15 minutes of fame....

About 3 months ago Pacific Resort was lucky enough to host the crew from Maori TV’s Hunting Aotearoa program. The crew were in the Cooks to visit Aitutaki, Raro and Atiu to film a couple of episodes for the program. I did an interview with the surprisingly charming Howie Morrison Jnr which lead the episode on Aitutaki (episode 26 just screened). The crew had a blast, saying it was one of the best trips they’d ever had.

They hooked up with some local characters including the hilarious Peckham Maoate who took them spear fishing for eel, coconut crabbing and CHICKEN TRAPPING – yes a bizarre Aitutaki sport where you put an onion on the end of a very long pole with a noose attached and then try to snare the sleeping chicken 15 ft up in a tree!! Even more bizarrely on Raro the crew went shooting for Fruit Bats, which Howie actually eats bbq’d !!! Taste’s like pigeon apparently.

There’s been lots to tell and I know many people will have already heard the news. I was delighted to get an early morning text to tell me that I had won the South Pacific General Manager of the Year Award at the HM Awards in Sydney. The HM Awards are the premium awards for hospitality and Accommodation excellence in Australia, NZ and South Pacific.

There were as record 1300 nominations for the 35 awards, which were presented at a dinner for 500 in Sydney, with Ray Martin as host. Sadly I couldn’t be there but one of my colleagues accepted the award for me. Sounds like he was almost as excited as I was, with the table of industry folk he was sitting at offering a huge cheer when my name came up.

It is a delightful to be recognized in this way. My fellow GM in Sydney Marcus Tait suggesting this adds 10 – 15% my future salary – now that’s the money!!

Jen and I got the chance to celebrate in advance when on the night prior pacific resort hosted a wine dinner in conjunction with our always friends from Pernod Ricard to showcase their Jacob’s Creek Reserve wines. Chef James designed an exceptional five course dinner and with matching wines I don’t think Aitutaki had seen anything like this for a while.

The Toa Moana Masters Vaka crew helped the dinner numbers by booking the largest table, which coincided with the departure of the women’s #1 stroke, Tanya back to NZ. As if any excuses was needed this meant much excellent St Hugo’s and Steingarten wines were consumed but the killer stroke was the whiskey with Pernod Riacrd supplying bottles of Chivas Regal, Jamesons and The Glenlivet 12 year old to go with coffee…with the expected result.

It was quite a week as the day after that was Michael’s Birthday. The family took an extra day off to get on the lagoon in a much anticipated cruise with Lawton on the Glass Bottom Boat (funnily enough it’s actually the old one from Goat Island). The weather was great and Lawton gave us a wonderful tour both in and out of the lagoon (a first for the kids). The glass bottom gives a great perspective, snorkeling without getting wet…and lunch was a feast with a wonderfully genuine flavour. Big Thumbs up for Uncle Lawton – highly recommended.

Jenni’s month has been all about the school library, with her new designation as Librarian. Jen’s been imprisoned in the stifling heat of the new school library several hours a day sorting, labeling, counting, censoring (no books with dragons allowed at the Seventh Day Adventist school) and getting to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the Dewey Decimal system. My favourite report has been the Bible filled by Author under ‘G’…for God. But the reports are all positive, with our donated mats coming into good use when some kids ACTUALLY CAME INTO THE LIBRARY OF THEIR OWN ACCORD TO SIT AND READ SOME BOOKS – a breakthrough!!

She’s a star that Jen.

So that’s September – Part 1…with Jamie’s birthday on the horizon September Part 2 will surely feature a cake of some sort…standby til then.

Oe Vaka Mania

It’s all about Oe Vaka Right About Now. The ’Funk Soul Brother’ is paddling up a storm in the V6 Masters Mens team and the team has been accepted into the Vaka Eiva Festival in Rarotonga in November.

The V6 six-man masters crews are lining up for the sprints over a 250m course, with races of 250m, 500m, 750m and 1km. Yes, that does involve doing turns at each end of the course, an impressive team skill indeed. Last year there were 800 paddlers from all over the pacific – it is an awesome and prestigious regatta.

As a warm-up event, the Aitutaki clubs organized an open day on the sandspit at Aketua. It was open to team entries in 5 divisions and anyone who wanted to have a go. Pacific Resort had three mens teams, a womens team and a tamariki-rikiriki team (small children). And we paddled all day! Michael and the Nga’s Snr and Jnr took the three kids out for a practice, and then Bailey & Jamie (much to Sienna’s disgust) teamed up with two other staff kids to win the Jnr-Jnr race. They were stoked!!

Carly and I were the only ‘staff’ women, so we recruited Poppy and Teara and a Pacific Resort guest Jill and we paddled all day – Open, Masters an Mixed races, heats and finals. It was awesome fun and quite exhausting. After we won our first race, we were all quite excited, and celebrated by collapsing on the beach mat for a wee snooze. From there forward, the paddling got a bit more ragged and a bit louder and funnier. After the 7^th race I was spent – my legs could hardly hold me up. It got a bit giggly then.

