Life can be weird sometimes...

Well, here it is December already and November was kinda... quick, hectic and surreal,  you’ll see what I mean?!...

From Rarotonga

Yay!! Finally the container has arrived.  The kids have a few thoughts which I forced them to write down and here they are:

Morganne - It was fantastic! It was spantudieus! I almost cried for happiness that day! That is all. >;)

Tere - When the container got here, I was happy.  I finally found my Bionicle.  My room is a mess now.

Alina - Packing the container wasn't fun, and neither was waiting for it.  When it arrived, it was fun again... then we had to unpack it. =(

Connor - Hmmm.... it was a mixture of emotions, aheh. For the most part, there was a relieved sort of happiness, (it didn't wind up in the ocean, yay!), accompanied by a small sense of dread, (that's a lot of boxes to unpack).

I was glad when the container arrived as well.  Now we could finally starting making our rental place feel like home.  However, there was the added pressure of trying to locate the gear Ina needed for work.  We had about 5 days from when the container arrived at our place until the day Ina flew out.  Fortunately, all the lists that Alina and I had made came into play and we were able to find everything.  We unloaded the BBQ and Ina's big leather chair in the first day.  By the end of day two the container was unloaded and the house and carport were full of boxes, bins and packages.  It looked like home!!  We slowly worked our way through everything and Connor made the comment that every time he came back from work, it looked more like home.  Ina flew out on Saturday and the living room was pretty much set up.  By the end of last week, (25th Nov), Alina and I had all the boxes unpacked in the house.  The room that is to be Connor's is full and the carport isn't as spacious as it was.  Looks like we'll have to rent storage space so Connor gets his room back.  Alina and I have IKEA furniture left to assemble and a few more boxes from Connor's room to unpack.  It is definitely feeling more like home.  Next thing will be the Christmas decorating before Ina gets home.  Things are slowly moving ahead.

P.S.  The other day we had a problem with the oven when we were trying to make a banana cake so we used the BBQ instead and it tasted great!!  It only took 1/2 an hour too! We're going to try brownies next. Amazing how quickly you think of things once you have batter in a pan and no oven to cook in.

From Canada

You might have guessed from the previous paragraph that I’m back in Canada working right now?!.  We have a couple of major family functions coming up in New Zealand in March so took the opportunity to go make some extra money.  Continuing to work away from home to make this move and our house in Atiu happen, has always been a part of the plan but now that we’re at that stage... it’s a little surreal.  Whoever said dreams are free is right, but making them happen... well, that’s something else altogether.

It’s always hard leaving family but the big plus this time was seeing family.  Stopped in with Mark, Sharleen, Cameron and Caitlyn and that was cool.  Cameron showed me his room after redecorating with flags from Rugby World Cup countries.  They had recently returned from 2011 RWC in New Zealand where Cameron made it his mission to get as many flags as he could from where ever they visited...

Anyways, I’ll see them again on my way home for Christmas.

Being away from family is never easy, life isn’t easy either sometimes... but then, if it was and you never had to work to achieve anything... what would be the point?

Nuff said for now

RWC and Whanau...

Here it is November and I'm thinking,  I should update the blog so, here we go!!

National Math Quiz.

Ok, chronologically, this is a little bit before the last post but I was thinking, better late than never!.  Anyways, in the week before World Cup, the National Math Quiz was held at the Auditorium.  It involved schools from Rarotonga as well as schools from the outer islands such as Aitutaki and Atiu that were flown in to participate.  The schools provide teams from the relevant years (grades) and they are pitted against each other in a timed competition with a set amount of questions.  Both Tere and Morganne were chosen to represent their school, Arorangi Primary, in the usual exhaustive process whereby their teacher informed them the day before, "Oh, by the way, you two are in the National Math Quiz", followed by quizzical looks and comments such as "what did he/she say??".

Anyways, after a bit of scrambling around by the parents to figure out what was going on, then getting there to support the kids, it turned out to be a great night!.

Tere and Morganne brainstorming it

Morganne's team finished in the middle of the pack and Tere's team were just pipped for 3rd place out of 18 teams.  Way to go Tere & Morganne!.

RWC 2011.

