He is really an interesting boy with a great knowledge of Ancient Egypt & Greece. I told him that I would bring back a Greek book for him when I go back next year.
After 2 months of silence I thought I'd better return to cyberspace. After all the occasion of our granddaughter Emma's 21st demanded I do so. We traveled over to Hamilton last weekend to celebrate her day with Janine & Kerry. Kerry & Janine were staying in a luxury hotel by the river, while Bunny & I were at a budget motel not too far away. The only other time we've stayed in a motel in Hamilton was when Maurie graduated from Uni about 30 years ago, & what do you know, it was the same one! However, Hamilton today is totally different from those staid old days. 
It now has a pretty lively night life, & we had our little rave up at the Monkey Feather, where Emma works part time. All of us enjoyed ourselves, & thanks to my Crete nights out, I could handle a bit of techno with Janine. Bunny & Kerry preferred the Pool table. More pics on Picasa.
On Saturday Bunny, Lucy & I traveled over to Taupo for Tawhai's last game with the NZ Area Schools rep team. We'd hoped to call into Janine's for coffee before the game, but we had an unscheduled stop near Waimana when Lucy spotted Opo Rat sharing the back seat with her, & had no intention of traveling any further with a furry companion. It eventually ended up under the bonnet, but the Rat Catchers had no luck finding it. So armed with sticks & car brush we headed off on our way, & arrived at the Rugby field in good time, & with no further mishaps. The game was great with Tawhai & his team playing well, & beating the opposition 35-10. Kerry will correct the score if I've made a mistake.
Management are hoping that Tawhai will stay on at Te Waha o Rerekohu next year, so that he will be available for the NZ team again. Well they didn't wear the Black, but the white/black combo looked great. For those of you who don't know Tawhai, he's the one wearing the black/white headgear in the first photo . Click on these pics for a bigger view, but check the Picasa link on the right links panel for more pics from the day.
Nice to receive the latest pics of Taylor. Looks as if he's carrying on the sporting tradition. There'll be a few more pics on Picasa soon.
Along with the fabulous magnolia display this year, Lucy turned up trumps at the Opo College Sports Awards Dinner. She won the Most Valuable Player award 
for her efforts at the recent Secondary School Soccer Tournament in Taupo, plus the Most Valuable Player Award of the season. 
In the absence of 'official' photos from the evening I took these pics today. In a couple of weeks we'll be cheering Tawhai on in his NZ rep match in Taupo. I hope that you can make a link to my Picasa web album for more spring pics.
Today Lucy turned 14. 
It only seems like 2-3 years since these photos were taken. We hope to get together this evening to celebrate with her. The Parents are returning from the Bob Dylan concert in Auckland, so she's with her second Mum, Shirley now. Though she won't be much help with calf feeding after spraining her hand at soccer yesterday. I'm burning the midnight oil right now so I can post a couple of pics from the birthday tea. 
We enjoyed a lovely evening with Marg for Lucy's birthday. Lucy was happy with her MP3 player & other pressies. I was pleased that she liked the football shirt that Dave helped me choose on Crete. 
More pics on Picasa.
However, with the help of her new shoes, she finished much faster than she thought. Too early for official times yet. Bunny set off 
with a hiss & a roar, & at the halfway point couldn't believe that he was on the way to cracking the 3 hours again. Unfortunately disaster struck at 13k when he tripped on some rocks & fell heavily on the side of his head, hand, arm & leg. He declined the offer of ambulance assistance, & managed to stagger across the finish line in a pretty good time considering his condition. 
The ambulance crew finally managed to get hold of him & did a great job in treating his injuries. So it was a pretty uncomfortable time for him afterwards, & especially having to endure my night driving back here. This pic was taken before the drive home!
The day started early this morning, when Sam came over to say goodbye, before flying to Wellington as the East Coast representative to the Youth Parliament. He looked the very picture of an up and coming politician in his school dress gear. Later in the morning Bunny, Lucy & I drove to Waiotahi Beach for the annual polar swim. Bunny has now done 9, so he's determined to do no 10 next year. It was a very cold day, but the sun shone & the beach looked lovely. 
Lucy was first in the water, & headed back in again after the treasure hunt, to wash off all the sand. She scored 4 'treasures' worth $50, so she was happy. More good pics on Picasa.
Kerry & Janine, 
so I thought I'd scan them for the blog. 
A lineup of young adults now!
Tawhai has been picked for the New Zealand Area Schools' Secondary rugby team to play Australia next term. A great effort. He played lock in the second half of today's match, & scored a try. So now he'll get to wear the Black Jersey! Click on the photo for a better view Kerry.
but he was a standout player in the Central NI team,playing as lock, a position he is not fond of. The weather turned pretty cold, & there were a couple of showers of rain during the game. Central lost their match to Northern, but they did some great work in the second half. Pretty good effort for their first outing together. The Northern team, however, looked as if they'd played quite a few times as a team. We had a long cold wait after the game, to hear who had been chosen from both teams, for a North Island squad to play an invitation team today. Selection for the final North Island squad will be made after today's game. 
Tawhai was very happy that he had been chosen for the next round. Great stuff. Kia kaha Tawhai. More pics on Picasa.
Two more pics from my Picassa photos. One of the ancient church built in the area of the ancient Minoan settlement, & the other shows a typical Cretan lunch spot.
After 3 attempts at blogging direct from Picasa on my computer, it looks as if I might have cracked it! The photo was a random pick. It's of a lovely stone wall in an ancient Minoan settlement. The photo took a while to upload, & it won't link to a web album, but I wonder if it can be enlarged? Can it ever! Just click on it & see it in all its glory. Going to try for some more now.
her new machine today, even though this really was the "coldest day so far" this winter, otherwise Maurie would have probably sent it back. I risked frost-bite to take these pics, but I thought the occasion had to be recorded for posterity.
Last night we went over to the neighbours' house for Leigh's 50th birthday dinner. As usual I ate too much good food & drank too much good wine, so I suffered a little today. Marg & Adrian joined us, after all they're virtually family, & we had a lovely evening. I was the official photographer, as both Maurie & Sam had left their cameras at school. So here are a couple photos for you Megan. Sam told me what to do to make the Picasa link work, so with a bit of luck you'll be able to go to my web album & see more from last night.
Leigh's big 50 & Tawhai's 17th.
Happy birthday guys, & that's it for the June birthdays for this family, whew! Apparently we have to wait a week
to see Leigh perform her party trick. Tawhai is having a good year at school, & will be playing rugby & volleyball in the area schools' tournament in Rotorua during the school hols. So hopefully we'll get to see him play.
The night was wild & stormy, & Bunny had to take cover in a bus shelter when the thunderstorm struck, while he was biking home from Waikato Hospital the night Janine was born. And it's heading that way again by the sound of things out there. It's very windy & raining, & thunder is predicted. On top of that it's freezing cold. 
But it sounds as if Taupo has had it far worse. Maybe the birthday celebrations will have to wait until after the big exam tomorrow. 
Yesterday I caught up with Paul for the first time since getting back from Greece. It was good to see him looking well, but he'd had a sad morning sorting Kath's clothes with Vera. He has a monumental job ahead of him with all the packing up etc. He was keen to show me his new 'baby'. I thought I was going to see a new 4 legged addition to the family, but it turned out to be his fantastic new wagon. A lovely Mitsubishi Outlander, complete with leather bum-warmer seats. He took me for a short drive in it. Such luxury I could get used to. However, for now I just have to be content with our little car. It was a fabulous day & the beaches looked fabulous. This pic is of Janine enjoying Tirohanga Beach a few years ago. 
Summer will come again. Started adding pics to Flickr.
