best experience in the world. Mike has a fantastic snorkel that means you can clear the tube with a tiny exhale. His mask is slightly too big for me. Mine is great - I have a relatively new mask and my old diving snorkel which is ok (its valve means you have to puff a little harder than on Mike's to clear it). Toby's tiny mask gives poor visibility and his tiny diameter snorkel makes it hard to grasp between my teeth.
We continued snorkelling even when the rain started down again. It was weird hearing the rain hit the surface of the sea as we were snorkelling. I eventually went in to the shore and played with Toby on the beach. Mike snorkelled all the way out to the reef while I kept a half-anxious watch on him.
The tsunami damage is still very apparent under the surface of the sea. I pulled out a piece of wood with nails poking out that looked very dangerous. You can see lumps of concrete from time to time. And the staghorn coral has been broken and scattered over the sea bed. Many coral fans have been uprooted and are lying upside down, dead. Some has recovered or survived and the fish life is abundant. We saw clown fish, starfish, angel fish and many, many others I can't possibly recognise.
Dressed for dinner - well, I got out of my togs anyway. I swam in my togs and a rash top and shorts. Samoan women should show not too much flesh apparently. Maybe I should have been born there, eh? I'm all for covering up my white body from the UV rays! Dinner was a beautiful whole fish cooked in coconut cream (with possibly a bit of chili or something). The family cooks it and serves it up in a buffet and you get a plate and pile it up. We had salad and chicken satay as well.
Toby grabbed a big packet of Oreos he had bought in Apia and handed them around. He had opened them earlier in the day in the car during our drive to Faofao. Afterwards, Mike hung them in a plastic bag he got from the car, in the fale. That was when I found cockroaches scurrying around in the Oreos so we like to believe when Toby was handing them out to everyone that they hadn't been in the packet then! That's what we're sticking to, anyway. Needless to say, no one ate the remaining Oreos. Toby did pine after them though. Whenever the cockroaches were mentioned, he'd crumple his face and say "Remember the Oreos".
I headed back to the fale to read while the boys stayed on in the restaurant. The family make their own music at night and Mike and Toby were entertained for quite while. I even heard a dedication to Toby - and then a Justin Bieber song came on (it was the only one Toby actually knows so I think he was probably quite chuffed). The boys all sing and play keyboards.
Eventually my boys clambered into bed and we fell asleep instantly with the pounding surf providing the most pleasant white noise I have had the pleasure to hear for ages. Well, better than Mike's snoring anyway! Heheheh. In the middle of the night, I felt Toby's feet wriggling between mine, and woke enough to see Toby far away from me on Mike's side of the bed. I move my legs and something (a rat? a huge Oreo-bloated cockroach?) shoots out under the mosquito netting and disappears. Never see this again - whatever it was.
Up for a quick swim and breakfast. Bread and eggs. And fruit. Toby discovered he loves fresh pineapple. Canned - not so much. On pizza - nope! But fresh is best! He ate heaps of that and the soft, white bread the Samoans seem to use exclusively.
Just after breakfast we find out we can't pay with plastic. There is nothing for it but to drive back to Apia on the 50km/h potholed road. That is where the ATMs are and we decide to take in sights on the way. We stopped at the O Le Pupu-pu'e National Park and walked to the waterfall. I washed in fresh water which was lovely after having salt on me since the morning. The slight chill in the shade of the forest and the colder water meant none of us wanted to swim. But I could see the attraction on a boiling hot day!
Over the hill back to Apia. We navigated the tried and tested route through Apia to the ANZ ATM and petrol station. We tried to get to the sliding rocks (a natural slide on rocks into a freshwater pool) but fail miserably to find the correct road. There are virtually no street signs in Apia at all. We have seen them on the outskirts, but not in town. Back over the hill to the south coast. We visited the To Sua Ocean Trench. The reason for this excursion was the Vacation Expo advertised in Flight Centre where we bought our insurance. They had a picture of this place and it looked amazing.
Toby climbed down the 20m ladder to the sinkhole. Low tide meant no jumping in from rungs on the ladder because it was too shallow. We explored the cave to the other sinkhole. Toby was brave to swim off into a dark cavern where he couldn't touch the ground. But upon our return to the main sinkhole, Toby discovered crabs scuttling along the sides of the sinkhole and got scared. Then when Toby tackled the ladder to climb back up, he saw crabs on the ladder too. Most of the crabs were the size of my pinky fingernail. But Toby tried to climb the high, scary ladder holding on by the tips of his fingernails to lessen the possibility of touching any crabs. This increased the chances of falling off the very high, scary ladder and scared his parents greatly. Eventually Toby sees reason and grips the ladder a bit more.
Meanwhile (while I was convincing Toby to touch the ladder), Mike explored the entrance to the sea - an underwater tunnel for 3m apparently. We didn't bring our snorkelling gear, so there was no mask available, but next time it might be a goer. Mike reckons he'd swim to the sea easily with a face mask. When I went over for a look (you have to swim to the end of the sinkhole in deep water) you could just see light coming through under the water from the sea.
Back to Faofao and dinner was followed by a fiafia night. This is a traditional dance done by members of the family. It seems weird to have 6 guests enjoying this (us, and a Canadian called Greg and a German couple) when there are about 12 family members involved. But I enjoyed it. At the end we were pulled up and we all danced (ok, I tried to move my arms and hands the same way, but dancing might be open to interpretation if anyone was watching me - which they weren't because we were all dancing).
Sunday is a day of rest. Which meant relaxing on the beach, and reading, and hours of snorkelling. I can't get Toby out of the water. Today was the driest day in a month according to the locals.
We had lunch at the Taufua resort just down the road. Toby saw suckling pig served to tourists and vowed to be a vegetarian. We convinced him adult pigs are used for ham and bacon and he relents, just in time for when his ham and cheese toasted sandwiches turn up.
Up early Monday for coffee/tea before we head away for our midday flight. The owner (Crucetia ??) told about the morning of the tsunami and how she still doesn't sleep well at night. She told of deaths and lucky escapes.
Then we drove back to Apia and took the ATM/petrol route. Then we dropped off the cockroach car (whenever I see a Toyota RAV4 now I can't help but think it is infested) and caught a taxi to the airport.
We came rapidly back down to earth when we arrived in Auckland to the chaos from the Christchurch earthquake, which occurred just as we left Apia. Our flight home was delayed of course, so we spent quite a few hours grimly watching the news coverage in the departure lounge.
As we finish off this blog entry a few weeks down the track, we can see how much our short trip to Samoa meant to us. I often think back to those lazy days on the beach relaxing and feel so much better for it. And the cockroach infestation of the car has given us a new collective noun. Mike and I discovered that a whole bunch of cockroaches is called a "an intrusion" of cockroaches. But from now on, we've decreed that whenever they spot more than one cockroach together, it is perfectly fine to shriek and shout "There's a RAV4 of cockroaches!" and wait for Mike to grab the flyspray and let billowing clouds of cockroach death descend!
