I'm a published author!!

When I was a little girl, my family used to holiday with my grandmother in the Wairarapa, and every summer we would go to visit relatives at Waiorongomai.  I remember it well, particularly the raised concrete swimming pool, the large circular lawn and the various sheds that held vague promises of forbidden adventures.  Three of us, to be seen, not heard, would be allowed into the sitting room to say hello to all the rellies, take one thing from the afternoon-tea trolley, and be banished to the outside once again to amuse ourselves.  If we'd been extra good, and we could beg hard enough, on the way home we would have fish & chips to eat in the car.  Perfection!

Many years later, I saw my cousin, Raymond, at a Martinborough Wine & Food festival and chatted to him about the times we spent at Waio where he still farmed.  He said he'd wanted to write the book of Waio for years now, but hadn't been able to get a writer.  I found myself saying I'd do it.  Not having an inkling of what was ahead of me, I plunged in.  Almost 8 years later, the book was published - it was such a long journey as I did this only part-time.  But, as Raymond said, there was no hurry, Waio would still be there.  And I hope it still will be - it is, we think, the only farm that has been continuously farmed by the same family for 7 generations.  That's a long time for New Zealand.

The launch was on Friday evening at the Featherston pub - a long-time watering hole for the southern Wairarapa, including the Matthews' family in previous generations.  Everyone who'd had dirt under his fingernails was there, and probably all related in one way or another.  It was great fun to be the centre of attention, and to be sitting at the book sales table, signing books!  What a hoot!  I wish my journalist Dad were alive to see the latent development of his daughter.

A family wedding

Everyone says, "you were lucky with the weather!!"  It's March, for us the most stable month, weather-wise when it's still warm, the trade winds aren't blowing, and usually it's fairly dry.  Today, however, it isn't dry - far from it; the rain deluged the place last night and again today... so, yes, I guess that last week, we were lucky with the weather!  It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, with a bit of a breeze, but not too much.  They married on the Friday, but the festivities started the previous Sunday, with the arrival of the Marriagable Daughter who came a week early, "to help".  Yeah, right ;-)  Next day, the Swain arrived, followed the day afterwards by two of the four Bridesmaids, and then the Aunt of the Bride (my sister).  The whole week was taken up with a kind of stop-start clean-the-house, and beautify-outside regime.  The stop-start happened as one of us would start on a job, only to be diverted by someone else, or the Marriagable Daughter whisking away her Bridesmaids to be beautified, or else we would all stop for lunch, start the inevitable reminiscing, and nothing would get done.  It did, though, in the end.

At least a quarter of the guests came from the UK, all friends and relatives of the Swain, and this provided enormous entertainment as they got used to us, and we to them.  Having four groomsmen and an MC who all knew each other from uni flatting days, could only mean one thing - a great reunion for them all.  On the day of the wedding, the house was filled with make-up specialists, flowers, and food.  The make-up artists took from 9am to 2pm beautifying us all.  It was painstaking work.  I'm used to just a lick and a promise on the face - and that's just from the dog - so sitting still while being titted around was a bit of a novelty.  I felt as though I should be auditioning for panto by the end of it all.

The Marriagable Daughter looked so beautiful, as did the bridesmaids, the Swain and the best men.  But the M.D. was perfect.  I've never seen her looking happier, and the look on the Swain's face as he saw her enter the church, was wonderful.  The Dress was divine, the flowers perfect, and the little country church was full to brimming.  Afterwards, an old bus took the guests to one of the local vineyards where we celebrated, ate, danced, and drank.  The F.O.B gave a great speech, as did the new husband, his best men, and the chief BM. 

Next day, Saturday, everyone descended on our home - weather was good, yes, and there was enough food to feed the 500.  Well it seemed like 500 by the end of the day when many of the guests stayed on to be fed at night, and the following day, most of the new family relatives, and newlyweds arrived back for lunch. 

For the next few weeks, if not years, the F.O.B. and M.O.B. are on hard rations...

Japan, Japan ...

