Dragonflies

There have recently been huge numbers of dragonflies flying around our backyard. Very cool. Reminds me of that scene in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone where Harry, Ron and Hermione have to find the key to open the door to a chamber and the keys are all flying around their heads. Here is one of the dragonfly’s on a flower.

Samoa National Netball 2011 and NZ Umpiring Badge

In January 2011 the Samoa Netball Association held national trials to select the squad to compete for Samoa at the Netball World Championships in Singapore in July. Trialists from Australia, New Zealand and local Samoan girls fought it out on court for a place in the team. Cyclone Wilma managed to wreck some havoc on the netball courts at Apia park and caused many more leaks in an already leaky roof so trials had to be swiftly moved to one of the gymnasiums at Tuanaimato, Faleata. We were fortunate enough to have two visiting umpire coaches from New Zealand who worked with the Samoa Netball umpires during the week long events, coaching and mentoring to help us improve our skills. On the final day myself and “Joanne” sat our NZ Umpiring Badges while umpiring one of the trial games … and we passed!! This was very exciting and is an excellent achievement for us and for Samoa Netball as now we qualify to be invited to umpire at certain events in New Zealand and progress further.

In April 2011 we were invited, along with 2 others from Samoa, to attend an Umpires Training Camp in Auckland along with umpires from Fiji and the Cook Islands. This was a fantastic week of training and umpiring in local competitions and nice to focus time just to umpiring. We stayed in Henderson, West Auckland, right by the Waitakere Trust stadium where Adam and I had attended the World Champs in 2007 and got to see the Pulse vs Mystics game live. We have now been named in the OPUS – Oceania Pacific Umpiring Squad and I have been invited to umpire in October in Napier at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships, a tournament where a number of Silver Ferns have been identified in the past. I’m expecting this competition to be fast and furious and am beginning to see why I need to reach 14.5 on the YoYo test to be an umpire at this level! We appreciate the help we receive from Netball New Zealand with our umpiring and know we could not have achieved these results without. There has been mention of becoming an IUA (International Umpires Association) umpire for Samoa. This will require further testing and nailing of Postion, Vision and Timing including that pesky Advantage rule which is my next mission to accomplish. Maybe in October ……..

Visitors During Cyclone Wilma

Shortly after arriving back in Samoa after Christmas we had visitors from the UK. Friends from Bristol who I hadn’t seen in 10 years (am I really that old?!) and who hadn’t met Adam. It was of course excellent to see them, just like the good old days, and fantastic they made the trip to Samoa as part of their 3 month world tour.Unfortunately they arrived about the same time as Cyclone Wilma so maybe didn’t see Samoa at its absolute best however what can you do? No one can control these natural events. As it happens everywhere they went on their travels they encountered some sort of natural disaster, cyclones, earthquakes and snow storms so hmmmmmmmm!! The cyclone brought much rain and eventually some strong winds but nothing worse than a windy day in Wellington!! I had the interesting experience of trying to pick Adam up from downtown one day by driving through flooding. The water reached the bottom of the doors on the car and sploshed, sounding like the hull of a boat. The big Samoan busses coming towards me caused quite a bit of wake that I hoped wouldn’t swamp the engine.

Our friends did manage to get out snorkelling at Samoana before the worst of the storm so saw a bit of beach and sunshine. We picked them up and took them touring round the south coast of Upolu, past various sights. Lulled them into false security with a nice lunch at Sinalei resort before heading for a swim at the Togitogiga waterfalls but due to the rain they had turned into a torrential raging river like we had never seen before so we decided against the swimming idea! We arrived at our place of accommodation for the night at Hideaway, a new resort, and checked into a shared double fale with 1 room and 2 double beds side by side. Very interesting arrangement! All fine though. The cyclone decided to hit and they eye passed close by so we battened down the hatches and broke out the travel Rumikub game to while away some time. Before the trip everyone wanted to know why I was packing so many snacks and drinks however these came in vary handy during this time, especially as there are not a lot of shops to purchase things on this side of the island. On the Sunday we all partook in traditional to’ona’i Sunday lunch after dashing through the rain and holding down the table cloth blowing in the wind. That was an interesting experience for our visitors with octopus salad and solid pieces of taro which they say they could still taste several weeks later!! We finished off the trip with a drive around Lalomanu to check out the re-building after the tsunami.

Maniac on the Water!

After her short ride on a jet ski at our netball party Angela decided she has to get a jet ski. Unfortunately for her that is not going to happen, but for her Xmas present I managed to hire one for half an hour.

