KATAIA, NZ - 2/21/08

Greetings from an internet cafe in Kataia. We just arrived from Kelly's Bay and two days of fishing (see photo of fresh snapper). We spent our first weekend looking around Auckland (photo of Auckland harbor) and traveled to Kelly's Bay on Monday with brother John where we met brother Bob with his boat. 42 snapper ($42/KG in the shops) in 2 days of fishing...great fun! This weekend we will travel to Cape Reinga which is the northern most point in NZ and drive most of the way back to Kataia on 90 Mile Beach (literally a 90 mile long beach that cars and tour buses drive on). The weather changes hourly from warm and humid to drizzling and humid. I will get one more entry posted before leaving Kataia. The photo on the left is Kelly's Bay and on the right is Auckland Harbor looking toward Sky City (downtown). I have temporarily misplaced the photos of the snapper and will try to include them in a future post

Arrival!!

We arrived safely and an hour early in Auckland, Friday the 15th at 0410, Auckland time. The photo shows Rocco and Rosie (with traveling companions) waiting patiently at the San Francisco airport. They had not bothered to purchase tickets and were fortunate not to have been discovered in Steve and Marie’s carry-on luggage. The north island has been in a drought for much of their summer, so it was no surprise that it was raining when we arrived and rained off and on for much of the day.
Finding internet connectivity is not going to be as convenient as I had hoped. An internet café within walking distance of brother John’s is apparently no longer in business. So I can go to Sandra’s and plug in or go to some other internet cafes in Takapuna (about a 10 minute drive). Monday we head to Kelly’s Bay and the batch (fishing cabin) for some snapper fishing after which we will travel to Kaitaia to visit Rob and Rachel on the farm. We are hoping to make a side trip to the Bay of Islands, coming or going, to take a cruise on a friend of a friend’s yacht. It’s good to have friends who have friends (with yachts).
Today has dawned bright and clear and the ladies are going “shopping” and I will tag along to find the internet. Films at eleven.

Get Set!!........

It's the evening before departure and many things begin to run through the mind. Have we forgotten anything? If so, is it anything that really matters? Will our flights be on time? Will they fly to the correct destination? Will our two dogs and two cats survive (the dogs get a bit peeved when we are away). We are so thankful for Ken and Patty for graciously watching over our home, flora and fauna during our trip...definitely above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks to Kelly, Kristen and families for periodically visiting the Baily, Lucy, et al. Their visits will help the dogs through their separation anxiety.
Thanks to those in the laboratory that I have left with completing the "big project". I appreciate each of you and your efforts toward our mission. Thankyou for the parting gifts and lunch from great friends and coworkers. Marie wanted me to extend thanks to her loyal insurance agents (who will miss her a lot). And finally a great big thank you to all of Phyllis's little people. We'll see if we can get a post off from SFO with a picture of the whole entourage. You may remember that Rocco will be a part of our NZ entourage. Today, Rosey invited herself along and you will meet her in a future post. Rocco and Rosey....great! I hope their passports are in order.

JUST WHAT IS A KIWI?

All right, boys and girls, the lesson for the day covers the subject, what is a kiwi? Today, most will answer that it is a fuzzy fruit...and maybe it comes from New Zealand....which is part of the correct answer. Before NZ began to export the fuzzy fruit, it was known as the Chinese Gooseberry and now most of the Kiwi fruit is grown in California (or perhaps Chile or China) As for the rest of the story, here is what the dictionary says:

n. ki·wi
pl. ki·wis

1. Any of several flightless birds of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand, having vestigial wings and a long slender bill. Also called apteryx.
2.
a. A woody Chinese vine (Actinidia chinensis) having brown fuzzy edible fruit with a green sweet pulp.
b. The fruit of this plant. Also called Chinese gooseberry.
3. Informal: A New Zealander (as in, "Marie is a Kiwi")

This is NOT a real Kiwi (bird)













Rare Wild Kiwi Photo

PureNewZealand

For those of you who haven't been to New Zealand, this link will take you to a brief and only slightly romanticized glimpse of the look and feel of NZ. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PureNewZealand

Yank 'n Kiwi ???

There may those reading these narratives that don’t know that Marie is a native of New Zealand. How, you may ask, did we meet? This is the condensed Reader’s Digest version. In 1968, I was in a US Air Force unit that had small detachments in remote, out of the way places. I was stationed in CA in a support unit and was assigned to go with 3 others to install new equipment in our detachment in Alice Springs, Australia (you can’t get much more out of the way than Alice Springs…have a look at a map).
This was seriously hazardous duty. We had to wear “civilian” clothes and live in a civilian apartment and eat at restaurants. After several weeks, I met a young woman (Marie) at a local swimming pool…and so our journey began. She was a lovely New Zealand nurse working in the local hospital. My stay in Alice Springs lasted for 5 months and when I returned to Sacramento, I did my best to get sent back to Alice Springs for a permanent tour of duty. The Air Force did their best and I sent me to Chang Mai, Thailand…not exactly close. Soon after I left Alice Springs, Marie severely injured her back while lifting a patient and spent the next 7 months in the hospital recuperating from multiple surgeries.
When she was well enough to travel, she came to visit me in Chang Mai. She has often said that she needed to find out if our long-range relationship was “going anywhere”. We spent about 6 weeks together in Chang Mai until Marie’s tourist visa ran out and she received a notice to be out of the country in 24 hours. Her escape from Thailand is truly another story. However, before her sudden departure, we became engaged.
I was discharged in 1970 and returned to college at Humboldt State in Arcata, CA. Marie arrived in the USA (my parents met Marie at LAX on Feb 8, 1971). She was awakened the next morning in Ventura, CA to one of the largest earthquakes in LA history. This brought to mind the warnings of friends in Australia that she should not go to California because, "it was going to fall into the ocean" during the next earthquake. She survived and in about 6 weeks, we were married.
All that is to say, Marie is the most courageous woman I have ever known. Marie had the courage to commit to a Yankee Air Force dude in the middle of Australia. She had the courage to travel to Chang Mai, Thailand, soon after surgery, to find out about a relationship that was important to her. She demonstrated tremendous courage in leaving family, friends and country to travel to America and marry a man she had know for 4 months...with no support and significant opposition from family.
It is now 37 years later and we have been blessed by God with two Godly daughters, two Godly son-in-laws and 5 grandchildren, soon to be 6. To what to I attribute these blessings? Our Lord's grace and Marie's courage.

Nine Days but Who's Counting?

Nine days...we received an email from Sandra (NZ) that included a fairly lengthy intinerary of events planned by family and friends for our stay. Marie and my birthdays both occur while we are in NZ. We were blessed to have an early birthday/going away party hosted by daughter Kelly. Since Sandra's birthday is in the same time-frame as ours, she is planning a barbecue to celebrate the fact that we are rapidly drifting from senior citizens toward the elderly (during the past year, we read an article in the paper describing a 61 year old woman as elderly)...probably written by some 19 year old "reporter".

The temperature hasn't been above 45 F for some time so we are looking forward to a 12 hour flight into summer, shorts and sandals. Above is a recent photo of the Rogue River, which runs just outside of Medford, Oregon.