Journal: To Hospital via Ambulance.
A visit to hospital via ambulance on Friday March 4th to the Emergency Dept. Bout's of sickness, dizziness and 2 possible small strokes, I was unable to stand. One stroke at home and one in the ambulance. CT head scan showed nothing. Dizziness and sickness treated by injection. To probe further to to the area of my last  stroke, an MRI scan would be needed. Dr. Margaret Fisher thought, after thorough daily examination, that, at this stage, an MRI would serve no useful purpose. In hospital until the following Tuesday, March 8th and then discharged.

Stayed at Anthony's home in Hamilton until Sunday March 13th and then returned home. During this period Anthony was on holiday with Craig in Australia, we elected not to inform Anthony of  my problem, spoiling his holiday, until he arrived back home. Also during this period Gillian came over from Whitianga was and looked after Mum and made any arrangements necessary. She visited me each day in hospital with Mum and sometimes twice to give Mum a rest. Gillian was such a great help to us.

When Anthony and Craig returned from Australia, Gillian returned home to Whitianga turning us over to the boys. I was made comfortable in the front room where the sun sun shines all day long and well looked after.

Journal: Earthquake. Day 7.
Body count this morning 155, the authorities think it may rise to 240 over time. More expected to be found today.

 A week has gone by and a 2 minutes silence at 12.51p.m. is to be held. The evening news reported that in Auckland and in various other cites, vehicles, including buses pulled up at the pavement edge and with the people, observed the silence. We too,observed the silence in our home.

5 looters caught last night, mainly robbing deserted houses. One house of jewelry. Looting like in many other countries is considered a particularly serious offence.

Christchurch being a particularly pleasant city to live has, over the years, attracted more than its fair share of the criminal fraternity and those with a drug habit. Thank goodness for the extra police from Australia.

Pat wrote a cheque for $50.00 yesterday for the Salvation Army and I dropped it in during my visit down town at the appropriate bank. We wish it could have been more. The Salvation Army get little acknowledgement from the general public, TV or Radio stations. They are always there at disasters, giving out food with a cup of tea if wanted, and a smile, with a few kind words to troubled souls, if needed.

During my days as a young man in the British forces many of us have much to thank the Sallies for, for that cup of hot, sweet tea and their time given so willingly.

Major damaged buildings are the modern buildings. Authorities are calling for extra earthquake proofing to present earthquake proofing of buildings. At extra costing. Areas in NZ prone to 'quakes' will need to upgrade. Thank goodness we live in the Waikato without major 'quakes'.

Most of the damage is is of course in the central business district... CBD and to the eastern side of the city. The western side of the city is mostly untouched and life is mainly normal, unless you happen to work in the CMD. No cracks in the roads, water supply OK, sewage OK, etc., etc.

Everyone working in the Christchurch 'quake damaged areas, still work steadily doing what needs to be done, with more and more joining in like the Farmy Army with their farm machinery and their wives at the nearest memorial hall cooking food for hungry appetites. The Student Army are still doing a marvellous job and calling for more students from Dunedin to join them.

Body count risen to 159 as I leave this missive. I feel I want to get my spade and shovel and go and help them but Pat says I'm a silly old fool at 77. I wish I was younger.

Journal: Earthquake continued. Day 6.
Body count risen by 2 overnight to 147. Many bodies have not yet been identified yet due to massive injury of the bodies by large pieces of brickwork and large building stoneware. Some may not be identifiable. There are  20 different countries identified so far. There are a number specialist teams forensic from overseas working on the problem states the Christchurch coroners office. If only we all could have our DNA registered. A temporary mortuary has been constructed at Burnham military camp.

2 more looters were picked up last night and held in gaol.

Air New Zealand have been offering $50 flights from anywhere in NZ to Christchurch one way

China have offered their help with the earthquake, in what capacity I presently do not know. Probably in earthquake field. China has big 'quakes and huge loss of life.

The removal of bodies from the CTV building and Cathedral goes slowly. Large iron pipes 1.5 metre diameter are being use by the specialist teams to shelter from falling bricks and stone as they burrow into the buildings. The tallest building in the city is leaning at an angle, slowly sinking in the liquefaction on one side. Presently it cannot be demolished for, if it falls, on nearby lower buildings it may cause a domino effect. With smart thinking the opposite side is now being filled by concrete to stabilise the lean. Then the building can be inspected for bodies or maybe life, then be dismantled.

The Military have been quietly busy backing up the police, directing traffic, the cooks cooking meals, and  medical staff, etc. Out at the airport it is busy from extra planes. USA use Christchurch airport as a stop-over to Antarctica Deep Freeze and work round the clock. It is also a storage facility, the very large US military planes various Hercules and C5-Galaxy aircraft coming in regularly. No doubt the air-force arm of the military are  used here, too. Many US staff are posted to Christchurch and quite a few American accents are heard helping with the 'quake problems.

At the time of the Earthquake the Navy ship Canterbury was berthed at Port Lyttelton. They did sterling work, not least cooking 600 extra dinners every day for the 'quake victims. The Canterbury is a multi-role vessel, 2 days ago the ship left for Wellington to pick up stores and heavy equipment including vehicles needed for the 'quake damage repair. She is due back today.

That is all I can write for now. More tomorrow.

Journal: Earthquake Day 5.
Latest figures now 145 dead.

Bodies are now being recovered from the Canterbury Cathedral and from another building called the CTV building.

The CTV building, 5 stories high  pancaked down to one floor level during the 'quake. The building contained a local TV station, with 15 people present.  An small English school teaching English improvement to 20 Filipino nurses, and a 3rd business thought to be of Japanese origin . A total number of 120 people. Some were out for lunch but most were inside when the 'quake struck.

The building was flattened. Smoke was seen issuing from the building. Firemen put water on the source but to no avail. A Special Rescue team tried to enter but could not penetrate the building. Cell phones could be heard for a while and then nothing. The specialists said smoke inilation would cause death. Special equipment was used to search for life, but none found. Bodies were starting to be removed last night. Each floor of the building had to be removed starting from the top.

Sadly, a Filipino woman in the Philippines received a text from here trapped daughter saying goodbye and then rest of the message petered out.

___________________________

Refer to piece Amputation 2 days ago. Needs expansion / correction.

From 2 different TV channel interviews: The doctor was in fact 3 doctors from the Australian Convention in Christchurch. 2 male and 1 female. After consultation of the 3 doctors the female doctor was selected to do the amputation of both legs and one of the other doctors to apply the anaesthetic. The amount of room in and beneath the beam was very restricted.

The ambulance did have anaesthetics on board but no amputation instruments.  Some tradesmen who had been working nearby were consulted and they produced a hacksaw and a large jackknife. The amputation was successfully carried out, the  patient was then removed from under the beam and then taken to hospital by the medic, and then transferred to Waikato Hospital by helicopter. The patient 2 days later was doing well.

The 2 anaesthetics used were morphine and another drug which I did not catch the name, I think it began with the letter K. This second anaesthetic as explained by the interviewed doctors, was to remove all trace of  memory of what had taken place when he, the patient woke up!! I thought this amazing.

The patient did not want, presently to be identified. The doctor who carried out the amputation did not want to be recognised either.

Today some of the specialist teams are moving out to Port Lyttlton. To remove bodies and maybe find someone alive. Port Lyttlton was the epicentre of the 'quake. To not finish on a sad note, the specialists say it is not unusual to find the living up to 10 days after the 'quake.

Journal: Earthquake Day 4.  
Latest figures 123 Dead  228 missing.

323 Australian police arrived today and sworn in for NZ duties. Reason: to give NZ police a rotational rest and help deter to looters. Many empty homes looted. Worst incident 3 power generators stolen. These were supplying areas where power lines could not  be easily repaired. These looters were caught. about 10 other looters are already caught. All are in jail with no bail allowed. First court sessions March 28, or could be later.

NZ March Census cancelled. No further date given.

1000 Portaloos due to arrive from USA to bolster NZ supply. Sewage lines will be difficult to repair. Some areas estimated months.

3000 Canterbury University student volunteers signed up to help clean up liquefaction over roads and inside many houses. And when the spades and shovels run out, do any other jobs necessary. The liquefaction is mainly sandy mud and sewage.

Everything running 24 hours a day where necessary and available staff. Many people doing long overtime stints in their own time.

John Key, the Prime Minister gave a marvellous speech the first day  to boost the morale of Christchurch and the country, many TV channels using 'sound and picture bites' from the speech. The speech seems to have worked well with many.

The mayor of Christchurch, an ex TV presenter does an excellent job each morning listing what has been done the previous day and the goals ahead. That seems to go down well too with the public.

Christchurch Cathedral: The tower and spire partially collapsed during the earthquake and the stones fell inward filling the remaining standing part of the tower. At the time of the earthquake a party of 20 Japanese tourists were in the tower climbing upward, all were buried. Various tests were made for life, all were  pronounced dead. There is also a strong possibility of other tourists dead at the tower end of the cathedral on the ground floor. Visitors were seen in that vicinity. No sounds of life were detected there either. The standing remains of the tower and surrounding building are in a precarious state and removing the stone work is presently highly dangerous.