So, after getting our lifejackets and a few instructions we were let loose, Ang in charge and me hanging on not knowing what to expect. It started off OK, nice and gentle keeping to the speed limit while we got away from the beach, but once we were clear then the fun began! All of a sudden we took off and I was almost left behind, then we came to a sudden stop and I had my face mashed into the back of Angela’s lifejacket. At this stage I couldn’t tell if she was having a good time or not as all I could hear was a strange mixture of screaming and laughing.

Well, she was having a ball and the faster the better. The only problem was that the faster we went the harder it got to see where we were going. I just held on with my eyes closed while we charged up and down the beach, jumping off some waves and crashing into others. We also quickly realised that she was not that worried about (or very good at) turning, so our ride became a series of high-speed blasts along the beach, usually with a sudden stop at the end, followed by a slow u-turn then the next blast along the beach.

It was great fun, but after half an hour we were both a bit sore from hanging on so tight and being bounced up and down. I think she wants to go again, but maybe next time I will get to drive?!

Making a running shoe cake!

Yes while in NZ we had the first of the 40ths for this year. A great party was put on at Shakespeare Park in Whangaparoa with lovely food and many friends and family attending. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great day.

It took a whole day but the following Birthday cake was finally produced. Inspired by pictures of what others had done on th internet the cake became 3D rather thn 2D!


Step 1 - Cakes
Bake several chocolate mud cakes. We used 2 large baking dishes to give us enough. Annabel Langbein's chocolate mud cake recipe with coffee in it works well.

Step 2 - Making the pattern
Take one clean and new running shoe and using tin foil and baking paper draw around it and press the design into the foil to make a pattern. Cut these out.

Step 3 - Building the cake
Layer the cakes on top of each other to give enough height. Stick each layer together with icing.

Step 4 - Cutting the shape
Using the cut out templates carve the shape of the shoe into the cake.

Step 5 - Putting on the first layer of icing
Roll white icing large enough to cover the whole cake. Use plenty of icing sugar on your rolling surface to stop it sticking. Soften a little raspberry or apricot jam in the microwave and using a pastry brush brush a thin layer all over the cake to help the icing stick. Pick up the icing by rolling it over the rolling pin and in a swift motion, with your tongue held right, put the icing onto the cake. This is the most nerve wracking bit! Try and get the icing in place first go as repositioning is near impossible especially once you have sticky jam on the back! Use your hands to gently mould the icing into shape. It will blend and stretch a little bit to help you. Trim excess icing off around the base with a sharp knife.

Step 6 - Decorating
If you want the shoe to have a mesh canvas design then use something like florists netting or normal net to press the design into the first layer of icing. After this use your patterns to cut out the other shoe decorations from rolled coloured icing. Use egg white to stick these patterns onto the cake. Roll a long piece of icing thinly to make a shoe lace.

Step 7- Unveil your creation and enjoy the look on peoples faces!

Christmas 2010

6 months have gone by for this year already and its not for want of something to say its that we have too much! Sorry for the silence. Will update you now on the last little while.

So back to Christmas. A while ago but still great memories of family and friends during our time home in NZ. Had a lovely time down Wellington way and this year even managed a few days staying at our beach house at Waitarere. Enjoyed fish and chips on the beach at Paraparaumu with Mum and Dad from Dads favourite place "Fed Up"!

Also spent some great days up north with fantastic NZ weather and plenty of delicious food and drink. Tried a new cocktail made with iced tea, Jack Daniels, Cointreau and mint leaves. Very lovely. Also went to Kawau Island for the day and I won the competition for the most photos taken of the copper mine from all angles around the.island. Are you surprised?! We also visited the sculptures at Brick bay which were interesting indeed.

One of my Christmas presents this year, following on from my taster on a jet ski in Samoa, was a 30 minute jet ski ride at Whangaparaoa. Adam dared to ride on the back and even though I tried a couple of times to loose him, he was still there clinging on for grim death at the end! Eat our spray man we zoomed and it was such an adrenaline ride. Spray in our faces the works. Still need to perfect the turn, as didnt quite believe what I was being told about the jet ski being impossible to tip over and that it would always pop back upright like a Weeble that wobbles but wont fall down!

Check our Flickr for the photos.

Referencing technique

Check out the referencing on this photo that appeared in the Samoa Observer on Wednesday 16th February 2011 on page 7!! You are currently reading the aforementioned now famous in Samoa - blog!!