Back again

Hi everyone

Long time, no talk, but as we've just had a fantastic Hawaiian vacation, this seemed the best way to tell you all about it.

We flew up the night of Dec 23/4, arriving at 5am. Luckily both this flight and the one back again were half empty, so we had plenty of room to spread out. Our plan was to spend Christmas Eve shopping so after a short nap we went to the Ala Moana Centre, which is huge. Four floors of food court, shops, dept stores (Macys, Nordstorm, Sears, Neimann Marcus - all those names you've heard about) and everything else from Gap to Prada. We all went slightly crazy and staggered home 6 hours later.

We were staying at the Ilikai Towers, right at the north end of Waikiki Beach. The condo was great - 2 bed, 2 bath and a full kitchen. No portacot unfortunately, so Seth had to sleep on some cushions on the floor. That was fine except he spent the first week rolling over; just one way of course, he still hasn't learnt how to roll back again. So there were a few squalls at 4am and we turned on the light to see him face planted on the carpet. Poor poppet. He's barely rolled since.

The weather wasn't fantastic, so we didn't spend a lot of time at the beach. Christmas Day it was packed but the water was a lot colder than we were used to (we're spoilt!) and the bottom was rocky. I guess I'm very spoilt with Mt Maunganui as my home beach - aren't all beaches like that?

If we were at the beach, it was usually throwing a ball around. Taine had a great hour or so playing gridiron with another couple of boys. He insisted he knew what he was doing, and didn't seem at all fazed by the older brother introducing new rules everytime he dropped the ball - boys the world over, huh!

Matt was very keen to go to Pearl Harbor, but strollers were forbidden and neither of us felt up to carrying Seth in the sling for hours and hours, and we weren't sure if Taine's concentration would last all day either. So our touristy activities were limited to the Aquarium (excellent jellyfish), the zoo (komodo dragons) and the International marketplace. Taine tried to get himself a whole new surfie big boy wardrobe, and thinks he's quite the man now. He's working on his Blue Steel pose (Zoolander) and does bunny ears in 9 out of 10 photos.

After a week of gorging on food, beer (most places serve 22oz glasses - I think that's 3 cans a pop) and shops, we took a 40 min flight to Hawaii - the Big Island. We were staying in another condo 6 miles inland, very nice golf resort. Matt and I were very dismissive of the quality of golf we saw while drinking beer on our balcony, but then we're used to watching experts! The other guests got their revenge watching us throw an American football around. One actually came out of her room to show us how to do it properly.

The Big Island was gorgeous. I hadn't realised how volcanic it was; miles of black rock with tiny pockets of golf courses and resorts. We hired a car so we saw several beaches (one where I got dumped like I have never been dumped before, and unluckily Taine got so freaked he wouldn't go back in the water that afternoon), and our big trip was to see Kilauea, the active volcano at the southern end of the island. That was a long day, 11 hours all up, but we saw waterfalls, the crater, the lava tubes, and we followed the road to meet the ocean at the bottom. All very, very impressive. Unfortunately the camera ran out of batteries after three shots, it rained all day, and we couldn't actually see the lava meeting the water, but it was still a great day. Taine had been talking for months about the relative merits of lava and water as superhero weapons, so we're still not totally resolved on which would win - another trip one day!

Matt and Taine also went in a submarine to look at fish and shipwrecks while Seth and I shopped, we found lots of playgrounds, and ate and drank well again. I didn't get to a coffee plantation (don't like Kona coffee anyway, and don't get me started on the espresso), and never got round to surfing lessons, but we all came home very relaxed.

Seth was an angel baby (he's teething now), and of course he smiled and was cute at every single one of the million people who stopped to admire him. I'm glad we didn't buy him the T-shirt that said "I only cry when ugly people hold me" - it wouldn't have been used! He wasn't too happy at spending extended time in the car seat or stroller, but now we're back on the little island he won't have to worry about that for a while.