What has happened is unbelievable - never, ever have I seen anything like the devastation caused by the tsunami that followed the huge quake yesterday (Friday 11 March).  No one can be prepared for that.  To see it rolling in, not just one huge 10metre wave, but three in succession, just taking all with it, was something you expect to see only in horror movies.  How many people have lost their lives?  How many who have survived, have lost their livelihoods, families, friends, colleagues?  How will the country recover from this terrifying disaster?  I'm sure in time, the country will recover, it has suffered a very long history of devastating earthquakes and recovered each time.

This disaster, because it happened in our lifetime, is possibly the worst we may ever know, but in 1703 an earthquake and tsunami in Genroku killed well over 100,000 people, and four years later, an earthquake killed 5,000.  In 1854, on December 23 and 24, two quakes of 8.4 killed well over 100,000;  1855 saw over 6,000 killed.  In 1896, a quake of 8.5 caused a tsunami of 82 ft, and 27,000 were killed.  The list goes on; 140,000 people killed in 1923.  Earthquakes continued every few years with hundreds being killed.  It is noticeable after 1995, in spite of huge quakes, the death toll dropped dramatically with very few deaths.  It must have been the new building technology that Japan is now world renowned for.  The quake on Friday that measured 8.9, was 8.000 times more powerful than the quake that hit Christchurch.  I can't imagine that.  The aftershocks alone, have been between 6.8 to 7.1.  Christchurch measured 6.3 - granted, it was fairly shallow, but can you imagine what it would have been like if they'd had the shock that Japan has just had?

Kia kaha, Japan.  Our hearts are with you.

What have they done to Jimmy Nail?

I love Jimmy Nail... I loved him as Oz in "Auf Wiedersehen Pet", all three series and now I love him as a singer.    As Oz, he was such a wonderful character - and apparently he'd had no acting experience at all - he was no looker, with his huge snoz and beefy looks.  The entire cast was brilliant with each person having his own character and most of them going on to star in other tv or film.  The other brilliant actor there was Timothy Spall.  But Timothy can't sing, as far as I know.

"Big River" is a beautiful ballad and the story is so interesting. Don't you just love that slightly gravelly voice?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCWCE-41fbY&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXfZ9aYywADhc2_c6NDcRAiR

So, our Jimmy isn't the prettiest bloke on the block, but that's what he was like.  Then all of a sudden we see a different Jimmy Nail as seen by the PR people, and doesn't he look pretty now...

Christchurch

The day of the second earthquake, Tuesday, 22 February, was earthquake weather all day: hot, humid, sultry, and windless.  The thought of earthquakes is never far from my mind as they are always a possibility at any time, anywhere. I hate them; I hate the horror of nature taking over and the feeling of total disempowerment.  I have not been through an earthquake more than about 5 on the richter scale so to trying to imagine what it was like in Christchurch, is something I can only just begin to comprehend. 

The 4 September 2010 earthquake, 7.1, was higher on the richter scale, but this one at 6.3 was shallower and way more destructive.  No one died in September, but this time because it happened at lunchtime (just before 1pm) there were so many people out and about.  Buildings have collapsed on cars and buses, killing those in them, rubble from bricks have buried shoppers, and the beautiful old cathedral in the Square has fallen to its knees.

People interviewed by tv have been surprisingly calm, no tears, no histrionics, just a kind of unnerving, shocking calm, as though they can't believe they've been hauled out of wrecked buildings, or witnessed bodies buried in rubble.  They all seem so relieved to be alive.  The Mayor has been extraordinarily calm; hasn't stopped talking, in fact, but having gone through the September one, he's really taken charge, as have the police, fire, ambulance and the rescuers who are just people in the street, all helping.  Emergency accommodation has been put up in Hagley Park - tents mostly, and slats of timber for beds. 

The television coverage has been unceasing, and, at times, unnerving.  Quakes still continue to rock the city every day and night.  Night would be the worst time.

Days have gone by since I started this blog and people are talking about how to rebuild the city.  A friend sent me an old photo of me sitting on a bench in front of the Cathedral.  The top two stories of the spire are no longer there, and a huge hole ripped into the nave of the church.

The amazing thing is that no one knew about the fault line underneath the city.  For as long as NZ has been settled, Christchurch was never considered to be prone to quakes. 

We know nothing, really.