We recommend Samoa for a break and we can't wait to head back already. Stay at Faofao and enjoy a simpler lifestyle for a while.
Our trip to Samoa was a spontaneous thing - when grabaseat.co.nz had cheap flights around my birthday, we leapt in and bought us return tickets. It seemed to take ages to come around, but once it was close, before we knew it we were strapped into our airline seats and waiting for the adventure to begin.
We left Wellington on Friday, Feb 18th at 10am. Dad had dropped us off and we only carried three daypacks so it was an easy check-in. We got tickets all the way through to Apia. An hour later we touched down in Auckland and walked over to the International terminal. Mike bought me an early birthday present (early, because despite it being Feb 18 in New Zealand, we were about to cross over the International dateline to have Feb 17th again) - a waterproof digital camera. Woo hoo! Armed with a camera suitable for taking snorkelling pictures and enough chocolate and snacks to sustain Toby through the flight, we were off.
We had purchased Seat Only tickets. The cheapest option, but it comes with the following caveats:
- No checked luggage.
- No movies (well, there were three or four free movies to watch, but they were Kids ones or old ones).
- No food onboard.
But you did get tea or coffee and a huge range of television episodes to watch. So we had no bother there. And you can buy food onboard via credit card in your seat. But we made do with snacks bought in the departure hall. Toby seemed happy to eat chocolate bars and chippies for some reason.
We crossed into my birthday again as we approached Apia. Low cloud meant we had no view at all landing at the airport. The plane pulled right up to outside the terminal and we walked down the stairs to the gate, through immigration quickly (no bags to collect) and into the throng of people asking us if we wanted a taxi. My method is to walk quickly through like I know where I am going (probably hopelessly obvious that I had no idea) and if accosted would wave behind saying "Talk to my husband". Poor Mike!
Anyhow, we got a taxi and started the drive into Apia. Fa'leolo airport is about an hour from Apia to the west. 15 minutes if it was Melbourne and we had a clear run down the Tullamarine Freeway to town. But on the potholed main road on Upolo (the island Apia is on), at a maximum open road speed of 56km/h, it took an hour! Toby expressed concern at his inability to find a seatbelt in the backseat for us to wear. He was very put out by this, until he realised he now had freedom to move around in the back. I told him many countries don't have strict seatbelt laws, and this might be one of them.
Toby took a lot of interest in the things we were passing - especially coconut trees. His aim was to try and climb one (which he did a bit later on). And he read the phrasebook section of our guidebook and practised on our taxi driver. Our driver weaved through puddles and around potholes along with the rest of the traffic.
We stayed at the Samoan Outrigger, on the road over to the south coast, but just on the edge of Apia as it starts to climb up the hill. We checked in and dumped our gear in our room, and then went out for a walk to get something to eat in town. Toby's main concern was to swim in their pool. Ours was to eat something more substantial than chocolate bars and chippies.
We wandered around trying to make sense of the map and the roads. There are no street signs in central Apia that we could detect. So navigating is a little fraught. By the time we got close to the restaurant, a huge downpour hit. The sort that gets you soaked to the skin in 30 seconds. Mike flagged down a taxi and we got a lift to the Bistro Tatau. It took all of 1 minute. We were very close. But we would have been drenched if we'd continued walking. Toby uttered a squeal of excitement when he thought he had no seatbelt, only to discover his side of the back seat had one, and my side didn't. I made him use it.
The restaurant was very nice. It was my birthday dinner after all. I had a medium-rare tune steak (scrumptious) and Mike had chicken breast. Toby ate chicken nuggets but tried our food and liked it. Shame they had kids menus available I think. We caught a taxi back to the Outrigger, where Toby was disappointed to find he had a seatbelt to wear, and perplexed to find my side again didn't have one. He convinces me to swap sides next time we get in a taxi so he can be the one without a seatbelt. Funny kid. We checked it was far too late for Toby to swim on the pool (yes, it was) and fell into bed.
The room had louvred glass windows, with flyscreen netting, and a lazy turning ceiling fan. We slept on top of the sheet and slept well!
Up for breakfast and Toby was keen as we told him he could swim after we ate. We got toast with butter (and jam - Mike used the jam) and fresh fruit. Toby discovered the joys of real passionfruit and he liked it! Shame they are so expensive in NZ. Perhaps for a special occasion I can get some in.
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| Breakfast. Yum! |
As soon as he could, Toby was off to the pool. A young man was cleaning it so Toby had to wait for ten minutes. Then he was in. And trying out our new waterproof camera. We have great shots of the pool ladder and pool liner. Look out for links to those coming soon to a blog near you - or not! Heheheh.
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| The view from the pool - straight upwards. |
Another taxi ride back to the Outrigger to wait for the rental car agency to arrive with our car. The room we were in was already devoid of all furniture and being repainted. Fast huh? Not so much with the rental car. It was scheduled using Samoan time, but we didn't mind lounging around the lobby waiting for it. I think I fell asleep on the lobby couch. Oops. This is where Toby attempted his one and only go at climbing a coconut tree. He selected a likely target in the hotel front yard, put his hands around the trunk and put one foot up... Then leapt off the tree like he'd been bitten. Turns out he touched a bug on the trunk and he never mentioned climbing a coconut tree again.
Toby watched television after his climbing attempt so he was happy. Eventually the rental car arrived and we paid for this and that until we got the car. Pay for drivers license. Pay for extra insurance. Pay tax. Pay for extra drivers (we decided against that one and Mike volunteered to drive everywhere). We had a cute RAV 4 for a few days. At least it was cute on the outside. Inside was another matter. We now know why it had so many dangling air freshener things. It was musty smelling and infested with cockroaches. When the car had been left for a while, the cockroaches evidently sensed an opportunity to explore. When you opened the doors, the wee beasts scuttled away from you like mad.
We drove immediately to an ATM and a petrol station (only fuel is around Apia) and then to a supermarket where we bought a huge packet of Oreos (American biscuits), some chippies and drink and some flyspray to deal to those cockroaches. At every opportunity when we parked up, Mike would spray the car out and close the doors and windows to try and kill off some of the resident insect population. He used a whole can of fly spray in the end. We think it helped - and that is the main thing!
We set off then across to the south coast - the road is called Cross Island Road. It climbs the hills above Apia and pops over the hill to a wonderful vista. Or it would have been, if it wasn't quite so cloudy and a bit damp. Not that Toby noticed. He was comatose on the back seat within minutes of an exclamation of glee that said "There is no seatbelt". He was unaware of the cockroach infestation at that point but they tended to stay away from us so he probably wasn't crawled over - much!