So back in to the routine again. Taine starts school on Monday with a new teacher, Matt's at work for a week then he's off to Fiji for a conference, and Seth and I will just chill with the ladies.

The calm before the storm

Cyclone Rene, which they say is going to be Hurricane Rene by the time it hits us, is on its way! I've stocked up on tinned food and water, but I've still got to check the portable radio works, fill up buckets with water and bring in all the bikes, chairs, snorkel gear etc from outside. Tomorrow I'll see about duck taping the windows (apparently!) and charging the mobile phones. It is very difficult to predict how many tins we'll go through in a week (last Hurricane, power was off for 9 days) considering we'll have a lot of defrosted meat to cook quickly, including a ham and two pork tenderloins plus lots of random sausages and mince meals. I don't think I'm overreacting, but my husband and the people in the queue behind me at KS Mart think I am!
My big question at the moment is do I bother to prepare for a double lesson tomorrow afternoon, or will school be cancelled by then? And another burning question concerns the Chief Meterologist on the local radio. How can the forecast for the next three days tell you the high and low temperatures, the chance for isolated thunderstorms, and not mention the 60mph winds gusting through?
Taine celebrated the 100th day of school today. Everyone in the class had to take 100 somethings: macaroni, stickers ... Taine came home with odd bags of popcorn and crackers, a lot of candy and something else that's got mushed. Tomorrow is going to be the Elegant Valentines Party, where the boys are going to escort the girls and they're all going to learn how to use knives, forks and napkins. We'll see how long the best clothes last.
Will keep you updated eventually. Watch for us on the news.

New Year, New Adventure

Hi all

Well, we were away for three weeks and now it seems like we hardly had a holiday. It's been straight back into things here although Taine piked on the first day of school. Matt's got FDIC here doing their audit and the phone went three times last night with various systems crashing, so he'll be looking forward to the weekend.

Our adventure last weekend was going to Palagi Beach with the Indrebo-Jonnasson family. It was a 20 minute walk round the cliff, wading through knee deep water to get to this fantastic beach. There was a channel for snorkelling, a cliff for jumping and coconut palms for shade. We've been in awe at how the Norwegians have only been here for six months but have done everything/gone everywhere that the rest of us talk about doing but never quite get round to it, and they made us rock climb like mountain goats, swing across churning chasms, and so on. I kept thinking about whether we could do it with the Fallens when they come (now you're committed!) but then I realised I'd be six months pregnant by that stage and probably in no mood for clambering or reef walking.

And to round off a lovely day, we were met back at the village by not one, but two locals to tell us off for venturing into a marine reserve. We asked where the signs were and were told they'd been washed away in the tsunami - fair enough. So no repeat visits after all.

After casually dropping in the pregnancy news (due July 11), now I can vent about my experiences with the medical system here. It started in November with a suspected miscarriage. I went to the Emergency department at the hospital where a friend had rung a friend who'd rung a friend who was the doctor on duty to look out for me, so all started well. After 4 hours in a cubicle, I got admitted overnight into the Maternity ward - miscarriage, sharing a room with someone about to pop ... not the ideal combination. Now, I found out last week this 24 hour adventure cost $850 US, so keep that in mind when I didn't even get a blanket, had to ask for a towel, the food was cold (listeria, people) and Matt had to bring me in toasted sandwiches, there was no medication and the only testing was a standard ultrasound. The nurses, doctors, everyone was lovely, and I've waited long enough in NZ hospitals to realise waiting is normal, but it was a very depressing experience and I left vowing I was not going to give birth there. Luckily the Head OB-GYN agreed and recommended I go back to NZ for the birth (Dad - at this stage we're arriving June 3). He said the only options for a birth plan were no drugs at all, or a c-section under general anaesthetic and not seeing baby for 24 hours, neither of which sounded ideal.