The men were more serious (go figure). The club masters race was the first one up and looked very impressive, with the crews developing so much momentum they were surging up the course. After that the business and family teams come out, and Michael and I paddled in the mixed races together. As a number 1, Michael set the pace of the paddling, and I can vouch for him being a hard task master. I think he forgot the amateurs in the boat sometimes! Paddling at number 1 is a hard job – I did it for one race and that was enough. Number 2 is good – no turbulence, and number 3 is also good, but you have to call the stroke change. That is, on the 9^th stoke you call ‘hup’ and then after the 10^th stroke you switch sides. It takes a bit of practice to remember the count, and extra puff to talk…..

Thank God that Sunday is a Day of Rest. So I did – flat on my back nursing a wheat-bag, which in 30 degree heat is like sitting in a sweat box. On the upside I could walk by the end of the day! Moan moan moan, but it was really awesome fun. There is another two open days scheduled for this month, so bring it on! Michael is training three times a week, and I am off for my first training tonight.

This last weekend we went out on the lagoon for the day. Shamefully, it was Michael’s first trip out (in a boat with a motor) since November. Shame! It was lovely, especially after several days of heavy rain. Blue, blue and more blue.

2 Weeks After Pat

A week away from Aitutaki and now when I think of the island I picture blue waters and whi

te sands, not sadness and destruction. It is difficult not to feel guilty that we have been able to escape the hardships on the island, but it is lovely to be in New Zealand with family and friends .

As the children and I left Rarotonga we saw the NZ Airforce Hercules land. It did half-a-dozen trips between Raro and Aitutaki carrying bob-cats, tents, water units and all sorts of things that were needed during the 5 days it took to arrive. To be fair, I understand that the plane had been waiting on standby in NZ all that time, waiting for a request for assistance from the Cook Islands. After waiting for 3 days without any indication when aid would arrive (while goverment officials did assessments) the tourism operators drafted a letter requesting specific requirements for assistance for the island. When that was hand delivered from Aitutaki to the NZ High Commission in Raro, it was devastating to be told that it was the first actual request for aid.

News from Aitutaki at the end of week 2 is that the kid's school has been condemmed, which is very sad. Classes are being held in the homes of two teachers, though I don't know what resources they might be using as it didn't look like much survived in the classrooms. There are tents appearing in gardens but power supply is still a major issue. Excellent news - the Aitutaki Game Fishing Club has re-opened and a big night is planned for tonight (Wed) which will coincide with Michael's farewell! All of the resorts have reopened, and I took 6 kids out on the lagoon with Bishops Cruises the day before we left and was amazed to see how well everything survived on the lagoon and One Foot Island. On the down side, the island had run out of petrol due to the number of generators being run - the ship should be arriving any time now with new supplies.

It was good to see that NZ has not forgotten us - there was a good item on Aitutaki on TV ONE news tonight. Unfortunately we heard from Mayor Tango that the island is still waiting for a committment from the Cook Islands government on money for rebuilding - and absolute outrage.

One last pic - Sunset the night after Pat left.

January & Cyclone Nisha

I have just looked at the calendar and suddenly there are only 3 weeks left before the kids and I fly out to Auckland. Michael and the boys have just had a week in Rarotonga, while Sienna and I stayed home in the peace and had our nails done. Our first split holiday was a bit odd, but the boys had great time with their Dad and I had a quiet time with my daughter. Also in January was a trip to One Foot Island, which started out fine and sunny and ended up soaked to the skin, swimming in the torrential rain.

Tupuna’s Café sponsored a kids fishing competition at the Game Fishing Club, and we took our home-made poles to the harbour and spent the morning in the sun pulling in tiny fish. We all had a great time, with Bailey catching 5, Jamie 3 and Sienna 2 fish. None larger than 200g! We thought Jamie might get a prize for his 25g rock cod, but there was a last minute weigh-in at 60g! There was a great turnout with 40 kids strip-mining the seas – it would have looked lovely to the passengers of the cruise ship that had stopped by for the day.

The Christmas holidays are over thankfully, though when I dropped the boys at school on Monday I found that the pre-school teacher was still in NZ and there was no reliever… except me! So now I have a class of 18-20 3 and 4 year olds from 8.00-10.30am. It is exhausting, but not too bad! I have only put my hand up for a week though – I am not completely insane.