The drive down the south coast is long (takes the best part of an hour to cover about 40 kilometres) but the scenery is wonderful. We saw a car that had rolled recently (the occupants were out of the car and another had stopped) so obviously the 50 km/h speed limit is there for a reason. But once we start getting close to Faofao Beach Fales (where we're staying) we start seeing evidence of tsunami damage. Concrete fales have been twisted by the power of the wave and some have not been rebuilt.
We get the the place where the map says Faofao is, and don't see a thing of our accommodation. Just as we're about to turn back, we happen across it. And I have to say, the beach fales are paradise on earth. They are very traditional looking, with thatched roofs and woven sides that you can pull up. We had two mattresses, smothered in mosquito netting and a view that is well worth any money. We are about 20 paces from the lapping sea, and that is about 100m from the pounding surf on the reef.
Faofao has a restaurant across the road that provides breakfast and dinner for your money. It cost us ST175 a night for the fale and meals - ST70 each and ST35 for Toby. As we threw our gear in the fale (well, we kept a lot in the cockroach infested car too), the rain started again. Toby's mattress was getting dribbled on so Mike climbed into the rafters of the fale and re-arranged the thatch leaves to provide better coverage. The fale was lovely and even had power (a single long life light bulb). We were impressed.
Of course, we naturally started snorkelling almost straight away. The sheltered reef was great with little current and small waves. Toby did a bit with his mask and snorkel but Mike and I stayed in enjoying it immensely. I have used Toby's mask and snorkel in the past and know it isn't the best experience in the world. Mike has a fantastic snorkel that means you can clear the tube with a tiny exhale. His mask is slightly too big for me. Mine is great - I have a relatively new mask and my old diving snorkel which is ok (its valve means you have to puff a little harder than on Mike's to clear it). Toby's tiny mask gives poor visibility and his tiny diameter snorkel makes it hard to grasp between my teeth.
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| Coral-eye view of Angela, Toby and our fale |
The tsunami damage is still very apparent under the surface of the sea. I pulled out a piece of wood with nails poking out that looked very dangerous. You can see lumps of concrete from time to time. And the staghorn coral has been broken and scattered over the sea bed. Many coral fans have been uprooted and are lying upside down, dead. Some has recovered or survived and the fish life is abundant. We saw clown fish, starfish, angel fish and many, many others I can't possibly recognise.
Dressed for dinner - well, I got out of my togs anyway. I swam in my togs and a rash top and shorts. Samoan women should show not too much flesh apparently. Maybe I should have been born there, eh? I'm all for covering up my white body from the UV rays! Dinner was a beautiful whole fish cooked in coconut cream (with possibly a bit of chili or something). The family cooks it and serves it up in a buffet and you get a plate and pile it up. We had salad and chicken satay as well.
Toby grabbed a big packet of Oreos he had bought in Apia and handed them around. He had opened them earlier in the day in the car during our drive to Faofao. Afterwards, Mike hung them in a plastic bag he got from the car, in the fale. That was when I found cockroaches scurrying around in the Oreos so we like to believe when Toby was handing them out to everyone that they hadn't been in the packet then! That's what we're sticking to, anyway. Needless to say, no one ate the remaining Oreos. Toby did pine after them though. Whenever the cockroaches were mentioned, he'd crumple his face and say "Remember the Oreos".
I headed back to the fale to read while the boys stayed on in the restaurant. The family make their own music at night and Mike and Toby were entertained for quite while. I even heard a dedication to Toby - and then a Justin Bieber song came on (it was the only one Toby actually knows so I think he was probably quite chuffed). The boys all sing and play keyboards.
Eventually my boys clambered into bed and we fell asleep instantly with the pounding surf providing the most pleasant white noise I have had the pleasure to hear for ages. Well, better than Mike's snoring anyway! Heheheh. In the middle of the night, I felt Toby's feet wriggling between mine, and woke enough to see Toby far away from me on Mike's side of the bed. I move my legs and something (a rat? a huge Oreo-bloated cockroach?) shoots out under the mosquito netting and disappears. Never see this again - whatever it was.
Up for a quick swim and breakfast. Bread and eggs. And fruit. Toby discovered he loves fresh pineapple. Canned - not so much. On pizza - nope! But fresh is best! He ate heaps of that and the soft, white bread the Samoans seem to use exclusively.
Just after breakfast we find out we can't pay with plastic. There is nothing for it but to drive back to Apia on the 50km/h potholed road. That is where the ATMs are and we decide to take in sights on the way. We stopped at the O Le Pupu-pu'e National Park and walked to the waterfall. I washed in fresh water which was lovely after having salt on me since the morning. The slight chill in the shade of the forest and the colder water meant none of us wanted to swim. But I could see the attraction on a boiling hot day!
Over the hill back to Apia. We navigated the tried and tested route through Apia to the ANZ ATM and petrol station. We tried to get to the sliding rocks (a natural slide on rocks into a freshwater pool) but fail miserably to find the correct road. There are virtually no street signs in Apia at all. We have seen them on the outskirts, but not in town. Back over the hill to the south coast. We visited the To Sua Ocean Trench. The reason for this excursion was the Vacation Expo advertised in Flight Centre where we bought our insurance. They had a picture of this place and it looked amazing.
Toby climbed down the 20m ladder to the sinkhole. Low tide meant no jumping in from rungs on the ladder because it was too shallow. We explored the cave to the other sinkhole. Toby was brave to swim off into a dark cavern where he couldn't touch the ground. But upon our return to the main sinkhole, Toby discovered crabs scuttling along the sides of the sinkhole and got scared. Then when Toby tackled the ladder to climb back up, he saw crabs on the ladder too. Most of the crabs were the size of my pinky fingernail. But Toby tried to climb the high, scary ladder holding on by the tips of his fingernails to lessen the possibility of touching any crabs. This increased the chances of falling off the very high, scary ladder and scared his parents greatly. Eventually Toby sees reason and grips the ladder a bit more.
Meanwhile (while I was convincing Toby to touch the ladder), Mike explored the entrance to the sea - an underwater tunnel for 3m apparently. We didn't bring our snorkelling gear, so there was no mask available, but next time it might be a goer. Mike reckons he'd swim to the sea easily with a face mask. When I went over for a look (you have to swim to the end of the sinkhole in deep water) you could just see light coming through under the water from the sea.
Back to Faofao and dinner was followed by a fiafia night. This is a traditional dance done by members of the family. It seems weird to have 6 guests enjoying this (us, and a Canadian called Greg and a German couple) when there are about 12 family members involved. But I enjoyed it. At the end we were pulled up and we all danced (ok, I tried to move my arms and hands the same way, but dancing might be open to interpretation if anyone was watching me - which they weren't because we were all dancing).
Sunday is a day of rest. Which meant relaxing on the beach, and reading, and hours of snorkelling. I can't get Toby out of the water. Today was the driest day in a month according to the locals.
