Down on th farm

Over the weekend we got the chance to visit Gareth and Trish, up on their farm, near Raglan. Bobbi and Bryn are doing well, and I think it's safe to say that they liked their presents from Tahiti- a dancers skirt and headress for Bobbi and a Tahitian drum and sharktooth necklace for Bryn. We had a lunch of fresh crayfish and home-baked bread, then took a quick spin down to their own private beach, equipped with a bach (beach house) - choice! Here are some pictures for Great Aunty Clare and Great Uncle Mike....

Hanging with my 'iwi

I've spent the last couple of weeks in NZ dealing with visas and officialdom, crashing with my family here and generally getting underfoot. The weather in Cambridge has been just beautiful, so I've been enjoying tea on the terrace and all kinds of home-baked goodies from Aunty Norma's kitchen. There is also a litter of seven boisterous boxers in residence here, for my own personal amusement - cue lots of cute dog pictures!

....these are not just average pooches, these are dogs with pedigree. Paul is a certified breeder and these puppies could one day be champion show dogs..........though at the moment, much of the excitement for the day revolves around playing with new and wonderful things in the garden, and making sure that there's a plentiful supply of fresh meat and milk! Which is tiring enough in itself...

A Happy Occasion

OK, so this news is not directly related to French Polynesia - but I am happy to announce the birth of my nephew Oliver Claridge on Oct 14th, a healthy 6lb baby boy. Parents and grandparents are over the moon! Aunty Elin (or Tatti Helene as I'm known here) is pretty pleased too, and looking forward to meeting the new recruit.
What a beautiful baby - so angelic! Congratulations to Mum and Dad. Aunty Elin and Great Aunty Norma think he's going to be a real looker!

About as interesting as watching taro grow

We hadn't been living in the house for more than two days when Viriamu went to work on the garden. Of course we have to have a taro patch, and some manioc, pineapple and papaya, for good measure. So here we have a couple of pictures of Viriamu transforming some apparently barren soil into a veritable tropical kitchen garden! You can be sure that I'll keep you posted on the progress of our taro patch. I am eagerly awaiting our first harvest!

....and just two weeks later

(OK so it's going to be 6 months, at least, before we can eat it, what can you do? Actually Viriamu gets his family to send ice chests full of frozen taro from Rurutu, lest we go without!)