Yep I do have a heart...
Well here is a quick note to tell everyone that I do have a heart...that's what my cardiologist said anyway...a few weeks back I had a very small heart attack which started as what I thought was indigestion...only from Judith pestering me to get it checked out at the hospital...we were driving past at the time...did I go in and say "I have a small pain in my chest"...to which I was taken by the hand and escorted to a machine that stayed hooked up to me for a week...
it seemed that I had been having an attack for about 6 hours and so I was hospitalised and Judith stayed with me on the first night...
It was a big wake up call and the doc said I shouldn't have anymore problems providing I don't smoke and get my cholesterol down...anyone that knows my beautiful lady will know how stubborn she can be and so I no longer smoke and my lifestyle has changed a little as has Judith's
For those who knew about this I thank you for you support and prayers during this time...and for those who didn't know I apologise but we thought it was best just to get through this and beat it prior to telling everyone
Again thank you all from both of us...we will not forget...
East Cape drive
Judith and I were now just heading off with no particular destination..and just seeing where we would end up...Our first night had us in Coramandel town staying at a small back packers...a quick trip for one beer ended up with us staying until closing time with a heap of locals and guests becoming new friends and drinking mates...
The next day we headed off again with a bit of a hangover and proceeded down the eastern side of the peninsula stopping at a variety of places to sample local cooking or to just chill out...
We ended up in Waihi for the night staying at the pub downtown...our room overlooked the main street and had a huge balcony that only had access if you climbed out the window...pretty romantic place actually...great chinese takeaway place across the road...
Heading East the next day we stopped at Mt Maunganui for brekky and Whakatane for lunch...we kept heading east looking for a place to stay...Finally we stopped at East Cape itself at a small place called Hicks Bay looking for a place to camp...the magic book of backpacker places Judith had said there was a place called Mels Place...we dropped in and asked a really nice bloke called Joe if they had room...the place is awesome...the view, the beach, the serenity...we got the big caravan which unlike Leigh had power, a fridge for keeping the beer cold and lights etc...what a nice place...cannot recommend this place enough...Joe was a gentleman and helped us out immensely...
The following day Joe asked me where I was from and after going thru my family tree he told me that I have a heap of relatives on the East Cape...btw that is Joe in the photo with Judith and me...we went for a drive around East Cape and ended up at a place called Eastender Horse Treks where the owner is a very distant relative of mine and his wife is Dutch...they get about everywhere...Judith and his wife rattled on in dutch yapping about what they had each been doing while I caught up with distant stories of my extended family...all in all this trip was amazing...
what started as a trip to just go driving opened me up to the Maori side of my family and reconnected me to the whanau (family)
Another small trip
Well Judith and I had a few days leave owing to us so we decided to pack up things for 10 days and just travel...yeah that was the theory...the week before we were to go the dive shop asked me if I would run an Advanced Scuba Divers course on the weekend...well I really didn't have a choice so the first 2 days of the holiday were up in Leigh on course...now for some of my mates out there I'll let you know it was tough...of the 5 students, 4 were university students studying marine biology and all were female...thankfully Judith was there to keep them away from me...
After the weekend in Leigh we raced home, threw our clothes through the washing machine and dryer...repacked our dive gear and headed off to Waiheke Island...we met up with my mate Brent and his wife Rosemary and the kids...Brent wanted us to check out some scallop sights for fishing...we dived on 4 sights and brought back our quota of scallops, some mussels, a heap of cockels and just missed a few crayfish...we had a nice relaxing bbq and a few wines along with excellent company...very sad to leave Waiheke after only a few days...
On returning to Auckland we did the clothes shuffle and threw all our gear back in the washing machine and dryer...repacked the car less dive gear and just headed off...no set destination, just driving...
2nd Christmas in NZ
Well it has been a little while since we updated this site so will try not to bore any of you too much...
December started with Ties and Lies sending us gifts and lots of things about the Netherlands and the Dutch people for "Sinter Klaas" which is celebrated on the 5th december...the bottom photo shows Judith opening pressies like a 8 year old...big grin on her face and a hunger for the chocolate she knew was wrapped up in there somewhere...thanks Ties and Lies...XXX
Christmas was a reasonably quiet time with both of us working although Judith had to work most of the public holiday days...while I slept at home...She finally got a real Christmas tree which she decorated and took great delight in turning on the lights each night..the new year was spent with a few mates from my work around for a bbq and the obligatory few drinks...we then proceeded into the city to the pub for a few more and to watch the firework erupt from Sky Tower...after watching fireworks displays in Sydney the Sky tower display was pretty boring.
New Years day saw Judith off to work and me off to do a 24hour duty on a Coastguard vessel...it was interesting and fun but not really my cup of tea...too many yachties and not really what I was expecting...not too bad though...