Well that is all I can manage today. Again forgive any grammatical errors, time is in short supply

Journal: Earthquake Day 3.
Christchurch is a mess, seen especially from the air. Spent some of yesterday refreshing my memory of "liquefaction". All of Christchurch  and the greater area have many patches of liquefaction, both big and small.
Earthquakes and tremors do not mix well with liquefaction. Experts say liquefaction can be overcome, even with constructing large buildings, but they are loath to guarantee success in an earthquake prone area.

Early this, morning the dreadful figures were deaths 103 and missing 226. Of the missing, this figure is expected to drop somewhat.

Many older residents and those with children are reported to be leaving the city for relatives and friends, and a few, for second homes. The roads are crowded, gasoline is scarce but diesel is freely available. Shell the main distributer are kept busy.

The NZ search and rescue teams are doing a wonderful job along with those teams from Australia and Japan. other teams also from Taiwan, Singapore and the USA. USA team with heavy lifting equipment, I believe. The 2 British teams are arriving today. These are specialist teams, completely self contained, down to food, water and accommodation. They were used in the Haiti earthquake fiasco.

A convention comprising of doctors, surgeons and specialists from Australia were present in Christchurch. They all dug in, helping where needed, along with many other medical people here on holiday in the city.

Amputation.
One most gripping story was from an ambulance medic with an ambulance and on his own arriving at a fallen building to find 2 men trapped by the legs under a beam of the fallen building. A surgeon turned up and managed to severe both legs of one man to release him. the other man died  of blood loss and trauma before he could be saved, this as related by the medic. The medic and ambulance made it to the nearest hospital  with his patient over ruptured roads, blocked roads to the nearest hospital. This incident and more was recorded by the medic after his shift was finished and posted as an email to 1ZM radio station. I heard the email read out. It reminded me of WW2 incidents when I was a small boy, ear glued to the radio or reading the daily paper back in the UK.

Yesterday, the saddest tale I saw of many tales was the statistics shown on TV, at the bottom of the list, a baby of 5 months and another of 9 weeks,  both casualties of the earthquake. What of the parent(s), who knows? I remember I immediately thought of the Ian and Vicky and the twins and then of Tahlia and Jaeden. I felt so sad for the families of those 2 little one.

Finally, the 5 major banks in NZ have each pledged one million dollars to the Christchurch (Red Cross) fund. Australia has pledged $5 million dollars

Fonterra has supplied 1 million litres of drinking water and possibly up to 1 million dollars subject to their owners, the dairy farmers of NZ.

That is all for today, I feel washed out. My grammar and spelling is going to pot. Maybe more tomorrow.

Journal: Not much to say today.
 I again went for a walk this morning, then had breakfast, sat down and watched 2 comedies on SKY-TV., put out the weekly rubbish, did 2 loads of washing and hung them out, cleaned up my overdue Gmail account and then sat down and wrote a few words.

Journal: Second Earthquake
A second earthquake hit the Christchurch area today around 12.30 p.m., lunchtime, magnitude 6.3 and shallow, causing much further devastation to the city, with major injuries and deaths, numbers not known presently. An aftershock followed later said to be 5.6. and also shallow.

Earlier this morning I said not much doing today. An unfortunate phrase. Todays earthquake and aftershock being shallow, was much more serious than last year.

What now to do with Christchurch?  It seem the city was built about 160 years ago on a shallow crust covering the central business district and unknown apparently to to the builders of the past.

The British newspaper The Guardian picked up the story 20 minutes after the 'quake, and before the NZ local papers. Amazing!

Journal: Walk and  thoughts.
Missed yesterdays walk. I didn't wake up until after 6.30a.m. This morning I was awake early and had my early morning walk meeting 2 friends, Grahame and Rosemary coming up behind me. They were walking much faster than me and seemed to be going round the lake twice, I could later see 2 figures in the distance past  G & Rs normal turnoff.

Baked a loaf of bread in the bread maker yesterday for the first time. Usually Pat attends to the bread.

Pat's both  knees are troubling her, usually it is just one. She thinks it may be from swinging around too quickly.

Journal: Jury Service.
The mail this morning brought a call up for Jury Service as from March 28 2011.

Journal: Lake Walk.
I left home to walk round the lake this morning at 6.20am, it was just barely light, but daylight comes quickly here in NZ. I haven't walked round the lake for 2 years now. I managed the walk quite well at a slower pace than I used to do. I had the seats imprinted in my mind in case I had to stop, needing a rest. I used to do the walk in 40 minutes but my slower pace today took me 50 minutes. I felt quite fresh afterwards.

Back home for breakfast, Pat is just waking, I tell her "Fresh Fields" is about to start on UKTV, one of her favourite comedy programs. Soon she is in her favourite chair and chuckling as I make my breakfast. I usually have sliced sliced cheese on a thick slice of homemade bread, toasted in the oven. I found it was nicer toasted  in the oven instead of the toaster. I gave up my regular of many years, baked beans on toast; one morning I made my regular baked beans as usual, sat down to eat and couldn't face them.

Pat tells me that there are some new twins photos on her computer as I was going down to my basement office, but hello, hello no twins just a few regular posts I get from elsewhere and my morning dose of spam. My Gmail is usually much quicker than that.

Journal: Thoughts of This and That.
We got rain for most of the day yesterday, a pleasant change, saved me watering the garden. Lovely blue sky this morning with a few wispy clouds. Humidity has dropped down to 55 which is a pleasant change.

Got a birthday card from Ian and Vicky, yesterday with a newsy note from Vicky which was nice. Also an email from Ian, with a photo of Vicky taking the twins for a spin in the pram (as Ian terms it). Ian must be there, too taking the picture.

Feeling much better once more, but have not walked round the lake for a week. I must, tomorrow morning, without fail!

Trainz has once more been in my mind the past 2 days. Much has been happening on the forums with updating the database items to the latest  ones. There are 165,943 items listed for download presently, not all will be updated, I hope, there are just too much low quality items. My opinion only and some other participants also.

Journal: My Birthday
Yesterday, the 13th of February was my birthday. All my family including Jen and friends remembered it. Phone calls,  emails and face book flooded in. Looking through the messages today, I feel quite humble that I am remembered.

To Vicky's sister Helen, if a raised glass was raised, thank you. If not, the thought was there and for that, I thank you.

Pat and I, along with Anthony(Tony) and Craig went to the Cock and Bull in Hamilton and we had our preferred meals, I, roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding along with my favourite desert, passion fruit cheese- cake with fruit trimmings. With 2 glasses of Chardonnay, that was my limit and I enjoyed both glasses immensely.

What I feel
I'm glad no one refereed to my age. As the numbers creep up, I am starting to feel old. I feel, with my many interests I haven't enough time for all of them, now. What I hope for most is to be able to finish my life story of my many adventures through life. I feel a little envy of the young travelling the world today, I wish I was still one of them. Since my stroke 3 years ago, my sight is now back to normal but my brain frontal lobes are a problem. I realize I am becoming physically unable to travel far now;  the doctors, specialists tell me so.

 Many are people are older than I but I feel my my mind is slowly starting to slow down, I feel tired, my English and grammar is no longer the best. My speech becomes muddled when I try to talk when thinking of more than one subject. I have problems writing my name now, my hand shakes. My spelling deteriorates but computers came to my rescue and so did the spell checker(to a large extent). I use it more and more.

Never the less, I had a happy day yesterday, I usually tend to think of tomorrow as if it is not really there. Today I feel tired and a little sorry for my self, tomorrow I will go for my morning walk round the lake and think of all those who are worse off than I. I will pick up my spirits and be myself again tomorrow and continue to write, stroke the cat in passing, then go and give Pat a little hug, as she sits at her computer, upstairs reading the news, or looking at the pictures of our children and offspring.

Journal: Sunspots.
For quite a few years now I have suffered from sunspots, on my face. Even with treatment they take a long time to heal. mine, each one, up to 2 years. New Zealand is a particularly bad place for sunspots, said to be the worst in the world. Lying over Antarctica is a large break in the ozone layer and a finger from that break creeps up over New Zealand.

 I had more treatment on the past Wednesday, had them burnt off... frozen. For the first time one was found on my hand, I thought it was just a scab from a blister so that one was burnt off, too. The ones on my face are in the last stages now, so I hope this facial treatment will be over, but the one on my hand will no doubt, appear again.

Remember, if sunspots are not treated they can become cancerous!

Journal:
Emails (plural...3)  from Ian this morning. The first one was the new pram for the twins with varying modes of operation, the best, probably the conversion to car seats and the wheels and fittings into the boot.

I've just had a thought, where does Barney fit in, in the greater scheme of things?

