Breakfast Maker, Lunch Box Builder and Taxi Driver!

            * Boil eggs.

            * Wrap separately:

                        3 packs of crackers.

                        2 bread rolls.

                        1 cheese slices.

                        1 capsicum slices.

                        1 cucumber slices.

            * Cook 2 slices of toast and make egg and spring onion sandwich.

            * Make 2 hot chocolates:

                        1 with choc and strawberry Quick.

1 with Milo.   

* Cook 2 slices of hot buttered toast.

* Cook 2 slices of hot honey toast.

* Add chips and lolly pop to lunch boxes after Annie has left for work!

* Pick up neighbor’s daughter.

* Take kids to school.

* Come home:

 Do the dishes

 Sweep the floor.

 Lie down, exhausted!

It’s got me thinking, it’s easier to go to work!

Castles in the Liquefaction!

Today is the first day I have been out of bed before sunrise. It is 7am. I have drawn the curtains and a gentle mist is hovering above the fields. The sky is clear and the day looks like magic, enchanting, and I know the forest will be full of goblins, wizards and gnomes!

We have just heard there is one street in Christchurch where 50 houses are sharing one port-a-loo! Joe is laughing hysterically. I think it is because he is sitting on a flushing toilet! Actually, Joe has earned an extra point from his sister-in-law for always putting the lid down after using the loo!

As soon as the children have gone to school I go out for a walk, pleased to be free of the responsibility. When I am taking care of them I am always listening, watching, and wondering what they are up to.

I walk deep into the forest. I am looking for toad stools – the red ones with the white dots. I saw some a few days ago, but none this time. All of a sudden I look up at the wonderful trees towering above me and an uneasy feeling sets in. I know it is time to head back to the road. The forest is not the place to be caught out! 

The children are home from school now and I am watching them play outside in the sunshine. Oops, another aftershock! Even the cows stop grazing for a moment. The children take no notice at all, they continue to scream and shout and build castles in the liquefaction!

Kiwi road rules – Uh!

“Remember” said Annie as she handed me the car keys, “in Kiwiland you:

1) Give way to the right when turning left.

2) When turning right, off a busy road, you must pull over to the left, and wait for both lanes to clear, if you are unable to immediately turn right!

I had heard about number one, but number two was too much for this little black duck. What with my kangaroo braking, and the rain, and the road rules, by the time we muscled our way through the afternoon traffic, I handed over the keys to Annie and said “babe, you can drive us home!” The following day I was offered the use of a car but I declined!

Everything is closed, the beaches are closed, the parks are closed, birthday parties have been cancelled. Luckily the suburban shopping centres are open, and a little retail therapy is good at a time like this! In my hand luggage I will be bringing home a family of hedgehogs, for my garden, to remind me when I came to Christchurch in March 2011.

Only six more sleeps and I will be heading for home. The children start school tomorrow and I will miss them so much. I will always remember when they snuggled up while we watched TV, how they comforted me when I cried, and the number of times they said “I love you.”

Aftershocks, more Aftershocks!

Just when we thought it was safe we are nudged by an aftershock measuring 4.8! It is 8pm on Saturday 5^th March and we are resting in front of the TV, thinking our day is done. We all stand up in one fluid motion and move towards the “safe place.” I am holding onto Annie. The rumble lasts for five seconds then it is gone.  The house shrugs it off once more. We sit down again but it is hard to settle. The children are a breath of fresh air, unaware of the danger. Just as well. Joe said to me, “When Annie and I are at work, if you get an aftershock, the safest place is in the house!” “There are dangers outside,” Joe continued “you don’t want to get caught out in a mud pool - could bury you alive.” Comforting thought!

It is a strange feeling not to feel safe in you own home. I may have the early stages of quake-brain myself. I take very short showers now, feeling afraid that if the house moves I may be trapped inside – unable to open the shower door.

School has been postponed once more. Today we did some school work at home – reading and mathematics. Afterwards we made cup cakes and decorated them with pink and blue icing and jelly beans and marsh mellows. Then Molly and Sam played Lego. Sam said to me “no offense, Aunty Janie, but you are too old to play Lego.” Sam obviously didn’t appreciate my antics when I played the country cop on the only Lego motorcycle. Lucky me!

Kids and Quake Brain

We have had many aftershocks since I arrived in Christchurch. The first one, in the dead of night, had me out of bed and groveling in the dark to open my bedroom door. While I struggled to get back to sleep I kept telling myself “I must be brave for Annie and Joe’s sake.” I knew I had felt this sense of foreboding before and I traced it back to being stuck at Steep Point for 10 days, aboard our yacht Roma II, while waiting for the gale to abate so we could make safe passage to Geraldton.