We have had some very hot days this year. The temperature on the deck was 38 on one day, and the air-conditioner has been getting a good work out. The reciprocal side of that is now it is wet, and warm sea temperatures mean that Tropical Cyclone Nisha is floating about between the Cook Islands and Samoa. The predicted track brings it close to our shores (like, right over our heads maybe Saturday afternoon), and may be a category 3 by then, which means winds 80-100knots. Of course one thing you can say about cyclones is that they are not always predictable, so both the track and intensity could change (for better or worse) or die away completely. NB: Aitutaki is due north of Rarotonga at approx. 159W 19S. In the mean time, the island emergency plan has been activated, (which at this stage means the police are notifying everyone) and it is time to check on candles and torches and things. Our own situation is quite good – we have a very well constructed house, are well elevated above sea level, and are connected to the emergency generator and water supply from the resort. So we shouldn’t need to evacuate to a community hall but can sit back and have a ring-side seat as we watch things fly.

In the meantime, take a look at yet another beautiful Aitutaki sunset from last week.

A Deserted Island Paradise...and some Fishing Action

We have had an exciting two weeks in busy Aitutaki. We spent three nights on the motu (small, uninhabited island), attended the school prize-giving and sponsored a game-fishing competition.

Maina

Our trip to Maina Motu was incredible. Maina is on the south-west corner of the lagoon and is everything you want on a deserted tropical island - white sand, warm waters, native birds, no mossies, lots of hermit crabs, and LOTS of sun. We had the use of a friend's beach hut, but slept outside on the second night and cooked over the fire. Quentin (Snr & Jnr) from Wet & Wild took us out on Sunday morning, and deposited us in the sand, and that is pretty much where we stayed. Our days consisted of lying on the mat under the trees on the beach, reading books and waiting for the sun to move across the sky, whereby we would pop up, move the mat and go for another swim. Heavenly - no cars, no TV, no phones. Just the peace was relaxing with the blues and whites and the stars at night.

In the evening we gathered wood and coconuts, lit the fire, cooked dinner & toasted marshmallows, then lay back to watch Jupiter set, the satellites pass and the stars shoot. Our night on the beach was a little chilly due to a fresh breeze, but we would have all made it through to sunrise if not for a 4am shower of rain! Never mind. It was the most relaxing sleeplessness I have ever experienced! Tuesday afternoon rolled around and we said "Ka kite a kone Maina" and heading home to much appreciated fresh water and soft beds.

Prize Giving

The following day was the school parents day, which we didn't quite understand but we thought we would just roll up to school and find out about it in the morning. The boys were dressed and in the car when the principal rode up and gave us the English language newsletter that said there was no school today and the Parents day/prizegiving/reports/parent-teacher thingee started at 2pm. Crazy place!

So at 2pm we arrived for the Tekaaroa SDA School Prizegiving which had lovely flowers, lovely singing (yes even from our boys) and 2 hours on small chairs... Bailey received a Certificate of Academic Achievement in Maths, Oral English, Reading English and Physical Education, plus the Academic Excellence in Reading and Academic Excellence in Numeracy awards for Grade 3.

Jamie received a Special Award for being a Great Explorer in School, which was signed by ALL the teachers as Jamie doesn’t like to confine himself to one class, but flits in and out of all of them. It was a very funny and quite appropriate solution to the problem of assessing a child who never appears in a classroom long enough to observe!

It was really nice that the school made a special effort to give some speeches in English, and the Chairman of the school board translated the Maori for us. Michael and I were unexpectedly called up to present some of the certificates which was also nice.

Fishing Competition

L: Michael and his 8kg Yellow Fin Tuna on the Mary J. R: Weigh-in time, with the kids and the Aitutaki Game Fishing Club in the background.

To finish off the week Pacific Resort Aitutaki sponsored a tournament at the Aitutaki Game Fishing Club. Michael had to be at the wharf by 4.00am to get out to the good off shore spot by sunrise but the fishing was worth it. His boat pulled in 6 tuna - Michael's weighed in at 8kg, which paled next to the comp winner with a 22.5kg tuna. It was a fun night at the fishing club with all the locals were there, and all five of us, plus a few others, had special tournament shirts. I took the kids home for Viriama to look after and settled in for a very good night.

A Visit from Nana & Poppa

Well, a few recent e-mails, and a whisper in the ear from my husband, have reminded me that I have been quite slack with the news updates. As always there have been lots of things happening, the weeks fly by but there is still nothing to do...I'm not sure how that adds up but...

The big event was a visit from Mum & Dad for a week or so in mid June. The kids were beside themselves with excitement while they were here (and with sadness when they left). It was really nice just to have them around, and we had a pretty good time getting around the place too. We took in the sights, circumnavigating the island and finding some new roads to drive down (packed into my little 2 door!). We spent some time at school, at island shows (Jamie is a dancing fiend), on the lagoon and all too soon it was time for them to leave.

