The Negatives:
Missing a few Key family celebrations: First My (Ryan's) Dad's 60th birthday in March, then the arrival of our Nephew, Francesco Monastra-Wood in April, Our Brother Tony's 21st birthday in August, our sister Ellen's Wedding to Nick in November and some good friends, Dean and Helen who were married in the Marlborough sounds in December.
We've also had a few lonely and soul searching times this year, wondering if we were doing the right thing living in the UK and bringing Abbey into life with us when we were so isolated socially.
The Positives:
New Years ball with Friends at the SPEC centre in London
Moving into a more spacious home
Our 2nd Wedding anniversary in Alghero, Sardinia
Mountainbiking in the lakes District and Southern Scotland
Nick and Michelle's wedding in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with the road trip that followed
Preparing for Abbey's Birth
Visiting Hadrians Wall
Bex coming to stay with us
Abbey's Birth
Mum's coming to stay with us
Our trip through Croatia and Italy
Loads of Others coming to stay (Paul, Ani, Rosie, Dan & Jax, Dennis to name a few)
Countless trips into the Peak District National Park on weekends
Joining Trent Vineyard and a small group and meeting a whole load of other cool people to miss when we leave Nottingham!
A great course I did at work called 'Explain Pain'
Our Trip to the highlands of Scotland
Making the decision to return to the southern hemisphere
Getting offered a great Job in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia (and another in Brisbane!)
A Quiet Christmas at home with just the three of us
Another road trip to end the year well and start the next off on an appropriate note!
We have much to thank God for this year (see above) not least of which was solving the social isolation dilemma with the introduction of a heap of new friends in our small group who have been simply marvellous! And of course our Beautiful daughter Abbey who warms and adds richness to our lives to no end...
But it's been pretty quiet at work the last wee while and especially so over the christmas/new year period... that being the case I discovered myself with no-one to see on New Years eve, so we decided to take a bit of a risk and head off adventuring (without having earned the money to pay for it!)
Saturday morning found us in the Ancient city of Bath in Southern England, with its world famous Roman Baths... Kinda cool, though we probably would have been more wowed by it had we not been to Rome just a couple of months ago.
It's amazing how the older you get, the more it takes to 'wow' you - Abbey on the other hand, is amazed by pretty much everything. Oh to have that childlike sense of wonder. I think what does continue to wow me though, is the natural world. So it was amazing to learn of this ancient spring that has continued to gush forth hot water at a pleasantly even temperature.
I can see why people from all over the world are sooooo amazed when they go to rotorua in NZ which has loads of such springs. Interesting i thought also because all such places are seen in a spiritual light - perhaps it's just the superstition of ancient peoples not wanting to anger the 'gods' by assuming the place was meant purely for their benefit (and exploitation), but then perhaps they have something on us and our modern civilisation in just that - their revering as sacred, or holy, the especially different or beautiful places on earth. Outcome
was much the same though i guess - they built a gigantic bath house so they could all bath in the warm waters together, various emporers (like Hadrian) tried to pass laws to prevent nude bathing in public places cos they were becoming notoriously dodgy... most of which (the laws) were completely ignored. Though as for me, i could not imagine getting my kit off in the 2 or 3 degrees of heat that we had outside... actually that's probably a gross lie, cos i've done it before. Just at the tops of mountains, not in public
places. Anyway, I digress. Outcome was the same, yes, they built a big complex around the baths, which you could say was 'touristy' in the ancient non travelling quite as much sense. Nowadays we do much the same to any natural wonders - set them up as tourist attractions, build fences around them so you can't quite interact with them as people once did , and revere it in a different ways, instead of making offerings in a temple to the 'hot water god', we make it in a ticket booth, to the 'gate controller god' and in a cafe or pub to the 'food controller god'.
Anyway the Bath Bath musuems were cool, Abbey appeared interested in most of it, I
particularly liked the head of the Goddess, cos I thought she looked a bit like Mez (though not as pretty). We even got to drink some of the water from the spring, for a small additional fee (I assume filtered sufficiently to remove the Amoebic Meningitis type bugs... well, we're all still here). Pretty cool.
Next we went for a wander through Bath Abbey, or Bath Cathedral (can't recall the official title) which had a splendid 16th century stone guilded ceiling, many many feet above your head. Anglican Cathedrals are definately much more ornate than Catholic
ones - they have much more carving in the pews and tricky stone masonry. Impressive, and doubtless that it had good acoustics, though for once Abbey decided against testing them, I think she may have been a little exhausted after all the excitement of the Baths. Quick lunch and we were on the move again - headed for Wadebridge in Cornwall.
