Keado’s Weblog

A week of holidays has come and gone & where it went, who knows. You have these great plans that when the kids are holiday you are going to “do this and do that” and the inevitable happens that you don’t. After spending most of Tues fishing with K, there was some work to be done. You wouldn’t have notices but just spent the last 10 min trying to remember what we did last week. Wed was grocery shopping with K while JD was with Kim – horse riding was cancelled so just a normal working afternoon with 100 street children running riot. Thu was also a full working day strange as that may seem. I was due to head into the office but with Kim down & out, I worked at home [thanks Microsoft]. Fri was a family flyer delivery morning. It’s great training and we all had our roles. We deliver a local newspaper fortnightly to around 500+ houses and I use as my training run for the day. K joined in the running while Kim seconded in the Landy with JD folding them. Pretty hard but great fun – backpack on with 100 spares, 50 in hand and off I run – house to house into postboxes. K did a fair amount of running as well and worked real hard, no complaints and just motivated to train & work hard. JD on the other hand had enough by house #20, but he maintained until the end. We took under 2 hours to finish the delivery which is pretty good going. We have a map all highlighted with the streets and the second time on this route, so getting to know it pretty well. Many boxes have various message on them “no advertising material” “no circulars” “no newspapers” “only postal letters” – so it isn’t just run and throw plus some have the strangest boxes – small slots, round, downpipes, boxes with lids and others.

Sat morning K wanted to fish again so we went off to Arkels Bay but the easterly wind was blowing which meant there was nothing to block the rocks – so we headed off to the wharf which is pretty sheltered. One chap there but he left early and another joined much later, so we pretty much had the wharf to ourselves. Not too much action as it was really low tide and took ages for the water to come in. True to form K caught three little sprats and I caught a trevally – my first – We had no clue what it was – had an idea but had to confirm with another local fisherman. We got home and filleted it for dinner – surprised to see the size & quality of the steaks that I got off. Spent the afternoon at the Albany looking for a new fishing rod for JD. Recession, what recession – that place was like Fourways on a Sat morning. No parking, busy, stress – we both said now we know why we don’t go there often. Chilled the rest of Sat. For dinner, took the fish fillets, soaked them in a batter of flour & egg and then coated with bread crumbs and pan fried. No lies, my best ever! The fish was white and much better than snapper – absolutely awesome. I’m going to have to find out why this fish isn’t targeted and some use for bait? For the record it was about 35cm and 1.2kg’s. This morning we got prepared and off to the fishing contest at Hobbs Wharf, the new part of the marina. Normally there is no fishing allowed in the marina but they made an exception on the new part to market the local “market”. Kids fishing contest so take kids fishing rods, right? Well, guess I thought wrong. Dad’s arrived with gear that I would dream of having on the rocks. There must have been 120+ people all fishing along the pier. They did say that they had been placing some birley pellets to encourage the sprats to come in and K caught two pretty quick. Little tricky fishing as we were almost shoulder to shoulder. I put a 3 hook piece onto JD’s new rod with bigger hooks as someone caught a baby snapper – and there’s always one bigger around. It was JD, K and myself as Kim was heading in to the office with Groblers to do some work. After 3 min JD arrived from the jumping castle to ask if we were finished? Same time his line went and he fought in a nice snapper – 26cm – 1cm too small to be legal! Didn’t interest him too much and off he went. Kim brought me some bait on her way out and we convinced JD to play at the factory with friends rather than stay – he wasn’t sure but was off pretty quick. It took a while to teach K the difference between sprat fishing with small hooks to fishing with larger hooks. After much convincing, speeches, jumping up and down, she was convinced and 10min before the close time of 12pm, her line went. These are kids rods & reels and good fun when a nice fish is on. She fought hard to bring it in and as it surfaced, we could see it was “legal”, above 27cm. She even had a little gallery behind to applaud. Got him up and between getting the fish off, measuring him, untangling another guys line with ours, wrapping the fish in a cloth so I didn’t get spiked- K held him and she was off to register her catch. In the end, 2cm smaller than the winner but only 3 legal snapper caught. She didn’t mind not winning but so proud to be part of the contest – she did win a spot prize of a carrier bag from the local fishing shop. Apparently it’s her new school bag when they return. JD & K back mid afternoon – she slept, I worked and kids played – one week down, one to go.

Didn’t have a clue what to name this update, so “the life” seems appropriate with so much negativity around – we’re in paradise living “the life”..

Spelling – it’s been brought to my attention that my spelling hasn’t been great. Could be that (a) the “b” key on the keyboard doesn’t work too well or (b) I just type and don’t read over what I’ve written, (c) there is no continuous spell check in word press or (d) it’s mind over matter – I no longer mind because spelling no longer matters. The solution – write the log in word which does the spelling automatically and then copy /paste into blog – I’m so bright my dad calls me son.