We had lunch at the Taufua resort just down the road. Toby saw suckling pig served to tourists and vowed to be a vegetarian. We convinced him adult pigs are used for ham and bacon and he relents, just in time for when his ham and cheese toasted sandwiches turn up.
Then we drove back to Apia and took the ATM/petrol route. Then we dropped off the cockroach car (whenever I see a Toyota RAV4 now I can't help but think it is infested) and caught a taxi to the airport.
We came rapidly back down to earth when we arrived in Auckland to the chaos from the Christchurch earthquake, which occurred just as we left Apia. Our flight home was delayed of course, so we spent quite a few hours grimly watching the news coverage in the departure lounge.
As we finish off this blog entry a few weeks down the track, we can see how much our short trip to Samoa meant to us. I often think back to those lazy days on the beach relaxing and feel so much better for it. And the cockroach infestation of the car has given us a new collective noun. Mike and I discovered that a whole bunch of cockroaches is called a "an intrusion" of cockroaches. But from now on, we've decreed that whenever they spot more than one cockroach together, it is perfectly fine to shriek and shout "There's a RAV4 of cockroaches!" and wait for Mike to grab the flyspray and let billowing clouds of cockroach death descend!
We recommend Samoa for a break and we can't wait to head back already. Stay at Faofao and enjoy a simpler lifestyle for a while.
The Tuesday after Samoa and with the terrible earthquake
Hi,
The elation of the weekend was snuffed out pretty quick when we touched down in Auckland and heard the news about Christchurch suffering another huge earthquake. We were delayed in Auckland and had front seats in front of the television until our flight took off 3 hours late. We have just been in Christchurch a few weekends back and it looked pretty good - getting back on its feet. This will be a huge blow for them. Sounds like family are ok that are down there. Phew!
I will update you later on Samoa in more detail. For now you'll have to believe me when I say it was a wonderful place to visit. Toby loved it. It's probably the most under-developed place we've taken him and he took it all in his stride. He was practising Samoan on the taxi driver from the airport and he ate different things. He now loves snorkelling and was wanting to do it even more than me! It might just become a Gilbert regular destination.
Mum and Dad come to live with us for the next few days as their house settles today. They leave for good on Sunday! I can't believe it has got so close.
Work is flat out and I need to get stuck in now. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
The elation of the weekend was snuffed out pretty quick when we touched down in Auckland and heard the news about Christchurch suffering another huge earthquake. We were delayed in Auckland and had front seats in front of the television until our flight took off 3 hours late. We have just been in Christchurch a few weekends back and it looked pretty good - getting back on its feet. This will be a huge blow for them. Sounds like family are ok that are down there. Phew!
I will update you later on Samoa in more detail. For now you'll have to believe me when I say it was a wonderful place to visit. Toby loved it. It's probably the most under-developed place we've taken him and he took it all in his stride. He was practising Samoan on the taxi driver from the airport and he ate different things. He now loves snorkelling and was wanting to do it even more than me! It might just become a Gilbert regular destination.
Mum and Dad come to live with us for the next few days as their house settles today. They leave for good on Sunday! I can't believe it has got so close.
Work is flat out and I need to get stuck in now. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Tuesday with Cubs and lovely weather
Hi,
Wouldn't it be great if you had a birthday on a gorgeous day like today? Wait a moment. Happy birthday, John. You do have a birthday on a glorious day. You lucky thing! Enjoy your day in the sun!
Today as I was coming down the hill, I saw a cruise ship in port, sitting in the millpond doubling as a harbour without a breath of wind and lovely blue skies. On days like this, I see an influx of immigrants coming from boatloads of people lulled into thinking they have stumbled across heaven on earth. Trouble is, there are only 10 days like this all year. Heheheheh.
Of course, I am hoping that tomorrow will be another cracker day.
Cubs went well last night as we had athletics night at a local park and the weather was bonza. Mike and I were in charge of the ball throw competition. Toby did quite well despite being one of the little ones. Apparently he ran the sprint well too.
Then home for more fuel for Toby (he ate heaps before Cubs too) and then to bed.
Today is karate day and tennis day. I hope Toby remembers tennis today - I think he forgot last week.
That's about it for now. Have a great day, wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Wouldn't it be great if you had a birthday on a gorgeous day like today? Wait a moment. Happy birthday, John. You do have a birthday on a glorious day. You lucky thing! Enjoy your day in the sun!
Today as I was coming down the hill, I saw a cruise ship in port, sitting in the millpond doubling as a harbour without a breath of wind and lovely blue skies. On days like this, I see an influx of immigrants coming from boatloads of people lulled into thinking they have stumbled across heaven on earth. Trouble is, there are only 10 days like this all year. Heheheheh.
Of course, I am hoping that tomorrow will be another cracker day.
Cubs went well last night as we had athletics night at a local park and the weather was bonza. Mike and I were in charge of the ball throw competition. Toby did quite well despite being one of the little ones. Apparently he ran the sprint well too.
Then home for more fuel for Toby (he ate heaps before Cubs too) and then to bed.
Today is karate day and tennis day. I hope Toby remembers tennis today - I think he forgot last week.
That's about it for now. Have a great day, wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Monday with Keas
Hi,
The day changed to a southerly by the evening so my ride to Keas was assisted. But it was very cold in the park watching the Keas ride their bikes for Wheels Day. I froze with my bike shorts and fluoro jacket over my t-shirt. Took me about 30 minutes to warm up once I got out of the cold.
Home to eat pizza and to bed. Not a lot of anything happening, eh? Tonight is Cubs night. Should be a mad dash to the park for athletics night. I think it'll go well and the weather is way better.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
The day changed to a southerly by the evening so my ride to Keas was assisted. But it was very cold in the park watching the Keas ride their bikes for Wheels Day. I froze with my bike shorts and fluoro jacket over my t-shirt. Took me about 30 minutes to warm up once I got out of the cold.
Home to eat pizza and to bed. Not a lot of anything happening, eh? Tonight is Cubs night. Should be a mad dash to the park for athletics night. I think it'll go well and the weather is way better.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 14, 2011
The weekend with movies, swimming, visits and gardening
Hi,
What an amazing weekend. Friday night was quiet and we watched a movie together at home (the recent Karate Kid movie - all about Kung Fu - but the boys loved it).
Saturday was the first swimming lesson of the year and Toby was by far the best swimmer in his lesson. He concentrated well and kicked and I heard the instructor saying "Fantastic Toby" and never corrected anything he was doing on one of his laps. He must have something sorted! If he continues like this, he will be moving up to the next class before we know it.
After that we headed home and collected Toby's friend (Jonathan, Johnny and even Jonty - I call him Jonathan) for a wee play before his family headed up the coast for a visit. There was an hour overlap with William coming to play as well. William could stay a bit longer - we dropped him off at 5pm and then dropped Toby off at the Sampson house.