Since then I've waited. The pre-natal programme seems very comprehensive, although I only get that from talking to other mums as there doesn't seem to be any overview of what happens. First of all I got told off when I tried to make an appointment for not coming in yesterday (how was I supposed to know they only took new patients on Mondays?), then I dutifully arrived for a 9.30 appointment to discover first of all I had to go pay at another window, then I had to give in my reciept at another window, then give my appointment card to another person so I'd sat for an hour before I was on the list. And while you get an appointment for 9.30, so does everyone else. Samoans are very good at waiting but I'm not. Of course when I got in, the Nurse Practitioner was very friendly and practical.

I've also had a scan at the hospital since then and it's the same process. Twenty women/girls in various stages of pregnancy sitting in rows, names being called over loudspeakers (Mrs Hunt, you can come in for your internal examination now) and three different administrative stages before you get to see a doctor. And you have to move chairs every time. Make sure it's the right chair too, or you'll get told off. Good doctor once you get there, but a door that actually closes when your belly's getting jellied would be nice too.

When I think of my nice midwife's house in Parnell last time, with the marble tiles in the bathroom and the velvet chaise longue in her office, I realise how spoilt I was, and really, I've just got to get over it. But a little bit of privacy and discretion would be nice. Especially when there are ANZ employees everywhere who all say Hi Sharyn!

At least I'm getting used to the strange looks when I tell people I'm 37 and it's only my second child, not my 6th. And that there'll be 7 years between the two, not 10 months. Anyway, I will keep you updated.

So our plans for an extended road trip to the States over the summer break have been put on hold. Matt's trying to figure out how he can get to Guam, Fiji, Arizona, Seattle and Tauranga in the next six months. I've suggested he time the Guam/Fiji trip (there's a direct flight between them for some strange, strange reason) with Spring Break so we can meet him in either Fiji or Hawaii but we'll wait and see.

There seems to be lots of odd little holidays in the next month or so: MLK Day, President's Day, Easter (only one day off) and of course Waitangi Day where we'll try to find a legal beach for a BBQ. The kilo of chocolate spratz we brought back won't last until then (don't leave an unopened bag of chocolate sitting in the middle of the fridge - this ain't all baby belly) and the double layer Continental Chocolates I bought at Auckland airport for $49 (they were a necessity) went pretty quickly too. Jane was making damper with her second grade class today for their Australia unit, and she wants to borrow our cricket set, so they can be NZ traditions as well at the beach.

Right, off to learn how to create a website for National History Day projects. Oh the things people do!

Christmas spirit

Hi all

I have some beautiful photos to share which pretty much up sum up the hecticity (I made that word up) of the last couple of weeks.

Last night was the ANZ Christmas do at Moana o Sina, a beautiful hotel/function place on the rocks. The spray last night was particularly impressive, crashing against the rocks and sending showers way into the air. It wasn't so much fun when I had to keep cleaning my glasses. We'd decided that we'd go the matching traditional outfits route, after being so impressed by how glamourous the staff looked at other events. I know, it's particularly corny, but we had to do it once. Well, we looked gorgeous, but the other staff all showed up in party frocks, so maybe we need to figure out the dress code first. I love the way you just go into one of the local sewing shops, say I want it to look like this and this, and go back a week later (or more likely the week you asked for + several days of "come back tomorrow") and there it is. The party was lovely, although there was some confusion over what time it started so the dancing girls were ready by 6.30 when we were the only ones there. I came home early to pick up Taine from the neighbours and Matt came home sometime in the early morning, after his first ride on the back of a truck (ute). Again, one of those local customs you've just got to do.

Matt had just got back from his week on Guam to check out the bank there for his new role of Chief Operating Officer for there as well as here. He really enjoyed it, said the island was lovely and very civilized (designer shops and 9 golf courses), although his photos were mostly of gun emplacements and cows with big horns.

