September 09 Part 1 (A Birthday, A Goat and A Whale)

September has been a busy old month, with birthdays, visits, Safari’s and lagoon cruises, 100% occupancy, athletics, school holidays (for a month!), the Pacific Mini Games, a day trip to Rarotonga and a goat…..but more on that later.

In today’s installment... Jamieson’s 5^th birthday! Hurray! Theoretically it is today actually, but as Nana & Poppa have just visited we bumped it up and had it last weekend. He didn’t notice at all, as the concept of calendars and time don’t feature much for Jamie, or the Island for that matter! I have NO IDEA where those 5 years have gone (other that the back hole in Warkworth) but when exactly did our middle child become a school boy? (Of course we use the term ‘school boy’ lightly in these parts, though we will pick up a uniform before school restarts and he might even deign to attend class because of it.) Where did those chubby cheeks, cheeky grins and ringlets go to? Where did this handsome, athletic, stroppy boy come from?

So, let’s get the important stuff out of the way – THE CAKE! The cake (chocolate of course) was going to be a Sponge Bob cake, but much to my relief (you try making fondant figures stand up in this heat!) there was an 11^th hour switch to Sir Dan Fortesque, hero of the Playstation game Medievil. Dan is a dashing character, literally a walking sketeton (as he has been raised from the dead after all) so a cartoon skull, with one eye ball and a bad dental job was well within reach without weeks of preparation (as per the legendary Thunderbirds cake). The kids were chuffed (husband too) which was lovely.

Jamie’s biggest surprise was his new pet goat, yes, GOAT. A wee Billy the Kid - very cute in light brown and white, and only a month old. Unfortunately we found out quickly that the kids needed lessons on how to hold a lead. Jamie held on while the goat had a sniff around, walked with the goat as he took a stroll, then dropped it as soon as the goat went for a run! So down the road it went, with a ute, 2 bikes and the airport bus avoiding it, and several of our vehicles in pursuit. Thankfully (very thankfully) the ute driver stopped and cornered the little beastie and presented it with a wry smile to us in the chase car! I’m sure the tale of the crazy Papa’a family who lost their goat while taking it for a walk was around the island in a day!

So a week later, Goatee, as he has been named, has settled right in. He follows at our heels when we walk past, comes for a walk to the beach without pulling on the rope, happy to sit in the car, or on Michael’s knee on the couch when he has a bottle! He listens to the kid’s voices and bleats for attention, and like to eat weeds and flowers more than grass. Of course if he touches my veggies there will be big trouble. He likes to have some time up on the deck in the afternoon so he can be part of the action too. He sleeps in the laundry outside at night and is generally a cuddly, happy chappie.

Of course Jamie couldn’t control himself with so many parcels all for him and has quite over excited by it all. The fact that Nana and Poppa were here made things even better. We went to the beach for a few hours in the surf and were lucky enough to see some whale action with spouts and tails and splashes just beyond the reef. Then it was out for dinner at the Boat Shed to complete a really lovely day.

A list of funny things...Including Miss Universe....Really!

Funnier than the boys on their motor bikes towing their golf trundlers behind them...

Funnier than the same boys riding their motorbikes in the rain with their golf umbrellas up...

We watched the Miss Universe pagent recently and took in the national costumes. I don't know why they don't have an award for this, but Miss Germany takes the cake with a 2m tall replica of the Brandenburg Gate on her back. Yup...

The Kiwi girl dressed up as a Tui... Check out the other national costumes.