The day that they arrived was the interschool sports day (last Wednesday of each term). This term was Rugby and Netball, which Jamie was excited by, but Bailey not so keen. In fact Bailey was SO NOT KEEN that he got himself worked up into a state and walked backwards into a motorscooter, burning his leg on the muffler. A nice, blistered burn behind the knee, about 5cm long. So Jamie was left with the school and B&S & I went off to get litres and litres of water in bottles to tend to the leg. We arrived back to watch Jamie 'play' with the 5 and 6 year olds. We saw lots of random running around and chasing, a few "sit down's" in the middle of the field, and a few "mum, I can't get the ball" complaints, but he won a lot of points for trying. We left after the games were finished and waited at home (impatiently) for the plane to arrive. It was really wonderful and so exciting - the kids ran around and told EVERYONE at the airport that their Nana and Poppa were coming.

A highlight was certainly a trip on the lagoon with Bishops Cruises. Bailey is interested in weaving, so helped weave the platters for lunch. Jamie was a model for the coconut show and got his own sun visor out of the deal. Sienna just wanted to climb the coconut tree on One Foot Island to see if there were any crabs up there.

The weather was perfect, the beaches champagne and the breeze light. It was lovely to show mum and dad why the Aitutaki lagoon is so beautiful. The kids all come snorkelling with us and fed the fish. As you can see, Jamie is a total (flying) fish and can now swim on his own without water wings.

Mum left a few days after Dad, which was nice. She spent some nice time with the kids as it was school holidays by then. Nurse Nana pronounced Bailey's leg nicely on the mend though not without some surprise (due to the total absence of fruit and vegetables in his diet) .

It was sad to see them go, and I think that Sienna is still confused about it all as she won't let me out of her sight. Her trips to Tav's house during home school days have finished as she screams and screams, so Tav comes to our house now. Baby sitting is tricky, though she is slowly coming around.

Also in June we had a visit from the Greenpeace ship Esperenza, who arrived with Keisha Castle-Hughes to discuss the local impact of climate change. I happened to drive past Bailey's teacher's house as she came out and saw us, and Bailey was invited to go out to the ship (via tender, as the boat is too large to get into the lagoon) with a doz of the school kids to tour the ship and deliver gifts of fruit and things. What an awesome opportunity (and I can't imagine I would ever have sent Bailey off to sea past Kawau Island with a dozen other kids and 1 adult in NZ without inspecting the vessel and life jackets etc...but that is the way things happen here), so with a bit of encouragement (it is a SCIENCE boat, Bailey) off he sent on the back of the ute.

Unfortunately, the ute arrived back an hour later. The sea had been too rough to take the kids out so the kids showed the film crew how to climb coconut trees, had a muck around and then arrived home with a copy of the Whale Rider movie. Greenpeace had some pictures of their stay on their website with some of our students in them, so I printed them off and handed them around at school. It was nice to be able to do that.

We had a fun night on the Friday and Saturday just been. Friday was the inter-village rugby final. Unfortunately Amuri (us) went down to Tautu 12-0, but it was a good game and lots of fun sitting on the coconut tree benches on the sideline. As usual, the kids ran with the 'pack' and the adults alternately cheered and heckled the players - all encouragement seemed to come with an extensive belly laugh - and it was nice to be greeted by different people from around the island. After the game, Michael and I entertained 3 agents from USA at the resort and then went to Stephen and Poppy's to watch the AB's beat the Wallaby's (I confess I slept through a lot of it).

Saturday night was a fundraiser for the Aitutaki Hostel in Auckland, which is a cheap place for locals to stay if they don't have family in the city. It is a fantastic facility to have as all serious medical cases get flown back to Middlemore Hospital. It was held at the college hall (also the evacuation centre) and around 200 people attended. We were ushered up to the top table ("quick, the papa'a, the papa'a!!!"), invited to eat first, and drew the raffle as well. We had a big island feast, icecream and chocolate cake for dessert and the dance show was great. One of the little boys was amazing, getting way down low to the ground whilst knocking his knees - very tricky - and got the biggest clap of the night. The girls were awesome as always, and the men were hysterical, posing about the place - everyone was screaming with laughter.

Po'o Bishop, the deputy mayor, said that he wants the Island Council to pass a resolution preventing us from ever leaving! It was another occasion that told us that we have made an impact in the community and that Michael has a huge amount of respect from people all over the island. I was told this again this morning when one of the school mums mentioned that several of the entertainers and tour operators had said specifically that if Michael asked them for anything, they would provide it without question. So we saw lots of friends and aquaintences, and after sitting with Annie and Teina Bishop, with Sienna asleep in my arms, Papa Teina carried her to the car. It was a very nice night.

We are off to Raro this weekend for a well deserved break - Michael has been working 7 day weeks quite a few times recently and is exhausted. The property is very very busy over the next few months which is excellent. The new Food & Beverage Manager, Shane, has arrived which will take some of the load from Michael. So all in all things are good.

xxJen