WHAT THE !!!!!… Who would have predicted that result!!!…  Anyways, its was our first World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere in 17 years so we wanted to do… something special??!?…

Well, John Carter, the High Commissioner for the Cook Islands & the Government decide to create a Cook Islands Fanzone for the final so when we see that in the paper, we figure "Its All On!!!!…."   They set up the National Auditorium for the big night with a huge screen, admission is free, schools are invited to the "Haka" competion, local vendors are invited to provide refreshments (and make some money for themselves), face painting stalls are set up, its advertised on National T.V. and newspapers as a "family night, come along, dress-up and have fun!" and they make the venue alcohol free (awesome).  Heres a few pics of the kids getting into the spirit and blurry shots of the haka competion and Richie hoisting the cup.

George Kapa Haka group of Arorangi

Sweet Victory!!

HAKA!!

What you won't see in the photos is Tania hiding behind my shoulder and peeking out at the screen for most of the second half..., or myself mentally preparing myself for "Four More Years" in case we lost..., or the palpable tension in the Auditorium that you could cut with a machete, then the almost agonizing relief as the final whistle went… I have to admit to "getting a bit of dust in my eyes" at the end of that game but now that I look back, I think, what an awesome win for the AB's!. The French brought their 'A' game (and we all know what can happen when they do!), but at the end of the day, we stood fast and shut 'em down. I absolutely think that on the day that mattered the most, we were the best team IN THE WORLD! and it was awesome to share it with over 1000 like-minded C.I.'s…

It was such an awesome night that, when we left, I didn't really mind it when our rental broke down in the middle of a rugby field (temp car park) and we had to run to catch the "clockwise" bus to get home… The next morning we went down to the rental company and gave them the key and told them "maybe you should go get your car, they might want to play a game on the field soon!!"

Whanau in Paradise.

We've been going to church regularly as it was something Tania and I thought we should pick up again.  We attended in Canada, but drifted away from it a bit when we were in Edmonton.  We attend Arorangi CICC and a week after RWC, we were enjoying the service there and as we were leaving, a lady passed in front of us, I nudged Tania and said " Boy, that lady really looks like your cousin Moeawa (nee Tamanui)".  A minute later we were outside and that same lady was standing next to a man that looked familiar.  I remember thinking how much he looked like Moeawa's husband George Masina.  After thoughts of doppelgängers passed through my mind I realized the obvious, they actually were Tania's cousin & husband.  They were here for a wedding on the following Tuesday along with a bunch of other cuzzies,… turns out, Moeawa's sister's son was getting married to a girl with Mangaian ancestry.  After greetings we said we had to rush off to collect another rental as we were going to a 5th birthday that afternoon, but promised to hook up in the next day or so.

Moeawa

Cut to 5th Birthday…

We show up at the appointed time and as we are walking in, I met a friend I haven't seen since the OMAC (Otara Music Arts Centre) days, John Peyroux.  He was in a band called 'Thats Us" back in the day.  He is also closely related to Mi'i Taokia, the father of the birthday boy.  Mi'i lives here and he and I go back to the OMAC days also.  After a bit of chatting, we find out Johns here for a wedding too, on Tuesday!!.  So, within 2 hours, we run into Tania's family, who are here for the groom and my old mate from OMAC who are here for the bride at the same wedding… What a small world!!!…

Mi'i and John

Cut back to whanau…

Anyways, we got together with Tania's whanau later in the week and she was very happy to be able to visit.  By the way, if you see people that look Polynesian but you're not sure, they're the ones that go swimming with their sunglasses on…

Zena & Tania

"I wear my sunglasses......inthelagoon"

WHANAU

Nuff said for now...

What the???...

Almost 2 months since we arrived and life seems to have its own rhythm and own set of rules down here.  Things that are the norm in Canada are things the Cook Islands are struggling to adapt to, or things we took for granted in Canada are issues here, or sometimes we have a vision in mind of tropical reefs and they aren't what you envisioned, … not really surprising I guess when you think about it…

fr'instance, 

Below is a pic of the George "bikie" gang, .  In Canada, normal riding gear would be leathers and a helmet.  I'm wearing the typical Cook Island riding gear i.e. T-shirt, shorts, flip-flops, sunnies and a ball cap, all of which seem to be optional except for the shorts as I've seen plenty of locals riding round wearing just shorts,… or old ladies dressed for church with big hats,… or riders carrying all manner of paraphenalia with one hand while riding in all manner of outfits…. anyways, I digress.  They are introducing a law so that every one is required to wear helmets, so does that mean in the interest of decorum and safety, minimum required riding gear would be a helmet and shorts??.  Hmmm if I see that, then I will have seen it all!!.