Elected to take a frustratingly slow country lane which was not one of the typically pretty back roads you find all over England, so that was a bit of a disappointing waste of the remaining daylight as the sun set over the rolling green. Arrival into Wadesbridge and the discovery of our nice wee B & B was around 5.30pm and we just got changed and then headed for some dinner at a recommended spot by our hosts
- well worth the short drive into town too, I'd rate it as one of our better random choice meals out in the British countryside. I guess
Cornwall is to England, what Nelson/Golden bay is to NZ - lots of great food and wines and organic produce, slightly greeny alternative lifestyles abound and there seems to be a proliferation of art galleries, and local folky, acoustic musicians that do local shows. Cool place. Good alive kinda energy to it.
The next morning found us rising earlyish after an exceedingly early night to bed, and after the traditional full english breakfast to sustain us for the day we headed off to lands end, the south-western most tip of England. I have to say it was well worth the drive. That was perhaps the most stunning scenery we've seen yet in England - the rugged ocean crashing over ancient columns of rock, and all sorts of interesting rock formations on the edge of the cliffs. We went for a bit of a wander,
saw the sunlight kiss the ocean as it crashed and pounded on the rocks below, wandered over cliffs that have seen Roman, Norse, and Gaelic explorers not to mention the many thousands of westerners before us, said hello to the resident billy goats, (as well as the few others intrepid enough to be out on a blustery cold Sunday morning). It was great to see Abbey really enjoying her time out in the 'fresh' air and gooing away at the wonderful sights before her - also saw another baby in a sling, though he/she was
completely
obscured by a swathe of blankets! Enjoyed feeding the interested and hungry Abster (love that shot!), then made tracks back in the direction we had come from, passing through
Penzance (didn't see any of the famous pirates, but did see a cool wee island out in the bay with a castle on it), a whole load of other little towns and eventually arrived at the Eden Project.
The eden project (
http://www.edenproject.com/) is a big interactive ecological place that
explores the relationship between the human and plant worlds and looks at current environmental issues such as climate change and sustainability and the individual implications of these issues. Really cool, really engaging, really informative. You basically wander around it (we did a very brief, whistle-stop walk around the site in about 4 hours!) through a biome which is climate controlled as a rainforest, and another which is for the mediterranean climate, as well as outdoor gardens and interesting art and sculptures. Then there is an information/education centre (with cool architecturally designed roof that is meant to
look like a sunflower!). All I can say is have a look at the website, and if you get the opportunity, GO!!!
Abbey loved the rainforest with all the bright green leaves and humidity - which is great cos that's where we're headed in just a couple of months!!!
Really interesting learning about tropical fruit crops, chocolate production (the average UK citizen eats 10kg of chocolate a year... Mez is well above average!!) Rubber production in both the Amazon and Asia as well as the synthetic
derivatives, Spice production etc etc. Really really cool, and the
site itself was just ten years ago, a used up mine (essentially a major scar in the landscape bereft of its resources), nowadays an amazing garden that draws 1.25 million visitors every year not just to look at its gardens, but also to the open air concerts it plays home to. Really cool. Look at the website.
Hmmm check out
this link too:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0422-31.htm interesting article written by what seems to be an interesting fiction writer (Ian McKewn) - it's called 'the hot breath of our civilisation' and there were loads of the quotes from it dotted around the gardens as thought provoking pieces. Cool stuff, thought provoking at least, though i don't necessarily agree with all of the truth claims he makes (For example I doubt if instituting international laws will do a lot to solve climate issues... after all that's roughly what the Kyoto
protocol attempts to do which to date has had very mixed success...)
Two quotes i most enjoyed: "
The sheer pressure of our numbers, the abundance of our inventions, the blind forces of our desires and needs, appear unstoppable and are generating a heat - the hot breath of our civilization - whose effects we comprehend only hazily." There was a really interesting contraption/piece of art, which explored this kind of idea - a huge machine which amounted to an
oversized nut cracker, but essentially led to the
thought that perhaps some of our convoluted methods of food gathering and distribution are... excessive. Interesting idea.
The other one:
"Now we are asked to address the well-being of unborn individuals we will never meet and who, contrary to the usual terms of human interaction, will not be returning the favor." Taken on its own, this could easily be speaking of issues like Abortion, Euthanasia, War, or any issue where lives are at stake... obviously in this context the statement is looking with reference to environmental
issues...
