Jill Of All Trades...

Well while the Southern Cousins have been freezing themselves in NZ & Australia, we have had a few nights where the blankets have come out and we have even had to shut the windows. Then here we are today and it is bikini weather again! The kids have been making excellent use of the swings that Michael has hung from a plank nailed between two coconut trees. It is great to have another option for them.

It is nice to know you have a few feathers to your bow, but I hadn't realised that hair-dressing, teaching, weaving, writing sponsorship letters, desktop publishing, IT consultant and repairs, team uniform coordination and logo development were amongst them (at least not simultaneously).

Paddling has segued into steering for me, with a few tuition sessions from some of the 'uncles' and a heap of time on the water. Things have come pretty naturally and my crew have been complimentary. They aren't muttering about crooked courses or crashes anyway (except for one unfortunate incident in the lagoon during my first steering attempt in a sprint race, when I rode our canoe outrigger up the hull of another canoe!).

This culminated in a nerve-wracking session outside the reef, where

1. It was the first time I have paddled outside the reef
2. It was the first time I have navigated the Arutanga(main) passage, which is known for it's rather nasty temperament

While I made Uncle Jnr Moaote steer on the way out, when we were in the swells and paused to watch a large sea turtle, he jumped overboard and back I went to the number six seat. So off we went, concentrating VERY hard, trying to read the wind and swells, the safest but closest we could get to the reef, and all without slowing the canoe down too much.

At the turnaround we started to run with the swells, where nearly everything I had learned in the last 4km was thrown out the window, as the canoe behaves quite differently running with the waves. We had one minor gasp from the middle of the boat as we ran off one swell and started to pull away to the left it a sharp turn, but a quick correction meant the ama (outrigger) didn't leave the water, so quite safe after all. Jnr was keen to get me anticipating the swells to do some surfing, but that was really one bridge too far - next time maybe!

Once we got back to the reef, Uncle showed some tough love and made me steer back through the reef break. Stay left---not too far left---DON'T go right---here comes the wave---we need some POWER--- MORE POWER!!! Later they told me that the passage was pretty calm really, and it was pretty flat, but the currents are something else. I felt as much adrenaline as during Cyclone Pat, but I felt exultant to bring my crew safely home.

Michael has been doing a lot of training outside the reef, culminating last week in a 2.5 hour paddle south, past the end of the reef and towards Rarotonga! They saw some whales and turtles and by all reports it was a great paddle.

So on the rare night we aren't paddling, we are hiding out and recovering at home. I have been playing a bit more with my camera and lenses and my new tripod, and have the following to share from our lovely front yard, the Aitutaki Lagoon.

The Shah's Grand Tour

Welcome to 2010, especially to all those who waited with baited breath for the lights to go out on NYE 10 (short?) years ago. Weren’t we supposed to be riding around in flying cars in 2010? And I hear that it is twenty-ten, not two-thousand-and-ten, don’t you know - at least that is what the NZ Herald is reporting that a blog is reporting (which is what passes for reporting in the NZ Herald these days).

Having survived December with livers more-or-less intact, the focus is now well and truly The Shah’s Grand Tour. A good nine months in the planning, we are taking a month (and a bit) off the rock to visit family and friends, recharge batteries, shop, and see what the (temperate areas of the) east coast of Australia have to offer. So here is a heads up for friends, siblings, nieces & nephews, parents, aunts & uncles, great-aunt’s & great-uncles, grandparents & great-grandparents, and assorted dead relatives: the Shah roadshow is coming to a town near you!

Feb 19 – Mar 3 Auckland

Feb 19 Jenni & the kids arrive in Auckland

Feb 28 Michael arrives in Auckland

Mar 4 The Shahs depart from Auckland

Mar 4 – Mar 10 Victoria

Mar 4 – 7 Melbourne

Mar 8 Ballarat

Mar 9 Echuca

Mar 10 Rutherglen

Mar 11 – Mar 23 NSW

Mar 11 Goulburn

Mar 12-13 Kiama

Mar 14-16 Sydney

Mar 17 Hawkesbury

Mar 18 Hunter Valley

Mar 19 Port Stephens

Mar 20 Forster

Mar 21-22 Port Macquarie

Mar 23 Coffs Harbour

Mar 24 – Mar 27 QLD

Mar 24-26 Gold Coast

Mar 27 Brisbane

Mar 30 Aitutaki

I feel exhausted already!

