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Christchurch – Feels like home

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006

My family is huge.  Simply huge.  Or, to be more accurate, the amount of people from my family who I know is huge – the actual family is probably only the same size as everyone else’s; what makes us unique is the fact that we all know, and see regularly, distant cousins (and class them all as cousins – believe me, trying to work out what relationship you have to someone whose grandmother was your maternal great-grandmother’s sister is no easy task).  Without exception, they are all wonderful, wonderful people, and my life would be immensely poorer without them.  So it is always especially lovely to meet those from our clan who live in far-flung areas, such as America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Wales.

The New Zealand (South Island) faction are made up of the Johnson and Milne families – Jimmy and Sheila Johnson, their daughter, Sheila, and her son, James (who is now based in Auckland but due to his musical talents and work, is often on the road).  Jimmy and Sheila knew my grandparents well, and Sheila is the same age as Mum, so it’s always a delight to hear their stories.  I’d met Sheila (jnr) when she visited the UK, but had never met Jimmy and Sheila (snr).

So, after a shortish flight from Sydney in which my sleep was interrupted over and over again by too-helpful hosties, “Tea or coffee, Madam?”  “Ummm, sleep please”, I was glad to land in Christchurch, where I would be met by family.  First, though, I had to get through New Zealand customs – by far the most inquisitive to date.  First thing, their in-house Beagle who is trained to sniff out illegal foods being smuggled in took a liking to my handbag.  I honestly couldn’t think of any food that had been in there, so the Beagle Handler made a mark on my Entry Card that was obviously code for “Tomato Smuggler” or something, as I got questioned about a million times after that.  Firstly by the customs stamp lady.  “I see you’ve been travelling a lot through Bangkok.  Are you carrying any drugs today?”  were her EXACT words.  I know, I know, I thought of all the obvious smart answers as well – “Well, not today, no!  Now, if you’d have asked me yesterday”, “Why, yes, I am.  Would you like any?” “Are you being racialist?” – but managed to smile sweetly and answer “No”.  Likewise, another lady (job unspecified) was very interested in my travel plans, and made notes of when I would be leaving the country and so on.  I’ve only just arrived!

Eventually making it through customs, I was delighted to see Sheila and Jimmy waiting for me, so delighted I even forgave them waving Liverpool scarves at me!  It’s now a traditional greeting for family members arriving, so I was glad to see it.  Christchurch Airport seems to be really close to the suburbs, so after a really short car journey, we were at Jimmy and Sheila’s house, where we would stay the first night.  It was absolutely wonderful – warm and cosy and homely, exactly like being at family’s house back home.  We had a fabulous home-cooked dinner, and spent the evening catching up, getting to know each other, and swapping stories.  I even got tucked in to bed that night, a wonderful gesture guaranteed to make me feel at home, despite being on the other side of the world.

The next morning, Sheila and I nattered for ages whilst lying in bed – we both share a love of the English language and its uses (correct and incorrect!), so we had plenty to talk about and laugh about it – Sheila’s a real giggler, and according to Mum, she always has been; it’s impossible to spend time with her and not descend into wonderful silliness.

After breakfast, we headed round to Sheila’s house, a wonderfully welcoming place that would literally become my home from home in New Zealand.  The first couple of days were spent catching up on all my late, late blog entries from Australia, and then we got started on the tours of the area – and I was soon to discover that Christchurch was very like home, as well.  The perfect tonic for homesickness.

Glitch in the system

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006

If any of you have tried to read my blog over the last few days (if you have – the cheque’s in the post – if you haven’t, I want full reasons, in writing, or a note from your mum), you might have noticed something strange going on. And indeed there was. The server at this blog site was (accidentally, obviously – I hope) wiped, without any record of any blogs after mid-August. This has caused no small amount of panic across the boards, and I admit I reverted to my usual drama queen ways. There were tears and tantrums, dear reader, and it wasn’t pretty. Fortunately, after a few harsh words from “friends” including terms such as “perspective”, “Oscar Annie”, and “much bigger problems in the world” (yeah, yeah, whatEVER), I got my sensible head on.

Thanks to my wonderful Uncle, who does truly sterling work in keeping my family website afloat (and if you’ll have been reading this any length of time, you’ll appreciate what a big, worldwide family it is, and how much work such a website would take), I’ve been able to retrieve my lost posts. Uncle Anthony had been copying and pasting all my blog entries on to a special section of www.Rhianva.org.uk, so I’ve been able to copy and paste them back here. Thankyou Uncle Anthony, as a thank you you can have the Mars Bar I gave away in an earlier competition but the winning answer has been lost into the ether, so it’s all yours!

What’s still missing, though, are all the wonderful comments people have made here in response to my blogs. I’m grateful anyone at all even reads this, let alone finds the time to comment, so I’m very sorry indeed that they’ve been lost – they always make me smile, often make me laugh, and never fail to make me feel loved, even such a big distance away from my family and friends. Thank you to all who comment, and those who read and don’t comment – it means so much. If any of you can find it in your hearts to repost comments to these blog entries, I’ll appreciate it forever and may even fork out for some more Mars Bars.

By request – A point (or four) of clarification

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
1. Andy Jones is not gay. That I know of. 2. He asked me to write this. 3. Yes, he is a middle child. I’m saying nothing more. 4. Andy - now please will you explain the concept of a Valley Day Out? ... [Continue reading this entry]

Australia – Final Thoughts

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Bit late with these final thoughts, I know, but in a way it’s good as it’s given me a chance to reflect and regroup my musings.  Or, that’s what I’m telling myself so I don’t feel guilty about leaving it ... [Continue reading this entry]

Sydney – Another night in an airport

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
I landed in Sydney airport at about 11pm, and, knowing I’d have to be back there by 6am to check in for my flight to New Zealand, decided it wouldn’t be worth heading out to a hotel or hostel. So, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Airlie Beach/Brisbane – “Heroes”

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
We always knew it would be a long haul to get back down to Brisbane from Airlie Beach in two days, but it was the only option to us if we wanted to see the Whitsundays. I had an early ... [Continue reading this entry]

Whitsundays – Oh! You Pretty Things

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Initially, I wasn’t sure if we would make it up the coast of Queensland as far as the Whitsundays but, knowing how much I wanted to go there, Andy persuaded me it was possible, provided we drove for two days ... [Continue reading this entry]

Rockhampton – Let’s Dance

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Welcome to my 100th blog! You should get a telegram from the Queen for reading this far. Rocking up to Rockhampton, we were very excited by all the cows that we were seeing. Let me clarify. There are more than two ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hervey Bay – Diamond Dogs

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Next stop along the road was Hervey Bay, chosen because it was the easiest place from which to get to Fraser Island. I had my first stint driving the Bowiemobile, and I’m glad to say I passed with flying colours. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Brisbane/Noosa – Absolute Beginners

Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Back in Sydney, Andy and I had arranged to meet up in Brisbane once I’d left Melbourne, and had decided to explore the east coast of Queensland. Initially, we were planning to do this by bus, until we struck on ... [Continue reading this entry]