While he was away, we had our school Xmas do (Jane and I have to keep explaining that word to Americans) at the principal's house. It was a pot luck, and Americans do pot luck a bit differently to us. There was lots of salsa and corn chips, and yummy buffalo chicken dip, but no sausage rolls and mini quiches. Lots of good seafood though. For presents, we did a Yankee raffle, where the first person drawn picks a present, unwraps it, then the next person can either take their present or a new one, and so on. Was lots of fun, although my lovely vase got taken right at the end :(

Taine had his Xmas concert where his class sang two songs, all in their matching Xmas lavalavas and Santa hats (note to self for next year - matching Xmas outfits!). He's the golden blond on the left.

The next day was the swimming carnival. Taine swam three races: 20m freestyle, back stroke and breast stroke and got three third place ribbons, so he was pretty pleased. I tried to take a video of one of his races for Matt to see, but there's a definite art to sports photography, and I don't have it. I'm sure a few more years of watching children play sport and I'll develop it (ha ha). I've also got to remember not to giggle half way through.

Now school is finished for three weeks, we're counting down on two advent calendars (and forgetting both of them for days at a time), the presents under the tree are growing, although they seem to be all for one little person, and one night soon we'll go and check out the Xmas lights. That's a big thing here, and some of the displays are supposed to be awesome.

If I don't talk to you before Christmas, hope you all have a merry one, and we'll catch up in the New Year. We're back in NZ from Dec 31 - Jan 11, in Tauranga and Wellington. I still have my mobile number: 027 337 1394.

The Hunts

Deck the Halls with Fronds and Coconuts

Dad has been mocking our choice of Christmas tree, so I thought I should post photos for everyone else to admire. We think it's a visual symphony.

The Young American

We seem to have had some uniquely American experiences over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd better prepare you for the Kiwi/American blend that is Taine.

Halloween was the first event, and what an event it was. Taine, Matt and I all had dress ups at work and school. There were heaps of kids costumes in the shops, but very few adult costumes, so there was going to be a fair bit of DIY involved. I'd bought Taine an Optimus Prime outfit which he was very excited about, but his teacher (quite rightly) emphasised that the kids needed to be able to go to the bathroom in their costume. So his one-piece bodysuit would need to be altered. No worries, take it down to the nearest sewing shop. And they butchered it. His costume came back with a 4 inch waist and a non-stretchy extension to go round his tummy. The sewer was going to charge me $10 if I slipped her the cash, but because I didn't have change, I had to pay $20 at the front desk - more than the costume was worth! Matt did some running repairs that night and all was fine in the morning, thank goodness!

They had lots of fun at school, with photos, games, and lots and lots of candy - Tootsie Rolls and Reese's Peanut Butter cups!

Taine and Noah wanted to go trick or treating too, but unfortunately everyone in the compound was out that evening. They still had fun knocking on the doors. All the neighbours had given the security guards some candy, so they handled the busloads of children who came to the "rich" neighbourhood from around the island.

My and Matt's costumes were more problematic. Matt had brought over a Speight's coverall (I got hassled for bringing towels and photos, and he brought that!) which we altered to make Mario Bros, and I borrowed a sewing machine, cut a piece of leopard print fabric in half, sewed up the sides and cut a hole for the neck - one Cavegirl, roaring to go!

The day after Halloween, the Christmas decorations came out, but Thanksgiving is the next big event. Taine came home yesterday singing about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower. I asked him who the Pilgrims were, and he said they discovered Thanksgiving, which I guess is close enough. I'm sure he'll win a pub quiz one night for knowing "they anchored there in 1620". I just asked him the line from the song, and he informed me that they left in September and got to America sometime in November. Good to know! It is funny that the Pilgrim song is sung to the same tune as the Halloween song, so I'm guessing there'll be a Christmas "Skip to my Loo" version too.

Last night we went over to the Tradewinds to listen to the Hawaii Air Force band, who are here performing for Veterans' Day (11/11 - today). 3 guitars and a ukelele doing modern covers, and they were pretty good for the crowd of 20. Our Kiwi table didn't get into the cheering everytime "our forces" and "our country" were mentioned - I think there was a bit more eye-rolling instead. Veterans' Day is normally a big celebration, but it's all very quiet this year, post-tsunami and all.

