BOOM!

Easter school holidays have just finished and this week marks my 3 month anniversary on the island. Of course Sienna, Jamie and Bailey enjoyed their time off school. Jen, B, J & S had a day out on the lagoon on a Bishops Cruise with Poppy. Our good friends Annie and Teina Bishop are off the island but insisted we keep an eye on their pool and their boats. The kids had a great day snorkeling – they have become quit confident now – especially Bailey. The kids were well looked after by ‘Auntie’ Poppy who seems to be channeling Auntie Foofoo. Whenever the boys ask Mummy if they can do something – like jumping off the deck of the cruise boat, Mummy says no, so they sneak to Auntie Poppy who says yes, of course. Onboard the cruise Jen was proud to feel like a local – explaining island life including that the unique transfer option of the open sided truck was actually the school bus.

With an especially busy week at Pacific Resort holiday week wasn’t much different for me as I worked right through Easter weekend. We have been overwhelmed with families to the point where we have run out of rollaway beds!! But having 8 – 10 children and teenagers in the pool definitely it gives the resort a different feel. Remarkably we are the only one of what I consider the top properties on the island that actually welcomes families…come all our friends.

On Sunday Jen and I took the kids for a big walk along the beach around to the Marine Resource Centre. Somehow we ended up doing this in the heat of midday and it was a very slow walk home, that finished in us all walking fully clothed into the cool water of the lagoon outside our house. It was a lovely reminder of actually how beautiful the lagoon, the beach and the fish life are. Sunday night we had dinner with the editor of the Sunday Telegraph and the travel editor of Harpers Bazaar – so standby for some coverage soon.

The week before the school holidays Jenni made a short unplanned visit to Auckland for Bryce’s father’s funeral. A very sad event that gave her the chance to personally share our Shah love to Bryce, Nats and Thornton. The kids were especially excited to meet Mummy at the airport because of the promise of Easter eggs, little did we expect the excess luggage full of muesli bars, biscuits, herbs, spices and any number of missing ingredients.

Thanks to our lovely friends Stephen and Poppy, and nanny Tav we had managed to cope for the week without Jen, and me still working. The first day Jen was away had set my teeth on edge. After dropping Sienna with Poppy and the boys at school for sports day, with the agreement of their teacher to pick them up at 1.00pm I went to work. Only to receive a phone call at 11.00am from one of our other friends, Colette, who was at school with Bailey and Jamie – she was wondering if I knew sports day had just finished and school was done for the day!!! Thankfully Poppy came to the rescue.

Our eventful life on Aitutaki continues…the last few days have seen a slow moving low hang over the island creating fierce tropical downpours, which are hard to describe. Imagine the most intense rain you have ever seen then double it and imagine it for 20 minutes, followed by clear skies, every hour for 6 hours in a row. Last night was the pinnacle. We had some very intense rain, and then the lightning started. Not so bad in itself, but the gaps with the thunder got shorter and shorter. Sienna had of course already found refuge in our bed when there was THE LOUDEST BANG I have ever heard in my life in perfect unison with the brightest flash. I have no doubt that the lighting struck within metres of our house. I leapt out of bed grabbed Sienna and followed Jenni to the boys room, where they were quivering in their bed, just in time to hear/feel/see THE SECOND LOUDEST CRACK I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE as the lighting struck again….The five of us spent the rest of the night all together in our bed, reading stories with a CD playing trying to ignore the thunder and lighting as it went passed.

Jens Bit...
I can't remember being so scared as I was last night - I'm still jumpy now. Having watched the pilot episodes of LOST! during the evening I had vague, half asleep, terrified thoughts of the 'smoke monster' trying to break in through the roof! Bailey had been talking about vandergraf machines that day and about the cracking noise the static electricity makes. So between the 2nd and 3rd assault on our ears (and nerves) he and I managed to have a semi-rational discussion about how close the lightening must be to be able to hear the crack!! I love my science boy. The lads seem quite fine and not too unnerved tonight (despite the continuing rain) but Sienna won't leave the room without one of us and I don't expect her to be in her own room for a while yet.

On the plus side, my new tomato plants like the extra water and are growing well!

The trip back to NZ was a whirl-wind. I was so glad to be there to support Bryce the rest of the Smart family. I also caught up with the Perry family (who welcomed me into their home at 6am!) and the Tuckers for dinner, plus grandparents and siblings too. It was nice to be back for Chloe's birthday as well. I have to admit that I felt a twinge as I departed the Island, watching the turquois lagoon disappear behind the plane. Flying into Auckland at 5am into the freezing cold (well it was for me) was a bit of a rude shock. I confess I had to borrow jumpers, singlets and socks from Fiona to keep me warm!

And predictably, when I got back the Island had run out of fuel. You just gotta laugh.