The other 2 emails were more photos of the twins. They were excellent, Pat will be studying them for the rest of  the day comparing them to earlier photos. We love their varying expressions and as they are growing older we can distiguish Kate from Eddy quite easily.

Journal: We had a get together lunch today, Sunday at Anthony and Craig's place. Gillian, Paul, Tahlia with Kaedon plus us pair. Gillian and Paul with baby Kaedon stayed overnight on Saturday with us. Tahlia went to stay with friends overnight and had a Saturday night out.

Anthony and Craig are in the process of possibly buying a second house, somewhat larger than their present one.

Very hot today and cloudy 28C. and humidity 75 outside. Anthony has one of these electronic gauges, reads temp. and humidity, both  inside and ouside,  also cloud cover and a few more things. Gillian also has one, and me too, but not got round to installing my unit outside yet.

Journal:  We had an email from Ian today. Pat got her bureau delivered yesterday, our Friday. She seemed pleased with it. I helped the delivery man to carry it in. It was very heavy, solid mahogany and made in India.

The $48.00 bureau is now down in the basement in my office in front of the window. I'll fill it with things. Bits and pieces.

Carrying on with my 'Life Story', just crossed the Pacific from Panama and just arrived in Sydney. Got the piece to read, correct and probably alter.

The last 3 days have been very muggy, hot and overcast with low cloud and some drizzle. Sleeping with no blankets or sheets over. 23C. during the night outside.

Sharon, the gardening lady tided up the garden, many weeds from the rain and heat, two bottles of Vee energy drink usually  keeps her going. I tell her it is not good for her in quantity. I don't see the Vee now, she probably keeps it out of my sight in her gardening bag. Daily temp is usually 28C.

Brighter this morning but cloudy. Just done a load of washing and put it out. Pat has trouble with both knees now, getting down and then upstairs again.

Thursday. Journal:
 Well today we got 8 photos of the twins  during J and E visit (they will be in Spain now)

 Big Daddy with twins, Kate and Eddie. Kate at top.

Journal:
This morning I was thinking of the the new bureau mentioned in yesterdays' post. When we lived in the UK, so long ago now, I built a bureau not long after we married. It was a kit set and the sections were all solid oak.

 I also built a 2 seater green settee and 2 armchairs. These too, were a kit set. When we came to NZ I dismantled them  and brought them in the packing case which came by sea freight.

Journal:
We had a phone call from Ian on our last Friday morning with news of Vicky and the twins. Pat is always glad to talk things over after the call.

By this time I guess John and Edith will have visited you and be on their way again. Pat was hopeful of making contact by Skype during their visit but it was not to be (and me hopefully too).

J & E going to Spain for 2 months and back in early April. They did mention Valencia (been there many years ago) maybe going elsewhere, they didn't say.

Started to walk again in the mornings, from about 10 days ago, but not too far at present. Starting from the Yacht Club to the Green Cathedral car park then back again taking 20 minutes there and back. This morning tried a little further and it seems OK. Will try a bit further in a few days, that will be the half way point round the lake.

The lake path is flooded at the moment in probably 2 places, I haven't had a look, but I know from previous years.

Tuesday today and sunny. Pat got up at 2 am this morning and didn't (wouldn't) go back to bed when I got up, but fell asleep in her chair. I then chased her to bed! Now close to lunchtime and she is still there.

Pat has wanted a bureau... desk type for a while now. bought one on Trade-me for $46.00, but it had borer in the bottom. I treated it but she didn't trust it. Bought a new one on Trade-me for $420.00 made of plantation mahogany. Should be delivered today or tomorrow.

Hello, Ian... hope I can keep this up! If I can manage most days it will be only a few lines. Will be glad if I can keep it up.

Journal: this is a test to gmail address

How to Look Busy at Work Without Really Working - wikiHow

First draft:

Journal: A Chrismas Tale



Today I had a Christmas pudding after my main meal. This was a small pudding for one complete with a dose of brandy and add your own sauce... I chose custard. Made by a small NZ firm with the trademark of "Aunty Betty's". Pat wanted to know how I found it for taste with the idea of getting a larger size for Christmas dinner in 2 weeks time. As I consumed the pudding my thoughts drifted back to my days as a small boy and Christmas puddings.



In the 1930s-40s our christmas pudding was like most, home made, usually in a large basin.









When we were children 65 70 years ago

Journal: Young Rook in Lakeland

How to Practice Nonviolent Communication - wikiHow

Journal:

Journal: Friday 25th April 2008. Pat's Birthday and Anzac Day.

This year Gillian invited us up to Whitianga to celebrate Pat's birthday. We left the day before, Thursday and stayed until Monday. Anthony and Craig travelled from Hamilton to attend along with Tahlia returning the same day.

Altogether attending were Pat and myself, Gillian and Paul, Tahlia, Caitlin, Anthony and Craig. We had lunch at an up-market fish restaurant on the water front close to the wharf. Much enjoyed by all of us. I chose and particularly enjoyed the very fresh hapuka, a deep sea fish.

Journal:

this is a test for 2008 date

Google Document

This is a test to see how I can transfer this document to my blog OldEric...my funny motto

Journal: BBC Report. Suez 1956.

This report has some relevance to my time in Cyprus. I landed in Nicosia on the eve of the British/French air attack on Egypt. As we flew across the Mediterranean we sighted the Royal Navy steaming in battle formation spread from horizon to horizon heading for Suez.

Britain 'planned to cut off Nile'

Britain drew up plans to cut the flow of the River Nile to Egypt to force President Gamal Abdel Nasser to give up the Suez Canal in 1956, files reveal.
Military officials believed they could harm agriculture and cut communications by reducing the flow of water, newly-released documents show.
The plan was outlined to Prime Minister Anthony Eden six weeks before British and French forces invaded Egypt.
But it was abandoned because of fears it would trigger a violent backlash.
Under the plan, Britain would have used a dam in Uganda to reduce water levels in the White Nile by seven-eighths.
But planners realised that the scheme would take months to work, and could also harm other states such as Kenya and Uganda.
One British official noted that the plan, while unworkable, could still be useful.
"It might be possible to spread the word among the more illiterate Egyptians that 'unless Nasser climbs down, Britain will cut off the Nile'," Cabinet official John Hunt was revealed to have said.
'No legal justification'
The Suez crisis was triggered in July 1956 when the Egyptian president nationalised the Suez Canal, a vital trading route from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
Britain and France joined forces with Israel and the three nations attacked in October 1956 in a bid to regain control of the canal, but US and UN pressure forced a withdrawal.
The documents, released to the National Archives in Kew, also show the prime minister was urged to conceal the fact that his attorney-general had warned that the invasion was illegal.
At the time, UK lawmakers were claiming that the action was legal.
But Attorney General Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller - father of current MI5 head Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller - wrote a strong letter challenging this.
"I am unable to devise any argument which could purport to justify in international law either our demand that she [Egypt]... should withdraw her forces from a part of her own territory which she is engaged in defending, or the threat to occupy her territory by armed forces should she fail to accede that demand," he wrote.
Then-Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brooks told the prime minister that he should not raise the issue of the war's legality in future speeches.
The Suez crisis damaged Sir Anthony's reputation and led to his resignation in 1957.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6197002.stmPublished: 2006/12/01 00:46:33 GMT© BBC MMVI

The Final Journey of the Maori Queen


Maori pall bearers carry the coffin of Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu towards Taupiri Cemetery









Te Ata's eldest son, King Tuheitia Paki sits on the throne at his coronation


Tens of thousands of mourners surrounded a sacred hill yesterday as Maoris laid their tribal queen to rest with a moving ceremony on a scale rarely seen in New Zealand.

Tears flowed and dirges filled the air as the body of Dame TeAtairangikaahuwho had served as the Maori Queen for 40 years was transported on a waka, or traditional canoe, by river to the hillside where she was buried near her ancestors.

Dame Te Ata, as she was known, died last week aged 75 after a long struggle with failing health. Large crowds, mainly made up of Maoris but also including many New Zealanders of European descent, travelled from all over the country to attend the funeral, held at the Turangawaewae royal marae, or meeting house, in the small town of Ngaruawahia, near Hamilton on the North Island.

State Highway 1, the main route linking Wellington and Auckland, was closed for more than seven hours and diversions put in place because of the sheer number of people thronging the town.

Yesterday was the climax of six days of mourning, and it began with the coronation of Dame Te Ata's successor, her eldest son Tuheitia Paki, aged 51. After the winter sun rose and early fog parted, the new king was anointed wearing the feathered cloak of his ancestors, and with a Bible placed on top of his head.In the inter-denominational funeral service that followed, the Anglican Archbishop of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Whakahuihui Vercoe, said of Dame Te Ata: "Many women have done excellently, but you have surpassed them all".

Messages of condolence were read from the Queen, Prince Charles and Pope Benedict XVI.