Mike and I went out with Ilkse and her partner Richard. Richard is over for a holiday from The Netherlands and they are off tramping the Milford this week. I hope the weather stays nice for them. We went to Big Thumb - a great Chinese restaurant off Courtney Place. Mike had a great suggestion to go to Strawberry Fare for dessert and that was a huge hit with Ilske and Richard. Us too! Yum! We ate banoffee pie and it was good.
This was capped off by watching a spectacular fireworks display in the harbour for Chinese New Year. Perfect.
Home via the Sampsons to collect Toby and into bed. Sunday morning was a little lazier. The Tabors arrived for a gourmet picnic lunch for my birthday. How cool was that? I was pretty impressed with that. They stayed for ages, despite Aidan still being under the weather with a cough. We chatted away about all sorts of things and I have started Scrabble over the iPod with Josh's mother, Jackie. Great!
After they left (to rescue poor Lulu) we got stuck into the back garden and Mike cleared some lovely garden steps we had down there. We want to build a fort for Toby in the backyard so we need to find a good spot. We finished with a brazier evening, when Mike burned lots of garden waste. Toby played in his clam paddling pool/sandpit naked in the balmy summer evening.
Back to work and into it again. Have a great week. Samoa for my birthday for 4 days at the end of this week. We must pack!
Love,
Angela
What an amazing weekend. Friday night was quiet and we watched a movie together at home (the recent Karate Kid movie - all about Kung Fu - but the boys loved it).
Saturday was the first swimming lesson of the year and Toby was by far the best swimmer in his lesson. He concentrated well and kicked and I heard the instructor saying "Fantastic Toby" and never corrected anything he was doing on one of his laps. He must have something sorted! If he continues like this, he will be moving up to the next class before we know it.
After that we headed home and collected Toby's friend (Jonathan, Johnny and even Jonty - I call him Jonathan) for a wee play before his family headed up the coast for a visit. There was an hour overlap with William coming to play as well. William could stay a bit longer - we dropped him off at 5pm and then dropped Toby off at the Sampson house.
Mike and I went out with Ilkse and her partner Richard. Richard is over for a holiday from The Netherlands and they are off tramping the Milford this week. I hope the weather stays nice for them. We went to Big Thumb - a great Chinese restaurant off Courtney Place. Mike had a great suggestion to go to Strawberry Fare for dessert and that was a huge hit with Ilske and Richard. Us too! Yum! We ate banoffee pie and it was good.
This was capped off by watching a spectacular fireworks display in the harbour for Chinese New Year. Perfect.
Home via the Sampsons to collect Toby and into bed. Sunday morning was a little lazier. The Tabors arrived for a gourmet picnic lunch for my birthday. How cool was that? I was pretty impressed with that. They stayed for ages, despite Aidan still being under the weather with a cough. We chatted away about all sorts of things and I have started Scrabble over the iPod with Josh's mother, Jackie. Great!
After they left (to rescue poor Lulu) we got stuck into the back garden and Mike cleared some lovely garden steps we had down there. We want to build a fort for Toby in the backyard so we need to find a good spot. We finished with a brazier evening, when Mike burned lots of garden waste. Toby played in his clam paddling pool/sandpit naked in the balmy summer evening.
Back to work and into it again. Have a great week. Samoa for my birthday for 4 days at the end of this week. We must pack!
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Thursday with horse riding for Toby
Hi,
Toby got to go horse riding after school yesterday. Lucky wee boy. Christine took Tom and Toby to enjoy a beautiful evening riding on her horse, Victor.
Mike and I got to enjoy a wonderful evening eating Burger Wisconsin with Sally and Andrew. And I got my birthday present early. Cool!
The weekend sees Toby's first swim lesson for the year. And not a lot else on. Chinese New Year stuff so we might wander into town to see some of that.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Toby got to go horse riding after school yesterday. Lucky wee boy. Christine took Tom and Toby to enjoy a beautiful evening riding on her horse, Victor.
Mike and I got to enjoy a wonderful evening eating Burger Wisconsin with Sally and Andrew. And I got my birthday present early. Cool!
The weekend sees Toby's first swim lesson for the year. And not a lot else on. Chinese New Year stuff so we might wander into town to see some of that.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Wednesday that I seem to have missed
hi,
My brain is in some sort of fade mode and I have no idea what happened to Wednesday. Apparently Toby didn't have tennis because he told me this morning that he had tennis. What??!! I told him if tennis was on he had best borrow a racquet. But he did have karate yesterday. Dad collected him and Mike went with them to watch.
Then it was dinner time and I cooked steak, potatoes and broccoli. I think Toby ate all of Dad's broccoli and I think Dad didn't mind at all. Heheheheh.
The Mazda 3 is on the Trade Me website now and let's hope someone fancies it.
Busy at work and I think I have my dizzy thing again. I feel a bit weird. Hope it goes by the end of next week and our flying weekend to Samoa! Yay.
Love,
Angela
My brain is in some sort of fade mode and I have no idea what happened to Wednesday. Apparently Toby didn't have tennis because he told me this morning that he had tennis. What??!! I told him if tennis was on he had best borrow a racquet. But he did have karate yesterday. Dad collected him and Mike went with them to watch.
Then it was dinner time and I cooked steak, potatoes and broccoli. I think Toby ate all of Dad's broccoli and I think Dad didn't mind at all. Heheheheh.
The Mazda 3 is on the Trade Me website now and let's hope someone fancies it.
Busy at work and I think I have my dizzy thing again. I feel a bit weird. Hope it goes by the end of next week and our flying weekend to Samoa! Yay.
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Tuesday with Cubs - for real this time
Hi,
Cubs went exceptionally well. The activity was organised so well that it felt fine to have almost 28 kids running around. Toby seemed to enjoy himself a lot. The activity involved reading a map and finding points marked on it, and colouring in the number with the crayon at that point. Toby's team came in third.
Mike then ran off to a tramping club committee meeting while Toby and I went home to bed. Phew!
Tennis and karate today. Busy day again. Dad will pop over for tea tonight.
Have a marvellous day.
Love,
Angela
Cubs went exceptionally well. The activity was organised so well that it felt fine to have almost 28 kids running around. Toby seemed to enjoy himself a lot. The activity involved reading a map and finding points marked on it, and colouring in the number with the crayon at that point. Toby's team came in third.
Mike then ran off to a tramping club committee meeting while Toby and I went home to bed. Phew!
Tennis and karate today. Busy day again. Dad will pop over for tea tonight.
Have a marvellous day.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Monday back at work
Hi,
It was hard getting stuck back into work after a fantastic weekend like that. But I am exceptionally busy so the time flew by and before you knew it, I was riding up the hill to collect Toby from Skids.