Thar She Blows

That's right, the whales are here. I mean, not right here (unless you believe my Wii Fit age yesterday) but you know - out there. The annual migration patterns (no I don't really know what I am talking about) brings the humpback whales to the Cook Islands for spring, and Aitutaki has a front row seat. Actually, the Rapae Bay restaurant at Pacific Resort Aitutaki has the best seats in the house - watch the whales breach just outside the reef while you have breakfast. It doesn't get much better than that. Of course, Poppy and Stephen have a seat in the Gods at the took of the Piraki lookout and can see the whole eastern side of the island. Poppy tells me that she has been watching whole pods of adults and babies through her telescope, splashing away and having a jolly good time. At some stage, according to Greenpeace, 'our' whales will start to groove west towards Nuie and Samoa. In the meantime, my tally is '1', Michael's is 'several', and to risk stating the obvious - they are BIG!
Of course now that spring time is here, cyclone season is around the corner (November). I bought a couple 'emergency' boxes this week to fill with torches, batteries etc. The kids have a vague sense of the purpose of the Emergency Box, as when the power went out 10 min ago (at 10am) she suggested lighting a candle. That's my girl. Forecasts for the 'season' are mixed. Locals say that it is unseasonably cold and therefore the odds of the water warming enough to create a major system are slight. On the other hand the Weather Experts say that El Nino will mean higher sea temperatures and better conditions for whirly-gigs to develop, particularly in our neck of the woods (160W, 20S). I don't know - the locals have been living here a long time....... Not too worry, we have a plan of sorts - Michael will deal with his tourists and Super Mummy will deal with the rest :-)

Cyclone Trivia For Today: Big blows in our part of the world are monitored, and named, by the Fiji Met Service (those anti-monarchists). In case you wanted to call the Blow in person you might want to try the following names (in order): Mick, Nisha, Oli, Pat, Rene, Sarah, Tomas, Usha, Vania, Wilma, Yasi, Zaka. Check out Wiki for names from the rest of the world.

So aside from the widelife encounters and disaster planning, it has been a pretty active month. Pacific Resort Aitutaki entered a team into a 'business house' sports night where 8 teams played netball and volleyball. Michael made a showing on the netball court but more than held his own in the volley ball. Unfortunately we weren't there to see the volleyball, as the round robin for that started at 8pm! It was a lot of fun - everyone had their kids there. Hot chips and slushy's for dinner, some exceptional skills from the men on the island, and roaring laughter for the boys who obviously play more basketball than netball. PRA got second in the netball and won the volleyball. These trophies are piling up I tell you!

The Wii is getting a good workout. I try to do Yoga, step aerobics and boxing every day, and Michael is using it as a suppliment to his running and riding. On a home school day, the kids do boxing and running after breakfast to level out their energy levels for school!

We have been surfing too - sort of. The beach near the house is lagoon calm and can be quite tepid in the warmer months. For a change of scenery we took a drive to the golf club and had a look at the eastern beach. It is much closer to the reef and exposed to the prevailing wind and seas. It is rocky rather than sandy. The waves come over the reef and roll towards the beach towards crashing on the coral shelves at the tide line. Quite stimulating really! Anyhoo at low tide there are a couple of large 'pot holes' in the shelf big enough for the kids to sit in up to their necks. At high tide, there is a break in the rocks so that the boys can stand waist deep and jump the waves without getting washed away. Jolly good fun. I personally like the surf crashing and spraying everything with water.

We have watched a few family groups fishing in the area and they seem to get a good catch. We watched one group cleaning their catch up the beach from us. Many wore big white freezing-works gumboots to go out wading to the reef edge. I happened to see one of the fishermen later in the week and he made a point of coming over and explaining that the group had had a discussion about whether they should have given us some of the catch, but everyone was too shy to make the offer! I decried saying that they deserved the catch after their hard work but that the gesture was truely lovely. Nice people here.

On the school front, Bailey and I put on a puppet show which followed the Arts section of his N curriculum. It was a lot of fun and the audience of 3 were impressed! Jamie's school books have arrived and we are slowly getting into that. The resources are amazing, though keeping everything straight between the two boys is a full time job. Maybe I'll do my teaching certification while I am here...

Cook Islands Tourism Awards - Winners!!!

More awards news!!!