When three white doves were freed to symbolise the release of Dame Te Ata's spirit, one lingered on the ground, which mourners took as a sign that their much-loved queen was reluctant to leave them.

A hearse took the coffin from the marae to the Waikato river, where thousands more people lined the banks to watch the royal waka, paddled by bare-chested warriors, carry it the four miles to the sacred Taupiri Mountain. A spontaneous haka, or war dance, broke out as the waka left the shore. The outpouring of grief continued with more hakas, chants of lamentation, the sound of car horns and the wail of bagpipes as the waka made its journey. Finally, the coffin was carried up the steep 300ft hillside on the shoulders of eight pallbearers, assisted by dozens of helpers pulling on ropes. Helen Clark, the prime minister of New Zealand, said: "What an incredible tribute to see this vast crowd come, not only today but over the previous days, to pay tribute to an outstanding leader in Maoridom." "This isn't some tribal event out on a fringe, this is something that goes to the heart of New Zealand, something very special." More than 100,000 people are estimated to have paid their respects at the marae as the body lay in state over the past week.Dame Te Ata was the first woman to be chosen as head of the King Movement, which was established by Maori tribes in 1858 when they united in response to land seizures by the early colonial government. Although King Tuheitia continues a hereditary line of seven monarchs, succession is not automatic but rather a choice made by a gathering of tribal elders.

My Comments

The pre-funeral Coronation and the funeral itself lasted for approximately 6 hours and was shown on TV. I watched it all take place on TV and found it very moving. For the past 40 years I had many business dealings with Te Ata and her family And I found her a very pleasant and humble lady. Her husband Whatu was just as pleasant also; many times he would call into our business premises with work to be done or, to say hello in passing or for just a chat.

Watching him with his family walking slowly behind the coffin on TV, he looked so sad and miserable and my heart went out to him.

Journal: Yes, it is 2006.

Christmas and New Year's Day have quietly slipped by.

We visited Anthony in Hamilton for Christmas Day. He and Craig put on a very creditable feast for us and we really enjoyed it. We all enjoyed our visit and we stayed longer than we intended, arriving home in the early evening fully sated with food and wine.

New Year's Day was pleasantly celebrated at home. I managed to stay awake for the midnight hour and had a celebratory glass of wine and watched the TV celebrations for a while.

I was up again at 5 a.m. wide awake.

We plan to go to stay at Gillian's but the date is on hold. The weather presently is inclemently unstable. Maybe we will leave our visit until mid-January.

We decided to get Broadband at long last in late Dec. 2005. A sales phone call from our ISP and a price drop tipped us over the edge. I notice Pat is using her computer more since we changed over, down loading all kind of things. She cannot get Google Earth though. Not enough memory, I think. Will probably get her another stick of RAM.

Presently we have our 2 computers on Broadband plus the laptop for which I needed to get a plug-in card to run a ADSL cable. I still need to connect up my old computer for which I have got a network card to fit internally. Imagine, only $12 for a network card!

Journal: A Long Time

Yes, a long time since I made an entry. I have been more than occupied with the simulator Trainz, spending all my spare time on the long learning curve and building my large selected UK West Country layout between Swindon and Bristol including Bath.

This morning after reading the Trainz forum, then looking over my route deciding what to do next I started to feel pensive and stuck my head out of the basement door and saw it was almost 7 a.m. and raining.

I had got up early, 4.30 a.m., I couldn't sleep and my leg was ached again. Not a good morning for going for a walk. I have recently, since retiring over a year ago, been waking early. Most mornings I have been rising around 5 a.m. and sometimes earlier.

As I was saying... I was feeling pensive. If something consumes me for a long period I get this feeling at some stage and I will usually lay it to one side for a while and move to one of my other interests and give it a look-over.

I don't think I will put Trainz to one side but will probably curtail my time. I have been doing a lot of repetitive work on the route... mainly scenery and I feel I want a change. We will see.

Although it was raining, just lightly, I walked up the lawn towards the road. I saw the black cat, a stranger recently arrived in our location. I wondered who it belongs to? Walking towards it, I hissed and it ran.

Google Desktop

My Lifestory.

Well my life story has also seemed to have taken a backseat again. I must get back to it now that the initial enthusiasm of the new computer is starting to wane a little! That is when we return home.

Journal: August has gone: It's now September.

Well time has flown during this busy August. Most of my time has been spent on my new computer, setting it up to my liking and installing my stuff from from the old computer. I used a USB link cable to transfer the data which worked well.

Then I have spent a lot of time on my Trainz simulator. I'm now seriously involved and after my 3rd attempt, I am now building the route Swindon to Bath (turning off at Wootton Bassett), learning as I go how to do things in a lot of cases. Presently I am at Dauntsey Lock just north of Lyneham and building the old disused canal which runs alongside the line for a little way.

Time seems to fly by when I'm involved with Trainz. Most mornings I try to do some of the odd jobs and gardening until 11 a.m. and fit in half an hour editing David's journal for him if the mood takes me. I'm on the last chapter now. Then it will need to be draft printed, proof read, corrected and then reprinted. Anthony will do the proofing, his eagle eye is very good.

Our August weather has been sunny and warm this year with little rain, in fact we have had to do some watering in the garden. Spring has come a little early, but not too much. Although the day temperatures have been up to 17 - 20C, the night ones have been down, often to 4 -5C. and held back the growth.

September is now in progress and we are now in Whitianga whilst Gillian and Paul are in Australia for 10 days, looking after Caitlin. She is no trouble, she likes to make her own breakfast and prepare her own school lunch. She is usually up before her wake-up call at 7.30 a.m. We drop her off at school or she may decide to bike, we sometimes pick her up when school finishes or she may come home with friends.

We will go home this Friday afternoon taking Caitlin with us. Gillian and Paul return on Saturday to Hamilton Airport and they will return home with Caitlin.

Journal: A bit of a Shock.

Yesterday I got a quote for a customised new computer... the box only. It was really 3 quotes for 3 different combinations.

I swallowed twice or was it more. I knew it would be high for a high end machine but to see it staring out at me in bold black and white, it well made me swallow.

To day I felt better and started to pare the listed parts down. I will see Greg tomorrow morning and talk the changes over with him.


Snails. Caught 6 of the little blighter's in the glasshouse this morning... I though I had got rid of them, I was only catching one or two now and then.

Journal: Synod

Sunday morning and Pat left for the Synod early just as she did yesterday morning. Each morning she was off well before 8 a.m. picking up Phyll, her friend and fellow Synod member on the way.

As she gave me a goodbye peck her eyes were shining with anticipation of what lay ahead today. I smiled and wished her a pleasant time. Arriving in Hamilton she gave me a quick call on he cell phone and told me that she had arrived safely with no wrong turns in Hamilton.

The Church Diocese yearly meeting, she never fails to tell me each year, is the church parliament where the church laws are made and re-made or modified and the future is discussed. She thoroughly enjoys the experience.

Yesterday was a long day. Pat left before 8 a.m. and did not arrive home until after 9.30 p.m. Today will be shorter, with business probably concluded by 3 p.m.

Journal:Republican sympathies fade in New Zealand.

Most days I read the British Telegraph on the Internet and the following piece caught my eye this morning. I think the author has hit the nail on the head.

Although I am not a Monarchist by any means, I do tend to think conservatively in that I don't agree with change for changes' sake. Or to put it in a more pragmatic way, the famous saying "if in ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind when some warbling, shallow-minded dork comes along, stands on his soapbox and burbles, "we gotta have change".

Why? He usually doesn't really know.

Now I will get off my soapbox.

Here is the piece in question.


By Paul Chapman, in Wellington
(Filed: 23/07/2005)

A highly successful visit by Prince William, a good-humoured tour de force from British Lions rugby fans, and the London bombings have rekindled in New Zealand a sense of kindred with "the mother country" unlike anything seen for years.

A poll shows that support for the monarchy has soared, a campaign to remove the Union flag from the national ensign is foundering, and the big spending rugby-following Barmy Army gave the economy a huge midwinter fillip.

Only 27 per cent now believe New Zealand should become a republic, an opinion poll published this week showed. Earlier this year it stood at 41 per cent.

Although Helen Clark, the current Labour prime minister, holds republican sympathies that are shared by politicians on both sides of the House, she admitted that, like the rest of the nation, she found Prince William utterly charming when he visited.

New Zealanders have felt a special affection for the prince since his first visit, with his parents in 1983, at the age of nine months.

They were flattered that it was to be in their country that, on July 10, he carried out his first solo official duties.

When he bowed his head before Auckland's war memorial to lay a wreath in memory of New Zealand's war dead, there was an unspoken understanding that the nation was sharing his grief for those who perished in the London bombings.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the country prided itself on her role as Britain's most dutiful offspring. It sent more than 100,000 servicemen to the First World War trenches, one-tenth of the entire population, and suffered a horrific casualty rate.