Seeing we're not going to be here for Thanksgiving, Matt cooked a turkey last weekend. I went over to the neighbours' and drank wine while he basted, roasted and served. Was delicious, and only took 3 1/2 hours on the BBQ. As any of you who have ever cooked a turkey before are probably thinking, yes we did have turkey pizza on Monday and turkey sandwiches on Tuesday, before we decided enough was enough. I even had good intentions of making turkey stock, but that disappeared fairly quickly. There was no cranberry sauce on island, so I had a go at making it from dried cranberries, which was a bit hit and miss. Must add it to the shopping list for Auckland in two weeks!

After vowing that I would get on no committees while I was here, I'm now on the swimming committee and the school soccer committee. The swimming's fine, but the soccer's been hard work. The local association was going to help out, but all their gear got lost in the tsunami, so I've had to buy balls, find grounds ... There's over 40 kids that want to play - not bad for a roll of 100. Matt's going to help with the coaching, and there's some other dads who will coach too. I'll let you know how it goes.

So we're away in two weeks, back for a week before Matt goes to Guam for ten days, he's back for a week and then we all go to Samoa and back to NZ! Oh, and the Christmas concert, the swimming carnival, my birthday (that's very important!) and some work events are all in there somewhere! Luckily the online shopping is going well to cover all the outfits and presents! Our neighbours have their Christmas tree up already, but I thnk we'll wait until we come back. Cost U Less has a great selection, and the Lions are starting to sell real trees this weekend (shipped in a refrigerated container from the mainland). I've got my eye on the tree shaped like a palm tree - well, where else would you have one?

