Well here we are back in our point of origin nearly 6 months after we headed off last year and the days have been flying past. So much so that, as you see, this is a couple of weeks late ... it was a toss up whether to just combine the May and June updates or be good and write one for May. Being good won and I thought I'd get this one done before the month is up at least :)
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| The bus parked up in Kaikoura ... it really is a great space to be |
We have left the South Island for a while and are up in Kapiti for me to do something teaching of Infant Massage. It has be wonderful getting to have two great groups of mum's and bubs to teach and the kids are enjoying catching up with friends ... but I digress as that is June and I'm meant to be catching you all up with May. May was very eventful for us, which is probably why I keep thinking about the present good times, with Daniel having two trips to A & E for 2 different head injuries. I'm almost at the point of buying some headgear for himself I can tell you!!! The first incident was a stick to the head which was accidentally mis-aimed by his sister ... the worst of it was that I was in the middle of taking a photo of the idyllic scene of siblings helping each other carry wood to create their dam when herself decided that firing the wood ahead would be easier than carrying it! Luckily, though there was lots of blood, there was not much of a hole in the top of his head.
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| Happy, with the mentioned stick, before the crash came. |
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| Fixing the dam once the head was feeling better. |
The next trip to A and E in Kaikoura was a little more dramatic and came after a lovely Mother's day lunch. The poor wee thing in his eagerness to get back to his morse code key, after tapping out 'Hi Mummy' and coming to tell us, ran out of the bus door and straight into the locker door which had been left open. The force of the blow split his forehead open, bruised his nose and lip then threw him back onto the stones where he cut the back of his head. It was a huge shock for all of us!! Why do heads bleed so much?? Anyway, after thinking he had got his eye, Liam and I were very relieved to see that it was his head. It was another quick trip down to the hospital for them to assess the whole thing, glue his head together and give him some pain relief. Poor wee thing was very tender for a long time and even now little bumps feel much bigger than they should. Accidents aside he is really getting interested in electronics and has been buying all sorts of things from the dump shop in Kaikoura to be able to pull apart and make new things with. Getting the morse code key to make a noise was a big highlight for him and now he is been working on getting a homemade radio to go. It is great to see him tinkering away, experimenting and solving problems as they come up.
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| Himself with his morse code key before the next big crash. |
Hospital visit aside we made a couple of quick trips down to Christchurch to see Nan which was really nice. Being parked up in Kaikoura for 9 weeks straight was certainly giving me itchy feet and a grumpy head!! Thankfully as soon as the bus got going I could feel the smile return to my face and a weight lift of my heart ... clearly I am a born wanderer - I'll save less complementary ways of describing my life-style to your imagination ;). Then of course there was the trip up here at the end of the month. The trip down to Christchurch and up to Picton is certainly much longer with the State Highway closed so it was a 2 day trip for us to get to the ferry rather than the usual 2 hour trip it would have been last year. It did mean that we got to stay at the Rotherham Hotel again which himself was more than happy about and also to see a few sight on the way like the Maruia Falls. It is great being able to rock up somewhere and have everything you need with you.
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| Maruia Falls |
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| Snow on a weekend trip down to Nan's |
Herself has also been busy, thankfully not visiting hospital, going to the local Guides each week and completing a load of badges for her Aotearoa Guides. She also found some material in the local second hand shop and decided to make herself a dress. I was so impressed at her determination to get it done! She made a pattern, cut it all out, hand-stitched the edges and then hand stitched it all together. It was a 2 day project and I could see just how proud she was of herself too which was the best thing about it. She has worn it quite a few times since and been enjoying the fruits of her labours.
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| Busy hand sewing her dress |
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| The finished product |
Well that will have to be it for now as the tea is waiting for me to serve it up so we can get Daniel to cubs. The only thing left to say is a brief comment about starting winter in the bus ....before coming up to Kapiti we had a few cold, frosty mornings so it has been great having a bit of warmth up here. Liam has been having to acclimatize weekly as he works in Kaikoura weekdays and joins us over the weekend. Not sure how we will cope once we get back down south come July but that will be another story in a few months time! Until then I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and injury free.
Arohanui
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