I had to go back to the diary because I have no clue what’s happened over the past week or so, not from memory anyway. Need that little bolt to remind the brain where it’s been. Last week was the close of school on Thursday so a short week. JD has his golf lesson on Mon afternoon which he loves – going to be taken him there more often now and also [secret] bought him 24 plastic practice balls for the school. Priced a new set of clubs for him at $220, suppose better than a 50cc offroad m/cycle at $2,500. Tues was an important day – Kim had her nails done – part b/day present from folks [thanks], brought a big smile and no, I didn’t notice when I got home [what can I say..] Kids had karate and got reports back that K excelled and really stood out as a natural. We had Pesach with Kiwi friends where K read the story of Pesach and we went through a little education of what it means to be Jewish. Great for kiwi kids as I think we are the first Jewish family they had met. Went really well and good fun.

Wed I was roped into helping K’s class at school – they had a games day where the classes where divided up and played 7 games I think of 15 min each. They did mention there may be “some” water involved – what they didn’t mention was home much the “some” was. One game was where we laid plastic sheeting down an embankment, got the house and a whole lot of liquid soap… Yup, water-bubbles-mud-grass-everthing. Most kids had other gear but no towels or underwear!!! The first who did the slide had to do the rest of the games soaking wet and it wasn’t particularly hot. K was the last to do it and well, coated. There teacher had arranged some 2 packets of new underwear which went fast – time for a run-she started off back to her class and I hit the road home. Kim had the car so I did a run over the fields, jumped a few fences through the houses, grabbed a towel, change of clothes and underwear and got back as she was standing at the class. Holly was in her school gear and lets just say that her shirt was binned, never to be clean again.

That was Wed – Thur was school assembly day. I was going to go for a 8km run but Kim wanted to run the 5km with me on the road. By the time 8:30am came, it was clear the rain was coming and I did a quick treadmill and Kim after me [once kids delivered]. Assembly starts 10:45 and we always there – I was hassling Kim to hurry and eventually got there 11am. Couldn’t get a seat but stood next to a dad who’s daughter’s in K class. When we arrived, the choir was on – saw K – they sat down and awards…think level 1…big sigh, they must have just started. Then Blair whispers “congratulations”…hey? “congratulations on K certificate”…what? “yeh, she got a certificate”..but they on level 1..”no, decided to move around this year”. The teacher never told us as “we’re always there!!!”. K still doesn’t know that we missed it but there were so many people, we said she just couldn’t see us-bugger!!

Collected them from school singing “what time is it…” and raced off to JD’s championship final basketball game. They were unbeaten and this was the final – and – 5-1 final score to them – champions and unbeaten – he was very proud of his certificate!

Easter Friday was fishing in the morning with Wayne – didn’t catch anything to write about – Sat morning was fishing with K at the wharf – 2 little sprats – Sat night was movie night at Wayne – Sun morning was easter eggs & midday lunch with Skinners which lasted until 9:30pm – cheated in Trivial Pursuit and still didn’t win – Mon morning was fishing Arkels Bay with Wayne and boy that was fun. As we arrived at the beach 7:30am, the water was bubbling with activity and birds diving all over the place. We RAN to the fishing spot, threw down gear and had rod & bait into the water in minutes. It lasted a good hour with sporadic boil up’s all over the place. Within 5 minutes I had a nice size snapper 36cm – that was while I was setting up the lure [cast in and wind back along the surface] – on about the 4^th cast “fish on” and brought in a 2kg kawahai – that’s where it ended, nothing else caught but great fun. People came onto the beach to cast in, boats came from beach-left and right-a dad & his son who overlook the beach came on the rocks near us as well. Mmm, I was the only one who caught!!! The rest of the day was work and filleted the snapper for Wayne’s dinner – we weren’t in the fish mood. What did K want to do this morning – fishing Arkels Bay. We got there 8am and had to drag her off at 12 – just one ore hour dad. And did she catch! A bucket load – she had the little rod with mini hooks and I must have 3kg’s of piper & yellow tails in the freezer. She said she’s getting bait & practice for a kids fishing tournament on Sun. K competitive, no> Oh, I caught two baby snapper which went back into the water.

JD had a school day across the road – they play school even when they not at school? More…took K to karate tonight, JD has a little cold – boy she is a natural & strong! They played games in 2 teams of 9 – they had a competition to see how far each team could bunny hop over a teammate, which K won for her team – then another game [I’ll try explain] – you carry your team mate on your back halfway – stand with arms in the air while your team mate has to move around you twice – legs can’t touch the ground – so person on your back moves around your upper half while you stand still – then carry person the rest of the distance and swop – K & little boy were the ONLY ones to do it, that’s out of 18 kids. Other games she was exceptional and often got comments from sensei.