Forty or so years ago, older New Zealanders still referred to Britain as "home", but a sea-change in the relationship came after London signed up to the Common Market. Until recently a growing drift towards republicanism in the corridors of power in Wellington had loosened traditional ties.

Journal:

Well it is almost a week since Ian left to return to the UK. Time flies, but then in that time we have had 3 days of heavy rain and then sunny once more and I potted a few plants for the coming springtime. Freezing this morning... Friday, and I turned the heating full on ... all of it for an hour. Equal to 6-7 kilowatts when I calculated it out. We were down to 2 C. last night... cold for this part of NZ.

Pat will be spending all her time in Hamilton over the next 2 days as church Synod member. She enjoys the position and all the debating.

I need to upgrade my computer to run the new edition of Tranz Rail Simulator due out next month. I now have the specifications and will need a bigger processor and 2 Gb of Ram plus a few other things. I will get a new box. No need for new monitors... my 2 19 inch models are more than adequate. Good job I had put a few dollars away for the purpose.


The Kings Head, Usk. 2003.

Happy Memories.

Journal: Me and my Boys.

Well these are my boys of whom I feel mighty proud to have been blessed with.

Ian to my left and Anthony to my right.



The photo was taken by Caitlin, 11, my granddaughter.

Journal: Thoughts and Memories.

This sunny Friday morning I decided to clear up the leaves on our large back lawn. It is winter here in NZ and not long past our mid-winter day. I use a modern leaf blower now as opposed to the old fashioned way, with a leaf rake. Blowing the leaves into a long line then picking them up into the barrow, I collected 3 barrow loads well pressed down and put them into my composting area to await room in the bin.

I still had to use the old fashioned leaf rake to tidy up the remains afterwards.

This reminded me of the time when I was a boy at Kidside and I used to rake up the leaves down the long drive up to our home lined with mature trees down either side. Autumn leaves were everywhere and I would put the leaves into piles along the edge of the drive. There were much too many to do anything with and it was my job to burn the piles of leaves in situ then rake the remains onto the grass verges. I still remember the pleasant woody smell of the burning leaves as they turned to carbon which, when washed into the grass and soil by the rains helped to continue natures cycle during the following spring growth.

Journal: Ian's Visit.

On Saturday we pick up Ian from Auckland airport and the rainy morning cleared just before he was due to come through customs. The journey up was very wet for most of the way otherwise it was showers. We left in the dark for the airport and arrived home in the dark.On Sunday he visited his friend Peter Klaver in Hamilton, taken up by friend Chris. Anthony did the honours of running him back to us at 10 p.m.Monday and Tuesday saw him resting from a little jet lag and so he did some planning for the rest of his 3 weeks stay. Today, Wednesday saw him borrow our car for a trip to Tauranga to see old school friend Derek Mewis and then 2 flatting friends from his time in London. He should be home late Friday or early Saturday.

Journal: Ian and Anthony.

On Saturday early morning... 5 o' clock in the morning, Ian will be arriving at Auckland airport. We, Pat and I will be there to greet him. The weather forecast indicates the day will have rain, in fact it suggests it will be hosing it down.

Ian will be leaving on his Thursday from the UK which will start on our coming midnight here in NZ. That is right, isn't it??

We went into Anthony's on last Sunday, to both see him and pick up the loaned carpet scrubber. Pat wanted the scrubber for the coming week, so we picked Sunday as a good day. When we left Anthony's we got almost home and realised we had forgot to pick up the scrubber! Never mind.

I have been continuing writing pieces for my life story. Presently it is taking 3 or 4 days to do a piece. I spend quite a bit of time looking up facts to back up what I remember. I don't mind, the Googled look-ups are often interesting to read through. I'm still amazed how accurate my memory is after all these years. And equally amazed how poor my memory for people names is. At the best, putrid.

Journal: Nostalgia.

As I continue rewriting my cousin David's Journal for him this afternoon, I started to have the pangs of nostalgia. I was going over the period when John and I went to stay with Katy, my mothers younger sister and David's mother.

We all went up to our Uncle Tommy Brough's nearby farm at Crookdake and helped him to deliver his milk supply to customers in Aspatria. This was 1947 and I would be 13, with John and David each about 10. We spent such an enjoyable time on the farm and next day too, I think.

Tommy was my mother's youngest brother and a real harum scarum during his youth. David wrote about him in "David's Story". He was always fun to be with during our growing up years. Although Tommy was married they never had any children. Although I never thought about it at the time Tommy would have made a wonderful father especially if they had been sons. Our cousin Norman Brough looked very much like our Uncle Tommy, except Tommy was smaller and very wiry.

Tommy's farm had originally been our grandfather Brough's farm and I have some very pleasant memories of our many visits there. My mind goes back to a rusty old sword Tommy had found down one of the lower fields and he kept it lying on a stone slab next to the barn. I used to day dream as a boy whose it was and what had happened to it.

In days long ago the Scottish marauders used to come down over the Border raiding the farms and villages. Was it discarded in a fight, did it belong to a Scot, or did it belong to one of ours. The nearby Church at Bromfield has many buried bones of slain Scots in unmarked graves and of course marked graves of our slain ancestors too. Yours and mine for we go back to before the 1500s in this small area.

Such is nostalgia.

Journal: Gloves and Snails.

My morning walk is getting colder. It is easy to get muffled up but it is the hands which suffer from walking quickly and swinging ones arms. I hesitate to put on my gloves as no one else does and one heavily built walker just walks in his shirt and only occasionally wears a pull-over even on frosty mornings. This morning I did pull out my gloves. It was foggy and the swirling mist was so damp and so cold. Our hardy walker wore his pullover this morning!

For the past few weeks I have been suffering from young snails in the glasshouse, they are so voracious. The first indication was on a tomato plant. I noticed one morning some of the leaves were just a skeleton. I looked for the cause and noticed the little beasts. Since then I have caught probably 90 or 100 in total, averaging 10 a day at first. Now I'm down to 5 a day and sometime none. It seems they get in via the ventilation window in the roof.

Got lots of seeds sown but difficult to germinate, especially parsley they will not germinate.

Journal:WOW!

I got a comment! On Busy, Busy.

Journal:Busy, Busy

It seems longer than 2 days since I wrote my last post on Sunday. I seem to have been involved in a lot of diverse things.

First it was the sewerage on Sunday. then the the weather these past 2 days has been superb and I seem to have cleared up quite a few outstanding jobs, from raking up the autumn/winter leaves front and back to digging over the garden around the glasshouse, to tidying up the plants.

Then I have been involved in planning my next computer. I know what I want but trying to squeeze what I want below my ceiling price is a little difficult. I use a NZ web page " Price Spy"which checks daily, the prices throughout NZ of all computer parts then lists them from the cheapest of its type to the most expensive and giving any price drops.

Then Tahlia had borrowed a 14" TV from cousin Luke and during using it, it had konked out. Gillian had asked when I was in Hamilton would I look at it. It went off with a bang and a smell of burning. She feared the worst. So we picked it up on Sunday and I looked at it this morning, Tues. Fortunately I was able to repair the TV by mid morning and ring Gillian to tell her the GOOD news.

In between I'm trying to work out my tax form with the help of a 90 page booklet and I'm not getting on very fast.

I'm trying hard not to say the words I promised myself not to say after I retired, " I'm so busy I don't know how I managed to go to work" Those who used to say those words, and they were many, I used to dismiss as probably working in low gear in their retirement.

I've now got my morning full tomorrow already with filling in the sewerage, pumping some poison in first to deter roots and soak the surrounding earth to kill hidden roots. The I've got some seeds to sow, plant out some Cineraria plants... about 30-40 down the back and feed the greenhouse plants. That is after my early morning walk and breakfast on my return.

Got to do more of cousin David's journal, try and write my own, also continue my life story, too. The days are never dull and boring, no time to watch TV during the day but I do nod off after lunch now and after evening dinner too! Only 2 days have past and I seem to have been so busy, last Sunday seems to have been a week ago.

I keep thinking, if I don't slow up, I'll get everything straightened up, then I will have only the odd maintainance jobs to do. But... it is good to be busy and I feel lucky that I have so many interests. To sit around day after day as some do in retirement would grow very boring after awhile.

It reminds me when I was in hospital in Rotorua, I barely slept for the first 3-4 nights. I used to look at the clock in the small hours of morning, 20 minutes had passed and it seemed an age. The duty nurse on her hourly inspection would come in to check and say "still can't sleep?". Later it was not much better. I came to dread the night-time.

Journal: Eye on the Weather.

Want to know the weather forecast or extended forecast in NZ? Try this site. http://www.fencepost.com/home.jhtml

Best to join the site to get the full weather details. Its free and safe from spam, etc. The site belongs to Fonterra, which is the amalgamation of all the Dairy Boards in NZ and now a private company. Known as the farmer's friend.Tip... best to log in with an NZ postal address, not ours, ours is in use. The site is really set up for farmers only.

Journal: Hurrah!

