The journey continues for a new year...

Well, I’ve been pretty lax in maintaining the blog so hopefully, this will make up for the lack of effort on my part.  First, we’ll start the New Year off with belated greetings and the newsletter we sent out earlier.  Some of you may have received this already and for those that didn’t, here we go!!

Tania wrote:

30 December, 2011

Hello everyone.  It is that time again.  I am a day earlier than when I wrote in 2010 but didn’t meet my goal of getting the letter out before Christmas.  Maybe next year?!!  We hope that 2011 has been good to everyone and that the Christmas season was full of cheer and good health.  We had a very quiet and lazy Christmas.  Visions of lounging at the beach remained just that, visions, as there was a lot of rain.

There were some major events in the George household this year.  Ina and I finally had a honeymoon; only took us 19 years to manage.  We went to Scotland for two weeks in March.  It is the first trip we’ve ever had for the sake of travel and I now understand why so many of you go junketing around.  It was fantastic.  The Scots we talked to kept apologizing for the weather but considering what we left in Edmonton, it felt quite balmy.  We are talking about another trip but will wait to see when that happens.

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness

The kids went to the Coast and spent 3 weeks with their grandparents while we were in Scotland.  They loved every minute of their stay and were spoiled by Mum and Dad.  Of course, missing three weeks of school sure helped.  Connor was working up north, so he stayed home and shovelled snow.  I think he got the short end of the stick that time.

We got all the renovations done that we wanted to get done plus a few more, so the house was in good shape by May.  We listed it that month and sold it by June.  I was our realtor so we saved quite a bit by not having to pay out the commission.  We had only 7 showings and the couple that bought the house are looking at staying long term there.  Everyone was happy.

Alina and I spent July packing and cataloguing everything.  Sweet 16, Alina!  Tere and Morganne were the grunts and hauled things around for us.  Ina and Connor didn’t finish work until the 1st of August so they missed out on all the fun times.  We loaded up our U-Haul and headed for Vancouver on the 16th August.  We spent a couple of nights in Kamloops so we could visit with Gramma and some friends and then it was Vancouver.  Unloaded the truck at our moving company’s yard and then we headed south to Washington, USA.  We spent a couple of nights down there as Ina had always wanted to see the graves of two of his boyhood idols, Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix.  It was a fun trip and we were able to tick something else off the “bucket list

Two weeks were spent on Vancouver Island.  We had a great time visiting with friends and family and took lots of photos.  Connor spent most of that time with his mate, Cameron.  They have been friends since kindergarten and it was so interesting to see how their friendship just picked up.  I couldn’t believe how much talking they could do and then I spent time with my friend, Dianne; so much talking and laughing.  There were tears as we said our farewells but with so much love and best wishes from everyone, we knew they would be there in our hearts as we pursued our dream.

We arrived in Rarotonga on 5th September and were the last group to go through customs.  Loaded our gear onto the van and headed off to the house we had booked for two weeks.  It became known as the “Holiday House”.  It was an odd little house and the only thing we missed was its’ beach side location. (There was a window between the kitchen and bathroom so when one wanted a shower, everyone was asked to vacate the kitchen!) It was across from a lovely beach and we went swimming at least once a day.  During our stay there, Ina and I went house hunting and found a three bedroom house in the village of Arorangi to rent.  One of the things that drew us to this house is how similar the colours and layout were to our house in Edmonton.  It is much smaller so we are all learning how to live closer together and with fewer things

Morganne at Vaima'anga

The next big event was the Rugby World Cup!!  For my birthday dinner, Ina and I went out to a very nice restaurant, had a lovely meal and watched the opening and the first game.  It was bloody brilliant and I couldn’t think of a better way to turn 42, than by being in the Cooks, watching the All Blacks and spending time with my husband.  We ended up buying a TV just so we could keep watching the games at home and so the kids could actually see some World Cup.  It took us three weeks before we caved and bought it so there were lots of games watched at nearby pubs and bars.  We thought our container would arrive by then, but it didn’t actually arrive until the beginning of November.  We rented a car for the final so we could go to the National Auditorium and watch it on the BIG screen. That was quite a nerve racking experience but the All Blacks did it and won by 1 point.  We were so happy that we didn’t even mind the car having a flat battery.  I had paid to park it in the middle of the rugby field and it got left there over night.  We caught the bus home and went to the rental company in the morning to let them know where their car was parked.
Note:  Samoa did not do well at the RWC and apparently, a large part of the blame rested with Management treating it as one big holiday.  Turns out the village that one of the managers came from was disappointed in his performance and fined him.
The fine??  100 pigs!!.  Geez, only in the Islands...

As we waited for the arrival of the container, we slowly got ourselves sorted.  Alina was enrolled at Tereora College and Tere and Morganne were enrolled at Arorangi Primary.  We bought them uniforms and off they went, for one whole week and then it was term break.  They had about another month of school and then they finished for the year.  Alina has one more year left and provided she works hard, should be done by next December, with the courses needed to go onto university.  Tere will be in year 9 and we’re not sure what grade Morganne will be in.  It will either be year 6 or year 7.  She was in year 5, sat year 6 exams and guess we’ll find out in Jan where she’s at.  The girls settled in well and made friends  I started the Permanent Resident process and may actually have it completed by February.  The only hold up is getting my police record check from Edmonton.  I sent the paperwork in October so I am hoping that I will hear from them soon. 

Ina introduced Connor to his cousin, Mike Tavioni.  Mike is a master carver and Connor now works there from 9 – 2 pm, Mon – Fri.  He is learning a lot and really enjoys working with his “Uncle” and “Aunty”.  He are a few pics of his efforts so far.  He carved a kumete (bowl) for me and some Cook Islands drums for Ina and his cousin Cameron. 

