Guess What We Did Last Night

I feel like the luckiest gran in the world.

The excitement was at fever pitch at our house yesterday. You see we drove over to Hamilton straight after work. And I was beside myself with anticipation, we were taking little Major to the rugby. Dear hubby was beside himself with anticipation too, we were actually going to the rugby and he didn't have to pay. You could so feel all the anticipation, the air was electric!

I didn't get to see too much of the rugby in the end, I couldn't take my eyes off the little darling. He was so cute when he clapped his hands as the Chiefs ran on. You'd never know it was his first rugby game either, he handled it like an old pro. We taught him how to wave the Chiefs flag that the lovely Functions Manager gave him. Dear hubby complained about the price of the food, but we had a great night. The only down side was every time I did get to look at the rugby, Dan Carter was taking another kick, and man is he deadly!

End result, the Crusaders whipped the Chiefs on the Chiefs home ground, but a gran, a koro and a wee moko had an absolutely fabulous time.

TSUNAMI, PITFALLS OF LIVING BESIDE THE SEA

A couple of Sundays ago we woke to a frenzied call from a friend blasting his message down the phone "Tsunami warning, head for the hills!"

Before I was even ready to be awake, there we were, in the car, in a full to overflowing car park somewhere up in the Papamoa Hills, surrounded by mums, dads, bickering kids, pets galore, worried looking nanas and grandads and a few straggly others who looked like they'd come straight from a night on the town. And still the cars kept rolling in.

I wasn't prepared for it, it was night-mareish. Would the sea really engulf my new raised vegie gardens? And what about all the not-quite-precious-enough-to-make-it-inside-immediately stuff that's stored in the outside shed awaiting the next round of sorting to get a final resting place inside the house? There was time enough sitting in the car to envisage all my semi-treasured possessions floating around the house on the force of the wave.

We were kept up to date with the latest developments thanks to Kerre's Cafe on the clearest radio station we could receive. Thankfully she (Kerre Woodham) had put her regular show on the backburner and devoted every minute of today's show to TSUNAMI updates.

Its not the height of the wave that matters its the force behind it, some Civil defence expert droned on to us. A wave with a force of 100km behind it can travel a hefty distance inland with frightening ferocity!

A sense of impending disaster washed over me; the sea is at the end of our street. We're definitely goners if it hits - well we aren't because we are safely in the car miles from home, but the house wouldn't stand a chance. And now dear hubby is nagging me to get out of the car and walk to the top of the hill, which he estimates will take anywhere between 20 and 45 minutes.

Groan.

Thankfully I buy some time by insisting someone has to stay in the car park to keep an eye out for the nanas and grandads. "They look ever so concerned". Phew, he buys it and we go back to listening intently to the next update.

Estimated time to hit Papamoa beach deferred for a further 40 minutes, more opinion and advice for surviving Tsunami from yet another expert. Two and a half hours later and the experts finally agree: They don't really know what's going to happen, when!

Cars are starting to leave the car park now. The kids next to us have come back from up the hill and taken their totally freaked out cat, in his cage, for a stroll through the bush, to put him at ease, I wonder. The dog in the car next door is barking at full volume again - the cars have disturbed him.

"Can we go home now, pleeaase?" Ten minutes later the car park is now only half full and dear hubby finally decides its probably safe to go. Besides that we'll get better pictorial coverage from the TV. We're not mentioning that this was yet another false alarm. Remember the boy who cried wolf? Experts don't cry wolf, it just didn't turn out to be as serious as they first thought.

Now what did we learn from our little excursion?

We went straight home with firm resolve to check and update our 72 hour survival kits. Dear hubby had thoughtfully thrown ONE kit into the boot of the car prior to our hasty departure. But have we checked them? My what fickle folks we are, as soon as we discovered the RED ALERT was over, we made a promise to check them real soon.

And one day we will, in typical Kiwi style, but there's no rush eh.

I CAME BACK

Well hi there friends and family, no need for a search party, I'm alive and kicking but without decent internet access I haven't been able to post for a while.

Quick update, I've transferred from Hamilton to Tauranga and now I'm working for a different part of the Tax Dept, in a lovely office overlooking Tauranga's inner harbour, it really is lovely here, can't tell you how good it feels to be home.

There's just one thing that's missing, and I mean really missing, that's to say I'm reallllly missing and that is my beautiful moko Major, who incidentally is now ONE and he's the size of a two year old. Yes sadly, Major is still at Hamilton keeping his mummy on her toes as he crawls at an amazing pace around the house, wreaking havoc and leaving little trails of destruction behind him wherever he goes.

When I get some decent internet access I've got loads of great photos to post and a few tales to tell. But for now, I'm okay and still busy settling in. Stay tuned.