Ian rang this morning to tell us he will be coming to NZ for 2 weeks. Paul is to make enquires for a possible All Black ticket if a spare one exists.

Pat rang Gillian to give her the good news. We all said hurrah!

Someone asked is he part of the Barmy Army??

Journal: A Foggy Day in Huntly Town

If you know the song that should be "A Foggy Day in London Town" sung by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and others but lately by Michael Buble.

Fog this morning and I could only see down to Dr. Willoughby's house just down from us first thing. It is now approaching Tiffin and the fog has risen slightly. No walk round the lake this morning although I have been out in the fog before. I can see the edge of the lake undergrowth but nothing on the lake is visible yet.

We haven't had a thick fog for a long time now although they used to be common in winter many years ago. Temperature is presently 12 C. and not a trace of a breeze.

A foggy day in London Town
Had me low and had me down
I viewed the morning with alarm
The British Museum had lost its charm
How long, I wondered, could this thing last?
But the age of miracles hadn't passed,
For, suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London Town
The sun was shining everywhere.

Journal: A Special Day.

It was our 45th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 21st of May. We didn't tell anyone until the day was over. Pat made a special dinner for the 2 of us and we toasted with a glass of wine.

We remembered those days long gone and our life together. I still love Pat as much as I did then, perhaps more so. She was then just turned 21 and I was 26.

I better post this before I tear it up.

Journal: Rain, Rain.

We have our rain at long last and our long standing drought is over. For 4 days now we have had rain at sometime during the day, mainly at night-time and a few showers during the day.

Many years ago when Gillian and Ian were small I cut a path on the steep slopes of our section going in a semi-circle below where we dumped our garden refuse. Over the many years the path became eroded by rain on the steep slope and a succession of pet goats we kept on a running line to keep the undergrowth in check. The biggest problem was the goat of the moment, stretching and pulling to reach that dainty, leafy morsel of just out of reach and scrabbling the soil down with its forefeet. Slowly the path I had cut disappeared.

Now that the rain has soaked into the parched soil I have cut a new path which was suprisingly easy. Most of the eroded soil was loose and was the remnants of our 39 years of garden waste.

The rain has not been kind to some people. On the east side of the lower Coromandel coast from Tauranga and further down the rain has caused a lot of damage to hillside homes, some being washed off their bases or moved off by mud and rock movement from the upper slopes. Some homes have been left teetering on the edge of veritable, newly formed cliffs.

The worst hit was the small town of Matata south of Tauranga. Many, many homes have been damaged and many have been condemned as irreparable. Houses, cars and larger vehicles swept away, then buried in the mud. The shots on the TV news was just like the tsunami shots of the recent earthquake.

The rain we got was minor in comparison. The storm came from the Pacific Tropics. It hasn't finished yet but the worst is probably over.

Journal: My Sense of Humour.

It was tickled a little by this. Do you know Robert Banks from Bristol?


Origin of new British Museum exhibit looks a bit wobbly

By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent(Filed: 19/05/2005)

Visitors to the British Museum unfamiliar with the date of the wheel's invention may have been puzzled by a primitive painting in the Roman Britain gallery this week, showing a caveman pushing a supermarket trolley.

The earliest recorded wheels, as every schoolboy knows, are from Mesopotamia around 5,500 years ago. Trolleys were first used in the Piggly-Wiggly Supermarket chain [really], Oklahoma City, in 1937. The bizarre exhibit, stuck to a wall with double-sided tape and labelled "Early Man Goes to Market" was, of course, a hoax.

The British Museum had fallen victim to Banksy, Britain's most notorious and inventive "art terrorist" who specialises in sticking fake objects to the walls of major galleries and museums and waiting to see how long it takes for curators to notice.

Embarrassingly for the British Museum, it may have been several days.

Banksy announced on his website at lunchtime yesterday that "Early Man", painted on a piece of rock 10in by 6in found in Peckham, had "remained in the collection [the BM] for quite some time".

He announced a treasure hunt, saying that the first person to photograph him or herself next to it would win an original Banksy painting of a shopping trolley.

Alerted, museum staff quickly found the rock in Gallery 41 at 3.45pm but admitted that they had no idea how long it had been there.

Banksy, who calls himself a graffiti artist, has pulled similar stunts to mock the art world at Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum and major galleries in New York in the last few years.

He has attempted to remain anonymous - in interviews he has said that the police have several warrants out for him - but he is believed to be Robert Banks, aged about 30, from Bristol.

Journal: Visitors

Gillian and Paul came to stay on Saturday arriving here at 9.30 a.m., an early start. Ashlee came to stay also but she arrived on Friday night. Gillian wanted to pick up 2 expensive rings which she had had altered and also look at one or two houses in Hamilton again. She wasn't very forthcoming about what was on offer. Paul is not at all keen to obtain another house. So we didn't ask any questions. They stayed the night with us and went into Hamilton again on Sunday.

Caitlin didn't come with them. On Saturday she had a school netball game, in Thames I think and on Sunday she was to act as a patient for St. John Ambulance Brigade to practise their skills. Plenty of bandages, fake wounds and blood. Come to think of it it may have been a competition. Caitlin is a junior member of St. John.

We have had 2 nights of rain, which was welcome with showers during the day. We still need more. Quite a bit of wind, too. The remains of a tropical storm up in the Pacific.

I am now back into my weblog "OldEric, my funny motto". I've written 2 pieces so far and feel quite enthusiastic again.

We are thinking seriously of getting broadband. The local power company Genesis Energy is offering a discounted service to consumers only. If we give up one of our 2 phone lines it will only cost $20 per month more than our existing dial up account. Set up fee and modem etc is $250. Thinking that one over.

Journal: Lake Walk and the Caravan Park

Friday the 13th, some consider it an unlucky day. I'm not very superstitious and I will walk under ladders but look first to see if it is safe... no paint pots!

I had my morning walk round our lake again this morning. The early morning temperature was 11C. and so I just had my pullover on. Towards the end of the walk I pass through the caravan park which belongs to the County Council. A pretty place on the lake edge with well kept trees and shrubs , the grass neatly mowed to lawn length.

The park is used regularly by tourists in camper vans or cycling as a nightly stopover and some stay a few days. Like many caravan parks there is a semi-permanent clientèle of all persuasions, a few homeless hiring a caravan, some working in the area during the week and then home at the weekends, some staying a few weeks or months and then moving on to pastures new.

Then there are the few are who are to all intent permanent with homemade awnings, floors and small gardens and patios. To these the council has turned a blind eye to the length of stay rules over the years. Recently these permanent and semi-permanents have been given their marching orders, a date set for next month, June. The council wants to redevelop the area; beautify it further in line with the lake walkway and park layout plan.

A number of the near permanents have old converted buses and some of the others, 28 foot dual wheeler caravans. When the local paper interviewed the permanents one said he had been permanent for 11 years. and this was his home. I know for a fact that at least one of the buses with permanent awning, patio and garden which sports a six foot tree-tomato tree laden with fruit has been resident here at least 15 years, since I began walking the area in 1990 and he looked very permanent even then.

Each morning as I pass through the park I wonder: will the old bus ever go again when the try and fire up its engine, will its wheels turn, are its tyres perished? Or will it have to be towed away or transported? A few other long-timers also probably fit into the tow away catagory, too. I wonder also where will they go? Who will have them? Their trauma presently must be intense.

Unlike the British Isles there are strict laws against squatting on private land or council owned land too, for that matter. Travellers would get short-shift with New Zealand laws. My mind boggles when I read of the antics of travellers in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Well I thought, I'm glad who I am, what I am and where I am. Any trauma I may have is negligible compared to some of these people.

Journal. Wednesday Happenings.

Pat went down town this afternoon, did her High Street shopping and then drove to the supermarket via Bell Crossing. She rang me on her cell phone and was most indignant. She was stopped at Bell Crossing and breath tested by the Police at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. I laughed and laughed and asked "erratic driving"? She became more indignant.

Reminds me. The 2 retired nuns who live 2 houses from us were breath tested close to Xmas a few years ago on their way home after leaving an out of town church service.

The Garden. A big rat is living in one of my compost bins. I see his burrow each time I open the bin lid. Each time I put in more grass clipping, the hole gets covered up and each time he digs his way upwards again. I think I will leave him in there. He is doing a good job chewing everything up including the grass clippings. He can get out if he wants to, the way he got in... via the bottom.

Hurrah, it is raining this afternoon, unfortunately it probably will not last long. I didn't bother to stop my water sprinkler. The plants on the lower section have been hanging their heads. The drought period is 4 months old now. With a little rain during that time.

Journal. Mother's Day and other Things

Yesterday Pat was invited to Anthony's in Hamilton for Mother's Day. We both went for lunch and stayed for the afternoon. Anthony put on a good spread for us and during the afternoon we talked of many things and looked over his newly acquired house once more. We both enjoyed the afternoon and didn't want our evening dinner on our return home so we settled for scrambled eggs... genuine free range with deep yellow/orange yokes.