Mike came home just as we dished out tea so we ate dinner and Mike took off for tramping club stuff and I put Toby to bed.
Not much else happened. One of those nights. A godsend compared to our hectic last few days. Tonight is the first night for Cubs. Yay.
Have a marvellous day.
Love,
Angela
It was hard getting stuck back into work after a fantastic weekend like that. But I am exceptionally busy so the time flew by and before you knew it, I was riding up the hill to collect Toby from Skids.
Mike came home just as we dished out tea so we ate dinner and Mike took off for tramping club stuff and I put Toby to bed.
Not much else happened. One of those nights. A godsend compared to our hectic last few days. Tonight is the first night for Cubs. Yay.
Have a marvellous day.
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 7, 2011
The weekend in Dunedin with Holloways, Flagstaff walks and hot, hot weather
Hi,
What a marvellous weekend although it was quite tiring. It all started with a late flight to Christchurch on Friday night. Our flight was delayed a little as we flew into a headwind. As a consequence, it was 10:30pm before we left the airport in our rental Camry. Toby was fast asleep before too long and he slept all the way to Dunedin.
Driving down in the dark was a little boring. I do like the road from Oamaru to Dunedin, but without the daylight to show off the scenery, I must confess to falling asleep and missing Palmerston altogether. Twenty minute snooze only though. Mike was a trooper driving until 2:30am when we got to 733 and fell into bed.
We did sleep in a bit on Saturday morning, but Mike woke with a migraine and he stayed in bed a little longer, recovering after taking his migraine tablets. But by the time Toby and I got back from shopping in town, Mike was up and ready for the walk up Flagstaff with the Holloways. They were the reason we were in Dunedin. It must be easily over 6 or 7 years since we have seen them. Their daughter Claire is 6 years old now, and this is the first time we have laid eyes on her. Apart from the growth of their children, John and Judith were exactly the same. It was as if we had just seen them last week.
We met at John's mother's house and drove up to Flagstaff in convoy. We walked up over parts of Flagstaff I had never seen before. It was a lovely day - t-shirt weather. I got a startling red nose from the sun! Oh dear. We walked to Ben Rudd's hut and had lunch and then geocached some caches. All up we walked 6.2 miles (their GPS is in miles - heheheheh) before we got back to a car and down came the rain. Good timing.
We ferried everyone back to John's mother's house and ordered Thai takeaway (the rain put paid to the BBQ idea) and chatted for ages around the table. Finally it was time to drag ourselves away. Home to bed.
Mike got another migraine the next morning. This was worse as he couldn't find his tablets this time. We had organised to meet Jack (Toby's friend from Wellington) for breakfast as they were down for the weekend too. So Toby and I went off leaving Mike buried under his pillow. We had some time before brekkie so I drove Toby to our old house at 36 Dovecote Ave. It was about 35C already and a lovely day. I showed him my bedroom window. There are so many trees and shrubs in the front yard that you can hardly see the house. And the "Silver" has grass and houses all over it now! No swamp.
Back for an excellent breakfast with Jack and John and then off to see the Chinese Gardens down behind the Early Settlers. Mai met us there for a quick catch up. The boys bought Fortune Cookies. Toby's life will be enriched by new friends and new experiences. Good! Heheheh.
Back up home for lunch and a surprise visit by Jack. His parents were doing boring things so he was dropped off to play with Toby for a while. This was the highlight of the weekend for him. We did have to leave Jack surfing the internet for 10 minutes under Granddad's supervision as we had to leave before John came back to collect him.
So off we went driving back to Christchurch. Toby fell asleep again and woke in Oamaru. We got to Timaru before hunger kicked in. And good thing too as when we parked to get Maccas, we climbed out of our air conditioned car to hit a wall of heat like an oven. Turns out Timaru was experiencing 40C heat! It was hot! Weird, eh? And the temperatures stayed in the high 30s for ages (the car had an external thermometer) as we drove north.
Back to Christchurch at 7pm (slower driving in the afternoon compared to midnight!) and on the flight home. We are all pretty tired after the weekend but it was a great weekend.
Hope the week flies by!
Love,
Angela
What a marvellous weekend although it was quite tiring. It all started with a late flight to Christchurch on Friday night. Our flight was delayed a little as we flew into a headwind. As a consequence, it was 10:30pm before we left the airport in our rental Camry. Toby was fast asleep before too long and he slept all the way to Dunedin.
Driving down in the dark was a little boring. I do like the road from Oamaru to Dunedin, but without the daylight to show off the scenery, I must confess to falling asleep and missing Palmerston altogether. Twenty minute snooze only though. Mike was a trooper driving until 2:30am when we got to 733 and fell into bed.
We did sleep in a bit on Saturday morning, but Mike woke with a migraine and he stayed in bed a little longer, recovering after taking his migraine tablets. But by the time Toby and I got back from shopping in town, Mike was up and ready for the walk up Flagstaff with the Holloways. They were the reason we were in Dunedin. It must be easily over 6 or 7 years since we have seen them. Their daughter Claire is 6 years old now, and this is the first time we have laid eyes on her. Apart from the growth of their children, John and Judith were exactly the same. It was as if we had just seen them last week.
We met at John's mother's house and drove up to Flagstaff in convoy. We walked up over parts of Flagstaff I had never seen before. It was a lovely day - t-shirt weather. I got a startling red nose from the sun! Oh dear. We walked to Ben Rudd's hut and had lunch and then geocached some caches. All up we walked 6.2 miles (their GPS is in miles - heheheheh) before we got back to a car and down came the rain. Good timing.
We ferried everyone back to John's mother's house and ordered Thai takeaway (the rain put paid to the BBQ idea) and chatted for ages around the table. Finally it was time to drag ourselves away. Home to bed.
Mike got another migraine the next morning. This was worse as he couldn't find his tablets this time. We had organised to meet Jack (Toby's friend from Wellington) for breakfast as they were down for the weekend too. So Toby and I went off leaving Mike buried under his pillow. We had some time before brekkie so I drove Toby to our old house at 36 Dovecote Ave. It was about 35C already and a lovely day. I showed him my bedroom window. There are so many trees and shrubs in the front yard that you can hardly see the house. And the "Silver" has grass and houses all over it now! No swamp.
Back for an excellent breakfast with Jack and John and then off to see the Chinese Gardens down behind the Early Settlers. Mai met us there for a quick catch up. The boys bought Fortune Cookies. Toby's life will be enriched by new friends and new experiences. Good! Heheheh.
Back up home for lunch and a surprise visit by Jack. His parents were doing boring things so he was dropped off to play with Toby for a while. This was the highlight of the weekend for him. We did have to leave Jack surfing the internet for 10 minutes under Granddad's supervision as we had to leave before John came back to collect him.