Editors note: Tere is still without a vehicle due to the incident reported in the post 'School Daze'

fr'instance

Water is an issue right now.  Apparently, we are suffering the declining effects of a La Nina weather pattern that has resulted in a longer than usual dry spell.  All sorts of meteorological reports abound predicting one thing or another, some dark and foreboding, others non-committal, government is asking the populace to conserve water, some of us are wondering whether the future will bring rain or not.  I saw this in the paper and I say, thank God we have "The Weather Rock"!!

fr'instance

When I first saw "Finding Nemo" I was blown away by the graphics depicting the reefs and the sea-life living amongst it.  In Rarotonga, one of the best places to swim is Aro'a beach.  There is a huge coral reef out there that we snorkel regularly just "swimming with the fishes".  Not as vivd as the "Nemo" reef but pretty nonetheless.

Cut to Fri Oct 21… Tania & I were sitting on brain coral watching some kids a little ways off.  They were all excited as they had found a moray.  A little later we looked back and the kids were gone so we thought we would swim over and see if we could see the eel they had seen before heading back in.  I swam past a brain coral and into a small channel of sand between two areas of reef.  As I approached the other side, I saw a big sinuous yellow spotted body swim down behind a coral head about 4 metres away and then a huge moray head pop out from a gap.  This is not the actual eel but it's the same as the one I saw;

Needless to say my heart jumped.  I looked around for Tania, swam back to the brain coral until I found her and there she was, just standing there nonchalantly cleaning her goggles.

Tania:

Well, Ina is right up to a certain point.  We did swim over to where the kids were.  Ina went one way and I went another.  I was keeping my eyes peeled as I swam around the coral as I don't like eels to begin with.  I approached a massive brain coral, surrounded by other types of coral, with a channel of sand on the far side.  I was about to swim over the coral, towards the sand, when I looked down and saw the head of a spotted moray eel amongst the coral.  After lots of back pedalling and splashing about, I found a place to stand up.  I was positive this was the eel the kids had seen as it wasn't that big or scary looking:

 I saw Ina on the other side of the brain coral, swimming and moving about and thought I'd wait 'til he saw me so I could show him the eel.  When he came over, he pulled his mask off and said, "I found it and it's a monster.  I'm not @#$%ing you". He then told me to duck down and look straight ahead, past the brain coral and I would see its head.  I pulled my mask and snorkel back on and did what he said.  Nothing...  A few seconds later, I saw this monster eel weaving and swimming in our general direction.  It went down the channel of sand on the other side of the coral.  I rapidly ducked behind Ina and kept him and the brain coral between myself and that monster.  Once it was well past, I took off and headed back to shore. I paused to make sure Ina was still with me, let him know I was done for the day and hightailed it out of there.  Good thing I wasn't having my blood pressure taken that day as my heart was just pounding.  I now know where NOT to snorkel because I don't want to see THIS again:

Ina:

I guess it looked a little different to Tania but when the eel swam down the channel I estimated it to be approximately 1.5 to 2 metres in length.  Tania thought it was a little longer.  Swimming with goggles tends to make things look bigger so it looked all of 2 metres to me so 1.5 metres should be about right.  Anyways, I certainly did not see anything like that on "Nemo's" reef but it made for an exciting swim.  Admittedly one of the thoughts I had when I first saw the eel was that I never actually saw those kids go back in??…  On the way back, I saw some pretty big trevally feeding on something near another coral head.  Seems to have been a "BIG" day on the reef.

'Nuff said for now

We've been noticing a few differences here...

You know life’s a little different when...

You’re riding down the gravel driveway and you see “brain” coral is part of the crush...

You’re sitting outside in the evening, cooling down to the gentle sounds of the pig snoring in the neighbours backyard...

You start keeping an eye out for overhanging coconut trees, ‘cause you have to swerve around a few nuts laying in the road...

It's 20C @ night and you want a blanket on the bed because you feel a bit cool...


Theres no such thing as channel surfing because theres only one TV channel with about a dozen commercials...

You haven’t worn shoes since you’ve arrived as you don’t really have a reason to...

You’re surfing the internet because you don't want to ask when’s the best time to pick the bananas hanging on the tree outside your bedroom window because you don't want to sound like a "tourist"...

The members of the national rugby league team show up at the kids school to take them for a training run and toss the ball around...

School notices are brought home by the kids AND advertised on the national TV station...

At first glance you mistake a cockroach for a small, brown rat...

You’re in the lagoon, standing on a huge “brain” coral with your kids, and the tropical fish start nibbling at your toes...

