Cold Duck Rally

As I did my stint at the Central Hawkes Bay Settlers museum this morning, the assembly of the enthusiastic motorcyclists involved in the 'Cold Duck Rally', was taking place. I used to be a motorbike enthusiast, blasting down the M1 in England, intent on doing a 'ton' , in mph too! Since then I've only had commuter bikes for getting to work. Today there were Harleys,Triumphs, Yamahas and Hondas, you name it! Strange , at least to me, 3 wheel bikes, some with two at the rear and a couple with two at the front!

It's all in the mind!

Dentist today for a major filling that had broken away. I don't know- I've only had these teeth for 60 years and they're packing up already! I think the fears of the dentist are largely mental- I hardly felt a thing and it was a new guy- my old dentist had retired and you are never quite sure about new professionals in any field but particularly dentistry.
I'm always amazed that anyone wants to take up dentistry, as while the money is probably quite good, who would want to be feared by everybody and spend your life rummaging about in other peoples mouths! You don't know what they've had in there!
Anyway he was very good which is a relief.

Winter?

Well, maybe a bit premature but it's not nice out today. We've had 3 inches of rain in about 24 hours. It's not cold but it sure is windy and it can't be as bad as it is for people in Haumoana, along the coast, they've got a high tide any minute now and flooding rivers. Some have been evacuated so I guess it's pretty wet there. Seems to have been a pretty exciting but unwanted start to 2011, hope it doesn't escalate! Had a small 4.5 quake last night about 8 or 10 seconds long but time is relative and it seemed like a long time waiting for it to end.
Got Lucy's kids staying while she does a photo shoot in the outdoors. The Outdoors? Yep, not sure where but it's got to be wet! Looks like a good afternoon for playing games.

Back to normal!

Auto self repair on hand seems to be complete! Am now able to use both hands which is an advantage when shinnying up a ladder to replace the Signage on the front of the museum. It's strange, in retrospect, that I put it up early in the morning when nobody was around as if I fell off the ladder nobody would be around to see my embarrassment! To heck with the fact that nobody would be around to send for the ambulance. Strange logic! I remember , years ago, being astounded at my uncle, who lived alone, climbing on his roof to do something or other, "For God's sake, " I had thought, "He's 70 years old! What is he thinking of!" Sometimes I have to remind myself of what myself of 30 years ago would think of what I am doing today. I don't like limitations!

Inactivity!

Every idea I have of something fun or useful to do is getting stymied! Unless it can be done one handed I'm stuck. The wound is healing but it's kind of crunchy and has little bits that get caught on material or anything stringy. One thing I've noticed that I've lost by my argument with the belt sander, is the last of my coral scars from Bermuda when I was about 8 years old. I've always been contemplative when looking at my evidence of how sharp coral can be and how long the scars stay with you and now they've gone, replaced by a coarse reminder of old age ouch! Sounds a bit like that tree that falls in an unpopulated forest...... if my scars are gone , did it ever happen?

You'd think I'd have learned by now!

Decided to put underfloor insulation under the house, a good idea so why is my house built so you can't get under it on your hands and knees? You have to scoot along on elbows and toes! I scuttled in and out from 11am to 3.30pm, sometimes facedown sometimes face upwards, roll over, lose the tools somewhere, found my car keys that I didn't know I'd lost, in the dust and stones that are the result of living on a river terrace. Getting the insulation in place was the easy part- getting the body in and out and up and down- now that was the hard part. Stage one completed , abdominal muscles severely taxed, shoulders ached, hair full of cobwebs and spiders, hope it works!
Next day- more good works but this time above ground! Making a prop for daughter's photo studio and being mean by nature I figured I would use some timber that I had hanging around that was rough sawn. After all, I could sand it smooth with one of the numerous tools I have that go "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" (I don't do hand tools!). Timber pieces cut and shaped just need sanding before I assemble them. If you want to take up a life of crime buy a belt sander! You can remove all your fingerprints in a few seconds and the blood soon biodegrades! It's not the sort of thing that needs stitches- glue would probably work better. So now I'm walking around with a big bandage on my right hand which is varying shades from white to red, with abs that would make Daniel Carter proud and a whole lot of unfinished things to do.
Maybe next week!

Surprise Surprise!

Every time we get a letter from "Work & Income", that's the govt dept that pays , amongst other things, old fogies pension, we tend to think "more paperwork" or a notice saying our pension will have something or other deducted or it's gone up by 23 cents a fortnight, but this time a nice polite little letter saying " we are sorry to bring to your notice, but we have been underpaying you and we will reimberse you on the 16th of May. $2063-42 will be credited to your bank account!
Hell! I'm not sorry! They must be honest to tell me! I never would have known!

