The Biscuit Bunch

We all live in a yellow submarine

2012-01-10T17:17:00.001+13:00

Arrive home a short while ago.. it was long day but surprisingly stress-free. The nursing staff were fantastic and the day just flew past. I had no reactions to rituximab or any of the chemo drugs which bodes well for ongoing treatment. Other than that I don't feel any different - no nausea yet. Next treatment in 21 days.. with a couple of blood tests and doctors visits in-between. One down five to go.

I now feel properly qualified to listen to some Beetles tunes in the hope to uncover hidden meanings in the lyrics. Plugging in now…..

Day One - Take 2

2012-01-10T09:24:00.001+13:00

Tuesday is a new day.. it was good to put Monday behind me. I was first to arrive in the ward today - got here just before all the oldies were wheeled in. Sharing ward today with All Black Captain and coach - Fred Allen. He's pushing 92 and is still very sharp and Fred appears to be running the show, he knows all the team by name and they are taking good care of him.

I've seen the team and everything is all setup, drugs loaded. First up is rituximab which is an artificially produced antibody, I think it has rodent origins but thats no worry as I enjoy a good soft cheese as much as the next rat. That is then followed by the heavy hitters of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine… along with the prednisone. The course is based around a 21 day cycle and is called R-CHOP - I'll probably go through 6 cycles.

Ange should be arriving with my coffee shortly - caffeine is as you all know the critical drug that holds everything together. I'm about to get started so I'll get this posted.

cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine

Day One - Fail

2012-01-09T11:17:00.001+13:00

Today ended up being a dry-run. Arrived spot on time. Had line put in. Popped Pre-meds. Then was informed there had been a mix-up between ward and pharmacy - Chemo drugs weren't ready. I successfully revisited the impulsion to go all Rambo and burn the place down while confronting the armed defenders squad welding a blood pressure monitor as a mallet. It was 50-50 call… decided to opt for a "I'm very disappointed" tone especially since I will be seeing quite a bit of these people over the next year.

So back home now - back into hospital tomorrow. I'm sure this is only a one off.. rest assured if it happens again you hear about it on One News.

Friday Check Up (Health Update)

2012-01-06T12:56:00.001+13:00

Fuck its Friday already. Got some good news today - CAT scan results from yesterday showed all other lymph nodes were clean so at this stage the cancer is located only in the chest (mediastinal). Also found out yesterday that I start treatment first thing Monday morning. I'm still waiting for the results back from Wednesday's bone marrow biopsy - should hear back early next week.

Its been a wild ride these last two weeks and I'm still pretty amazed at the speed and momentum that has built up since discovery on 21st December. While some of the speed has to be attributed to having scans done privately, I certainly can't fault the public system which has been fantastic. I like to think that they are trying to make up for missing the tumor when I was admitted back in November but the reality is that (this time around) they seem to be really onto it.

My treatment is being handled by the Haematology department of North Shore Hospital and starts Monday at 9am.. drugs go in intravenously over a six hour period. Go home and chill watching for any reactions.. followup with blood tests over the next two weeks. Check up in third week. The cycle repeats every 21 days, at this stage the plan is to go for 6-8 cycles before a full reassessment. We will get a good sense of the effectiveness of the treatment during the third cycle, probably through another CT scan. The goal initially is to eradicate the tumor completely and then monitor the situation closely. Its all about taking one step at a time.

I'm going to have some fun with this.. watch this space for some interesting hair styles. It will all fall out eventually and then you won't be able to tell me and my brother apart). In the second week of each treatment, I'll have to take extra care to stay away from all sorts of luggies as my immunity will be lower than normal. Otherwise I should be fine to carry on as per normal..

I'm really looking forward to getting the OK to start back into a fitness regime and there is also some really exciting stuff happening at work that I'm keen to contribute to. I'll have to find a replacement to cover my work down in Wellington as I'm not going to be able travel down to the capital every week like last year. Other than that - life continues as normal - I'm feeling Uber positive and looking forward to some new/ challenging/ interesting life experiences.

Indentations

2012-01-05T12:38:00.001+13:00

A bit of a heath update.. in case you missed the news I've had a fairly interesting christmas break (check out my last post for more details). Late last week I got the results back of the biopsy which was taken on 23rd December. This confirmed a lymphoma non-hoskins type tumor.

Things are still moving pretty quickly and I went back into North Shore Hospital yesterday for a bone marrow biopsy and I'm going for a further CAT Scan this afternoon…. these last two procedures are primarily to help plan best course of treatment. I expecting treatment to sometime next week - This will involve an initial phase of six, three week courses of chemotherapy.

I still pretty upbeat… things are moving along quickly and its good to that we've getting onto this problem. Thanks for all messages of support, much appreciated, sorry that I haven't responded or got in touch but will get around to this once I get my feet back on solid ground.

New Years Eve 2011

2011-12-31T21:41:00.000+13:00

Sharing some great tunes on New Years Eve at the Walker batch - Mangawhai Heads

An Unplanned Adventure

2011-12-22T21:32:00.000+13:00

Its been an interesting few days. At the start of November I ran the Auckland Marathon for 5th time. Despite some good training prep it was really tough, probably tougher than it should have been. The following week I was admitted to North Shore Hospital with chest pain.. diagnosis was a viral infection affecting the lining of the heart.

There was something about this diagnosis that didn't stack up and in a follow-up meeting with my own Doc, I persuaded him to send me to a specialist for more tests.

This test finally happened yesterday. He found a problem: something was putting pressure on my Pulmonary Artery constricting flow. The specialist (cardiologist) was a real star and arranged for CAT scan first thing this morning and then after we had discussed results he rang around his network to find an appropriate specialist to pass me onto to. Its Christmas time and most are on are leave but he arranged for me to be admitted to North Shore Hospital.

So here I am.. getting quite use to this place. All three boys were born here and both my mum and dad have had their share of visits. Stuck with needles - waiting for next test.. scheduled for biopsy tomorrow.

I'm pretty good spirits - Que sera sera. Whatever happens next I'll be up for some radiotherapy for quite some time... Only 10 checkins before I become Foursquare mayor of North Shore Hospital.

Tuesday Tuneup

2011-10-25T19:45:00.000+13:00

Its been awhile - but something recently reminded of why I'm are doing this and I have to make an effort to catch-up on the 'ol blog front.

Today was the first day of term 4, which incidentally is Jack's last term before heading to high school at Takapuna.

The RWC has been all consuming and we are all looking forward to a break from test rugby. Boys are spending every spare moment kicking balls and playing touch or tackle. They all want to play rugby next year - so be it!

Cricket season starts this week, boys play their first game this weekend.

Well - I'm pretty unimpressed with my first Tuesday tuneup since Dec 2008 but I'll do better next week.

Rugby World Cup Final

2011-10-24T23:38:00.002+13:00

Sunday 23 October: The French turned up to play and fortunately the AB didn't quite manage the old choke maneuver.

The Biscuit Bunch went on an adventure into town. Which was incidentally packed to rafters and rocking. We arrived and scored a sneaky park at the good 'ol Fish Markets. PERFECT. Tripped around the Viaduct crowd watching. PERFECT. Then called into our fav. restaurant Moonsoon Poon. seated. food. PERFECT.

