Christmas is a coming ....

Am still struggling to adjust the time difference and my body is definitely running on WA time which means I am up all hours and do not rise until the crack of 9 or 10am NZ time.

Am slowly reconnecting to 'old' Waiuku. Went to the Form 2 (yr 8) social held at Waiuku Primary on Tuesday night. Talk about memories abounding as my sister Kay who teaches the yr 8's had taught them dances such as the valetta, dashing white sergeant, maxina, three step polonaise and the waltz, which we learnt back in the day when we were in Form 2 (yr 8). She had also taught them the dance from Saturday Night Fever and several rock and roll numbers from Grease which went down a treat. Even a couple of songs for the old dances sounded familiar - and we had records on a record player in my day and not music through an Ipod, played through an amplifier!!!!!!. The F2 social was a total rite of passage (40 yrs ago, LOL) and learning the dances was the highlight of the (then) third term. I had a new dress made especially and was alowed to pick the material for it myself, lol. I thought I was very smart at the time. Our social was held at the Girl Guide and Scout hall as neither View Rd nor George St schools had a hall. Our first dance started with all the girls having to put one shoe in the middle of the hall and you had to dance with whichever boy grabbed your shoe. Needless to say, the boy who I had the first dance with had made sure he knew which was my shoe...... I reminded Kay about that and laughed because some of the girls this year never wore shoes throughout the whole evening so it would have been wasted on them. All the students seemed to enjoy themselves and it was like watching a more chaotic version of dancing with the stars, lol.

On Thursday night I went to the Otaua Church Christmas Service, which I walked to from my sister's place. The tiny church was packed and it was a very interactive service with local children acting parts of the nativity story and great congregation participation - the story, as it unfolded, being interspersed with Christmas carols. It was great to catch up with some Otaua identities (people that have known our family since my grandmother's time, LOL), one lady indeed (87 yrs old), remembered Kay and I going to Church in Waiuku on a regular basis as young children with our grandmother and I remember HER mother as she gave me a card for my birthday one year!!!

Everyone repaired to the local school across the road for port and nibbles after the service which is also an annual tradition and another chance to catch up with folk. I had taken friend Viv and her son out to the service and after a coffee and debrief at Kay's I took them home. On the way, we detoured several miles to see two Christmas light displays that put Mum and Clive's into the shade for size and spectacle.



I loved that in the middle of farmland, these two houses are lit up for miles and are a sight to behold.

I went to Pukekohe today and was amazed how quick and easy it was, lol. No kangaroos to watch out for and no birds trying to commit suicide! I did see a rat running across the road tonight and a pheasant on the way out to pick up Viv so we do have livestock, just not so life threatening,lol.

Gotta know I am back in NZ when I get to see a tribute to Sir Howard Morrison on the telly. Mum had taped it and we watched it last night and loved it. Two of his original quartet used to sing at the Towers (a nightclub in Rotorua) along with the resident band (who I used to hang out with) back in the day when I was waitressing in Brent's Hotel. Had a chuckle at some of the memories that bought back and it was great to see everyone looking so good as this is going back 32yrs!!!!! Also got to hear the very tail end of Paul Holmes's last breakfast session on Friday, after 22yrs. Tributes were paid to him from far and wide and I wonder how many other radio personalities around the world would have an immediate past and current prime minister in attendence at their farewell.

The first week is already over and it has been a very relaxing one. Have done no Christmas shopping yet so will probably have a meltdown early next week. Have caught up with another primary school friend today who was back in Waiuku for Christmas and have had several phone calls from other friends who I hope to catch up with in the New Year. Have just had some excitement as the police helicopter has been circling overhead for nearly half an hour with lights sweeping the ground. It had been circling for about five mins when the next thing I knew, Kay had skyped me (why phone when you can skype, LOL) to find out what was happening, so Mum has been outside trying to spot which direction the helicopter is flying as I am relaying the news to Kay via my laptop which just happens to be on my knees as I type! I was surprised no one had a scanner on to try and find out what was happening, LOL. Kay has some way of finding out where all the fire calls are in town (we have a volunteer brigade). Some might call this nosey but we prefer to think of it more as community spirit and keeping a finger on the pulse of things heh, heh.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Not!!! LOL. Am sitting on the couch at Mum's looking out the window at the tide which is full in. The sky is grey, it is very windy and the tidy is grey/brown and choppy- not hugely inspiring. I am still in night attire with winter dressing gown on though do not need sox on feet, LOL. It's nearly midday NZ but of course only 7.45am WA time so in fact got up early this morning having been up for nearly 2 hours. Hopefully I will get the time difference sorted out by tomorrow.

