News from Nelson – February 2009

Hi all,

The weather continues hot & dry - we were promised three days of rain, but we only got a few scant drops last night, and that was it. Not even enough to turn the windscreen wipers on for, and today is sunshiny and baking hot.

And with all the warm here has come a spot of fire on February 3rd. It started on the Malvern Hills at the head of Dodsons Valley in Atawhai, and spread south along the ridge back towards Nelson; the hills behind our house. The fire probably got to within 200m of us, and while 100 houses from the next block were evacuated, the wind died down, there were seven helicopters with monsoon buckets working and eighteen fire appliances, so we were not in danger. However, that didn't prevent me pulling our 'irreplaceables' out and putting them in the car early, just in case.

Having seen the awful results of the fires in Victoria, I feel that getting prepared to run early is pretty sensible! What a terrible tragedy, and a horrific waste of lives. Jan and I had several discussions about what the appropriate course of action was, and I was all for "run away, run away" and leave everything behind except utter essentials. Jan was all for staying and putting the hosepipe on the garden because you could save your house. I feel that people are more important than things, but Jan wants to take action. I am not sure that he feels the same way now, having seen what has happened in Victoria.

I got asked yesterday what my 'irreplaceables' were. They were Jan, the dogs, hardcopy & digital photos, birth/marriage certificates, qualifications, tax numbers, passports, memberships, and important mementoes (certificates of achievement, important invitations, newspaper clippings, personal moments of fame). We keep all those things together anyway. All my digital stuff is on a removable drive backup in my Post Office box, but I backed up my PC again onto my other removable drive while waiting to see if we would be evacuated. To me, these are the things to begin your life again, and everything else is secondary (stuff is just stuff). For Jan his viola is included in the primary list, so was packed in the car early too.

In 1981 in Nelson it was a very dry summer, and there was an arsonist at large lighting fires all around Nelson & Tasman. The winds were strong, it was tinder dry, there was very limited water, and all regional resources were stretched fighting - at one point - six large bush fires. The largest of the fires in Hira Forest in the Maitai Valley, immediately behind Nelson, which was blazing out of control on February 5th. At its height, the fire was travelling at 70km per hour along the tops of the trees, and the worrying prediction was that the fire could burn right through forestry to Picton. The fire breaks the fire & forest services were cutting were too narrow to impede spontaneous ignition; they realised afterward that they needed to cut tracks a kilometre wide to stop the fire on any front. The fire just leapt from tree top to tree top, then burned down to the ground at its leisure. It was declared a national emergency and the Army was called in, but it still took a fortnight to get it under control; and that was with the assistance of the weather (the winds fell and some light rain arrived). Nelson City was lucky; if the prevailing wind hadn't been westerly, Nelson could have been gone too. We were incredibly fortunate that there were very few people resident in the area, and the fire burned away from most of those. There were a few houses that were burned, and no lives lost (interestingly, since that fire cleaned out thousands of hectares, the Pinus radiata replanting is now ready for harvesting).

No such worries this time though - and no loss of personal property. We were very, very lucky.

My Uncle Lin in Brisbane has just undergone successful heart bypass surgery, and is now recovering at home. His progress has been really great thus far & he is 5 minutes out of hospital and already writing hilarious emails telling us all about the process. Thank goodness for a sense of humour & the ridiculous, eh?!

It looks as though my father is going to have to go through the same procedure this year too. I was reflecting on how far we have come with medicine in the past hundred years today; it is wonderful what we can do to extend lives in a meaningful way, giving people back the quality of life.

My braces came off today, which was wonderful. However, it stills feel I have braces on - my lips think I have phantom braces! The most bizarre thing. Maybe I will feel different tomorrow... but tonight, I am opening a bottle of bubbly to celebrate :-)

We had a wonderful time with the Adam Chamber Music Festival; we went to the Gala Opening with the Prazak Quartet and the NZ String Quartet, Bridget Douglas, Carolyn Mills; the Archduke (Piers Lane, Justine Cormack, Martin & Victoria Jaenecke, Prazak & NZSQ); Taonga Puoro (NZSQ, Richard Nunns, David Tanenbaum, Gareth Farr); Pro-Am Chamber Orchestra 'Emperor' Concert (which Jan was in); and the Grand Finale (NZSQ, Prazak). Jan also went to Fandango (NZSQ). What a fantastic Adam programme this year was. It just gets better and better every time it is run, and you feel so lucky to be able to experience such wonderfully talented professional musicians playing just there, in front of you; where you can have a chat to them afterwards. It's just great.

The Adam Chamber Summer School is also on this week, and the NZSQ and Deidre Irons are here taking master classes each evening for the talented young musicians attending the school. The master classes are open for spectators to attend, and Jan & I went along on Sunday night to listen for a couple of hours, which was fascinating. Unfortunately we were both busy last night, but we are intending to go again tonight.

We have also been to Sealord Opera in the Park which was just FANTASTIC again this year. Great weather, great music, great company - and we got to talk to Helen Medlyn afterwards (we were groupies!). What a wonderful night that was. Jan & I went in on the motorbike so had no trouble getting a park, and we met Kathleen Hofman there (who had cycled in from their place & had no trouble getting a 'park' either). Sitting in a prime seat with a bottle of bubbly and some nibbles listening to awesome live music on a still summer's evening; how perfect is that.

We had Doug & Morv come to stay with Callum & Katie on their way to the Golden Bay. It was great to see them. Jan did the traditional waffle breakfast before they headed away over the hill, just in case the Streets boasted that they had got one while the Booths didn't!

Lectures started again this week, and I am really enjoying leading the restructured Applied Management course. So far it looks as though I have a great class of keen students.