Finally headed around viaduct passed all the sad 'Nigel no Friends' on their massive yachts back to fish market to watch the game. Great Venue. PERFECT. Game On. NOT PERFECT. Very scary in fact. We Won. MIRACLE.

After the win we shot out to presentation and watch fire works and then back into town to join in the party. PERFECT.

Verdict. PRICELESS.

Cell Phone Laundry

2011-09-11T15:27:00.001+12:00

Henry's cellphone, his first from a recent birthday, is now cleaner than ever. It has just been through the washing machine....
This was just over a week ago: I opened the case and the 'water damaged' sticker was bright red. Left it to dry out for a week, thinking that I was just postponing the inevitable throw away... However miraculously I've put it back together and its now working. It must have turned off at the time.

A Very Clean Phone

Sky Tower Visit

2011-04-06T20:38:00.001+12:00

James and dad had an outing to the Sky Tower on Saturday thanks to GrabOne vouchers. The last time James had visited the tower he was still in a capsule seat so it was somewhat overdue. We had good the two of us especially sitting in the cafe watching the sky jump people while drinking hot chocolate!

No Bridge Too Far

2010-09-25T15:16:00.001+12:00

The Biscuits had a great time in Sydney last weekend. A great opportunity for a long weekend away coupled with the Sydney Running Festival. I’ve done a couple of marathons in Sydney now and promised the family that we would all go across “next time” – well after a few years of procrastinating we finally got around to it.

One of the highlights was finding out that we were flying across on the A380. It’s a massive beast.. almost funny seeing it parked next to other planes. It was quite amazing that it is able to get off the ground – very smooth flight but otherwise nothing special.

The 9km Sydney Harbour Bridge run starts on the western side of Bradfield Park, Milsons Point, runs north for a stretch before doubling back over the harbour bridge, it then peels off across the Cahill Expressway (overlooking Circular Quay), then loops around Mrs Macquaries Point and back down to the finish in front of the Sydney Opera House. It’s a great course and I was especially proud of the boys, especially James, as 9km is a long way for little legs. The gun went off at 9am but there were so many runners that we only crossed the start line at 9:34, the first runners would have crossed the finish line by then!

Well Done James

2010-08-25T19:29:00.001+12:00

Northcote Primary Pupil of the week.. for good reading, spelling and other cool stuff. Check certificate for details. Well done to the school too, they even spelt Bisset correctly.

Got me thinking back to our French Adventure and this post..
http://big-biscuit.blogspot.com/2008/11/have-you-met-james-french.html
I’ll have to repeat this test sometime…

Tooth Fairy

2010-07-05T22:06:00.001+12:00

Someone lost a tooth today.. one of the front ones. Its been wibbly for a week or more. Tooth Fairy had better be generous.

Go the All Whites

2010-06-24T22:27:00.000+12:00

Hail the All Whites.. the Biscuit Bunch are behind you.. all the way.. win our loose.. good luck for tonight.. We are really proud of what you have achieved - you have inspired us and achieved well above our highest expectations.. Good luck for the game. We wish you the very best.. whatever the result you have our support

Bacon and Eggs

2010-04-04T10:55:00.004+12:00

Nothing like a long weekend to kick back and indulge in chocolate treats to help celebrate the Easter festivities.
We had a great breakfast followed by a chocolate desert which prompted the following video. Enjoy!

Another Wave

2010-03-28T22:19:00.001+13:00

Confirmed yet again that a relaxing day at beach is a great way to kill a slow Sunday... We treated Ange to breakfast at Sausalito and headed to Long Bay to catch up with my mum.

La photo du jour: First Wave

2010-03-15T11:30:00.000+13:00

James is up with a little help from some magical friends. “Dad can you buy me a surf board for my birthday?”

Raglan Endless Summer

2010-03-14T12:06:00.000+13:00

We finally managed to escape to Raglan this weekend for a small surfing adventure. This much anticipated event was hastily planned after we realised that we were running out of remaining summer weekends. Jack and I were booked into a surfing lesson on Sunday morning. This was great fun and yes Jack won our bet to be the first up for at least 10 seconds. Henry and James also got in on the action via an informal lesson with mum (by that stage I was too sore and tired).

We’ve now added Raglan to our “favourite NZ spots” list. The surf beach is excellent and the township has a great surf culture buzz. There are lots of cool shops of the melting visa-card variety but the cafes and restaurants are pretty reasonable. We had a great meal at Vinnie's Bar and Restaurant – I would recommend it. P.s. top right picture – this huge wave was at least three metres when it broke!

Culinary Etiquette

2010-02-22T22:44:00.001+13:00

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe:
“For those who choose, the days of sitting in economy and yearning to lie down and sleep are gone. The dream is now a reality, one that you can even share with a travelling companion – just keep your clothes on.”

Ball-King

2010-02-20T14:05:00.000+13:00

Good turn-out to the boys cricket on Saturday. James was very proud to receive ‘player of the day’; his first for the season. Henry and James seem to be enjoying themselves and their skills are all falling into place – at least age wise.
Birkenhead Leasuire Centre also had a “family free day”, so after cricket we took in some rock climbing and swim. Only wish they did that more often.

Waihi Gold

2010-02-14T23:36:00.000+13:00

Went searching for some gold on Sunday – well sort of. The Biscuits and Milhal’s went on a road trip to Waihi Beach via the Karangahake Gorge. The gorge is the sort of place that you drive past a thousand times without ever stopping – so we finally did! The whole area was part of a large gold mining operation from early last century. It has been transformed into a reserve and native bush is progressively reclaiming it back leaving lots of great walking tracks and cool tunnels. We spent the first part of the day at Waihi Beach: had a great swim in the surf followed by a scrummy picnic and then a long walk through the gorge; a refreshing swim in the Ohinemuri river before drudging back to Auckland in the car. It’s a “do-again-a”.

School Year 2010 - finally

2010-02-05T19:51:00.000+13:00

Yes. Kids are back at school. Great holidays but good to put them behinds us. This year Jack is going to Ponsonby Intermediate.. it is out of zone for us and his name had to go into the ballet and while he missed out on the first draw, he was thankfully able to sneak in via the short list.
He catches the bus over the bridge and back – quite a adventure for a 10 year old but all good.
And YES he is allowed to take his skateboard to school – they have a ramp for practice during lunch break. What!

Mangawhai Heads

2010-01-30T13:44:00.001+13:00

Spent the last week at Mangawhai Heads campsite.. it is a great spot and may have to become our new ‘local’ as it is now only 1h30 from home. The weather was almost too perfect.. sun drenched days that eventually started to take their toll despite constant reapplications of lotions and creams.

It was great to see the boys having so much fun.. between the beach and their boogie boards and the campsite and their bikes. They made lots of camp friends and even got to watch movies at night which one of the campers had setup on a large outdoor screen: the perfect end to the school holidays!

Dad, Are we there yet?

2009-12-30T22:10:00.002+13:00

It’s just around the corner.. only 20 more mins. Ahhhh – That’s what you said last time.

