OUR TRIBE

THE RETURN OF PAIGE

On our way through to Cromwell the weekend before last, we received a phone call from CYF  to say that Paige's long term placement had just fallen through and would we be available to care for her again.  (For those of you that don't know - Paige was with us for 10 weeks over Dec-Jan while she waited for her long term home).  Several phone calls later, we arranged to meet the social worker and Paige at Alexandra on our way to Cromwell.  We now joke about how we went to Cromwell with 3 children and returned with 4.  What a weekend!

When we picked her up, Paige was very flat and had no life in her eyes.  We were shocked.  But within half an hour, particularly after seeing the children, a switch flicked for her and she remembered who we were.  She has been remarkably good ever since and we have had none of the problems the previous family had had.  It sounds like she had been distressed from day 1 and things went from bad to worse over the 7 weeks she was away.  

What is her future now, I hear you ask.  We are not sure.  We have been asked if we would consider a long term placement and we have said yes to this but Paige's birth Mum is apparently going to fight this.  And if extended family come forward, it is our understanding that CYF are obliged to give this a go, despite the last placement having fallen through.  We personally believe this would be very detrimental to Paige but have no power over the situation.  We just continue to pray that God will be in control of her future. 

GO CHRIS!

My Aunt Chris has been over from London for the past few weeks and before she headed home we wanted to take her through to Cromwell which is a favourite spot for us as it offers so many walks and cycle opportunities. We even got Chris out on the Rail Trail cycling between Clyde and Alexandra - a 16km round trip.  Considering Chris just celebrated her 70th in January and hasn't been on a bike in over 20yrs, she did amazingly.  We were so proud of her.  (We won't mention the slight skid in the gravel, crash & burn and cut to her hand) 

The Coffee was great!

To play its part in raising awareness about the importance of Kidney Health, the Otago Kidney Society ran a free kidney health check station staffed by health professionals from the Dialysis Unit at Dunedin Hospital: the Otago Kidney Society had its presence in the new Wall Street Mall this year. Better than being in the Speight's Brewery, where we were last year, where there was not a drink of any type in sight all day - we had to send out an SOS for coffee!! Have a look at the following link:

Channel 9 TV News Item

Jubilee Park

Our latest orienteering adventure was a little closer to home this week. Jubilee Park is just a few minutes down the road. A great park for sports and mountain biking or going for a jog. This time Danielle and I got totally cleaned up by Alana and Samuel who had a four minute lead and maintained their lead throughout. There were 23 markers to find this time rather than the usual 12. The track was shorter than what we have done in the past but the degree of difficulty compensated for this as a lot of the time we were in bush, and therefore the challenge to keep ones map correctly orientated was greater - no compasses in these events - all map reading.

Back in time

The following document to the NZ Company, dated 28 June 1848, appears to be a letter written by a nurse seeking to emigrate to Dunedin from London, on the ship the Philip Lang. It states that both she and her blacksmith husband are fit and well to travel to NZ; being of sound mind and hardworking in nature! Included is a doctor's note of attestation to these facts. A closer examination shows it to be a complete fraud!! It is nothing other than a computer generated letter, soaked in instant coffee to give it an aged appearance, dried and then singed arround the edges to complete the aging process. While it may be a fraud, it's a pretty cool school project and one that Alana had a lot of fun doing.

Weetbix Tryathlon 2010

This is the third year Alana has competed in the Weetbix Tryathlon and she continues to enjoy it.  Because she has just this week turned 11yrs old, she had to enter the 11-15yr age grouping which meant a much harder challenge.  I commented before the race that this would be quite a challenge in comparison to previous years but her response was:  "Don't worry Mum, this is the beginning of my future"  Well there we have it then!

Alana is 19916

This year the distances were:
Swim : 200m
Cycle : 10km
Run : 2km

 

 

  

  

  

 

Three Go Adventuring on Stewart Island!

This last week Margaret's (Ann's Mother) sister Chris (UK) joined Bob and Margaret on a trip to Stewart Island to celebrate Bob's three score and ten!

Bob sent the following pictures through of their trip. I was amazed at the size of the swell in Foveaux Strait (I'll be flying if we ever go there - I don't do swells!) Apparently the twin hull boat handled it just fine.

I did not realise Bob was so keen on catching fish - but have a look at the grin on his face and it says it all!!

Chingford Park Orientering Course

 

Last week Samuel did a very similar thing for his birthday to what Alana has done today. I guess he and his mates were the test run in a way. A shorter course supplemented by a great time playing in the stream and then awesome picnic food!!

If you have been reading the blog you will know that we, as a family, have been doing Wednesday evening orienteering. The Chingford Park course is a shorter less demanding course than the Ross Creek course completed today, but we did have to be weary of the archery that was taking place and watch the cricket balls that were being hit for six by the local club. In fact they were launching them so well I had to move the car.

Alana's birthday

Alana and 7 of her friends thoroughly enjoyed themselves today running around, for 90 minutes, the Ross Creek Reservoir orienteering course. Have a look above. They did the longer more difficult course. A much better experience than a couple of weeks ago when we had trouble even finding our way to the starting point! Still both teams failed to find maker 18. The winning team spent a good 15 minutes bush bashing and gave up, even phone a friend did not help!!. Thankfully the opposing team had the same problem. There was only 5 minutes in time between the two teams finishing the course. Very close together. We done to all the kids. When we got home they were tired, thirsty and very hungry. Ready for the awesome pizzas and party food!