You start categorizing the local fauna...

Friend (eats the bugs)

Foe (stands outside the window and crows)

Friend OR Foe?... jurys still out...
(I would like to count this one as a friend)


Anyways, Nuff said for now...

School Daze

Heres a few words from the kids

Alina: Our plan for my schooling was all muddled up for a while. I remember a coupla years ago Mum was thinking that I’d go to Tereora, so in grade nine when teachers would ask “which high school are you going to?” and I would say “Tereora”, and then the teacher would say “...where?!” (hee hee) Then I heard from Maria that school in the Cooks ends at age 16 (now how old am I? Hmmm...) Mum was really starting to wonder what I’d do for school now, and Aunty Lena suggested that I try this online homeschooling program that her school offers. So our plan was that I would get homeschooled with an Albertan education and graduate at the same time as my friends. But it turns out that one of the many bloody expensive things here is the internet, which meant that online schooling was suddenly a bad choice. Mum and Dad investigated schools, and found one where you should graduate by age 17, like Canada. And my assessment results showed that if I work hard enough, I might graduate early. So now I’m going to school... at Tereora. ;D

Alina at her new school Tereora College

Morganne:  Fist day at school and I was bombarded by questions. I didn’t exactly care though, but I did have to repeat some answers for the kids. The teachers were impressed with my work, (as were a lot of the kids!) and a whole bunch of kids loved my art. They were also impressed with my speed at running.  That’s it.  Really.  Nothing else. Go have fun.

Kids in their new uniforms

Tere: On my first day of school, it came to rocky end. Mine and Morganne’s bikes fell over during the day. When we got them back up, MY bike was making a weird “donk” noise, and the back brakes weren’t working. Undeterred, we left school., and this “donk” noise was getting on my nerves. So I decided to check this out at a nearby rugby field. And I stopped, with a very bad front flip. Here’s what happened: There was a bar that held up a basket, and when we removed the basket, the bar was still there. So when my bike fell over, the bar was caught on the tire. Then eventually it catches and I flip over the handlebars and the bike falls on me. Fortunately Dad was driving by and he picked up the bike and drove home with one hand steering, the other was holding up the bike. And the one thing that amazed me was that my uniform didn’t get dirty when I crashed. And I only got a small stab on my palm. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I’m out of ideas. Guess that’s it.  

Heading to school

Learning to ride,... getting there!!

Anyways, Nuff said for now

House number for the New Place??

This is an addendum to the previous post, I was reading through the paper the other day and there seems to be a move afoot to improve the house numbering system here!!!
I was laughing after reading the cartoon, but then, I thought that might be a good idea!...
This is what 'Kata' from Cook Island News had to say...

Actually, sounds pretty close, theres a big mango tree by the road and we have a green roof,... we're the fourth house past the mango tree so that would make us 'thingy' and our neighbour would be on fire!!!

The New Place...

Guess its official,  we aint homeless anymore!  We also just got online at home here.  (Kids say 'YAYYY")

Moved out of the ‘Holiday House’ on Friday last week and settling in to the new place.  When I asked about the address, landlady says “Ummm, don’t really have one??!?!?”... closest thing is

Ina & Tania George, Inave,

Arorangi  Village, Rarotonga,

COOK ISLANDS.

Asked about P.O. boxes, waiting list is 3 years long, so we go in to the Post Office to collect our mail, so it’s all good...

Not right across the road from the beach anymore but they're just a few minutes away.  Scouted a few of the closest beaches, Arorangi has the best beaches so that’s good.

Been in the new place a week now, the "holiday'" phase is definitely over and starting to get adjusted to living here...

 The new place in Arorangi...

Kickin back Sunday nite...

Yard clean-up 'round one of the Banana trees...

Fixing a flat tire,

Not sure where the spare is, not under the seat thats for sure!??!..

Oh well, figure it out eventually...

Kids are starting school this week, blog again soon

Anyways, Nuff said for now...

Settling in...

Been a week, starting to settle in here.  Been swimming nearly every day, bought a new family vehicle which we named “Lil John”, rented a house in Arorangi and picked up the keys today... all going to plan so far... here’s a word from the kids!!

Alina:  Learning to drive motor scooter. Seemed to go okay until I dropped the bike, bent a pedal and got this lovely burn on my right leg from the exhaust. May take awhile to get my license...