Abel Tasman 2009: What a great experience. I have to rate it right up there with the best. We started off weighed down with food and clothes, it was a tough first 14km to the campsite at Anchorage Bay. Early on Day 2 we quickly arranged for the two heavier backpacks to travel by sea to the next stop and we set off feeling much lighter. The scenery was world class (now that we could enjoy it) – dotted with lots of sandy bays to cool off in. Just fantastic! On day 2 I declared Bark Bay to be the most beautiful beach in the world but that record was broken by Awaroa bay on day 3. This trip had everything, lots of sun, surf, a bit of rain, great tracks, appreciation of home comforts and some of the best coastline that the world has to offer.. I can’t wait to do it again in a few years time.

Video Bubbles

2009-12-29T11:06:00.001+13:00

Christmas Greetings

2009-12-25T16:45:00.007+13:00

Happy Christmas! All the best wishes from our family to you and yours. Hope you enjoy the day as much as we are.
Presents – Breekie – Beach – Lunch: have just finished some left-over's from last nights big meal. Boys are jumping in out of pool while still obsessing with their gifts from Santa. Angela has even given her new Sing Star a whirl.. I’m lying low for a minute or to until that wears off.
Must be time for some desert.

Christmas Cricket

2009-12-25T15:37:00.000+13:00

Countdown to Christmas

2009-12-20T13:50:00.001+13:00

Tick tick tick - Not long to wait now. The Biscuit bunch are all set for Christmas: School is out and skateboarding is the preferred holiday activity. My mum is off to S.A. to spend Christmas with her sister and my brother. We are gearing up for a boxing day departure to the South Island for a tramp in Abel Tasman park followed by some R&R with the Beeby’s in Timaru. We have been enjoying an unusually warm and sunny December with crossed fingers that the sun holds the clouds away over the next 8 weeks and preferably longer.. May the T-shirts and BBQ’s reign – bring on the beach weather.

School Prize Evening

2009-12-19T14:20:00.002+13:00

Skate Practice

2009-12-19T14:09:00.002+13:00

The master in action. He asked mum to take a video so he could like, like show Matt his new trick.

Yes – he has asked the I re-concrete the driveway to make it smoother. He’ll have to see Father Christmas about that though!

The dog days of summer

2009-12-07T10:19:00.004+13:00

It was great sunny day yesterday.. we treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast and then opted for the laid back route.

This is a video of our little friendly neighbour, who loves popping over to visit Henry.

WIKI: The phrase Dog Days or "the dog days of summer", refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. Actually this probably just describes my day as Ange did bake a Christmas cake - go girl!

Another Damn Birthday

2009-11-24T23:20:00.000+13:00

The bunch had a great Teppan-Yaki meal at Daikoku Restaurant in Takapuna. This is one of my favourite restaurants - especially Teppan-Yaki. I did think the restaurant was looking a bit dated but then who I am I to complain.. the years are just pilling on.
What great birthday presents did I hear you ask.. well this years theme was underpants.. yep! I now have a fully replenished stock. Ummm I think I'll go all out and ask father christmas for socks.

The Last Dance

2009-11-21T10:27:00.003+13:00

Check out these cool dudes. Off to their last social (dance) at Northcote Primary. A few nerves showing but sounds like it was a success - at least as far as I can make out from the 2 & 3 word answers (grunts) to my questions.. they are becoming more and more like teenagers every day.

I can picture the day when I be telling Jack "tidy up your room or I'll hand out this blog address to all your friends". Bring it on!

After..

2009-11-17T19:02:00.001+13:00

Don't yet have a decent photo but last night we stopped for a quick drink at our new local.. it was their opening night and we were 'obliged' to put in a brief appearance. It got the big tick of approval and we will have to visit again sometime soon.

Before..

2009-11-17T18:57:00.001+13:00

Excuse the crappy photo.. it is a BEFORE shot of our new local "Stafford Wine Bar". As if we needed another reason to drink wine. Fantastic.

New Zealand qualify for World Cup

2009-11-15T11:26:00.001+13:00

Well done guys. Can the All Whites succeed where the All Blacks have failed.. Win a World Cup on South African soil. Come on - it can't be that difficult.

The lady and the bath

2009-11-15T11:20:00.001+13:00

Ange has wanted a clawfoot bath ever since she was a little girl growing up in the eighteenth century (or thereabouts). Her wish came true a few weeks ago when she bought this huge beast on trademe.
It was finally delivered today and I have to admit it looks great.. now all we need to do is reinforce the bathroom floor so it can be installed.

Abel Tasman Plan

2009-11-13T11:05:00.000+13:00

View Abel Tasman Adventure in a larger map

Right - planning is done, bookings confirmed, family convinced: well almost. Ange is a little unsure about roughing it in campsites and the boys - well, they don't know anything. Lets keep it that way until the last possible moment.

It will be a busy time of the year - we will just have to face up to it: there may be other people on the beach. Yeah.. it will be rough but I'm sure we will cope.

Four nights camping.. last year in Spain we lasted one night before buying an air bed at the local mall. No air beds this time - everything has to fit in the backpack.. i.e. THE backpack i.e. the one that I'll be carrying.

Watch this space!

la photo du jour

2009-11-09T18:48:00.000+13:00

I am getting siked up for a family tramp through Abel Tasman just after Christmas..

I've spent a bit of time doing research for bookings and stop-overs and now I just can't wait to get there.

Sunday Slide #2

2009-11-08T23:18:00.004+13:00

Our local park came alive today thanks to the "Families in the Park" crew and some outfit (unsure of their name) who provide a huge water slide. It isn't the first time that they have set up a slide but it is still not an everyday thing and isn't overly publicised. I just happened to be driving back from the city and saw it was all on - even though we live just around the corner we could have so easily missed out!

Thankfully - we made it time to get the little legs a good work out. Cool fun.

Howzat!

2009-11-07T17:07:00.001+13:00

It's cricket season. Henry and James have joined the local Birkenhead club. Jack is content to get in skateboard practice at the "BSP" (as he calls it).

Photo left: Henry made a new friend after his game. A lovely dog called "Spencer".

Second game this week, I missed last weeks game as I was busy with Monarch.

Both boys seem to be enjoying themselves.. They certainly don't get their enthusiasm from me; I was useless at cricket and as a result never really showed much interest in the game. However grandma and her sister were both (still are) cricket mad: they played Women's cricket for Natal and even the Springbok invitation side. Hopefully the cricket gene skips a generation!!


Henry is perfecting his "up in the air" slice		Mum is getting excited!

Ros you need to take the boys down to the park and give them some training.

la photo du jour

2009-11-05T22:05:00.000+13:00

Desert in the biscuit house hold is a treat reserved for good children who eat all their dinner.. but it is also a competition to create something exotic from the various/ perhaps somewhat sparse treats available in the fridge or pantry.. (interpreted as either Ange is mean with shopping or Don is a greedy pig??)

Whatever the cause.. Henry came up with this creation all by himself - of course it was for all of us and I only had a teensy bit.

He asked me to put a post up and so.. voilà - here it is.

SOLD !!!!!!!

