Home again, and a leave-taking...

Where does the time go?!!  This was supposed to be the posting for May and itís already the end of June.

There were more changes in the George household in May and I guess we are still trying to get used to them.  Connor flew up to Canada at the end of April.  He spent a night with my sister Ngaio in Vancouver area and then headed onto Edmonton.  Spent a night with my sister Sharleen and then he and Ina headed over to Scotland for four nights.  Needless to say, by the time he got to Edinburgh he was a wee bit tired.  I will let Ina provide the details and photos of that trip.  

Connor is now staying in Edmonton with a friend and just started work at a mod yard in Sherwood Park.  He is going to be apprenticing as a pipe fitter so won't be coming home any time soon.  He spent almost a month with the Edwards family, (my sister and family), in St Albert for which we are all appreciative and grateful for.  Originally he was supposed to go up to Fort McMurray and work on one of the Ledcor projects there but got tired of waiting for the call so he went out and got things sorted himself.  Guess we did something right.  It is much quieter without him here and I think Alina is enjoying being the oldest.  We do miss him and I believe his little sister, Morganne, probably misses him the most.  Looking forward to seeing him again which we are hoping will be at Christmas.  We will just have to wait and see how that pans out.

Ina arrived home at the end of May and is working hard on his new vocation, a beach bum.  Unfortunately for him, there is so much going on he hasn't had as much time to hone this new skill.  He has been hard out practicing guitar as he is currently playing with a band once a week.  He is also Morganne's chauffeur, which she loves.  No more walking or riding her bike and she gets to go on Connor's mean looking bike.  There have been a few odd jobs around home and then doing the errands that I would normally do.  The weather has also been uncooperative but today is a beautiful sunny day and after this, the two of us are hitting the beach.  Who cares that it ís a cool 23C?!  We can handle it, along with all the tourists from N.Z.
I am now working almost 40 hours a week at a lovely spot called, Aroa Beachside Inn.
I applied for the office position that was advertised and after starting work, found out there was so much more than sitting in front of a computer.  I also get to:
* tend bar at the Shipwreck Hut.  I can now add cocktail making to my curriculum vitae, 
* help in the kitchen on Bar B Q nights 
* housekeeping as needed.  
There has been mention of me learning how to dance for the Bar B Q nights but I have not yet been convinced.  The staff is friendly and the location really can't be beat.  So, if anyone is looking at a great place to get away to...

Shipwreck Hut, rated #3 on CNN's Worlds-50-best-beach-bars website

I'm still volunteering once a week at the Cook Islands Museum and Library and I also volunteer every other week at Arorangi Primary School's library.  My years of volunteering at Overlanders Elementary library have left me with the urge to regularly be in a library as a volunteer.  The big difference is the assortment of creatures I have found as I clean the shelves over here.  I have found silverfish, cockroaches, a small ants' nest, spiders and empty tamarind shells left by rats.  I also found some skink eggs which were a great conversation starter for a bit.

We also had our sister-in-law, Trish, spend a couple of weeks with us in May.  The weather mainly cooperated and I believe she had a wonderful time over here.  She had other friends living here so spent her time between both households.  When Trish left, she was planning her next trip over so it must have been a good holiday.
The kids are doing reasonably well.  There have been a few skin issues but those are well on the way to clearing up.  We figure that we must be acclimatizing as there have been a couple of mornings when the temperature was a mere 16C and it felt quite cool.  The blankets have come out of storage as we were finding it to be chilly at night.  The paper made mention of when it's that cold that we should just stay inside with a nice hot cup of tea and a good book.  I had to laugh as that ís what the papers would say in Edmonton, when it was -40C!!!  Guess it is all relative.

Winter in Raro...

There is a group of artists, (fine arts, music arts, carvers, etc), who are putting an arts council together.  They are looking at asking for government funding to cover various projects, one of them being an arts school.  I have been attending the weekly meetings when possible and Ina was even nominated as one of the council members.  Voting was last Thursday and although he didn't make it, he didn't miss out by that much.  It was quite funny as we were asked to bring either a plate of food or a drink.  Ina cooked chicken pieces in a sauce, (as I was at work), and we took that.  There was a rotisserie chicken, some roast chicken and taro and some buns.  There were also about 6 bottles of wine, a bottle of rum and a bottle each of juice and water.  Hmmmmmm.....wonder what the priority was?  Now that there is an elected council, things should move along faster.  I am really looking forward to what is going to happen and quite glad to be part of the group.

I haven't been to vaka for about a month due to various reasons but should be starting back this week and will be increasing my time on the water from once a week to twice a week.  I haven't been doing as much bike riding or walking so need to do something to get more active again.  The reason for the decrease in bike riding is that I'm now the owner of a new Daelim Ace 110 Racing semi-automatic motorcycle.  That sounds fancier than it really is.  It's bright red, has a red basket on the front and sounds like a sewing machine.  Alina has no desire to borrow it and I've been informed by Tere and Morganne that it is not that comfortable to ride as a passenger.  I think it's a bit of a granny bike myself, but it's got more room for carrying groceries in, which is why I got it.  It is also pretty good on petrol and is quite zippy, in spite of the sewing machine sound.  It has a Honda motor but is assembled in Korea.  The second day I had it, Ina had to take it back to the shop as the starter button had broken.  Other than that, it does the job.

Bikie Mama, off to work at Aroa Beachside...

Well, I think that pretty much bring everyone up to speed with the George family doings from my side.  Will try and get something put together by the end of June.  Ka kite.


Meanwhile, back in Canada...

