Nearly Christmas

Talofa all. Yes we are still here! Have been back at the desk at work for a week now and have realised that I haven't really been here much in the last 2 months. First it was 2 weeks in Fiji, then the tsunami struck then we got involved with the visiting scientists and straight after this we had Barbara and Malcom, Kayla and Olivia visit!

It was great to have those guys come and stay with us. We were all pretty packed into our little 2 bedroom house but surprisingly there was enough room! We set up the spare room for the girls and had a spare bed in the lounge room for B&M. A bit more rearranging of the furniture and we were there. The house sure was full!

During the first week of their stay we spent 4 days around Apia. As soon as they got off the plane the jeans were off and cooler clothes were on. Kayla got really cool and donned her togs so she could run around the back lawn under the hose. Great fun was had by all. Aunty Angela, fully clothed, somehow got soaked as well! We also visited Aggies, the Mailelani soap factory, Robert Louis Stevensons house, went to the markets, a Fia Fia night of wonderful Samoan food and entertainment, the turtles at Malua and had a go at cooking a Samoan meal. We also had a day at Palolo Deep so were able to do a bit of snorkelling and playing in the lovely warm water. Adam spent one afternoon grating coconut on his new grater and then squeezing it to get the coconut milk out for the dinner. The grated coconut was also toasted in the oven and is now making lovely coconut loaf that we are eating.

After this we packed up the car and headed to Samoana for 3 nights. Somehow we managed to get 6 people, 2 car seats, 1 pram, 1 porta cot, 3 suitcases, a chilly bin, food and snorkelling gear all in the rental car in 1 go. It was like heading off on summer holiday. Slight problem with our room however when we got to Samoana where the self composting toilet was a bit stinky due to the fan having stopped working so after 1 night of this we were able to move into a new room and all was good.

We met some great people while staying at Samoana. As always everyone is friendly and shares the dinner table etc. Richard was there with his contraption that he had built to house his video camera so he could do underwater filming. He also had some fab photos of the Nemo's and gave me instructions on how and where to go to get some myself. We went out one day in the kayaks with Richard, guided by Wes, to a snorkelling spot and saw TURTLES in the wild. Fantastic. Too quick for me to get a photo but saw some lovely blue coral that I hadn't seen before. B&M and kids enjoyed being in the pool all the time and we went through quite a lot of sunblock with everyone trying not to get burnt.

Next stop on the tour was Aggies near the airport where B&M had booked for 5 nights so we dropped them off there before heading back home and to work. Ugh! Caught back up with them the following Saturday for the day at Aggies before their departure to the airport at 10.30pm. Everyone was looking suitably relaxed from a week spent by the pool reading and playing. Somehow we managed to go through WST$400 in one afternoon which was a bit of a shock. Could have been to do with the "blue sky" cocktails at the pool bar at $35.00 each however I swear I only had one - honest!! We got to see Fraser our friend performing in Aggies Fia Fia night which was great and also his Siva Afi fire knife dancing which we didnt' know he could do!

So catching up on some work now and getting ready to come home for Christmas on the 18th December for 3 weeks. It is very hot here at the moment. Don't know what has happened to the rainy season but the river beds are still dry. Next week the Aussie Netball people are visiting and are running some clincs on Umpiring and Coaching so I hope to go to these and learn something. We don't have anything planned for our next 5 weeks before coming home which is a great relief to be honest. Time to catch up with ourselves. The USP students are dutifully studying this week and exams begin next week then after that things will quieten down a lot when everyone heads home. Graduation is on the 16th December so that is a day to look forward to although it will also be sad to be losing those we know.

Since working with the scientists on the tsunami a colleague and I have decided to try and write a book of survivor stories so will keep you posted on that one. I have also just submitted an abstract for a conference for Agricultural Libraians in Paris (I Knnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww!!) next year so will see how far I get with having that accepted and getting funding through USP to go.

Hope you are all good. Sorry for the lack of phone calls our landline has been out of action for 3 months. We have finally managed to get the engineer around today and he says the problem is further up the line. They knocked off at 12.00pm though as it is a public holiday this afternoon so that everyone can go and take part in Health promotions outside the government building. Aerobics anyone? Nice for some aye?!! We at USP are all still working!