Kiwi Christmas....

Oh it's so nice to be home.
The pohutakawa are in full flower. The sun sparkles on the waters of the Bay of Islands.

The fish nibble, tug and tease on the end of fishing lines. And dolphins frolick around the boat.














The fishing on Friday started a bit slow with some gust-propelled drifting across the bay with winds so strong that even the strongest snapper couldn't keep up with the bait, but culminated nicely with a drift between rocky outcrops, oyster-encrusted and pohutakawa fringed bays past a pod of frisky dolphins and we brought home enough fresh fish to feed a family a few times over.

The barbeque has spluttered and smoked as the sausages and steak charred to a slightly-less-than-carcinogenic-still-authentic-BBQ flavour.

Bottles of wine jostle in the fridge.

Menu-plans have been generated necessitating multiple trips to the local New World, butchers and weekend Farmer's Market for fresh raspberries, prawns, turkey, ham, cream and salad.

My pregnant baby-sister, her husband and her bump are expected home on Christmas Eve. Given that I haven't seen my baby-sister since her wedding 3 years ago, this makes for a full family Christmas.

Technology has gone mad - my parents have stepped up to the challenge with a Flash Drive (small steps for Gen-X, giant steps for parent-kind), a new lap-top, a wireless modem so I can email and blog from the comfort of the lounge (I don't think it was just for my benefit although I did do a bit of propaganda and enthusiastic extolling of benefits), a Wii and this has all required a fair amount of installation, explanation, testing and fiddling.








And throughout, cats do what cats do best.... be exactly where they want to be, which is not necessarily where you want them to be (inside clothes drawers, on the computer and kneading sunburnt knees with their razor-sharp claws).


Ah, it's good to be home.....

Going home...

I have been here in glorious Melbourne for almost 4 weeks and I have succeeded on a few objectives.



Firstly I have caught up with significant friends and enjoyed evenings on the couch with a bottle of good NZ white wine, or on the deck with a few beers as the sun dapples through the eucalyptus trees or watching the moon from the backyard of suburban Ballarat.



I have had evenings out; Kiwi Fish and Chips in the park or jugs of Singapore Slings on rooftops and consistently I have had high-quality, wonderful, generous, interesting and inspiring company.






I have reestablished a relationship with all the children that I know and love; baby cuddles and giggles are still the best therapy for any kind of ill and kids say the funniest things.




The boxes containing those worldly possessions which don't fit in my backpack and have been moldering in the corner of the shed for 5 years have been opened and thoroughly appreciated for the fact that everything has survived without damage and the eclectic nature of the contents.




Simultaneously a selection of items has been taken aside for relocation to deepest, darkest Africa; after 5 years surviving on 20kg of "stuff" I figure it's about time to take advantage of the relocation package and take along some kitchen utensils and a little black dress... well you never know when jungle fever will hit and I'll need to sashay around in a cocktail frock with a wooden spoon! Along with the wooden spoon a large number of food items ranging from miso soup paste to balsamic vinegar are being taken along for the ride and will hopefully augment the local ingredients available.


I have had a full medical check and can happily report that I am in certified good health, and I have had my hair done so I am now blonded up for summer!






And now I am getting ready to go home... good ol' NZ for a month of suxty-sux fush and chups, and all the good things that NZ does so well..... like 42 Below Vodka, Living Nature products, Olivado oils, Monteiths Beer, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, lamb, dairy, IceBreakers, hokey-pokey icecream..... And of course to have a wonderful Christmas with the family :-)

Coming down

I've been out of Palestine for 2.5 weeks now, and I realise something that I should have learnt before. Every single time I get back from a mission I go through the same process and every single time I get stressed about it. I think that the stress is part of the process and needs to be endured like the other stages of "coming down" but it does become tedious.

The first stage of "coming down" is the flight home; many long days of travel, recycled underwear, sleeping in an upright position with my tray table folded and arriving jet-lagged and tired, but determined not to be affected by these
nuisance value physical complaints.

The second phase is the "catch up with everyone in the shortest possible amount of time while simultaneously stressing about the amount of mail that needs to sorted out, the boxes in the shed and finding a pair of trousers that hasn't been on a 1:3 rotation for the last 6 months". This phase may also be accompanied by worrying about or sorting out my next contract and starting to let my mind wander out to the airport, onto a plane and across the world to my new destination.

The next phase, which is the one I am currently entering, is the "everything is under control, I'm ok, make lists and start being efficient" phase, whereby I get a grip, suck it up, and get on with it. Yesterday was Day One of Phase 3; I spent 5 hours driving all over Melbourne whipping out my credit card, moving with determined focus through pre-Christmas retail madness, and filling the boot of Ding-Dong the Car, with bags and bags of necessary yet indulgent things.




Finding a car park in central Melbourne is an exercise in frustration at the best of times, not to mention cripplingly expensive, but I perservered through throngs of vehicles and masses of swarming shoppers in order to position myself in the centre of it all for maximum efficiency.

I don't shop often and only out of necessity; I have retail self-discipline which, if applied to Paris Hilton, would probably result in the collapse of the major designer labels.



So, I brutally executed a complete overhaul of my underwear, a chat with HSBC, replenishment of my Aesop products (body and hair products, highly recommended by me - expensive but lasts an entire mission in a range of conditions from mountainous mud huts to dusty deserts), craft supplies, and bags of Asian foodstuffs so that I may make Udon soup, sushi, Madras curries and Thai delicacies in the jungles of Ghana.

Phase 4 will commence just prior to my departure.... stay tuned :-)