2009-11-03T20:46:00.001+13:00

Our agent listed our Monarch rental property today.. the Internet ad went live this morning. The newsprint ad comes on Friday and the first open home was this Saturday. She had quite a few inquiries and ended up showing four couples through the house tonight.

The last couple made an unconditional cash offer which we have just accepted!

One for the movie list

2009-11-02T22:44:00.001+13:00

Looking forward to seeing this on the big screen. I think Ange has a soft spot for Matt Damon and I really like Morgan Freeman - we had better book the baby sitter. The film is due for release on December 11, 2009.

Invictus (also known as The Human Factor) is an upcoming 2009 feature film based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African team captain.

After Match Function

2009-11-02T09:42:00.000+13:00

This years big project has been to refurbish one of one rental properties. The Auckland house market is quite good at the moment and this property needed a lot of work after our tenant of 10 years moved out. The last few weeks have been a mad rush to get everything finished. We had a Saturday's deadline to hand the property over to the agent for photo's and stuff. We finally had a chance on Sunday afternoon to relax after the big race and so we took over some bubbles for a double celebration of the two big milestones completed this weekend. First open home next weekend.

Marathon Success!!!!

2009-11-01T14:05:00.000+13:00

There is a story to be told here but I'm just supplying the photo's. Hopefully the marathon lady will do the rest. Later!

Countdown - 7 Days

2009-10-25T20:16:00.000+13:00

Sunday is approaching,, less than a week away now. Ange is now into carbo-loading rest mode..

She is a little nervous but as usual is sooo totally prepared.. the training plan has been followed to the exact prescribed km/per min schedule - last week was the start of the taper. This is all quite new to me as I normally follow the 2-step plan, i.e. enter and then turn-up, its a good system but it can lead to quite varied results.

Looking forward to some good photo opp's come the weekend. Watch this space!

Blog Refresh

2009-10-18T09:30:00.001+13:00

It must be time to update and re-launch the family blog.. Every time I see the "french adventure" bit I cringe in knowledge that the blog is now well out of date. It needed a fresh start.. and this is it.

Welcome. Don't all check it online at once - I'll hate to be responsible for overloading the Internet.

October School Holidays 2009

2009-10-11T23:17:00.000+13:00

The boys and I had a great road-trip during the second week of the break. We were joined by Jack's friend Matthew and his dad Craig. First stop was at the top of the Bombay hills where we got to admire the steam coming from under the bonnet of dad's car = blown head gasket. Great. A quick car swap, thanks Ange, and we were heading south again just in time to make our appointment for the Ruakuri cave at Waitomo. Then we headed even further south and stayed at a cool batch in Raetihi and had a great day skiing at Turoa before heading up to Rotorua for a final few days of fun and adventure.
Check out James at the top of the ladder at The Wall rock climbing in Rotorua.

la photo du jour

2009-10-09T21:36:00.000+13:00

A shot of James cycling through the Whakarewarewa Forest on the southern outskirts of Rotorua. We had a good morning, missed most of the rain and took in some good tracks.

James was awarded a special prize: his was made the warden of the car lollies for showing great courage in taking on a few "steep" downhill bits and demonstrating mastery of his breaks.

The Whakarewarewa Forest is great, easily as good as out west Auckland, I can't wait to get back there again with some good weather and some more adventurous trails.

Spring is finally here

2009-10-05T22:54:00.000+13:00

I just love NZ in the spring = daylight saving, evening BBQs, long dry spells. It's really great. Especially since it arrives just in time for the October school holidays. This is the last decent chance for some spring skiing and the boys and I are off to the mountain tomorrow.

I had better check out the weather and road reports. Lets see what it's like...........

Ok. No surprises there. Mid-week is looking a bit better and it looks like we can at least count on some fresh snow. I had better pack the winter woollies.

Cross-country

2009-09-02T19:18:00.001+12:00

School cross-country today.. boys had fun. James was funny, he saw me and put on a real burst of speed.

Last Game 2009

2009-08-29T16:58:00.001+12:00

End of Football Season. Friday nights and Saturday mornings belong to us once more.

Boys had some good games. James' team drew 1-1, he scored a goal and won "player of the day". Well done James. Henry's team were ambushed by 7 or more goals. Jack's team played today and won 4-2, Jack scored a goal from a cross-field pass.

Phew - that's football for another year.

Ros took the kids out for a treat while Mum and Dad took in a long training run, it was supposed to be 2hrs but we cut it short.

Smile Time - 2005

2009-08-27T10:57:00.001+12:00

Getting through a busy week. Came across this picture of Jack from 2005, during a school holiday adventure up North. That's certainly a "James" smile if there was such a thing.

Jack caught his little finger in a door at school yesterday. It is very bruised and he is not a happy camper.

Last round of the football season this weekend. I'll have to get some photo's for the blog.

Ange and I were back at our french classes this week. It has been good to go over the basics again but now I'm hanging out to practice more. One step at a time. We are also in training for the Auckland marathon, Ange is following a strict program and I'm sort of tagging along.. it's probably a good thing as I'm not very good with the strict routine stuff.

A glimpse of summer

2009-08-19T07:30:00.001+12:00

I'm in Brisbane for a few days this week. No I didn't get to swim in the "beach" pool, clients kept me busy.

Very nice warm summery weather! I think it is raining back home.

Ange, we must put Brisbane on our next year holiday list. Like MID winter.

Off back home today, early start, late finish, sleep in tomorrow!!

James' special treat with mum - by James.

2009-08-15T17:28:00.001+12:00

I went to Starlight Express. My favourite part was the "finals" - when Rusty won the race. And the funniest part was when Electric - his Mohawk fell down. And the middle-ist best part was went they were practicing for the race - there were lost of races that they were racing. Rusty did lots of tricks in the finals. And mum took me to Starlight Express cause my brothers had already had a special treats before. And at Starlight Express I had a ice cream and when we were leaving to come home I had a hot chocolate. It was the coolest day what I had in my entire life.

Strike - Goal

2009-08-15T15:57:00.001+12:00

Jack's team played their last official match of the session, they were playing against East Coast Bays with the winner of this match taking out third place in the table. Jack scored a great goal in the first half, a medium range strike from just outside the box - it just cleared the goalies head and landed in the back of the net.

Dad also finally managed to (half)capture the moment, see above left. Our coach dished out some good advice at half-time and the team scored four more times to take the final score to 5-0. It was a great way to end the official session, there are still two more friendly games left. The little's boys football was washed out last night owing to rain.

The Volcanoes Challenge

2009-08-12T09:59:00.001+12:00

Another running event lined up for this weekend. Should be fun but weather forecast is not looking that good.

"The Volcanoes Challenge is a unique inner city navigation event where competitors run to, and up, Auckland’s iconic volcanoes, in any order that they choose. "

More French Lessons?

2009-08-10T22:41:00.000+12:00

Just went you thought we had moved on.. Non! Ange and I have started French (night) lessons at Takapuna Grammar. Only four of us in the class - which is pretty good. Got to go and practice my nasal vowel sounds: "un bon vin blanc" - might need some of that shortly.