Had a very nice evening yesterday (that sounds a bit irish to me but you know what I mean). I went to the annual Christmas party for the Kariaotahi District held at the old Kariaotahi School and had a great time. The school has been the community gathering space since it closed over 30 years ago and always brings back lots of memories as I went there from aged 5 for the next five years.

The place was decorated with tinsel, balloons etc with a REAL Christmas tree where the old fire place used to be. My sister Kay and I went along and arrived in time to see the local children in attendence playing some games (musical chairs etc) before the arrival of Santa. As per the last 50+ yrs, our neighbour Noel Bulte was playing his saxaphone joined by daughter (and friend) Viv on the guitar. Got caught up in a game of statues but wobbled when it was time to stand on one leg, though Kay did better than me for another couple of rounds, LOL.

The beauty of attending these gatherings is the catching up of people you have known all your life and the possibility of meeting new people to the district. I met up with a 'girl' I haven't seen for over 35yrs who has come back to Waiuku to live. She lives on her family property which can be seen from the sunroom of our old family home, so my future old age community is growing, LOL. One of her sisters has taught with Kay so the links continue. It is wonderful to see the old traditions have endured - we had to practice Jingle Bells numerous times to get it loud enough so Santa knew where to come - I can remember doing the very same at 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 yrs,LOL. Santa this year had previously introduced himself to me as growing up on my great grandfather's property that was up our road. His parents were sharemilkers and his younger brother was in the same class as me for awhile. We had Santa give out parcels in between a finger food dinner and desert and then it was time for a coffee followed by and a beer and a yarn with a mate of my brothers' . Not a bad first night home.

Called into friend Viv's for a coffee and debrief of the evening on the way home and caught up on some of the most recent family birthdays via photos on the laptop. Also saw photos of the Waiuku Christmas parade held the previous day. Mum and her Red Hat group won 2nd prize in one of the categories with their float. They have won a placing every year they have entered!!!!! Go the Red Hatters, LOL. As we drove back into town saw some of the Christmas lights - the Norfolk Pine town Christmas tree, the Fire Brigade buildings and then of course Mum and Clive's. I am not sure how much of the National grid they have tapped into but if I say you could probably read a book outside in the dark, you will get my drift. The highlight is possibly the sled with several reindeer on the front lawn this year. Clive has been decorating the house for Christmas as part of a competition for several years now and as the house is at the end of a cul de sac, the traffic is phenomenal as the season gathers momentum. The houses entered are published in the local newspaper so people can go for a drive at night and not miss anything.

Got my highest score on tetris last night and got Mum hooked into it. She beat my score that took me a week to reach from when I first started!!!!!! Obviously not as spatially challenged as I am when it comes to fitting shapes into spaces to fill all squares required!

Have just booked tickets to Wellington in Jan to catch up with No 1 son and family. As luck would have it, there was a sale on tickets when I opened my email this morning so was glad I hadn't booked earlier.

Am feeling a might peckish - will go foraging for sustenance as I can have breakfast in Oz time and lunch in NZ time heh, heh. Gotta love this festive season.

The Eagle has Landed!!

Well, here I am back again in NZ - touched down just after 5am NZ time this morning. The last week passed pretty much in a blur. The beginning of the week involved writing, correcting and signing reports, cleaning up the last of the things left behind, plus cleaning and sorting our living area in the boarding house.

Wednesday was the staff end of year dinner which was very nice. It was catered and served by several local ladies - one of whom was my favourite librarian! Highlight of the evening was once most folk had gone, the boss got our DP to cook up some kangaroo for a late supper (around midnight, lol). He had prepared it with herbs and spices including a touch of chili so had a very warm mouth but found it OK to eat. It was cut in decent sized chunks - about 1 - 1 1/2" square and not unlike beef in texture but perhaps a little more dense in structure. (it was late at night so that is about the best I can do to describe it, lol).