'Lil John'

Connor:   Is fairly certain that the humidity alone will shave the odd pound off a body down here! Dunno if I’m lighter or just light headed haha

Tere:  Chicken fights are fun. Nearly stepping on sea urchins (kina) are not.

Morganne:  Tere’s right. Chicken fights are fun. I also like doing under-water flips and fights. I do NOT like getting water up my nose ( Dunno how that works though. I mean, I’m wearing snorkel goggles for pete’s sake!!! )  

Landing in Raro...

Well, here it is, Day 3 in Raro.  We have our Cook Island driver’s licenses, bank accounts sorted, shopped for groceries and looked at a rental house.  We have also been to the beach five times, four of those times have been just across the road from our “holiday” house, Are Tupuna.  I think I must be acclimatizing because I was commenting to Ina on how cold I felt, after getting out of the water and standing in the breeze.  He laughed and said that I’m complaining about the cold while getting a tan.  That didn’t take long.  T

Landed on Mon, now it`s Wed... I could get used to this place!  Still finding our feet and the kids are loving it so far.  New record for me, swimming 3 days in a row... could get used to that too!  I went to get my C.I. drivers licence today.   I needed class A & B (Car & Motorcycle)... never had a motorcycle licence before so expecting to do a practical... clerk says ``have you ridden before`` I say `` Yes, but that was 2 years ago``... ``PASS!!!``.  Oh well, not expecting to fall off.  I 

Nuff said for now

Jumping off...

Tonights our last night in Canada.  Vancouver will be our "jumping off" point.  Found an interesting site about Cook Islanders, heres the link...

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/cook-islanders/1

It's about Cook Islanders leaving the islands for a better life.  One of the photo captions mentions phosphate mining on Makatea Island.  Dad was one of those who went to dig "bird poo", then left for New Zealand.  I hope he found what he was looking for... I hope we do too.

This is Tania writing at the moment.  The bags are packed, the boys are snoring and I'm ready to hit the hay.  I think that once our mountain of luggage is checked in, we have gone through American customs and security, the excitement will kick in.  A bit too tired right now to feel it.  The past two weeks have been a great time to catch up with friends and family but the drawn out farewell has been emotionally draining.  Really looking forward to hitting the beach.  Ka kite til next time.

Travelling B.C.

Got a chance to update.   Arrived Vancouver Island Aug 20.  Stopped in to see Temaeu's Grandmother in Kamloops and a good buddy Dave...

A short "pilgrimage" to see boyhood heroes Jimi Hendrix & Bruce Lee...

Then over to the island to see family & friends...

Next step will be "jumping off"...

Sold!!!

Today was the possesion date and the moneys gone through.  The new owners are Ossie & Christina.  Keys were handed over at about 1:00pm and we hit the road.  "Meitaki Ranuinui" to Ossie & Christina for getting us started! (by buying the house)

Guess we're officially homeless and unemployed!  Arrived Hinton about 5:30pm, had a big steak dinner and now getting ready to hit the sack... Kamloops B.C tomorrow.  Stopping in to see a friend & "The Greatest"... kids Great Grand-Mother... shes a grand old lady.

Nuff said for now...

Last Night in Edmonton

All journeys start somewhere I guess!

Load out day today.  Right now, it's 1:30am and we're finishing up the packing... this time tomorrow, should be snoozing in Hinton!  Kids have done a great job... (mostly)

Everyones a little too tired to be excited right now... that should change by noon tomorrow (or later today...).

Next stop B.C.

All journeys start somewhere...

First Post in a new blog about our Journey.

We're the George Family currently living in Edmonton Alberta, Canada.  We've sold the house and are moving to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.  My name is Ina & I am the father/husband.  My extended family is from the Cooks and for me, I'm going to build a house for my wife & family on my land in Atiu.  I'd be surprised if anyone reading this (who doesn't know me) actually know's where it is!

The  wife/mother in all this is Tania George (nee Davis) and she's fulfilling a childhood dream.  (Long story... that'll be another post).  Also, she has an Atiuan name,  "Temaeu O Te Rangi" given to her by my father so you'll hear me referring to her every now and then by that name.

Our children are Connor, Alina, Teremataiapo & Morganne.  They know where they come from in Canada, time to show them their Cook Island heritage...

Anyways, this blog will run a while so don't expect a post every day!... we're aiming for once a week (or there about's) if we're lucky!...

If this is something that might interest you, then follow along!... might be fun.

Heres a pic of Atiu...

and heres a pic of Edmonton

Nuff said, for now...