Swimming, Snorkeling, Sailing

We have had a regular sort of busy week or so...
Saturday
Bailey and I went to sailing for the first time in a month and Bailey did really well. Jim (the coach/rescue boat driver/gear rigger and repairer/general Jim Friday) didn't give him a chance to hesitate and they went out from the beach to the sand bar - futher than he had been before. Bailey left the beach at the same time as one of the larger cruise boats which didn't cause him concern but made his mother have kittens. He was then sailing to and from the sand bank a dozen times and doing quite well. Jim came back in to pick up a couple of parents in the rescue boat at which point Bailey forgot to tack away to return to the sand bank and kept on going. He then decided that he had better turn around now and jibed - with the result being that the boom donked him on the head and swept him overboard! Of course he had a life jacket on, and the boat didn't go far. We motored over and pulled him out - no damage done but he got a bit of a fright. We went back to the beach and that was that for the day.
Sunday
Dinner at the resort with Stephen and Poppy and two......unusual......travel agents out of the States. Enough said.
Monday
First day on the school 'bus'. The driver wanted to have them in the truck cab but the boys were quite determined to sit in the back. Hurray - one less trip to make with my dwindling fuel.
Tuesday
We received Bailey's correspondence school papers - all two cartons of it! WOW masses of resources for art and maths, two terms worth of booklets and CD's - about 4 hours of work per day! So we started Mummy school on Tuesday. Maths was great and a piece of cake. English was....complex - an activity booklet, spelling, handwriting, creative writing, independent reading, guided reading, shared reading........and I'm sure I have left something out. Technology - Bailey's first choice - very cool 'design your own paper bag'! PE - running and skipping (we haven't got to that yet)! Jamieson was UNIMPRESSED that his brother should get so much one-on-one attention and had the mother of all tantrums. I'm suprised he didn't put a hole in his bedroom door, where he endured a prolonged period of TIME OUT! I will need to find activities for them to do at Mummy School...
Wednesday
Bunked off school and went on the lagoon. We attached ourselves again to a Bishops Cruise and had a lovely time again. Bailey loves snorkeling. Lots of sun and snoozes on the way back to the island. I mean, it's not like the kids will be missing out on anything....
Thursday
...except the notice that said the whole school was going snorkeling on Thursday! So typical - 2 days notice, 2 teachers in the (admittedly very shallow) water, 2 mums on their motor bikes coming to see the Papa'as wife to get togs for her 2 boys who are sitting on the beach while everyone else (50 kids) are in the water. So Sienna and I went along to the beach, 25m along from the resort, and stayed until 12 when we all went home.
Friday
Bliss - Pareau day and a full day (to 1pm) at school for Jamie.
Saturday
Sailing again, and I took all 3 kids. There was a nice king tide and a stiff breeze. Bailey, Jamie and Sienna helped the mums (no dads there) rig the boats and off they went. But Bailey did a leg off the beach and then back and was motoring along at a fair clip when he burst into tears and decided he wasn't having any of it. So he sailed back to mum on the beach and a cuddle. "It was going toooooooooooo faaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssstttt" That's ok, we'll try next week. Most of the older kids weren't there due to a series of vaka (waka/canoe) races. So it turned out that the senior crews were paddling from town to Ootu beach, where we were - some 18km. So we hung about for the crews to arrive which was very cool. There were lots of supporters there, lots of biscuits that Jamie could ask for. My island boy has NO shortage of confidence at all! So the kids swam all morning, a beach full of parents watched, and it was nice.
Sunday
The rain is back for a few days. We were amazed that Sienna slept through the (more gentle) thunderstorm (although I confess to feeling quite nurvous myself and each flash). She is sleeping in the same bed and one or both of the boys and is actually sleeping through the night, which is very nice. Michael went to work of a while, preparing for our time off, and we looked in on the staff village where our house will be built. It is nice and close to the beach and there are two 2-year-olds there for Sienna to play with, so that will be nice, though the house will be much smaller. So it was an easy day - hot chips for lunch, a bit of mummy school (still a novelty) and an early night.
Monday - today
Michael has flown to Raro, we are following this afternoon, and we will be there until Saturday on our first round of remote leave. It will be good to get off 'the rock' for a while. The kids are excited to be going on the plane, and have a 'family holiday with 5 of us'.

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