2008 record

2008 in Retrospect

2007 ended with us moving from Wadestown to Waikanae Beach just before Xmas.  Kerry still on crutches and one leg in plaster from the torn Achilles tendon sure slowed him down! The new house is a 4 bedroom bungalow in a new street next to the golf course. So we did not move much for a month. By February we had settled in and began hanging pictures, refining the garden design and assembling shelves for the garage.

May took us to Massey University for Lyn’s graduation as Bachelor in Business Studies and the end of her student days.

Grandsons Matthew, Ben and Jared built raised garden beds and a garden shed. By June we were able to empty the last cartons from the move and get both cars into the garage. By then Kerry was mobile enough for us to begin taking the caravan for short trips to explore the beaches and parks to our north. In that process we met and joined the Palmerston North Caravan Club and have since had several enjoyable weekends away with them.

In September we joined a W Maher Travel tour from Wellington to spend a month in India. This was Lyn’s introduction to the area but Kerry had visited the Ganges Valley while on leave from UNMOGIP in 1971. The tour took in Delhi, Varanasi, Kajaraho, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kochin and Chenai so we saw the arid north and the contrasting tropical south. The touristy part of the north is much as Kerry remembered and it matched several of his photos from 1971.  The lush south ranged from tea planting in the hills to sandy beaches and rice paddy. This region (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) is remarkably like Malaya was in the 1980’s.

2008 was election year for VSA and Kerry stood successfully for the governing council. After such a rewarding time in Timor Leste [2005-06]  he felt that it is right to be able to do something in return.

Our final fling for 2008 was a drive to Hokitika to see Alex and Toni. Dean was in Antarctica for 5 weeks shepherding scientists on the ice, so we helped with some babysitting. Needless to say Kerry managed to fit 100 kg or so of small coloured rocks into the X Trail on the way home, to add to our very picturesque rock garden.

Our plan was to turn towards Europe for our 2009 holiday and swing through Russia, Scandinavia and Canada. Nothing definite yet but we do like to be in the North in Spring or Autumn.

Good health continues to make life easy and we look forward to next year with much anticipation