Well Done Jack

2009-07-22T20:56:00.001+12:00

Happy Birthday Number Two

2009-07-17T22:20:00.000+12:00

~~~~~~~~~

Off back to school next week, I don't like to be late
But when the bell rings I'm always the first out of the gate
I like to be the centre of attention, I'm sure this is a family trait
I am always very friendly and I would like to be your mate
Never been on date but I don't have long to wait
You see, it's no secret that today I turned EIGHT

~~~~~~~~~

Happy 6th Birthday James

2009-07-16T17:00:00.000+12:00

Happy Birthday James! I can't believe my baby boy is six already, it almost as though all that smiling has aged you prematurely.

I hope you have a great day - it will be lots of fun checking out your presents.. and what else will dad have planned?

Last two days of school holidays and two birthdays to celebrate - that should keep us busy!!

Thinking of last July

2009-07-13T09:36:00.006+12:00

Looking out through the middle of winter, last year's adventure seems a very long way off.

We just had a terrible wet, windy and cold weekend and so I dived into the photo library in the search for some sunlight.

The video opposite is a collection of snaps from last July. We had a great time, loads of visitors and lots of cool adventures. July was the first month of the year-end school holidays and we managed to cover quite a bit of ground as you can see.

Blogger's Block

2009-07-05T20:56:00.000+12:00

Forget about H1N1 there is a much more dangerous pandemic afflicting the Biscuit Bunch household: blogger's block. It's not pretty and seems to just hang around like All Black forward pack waiting for substitutions.

Well I suppose it is winter, we have all slowed down considerably. It's has been quite cold in Auckland and I'm really missing the 'Pech de la Mas' central heating.

Ange keeps telling me off for leaving the gas heaters on all night... "but its coolldd" I reply. At least the worst of winter is behind us, or it had better be or I'll be leaving NZ for a warmer climate.

We are both drowning in work.. Ange is settling in to her new job with Baxter Healthcare and I'm working on a major renovation for one of our rental properties. Last years glorious sabbatical now seems a very long way off.

Kids are full of fun as usual.. July school holidays are upon us and I have a few surprises planned for them - no doubt you will see some pictures if I can get rid of the lurgy which is also the title of this post. Also we can't forget that we have a few birthdays to count down to: James on 16th and Henry on 17th.

The boys are right into their football this season.. Jack scored two goals on Saturday to win 3-0. Last week Henry was awarded 'Player of the Day', which he was extremely proud of.

Well at least this beats a music video post which can hardly count as a blog post.

It's not fair!

2009-07-03T15:47:00.001+12:00

Saw this on Rove last week.. very good.. especially the lyrics.

Ange has been over in OZ this last week, well it was actually the last two weeks but she came home for the weekend.

Anyway she gets in tonight but will miss Rove so I'm trying to download tonight's episode.

Belated Birthday Post

2009-06-14T13:31:00.001+12:00

I am in the process of tidying up my picture library and came across these birthday shots. It is a wet and windy Auckland Sunday and I've taken the day off work.

Birthday @ Woodhill

2009-05-17T22:49:00.000+12:00

We had a great day out at the Woodhill bike park.. a real Auckland hidden treasure. Jack was totally excited and he missed out on plenty of sleep before the big day. Mum and dad had a marathon weekend of planned activities - football Friday night and Saturday morning; then we travelled all the way down to Pukekohe for a catch-up with our 'rural' friends :) before trekking back into Auckland for a 8pm function. There was no sleep-in on Sunday as we were straight into bike party prep.

We were very lucky with the weather, it was sunny and warm.. perfect! Jack got some very generous presents from his friends. He handed out the first-aid kits which comprised of lollies, cake and chips to keep everyone occupied on the drive out west. I had arranged a trailer for the bikes (good idea Ange) and we loaded up and headed off.

I was leading the birthday group, only to get lost in some deep valley, but I eventually got us back to the main track.. phew. I rang Ange to tell her I was running behind schedule only to be told that the young boys and her were also lost and about 20 minutes behind us. Thankfully it all worked out in the end and we were back in the cars before it started raining (hard).

The bike birthday adventure was a real hit - most of the boys had never been to the bike park and were totally impressed. I think a few parents might be getting their arms twisted right about now. One of the boys made my day by saying it was the best birthday party he had ever been to.. I'll take that. I'll reckon I will sleep well tonight.

Happy Birthday Jack

2009-05-11T15:22:00.001+12:00

Mothers Day 10 May

2009-05-10T21:19:00.001+12:00

Angela's tenth mothers day today - Jack turns 10 tomorrow. We had a really nice day, took a walk around Heath Reserve and along the Tuff Crater track.

The big birthday looms and we have a very excited almost 10 year old in the house.

The instruction manual never mentioned how fast they grow up.

Ride Woodhill

2009-05-08T11:54:00.001+12:00

I am falling somewhat behind with blog posts, it must be a winter thing. Jack's tenth birthday is almost upon us we heading out to the Woodhill bike park for his party next weekend. He is very excited as he knows he is getting a new bike (a pink one with a lovely white basket - as his mum keeps teasing him) and he can't wait to try it out. He is also quite proud of his party invitation (below) and would like it blown up poster size for his wall.

The boys are having great fun on their bikes - Jack has outgrown his bike and has taken to riding mine and his brothers are fighting to take turns on his old bike. Watch this space!

Easter School Holidays

2009-04-10T18:38:00.000+12:00

No we haven't been taking another secret holiday - this is just a flash back from great Easter holidays we had in the Coromandel back in 2004 and the far north in 2007. This year's Easter School holidays have just started and the boys and I are off next week on a camping adventure. Happy Easter and don't eat too much chocolate......

la photo du jour

2009-04-05T20:41:00.000+12:00

It was another "Ice-cream Sunday" type of day. Just the right amount of sun and sand.

Jack had a birthday party.. Mum had a girls brunch date so us other boys headed for a walk along Takapuna beach, with a ice-cream treat at the end. Yum.

Clocks went back last night in NZ and if the colder months are approaching they must definitely be taking the long way around.

Weekend Clean Sweep

2009-04-04T23:41:00.000+13:00

The boys cleaned up nicely this weekend - three comprehensive wins: good work guys.

We have joined a new club this season, closer to home and way more organised than the last. This week was all about James... his first football team, his first game... he has been sooooooo very patient watching his big brothers over these last years.

James' team won 3-2 and he was awarded player of the day! The take-home prize was a McDonalds Cheese Berger which was picked up and thoroughly enjoyed on the way home.

Henry has settled into his new team, they won 4-3 and he really enjoyed himself.

Jack was feeling a bit off colour today and almost missed his game but we turned up as his side was short of players and he scored the only goal in his teams 1-0 victory. Oh Happy Days.

Motutapu - Rangitoto Traverse

2009-03-30T23:09:00.005+13:00

Wow! Hard to find the words... Had a great half-marathon on Saturday... it was really hard work. I wasn't expecting a fast time but three hours was somewhat longer than expected.

Narrow tracks and big hills = very sore calf-muscles today.

As promised I took the camera along and managed to nab some great shots and even a bit of video footage.. note however that I am not using this as an excuse for my slow time. Check out the 3 minute video insert below for a snapshot of the event. I have edited out the wobbly bits where I almost lost it completely - thankfully no injuries.