So off we went driving back to Christchurch. Toby fell asleep again and woke in Oamaru. We got to Timaru before hunger kicked in. And good thing too as when we parked to get Maccas, we climbed out of our air conditioned car to hit a wall of heat like an oven. Turns out Timaru was experiencing 40C heat! It was hot! Weird, eh? And the temperatures stayed in the high 30s for ages (the car had an external thermometer) as we drove north.
Back to Christchurch at 7pm (slower driving in the afternoon compared to midnight!) and on the flight home. We are all pretty tired after the weekend but it was a great weekend.
Hope the week flies by!
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Thursday with European Masters
Hi,
A surprise evening out with John and Christine to see the European Masters exhibition at Te Papa. They collected their son, Tom, and Toby from Skids and we met them at Te Papa. John sped through the exhibition then looked after the kids while we took our time admiring the art. Christine didn't know it, but it was a free evening for Wellington residents. We did have to stand shoulder to shoulder for most of the paintings, but it was ok. Christine seemed to be bumping into people she knew all the time. Not us. We must be social pariahs.
Home and into bed. Well, actually, I did watch an episode of Time Team. Such a great way to spend the time before bed. Should be mandatory.
Off to Dunedin later tonight. Woo hoo!
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
A surprise evening out with John and Christine to see the European Masters exhibition at Te Papa. They collected their son, Tom, and Toby from Skids and we met them at Te Papa. John sped through the exhibition then looked after the kids while we took our time admiring the art. Christine didn't know it, but it was a free evening for Wellington residents. We did have to stand shoulder to shoulder for most of the paintings, but it was ok. Christine seemed to be bumping into people she knew all the time. Not us. We must be social pariahs.
Home and into bed. Well, actually, I did watch an episode of Time Team. Such a great way to spend the time before bed. Should be mandatory.
Off to Dunedin later tonight. Woo hoo!
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Wednesday with karate and tennis
Hi,
Toby's first day back at karate. He is the highest grade in his class now. We have asked about when he should move up tot he next class and the sensei said he could move whenever he wants. I think a term of being in the Tigers class as top grade would be good for him. Then off to Dragons.
I actually forgot to ask Toby about his tennis. The weather was perfectly good by then so I think it was on.
Then we went around to see Dad and enjoy a roast lamb dinner. Toby loved it. Said the chicken was beautiful. Ok. Home early enough and surprised to see Mike. His day had sucked the life out of him so he was home to relax instead of listening to technical information at a user group.
Tonight Mike is off to see Dad and take photos of their car to get it on Trade Me. After I get home from my release at work. And maybe a library visit too.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Toby's first day back at karate. He is the highest grade in his class now. We have asked about when he should move up tot he next class and the sensei said he could move whenever he wants. I think a term of being in the Tigers class as top grade would be good for him. Then off to Dragons.
I actually forgot to ask Toby about his tennis. The weather was perfectly good by then so I think it was on.
Then we went around to see Dad and enjoy a roast lamb dinner. Toby loved it. Said the chicken was beautiful. Ok. Home early enough and surprised to see Mike. His day had sucked the life out of him so he was home to relax instead of listening to technical information at a user group.
Tonight Mike is off to see Dad and take photos of their car to get it on Trade Me. After I get home from my release at work. And maybe a library visit too.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Tuesday with Cubs... or not
Hi,
The Gilberts have now honed their Cubs evening routine with a dry run. Yep - I made sure we were all home at the designated time, fed and dressed in Cub uniforms, picked up Brennan and Chelsea on the way and... played in the Scout Hall by ourselves. We were a week early. Oh well.
Home to book Samoa accommodation. Mike had a brief worry when he rang the fale place and got a 5 year old kid that spoke no English. But the mother came on the line and we have accommodation. Yay. Now we need to sort out a car and we're done.
That was about it really. Watched an episode of Time Team as Toby went to sleep. Haven't seen the cat for days, but now we know she obviously has another family somewhere she is smooching with, we're okay about her disappearances. She seems to come back at weekends, so we suspect they (the other family, feeding her Fancy Feast or something) go elsewhere at the weekend.
Weather is absolute pants today. Almost took the bus. Gale northerlies and not rain so much as driven cloud. The road wasn't wet where the wind didn't reach and I stayed dry. The clouds are low and I think the rain is just hurtling the cloud into the ground. Typical.
Time to get stuck in. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
The Gilberts have now honed their Cubs evening routine with a dry run. Yep - I made sure we were all home at the designated time, fed and dressed in Cub uniforms, picked up Brennan and Chelsea on the way and... played in the Scout Hall by ourselves. We were a week early. Oh well.
Home to book Samoa accommodation. Mike had a brief worry when he rang the fale place and got a 5 year old kid that spoke no English. But the mother came on the line and we have accommodation. Yay. Now we need to sort out a car and we're done.
That was about it really. Watched an episode of Time Team as Toby went to sleep. Haven't seen the cat for days, but now we know she obviously has another family somewhere she is smooching with, we're okay about her disappearances. She seems to come back at weekends, so we suspect they (the other family, feeding her Fancy Feast or something) go elsewhere at the weekend.
Weather is absolute pants today. Almost took the bus. Gale northerlies and not rain so much as driven cloud. The road wasn't wet where the wind didn't reach and I stayed dry. The clouds are low and I think the rain is just hurtling the cloud into the ground. Typical.
Time to get stuck in. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The long weekend for Auckland... and me!
Hi,
What a weekend. I had a bad day on Friday that started in the morning with a truck driver trying to cut me off on the way into work and deteriorated into stupid software errors that made me want to cry (or laugh - I am still deciding which). I rode home and collected Toby and just after we got home from school I noticed my handbag had fallen out of my bike pannier somewhere along the way. We hurtled back, and Toby ran. But the handbag was gone. Gone!
Misery was my company for the next few hours while I contemplated life without the contents of my handbag, some things which I have had for 25 years. My boys tried to comfort me, and I have a wonderful card from Toby that I will keep.
Next morning I was resigned to my fate and rooted out another handbag I have never used but bought at the same time as my old faithful one. Credit card was cancelled and I put my phone (the only survivor from the loss as it was home charging) in the bottom.
We went to collect Jack for a sleepover early Saturday afternoon and got caught in a massive (for Wellington) traffic jam on the motorway north. It took us the best part of an hour to cover the 10km from Johnsonville to Porirua - with the engine switched off most of the time. Never mind. We'd get there eventually.
And "there" was Waikanae and a terrific BBQ at the Tabor household. How nice to see Jackie over from Hawaii. We stayed far too late, but Jack and Toby chatted all the way home despite the late hour. I have another handful of books to read from Aidan and even an electronic lending to my Kindle. Wow!
As we walked over the threshold I picked up a note someone had left under the door asking if Ms A Gilbert could get in touch. It was 10.45pm, so I couldn't ring, but I immediately thought about my handbag. I tried not to get too excited as we went to sleep.