Thursday was spent mainly cleaning my place, getting washing and ironing up to date and I changed the lounge around - ok, I moved the TV to a different wall and visa versa with a couch - it has opened the lounge up and feels more user friendly I think. I put my ham on to bake mid morning after scoring the skin with a knife, then putting cloves into the skin, followed by pineapple rings secured by a cherry and toothpick in the middle of each circle. I then sprinkled brown sugar over the whole lot with a small amount of pineapple juice in the tray and baked for the next few hours. The WM had scoffed at me decorating said ham but OMG, it was delicious (the very surprised words out of her own mouth, LOL). We had the ham, a small roast of lamb and a roast of beef with roast vegies and greek salad for our 'christmas' dinner which we shared with one of our cooks and a colleague that the WMH co - teaches with. It was a great dinner and not a very late night as I was still trying to sort packing out.

Friday I got to go to Gton and do my Christmas shopping for the Oz brigade and to get some more Christmas cards. I had the WM's car while she had her hair streaked so was able to browse to my heart's content and found I haven't completely lost my talent for shopping or a bargain, LOL. Of course, I seem to have bought myself several things along the way - as you do - amongst all the other bits and pieces.

We didn't get back to school until 6pm so had my last dinner (more ham) with the entire WM's family as the girls came back with us from their boarding school, then after a game of cards, went home to wrap the rest of my parcels and to finish off the other 101 things I needed to do. I was completely over the whole packing thing in the end and to my cost - just threw things in regardless. I finally got to sleep around 1.30 to get up at 5am to leave school at 6.30am for the airport.

Ended up by having two bags plus laptops (had to bring one back to get fixed) and my back pack so got charged $24 for overweight luggage and had to put the laptops in the hold because I was only allowed to have one piece of hand luggage for Sky West in Gton. Grimmaced but thought OK can deal with that - it was $3 per kilo overweight and I think they only charged me for the bags as the laptops and handluggage was overweight as well. Hopped on the plane and woke up in Perth. Found a trolly just inside the door so nabbed it - they are usually locked in lines outside the door and in Perth it costs $4 to use a trolly!!!!! My next challenge was going to the loo ( I know, the familiar theme of all my travel, LOL). What to do - I could not leave my luggage unattended (did not want to be arrested as a terrorist before I got out of the country or to have my luggage blown up!) and because of the shape and amount of it, there was no way I was going to squeeze into the ladies. Just as I was starting to feel a bit desperate, I had a lightbulb moment and thought, aha, the handicapped loo - the only place with a door wide enough for me and said bags to get through - and all was resolved.

The next challenge was that I could not check my luggage in until 3 hours before boarding and as it was 10am when I arrived in Perth domestic terminal, 11am by the time I got to the International airport (by shuttle bus) and my flight was not until 6.50pm, I had some time to kill. I decided to start on my Christmas cards and spent a good two hours on them, posting a pile just outside the door, then read for awile. One of the Brs was already in Perth and he had offered to pick me up for a while if I wanted so did just that. It meant loading all the luggage in his car so as not to leave it behind, and then we found the Belmont shopping area not far from the airport so I was able to have some lunch there.

This shopping area is the equivalent of a small town, all under the one roof, and if I could have, I would have gone crazy as the variety and amount of tempting goodies was just that, VERY tempting but I am glad I resisted. Got back to the airport about 5pm and checked in my luggage. Because of the weight and whinging about my hand luggage at Gton, I had rearranged some of my stuff and repacked it in one of my bags. Imagine my SHOCK at reading Air NZ charges - $20 per overweight kilo. And, wouldn't you know it, they never weighed my hand luggage or laptops (which were now lighter by several kilos that in turn made my two main bags equal 10k overweight). I think the fact they nearly needed to use a defibrolater to help me cope with the shock ( had already done the maths in my head $200!!!!!) meant that was all I had to pay. I was over the whole thing of it all by then and just paid the money with the words 'theiving b%@###'s' running through my head. If I had thought about it I would have repacked a good amount of stuff back into my backpack and put the extra laptop with my other one in the laptop bag and I would have probably only been 5K overweight. (I had also put on extra clothing that I packed in Gton for cooler weather and drunk two bottles of water I had in my back pack, less the cards I had posted too). So be warned any other travellers out there, do not make decisions when you are too tired to be bothered or to think carefully, because it can cost you.