Decmeber is a Jolly, Jolly Month

Good grief, December has gone already! Of course, a big Merry Christmas to all, wherever you are in the world. It was great fun watching Santa's progress around the globe, first in New Zealand, then Australia and then around the globe (the long way) to little old Aitutaki.

December has been consumed by shifting house, the Pacific Resort staff party, Onu & Menema's wedding, two new family members, a vaka blessing and of course Christmas.

Our New Abode: The first week of December was consumed by shifting house. Our new place (which has been pending for quite some time) is next to the resort with the other expat staff. It has been totally rebuilt and has such extreme luxuries as aircon, extractor fans, light and an ensuite! Really, it is heaven (if heaven comes surrounded by boxes). We are on a hillside, with views of the sea and sunset, and the kids are already spending much more time outside exploring (without mossies for company). Of course any new house requires a housewarming, and we were delighted to at last host a Shah Party and give the deck a good workout!

The Staff Party: Well... this one will be talked about for a while. The theme was a "T-Party" and Michael and I dressed as Tinkerbelles – the photo tells the tale. It was a big giggle with all the departments putting on dance items, some straight up, but with the grounds & maintenance boys in drag. Despite smashing my toe on the couch that morning (and turning it a rather lurid shade of crimson and purple) we danced and danced and danced. My island dancing has improved so much that the island mamas and aunties are giving out compliments! I have to say that I really enjoy it (and could easily be pressed to perform a dance item of our own next year!).

An Island Wedding: Onu & Menema run one of the dive companies on Aitutaki, Bubbles Below, and looked after mum and dad when they were here last. We were delighted to be invited to their wedding, with the bonus that the ceremony was held on the beach at the resort. Traditionally wedding couples, their party and guests drive around the island with drummers and dancers, and locals come out onto the road to dance and give the couple pareau (sarongs) so that the cab of the truck is laden with a hundred or more lengths of fabric for the new couple to furnish their home. The Hewitts didn't opt for this but one of the Aunties next to the reception venue was having none of this and danced and draped some pareau over the car. With a BIG umu for dinner, the kai kai was the biggest spread we have seen. Onu has been feeding up his pigs all year and word was they put 26 pigs and 100 chickens down in the umu! The guest list was nearly 300 - weddings are a big thing here!!

Miaow: I made the children Christmas stockings out of pareau fabrics this year and required Poppy's sewing machine to complete them. So we journeyed up Piraki to the house and returned with a sewing machine and two kittens!!! Fabulous Freddie and Gorgeous Georgie are about four weeks old and were abandoned in the bush (not uncommon here). They are lovely boys, eating everything they can get their hands on, fighting like brothers (which confuses the set of brothers in my house - I'm not sure why) and climbing the fly-screens. So along with Goatee I now have six children to feed and clean up after! The kids are quite delighted.

Merry Christmas: Well Ho Ho Ho. This was my first Christmas away from the family... ever, and with reports of my Grandma being admitted to hospital, quite an emotional one. Of course, with the International Date Line we ended up with two Christmas days - one in NZ to get emotional about, and one in Aitutaki to get hot, sweaty about. The kids were very spoilt with gifts and ran around like wild people all day!

We attended church at Margaret's family church, with her father the minister and only her family in attendance - it was a bit like a private chapel. Thankfully we sang Mary's Boy Child, in the Boney-M key and were away. Despite the heat, we enjoyed a roast lunch on the deck with Pork (best crackling ever!), chicken, potatoes (rare) and pumpkin from our old garden. We were joined by some of Michael's expat staff, Tony, Wendy & Chido. After that we seemed to accumulate people by the hour and everyone seemed to have a good time. Poppy & Stephen arrived with a special surprise of raw tuna as they had caught a 50kg Big Eye and a 40kg Yellow Fin that morning. Yummo!!

Oe Vaka: Michael has been paddling with the Happy Feet Masters rugby team for 5 months now, and while it was a useful training exercise, they are a fully fledged Vaka team now (waka/outrigger canoe). Some new vakas have been purchased and the masters team were offered the privilege of having the first paddle. So on boxing day the vakas were blessed by a minister, a nu ( drinking coconut) was cracked over the bow and the masters went for a paddle. I'm told it is a fast vaka!

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.