After 5 weeks the house now looks lived in... a home and it has the beginnings of a personality. I forgot to take my camera but we will be in again shortly and take some pix.

Today we were in Hamilton once more to pick up Pat's repaired computer... a faulty hard drive under guarantee. They managed to recover all data and programs fortunately. Pat kicked her self, an unread text message had been sitting on her cell phone to tell her that it was now repaired, since the previous day. We could have called in and collected it yesterday.

We came straight home again and I spent the rest of the morning reinstalling the computer. Pat is now as happy as Larry. Who was Larry??

Gillian is going to drag the reluctant Paul across from Whitianga this coming weekend to look at houses she has selected. She has one particular one in mind, that is if it hasn't been sold.

New Subdivision

I was clearing weed down the bottom of our section last Saturday. A track has been cut in the swamp bush below our house from one side to the other by the new sub-division people. It comes out at the bottom of our land by the steel paddock gate. Looking down the bottom of our land, the bottom fence has a survey marker post hammered in. A metre from our fence.

I wonder if it is their intention to clear the swamp bush from this point and up towards Raynor Rd. A total of 12 sections of the first phase have been sold already. No roads yet and the developers are still doing the earthworks. The title to the new sections will not be through until the coming Sept. or Oct.

Journal. The Lake once more.

Again this morning I completed my morning walk round our lake and even after the 2.63 km. trek I felt I could have completed another round. The air was so clear and fresh with little humidity, much different to the sometimes humid mornings in mid summer when my legs at the three quarters point didn't want to go any further.

The lake was alive with wildfowl. Tomorrow was the first day of the shooting season. For the past week or two hunters had been erecting or repairing their maimai's (hides). The old timers among the wildlife knew this was a sign to head for the safety of our lake, a wildlife refuge. Ducks of many types gathered along with Canada Geese, Black Swan and more.

I left late this morning... 7.30 a.m. so that I could call in at the medical centre to have my monthly blood test taken and then home for breakfast.

Journal. Happenings here in 2004... so far.

Our Summer drought period stated in mid January first with a constant drying wind followed by constant sun and further drying winds. We had some rain to date but not enough to solve our drought problems.

The long range forecast for our winter period... usually accurate informs us that winter will be mild, often sunny, little frost, moderate rains and it seems an early spring. I hope so.

From April 1st, Anthony became a house owner. We helped him to shift his possession from his last flat of 5 years. I was left wondering, how did he crammed all his possessions into that small flat?

Tahlia is now a student at Wintec... Waikato Institute of Technology and she seems to have settled in well. Still untidy, I believe!

Ashlee has commenced in the 5th form this year at Sacred Heart but is giving Gillian a few worries. Scholastically, doing reasonably well but she does have a 15 year olds' blues, hormones are racing.

Caitlin, the lucky one, at least that is what I think of her as. She goes from strength to strength. After her 1st term in Form 1 she has been moved up into a mixed Form 1/2 class and already making her mark according to Gillian's' phone call this morning.

Gillian is keen to move back to Hamilton. To be nearer her girls I think. Well they are Paul's too, but that is how I think of them. Gillian usually makes the plans and then converts Paul to her way of thinking. Her plan is to buy a home in Hamilton and retain the house in Whitianga. Watch this space!

Pat remains immersed in the local church and Huntly Bird Club of which she is still president. She tries to cut down her committee work in both organisations without much success.

For me my day does not change much, an early morning walk round the lake, 3.62kms then breakfast at 8a.m. followed by a morning in the garden and greenhouse. Afternoon brings varied things... the computer, odd jobs or some reading. Evening brings either TV or computing or both together. The days are at times broken with a trip to Hamilton, Whitianga or?? How dull! And often the question "what day of the week is it, Tuesday or is it Friday?". Well not quite as bad as that.

Journal. Recent Thoughts.

In the past few days I have been toying with the idea of recommencing my life story. I always intended to return to it but I didn't think the lapse would last as long as I had imagined. An email popped up out of the blue from my past life, my time in Cyprus and it made me sit down and think.

Since early December 2004 I have had my head buried in the Trainz Sim, a very steep learning curve and I'm just coming up for air, so to speak. I now know most of the rudiments of route building and I have started my first route... Swindon to Bath. Just a coincidence that Ian and Vicky should live in that part of the woods. The West Country has always facinated me since I spent time down there centred on Calne in my early 20s.

Now that I will be spending only a few hours a week on Trainz, my thoughts turned to back to my paused life storey and putting the finishing touches to my other journal 'Travel Journal 2003" which is nearly completed.

It will take a few days to marshall my thoughts to continue "OldEric my funny motto".

Journal. Train of Life

Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.

They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.

But I don't concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.

So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out on the front,
To see what I can see.

I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.

I want to see what's coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life's too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.

So if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.

It's all right to remember,
That's part of history,
But up front's where it's happening,
There's so much mystery.

The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It's looking ever forward,
To another year and ten.

It's searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You gotta drive the train!

~author unknown~

Journal. What happened in December?

Our Weather.
It has been shocking. We have had lots of rain and the temperature has been well down from normal. Weather forecasters predict this is going to last until about the end of January and then things will return to normal. In a nutshell they say weather patterns can and do get into ruts.

Games.
After all these years ignoring Gaming I have become a Gamester. I have for a long time had a yen in the back of my mind to play Sims, particularly Sim City 4. I could not get a new copy, they are no longer in production so I managed to get a very new secondhand copy on Trade Me here in NZ, similar to E-bay.

By accident, at least I think it was by accident I put in a search for Trains modelling and back came a list of simulators. I now have the program Trainz... spelt with a Z. This game is very intensive, needs lots of Ram and a good Video Card to play properly. It is just like modelling railways again.

I doubled my Ram and purchased a better Video Card, then I realised my Power Unit is not big enough so I purchased a a 450 watt model. Now $NZ403.00 later my Trainz runs smoothly.

It was worth it, I enjoy them.

Retirement.
Now that I have got the garden tidied up I have the feeling of retirement. If I don't feel like doing something, there is also tomorrow. I am enjoying the feeling. There is jobs I want to do but they are not important and can be put on the back burner for now.

Tahlia.
Tahlia has been accepted for her Polytech course or at least the Nanny year. The Early Childhood full course is full but she will be able to be placed on that course next year and the Nanny part will be credited to her. Gillian is pleased and so are we that she has been able to get into the Student Village accommodation. The Village is not very big. 15 custom designed modern Villa's each with 5 rooms. They were built in 1988, I believe. Those students from remote areas have first preference. All meals are included with a ticketing system in the on campus restaurant.

Well that was the highlights of the month that was... I think!

Journal. David and his Book.

3 days ago I had out of the blue a package from David and Moira which I knew immediately was the draft manuscript of the 2nd part of David's book. When we visited and stayed with them in June 2003 I offered to edit then print up his draft copy of this manuscript. He told me he could not do the necessary after his stroke which had affected not only his speech but full control of his right hand; he could not control his finger movements his hand was too weak. He can drive and grasp the steering wheel but not control individual finger movements.

I knew he was disappointed so I offered to compile the information and type it up but suggested he first think it over. That was nearly 18 months ago. I shall start it around Xmas; this 2nd part is in journal form so I will do an entry at a time.

Pat said it is so thick, but I shall do it. His mother and mine were sisters. Part of David is me and I am part of David.

Journal. A Tale of Two Computers.

Yesterday I decided to have a look why Pat could not use the CD writer on this computer. All I could find was the missing drive letter D and looking further, according to the computer D drive did not exist. I gave my friend Brian a ring, told him the symptoms and he said "funny...", I'll come over, I have to go downtown". The CD Writer loaded a disk, spun the disk and nothing else.

Brian duly arrived checked what I'd done already and then proceeded to run a few of his test programs. "H'mm" he said, its probably either a loose plug or its the drive". So we duly pulled the computer apart, and checked the plugs. All OK. Brian then got a spare CD writer, plugged it in and 'hey presto" everything was back to normal. So we left the test drive sitting on top of the computer case until I get a new replacement.

Anthony has been wanting a new computer for a while. He has my old computer but it is now long out of date. He has checked quite a few packages good and not so good. Last Thursday, the day before yesterday he called me to have a look at a computer package offered by Dell which I duly did yesterday, Friday. He wanted a quick answer to what I thought because the offer closed at midnight that day. Anthony rung me at 7.30 p.m., I told him what I thought and he said he would buy it. I said to him to give me a ring after he had ordered it. He laughed and said that it might be midnight as he was dickering about whether or not to get a couple of extra add on's. I said "don't bother.

Its Saturday 2 p.m. now and he hasn't rung yet. I wonder if he did order it over the Internet by the midnight deadline?