We have just returned from Rarotonga where we attended the inaugural Cook Islands Tourism Awards, held Friday night at the Hospitality Institute. The event was a big undertaking for the local tourism community - a 5 course dinner held outside in rather windy conditions. There was an awesome dance performance to start things off, and the usual speaches from politicians and sponsors Air NZ.

But enough details, down to the important stuff. Pacific Resorts took home a total of three awards - one for Raro and two for Aitutaki. Michael was delighted to accept the award for the Best Hotel over 25 Rooms, and even more delighted to accept, with Greg Stanaway and Thomas Koteka of Pacific Resorts, the Overall Accommodation Award for Best Accommodation in the Cook Islands.

It was a great night, and there were large hangovers the next morning. Each winner did an interview to camera for the local TV station after leaving the stage, which apparantly aired on Monday. We didn't see it, but plenty of people around Raro saw it and told us about it! I am trying to get a copy but as things do, it is going SLOW.

Pacific Resort Awards

News today that Pacific Resort Aitutaki have taken a title at the CNBC Asia Pacific Property Awards, winning Best Small Hotel in the Asia Pacific Region. The CNBC Global Property awards will be held in San Diego in November, so fingers crossed (not for personal attendance of course, but a shiny trophy might be nice:-).

Secondly, nominations for the 2009 HM Awards (Hotel & Accommodation Management Magazine) have been released. Pacific Resorts are finalists in the following categories:

• South Pacific Property of the Year - Pacific Resort Aitutaki
• Environmental Program of the Year - Pacific Resort Rarotonga
  
• South Pacific Manager of the Year - Greg Stanaway

Also nominated is Mizz Debbie Simister (Mrs Marcus Tait, for those who know her by her other alias), looking to retain her title as HR Person of the Year - on yah Debs!!! We are counting on you to have a glass or two of bubbly for us on the night (when we win)!

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

The Merry Month of May

So…here is a rundown of our May:

• Bailey’s birthday rolled around on the 10th. He was very excited to have parcels arriving for him and of course the birthday cake at school again. This time we had a moko (ghecko) cake, with the moko perched on top of the cake with vines around the base. He had a lovely day and appreciated being the centre of attention - and all his presents!!! Thanks very much! (from Bailey)
  

• Mothers day was also on the 10th though through some screw up Michael had to go to work for a while in the morning. I hope all the mums had a good day.

• Correspondence school is finally coming together. Bailey now has two days each week at home with me at 'Mummy School', while our 'nanny/nana' Tav looks after Jamie and Sienna at her house. J&S love it, because Tav feeds them icecream, takes them to the beach and for rides on her motor scooter! As I dropped them off today, Jamie disappeared out the back of their place chasing a piglet so Tav had to ask her son to chase after him! In addition to this, Jamie spends one afternoon a week at Collette's house with her daughter Marie (Marie is one day older than Jamie), where he does 'Collette School'. As Collette is a teacher, she has them well organised with writing and spelling books. It can't be long before Jamie is reading on his own.
  

• We are in a much better routine because of this, with the kids playing with Marie and David (9) at their house on Monday, and David and Marie coming to our house on Friday. Tennis for Bailey is Tuesday -Thursday, plus a swim afterwards if it is hot.

• One Friday we stayed in the resort so we could take the kids to the Island show. It was quite late for them, but as we visited everyone getting ready Sienna announced that she wanted to dance. So the mama’s dressed her up and she performed in the show! Little Irene held her hand and told her where to go and when to dance and Sienna copied along. It was gorgeous – we were so proud! The second time she went on she had her thumb in the whole time as it was 9pm!

• May has been a crazy month for travel agent famils - at least 3 per week, with as many hosted meals. I have been doing 2 each week with Michael (otherwise I'd never see him)! Sometimes Poppy and Stephen join us as Stephen is the Sales and Marketing manager for Island Hopper Vacations. This helps to spread the load, and Poppy and I can whine to each other the following day about how dreary some of them are and about how much our husbands work!
  