Even though Air NZ is a 'thieving pack of b**%@###'s, I have to say the flight was excellent. After travelling on Virgin Blue from Sydney to Perth in a space that meant you felt like a cricket with your knees nearly folded up around your ears to fit, I momentarily felt like I was in first class by comparison. I was able to stretch my legs out fully under the seat in front of me which was fantastic. I was also very impressed with the new and improved entertainment set up in the back of the seat, that included the remote to same set in the back of the seat as well, instead of tucked into the side of the arm of the seat which is what I have experienced in the past. There was an excellent choice of music to listen to so loaded up a whole lot of songs and settled to read my book. Managed to finish it just before my eyes gave out completely, grabbing about 1 hours sleep when all the lights came on in the plane and we were half an hour out from landing. Landed to 'Eclipse' from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' playing in the headphones.

Am seriously impressed with the new and improved Auckland International airport. Even though there were multitundious people disgoring from several planes, it took less than 30 mins to get through customs, buy duty free grog, collect luggage, go through more customs and xrays to reach the arrival lounge. Lots of space, lots of people working so lots of queues that moved very efficiently. Loved coming back through the carved lintel/doorway along the corridoor into customs then seeing so many Maori and Polynesian faces which is distinctively Auckland and NZ.

Kay and Viv arrived a short while after to pick me up and it was back to Mum's for breakfast with various family members that turned up. Have to admit to needing a Nana nap by 10 am NZ time as I had been about 22 hours awake and was starting to feel it.

Oooops I did it Again

Confessions about a new toy - I have found the game tetris on facebook and it is as addictive as any other game you can find, even though I am fairly hopeless at it, LOL. It involves arranging a variety of shapes to interlink to fill a line, not easy for the spatially challenged, LOL. I am currently on 19,000 odd points which is the equivlent of having training wheels on and someone holding the bike, LOL. Move over mahjong!

Well, D day has finally arrived and we put the last of the girls on the bus for the airport this morning. Yesterday we had the end of term Mass (2nd Sunday in Advent) followed by graduation which would be the equivalent of prizegiving. Speeches, prizes and people waiting through it all for lunch before heading away. The Bishop of Geraldton was present for both events and it was the final school farewell for the Principal on behalf of the students.

I cannot believe I have done a whole school year and it is a novelty to reach the end of a year and not be exhausted! I was on duty for the weekend and we had a BIG clean up which meant very little left to do today. After farewelling the Kimberly mob, the WM and I wrote our reports - all 24 of them in between the odd coffee and various sustenances. My preferred favourite of the day has been left over lamingtons from yesterday - so covered in coating, they are still moist 24 hours later and the cream is still fresh (they have been in the chiller and then our fridge, heh, heh). There are still some to go but will leave them for tomorrow - maybe, LOL.

Tomorrow will proof read our reports, with a clear head after a good night's sleep and then will move all my stuff back to my house from the boarding school and clean our rooms out. Wednesday there is a staff meeting followed by a staff dinner and then Thursday I am having our Christmas dinner up the the WM's. No doubt Friday will take care of itself and then Saturday it will be off to Geraldton to fly home reaching NZ at at 5.30am all going well.

Good news - for the first time since getting broadband, I am under my useage - yay even with using the internet heaps so am well pleased with that which is a nice change from all the trauma of the last few months. Am up at the WM's place at the moment - had dinner with them tonight and am watching Karate Kid out the corner of one eye. I had a laugh before as most of my visits involve bringing my laptop either to skype or to work some problem out. They have good reception at their place which is a bonus. We are often on line at the same time which reminds me of days gone by when I would go to the next door neighbours and lie on a bed opposite my friend - both of us with our noses stuck in a book, and then going home having had a great day. Only the technology has changed, LOL.

It's now 6 sleeps to go!

Not thinking clearly, LOL.

Have just locked the keys in the ute so could spit and snarl. My library book, LAPTOP, clothes, handbag and all sorts of vital bits and pieces that I lug backwards and forwards each week are tucked safe inside!!!! I feel like a limb is missing so next best thing is to pause in the staff room on the way home to check email and update blog! (Luckily, I do have two of everything, including books, excepting laptop of course).