By sun up, on my first day, I was ready to do what I had come for - take care of the children so my sister Annie and Joe could catch their breath. My niece, Molly, is 12 years old and Sammy is 9. Kids’ cooking was high on their agenda, so we made a shopping list and headed to the supermarket. While Sammy and I were wandering around the isles he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said “hey Aunty Janie, people might think you are my mum.”

When we arrived home, we made chocolate “bugs” and gave them eyes and ears and ate them sparingly! Then we all lay down to rest, the kids were more exhausted than me!

I have learnt a new term since arriving in Christchurch - “quake brain” - hope I don’t catch it too. Although we are still pooping into plastic bags, the aftershocks are much less now but I still sleep with my bedroom door open!

Christchurch Bound

I survived the night flight from Perth to Sydney, dosing all the way. At first I had the middle row of seats all to myself, but as I was undoing my boot laces and retracting the arm rests, a hostess ushered a large dude to my row of seats and that was the end of that! The only question I have is why would Qantas serve stirfry chicken and rice at midnight? Otherwise the service was excellent! 

I Navigated the rows and corridors of Sydney Airport, leaving behind Bailey's Irish Cream (2 for $47 - expensive) and 1.2kg of Toblorone for $20 (cheap but Sammy can't eat nuts). I had a little haste in my step as the boarding time for my connecting flight to Christchurch was now only 10 minutes away, however when I arrived at the gate the plane was running 45 minutes late - no mention of this on any of the monitors! So I retraced my steps and topped up at the water fountain and slurped at a tasty flat white, accompanied with cheese and biscuits and a chocolate - all that was left from my midnight snack.

I was surprised how many people were traveling alone. Some sleep in air port lounges, some read, while others seem to look far into the distance as if contemplating what the future might hold.

At 1pm New Zealand Time, while the plane was flying high over the Tasman Sea, the crew held two minutes silence for the victims of the earth quake. As the cabin fell silent I wept into my cup of tea for all those who had fallen and for those who had lives to rebuild.

When I arrived in Christchurch, there they all were, Joe, Molly and Sam. We hugged each other as if we had waited along time to see each other again. It was such a shame that our meeting was under such tragic circumstances.

Midweek Down South

Jane on her BMW F650GS

If I said it took three days to prepare two motorcycles for a camping trip, no one would believe me, right? After all the time spent buying stuff, and loading stuff we set off from home, on our BMW GS’s, to see if we could enjoy a camping trip, without the luxury of the trailer in tow. Apart from the kitchen sink, on our previous trips, the trailer contained our large camp chairs and an esky full of cold beers!

Perth, Western Australia, had fallen under the spell of the hottest summer on record so we were on the road by 7am to escape the heat and enjoy a morning ride. Our first stop was Bruswick Junction, for tea and a generous slice of date loaf. We sat quietly, admiring the bikes and mumbling things like “this is the life!”We were soon back on the road and riding through the Ferguson Valley. We didn’t stop at Gnomesville this time around, but I couldn’t help think about the movie Gnomeo and Juliet as we rode on by!

I insisted on hydrating at Balingup before taking the twisty and unpredictable Balingup to Nannup road. My dear little bike was champing at the bit to get going along that road, but her rider was reluctant to let go and I took it easy, forever reminding myself that “riders have died on this road!”

Steve on his BMW R1150GSA

By the time we arrived in Nannup the cool morning was over and we sheltered under the tall trees in the forest before riding the final leg to Busselton.

It was quick and easy to set up camp in the town caravan park. Steve had pitched the tent before I had made a cup of tea – this is working out better that I thought!

The next day we enjoyed riding the curves of Caves Road before spending the night in Augusta. I found myself falling in love with that little town. Her charm was everywhere you looked and we both found ourselves checking out the price of real estate!

On Thursday 24^th February we headed for home. We didn’t have to, but we had achieved our goal; to try out our “keep it simple” camping set up and ride some great roads. We took the Brockman Highway to Nannup and then the South Cundinup Road to Kirup. I found myself muttering things like “absolutely fantastic” and “amazing” as I glided along.

The weather turned hot and horrible by the time we stopped at Harvey. We filled our bellies with icy cold water, saddled up and started the final leg towards home. One of the ties, holding the tent to my pannier, flapped its way loose so I pulled over to the side of the road. While Steve tried to find a home for the unused length of webbing he said “I can’t remember the last time I felt this hot.” “I can” I said “remember that Nullarbor crossing in January 2008!”

When we finally arrived home it was a race to see who could tear off their Draggin Jeans first. That evening, while we sat around with a glass of wine and a smile, I said to Steve “You know, my F650GS is the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on.” Steve gave me a quizzical look before he said “that’s exactly what you said about your Vstar!” I paused for a moment and said “Do you think it’s ok to be in love with two motorcycles?” Steve replied “I guess so!” So I fell asleep easily that night in the sure knowledge that everything was ok.