Xmas, New Year, New Job...& Bread

Well now, Happy New Year! We celebrated in the resort, but the weather was dire, with an odd storm blowing in from the North. Oh well, just another part of the Aitutaki Adventure - mist flying horizontally through the restaurant! Christmas day was lovely, with pressies, a trip to Church, a LOT of champagne, and a yummo (an Aussie term, I believe) roast pork lunch with the Best Gravy in the world! Now for 2011...

January is the month of...job-seeking, school holidays and bread-baking. I'll tell you pretty quickly which one is much more fun than the others!

So, bread! Funnily enough, I had bought a bread-making book with us when we moved to Aitutaki as I didn't know that there was a bakery on the island (let alone 3!). Needless to say it has languished un-opened and un-loved until last weekend. The kids thought it would be a great idea, so we got the recipes of of mothballs and gave it a go. Many hours later we turned out an OK-kind-of-loaf - much kneading and several risings produced a well shaped, firm-but-not-too-firm loaf that was quickly devoured.

Being the researcher that I am, as soon as the loaf was eaten I was on the web searching for tips and hint. Maybe our dough had been too dry for the french load I had envisaged...do I need a steam oven to make it crusty...why on earth do American websites have to make so many disclaimers about stupid things such as "ovens are hot - you may burn yourself"...

Then I stumbled across the secret (or not) of the millenia - you can make bread Without Kneading it. Not only that, but it is better in every way!! The "NO KNEAD" method of bread making has probably been around for quite a while. Apparantly there was a recipe in the New York Times in 2006 which has oft been copied and tweaked online. The recipe I decided to follow came from a blog called The Italian Dish.

How basic is this - slap together some yeast, water, salt and flour and LEAVE IT. Then bake some of it. Then stash the rest of the mix in the fridge. Then bake it bit by bit over the next week or two. The result: light, crusty, rustic, 'artisan' bread, slightly chewey inside and a total dream.

The only problem I have seen is that once it comes out of the oven, the loaf only lasts half-an-hour before it has been devoured, dripping in melted butter.

So now, having made home made bread for the last few days, we are getting tricky, adding a few glugs of maple syrup/honey/golden syrup to the mix with some sultanas/fruit cake mix and some cinnamon and nutmeg. Voila! Divine loaves of fruit bread for breakfast toast. Heaven! And terribly addictive. In fact, it is currently 5.52pm, I should be cooking our dinner, but I have been waylayed by yet another slice...

And as for the job hunting...well there have been a few various things of interest...Canberra, Noosa and Melbourne. The thing is you have to immerse yourself in each possible opportunity to get the idea if you want live there or not. So that means researching schools, rentals, lifestyle and as soon you get into it, the opportunity goes past and the next thing comes along.

It's really just a waiting game while Michael sends off a few applications. Nothing happens quickly this time of the year.

In the meantime, we survive the holidays with a few swims and a lot of (or not enough) patience!

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!

Sienna's 3rd Birthday

Our little girl is now 3! I'm afraid that I couldn't quite get my head around a proper party - Saturday's are out for all the Seventh Day Adventist school kids (she would know 3-4 outside school) and Sunday is probably out for most of the rest (not that we know many anyway). So we took our birthday roadshow to the island!

Off to school for Friday in our Kia Orana day mufti wear, and Jamie told everyone in the middle of chappel that it was his sister's birthday. The school sang her 'happy birthday to you' and 'happy long life to you' fininshed off with rousing 'hip-hip-hurray' in English and Maori (I'm not sure what the difference was).

We had opened presents before school - the kids were so excited to receive so many parcels. Thank you for all your gifts of clothes, jewellery, stickers, books, balloons, sand toys and knickers! The boys were quite chuffed to see one or two things for them as well. We had a quick cake cutting with Michael before we took the cake to school for lunch.

Now, you know you are becoming a fixture when one of the kids calls you 'Auntie', as in 'Auntie, school hasn't finished yet' when I picked Bailey up early one day. We are even more of a fixture now we have shared our 'Girl in the Moon' cake amongst every kid in school.

We then took the cake to see Annie, and took a trip through her plantation for bananas, limes, guavas and even a late pineapple. Off home to get the remaning pieces into the fridge - buttercream doesn't last too long in the heat up here! Poppy and Stephen dropped around after school to exchange their piece of cake with lolly cake and a gossip.

We went out to dinner at the Boat Shed where we had a lovely dinner outside (kids off catching crabs) before a rain shower chased us inside. Then home for a video call with Nana and Poppa, and Fiona, Rose and Harrison. We had a very nice day and thank goodness for Skype Video calls that bring everyone much closer to Aitutaki than a phone call does.

xxJen

PS We went to church today and I have been invited by the Mama's on a special girls only outting next Sunday afternoon. You've got to be up for things I suppose, so off I will go. Report to come....pray for me...:-)

Map of Aitutaki

Yes, yes, you have seen the tourist maps and the hotel maps, but where do you actually live in this place? Where do things happen? Well here is the definitive (until I amend it) map (thanks Google Earth) of The Shah's Aitutaki!
In comparison, Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf is 7km by 5km, and Motutapu Island is 7km x 3km. There is a tar sealed road that runs around the island and several unsealed roads that cut across the island. We have only found one that we would honour with the title Wyllie Rd. The roads here are repaired with crushed coral, which is excavated from the lagoon just off the beach. This is actually a great thing for the locals as they get a nice deep swimming hole instead of the shallow 27 degree lagoon at our place. Fortunately there is such a trench a few doors up from our house.

So home for now, at Retire's house (C), is 2km from the Pacific Resort (A), which is 2km from Tekaaroa School (D). In 4 months we will move to the Rapae Village (B) which is the Pacific Resort staff village.

The best shopping is over the island at Neibaa Store (N) (as in 'your friendly neibaa store' - sound it out....) which is run by a Kiribati family. The have the biggest range and the prices are pretty good. Just like a 4 Square really but smaller, darker and more crowded. The Heinekin shop (L) has lots of imported dairy products - essential for growing Shahs - including 1kg yoghurt for $14 (gulp) and big blocks of chocolate for $9 (eek). It is also the icecream shop to stop at after school. There are a lot of variety type stores around including Mango Traders (also at B) which is Auntie Moira's store and who have just finished making a dress for Sienna (more on that later).

Teina and Annie Bishop run Bishops Cruises and their other businesses from their house (E). We visit them several times a week after school to swim in their pool. The kids are becoming experts at 'breaking in' to their banana safe! Stephen and Poppy's Docherty house (F) is near the highest point on the island Maunga Pu. Their deck and (unheated) spa pool have one of the best views on the island. They are currently our lending library (though I need to slow down a bit or will run out of reading material!).

Our two favourite places to visit are the Marine Resource Centre (G), which we can walk to in 45min along the beach, where they breed giant clams and have a rescued turtle. There was also a big stone fish there the other day which was downright scary looking. The sailing club (I) consists of a good beach with a swimming channel and a few shipping containers. The sand bar just off the beach is shallow enough for the kids to stand up, so the sailors have a rest out there when they want to. The church we go to (once a month) is the CICC (Cook Islands Christian Church) in Arutanga. There is a specific section for each village (ours is Amuri) and there are kids everywhere.

So that is our world, complete with roving chickens and pigs - not that much different from Wyllie Rd......

xxJen