More Quakes!

It seems that the natural world is in a state of flux! The horrors of the Japanese quake has hit our screens and even more awesome, the power of a tsunami has stunned us. As I've said before, you can design and build earthquake resistant buildings, but you can't make earthquake proof buildings and nothing we could do would stop those millions of tons of water going exactly where they choose.
I am pleased that an initial team of 48 USAR specialists from NZ are already on their way to Japan. The least we can do after Japan's speedy response to our own disaster in Christchurch. It would be nice to think, that all this tragedy might make the peoples of the world, stop bickering and act as one to fight natures worst. A kind of bonding in the face of common adversity.
We can live in hope.

Rescue v recovery

Christchurch has now moved from 'rescue' to 'recovery'. This is sad as although the teams will move carefully , their prime activity has moved to recovery of bodies. I am surprised but very proud of the way the whole country, not just Canterbury, have risen to the occasion. Yesterday people all over the country were wearing red & black- the Canterbury colours , raising money and sending goods that were needed. So far 163 deaths have been confirmed but will no doubt rise as bodies are recovered from the rubble. There's still a long way to go!

Earthquake again.

Here we are one week from the great event! It was generally promulgated that there would be two minutes silence all over the country to remember the dead , support the bereaved and injured. Cars pulled over to the side of the road at 12.51pm , schoolkids stood outside their classrooms, Auckland's Aotea Square was packed and silent, Civil Defence HQ in Christchurch was the same. Some were sombrely holding flags in the 'down' position.
My grandson Jack has been visibly disturbed by the thought of all those deaths and the scenes of chaos on TV. He's not worried for himself, he's worried for the people affected. I've never seen a little person with such empathy with others.
The death toll is now 155 and some of the missing may never be identified, although most will be. Even funeral directors have come from other parts of the country to assist in dealing with the unprecedented influx of bodies.
Kia Kaha Christchurch.

It's not the best way to make world headlines!

The enormity of the Christchurch earthquake is starting to sink in. News coverage is, of course, almost continuous still , and no doubt will be for some time. It seems that for anyone to have survived under that mess would be nothing short of a miracle, but still the crews regard it as 'rescue' rather than 'recovery' , (of bodies). Aftershocks continue and bits keep falling off the remains of buildings making search hazardous for the teams.
An odd little item grabbed my attention yesterday as a 10 tonne digger was used to remove rubble from possible bodies. The delicacy that the driver used was almost like a surgeon operating. It took me back to an A & P Show a couple of years back where they had a competition for digger drivers as part of the fascination. The driver of this big machine had to tip a 20 pail of water into another 20 litre pail, transport it about 50 metres, tip it into yet another 20 litre pail. He was timed and the winner had the best time. Such pricision!
Funny what sticks in your mind in times of heartache.

Shock!

Just driving along in my car, humming to myself, when a bulletin cut across the radio program. Earthquake in Christchurch again! Not as big as the original one in September at 7.1, but a 6.3 but at only 5km depth! I really feel for those people! Not just an earthquake but over 4000 aftershocks since September and then this. Last time the quake was early in the morning , when no one was about in the business district, this time it was bang on lunch time . 65 deaths so far and it seems that sadly there will be many more. The army cancelled an exercise and the personnel were diverted to Christchurch including 70 medics and doctors. The Aussies have offered help and recovery teams are on the way, the US, and Japan have offered help too. Nice to see your friends in times like this.

The Heading dog.

Ronnie was stuck with me! He was a 13 year old heading sheepdog with years of experience and I was the new kid on the block. He rode on the back of my Landscout- sometimes we both fell off! but he always got back on -once with a bloody nose! He knew more about sheep than I ever would but he was patient with me and slowly I learned at least to be competent! But the time came, as it does to us all, when the brain was willing but the body couldn't handle it. He went blind. I could'nt watch him crash into fences , troughs and other dogs. It was my responsibility to end the torment for him. I shot him! I cried!

41 years ago tomorrow.

Was the day that my father died. I don't think I'll ever forget this day. I wasn't there in body only in spirit and I miss him still. Even though he was a naval officer and was often away, he taught me so much of the world and how I should treat it and it's inhabitants. He took me to exciting and foreign places , not just to visit but to live in and experience. I never once saw him lose his temper and his patience was legendary.
I wish there were more like him in the world- we'd be better for it.