I have also included a higher quality link below for those with fast Internet connections (P.s. Mum that is not you).

I will certainly be back next year.. this is by far the best off-road event in the Auckland region. I especially liked the wide range of event options, the mountain bike option looked really cool. P.S. I'm not planning an attempt on the marathon course - it looked deadly serious.

Thanks to Ash for talking me into entering this event and to Brent for the cheap ticket.

The event was organised by Total Sport in conjunction with the Motutapu Restoration Trust. The trust are keen to raise the profile of Motutapu Island in support of their vision which is to replant large sections of Island with native trees. The campsite looks inviting and I'm definitely going to drag the family over for a visit sometime - it would be rude not to.

The Dual

2009-03-27T20:35:00.002+13:00

I've entered into a race tomorrow.. it was a bit of a last minute decision (thanks trademe.co.nz). It is only a half (21km) but the terrain should make it more interesting: its starts from Home Bay, Motutapu Island out and loops up and back across Rangitoto Island. I'm going to take the camera along and will post should pics shortly.

A likely fishing story

2009-03-22T23:21:00.000+13:00

Sunday dawned bright and sunny.. we split the biscuit bunch up: Ange took the boys to the BMX track only to find they had an event on (which proved interesting to watch) and I took Ross for a kayak around Waitemata harbour. We then converged back at base camp for some lunch before sending Ross off on his long drive home.

Then Ange raced off to take Henry to football practice before heading out on his much anticipated wharf fishing adventure. I took Jack and James for a off-road bike ride (as they had missed out early) but it wasn't long before my assistance was required at the wharf to resolve some mechanical fishing line "issues". Then we stumbled across the Walkers who were testing out their new kayaks.. talk about being knackered after a full-on weekend. Sorry Ange - don't expect much painting to be done on Monday!

Time Travel

2009-03-21T23:25:00.000+13:00

A bunch of us travelled back in time on Saturday night. It wasn't as hard as they make out in those sci-fi movies.. all it took was some beer, mixed with some wine and combined with some special BBQ mushrooms.

Our trip took us all the way back to 1989 to Montagu Street, London; just around the corner from Marble Arch. Here we all are sitting on the bench outside our old residence.

It was great to go back and re-live old times but unfortunately we didn't revert back to our younger selves and it wasn't long before Trevor realised he had left his 'old man' pills behind and we all had to travel back to the present with him.

It was agreed that this exercise will have to become an annual event in the future (or is that the past?) Its confusing - like an episode of 'Lost'.

North Head Tunnels

2009-03-21T13:04:00.002+13:00

One of the nicest spots to visit in Auckland on a sunny day is North Head, an extinct volcano just outside Devonport on Auckland's North Shore. From this great vantage point you can look out over the harbour taking in all the eastern beaches from the city all the way around the coast.

North Head is home to some interesting tunnels left over from its military past.

The boys and I took Ross for a bit of a wander through the tunnels.. I think he enjoyed himself but he was pretty scared in some of the dark tunnels.

We had a good morning before heading home to get ready for the evenings BBQ.

Saturday Update

2009-03-14T12:36:00.000+13:00

Northcote Primary had their sports day on Wednesday afternoon.

It was a fairly low key event: races and other fun events for the kids, sausage sizzle and cake stalls for mum and dad.. ah nothing like a bit of fund raising.

The weather wasn't great but the rain mostly held off, thankfully.

Bit of an interesting week, Ange went to an interview on Monday and was back working at her old (2nd last) company, TelstraClear by Wednesday. Although it is just a short contract things seem to be warming on the job market front for both of us.

Today we went for our obligatory weekend "tramp" through the Highbury bush just up the road.

The boys were keen to check out the bike track (left) that some local teenagers have built on the edge of the bush. Jack: " Cool but it looks a bit hard - I think it is only for teenagers dad".

We saw lots of bird life, check out the photo's above.

Otherwise nothing to report, house painting is progressing nicely.

Biscuit Update

2009-03-08T14:21:00.002+13:00

Not many posts this last month... I could use the excuse that life back in Auckland is somewhat simpler than the big adventure in France but a far better excuse is that we have been very busy. All the same an update is now well overdue. The big news of the week is my brother, Greg and his wife Lana just had their first child, Matt. Well done team.

Ange and I are still working hard on the job seeking front.. The market is very slow and the jobs that are out there are just harder to get.. it is really a waiting game. The house painting is progressing well, the paintwork along the back side of the house was quite bad and I'm having to strip right back to the wood which is pretty time consuming. At least the weather this last month has been good, a few rain storms here and there but not enough to disrupt progress.

The kids are enjoying school - especially with all their old friends around. Having no language barriers must help somewhat. Football season is just starting and our boys are signed with a new club, Glenfield Rovers.

The latest craze around our house is the North Harbour BMX track. I friend took Jack along and now that's all he is talking about. It is good outdoor fun and will help them all build up their confidence.

Ange and I have been doing a fair bit of off-road running on all the tracks through the local parks.. it is easy to forget just how beautiful and accessible these local tracks are. I've included some photo's from our family walk on Saturday through Little Shoal Bay Reserve and up into Le Roys Bush.

I took Henry on a one-on-one father son treat yesterday to see the Auckland Blues play the Natal Sharks at Eden park. We both had fun but the rugby was pretty disappointing.. the Sharks ran circles around the Blues, who tackled badly and generally played like they had left their brains behind in the changing rooms.

The garden is looking good. I have removed a few truckloads of trees or shrubs and have installed a large compost pit. I'm planning to extend the vegetable garden which has been churning out heaps of fresh produce.. we now have more tomatoes then we can eat - well almost.

That's it for now.. until next time.

Weet-Bix Tryathlon

2009-02-15T23:45:00.002+13:00

Jack competed in the Weetbix Tryathlon event today. It was an early start for us Biscuits.. out of the house by 7:30 and over to Narrow Neck Beach for the pre-race setup.

His younger brothers watched patiently and behaved very well as the event stretched out through the morning and into early afternoon. Jack's age group was one of the last to set off but he found a school friend or two in the race start area which helped to kill time.

The sea conditions weren't perfect but everything else was 'just right'. He really enjoyed the cycle and was well knacked by the end of the run. His brothers were very jealous and can't wait to be old enough to join in the fun. I don't think I could manage three full sets of photo's as I had to cover a fair bit of ground to bring you this lot below.. Another great day in Auckland.

Narrow Neck Beach	Pre-Race	The Swim	The Transition
The Cycle	The Run	The Medal	The Champ

The finish line beckons..

Well Done Jack..

Auckland enjoys hottest day ever

2009-02-12T21:08:00.000+13:00

5:06PM Thursday Feb 12, 2009

A MetService weather station at Whenuapai Air Base has recorded the hottest temperature reading ever in Auckland.

Temperatures peaked at 32.4 degrees Celsius, equalling the previous high recorded in the Auckland Domain in February 1872 - 137 years ago.

- NZ HERALD STAFF

Another hot summer day, well by Auckland standards as 32.something degrees isn't exactly steaming. The humidity is very high though.