That’s it for now – work time and tomorrow maybe a little golf with JD and K horse riding in the afternoon – the life..

Had a quick meeting this morning and Keagan wanted to go fishing off the wharf after lunch – who was I to say no to a child and juyst so happened that the tide was perfect. Kim even bought some bait on her shopping spree this morning..

Again, sea and weather perfect – there were about 6 other people fishing so not too bad. Pride got a little bruised when trying to cast and the line caught in the gear somewhere and after a huge heave, line & sinker almost hit the chap in front of me. Little sprats were out in the thousands and soon had 3 in the bucket. On the second cast of the long rod [surf caster], I felt a soft pull and when I added some pressure, the line started to pull hard – fish on. Knew it was a kawahai – getting good at this fishing thing – I can’t tell the fish where to swim so intangled my line with 2 others – now, fishing etiquette states if there is a fish on – get your lines in fast to avoid exactly what happened. Here I am trying to get the fish in and the one on my left is sort of watching and the chap on the right is more concerned with a sprat that he may lose. I brought the fish up close but they never bloody got out the way for me to pull the fish in – anyway, after a struggle, managed to grap hold of the trace and pull the fish onto the wharf – you think then they would give space – no. The lines where tangled so  I asked K for the scissors and just cut all my lines & rigs loose – the fish was waiting patiently for all this to be sorted.Cut my lines loose, took my gear and fish and left them with knots & tangles..

Fish was a nice 2kg kawahai, same we smoked last weekend. I took it to the water to bleed [sorry] and iki [knife through head - sorry again]. There were so many people now on the wharf it was silly, and more people were arriving. Surely if you get to a spot and it’s crowded, you find another. No, chap & family pitched themselves right over / around our chair and gear as if we weren’t there. K was playing in the water now and I just had nowhere to go – this family took over and with so may people now, I called K and we packed up and headed home. You would think there were other spots to go but actually there isn’t another place where you can take the kids fishing – so many beaches etc and there just isn’t.

Decided not to smoke the fish – too lazy – it’s Sunday. Had to go to Wayne to meet new emppoyees who arrived from Christchurh, had a drink and took them to the Gulf Harbour Lodge – we putting them up there for a week until they find a place. Got back and got stuck into there dinner – roast chicken, potats and veggies. All home by 7 and quiet time now…

Mr Kawahai going to be bait for next week…

I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re all going thrugh some kiwi apprenticeship – acting like kiwi kids to get to the adult stuff. Mostly I suppose because every time something “silly” happens there’s never an adult that’s doing the same, just maybe some kiwi kids…

I suppose growing up as a kiwi kids you start off fishing with little rods off the wharf catching sprats -then, get a bigger rod and start the rocks fishing – all the time yearning for the chance to earn $2,000 and buy your first “tinnie” – generally a 4m aluminium with a 4hp motor. Well, we’ve ticked the wharf and pretty much ticked the rocks – with some laughs..

Where am I going with this – last week Sat Wayne & I decided on a mission to find a new spot X on the rocks and found ourselves at Arkels Bay, not far from us. Tide was 2 hours from high but we found a perfect spot on some rocks that wouldn’t be affected by the tide – perfect weather, perfect sea conditions, good bait.  On the walk around the side of the beach/rocks little warning to Wayne, “careful the rocks are slippery” [if something is going to happen, 99% of the time it happens to Wayne" ... 10 steps later he's on his side half in the water, trying to hold up bait / rods / backpack/ phone/ wallet .. good sign though - he sais when he falls on the way to fishing, he catches.. So half wet we perch ourselves and fishing begins. I had to tell him that the night before I had a vivid dream that the rocks and stones came crashing down the cliff face behind us and "what would we do as an escape plan" .. my brain had calculated the risks of stones / boulder / tree / branches [what else do you do when you sleep?] Anyway, knew that I could either dive into the water as there was no rocks or “go left” where the rocks flatten out and away from the side … and so we fish. Murphy!!! Some little stones come down and with my back to the cliff, Wayne shouts “watch out” – and as the first shower came streaming down, I was 10m away – I would have out-jumped a gazelle – he stands facing the shower watching it cover my bag, tackle box etc.. Not “cover” I suppose but enought of this light shale type stone to create a huge mess. The rest of the time I sort of faced the sea and cliff at the same time if that’s possible but no other action. We did throw rocks on the cliff face to see how much we could get down..