I guess ethical living is an exceedingly big subject that goes in loads of different directions. Interesting. 'Wow'ing even! After our visit to the holy ground of Eden, we headed to Oxford to spend a couple of days with friends from NZ.
Goldie, I flatted with as a university student in Dunedin. He is now doing a PhD at Oxford, within the field of economics, but essentially studying economical drivers of happiness. Interesting stuff. Dave, another friend who I was in a hostel with in my first year at university, and who is a fellow Wellingtonian who we also had the pleasure of company with in the states earlier this year, when Abbey was but a bump (albeit a large one) in Mez's belly. Nice for us to be able to
introduce them to the result of that bellyfull, and to meet Dave's beautiful girlfriend Holly (also a Kiwi, who also studied at Otago). So we had two nights of great company and a day of exploring Oxford in between.
We went for a bit of a wander around the town, spent a lot of time wandering through the wonderful bookshops that such a town affords, wondered at the average IQ of people in the town, Visited Christchurch, one of the most
famous halls at Oxford, which is home to the only Cathedral which is also a university college chapel in the world, and home
also to one of the most famous childrens choirs worldwide...
The college also has a very famous dining hall which featured in the first couple of Harry Potter films (subsequent films have used a scale model set instead of the real thing) and apparrently also features in the more recent Golden Compass. Cool dining hall. Loads of pictures of old men on the walls, most of whom I didn't
recognise the names of, a few of whom i
did (John Wesley, who founded the Methodist movement/denomination) and John Locke (who was a philosopher and quite a famous one in the enlightenment... came across a few of his ideas when I studied a bit of theology last year...) As well as a few British PM's i'd never heard of... Cool dining hall anyway, though apparrently the food served therein is not quite befitting the class of the surroundings (= is decidedly average).
Abbey managed to get herself kicked out of her first ever pub... the Eagle and Child, which is famous for being the place where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein met on a weekly basis to chat about their lives and writings, and where were born some of the characters from
Narnia and Middle Earth. Cool little pub, but Abbey decided she
liked my cider and when I wouldn't share she decided neither of us should have it and threw it on the floor, smashing the glass into hundreds of tiny little pieces. The owner was pretty good about it really.
New years evening was at Holly's place, a fusion of pumpkin soup, beer, chatting, boggle playing, wine, chocolate, poker and finally a singalong that would have had
the neighbors reaching for their earmuffs i'm sure, but all good fun. Great to spend time with some fellow kiwi's too. The Drive home on new years day was quicker than anticipated, despite not driving at the usual breakneck pace, thanks to most people still being in bed...
A great and relaxing way to finish a wonderful weekend of Family, Adventure, Ideas and Friendship. All good. Bring on 2008! Our boxes for packing arrive later today and in a couple of months or so we'll be saying farewell to the british isles which have been home to us for the past couple of years. We'll take a lot of great memories (and photos) home with us. And hope we've blessed those we've met along the way too... but adventure is not yet entirely complete... much can happen in two months... especially in our corner of the world! Till next time, ciao
nice men came and picked up all our accumulated possessions from the past 2 years over here to transport them some considerable distance from this somewhat cold place to somewhere somewhat warmer. Which was somehow nice. Summed up, what i'm trying to say, is that in some small way, it's an exciting time presently... 
nice men came and picked up all our accumulated possessions from the past 2 years over here to transport them some considerable distance from this somewhat cold place to somewhere somewhat warmer. Which was somehow nice. Summed up, what i'm trying to say, is that in some small way, it's an exciting time presently... 
fit into my tiny MTBing pack which was all I took with me when hitching the 800ish Km between Dunedin and Wellington. This would seem to indicate that i was either 
fit into my tiny MTBing pack which was all I took with me when hitching the 800ish Km between Dunedin and Wellington. This would seem to indicate that i was either 
part furnished and has central heating, as well as a fridge and gas cooker. Much like tenting otherwise. We have merely what will fit into our two 20kg suitcases Hmmm, and an extremely large pram. And an extremely large car seat. And our three 7kg pieces of hand luggage. 
part furnished and has central heating, as well as a fridge and gas cooker. Much like tenting otherwise. We have merely what will fit into our two 20kg suitcases Hmmm, and an extremely large pram. And an extremely large car seat. And our three 7kg pieces of hand luggage. 