Our intrepid adventurer Lesley...yes the same one from Paihia...is living in the Carribbean on a liveaboard dive boat as the instructor...she dropped in for a few drinks and stayed a night telling us all about what she is doing now...Judith and I almost told her to sign us up and we would catch the flight back to work with her...unfortunately we have too many financial commitments here to just drop our jobs and go....(sigh)
The new year has started with a good feeling so we hope that it continues that way...we also hope the new year brings all of you the dreams you wish for...
Love Rob and Judith XXX
Finally getting wet again...the Rainbow Warrior
Hello all...well my beautiful lady and I finally bit the bullet and went for a dive weekend here in New Zealand...now after having dived in Tuvalu in 30 degree celcius water we were a little scared of diving here. We went to a dive shop called "Performance Divers" and met the main guy there, Kev. He assured us that the water was warming up and that they had an upcoming trip to dive the Rainbow Warrior...for those that don't know, this was a Greenpeace protest ship that was sunk in Auckland harbour by the French Secret Service with the murder of a crew member in the explosion...it was later refloated and towed to the Bay of Islands and sunk again as an artifical reef.
Well we were both excited and Kev was a very friendly and accomodating host so we booked a space for the weekend.
We drove up to Matauri Bay where we would be staying in a caravan on the friday night after work and arrived about 10pm. We were sharing the caravan with another couple who arrived at the same time, and we all proceeded to our digs and opened a few cans of beer to celebrate meeting new friends. As it was pitch black we had no idea of what the bay looked like.
Morning arrived and we were greeted by a beautiful day and flat calm waters. There is a few pictures here of the bay. We were to go on the first dive to a place called Truelove which is some pinnacles coming out of about 30 metres. I rolled off the boat first and when I hit the water I almost jumped back in. 14 bloody degrees...............oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I smiled and Judith and told her it was ok....she had a dubious look on her face but rolled in anyway...The cold took her breath away and she began panting a bit...I asked if she wanted to continue the dive and she said ok...the site was beautiful but I could see that Judith was feeling the cold so we called it quits after just 15 minutes...she was very cold when we got back in the boat...she kept saying "I want a bloody drysuit if you think I'm going to get back in that water"...or words to that effect...
Needless to say she didn't dive the second dive which was on the Rainbow Warrior...I was bloody freezing but I wanted to dive the ship...I went down with a trainee Dive Master but she wasn't keen on going into the wreck so I didn't get to explore too much...
That night we had fresh crayfish, fish and a heap of meat on the BBQ...a few drinks may have been had as well as a few bottles of red wine...
Following day we got up a bit late and saw the first dive go out...the next dive was to be back on the Rainbow Warrior so Judith told Kev that she was going to dive it no matter what...so out we go and we got to spend 15 minutes on the wreck...Judith loved it and even though she was blue when we got back she was happy...the sealife on the wreck is amazing.
Well since then I have spoken to Kev again and it looks like I may be teaching on the weekends or just helping out the other instructors...Judith will also be DM'ing for the shop....her eyes light up when she sees her dive gear out and ready...can't wait to get back in the water...the dry suit is still under negotiation...I think I may be able to get a Plasma TV if she gets the dry suit....hehehehe
Catch you all later and keep sending the emails
Rob and Judith
She runs and runs...
Well as with life there is always something changing in our lives...
Judith came and asked me a few months back if I would be keen in running the Auckland Marathon....so those of you that know me well would have known that I jumped at the offer and bolted from the room pleading a sore leg and various other ailments...apparently some of Judith's workmates were going to run it...my beautiful lady downloaded the training schedule from the official Adidas website and started to train....those that know Judith know that her and early mornings do not mix well...she pushed through the pain and continued to train...about a month into training all her mates from work pulled out so she was a little worried she may not run.
Occassionally my wonderful lady would wake me at some ungodly hour of the morning on my only day off during the week and tell me WE had to train...I did my duty and ran one 3km lap and then headed for home to make breakfast for her when she finished her 5 laps...all in all I am very proud of my lady and the effort she put into her training while at the same time giving up smoking...yes there were a few testy weeks there at the start where I considered trading her for something less volatile...hehehehe...glad I didn't.
On the morning of the marathon of which Judith was running the half marathon (21.1km) we got up at 3:30am to head to the start point...the only people on the streets were drunk or wearing running gear...I miss being drunk at that hour...
Judith's goal was to beat the 2 hour mark for the half marathon and when the hooter sounded she was of with about 8000 other crazy people. I dutifully headed for the closest coffee house and then caught the ferry to catch up with our mate Niall, who was our support team, and watch the girl cross the finish line.
! hour 59 minutes and 16 seconds after she crossed the start line my beautiful but very tired lady crossed the finish line to the shouts of both Niall and I...she looked very happy to have finished and very sweaty...not too much of the hugging until she showered...hehehe
We all left the finish area after about half an hour and had breakfast at Soul...all the staff were coming up to ask Judith how she did and to say how proud they were of her...no one there was as proud as me to see her set a goal and achieve the results she did...
Dad called her as did everyone else and congratulated her...she seems to have this running bug now and is still training 3-4 times a week...