Did the vegie run today sans vegies. Will have to come up with a new name for the run as we are no longer getting vegies for staff because we were not purchasing enough. Had a good drive in - had a truck with wide load come towards me on the way into Mullewa, did about a mile with nothing to see, then hello, had to take to the very side of the road as this small truck with two behemoth grain silos on top of the tray took up the entire width of the road. In the not only but also realm, the silos also had wheels at each side of the structures, that were both sides of the truck. I have never seen anything like it and was too slow to take a picture!

I cannot believe how much the countryside has changed in three weeks. There is lots of stubble in paddocks where the wheat has been cut. Where canola grew, it's back to bare dirt. There is not a blade of green anywhere except for shrubs and trees that are perennials on the sides of the road or in the odd paddock. The red dirt is starting to show more as the cape weed and all the wild flowers have died off. The pond either side of the road about 10k away has dried out to tussocky grass and is white with salt that is sitting there since all the water evapourated. I wonder where the pied stilts, heron, ducks, etc have moved off to.

It was cool this morning - had a cardigan on again as it was overcaste and windy. It actually rained while I was in Gton for about 10mins but nothing out this way. Went to pick up a part for one of the buses from the garage we deal with and got given a tin of buscuits for the office and a box of beer for the Brs. The bloke there asked me whether they would want VB or Tuis? I immediately said, Yeah, right! how on earth did you get NZ beer over here and cracked up laughing when he handed me a box of Tooheys!!!!!!! Yeah, right indeed, LOL.

I bought a small ankle of ham today for $26 - it said is was a leg but its only about 6" worth so think they are a bit extravagant with the description, LOL. Also got a small roast of hogget and some chops for $14.00 which is a bargain as you usually have to offer up your first born to buy lamb over here. Am cooking the hogget tomorrow up at the WM's place for dinner and saving the ham for next week when we will do a Christmas type dinner before we all head away. I bought some glace cherries (apologies to the purists but they are glace real cherries) and toothpicks to decorate the ham before I bake it with the brown sugar and whatnot topping recipe that Dad used to use.

I felt several urges to buy Christmas pressies today but cannot transport anything back this year as have one large item I am dragging back that I bought before I came home last time!!! (organisation in the extreme). The upside is a bit of a spending spree when I get home hopefully with a good exchange rate in my favour, LOL.

Will sign off now, the moon is a reasonably sized sickle with Saturn and Venus dropped down and to the left now. The milkyway out here is something else again. I tried to video it the other night and walked into a bush for my trouble as I was trying to do a 360o sweep with my head tilted back looking in the screen to see if it was picking up what I could see with my own eyes. Managed a good scratch to the leg instead. I suppose I should be thankful that is all that happened, LOL.

PS: Thursday morning (here) I have passed the 1000th reader!!!!!!!!!! Yay. Even taking off me checking a couple of hundred times and the ever faithfull Mum, Kay, Viv,Laura, J&J who leave comments, thank you to them and to those silent readers out there, you are all much appreciated.

Here and There

Have been back at school for a week since the big trip so have had time to reflect on a few things. I still like Sydney - it seems bigger than when I first visited 20yrs ago - go figure - but any ferry trip on the harbour is still magic, and you can walk a long way round Circular Quay, the Rocks, the Opera House, Botanic Gardens, onto the Barracks and Hyde Park relatively easily (and if you are reasonably fit, to do so, LOL). So a bit touristy and a bit of culture (I know, and you thought the Aussies didn't have any ...LOL)- forgot the Art Gallery as well, and then there is the eateries with a variety of foodstuffs from a range of ethnic cooking - what more could a person want.

I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed Canberra after my memories of a bleak dormitory city all those years ago. There is a wealth of touristy and cultural things to visit with Lake Burley Griffin being a focal point of the city with easy access to the above. The Institute of Sport was outstanding and I am sure if you were a sports person (a real stretch for my imagination, LOL)this would be the place to aim for. I found a new food that I liked in their dining room, called Bircher muesli (I had never heard of it before). I googled it last week and it is basically rolled oats and dried fruit soaked in apple juice over night with yoghurt, honey, lemon juice, and slivered almonds/pumpkin seeds added the next morning. I had lashings of it with FRESH blueberries and raspberries each morning I was there and did not feel peckish again until late afternoon heh, heh.

Last week kind of passed in a blur. We had very sad news on Friday. One of our boys lost his 5 yr old brother in an accident when a truck hit him while he was riding his bike. Four of our girls who are close cousins have been away since. We said prayers that night in Mass for the families concerned reflecting on how quickly things can change. Also said prayers for the people in Mumbai. One of our staff has a niece living there and was finding it difficult to get any news of her.