Well, its been a while so this is a two month update…

May was a good month for me.  I was heading home later in May and Connor came up to Canada to pursue work opportunities.  He and I had planned to go to Scotland at the beginning of May for some "unfinished business"

Last year Temaeu & I had visited as a kind of "2nd Honeymoon".  I had found out prior to the visit that there was an artifact in Edinburgh that originated from my fathers home island, Atiu.  It was a large Kumete (feast bowl).  Last year when we visited, they were renovating the Grand Gallery where it was displayed and the exhibits had been stored away so we couldn't see it, so I had promised myself I would return to see it.

The story goes that the Kumete was gifted by Ngamaru Rongotini Povaru of Atiu to a Tahitian queen and taken to Tahiti.  The Kumete made its way to Scotland through one of her descendants who had married a Scotsman.  It seemed appropriate that it ended up being Connor & I that went to see it.  Connor is named for our ancestor Tauraariki - Tangapatoro, who was Paramount chief of Atiu when Captain Cook "discovered" Atiu and the islands that bear his name.  Ngamaru Rongtini Povaru is descended from Akaina Ariki, the elder brother of Tangapatoro.  The story of Akainas killing and Tangapatoro's subsequent terrible revenge are well known among the Atiuan's of today.

The Feast Bowl

I have to admit that when Temaeu first planned the trip to Scotland, she had planned on going with her friend.  I always seemed to be working and usually I am not a great tourist… I thought she would have a great time and I had always said I need a reason to go somewhere.  Typically for me, that reason always seems to be work related.  

Later, it turned out her friend couldn't go.  I said I'd go as I didn't want her to be disappointed.  A week or two later while researching genealogy on the internet, I stumble across a website about the Kumete.  I realize that its in Edinburgh where we would be visiting in a few weeks!  All of a sudden I have a "reason" to go there.  Then I find out the Grand Gallery is being renovated and we couldn't see the Kumete while Temaeu and I were there.  Just a  "reason" to return…  NEK MINIT, here we are, Connor and I, checking out a piece of our history that ended up half a world away from where it started.  

Looking back, I feel very fortunate in having had two very memorable trips in the space of a year, one with my wife and one with my eldest son with the Kumete as a backdrop for both… and truth be told, Edinburgh is one hell of a city…

One thing I know for sure, things happen for a reason... the only thing is that those reasons may not be immediately obvious.

Connor and I also squeezed in visits to Edinburgh Castle, Rosslyn Chapel, the Royal Mile, Mary Kings close and some truly historical Pubs like the White Hart Inn in Grassmarket , frequented by the body-snatchers Burke and Hare and bombed by a Zeppelin during W.W.1… 

Needless to say, it  proved to be a great Father & Son trip.

After Edinburgh, I headed back to the Oil Patch for one more shift.  When I got out, I had one night in Edmonton, then flew out the next day.  I said my good-byes to Connor... that was a little hard but its his time now... time to make his mark on the world.   Then, home to the Ipukarea (Ancestral Homeland).  That was a long trip by way of Vancouver, Los Angeles, then a 12 hour stopover in New Zealand.

June has been spent beach-bumming, gigging and easing back in to the Island life, 

Beach-bumming is very complex to explain.  Its more of a calling than an occupation... one small part I have mastered consists of sitting on a brain coral head in the lagoon, watching the outgoing tide uncover my belly while the Angel fish exfoliate my feet.  I don't know why but every time I go out, a small school of fish show up and they seem to love nibbling on the loose skin on my heels.  Why they do that is one of the great mysteries of beach-bumming that may be revealed to me in the future if I should prove worthy...

Beach-bumming... it takes practice and true commitment...

As for gigging, while I was still in Canada, a friend, Rere had contacted Temaeu at Aroa Beachside and asked if I would be interested in filling in for him on Guitar while he went to NZ.  He has a regular gig at another beach bar called Trader Jacks.  We've known each other for years and I hadn't gigged in over 20 years so thought, "what the hell!, should be fun"… and it was… and still is.  When Rere got back, he asked me to stay on as 2nd guitar so now I'm rockin' out every Friday night at Trader Jacks…

Trader Jacks... sometimes known as "Trader Zacs" hee hee

Island life… hmmm, up until I moved to Alberta, I had always lived within a half hour of the sea…  in the islands, you live within sight and ear-shot of the sea.  Its always there… when your cruisin'  on your bike, or at night when your sitting out on your verandah and the sea is a little high, you can hear the surf breaking on the shore.  There is something about the sea that washes away the immediate, takes you out of yourself and makes you want to just look upon her restless face and listen to her soft sigh…  She is our Great Mother and for me, a big part of Island Life.

Nikao Sunset... on the way home from town...

Anyways, thats about it… Here it is July 1st and it's been almost a year since we landed here.  We've certainly settled right in and feel like locals now.  Temaeu and the kids are getting pretty good at the ancient Cook Island art of eyebrow communication... e.g. lifting the eyebrows slightly accompanied by a slight raise of the chin and a smile means "Hey, howzit going??", utilized mainly between motorbike riders and pedestrians.

Other things are going along slower than expected but I believe everything comes in its own time...

At the moment, everyone is sitting 'round reminiscing about past Canada Day's, most being memorable except for one minor disaster involving a crowded LRT, pepper spray, a forced evacuation and a twisted ankle!... we also started talking about what we miss about Canada…

Temaeu:  Friends and Family… and Timmy's,  Alina: Chemainus, Tere: a White Christmas, Morganne: Snow, Me: Connor…

'Nuff said… Happy Canada Day everyone.