The Week After

I've been putting off writing this, because I don't feel I'm a real witness to all that's been happening here. We go to school and work, I go shopping at Cost U Less, drink coffee and watch TV. Tafuna is pretty much unscathed and I'm still not quite over my disaster-tourism phobia, so I haven't ventured too far away.
Back to the beginning. Last Tuesday, 7am. I'm bouncing along to Cardio Overdrive, Taine's watching TV, Matt's gone to work. The blinds start shaking, and I'm thinking I'm not that much of an elephant, when the rumbling started. I got Taine and we stood/clutched under the kitchen doorway for what seemed like forever. I was watching the clock waiting for the quake to end, and it didn't for at least a minute. It was the worst quake by far I've ever been in - really shallow rolling.
Matt rang almost straight away to say he was on the road round the harbour when it happened. Some rocks had fallen down the cliff but hadn't landed on any cars. He said there was no tsunami warning at the moment but to listen to the radio. So I stood there, gulped down some breakfast and mentally scrolled through the survival kit. Matt rang again 10 minutes later to say there was a tsunami warning (police had driven through Fagatogo with loudspeakers) and to get out. So I grabbed Taine and the survival kit and water and ran. Although we had to go via neighbour Heidi's place as I knew she didn't have a car and her husband was at work at the canneries. I rang Heidi's bell, told her we were going, she asked if she had time to get dressed, she took one look at my face and got in the car.
Driving along the road to go up the hill, and we're listening to the radio. The announcers were sort of calm-ish, then the woman started screaming "Run for the hills and Pray", which made me lose it momentarily. We realised later that's when the wave got up to the second storey window of their studio and she could see her car floating past. There was lots of traffic on the road, but also a lot of people walking to school and driving towards the water. I only overtook once (why would you go 5mph in an evacuation), and 10 minutes later we were up at David and Sue's at Pavai'iai'i (spelling!) On the way we saw all the village bells being struck with a stick (local tsunami warning) and there were lots of cars heading up the hill.
Matt had rung while we were driving to say he was safe up the hill with all the staff (only 4 of them) so I didn't have to worry about him so much. Cell phone coverage was very intermittent for the rest of the day and poor Heidi couldn't get in touch with Willem until lunchtime.
We stayed at the Whitby's for the rest of the morning watching Australian ABC's coverage, getting phone calls every so often. Internet connection was fine, so we were able to let people know we were safe and to follow news and weather coverage. From the empty house next door to where we were, David and Sue had been watching the sea go in and out, and it was still very big surf over the blowholes when we were there. Taine was fine through all of this. He wasn't scared at all and only fretted because he wanted to go to school.
We eventually headed home once the warning had been lifted. And then to do what? Matt rang every hour or so to keep me updated, and I didn't move very far from the radio. Jane and Noah came round for a coffee/play as the power was out at their house. One by one all the other husbands came home but my intrepid explorer was out searching for the ATM that had gone missing from Pago Plaza, one of the destroyed buildings. He was right in the thick of things for that first day. The ATM was later discovered in the Social Security office at the other side of the plaza, all money intact, but they'd combed the harbour for it first.
Matt eventually got home about 7, absolutely exhausted. He said it was a mission to get everyone out of the building, as anyone who's ever been a fire warden can attest to; "herding cats" were his exact words. But they were safe up the hill for the three hours they were there. The water came up to the bottom of the branch in town but didn't get in. They could see people looting from shops even between the waves, and that's one of the really depressing things to come out from this. Although it's easy to be sanctimonious and critical, I bet it would happen anywhere.
So the water pipe breaking downstairs when Matt went to have a shower at 9pm (I'd filled all the baths and sinks with water, good Girl Guide, but our plugs are not particularly effective) was the last straw. It was like Huka Falls in there with the mighty Waikato snaking its way across the carpet and into the hallway. It took 10 minutes to get the water off (do you know where your water main is?) then we called the landlord, and the lovely reverend and Inga the Winger's brother came to fix it. Staying up till 2.30am for them to finish wasn't at all what I felt like doing, but I was very grateful our problems could be fixed so easily.
And so to the cleanup (ours was fine, the rest of the island's had problems). I got inspired on wednesday and rounded up old clothes and bought some supplies to donate to the Red cross which they then wouldn"t take> sorry my keyboard has lost the plot and the shift key"s doing the opposite of what it should> I realise that they don't want every Tom Dick and Harry showing up with their rubbish, but they should make it easy for people who do want to give.
There are a couple of problems. FEMA and aid arrived relatively quickly on island, but they took a long time to actually get out to the villages. Rumour has it the Governor had to give permission to them because it's not official US territory and he didn't until Friday night, but that just seems too ridiculous to be true (so it probably is). And villages can't start cleanup until FEMA has been to take photos, and some villages still hadn't been seen yesterday. Friends are being very active and loading their car and heading off all over the island but I just wouldn't know where to start. And another problem is the hierarchy/family connections things here. It's hard to be completely sure that what you give will actually get to the people who need it and not get siphoned off to the family of the person who collects the aid or people in positions.
There is masses of aid here, both people and things. The radio reported 3,500 people in shelters who are getting three meals a day, but others in the villages are getting nothing. Apparently FEMA has a very nice office though.
We did go for a drive out to the west of the island on Sunday to see for ourselves the damage (me really, Matt's seen Pago). It's very sudden - you're driving down the hill and everything's fine, then turn a corner and there's a fale with no roof and a car up a tree. Villages are devastated. Things like cars, furniture, clothes have just been picked up by the waves and dropped somewhere else completely. Many buildings have lost windows, walls and roofs. It's going to take a massive cleanup effort just to get places habitable.
I see on NZ websites that there are lots of collections going on. The American Red Cross doesn't seem very popular with its counterparts in other countries so that's affecting what aid gets here too. Like I say, we want to give, but it's very hard to know where to give it too.
So in summary, we are all fine. A large section of the island is devastated and the cleanup is going to take months. And I will probably continue to feel guilty about not doing enough for months too! But we feel very very lucky.
And people that go to the beach to watch tsunamis are stupid beyond belief.