It was our 15 year wedding anniversary today and my present involved spending the day on the scaffold around the back of the house on the end of a heat gun.

Had the i-Pod going inside the ear-muffs, this painting lark should keep me busy for a few weeks.

I'm pretty happy with the scaffolding that I picked up on trademe for $150.

Coffee Delight

2009-02-05T10:16:00.000+13:00

One of the 'must haves' of our post-European life (WTF!) is a Phillips Senseo coffee machine. These espresso units are very popular in Europe but are not marketed in NZ probably 'cause they don't have a milk frother.

We got our Senseo through a local chain of Dutch Delicatessen Retail Shops. Ange is the barista in the family and I'm not allowed to use our other coffee machine but I have been assigned to Senseo duty as they are so easy to operate.

We are testing out the different brands of espresso pods to decide which ones we prefer. So if you are in the neighbourhood feel free to call in for a coffee.

Back to School (Horay!)

2009-02-05T09:32:00.001+13:00

The boys went back to school on Wednesday, they only get two days this week as tomorrow is a public holiday (it is just like being back in France).

It all went well. Old friendships were easily renewed and they all seemed totally relaxed. I did miss our discussions over the school lunch menu though.. in NZ we call this the lunch-box and it is of the BYO variety.

This term Jack's class is working on the 'metric system' - which he covered last year and he is chuffed to be off to a head start.

Sending the kids off to school at least means that Ange and I get a bit more time to organise things. We popped in to see our accountant yesterday and we are looking forward to getting a tax refund from the government.

It has been really hot and humid in Auckland, great if you are camping near the beach but less so when we are hanging around and working at home. Anyway it all bodes well for a long hot summer.

la photo du jour

2009-02-03T12:28:00.000+13:00

Team New Zealand complete an unbeaten run through the first round robin of the Louis Vuitton Pacific with a victory over French syndicate Pataugas K-Challenge.

Dean Barker won the start and the Emirates Team New Zealand boat maintained the lead throughout the race.

The upset of the day came when the South African's Team Shosholoza downed Swiss Team Alinghi. Good Stuff!

Last Days of Freedom

2009-02-02T17:25:00.002+13:00

School starts back on Wednesday. 2009 will be other big year for the boys: fitting back in, Jack's last year at primary school and James' first year. The school bags aren't packed yet but otherwise we are all ready (and waiting) for the big day.

It has been a slow week... I spent most of it removing a few truckloads of trees that had outgrown our back yard. Ange and I have been back into town for job interviews and we are still finding that there is more unpacking and sorting to do.

On Sunday there was a community fun day down in Stafford park. A water-slide was erected on a steep bank overlooking the park and Ange took the boys for some fun.

Nothing like a bit of water and soap on plastic sheeting to keep young minds preoccupied for a FEW HOURS.

I took this somewhat grainy video but it suits the purpose and shows Jack finishing in fine style.

At least this was an improvement on his last video slide attempt - I still have to send that footage into funniest home video's.

Staying in touch

2009-01-30T16:13:00.000+13:00

I should say "trying to". James and I have just managed to reply back to his school (a few weeks later than we should have). We have all been pretty busy unpacking, working in the garden, catching up with family and friends and not to mention chasing down some jobs. The later search is going quite well, we are both onto some good prospects but the market is very quite.

I created the following montage showing the boys and these wonderful French books which the Le Got school gave them as Christmas presents. They are really very good and have been helping to keep up our french practice. Also shows a bit of our Auckland life.

Boxed Biscuits

2009-01-09T23:41:00.001+13:00

At lease they didn't melt. Yes, our precious cargo of some 160kg has arrived safely after its long journey home.

These boxes were excited unpacked and inspected - it was just like Christmas. No real damage thankfully, only a few scratches and dents. I stacked up all of Ange's 'bargins' on the dinning table and it will interesting to see where they all up. I have few spare empty boxes - well five actually.

It has been a busy week and our house is looking almost habitable, a big improvement from Tuesday. Best of all is I now have all technology running, all except the PS2 which has got tired of waiting for the upgrade to arrive as retired itself.. How will we survive without a Playstation?

Bellevue

2009-01-06T23:35:00.001+13:00

After a rather long day travelling north to Auckland, we finally able drive down our driveway, reclaim our home and restart our lives back in NZ. Shuttles, Flights, in fact everything was on time and we had no drama whatsoever. The best news of the day was that all our belongings in storage were dry and undamaged after the wettest NZ winter in 10 years. This is all thanks to a combination of good planning, positive thinking and an seemingly endless supply of good luck.

Unpacking will take us a full week and then we'll still have to deal with a huge pile of left over junk. Ange has her heart set on a garage sale, I almost suggested calling this a "brocante" or vide-grenier" but then I released she would most likely buy up everything on offer, so we'll stick with garage sale.

Our boxes from France are just a few days away.. they have arrived in Auckland and I'm working through the customs and MAF procedures which help keep our great country free of nasty pests.

Speaking of little pests, our three have been having a great time re-exploring the house, finding old toys and generally bashing the shit out of their trampoline at the bottom of the garden. They are definitely pleased to be home. Henry has taken over Jack's room and Jack is camping in with James until his new room is ready. They all had haircuts todays, well overdue but we are sticking with the long rebel look.

I had now gone almost two weeks without access to the Internet which, I've decided, must be exactly what it feels like to be a heroin addict going into detox. My wrists are still intact but only just. A very special thank to Vodafone who have delivered our broadband two weeks earlier than expected/ contracted...

As this post will bare witness, I'm back online. Phew.

I'm definitely still missing France but at the same time it is great to be home. We have all had to switch out of 'France Mode' and back into 'Kiwi Mode' - this must sound a bit clichéd but it is very real and strange feeling.

One thing I am not missing is the northern winter. Summer is just great, especially the long warm evenings. I feel we have cheated the seasons and I don't feel the slightest bit guilty. Check out the temperatures for Paris.. Brrrrrrrr.

2008-12-25T15:12:00.003+13:00

Season’s Greetings from Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand.
Paris - Dubai – Auckland: The stop-over in Dubai really helped to break up the journey but we were all shattered by the time we landed in Auckland. It is good to be home, it was really funny to hear all the thick kiwi accents as soon as we got into Auckland airport. After a few slow days we managed some last minute Christmas shopping and have bumped into quite a few friends and neighbours in the process. On Sunday night we had a BBQ at our house in Northcote Point. James and George, our friends and tenants, have kept the house spotless and it was good to sit out on the deck with some bubbly and catch up. The boys are really excited to be home and it took them no time at all to give the ‘ol tree house and trampoline a good workout. Ange has already been out for a first job interview on Tuesday, she is on the case our Ange. There appear to be plenty of good options for her in the telecommunications industry. I will start doing the rounds in January and also have a few options to follow up. The global economy is an ongoing concern but we are fortunate in that we can afford to wait it out if we have to but I don’t expect it will come to that. The Biscuit Bunch is in Timaru for Christmas where we are staying with Ange’s mum. My mum, who has also flown down from Auckland, is staying just around the corner at a local motel. It is quite surreal to be back in New Zealand. We miss many aspects of life in France.. the rural life, good friends, exciting adventures, great boulangerie bread, fantastic cheeses and don’t get me started about the wine. The time went by far too quickly and we would have liked to have stayed longer. We can’t wait to move back home on January 5th.. it is going to be hard work to unpack the house, all our belongings are packed floor to ceiling in the downstairs bedroom. The freight company have also been in touch, our belongings have arrived and I need to arrange for it to get inspected by MAF inspectors to ensure they comply with the very strict import rules. Should be fun (not). Well I’m going to keep this short as I don’t have lots of time. I’m relying on the Internet access from mum’s motel and need to have this finished in order to drop her off at home. I expect that my blog posts will be few and far between until I get back to a permanent Internet connection but I have a number of ‘work in progress’ posts that I need some time to complete. I plan to keep the blog going but it won’t be as regular as it was in France.
All the best wishes for a great Christmas and happy new year.

