Echo - June 2009 to July 2011

We miss you so much.

Earthquakes

When I was small, the biggest thing I feared (other than witches) was earthquakes.  There was something so inherently powerful and shocking, even to a small child, that there was a complete sense of being 'taken over'.  I remember plenty of earthquakes: in Wellington, in our small concrete flat where a child's scream for her mother took precedence over that mother's own fear; once in Wanganui where the look of utter shock on my aunt's rapidly paling face just reinforced my young belief that this was something even adults couldn't fix.

In 1963 there were several earthquakes in Westport where we had gone to live for a few years, quakes that shifted walls, brought down chimneys and closed schools for weeks at a time.  We didn't mind those ones for we were on holiday in Wellington anyway, and a week away from school was an unexpected pleasure, even though we did correspondence school during the mornings.  But even there, we experienced another bump in the middle of the night.  A warning, I thought, to tell me I wasn't safe on holiday, after all.

I distinctly remember when I was working as a junior secretary on the 6th floor of a high-rise building, again in Wellington, and I'd just gone to the bathroom when this one struck.  I can't tell you what haste I was in to get out of there!  I promised myself I would never work in a building higher than 2 stories after that.

There were plenty more quakes - when we lived in the centre of the North Island; even a very small one I detected one night in Canberra, Australia, and there wasn't a day that went past without a conscious thought of the Big One.  Everyone thought it would be Wellington.  No one suspected Christchurch.  That beautiful garden city has been battered and bashed by quakes this year, and just this week there were two huge aftershocks (6.3 on the R. scale) within two hours, right at lunch time.  The inner city was still closed due to the debris and uninhabitable buildings, but that didn't stop new damage being done.  In the past 7 days there have been 206 earthquakes.  You can see it all here: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

I know there are all sorts of explanations for the quakes - new fault lines discovered and so on.  But when you look at Banks Peninsula which is at the head of Lyttleton, the target of most of the quakes, it makes you wonder about the fact that this was a major volcanic area, so why would there not be violent quakes as well?

Dubai Stopover

Stopping in Dubai on a long-haul flight is great fun.  It's such a neat city, built on the back of the mighty oil dollar, but cast aside politics etc for the moment and look at what it really is... a fantastic city with every opportunity for fun, built on the edge of a vast desert.  It's amazing, really.  I mean, look, forget poverty for the moment, and just enjoy what's on offer.  It's a bit like Vegas, you don't want to scratch the surface, just take time out for pleasure and fun.  The shopping malls are unbelievable, they're incredibly large and each seems to vie for the biggest attraction - ski slope, skating rink, huge acquarium, not to mention the label shops. 

I wanted to see the sand dunes and, according to local wisdom, the only way to do this was by going on one of the zillions of sand dune cruises, ending up with a meal and entertainment under the stars.  Well, I'd say after 10 minutes, you've got the hang of going hell for leather up and down sand dunes, gripping onto the seat in front of you, and trying to calm your lurching stomach.  But it goes on for a good half hour, if not more.  Way too much.  But you do stop to admire the view, take photos and count all the other white jeeps doing exactly the same as you.

The meal was interesting - set in the desert like three sides of a square, laid out on trestle tables with the sand covered by huge mats and carpets.  Dates, humus, tagines, salads, really nice food too.  The entertainment was whirling dervish type dancers - astounding, really - and belly dancing - intriguing.  

Ok, so you know it's really touristy, but there are times when even to get a flavour of a place in the short amount of time you have, you just go 'tourist' and get on with it.  I'd much rather explore by myself and come across the real Dubai - who knows, in future, I may have every chance to do so as I much prefer flying this way than going via the States.

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...