I bet you didn’t even know we had left the country! Well we are back now, my HB & I. We had 10 days in Oz, and no, we aren’t oinking or sniffling with the swine flu. We just made it out of there before their somewhat lax procedures got a wake up call and they realized that, yes, there is a problem.
We were in Brisbane about the time the debacle over the cruise ship passengers took place. Thankfully they were sent out to quarantine off shore til we departed the country.
It was a time for family catch up in both Perth & Brisbane and suffice to say it was fantastic with plenty of stories to be told. We went for my best friend’s son’s wedding. Well second wedding ceremony to be exact. The first one was up in Karijini, which is in the middle of nowhere but spectacular. The second celebration was for the slightly less adventurous family members, and was held at a surf club in Perth. It was wonderful to be able to share in this celebration. In Brisbane we had a family reunion, with my two sisters and partners. One lives in Brisbane and the other one who had come from Christchurch for the weekend. We also caught up with Shelley’s dear friend J in Brisbane, and that is, as always, very special.
Before we left NZ there was much to organize for the 7/7 Fourth Anniversary this year when an amazing steel structure will be unveiled in Hyde Park. There are 52 columns representing all those murdered on that day. There will be a plaque with names on, in a garden by the sculpture. It is designed so that you can walk around, between the towers. I think it will give an incredible sense of the individual and collective number of loved ones lost. We will get to stand there but not this year.
Through no actions on mine, and again through the amazing network of friends Shelley made, I deputized our wonderful LM and he undertook to be our man in London. He has since got a list of names of about a dozen friends who will be standing in that place on the 7th July. The govt department organizing the event has been incredibly helpful and so real in their communications with myself, and now our Man in London. If there is a sensitive and caring way to do these things, they sure have got that sussed.
There are not sufficient words to express how incredible and true this amazing group is. They were there for us from the morning of the 7th, when they knew Shelley had not got to work. They drove all over London, to all the hospitals looking for her, giving her photo to policemen on the street. They were by our sides from the minute her dad and I got to London on the 9th and have stood with us ever since.
Many of them will reunite on the 7th along with two of our Auckland friends who happen to be in London, and who were there for the 1st Anniversay and our two amazing Police Liaison Officers, who we now count as friends.
On the home front, the winter has set in. We have had 2degrees at night and thick white frosts in the morning. My two hibiscus plants look like cooked spinach and I am hoping they will revive in the spring.
We were in Brisbane about the time the debacle over the cruise ship passengers took place. Thankfully they were sent out to quarantine off shore til we departed the country.
It was a time for family catch up in both Perth & Brisbane and suffice to say it was fantastic with plenty of stories to be told. We went for my best friend’s son’s wedding. Well second wedding ceremony to be exact. The first one was up in Karijini, which is in the middle of nowhere but spectacular. The second celebration was for the slightly less adventurous family members, and was held at a surf club in Perth. It was wonderful to be able to share in this celebration. In Brisbane we had a family reunion, with my two sisters and partners. One lives in Brisbane and the other one who had come from Christchurch for the weekend. We also caught up with Shelley’s dear friend J in Brisbane, and that is, as always, very special.
Before we left NZ there was much to organize for the 7/7 Fourth Anniversary this year when an amazing steel structure will be unveiled in Hyde Park. There are 52 columns representing all those murdered on that day. There will be a plaque with names on, in a garden by the sculpture. It is designed so that you can walk around, between the towers. I think it will give an incredible sense of the individual and collective number of loved ones lost. We will get to stand there but not this year.
Through no actions on mine, and again through the amazing network of friends Shelley made, I deputized our wonderful LM and he undertook to be our man in London. He has since got a list of names of about a dozen friends who will be standing in that place on the 7th July. The govt department organizing the event has been incredibly helpful and so real in their communications with myself, and now our Man in London. If there is a sensitive and caring way to do these things, they sure have got that sussed.
There are not sufficient words to express how incredible and true this amazing group is. They were there for us from the morning of the 7th, when they knew Shelley had not got to work. They drove all over London, to all the hospitals looking for her, giving her photo to policemen on the street. They were by our sides from the minute her dad and I got to London on the 9th and have stood with us ever since.
Many of them will reunite on the 7th along with two of our Auckland friends who happen to be in London, and who were there for the 1st Anniversay and our two amazing Police Liaison Officers, who we now count as friends.
On the home front, the winter has set in. We have had 2degrees at night and thick white frosts in the morning. My two hibiscus plants look like cooked spinach and I am hoping they will revive in the spring.
SBS & his SH and their dog are staying with us for a while. They came to house sit and then get sorted to find a new flat closer to their work places. It is lovely having a full house. It is hilarious trying to keep up with the comings and goings as all for of us, (excluding the dog!) work shift work. It is the funniest household; there is usually someone sleeping, someone cooking and someone heading off to work. We have totally confused any prospective burglars, which can’t be bad.
FBS is also wanting to move out of his work/home so he will become part of the new set up once they find a house that they all three, plus the dog, like. FBS will keep working at the same place, but the time for living and working there has now past. It will be great for them to be all together.
Today is the first of my four days off and I am feeling energetic and looking forward to getting some things done around the house and to do some more writing.
There is a lot going on in my head, believe it or not!! I hope to be able to sift through the murk and get some focus for my writing.
Keep well, keep strong,
Arohanui
KG
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