Kia Ora Sisu

It is the first day of the school holidays and Ginny and Hank are playing games and hanging out together.  Nothing special apart from the fact that she is in Olympia and he is in Dunedin.  I am still amazed by technology.

Ginny made it to Olympia last night after about 30 hours travel. She says that all went well and she’s doing fine. I’ll try to get her to blog on her trip.

We just dropped Ginny off at the airport for her trip to Olympia. She’s going for 2 weeks. Her flight was delayed for about an hour. Luckily, the weather held so it wasn’t cancelled. It’s been snowing and raining all morning but nothing has stuck. There was a little slush on the road at one point before Mosgiel.

Ginny’s in good spirits, excited about the trip. We’re doing okay, but won’t truly relax until she gets there tomorrow. She’s pretty amazing for a 12-year-old, travelling half-way around the world.

Update from Fa (nervous wreck of a mum) - It has been 24 hours and the journey is almost complete.  Air New Zealand, AKL, SFO, United, and SEA website traffic should be returning to normal shortly, now that my mum and I aren’t constantly refreshing to check Ginny’s flight status.  Here is the final leg of her trip and soon she’ll be safely in Grandma’s care and I can breathe again.  Ginny has been texting at each airport and all seems well on her end and the sun is shining here as well.

It’s been about 20 years since I won anything. A couple of days ago I won a Sweeney Todd DVD in an ODT contest. Woo Hoo! Strangely enough we had just seen it for the first time a couple of days before. The last thing I remember winning was a beverage cooler for correctly identifying Neil Diamond as the writer of “Red Red Wine” when UB40 had a hit with it, back around 1990 or so.

It cracks me up that Hank is referred to as “Master”

We just got back from a miserable soccer game. Hank’s team played at Ocean Grove, just off the beach. It was raining the whole time and windy. The game was well played and thoroughly enjoyable, in spite of the weather. Unfortunately, Roslyn Wakari lost 2-1 on an unlucky goal at the last second, but the teams were so evenly matched it could have gone either way.

Last night Hank and I walked down to the Octagon for Dunedin’s Midwinter Carnival. It was nice to be closer to the CBD than the old house. I don’t think we would have done it if we were back in Roslyn. It took us about 15 minutes to walk down there. We explored a bit of the neighbourhood as we went. We found a strange switch-back bike path on Canongate, and then a mural (or graffiti?) along the stairs to Rattray. We eventually found Princes Street and followed along to the Octagon, where the roads were closed. It was dark by this time. One of the local firewood suppliers had some fires roaring so we huddled by one to warm up. It was a clear, crisp evening, about 3 degrees. A live band played as we warmed up. Food booths were scattered around so we found an ATM, got some cash, and bought some crepes. There’s a French guy here who makes crepes while you watch, just like we saw all over France back in 1990. I first saw him last spring. Hank got a Fresh Lemon Juice w/Raw Suger while I got a Strawberry Jam. We settled in for the Lantern Parade. People have been making lanterns for the past few months and they were carrying them in the parade. Most were basic pyramid shapes but some were very elaborate birds, which required up to 4 people to carry. Candles were burning inside. They circled the Octagon twice before leaving down Princes Street. It reminded me a lot of the Procession of the Species in Olympia, except in the dark in the winter. We then grabbed a pie while we waited for the fireworks. A few minutes later the fireworks began, launching of the top of the Forsyth Barr building. We then walked the 15 minutes back home up the hill to Canongate. We filled in Fa and Ginny about everything we saw.

Hank’s soccer game yesterday was at the frozen tundra of Ellis Park. It was the shortest game of the year and maybe the coldest, although later in the day the temperature got up to 12 and it was a perfect Dunedin winter day. Again, the team played well and won 5-1. Hank is a great defender and the only goal scored was when he was off the field. I just love watching the kids play soccer. Unfortunately, Ginny has a bye so no soccer today.

We discovered a neighbourhood black cat at our new house.

There is a viral email going around here of funny sports quotes. Apparently, this ran around the US a few years ago, and 2 years ago was applied to Rugby. It’s been resurrected again. Who knows where they really came from. Enjoy.

“Nobody in Rugby should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.” - (Jono Gibbs - Chiefs)

“I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes.” - (Rodney So’ialo - Hurricanes) on University

“You guys line up alphabetically by height.” and “You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle.” -
(Colin Cooper - Hurricanes head coach)

Chris Masoe (Hurricanes) on whether he had visited the Pyramids during his visit to Egypt: “I can’t really remember the names of the clubs that we went to.”

“He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.” - Colin Cooper on Paul Tito

Kevin Senio (Auckland), on Night Rugby vs Day Games “It’s basically the same, just darker.”

David Nucifora ( Auckland) talking about Troy Flavell “I told him, ‘Son, what is it with you. Is it ignorance or a pathy?’ He said, ‘David, I don’t know and I don’t care.’

David Holwell (Hurricanes) when asked about the upcoming season: “I want to reach for 150 or 200 points this season,
whichever comes first.”

“Andy Ellis - the 21 year old, who turned 22 a few weeks ago”(Murray Mexted)

“Colin has done a bit of mental arithmetic with a calculator.” (Ma Nonu)

“He scored that try after only 22 seconds - totally against the run of play.” (MurrayMexted)

“We actually got the winning try three minutes from the end but then they scored.” (Phil Waugh-Waratahs)

“I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.” (Jerry Collins)

“That kick was absolutely unique, except for the one before it which was identical.” (Tony Brown)

“I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.” (Tana Umaga)

“Sure there have been injuries and deaths in rugby - but none of them s erious.” (Doc Mayhew)

“If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.”(Anton Oliver)

“I would not say he (Rico Gear) is the best left winger in the Super 14, but there are none better.” (Murray Mexted)

“I never comment on referees and I’m not going to break the habit of a lifetime for that prat.” (Ewan McKenzie)

Murray Deaker: “Have you ever thought of writing your autobiography?” Tana Umaga: “On what?”

“Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw.”(Murray Mexted)

“Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer.”(Murray Mexted)

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera to Ginny’s Sunday morning soccer game. OGHS played St. Hilda’s. After a slow start, probably caused by the 4 week lay-off, OGs really turned it on in the second half. They won 2-1. Great job OGHS.