Anything I can say about Christmas looks foolish & insignificant next to the earthquake in Asia so I’ll keep this short. Especially when the last couple of days has been a sequence of good food & sunshine. Nature teaches humility though – some of the family went kayaking down the Ruamahanga river and there were some spills. I’d just dropped off my brother in law Olivier and my Uncle Roy who was trying to paddle himself and his intellectually handicapped son Mischa – they lasted all of 30 seconds before capsizing and I had to jump in and swim after the kayak floating downstream. I got on it but not in time to avoid a fallen log and so I capsized too. All good fun for me, but it was only a grade one or two river. Eric, my dad’s-ex-wife’s-current-husband also came out on his trip and had a rather less pleasant experience but was lucky to be helped out.
Along with the kayaking, an energetic game of soccer was the Christmas highlight for me, with just about everyone joining in and a few falls along the way. And it was good to see my youngest sister Bronwyn again (youngest as in only 14 years older than I!); she’s living in Korea now, apparently not planning to move back anytime soon. She’s got a boyfriend and seemed pretty happy.
Now I’ve eaten enough to last the rest of the year I’m heading back to Wellington. I’ve been looking forward to today – it’ll be the last recording session of The Winter, the band I played in last year and who it’s been impossible to get organised this year. Mike’s off to Melbourne in a few weeks, so this will be our 11th-hour swansong. I had a great time playing with these guys last year, hopefully the magic’s still there…