Oneroa Beach Pics

Local Beach pics.

Measles Follow Up

The timing of Nikolas' mosquitoe bites coincided perfectly with a flyer from school the previous day that brought up the concern over nothing other than measles. Jenn and I shared a laugh over the thought of Nikolas being mistaken as having measles due to the mosquitoe bites--we should have been a bit more proactive and pinned a note on his shirt saying, "not measles". Apparently a good number of kids are not immunized, so one case could quickly spread. Luckily the mosquitoes here do not carry much in the way of disease.

Quarantined

So Nikolas had so many mosquito bites on his face yesterday, that he was temporarily quarantined at school... for measles! Poor guy.

We still don't have a phone, so the school nurse drove to our house to ask if he was vaccinated, and we assured her that even though there are only 15 mosquitoes on the whole island at this time of year, that they can and will sniff him out. Anything to get at either Dave or Nikolas, who are by far the tastiest things these bugs have ever tried.

The mosquitoes here are also fast, not the lethargic beasts we're used to, the kind that are annoying, but you can usually catch them with your hands. No, only Obama would be able to do that here. So now Dave gets a big text book (or "Infinite Jest" works well), the kids hunt them down and point them out, and together they go on a bloody killing spree before bed, and we wipe off the walls in the morning.

Soccer Practice Day

It's too late in the season for Nikolas to join the school's soccer team, but the coach let him come to practice, which was great. Nikolas picked up some new skills, Isaac practiced a little on his own, and Mom got to meet and chat with some other parents. Sprinkle in some warm sunshine, and you get a wonderful afternoon here on the island. Here are a few clips of it, to prove it.

Rocky coastline shots

Dave and I walked to Oneroa, had a lovely lunch (scallops and spicy squid), and hugged the coastline on the way back. The wind was rippin', making for some awesome whitecaps. We also got some tips from Andrei, a local shop owner, on good places to catch dinner, many of them within walking distance of our house. We'll try them soon.

Spring!

Aaahh! The days are getting warmer, and the air smells fresh with sea water, fresh cut grass, and... flowers! It must be Spring!

Morning Routine

Outside, Ladies, is the only way to let your man shave! :-) Nuff said.

For morning breakfast, we usually have oatmeal these days, with fruit, yogurt, and I bribe the kids with hot chocolate to get them out of bed in the morning. (Hey it works!) The kids have their lunch boxes ready from the night before.

Discovered the gardener's market today

The gardener's market on Waiheke island is a great place to buy fresh and local. Looks like that this was the main excursion for the day. Jenn and I are still a bit tired from this upper respiratory virus. The kids are building rocket launchers from plastic drink bottles and toilet paper tubes. Jenn is sleeping on the couch. I'm eyeing a tandem kayak on trademe.co.nz that no one bid on. Is it seaworthy? Will it pay for itself if I find more Watties Pasta sauce in the bay? I only eat hermetically sealed catch from the sea now since the reports of dogs, penguins, and fish showing up dead on Auckland beaches--red tide? Local experts are not sure.

Stony Batter Fort Excursion

A tour of the "bottom end" of Waiheke Island with BAP. Stony Batter is one of an array of gun batteries started in the 1930's, scrapped due to high costs, then finished at start of WWII. The tunnels, dug entirely by hand, service 9.2 inch guns that could lob shells over 30km (well beyond the line of sight--so an extensive series of sighting posts was needed). The guns were never fired during war. The tunnels are extensive. Isaac got a bit nervous as we entered deeper into the tunnels, swapping mommy for daddy as his hiking buddy, but we eventually found our way and surfaced to one of the gun turret sites.

On the walk in to Stony Batter we were entertained by three working dogs moving a flock of sheep. The most senior dog rode on the ATV, but was clearly as focused as the ground dogs. My thoughts of course turned to Fly and Pepper--this place was made for herding dogs.

Fruits of the sea

Walking the boys home from school yielded our first catch from the sea! I washed it off and it sits in our pantry. Bryon recommended saving it for when we catch our first fish. Fish'n'Wattie's Sauce!