Cheers Don, Ange, Jack, Henry, James
Timaru, South Island, New Zealand

Auckland 19th December

2008-12-19T19:31:00.000+13:00

L O N G F L I G H T but we are safely home. Staying with my mum for a few days before heading south for Christmas.

We are very tired. There is a pillow somewhere with my name on it.

HOME !!!

The Desert

2008-12-18T06:34:00.001+13:00

Just got back from the desert tonight.. we headed out in three cars. I was a somewhat nervous driver in the middle car. Denise rode shotgun, I was doing my level best to follow in Jeremy’s tracks.

Fortunately I didn’t get stuck and it was great fun. The car following me bottomed out on this small dune but it seemed bigger than Mount Cook when I was driving over the top.

Jeremy took a few of us for a dune busting tour. We headed up the big dune in the top left pictures, amongst others. This was something else. Took some great video which will have to get posted later.

Shisha

2008-12-17T08:11:00.000+13:00

Shisha (Arabic: شيشة‎), from the Persian word shīshe (شیشه), meaning glass, is the common term for the hookah in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.

A hookah is a single or multi-stemmed (often glass-based) water pipe for smoking. Originally from India, the hookah has gained immense popularity, especially in the middle east.

A hookah operates by water filtration and indirect heat and is used to smoke herbal fruits or tobacco. Jeremy had double apple and we have grape (?). It seems like a rather poor substitute for alcohol but you have to try everything at least once.

The hookah are banned in NZ because too many kiwi's like to use them to smoke cannabis.

la photo du jour

2008-12-17T05:27:00.000+13:00

Not sure if this still warrants the french title but what the hell. We spent the day relaxing at the British Club or just "The Club".

It is just one of the many resort like places with a licence to serve alcohol which as a result is somewhere for expats to hang-out.

The kids spent most of the day in the pool and beach and were sent off to bed early tonight. Denise has a babysitter in and we are off to try some shisha.

One Camel, Two Hijabs and the tomb of Sheikh Zayed

2008-12-16T04:52:00.001+13:00

Pretty busy day today.. we headed down to the cultural centre to check out some local history. The boys got to ride a camel - I was too scared.

We then shot over to the Grand Mosque.. it was impressive although the best part was that Denise and Ange had to put on a hijab. This new mosque was built at the direction of the previous ruler of UAE, Sheihk Zayed, who died in 2004. He wanted the mosque to be accessible to non-Muslims to promote understanding etc. His tomb is built on the site and he has a team of guys to constantly sing/ recite the Qur’an around the clock.

We had a lunch at a shopping mall with a huge indoor fountain and shot through to the public beach. This was strictly divided into two areas: single female + family area and separate area for single men. I think if you were a single man travelling to this part of the world, you would be best off to turn gay, as you probably see more action that way. Anyway, I was still quite surprised that in the female/ family section bikini's easily outnumbered one-piece outfits and there was even a g-string or two.

Well I think that's enough detail.. it was all quite interesting from a cultural perspective. I don't think I could live in this type of environment though - just far too conservative for my liking.

Hijab Babes

2008-12-16T03:27:00.002+13:00

Some video from today.. couldn't quite get this into the main post so here it is all on its own.

Pretty far out there from our New Zealand (or even French) perspective so it good to get this moment recorded for the numerous playback opportunities that will no doubt present themselves sometime in the future.

Dubai

2008-12-14T11:07:00.000+13:00

We've arrived. Not a bad flight... the kids even managed a bit of shut eye. The new terminal is substantially more modern than the terminal we used back in January.

It was great to see Denise, Jeremy and kids. We had good day in Dubai, shooting around some of the key spots. The markets were a hit.. the indoor ski field at the shopping mall was something else.

Just as the sun was setting we headed home to Abu Dhabi for nice meal a few wines and lots of catch-up.

From the gate at CDG

2008-12-13T08:38:00.000+13:00

What a mission.. I'll need to help myself to a few wines once we are aboard. Either that or crack open the duty free.

We made it through Friday afternoon Paris traffic without running out of fuel.. however the McD's at the airport had run out of burgers and then fries. Have you ever heard of that.. so no fries or burgers - what else is there?

The check-in was a mission.. there were two groups in front of us and both left the counter without boarding passes looking to go pay for excess luggage. I knew this was going to be hard but when the lady asked to weigh our carry on, I really thought that we were screwed. I put on my best french and started to move the kids around like the 'ol "watch the moving box" street trick. I managed to totally confuse her.. she ended up weighing our lightest carry-on three times (instead of the heavy ones) and completely missed my computer bag. The strap of this bag is starting to tear, well it does weight 20kg.

Anyway - we thankfully got through all the luggage checks with lots of smiles and merci's.

We were then confronted by the border patrol who insisted that we should have had carte de sejours for the three kids as well as ourselves.. who were we to say that the prefecture in Dordogne told us we didn't need them. Anyway lots of phone calls and a few supervisors later then let us through.

Now we only had to get our carry past the final security check.. some people were being sent back to check luggage in. Imagine the line of five of us each pulling a large carry on and getting through scanner. Henry and James can barely pull theirs let alone lift them. Of course there was something in the one of bags that drew their interest.. but the guy picked out the wrong bag to check.. the light one with clothes. I opened a few others pulling out various brocant items.. I think they got they picture and decided to wave this troublesome group through before the traffic to CDG started to back up on the A1.

Phew.... I found the only electrical outlet (battery is stuffed remember) right next to a small pay area with a playstation for the kids. Ange is off duty free shopping... Boarding in 15 mins. Life is good.

We are off!!!!

2008-12-13T03:01:00.001+13:00

Thats it.. all bags packed except for my computer bag. Checked luggage weighs in at around 108kg, our limit is 100kg but there are a few items we can ditch if we have to. I had better keep quiet about all the carry-on stuff in the hope that Emirates don't notice it.

The car is pretty full.. it is just 27km to the airport and the dial tells me that I have 50km of diesel left.. The idea with euro lease is that you hand the car back empty, which in this case I'm interpreting quite literally.

We are going to arrive at the airport with hours to spare, our plane leaves at 9pm, which is 12pm local time Dubai, we arrive at 6:40am local and Denise has arranged a big day for us to explore the sights of Dubai. No pressure or In her own words we just have "to suck it up".