Oh,Wayne caught a nice 2kg Kawahai which we decided to smoke – I also wanted a fish – I cast in and got “hit” by something very quick – so same bait on and cast to the same spot – boom, hit again – bugger – I wanted this guy – third time and waited as he hit the bait I hit him – got him – after a nice fight turned out to be another 2kg Kawahai same as Wayne – maybe brother & sister? Can’t rememer what we did the rest if the Sat but all met up that evening to smoke the fish. The fish is very rich in flavour, almost like a game fish and you just can’t eat too much of it. Between 4 adults and 4 kids, we managed to eat about 1/4 of one fish – the rest went into the googler…

Sun morning we went back but no action from the cliff or fishing. Sun was also a big day as it was the Orewa Surf Club awards ceremony and K got her two silver medals – very proud and so keen for next season. She is going for sea trials and most likely additional swim training in the off-season.

Fishing story #2 – Fri I collected kids from school and went shopping for Kim’s birthday presents which was fun -had a hard time convincing JD that Hot Wheels TricTrak wasn’t exactly what mom was looking for. After a while he agreed that his birthday is next month and maybe it was a better present for him. Got back 4:30 and after a quick call, Wayne & I back on the Army Bay rocks for an afternoon fish. I knew low tide was 8:30pm so plently time to fish and get back before the tide came in. As you do on a Fri afternoon, a few Kaos were stored on ice to end the week. Fishing was going slow and not too mcuh happening. Nights getting chilly and I was getting a little nippy out in the open even with a windbreaker – Wayne had a t-shirt but another Kaos sorted that out. It gets dark now around 7pm and although an almost 1/2 moon, not enough light to tie detailed fishing knots. Picture, two kiwi kids on the rocks, dark, a few drinks and now time for home… For whatever reason, the drinks affected Wayne a little more than usual and he was on form … he’s packing up but was battling to hold the rods / chilly bin/backpack and tackle box .. which he all managed earlier to carry in. Anyway, tackle box into backpack and inner backpack onto over shoulder. Meanwhile I’m sitting in stiches laughing - now dark & just moonlight – on the rocks 2oom from the beach .. right – all ready, Wayne looking like a packed mule and off we head. 5m later “wait, the rods aren’t weighted” The rods heading in every direction – set – another 10m and rods all over again – oh, he had to keep a free hand for our final drink on the walk back  – me, no problem.. another 10m and I decided to remove him of the problem rod – walking through water, over rocks etc by a 1/2 moonlight – 20m and the remaining rods unweighted – I was in stitches… removed those from him. Moving a little faster now “Wayne, watch your step”…  BOOM – Wayne tripped and does a parachute roll with chilly bin etc all sprawling all around. Not so funny – ok, wasn’t for a split second but didn’t last long. Traces of blood on his hand, knee and wet again – we joked that hyperthermia was well advanced by this stage. Eventually we arrived back at the car where it was agreed that I would drive the 2km home – we did take the time to explain to some people where the scouts camping ground was [actually not sure where they were but pointe them in the general direction]

Amanda & kids were at our house – picture the scene of Wayne walking in after a hard nights fishing – I couldn’t stop laughing. Not too much damage, a few scrapes and minor cuts. A true kiwi adventure. It took an hour instead of the normal 20min… Not that I could go to sleep after dinner, I promised Gareth that I would show him the way to the airport to fetch Grant – flight from Aus coming in 00:10am – we left at 23:30 and got home 01:45 – I was a little tired…

Sat morning was Kim’s b/day – K woke me up 3:30am convinced it was time to wake mom up! I had just gotten to sleep! Got her back to bed and next JD at 5am – then them both from 6am and gave in at 6:50am- choc & candle – we sang like a choir. We had a lazy morning and went b/day shopping before lunch [new camera!!!] and then a treat, lunch at Sparx [we both had salmon, avo, cream cheese on bagel- mmmmm]. I dropped Kim & Amanda at a restaurant in Takapuna, all dolled up for a night on the town – Carmen met them there and she would bring all home. Wayne took kids tenpin bowling – I joined later. Kids had a ball [ha, that's funny-get it-tenpin-had a ball] – back to Wayne’s place for coffee and I had both sleeping angels at home by 10:30. Kim came in around 00:30 – they stayed at the restaurant and did the girly thing – the intention was to go to a live music place across the road but they were having fun, so stayed. Another 1am stint…

Daylight saving ended this morning so woke up at 6am [which was 7am yesterday] – think wash the cars this morning and see what the day brings.

JD won there last basketball game on Thur – unbeaten – so play next week in a championship game for a certificate. K kicked butt at karate – the coach was showing when you get a tall boy against a small girl – they grap each other, some pushing, and K steps back forcing the guy to stumble down – couch “jump on him” – and K was all over him with a choke hold [arm around neck] – he had to submit! Very cool.

Otherwise, some training – Kim did a 40min run Tues which pushed it and didn’t feel great after. Got a bug and took the rest of the week off. Another week before school holidays, oh boy…