During Mass which was the first one for Advent, we lit an advent candle and had two Christmas carols - one of which I had to sing in front of the lecturn with another staff member to lead the school - Angels from the Realms of Glory with the lonnnnng Gloria in exclesis Deo bit in it. Went into boarding school choir mode and could almost hear Miss Hutton say it was all right, (as I managed to get the right notes and timing to the backing CD) which was reasonably high praise for her - a well done girls was up there with winning a gold medal, LOL. This week it will be Silent Night and O Come all ye Faithful which are two of my favourites. No 9 lessons and carols out here but a Christmas Play on Sunday before graduation instead!!

Went to Geraldton on Saturday for a quick run and noticed several trees with bright orange flowers blooming along the roadside and in several paddocks. Apparently, it is the Geraldton Christmas tree! I have taken a couple of photos but will try for better ones tomorrow when I do the vegie run. Got back from town and went to the WM's place for a gargantuan Pork Roast and Pavlova dinner which was very yummy indeed. I learnt a new card game called scumbag which I played with the WM's family after dinner (and won) before settling back to watch the movie "Mama Mia". I have not seen the stage show which I am told is brilliant. Once I got my head around Meryl Streep singing and dancing and Pierce Brosnan singing, I enjoyed the movie that is light on story line but with some very corny funny bits - loved Julie Waters in her role.

Opened my emails on Sunday to see a photo of No 1 granson with his arm in a sling and the news that he has broken his elbow! I rang and talked to him and his Mum while his Dad was out buying button shirts as tee shirts are to hard to get on for the moment. According to grandson, he was running and fell over with his arm falling on the floor and he fell on his arm. He had two xrays (and a night in hospital) and the elbow bit had separated - he now has wires in his arm and is getting a new plaster caste today. Sounded fairly horrific as accidents often do when you are far away. Not to be outdone, our office lady fell over at basketball that morning dislocating the fingers on her left hand and breaking a finger to the point a bone was sticking out. I had thought of going in that day to watch but decided to stay here and cook dinner instead which is just as well. The basketball people did nothing so it was the WM and the WMH who rang the ambulance and did the most basic of first aid until the ambulance arrived. As of yesterday afternoon she had finally been admitted to a ward in Perth Hospital but no op to get things right yet. She had to fly down to Perth without any nurse or family, carrying her own bag in the uninjured arm, even though she had a cannular in it and was in pain, then had to catch a taxi to the hospital. Makes Middlemore and Waikato almost look good by comparison. It was Geraldton Hospital that sent her to Perth so not a comforting thought that the nearest hospital for anything major is that far away.

Six sleeps to go until the students depart and 12 more till I get back to NZ. I hear the temperatures are in the high 20's. Yesterday we were a warm to the bone 38o and the last two nights, have taken the blankets off the bed and down to a duvet instead. Am still wearing jeans in the mornings which can be cool but am wearing short sleeves and 3/4 length pants especially when outside. Have not got to the sweat dropping off the eyelids heat band yet - that tends to be 40+o.

The harvest is going well - I think Bro said 3,000 ton so far - most days doing over 200 ton which was the entire crop last year. I was talking to one of our staff the other day who also farms with her husband. She was saying someone in the district onsold their wheat for $400 ton last year which has wiped out all their debt, got them seed for next year with a bit left over. The roads are still busy with wheat trucks though on the farm, it should all be over by next week. We are still having days with cloudy skies and wind - like today and it is the coolest start to summer that this area has had in 6 years that the boss has been here.

Do not know what I will be watching on TV tonight. 'All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Home and Away, and Finding our Families have all finished for the year - which I feel is a week or two early and so the silly season will start here with very average programming going on. I see where NZ did well on the first day of cricket but were getting a hiding yesterday. I also see where NZ won a World Cup for Rugby League - that one passed me by completely. I only know of the Warriors playing league and it wasn't them - this is when I feel totally out of the loop, LOL. I know the All Blacks played in London (and won) on Saturday night because friend Phil from Waiuku days had a seat in the corporate boxes to see the game and had skited several times on skype about being there!!!

Am ready for a coffee now so will sign off. Vegie run tomorrow. Catch you later.