Christchurch Pettys in April 2012

I now have two other blogs, and forgot to do this one for a few days. But here I am now…

The Browns arrived!

It is easy to know what is the most exciting news for us this month. The Browns arrived from Utah. Rachael Brown is Jessica’s sister. (Jessica is William’s wife, just in case anyone hasn’t been keeping up.) Rachael is married to Enoch Brown and they have four beautiful children, Micah (7), Sariah (6), Anna (4) and Nate (3). They have been trying for some time to get to New Zealand. Enoch, who is a maths teacher, was offered a job in Christchurch starting in term 2, but as it was only for a year, there were issues getting a visa. But in the end the whole family was given residency and arrived in Christchurch on Sunday 8th April. They had twelve bags of luggage when they arrived. It was pretty funny seeing all these trolleys being pushed out into the arrivals hall, about an hour after the plane landed.

They stayed the first two nights with Jessica and William and then we helped them move in to their new home. I had managed to find them a place to live, a few blocks from us, with a really nice fenced yard, a lovely kitchen and the landlords even painted all the way through and put in new drapes before they moved in. They are in our ward and on the Orbiter bus route.

The weather has been unusually wonderful, with clear sunny days and the beautiful autumn light. Christchurch is still beautiful, and particularly so with the leaves changing colour. The Browns have had a wonderful introduction to the place, and seem to be loving it.
Wiley work

I got an exciting email from Mark Levings at Wiley, which is a publishing company. He is based in Brisbane and wanted me to make on-line materials for a textbook. I’ve had some misgivings as the textbook has a different philosophy from me, but I’ve worked out how to do it and keep my conscience happy. It’s a great opportunity, especially as I have only a few more weeks of employment at the University of Canterbury.

Rogaine setting

Mark and I have been helping (a little) with setting up the “Heights of Winter” rogaine. We spent a day out in North Canterbury finding places for checkpoints. It is much slower than actually doing the rogaine. I really enjoyed it. There was one part when we were walking alonside the boundary fence, with views of the sea and across the farms and hills and it was just right. The weather was perfect – sunny with a cool breeze and an almost cloudless sky. It doesn’t get much better than that. There were also horrible bits going through thistles and paddocks full of holes. And some steep bits. But a wonderful day overall.

Finances

We went to see Mark Connell, our financial advisor. (Yes that is the third Mark to be mentioned in the blog.) The university pays for a visit to a financial planner so we thought we’d take it. When we first told him about my redundancy, he was rather concerned about how we will manage. However by the time we’d chatted for an hour or so about our plans his fears were allayed, and as we left he was fairly gushing over how exciting it is for us.

Youth Conference

I was asked to give a workshop on the importance of education at a Youth Conference. I got to do the same thing eight times over with different groups. I got them to make a little ad or similar that I videoed and am still trying to get edited into submission. It makes me smile the whole time I am doing it – they are so sweet. The conference was well organised and I enjoyed it, though I was pretty pooped by the end.

Meeting with Elder Thompson

After that we had a meeting with Elder David Thompson, who is an area authority seventy. It was for some people who had been involved in the communication and relief around the earthquakes, and reporting back on what we did well, and how we could have been better prepared etc. I found it a very nice meeting. At the end I was a little critical about the GA junket we had had turn up recently, but in a constructive way, I thought. It was interesting how many other people agreed with me, but were not confident to say anything. It possibly helps that I once went out with Elder Thompson when we were Young Adults.

Mark in hospital

Mark had a colonoscopy, which went fine. He can’t remember the actual procedure at all, but the preparation was icky.

A workmate at work

Mark in Twizel

Mark had a LONG job down in Twizel. The setting was beautiful, the money was great, and he got a restaurant meal every night, but it was a bit of an ordeal. I’ll get him to say something about it. We have “Find my friend” on our phones, so I could see where he was at any time. They were surveying 7.5km of the Tekapo canal. He went down early on Monday 16th and arrived home late on the following Monday.

Mark at the Tekapo hydro canal with Aoraki (Mt Cook) looking on

[Mark] The whole week was hard yakka! We averaged 11 hour days in the field, but there was negligible down time otherwise as the rest of the time was eating, sleeping, preparing and unloading. The positives included the clean air, the quiet, the big sky scenery, and the money! Not really stereotypical New Zealand scenery I guess, but that is one factor in what makes it all the more interesting for us Kiwis. It certainly has its own beauty.

Mark’s absence

While Mark was away I took some annual leave so I could take Jonathan to the gym and look after housework etc. I did some nice tidying. One day Jessica and I took the Browns to see the Pier. They went to the library and picked up shells off the beach. They played in the playground. We bought ice blocks.

At New Brighton: Jessica, Anna, Sariah, Rachael, Nate & Micah

I enjoyed my time with Jonathan, and he was good at reminding me to put out the rubbish etc. I even enjoyed going to the gym with him.

Nicola’s and Shane's latest business idea

My final day at UC is fast approaching, and it is difficult not to walk around with a big smile on my face all the time. I finish on the 11th June. My latest idea is to make an on-line resource to help Year 13 Statistics and Modelling, NCEA Level 3. We would sell access to it for about $100 a student, or a cheaper rate through schools. It will be quite a bit of work to set up, but it is right in my area of expertise. That, along with the work for Wiley, should keep me busy.

Shona’s house

My mother’s house has been classified as in the “red zone”. This means she will need to move out within the year, and the Government will pay her the rateable value. It is hard as she was hoping to stay in her own home a bit longer. We have been looking into retirement villages, which seem pretty nice in the main.

Graduation

I helped out at graduation for the final time. As the Town Hall is broken, it was held at the Westpac Arena. It wasn’t the same as processing through town, but this is true of much of life in Christchurch. I have always loved being a marshall, except once when I had a stroppy law student to contend with. I like trying to make it a nice day for the students I help. I also like dressing up in the regalia.

Fun with the Browns

At Birdlings Flat: Micah, Nate,
Enoch, Rachael, Sariah, Nicola and Anna

On ANZAC day we took the Browns to Birdlings Flat, via the summit Road. Poor Sariah got car sick, but kindly waited until she was out of the car. The children loved the sea and throwing stones in the waves. I find Birdlings Flat very therapeutic and calming. I got to talk a fair bit to Rachael, who is a kindred spirit. She would like to increase her education. She is clever, but hasn’t had any higher education. We have started going to their place on Sunday evenings to play games and eat cookies. It is so nice to have them here.

Happy all

Nicola, Mark and Jonathan

A classic Mackenzie Basin autumn scene just north of Twizel