Connor with his Aunty & Kumete (above)& Drum.  Made from frangipani wood

The only drawback is that he doesn’t make any money so he is thinking of going overseas next year, (May’ish), for a few months of work.  We also are the owner of a scooter, which is our main means of transport.  Connor owns a motorbike but doesn’t have his license or know how to ride it yet.  There are also 3 push bikes.  I get very excited when I get to rent a car for a day or two, as it’s so much easier to do the shopping and errands.  Driving on the other side of the road doesn’t seem like that big a deal now, compared to driving a scooter.  Alina also has her license so that has been very handy.

Beginning of November brought a few more changes.  Our container arrived, (HAPPY DAY!!), and Ina went back to work....in Canada.  The arrival of the container meant we could have all our treasures again.  Lucky Alina was done school by then so she had the privilege of unpacking.  We still have a room full of packed boxes, bins and containers but the essentials are unpacked.  We found Ina’s work gear and he flew out 5 days after the container arrived.  He is back at Firebag, Ft MacMurray and will be working there until mid-May.  Fortunately, he came home for Christmas and had a week to get his tan lines back on his feet.  He flies back on New Year’s Eve and we will meet up with him in New Zealand in March.  There are a couple of big George family events then, so the kids and I will fly over and spend two weeks with Ina there.

So, there you have it, the Georges 2011 in a nutshell.  There have definitely been some major adjustments with moving to the Cooks Islands but we all feel they are worth it.  I am waiting for my permanent residency to go through before I can look for work here.  Ina was able to reconnect with a friend, Mii, from Otara, whom he hadn’t seen for 17 years.  Mii’s wife, Karlene, and I have been meeting for coffee once a week which is wonderful, especially with Ina overseas.  Once school starts up again, the kids are going to be more involved with extra-curricular activities and I will look at volunteering at Morganne’s school and the public library.  In the meantime, life is pretty good here in the tropics, (no snow to shovel or ice to get rid of).  Not like last year!!!

Apparently, Morganne doesn't miss this at all!!

Ina wrote :

Well, that was pretty much our year...  I came home for Christmas on Dec 19th.  It was a very enjoyable and relaxed Christmas.  Tere and I went shopping for Morganne, we were at a loss as to what she would want for Christmas, we figured she loves to read so we couldn’t be too far off if we bought her a book.  We went to the bookstore and he found a Tintin book that was right in between two books we already had so we thought that would be the perfect gift.  Anyways, Christmas morning rolls around and Tere and Morganne exchange gifts and they look suspiciously identical to each other?  They unwrap and sure enough, they are identical!... Morganne had bought the same book for the same reason from the same place!  Go figure...

Christmas 2011, Rarotonga

Also, Connor and Alina bought a Christmas present for the house.  It was a nice big bean bag that is just perfect for lazing around on... as we don’t have a 4 wheeled vehicle yet, I thought they had brought it home on the bus...

Nope!...

Kids!!!

Anyways, although we didn’t get any snow this year, an awesome Christmas was had by all.

In the Cooks from about November through to April is Cyclone season so although we haven’t been on the receiving end of a cyclone yet, there was some heavy weather through the Christmas break.  We lost a couple of banana trees that were blown over in the wind but not the banana bunches on the trees so for a while, we were overstocked with banana’s.  We noticed that this may have happened with our neighbours too because we couldn’t even give some bunches away!!  Note: you can chop up a downed banana tree with a machete but when doing so, ensure you are not in close proximity to a wasp’s nest... when you’re stung 7 times in as many seconds, it’s a lesson learned quickly.

Also, the forecast for cyclones this year is promising as we are not expecting any major cyclone activity this year.  Although, I have heard the old people say to keep an eye on the mango trees and the chickens... if the mango trees seem to be fruiting suddenly or ahead of time and the chickens won’t return to the roost, then a big blow is coming!!  Makes sense, seems to me Mother Nature would know more about this stuff than me!


Tania & I also celebrated our 20th anniversary this Christmas!!.  We decided we would whisk ourselves away to a beautiful resort on a tropical south seas island paradise for a romantic dinner and to watch the sun set from the balcony of our 4 star room overlooking an azure lagoon...

The Rarotongan Resort

so we called up the hotel down the road and booked ourselves in!

(Pretty easy to “whisk” when your 8 minutes away by motorbike!).  Dinner was excellent followed by a show from a local dance group.  Tania was chosen by one of the kids to come and dance the “hula” with him.  She really enjoyed that.  Alas, we didn’t get our sunset as it was raining but sometimes, you could just see the waves breaking on the reef when there was a break in the weather!  Oh well.

It seemed like Dec 31st rolled around very quickly so it was back to Canada.  The flight was at 11:59pm so when some of the passengers started counting down, I thought it was for take-off!  Apparently not... there was a little cheer as midnight rolled around, the plane started to taxi and once in the air, we all settled down for the long flight, and that was my New Year’s celebration for 2012.

 
Back at work and I stay with the Edwards when I’m out.  Nice visiting family and seeing how things are going...

Cameron playing hockey, old school on an outdoor rink

the kids are still into their sports and dancing and getting bigger by the day it seems...


Apparently they have a mutant staying with them now who tried out for the “Blue Man Group” but wasn’t accepted because he was orange... have to feel sorry for the guy.

Orange guy

Anyways, It was a hectic year last year and another one is already in the pipeline... we are aiming to start clearing the land and landscaping on Atiu for the new house in the middle of this year.  As Aesop once said, “slow and steady wins the race”. 

‘Nuff said for now so from us all, e Meri Kiritimati e Te Mataiti Ou.