The year started with the highlight of the birth of our 3rd grandson, Torgan.
In January we loaded the trusty Venter trailer with my boat, the bicycles and Mike’s golf clubs and headed to New Plymouth which is on the opposite west coast. I spent 4 days sailing the Laser Nationals while Mike tried out the local golf courses. We used the bikes to explore the coastal cycle path. On our way back to Napier we stopped to wonder at the spectacular glow worm caves at Waitomo.
In June Roisin had to go back to work so I started looking after the kids one day a week. It is wonderful to be able to be part of their growing up. I love having them but it is great being a Grandma when you can hand them back at the end of the day. Rhyva is 7 and never sits still for a moment. Kheva is 2 and a half. He loves books and anything that moves or makes a noise. Torgan is now 10 months and crawling efficiently so can get to everything to put in his mouth.
Another highlight of the year was a trip to Canada. It was a very long flight to Halifax where I sailed in my 5th masters world championships. Graham drove up from Boston and spent 5 days with us. The brothers had not seen each other for 13 years so it was a great reunion. After the sailing we flew to Calgary and spent 2 days in buses and helicopters in the spectacular Canadian Rockies and then 2 days on the Rocky Mountaineer train through to Vancouver. When it describes itself as the trip of a lifetime I have to agree.
In November we celebrated 3 years since we arrived in New Zealand. We are happy that the move here was the best thing we could have done. We have settled into our small house in a small village and still revel in the freedom where there are no fences or bars on the windows. I can take the kids to the park and walk or cycle to the river and beach without security worries. One of our favourite pastimes is cycling on the many kilometres of cycle track around our area.
Mike is still happy working as a compliance manager in a small stock broking company in Napier that also has an office in Thames and about a 5 hour drive from Napier. I get to accompany Mike on his audits of this office and our trips back to Napier have enabled weekends to explore quite a bit of the mountainous and bush-cloaked Coromandel peninsula. This year we enjoyed a special winter weekend break at a resort on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Paku which dominates the marina of Pauanui.
I work 3 or 4 shifts a week at a large pharmacy in Hastings selling cough mixtures and vitamins and have even had training to sell cosmetics. In the evenings I run between selling lotto tickets, taking passport photos, giving medical advice and selling make up, and so unlike prescription filling it never gets boring.
With the exploits of unknowns such as “Eddie the Eagle” to look forward to at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and with the soccer World Cup in South Africa, both at places that we are familiar with, 2010 should be especially interesting for sports lovers like us. However our days are so full, we won’t have the time to view these – even from afar.
In January we loaded the trusty Venter trailer with my boat, the bicycles and Mike’s golf clubs and headed to New Plymouth which is on the opposite west coast. I spent 4 days sailing the Laser Nationals while Mike tried out the local golf courses. We used the bikes to explore the coastal cycle path. On our way back to Napier we stopped to wonder at the spectacular glow worm caves at Waitomo.
In June Roisin had to go back to work so I started looking after the kids one day a week. It is wonderful to be able to be part of their growing up. I love having them but it is great being a Grandma when you can hand them back at the end of the day. Rhyva is 7 and never sits still for a moment. Kheva is 2 and a half. He loves books and anything that moves or makes a noise. Torgan is now 10 months and crawling efficiently so can get to everything to put in his mouth.
Another highlight of the year was a trip to Canada. It was a very long flight to Halifax where I sailed in my 5th masters world championships. Graham drove up from Boston and spent 5 days with us. The brothers had not seen each other for 13 years so it was a great reunion. After the sailing we flew to Calgary and spent 2 days in buses and helicopters in the spectacular Canadian Rockies and then 2 days on the Rocky Mountaineer train through to Vancouver. When it describes itself as the trip of a lifetime I have to agree.
In November we celebrated 3 years since we arrived in New Zealand. We are happy that the move here was the best thing we could have done. We have settled into our small house in a small village and still revel in the freedom where there are no fences or bars on the windows. I can take the kids to the park and walk or cycle to the river and beach without security worries. One of our favourite pastimes is cycling on the many kilometres of cycle track around our area.
Mike is still happy working as a compliance manager in a small stock broking company in Napier that also has an office in Thames and about a 5 hour drive from Napier. I get to accompany Mike on his audits of this office and our trips back to Napier have enabled weekends to explore quite a bit of the mountainous and bush-cloaked Coromandel peninsula. This year we enjoyed a special winter weekend break at a resort on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Paku which dominates the marina of Pauanui.
I work 3 or 4 shifts a week at a large pharmacy in Hastings selling cough mixtures and vitamins and have even had training to sell cosmetics. In the evenings I run between selling lotto tickets, taking passport photos, giving medical advice and selling make up, and so unlike prescription filling it never gets boring.
With the exploits of unknowns such as “Eddie the Eagle” to look forward to at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and with the soccer World Cup in South Africa, both at places that we are familiar with, 2010 should be especially interesting for sports lovers like us. However our days are so full, we won’t have the time to view these – even from afar.