Sunday morning we got a call from someone saying they had found a handbag in their property. My excitement saw no limit and I hurtled off to collect it. I thought it might have been rifled through. But so long as most of it was there, that'd be better than nothing. Once I got it, I could see it was entirely intact. Obviously someone found it as soon as I dropped it and thought it was from the house right there. So they tucked it behind the wall. Saturday morning the husband returned from golf and thought it was his wife's handbag. How funny! So, my life was back to normal. How lucky!
Around 10am saw Jack collected and us picking up the bouncy castle from Sally and Andrew. We dropped them into town for their Yum Cha lunch (lucky things) and we headed home for lunch after picking up some stuff at The Warehouse. Off to Tom's party at 2pm at the Wadestown Plunket. The bouncy castle worked well and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Toby organised the queue of kids and shouted out rules (no shoes, no more than 4 kids, and a complicated one about no more than 2 kids rolling into the side netting at a time). I was quite impressed as no one had encouraged him to do that. The weather was a lot more kind than the same time last year when we were caught in a huge rain storm.
Mike was working on the WTMC website during this time. Toby and I got dropped off at home with the bouncy castle and we relaxed for the evening.
Monday morning was a day off for me so I could help Toby get to school with all his covered books. Mike caught the bus as the weather was pretty bad - wind and a bit of rain. But the rain eased off and Toby and I walked to school easily. We found his classroom and I spoke to his new teacher. Mrs Meredith. Toby seemed ok, but a bit quiet. He was happy for me to go though. No problems there.
I went home and started my needlework. Yikes! I needed to sew three Karori First patches onto our scarves for Cubs. I think the third one is almost passable. The others...? Well... They are mostly straight. Heheheh.
Spent the rest of the day reading my books from Aidan. Enjoyed "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" book immensely. All done in letters from character to character.
Picked up Toby and he asked wee Tom if he wanted to come home with us. It was Tom's first day at school (and his party we attended the day before) and Toby was showing him how Skids worked. So both boys came home with me and they had their after school snack (tiny teddy biscuits and lots of fruit and milk) and played. Christine collected Tom at 5pm and I left to go to Keas (I am rostered on every alternate week to help out) with Toby. we had our fancy scarves to show off. It went well because I am just a helper now really. Michael (another parent) has organised the activities.
Home for dinner from Mike and we had a brazier night as it was such a nice night. After the wind and rain in the morning, it was quite a change. And today is a cracker of a day!
Have a great week. We're off to Dunedin this weekend in a spontaneous visit because our good friends, John and Judith from Southampton are in town! And we haven't been in Dunedin for ages. High time.
Love,
Angela
What a weekend. I had a bad day on Friday that started in the morning with a truck driver trying to cut me off on the way into work and deteriorated into stupid software errors that made me want to cry (or laugh - I am still deciding which). I rode home and collected Toby and just after we got home from school I noticed my handbag had fallen out of my bike pannier somewhere along the way. We hurtled back, and Toby ran. But the handbag was gone. Gone!
Misery was my company for the next few hours while I contemplated life without the contents of my handbag, some things which I have had for 25 years. My boys tried to comfort me, and I have a wonderful card from Toby that I will keep.
Next morning I was resigned to my fate and rooted out another handbag I have never used but bought at the same time as my old faithful one. Credit card was cancelled and I put my phone (the only survivor from the loss as it was home charging) in the bottom.
We went to collect Jack for a sleepover early Saturday afternoon and got caught in a massive (for Wellington) traffic jam on the motorway north. It took us the best part of an hour to cover the 10km from Johnsonville to Porirua - with the engine switched off most of the time. Never mind. We'd get there eventually.
And "there" was Waikanae and a terrific BBQ at the Tabor household. How nice to see Jackie over from Hawaii. We stayed far too late, but Jack and Toby chatted all the way home despite the late hour. I have another handful of books to read from Aidan and even an electronic lending to my Kindle. Wow!
As we walked over the threshold I picked up a note someone had left under the door asking if Ms A Gilbert could get in touch. It was 10.45pm, so I couldn't ring, but I immediately thought about my handbag. I tried not to get too excited as we went to sleep.
Sunday morning we got a call from someone saying they had found a handbag in their property. My excitement saw no limit and I hurtled off to collect it. I thought it might have been rifled through. But so long as most of it was there, that'd be better than nothing. Once I got it, I could see it was entirely intact. Obviously someone found it as soon as I dropped it and thought it was from the house right there. So they tucked it behind the wall. Saturday morning the husband returned from golf and thought it was his wife's handbag. How funny! So, my life was back to normal. How lucky!
Around 10am saw Jack collected and us picking up the bouncy castle from Sally and Andrew. We dropped them into town for their Yum Cha lunch (lucky things) and we headed home for lunch after picking up some stuff at The Warehouse. Off to Tom's party at 2pm at the Wadestown Plunket. The bouncy castle worked well and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Toby organised the queue of kids and shouted out rules (no shoes, no more than 4 kids, and a complicated one about no more than 2 kids rolling into the side netting at a time). I was quite impressed as no one had encouraged him to do that. The weather was a lot more kind than the same time last year when we were caught in a huge rain storm.
Mike was working on the WTMC website during this time. Toby and I got dropped off at home with the bouncy castle and we relaxed for the evening.
Monday morning was a day off for me so I could help Toby get to school with all his covered books. Mike caught the bus as the weather was pretty bad - wind and a bit of rain. But the rain eased off and Toby and I walked to school easily. We found his classroom and I spoke to his new teacher. Mrs Meredith. Toby seemed ok, but a bit quiet. He was happy for me to go though. No problems there.
I went home and started my needlework. Yikes! I needed to sew three Karori First patches onto our scarves for Cubs. I think the third one is almost passable. The others...? Well... They are mostly straight. Heheheh.
Spent the rest of the day reading my books from Aidan. Enjoyed "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" book immensely. All done in letters from character to character.
Picked up Toby and he asked wee Tom if he wanted to come home with us. It was Tom's first day at school (and his party we attended the day before) and Toby was showing him how Skids worked. So both boys came home with me and they had their after school snack (tiny teddy biscuits and lots of fruit and milk) and played. Christine collected Tom at 5pm and I left to go to Keas (I am rostered on every alternate week to help out) with Toby. we had our fancy scarves to show off. It went well because I am just a helper now really. Michael (another parent) has organised the activities.
Home for dinner from Mike and we had a brazier night as it was such a nice night. After the wind and rain in the morning, it was quite a change. And today is a cracker of a day!
Have a great week. We're off to Dunedin this weekend in a spontaneous visit because our good friends, John and Judith from Southampton are in town! And we haven't been in Dunedin for ages. High time.
Love,
Angela
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