• So one night when we had a group of agents in for dinner I left Tav at home with the kids and scarpered down to the resort for a quiet Pina Collada on the beach before I put on my work face. As I sat in my favourite spot - the sunset seat - I watched a lightening storm start over the southern part of the lagoon. It was amazing with flashes every 5-10 seconds. This continued for half an hour without any thunder and the skys got darker and darker. A lot of the guests were taking photos trying to catch a lighting bolt on film - a difficult prospect! Before I went into dinner I rang Tav to warn that the storm was creeping closer. An hour into dinner the heavens openned in some of the heaviest rain we have seen. The lower decks of the restaurant had to be evacuated up to the main floor so everyone was crammed together - mostly in good spirits. We were due to have the Fire Show on the beach that night, but Ipo and the boys did very well and performed 3 shows in the Port Chochere. That was after they had helped to sweep the flood waters out of the lobby! The inevitable 'average' thunder came along and I rang Tav - the kids were fine all in bed together. It was a funny funny night - you got to laugh really.

• The following morning I heard that Poppy's whole vege garden had been washed down the hill! I picked up the phone to call her only to find that the phone was dead. Cell phone too. I turned the computer on and there was no internet...then turned to the modem which showed no lights at all - a lightening strike took out the cell phone mast, our house phone line and our modem too. Thankfully the computer is on a wireless connection! It took Telecom Cook Islands 11 DAYS to get things working again and we flew our new modem up from NZ. TCI ARE USELESS HOPELESS PATHETIC and wouldn't know anything about customer service if a STONE FISH DELIVERED THE MESSAGE!!! Every day I went in there - "How are the repairs going" to be told "there are a lot". Breathe................ The computer came up with a boot error the day after that but I managed to repair windows just before I reformatted the lot of it!

• This place is hard on electronics actually. Our good toaster doesn't stay down anymore, we have replaced the DVD player and only the top half of the toasted sandwich maker heats up now. Both the old and new camera's are kaput....I don't quite know how we have managed all that....

• NB: Michael has a new strategy for getting out of dancing during the Island Night shows - he drums!!!

• My birthday (and Mrs Perry's) came along on the 29th. Thanks for the parcels everyone. The reading material in particular was much appreciated. Michael arranged for the maintenance guys at the resort to cut down the legs on a plastic chair so I can use it at the beach and it works very well. I was well spoiled on the day with Michael taking the day off and Poppy going to a huge amount of trouble to arrange for a trip on the lagoon to Maina and Honeymoon Islands in their boat Tiny Bubbles. This included hiring a skipper (as Stephen was in Rarotonga for Golden Oldies rugby), driving the boat down off the mountain on her own and putting a ribbon around the capstan! The 6 of us and the skipper went off for the day, had a lovely picnic with champagne and other yummies and spent the whole day lording it up on beautiful, mosquito free Maina. We tolerated the occasional visitor, but they were left in no doubt that we ruled the island!!! The kids spent at least 4 hours in the water, with both boys snorkeling without water wings now. It was a really special day.

• We have an exciting week next week with Mum and Dad coming for a visit. We are looking forward to seeing them so much. The kids are busting, and we are looking forward to a few games of 500!

• We have had an issue with a parcel that has gone missing in the post. We suspect that the main problem was that the parcel was sent in a Crocs box rather than a plain package, which made it a tempting target. It contained shoes for Michael and medicine for me, which ended up causing a major problem when I ran out and went through 3 weeks of withdrawal and pain until I obtained a new supply from Rarotonga. It was quite unpleasant for the whole house - enough said! We have another, more secure way of getting my medicine up here for next time, so lets hope that goes much smoother.

• And from the bizzare island stuff file....PR sent out their new wedding package with a special section for "Renewal of Vowels".......it didn't go past our desk, I can assure you of that!

xxJen

PS - We broke open the winter suitcase this morning - the kids had long pants and hoodies on as it was only 20 degrees! We must be getting soft!