This morning I went down to my other friend Gregg at his computer shop and got a new CD Writer kit. I will fit the new drive next week. I never pick Gregg's brains, he probably would offer to look but he is the business professionally and time to him is money. It is an unwritten rule in business not to ask a friend a favour like this. Greg brings his monitors to me to fix and and I take my problems to him to fix or ask elsewhere like my friend Brian who is an avid computer enthusiast.

Journal. A Windy Day.

Sun, showers and wind this morning, pleasant when the sun is out. I'm down in the office again. We have modified the office layout after we closed the business down. We should have used this layout originally, we now have much more room.

Pat is away again at a meeting, she left mid-morning and will be back mid-afternoon. It is a Church craft get together making new Xmas cards from old ones to sell for the Ladies Fellowship funds of which Pat is Chairlady ( I don't like this Chairperson business). She left around 10 a.m. armed with coloured card, old Xmas cards, press-on stamps and glue sticks. She will pick up a roll for her working lunch.

I've just been looking at a local NZ web site... Price Spy which monitors the price changes of computer parts. I have it set for monitors. I'm going to buy a new monitor, a 19 inch TFT flat panel when the prices come down a little further. Prices have been dropping steadily. I will still keep and use my present 19 inch CRT monitor both hooked up to this computer.

I installed the beta version of Google Desktop on my laptop last night to try out its features. It integrates together the normal Google internet search and Desktop Search to search your own computer. I have come to no conclusion yet due to lack of time last night. I did try 2 searches and it seemed to work ok. I also put in "Eric" and I got over 1300 hits, not much good with broad searches but may be good to find that old file 10 layers down. We'll see.

Journal. Monday Morning.

Just another day now that I am retired, the day we put out the recycling items for collection. Vicky and Ian were in my thoughts again this morning, not that they are usually far away at this present time. The photos of Jen and Pete's new born baby had just arrived and the world is their oyster and I thought to myself, life it is continually changing. We have our ups and downs, joys and sadness. One household of our family is up and another is sad.

Spring is here and with it sun and showers. Downstairs here in the office I spend time on the computer on days like this. It is nice to work in the garden in the sun but everything is wet from the showers. Weeding in the wet is not my favourite job.

Journal. Thoughts and a Visit.

Pat didn't go to Church this morning, it is not often she misses but she did go for a Church meeting later. I spent the morning doing genealogy, something I haven't looked at for a while. I have just received a new computer program, a dedicated database for storing all kinds of genealogical data so I was modifying it for my needs.

Anthony arrived late morning so we spent the rest of the morning chatting and looking round the garden. After lunch Anthony suggested we might go round the Lake in the late afternoon for a walk and I jumped at the idea. I had let my walking lapse since we returned from England and I have made a few half-hearted attempts to start again without much success.

After lunch Pat and Anthony went through the way to talk and I went downstairs to send some emails off and a little more genealogy.

We enjoyed the walk later. We went via up Rayner Rd and then across the paddock to the lake. Pat picked us from the Yacht Club later, my legs were tuckered out.

Anthony didn't stay for dinner. In the evening Pat had the local bird club monthly meeting and I once more continued with my new program.

I don't seem to be able to raise much enthusiasm for birdkeepng anymore after getting rid of all the birds after I became ill. We did try for a while, bought a kitset aviary but never managed to erect it other than make a base for it. After the kitset lay un-erected on its prepared base for over 12 months we sold it.

I've not had too much luck with some of my interests over time. Model railways came to a sticky end too. I had the old empty bird breeding shed 4.2 metres by 2.4 metres which I widened to 3 metres (14 ft. by10 ft.). Ideal for model railways.

Over time ants had made their home in the structure. I thought I could eradicate them but no, they returned and returned. Cutting a long story short the only solution would have been to abandon the shed and put up a new structure elsewhere in the garden. The problem with ants is that they leave their droppings all over the model structures.

How one can ramble... this started out as a short few lines.

Journal. Early Morning.

I woke early this morning about 3.40 a.m., lay awake and listened to the on the hour radio news. The more I lay the more wide-a-wake I was. I decided to get up, I knew from past experience I would not sleep again. I did go to bed early last night at 9.00 p.m., I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was very tired. Caitlin and I went around our lake for a walk late yesterday afternoon and the Pat picked us in the car part way round. My legs were like lumps of lead on the end of my legs. Cell phones are handy when you need them.

4.10 a.m., I made my usual cup of tea and a slice of toast and read the news on the computer from The UK Telegraph and then switched to the Sydney Morning Herald. I then read my usual on-line forums and checked my genealogical incoming list emails. Nothing of much interest there.

The dawn broke at 5.30 a.m. and I peered out to see what the day had in store for us... some morning cloud in an otherwise clear sky. The sun has not come over the horizon yet to warm things up. We were promised a warm sunny day with thickening cloud this evening with rain maybe tomorrow.

After doing some genealogical work I sit and ponder. I've must get back to my life story writings. I've been saying that for a while now but I have been putting it off so that I can finish off writing up my 2003 UK trip journal. But I'm not doing very much of that either!

I am now nearing the end of the journal writings so-o-o-o I must make a big effort to finish it.

It's 6.30 a.m. now and the sun is up over the horizon and soon it will burn off the water vapour carrying cloud which is hanging around.

Will Caitlin entice me to go walking again around the lake this evening? She probably will. She enjoys the walk and so do I, always something fresh to see, questions to ask and questions to answer. At 10 I enjoy her bright cheery company and enquiring mind.

Journal. The Month of September.

A quiet month and we do not seem to have done much over this period. Yesterday Caitlin, now 10 arrived to stay for the last week of the school holidays. Gillian brought her over and it was good to see her once more.

We have been busy with our Spring cleaning. The past year or two has just been a clean and tidy affair so we decided this year to give everything a thorough going-over. We started early, September so that we would be finished before Vicky and Ian's arrival on October 30th. Usually we don't start until mid October after the gas heaters are put away to bed for the Summer. Portable gas heaters tend to give off a slightly oily film which shows up on the windows and venetian blinds mostly and to a lesser extent on the paint work. I don't like cleaning the blinds very much and we do have a lot. I usually take each one outside, slosh plenty of water on them with the hose and then clean each slat with a proprietary cleaner. After drying they are sparkling once more. Later this morning I will do 2 more!

Journal. Ashlee and other things.

It was Ashlee's birthday yesterday, 15. Her school had a half day yesterday so we picked her up from Sacred Heart boarding house and took her and best friend Catherine out to lunch at the Hamilton Gardens Café. The day was brilliant and we sat outside in the warm sun. This evening she will be allowed to go to her Aunt Debbie's home in Hamilton for dinner. Much better than the boardinghouse food I would say.

Catherine comes from the Château up on the Mt. Ruapehu ski fields where her father is manager. Ashlee often goes down at weekends with Catherine to the Château and is learning snowboarding. Catherine's father presented Ashlee with a season ticket for the slopes worth $400.00 and free hire of equipment. Lucky girl!

Pat picked out a bracelet for Ashlee for her birthday inlaid with Paua shell, apparently all the rage with teenagers at the moment. She seemed pleased with it. It is hard for grandparents to pick the right things for grandchildren.

Ashlee now has her braces off her teeth, a fortnight ago. The dentist has done a good job. Now Ashlee wants a diamond set onto her front tooth, another "in" thing. No doubt she will work on her mother. Better than a tongue piercing I think.

Ian called on his mobile yesterday all the way from England. It was good to hear from him. Pat is always so pleased when he calls. He and Vicky will be here in NZ at the end of October for a holiday. We look forward to seeing them once more even though it will be only 15 moths since we last saw them on our 2003 visit to the UK.

Well the rain has now arrived as for-casted and should be clear by the weekend.

Bye the way August just gone was a "blue moon" month. August in the Southern hemisphere and July in the northern hemisphere.

Journal. Officially Spring Today

Yes, Sept. 1st is the first day of Spring in NZ and our long spell of fine weather is about to break. Rain is due. We have had a lovely July and August, plenty of sunshine and the rain pells which we needed got it over with quickly. Some areas of NZ got more than their share and with the rain came flooding on low lying land.

We have had frost too these past few days but this was only air frosts in the pre-dawn period and were gone bt 9 a.m. Ther frosts were brought by cold air streams from the antarctic regions but we didn't mind this at all. For with the frosts came crystal clear days with bright sunshine and low humidity.

The trees and shrubs have been bursting into leaf these past 2 weeks; Spring was early this year.

Journal. Raynor Road Sub-division

The new subdivision started in earnest today. I am proposing to take a series of photos from our house as work progresses. They have started first putting in the stormwater drainage and then the power cables and water next I believe. The sewerage line is already there running right to left where the digger is situated and then will follow the construction of the first road.


Rayner Road Sub-division

There will be 35 homes eventually on larger than normal sections and aimed at the higher end of the market. The Auckland motorway now stretches down to Huntly except for one short section near Te Kauwhata. The troublesome Meremere section is now in the last stages of completion. Auckland is where demand is expected to come from.

Journal. Going to St. John's Camp.


Caitlin