Rob and Judith
Diving again...this time Tuvalu
Well it's was in May that my cousin in Fiji, Edwina, contacted me and asked if we would be interested in doing a diving job for a Fiji based company in Tuvalu...after much consideration and deliberation...about 2 seconds...I said it was a go and Judith and I started to get excited about another adventure...
We had to wait for a while as Edwina and her family went to the States for a holiday and the guy we were supposed to be working for didn't speak much english...we had got to the point where we didn't think it was going to happen when we got the call and a weeks notice to move...the deal was for all expenses and pay...
We both managed to get time off work and Judith was still uncertain that we were going until we got the seat allocation tickets at the airport...the first leg of the trip was to Fiji where we got a taxi from Nadi to Suva...what a ride...and arrived in Suva around 9pm at Edwina's. Hr hisband Alex was the other businessman involved in the deal so he booked us into a hotel for the night and reimbursed us our taxi fare and gave us some meal money...yep you guessed it we had a few drinks...
Following day we flew out to Funafiti which is the capital of the 4th smallest nation in the world...Tuvalu...what an amazing place it is...we were booked into the only hotel on the island and proceeded to look around and meet the local members of our team...everyone was extremely friendly...dinner in the hotel was either fried fish, stir fried chicken or stir fried fish with rice...that was the menu every night we were there...because they are so isolated and have very little ground for growing anything their supplies must come by boat weekly from Fiji...the food and supplies was ordinary but the people more than made up for that...
Our job in Tuvalu was to dive and survey the sea floor for sea cucumbers which are a chinese delicacy...Judith and I were introduced to Tuvalu time when waiting for the boat the next day...it makes Fiji time look like a Swiss watch...we were told that only a handful of people had dived the lagoon and only scientists and the occassional yacht crewman..
What we found was disturbing...we estimated that 80-90% of the coral in the lagoon was dead..we think it is from the extremely warm water temperature...it was 30 degrees celcius at 30 metres depth...we mentioned our findings to a guy that was having dinner with us that night and found out later he was a member of parliament and brought our observations to the notice of the government...
We ended up having to stay 10 days here as there is only 3 flights a week...the locals use the international airstrip as a soccer pitch in the afternoons...again I'll say it's an amazing place...
the trip was an eye opener and so much happened that I can't tell all here as Judith says I write boring stories...we came back to NZ having had an awesome time and our hosts even picked up our bar tab at the hotel...
Easter 2006...yeah I know it was a while ago...
Yeah I know I'm a bit behind in my updates...for that I apologise...
Well my beautiful lady and I spent Good Friday drinking copious amounts of alcohol at her work party...By the time I arrived at the function Judith was well on her way to a hangover...must admit that I attempted to catch up as quickly as possible...ended up home in the small hours to collapse in bed....trashed...hehehe
Following day we rented a car and cruised about Auckland shopping while nursing very sore heads...at about midday Judith and I looked at each other and said "Paihia...let's go see Lesley"...now for any of you that know Paihia, it is very busy during holiday weekends and trying to find a vacant room on Easter saturday is like trying to find Rocking Horse Poo...
We called Lesley and told her we were on the way...she informed us that everywhere was booked out...Judith began to get worried but I assured her that we could sleep in the car...she did not look happy...we continued on with Judith getting more worried the closer we got...Lesley kept calling all the hotels etc trying to get us a room to no avail...
We arrived in Paihia and found a hotel that wanted $240 for one night....hahahaha...we drove out just as my phone rang...apparently a couple had booked a room at Capt Bob's but failed to arrive...Yeah I know I can get lucky...so we moved in for the weekend...
The weekend was spent drinking and eating with Lesley and just enjoying ourselves...
Tuesday morning was Judith's birthday so we had a quiet drive back to Auckland stopping at the infamous Dutch Deli on the way home...we were both rather ordinary after celebrating Judith's birthday the night before...
All in all a rather pleasant Easter weekend...
Dinner at Soul...great meal...great company and an awesome night...I think that was bottle of wine number 5 when this was taken...all gets fuzzy after this shot...
Beach in Kaiteriteri...my mum enjoyed just cruising along and chatting with Ties and Lies...I think Lies and her swapped recipes for most of their time together...
The "Folks" checking out the view from Hawks Nest...Judith and I had the car keys and were looking for a chance to run...
Looking out from Hawks Nest just before Takaka at the top of the Takaka Hill...the view was awesome and there was a huge drop below the lookout...Judith still eating...hehehehe
Mitai and seeing the "Hangi"...believe it or not there was enough food to feed 200...Ties asked if they pre-cooked the food and this was only for show...he soon realised that the taste cannot be duplicated any other way...it was scrumptious...
Lies is all smiles in this photo but ask her to show you the first photos taken...here we are just below the Huka Falls...
Dinner in Paihia before watching the Crusaders kick butt...we only had main meals this night as we were late to watch the game