Rangitoto Island

Sometimes something reminds you of long, long ago! A passing reference to Rangitoto in the media brought back memories of trips as a teenager, via my canoe with some friends, to the dormant volcano. Landing on the scoria beach was no easy task although there were some sandy bits. Vegetation was wresting a living from the black , savage rocks and below the high tide mark shellfish were abundant. We lived in Cheltenham and our house faced directly across at the brooding figure of Rangitoto. 600 years ago it erupted ! 600 years in geological terms is the blink of an eye. The molten lava would have flowed down from the gradually rising summit and the Maori occupants of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf would have been somewhat perturbed, to say the least. My friends and I climbed to the crater at the top and a feeling of wonder crept over us, to think that once it would have been a seething cauldron of molten rock but now was peaceful with trees growing in it. Auckland City sits on 50 volcanic cones, not as young as Rangitoto, but not much older either.
I wish I had a time machine!

Intelligence

I've just read an article in Time magazine about the rapidly increasing volume and speed of artificial intelligence. Computers have passed the intelligence of a mouse, passed the intelligence of a human in specialised areas, like playing chess. The hypothesis is that humans don't need to die. It is projected that by 2045, (unfortunately I won't be around), you will be able to , in effect download yourself into a machine. This strikes me as very attainable. We are, after all , just a series of electrical impulses in a biological computer. What's wrong with artificial computer? That's all we are. A complicated arrangement of electrical impulses- whether that exists in a 98.4°F squishy , wet , wriggly thing or in a motherboard/mainframe/curcuit board- who cares!
I'm all for it! I've often thought a USB in the back of the neck would solve a lot of problems!

Cultures

The thing that I like most when travelling is experiencing a different cultures. I think back to Istanbul when I was walking over a bridge that there was some kind of a fishing competition was going on. I had a 'conversation' with a 10 year old kid for about 10 minutes, neither of us knew what the other was talking about but there was a lot of laughter and smiles and as I looked at his tiny catch in a bucket of water, we made the indications of fishermen the world over , of holding our palms facing with an ever increasing gap to indicate fish size.
On another occasion I was approached by a 13 or 14 year old who wanted to practise his school English. He was with a school group and had a name tag hanging around his neck which said 'Mehmet Konur' on it. I've since found that is a bit like 'John Smith' in Turkey. I've looked to see if he was on facebook but there scores of 'Mehmet Konur' on there.
I don't think I would like a cruise ship, unless maybe it was around the Mediterranean or the rivers of Europe. I need people that aren't like me to really enjoy travel.

Horses

I've just watched an interesting program by Martin Clune on our relationship with horses. Made me think of "Nameless" , my horse on Paihia Farm in Central Hawkes Bay. I knew nothing about horses when I arrived to take up the job of junior shepherd on the station, so it was left up to Frank , the manager, to organise me a horse. When he and the senior shepherd arrived with this horse, I asked what it's name was. They looked at each other then shrugged and said we forgot to ask! Ok, I decided henceforth he shall be "Nameless"! He turned out to be good with cattle and placid when I did my first lambing 'beat'. That was pretty important, as I didn't really know what I was doing! If I dismounted to help a ewe give birth, I would drop the reins and he would just stand, kind of looking over my shoulder but if I took too long his big rubber lips would gently pick off my wooley hat and drop it in a puddle. It took me about a year to be really comfortable in the saddle, especially when working cattle, with all it's fast turn arounds and sharp maneuvers. But I got to love that horse and I often wonder what happened to him and hope he had a good life.

Egypt

I hope things work out for the Egyptian people. They have a heritage that the world will always want to see so tourism is a potential gold mine for them if handled well. I went in 1962, (yes it was a long time ago- and things have changed- but people are people the world over apart from the occasional megelomaniac. They want good things for their families, luckily nature still genetically implants love of one's own progeny and as long as greed is kept at bay there is more tendency to good than evil.
We hope!

2011!

It's been a long time! Last year in fact, since I posted on here! It's been a bit busy , what with grandkids, museum and some time up north and also Norfolk Island. The latter was a spur of the moment thing. Jill was cruising the internet and suddenly said, "Fancy going to Norfolk Island?" I felt like going anywhere! She had seen a good deal going so we went for 7 days of interesting history from families of the descendants of the convicts that were shipped here two centuries ago with the added input of Pitcairn Islanders and their Tahitian wives. As you can see from the picture, the language is a bit strange. A kind of mix of Old West Country English with a touch of Tahitian.

Nowhere can a ship berth here, so everything is lightered ashore, even trucks and buses.

Only one beach is safe swimming but every grassy area on the coast has a BBQ and a stock of wood for you to help yourself and a nice clean toilet!