We are still discussing when we will do a Germany trip, but it looks more like it will be later in 2010, after we have finished building. We will keep everyone updated as discussions continue :-)

Having done the cleaning ourselves for a month (or not doing it, and arguing about it!), the cleaners are now back, but once a fortnight, and I think everyone is happy at that :-)

The talk of get-togethers for the 20 year anniversary of Uni & a flock of 40th birthdays; let us know what the plans are. I hear for Canterbury we are looking now at a July get together; sounds good. Keep us posted!

Right, that's it for now. Take care & alles liebe!

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – January 2 2009

Hi all,

We are very lucky - we have had wonderful weather and have been taking the dogs out for a huge run every night; in fact, we haven't been home that much!

Last night we went for a run at Tahunanui beach with a friend of Ana Silvia's, Alex, and her dog Chester. Coco and Chester played flat out for over an hour. It was exhausting watching them!

We had a great Christmas - we caught up with so many people; Sam & Moose, Mike & Birthe, Jeremy & Tina, Hui-Ping, Jenny L, Bertie, KT and - briefly - Max & Karen. Doug & Morv are coming down in a few days to stay (it will be great to see them) and we will catch up with Warren & Tracy when they are up our way too.

Last weekend we went over to the land and did some spraying, and grubbing. The gorse is growing flat out at the moment. We are currently waiting to hear from the builder (to close in the end bay of the shed so we can move over there this December during the building process - we will rent out Montrose Dr) and the digger man (to start excavating for the garage). Working drawings are currently underway. We are waiting to hear back from the solar panel man & awaiting a quote for plumbing. We have a job to do this weekend in sorting out some more info on the fireplace for the draughtsman (details about the hearth etc).

Jan has been back at work now for three weeks, and the installation of the new "c" saw is currently keeping him late at work. That's all the machinery that he went to Germany to organise last year. There are currently a few commissioning engineers here, getting it all up and running.

I have nearly finished marking the last assessment for this online course. I didn't enjoy the online facilitation at all; I like talking to flesh & blood people, so I won't do another one of those. For my semester one courses, I have one lecture to finish writing for Applied Management, and then that paper is all ready to go; and I am waiting for some materials from AUT to finalise the Sports Leadership paper. I am also thinking of doing a Diploma in Career Practice to formalise that aspect of my work... will think about it for a bit (it doesn't kick off until May, so there is time yet & is a very reasonable cost through NMIT staff rates).

My other work is ticking on as well; and I am stepping down from two of the boards I am on this March, which is quite exciting. I also have some other work lined up with two other consultants, which is also exciting, but on the QT for now!

This weekend marks the beginning of the Adam Chamber Music Festival; we have tickets for the Gala Opening on Friday night, so that should be good fun, and on Saturday night is the Sealord Opera in the Park which will be fabulous. Fingers Xed that the weather continues as wonderfully as it has been!

Jan has been considering going to Europe for Oma Friedel's 95th birthday in February. However, I can't go as it is my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary on February 13th and I am organising the party at the Boathouse (!). Also, we will be part way through the build - almost at lock-up stage - in February, and that is not a time to be away from a build. That is when all sorts of things get done incorrectly that either cost you a fortune to put right, or cannot be put right! We talked about going for Oma Lieselotte's 95th birthday this coming September, but that is when we are due to start the foundations (another awful time to be away). Also teaching holidays aren't until 25th Sept through to Oct 12th. If Jan doesn't go to Oma Friedel's birthday on his own in February, I suspect that we will do a trip to Germany later in 2010, after we have finished building. The rest of the family will represent us :-)

We are also on a bit of an economy drive at present, being faced with build costs. So we will be cutting down on unnecessary expenditure for the next 18 months or so - fewer trips away etc. And we've stopped the cleaners coming :-(

There is currently talk of get-togethers for the 20 year anniversary of Uni & a flock of 40th birthdays; again - keep us in the loop about plans, and try to aim for the school holidays if that is at all possible! Oh, and low cost if that is a factor for any of you Hutties who are in the build process too?!

Right, that's it for now. Take care & alles liebe!

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – January 2009

Hi all,

For those of you who know Julie Crosswell, her husband Sterl died on December 19th. Jan & I went to the funeral the Tuesday before Christmas. With so many of the fire service people there, it was a huge funeral. Sterl's brother gave a beautiful eulogy. Very sad. Julie seems to be coping with her pregnancy (twins), which is a relief.

And on another sad note, Ana Silvia left on Boxing Day Friday. She had a big send off at Nelson Airport - there must have been thirty people there to farewell her. A group of us went back to Phil & Anna Gully's afterwards to talk about our experience in having her here & what we had gained from it, which was really nice. Jan & I still have a huge pile of her stuff on the spare bed, which we need to ship to Brazil. We are waiting for her school documents to be processed and returned by the Brazilian embassy so we can include those in the shipment. Hopefully that won't take long (though it will be quite costly - about $300 we think).

We have had Jeremy, Tina & Otto here since Boxing Day - and we have had a lovely time, bbq-ing, walking, relaxing, and watching films. Otto has been very well behaved, despite being without his big sister, and has made a firm friend in Coco. We had Otto here for a night while Jeremy & Tina had a night of luxury away. Jan even managed to read Otto his bedtime story :-)

Hui-Ping has been in Nelson since Christmas Eve & we have caught up a number of times, which has been great. She has been very busy, getting out & about, visiting people and places. Bertie & Megs were up at Megs' folk's place for Christmas, so we caught up with both of them, then Bertie went to stay at Karen & Max's while Megs headed home. We hope to catch up with Bertie, Karen, Max & KT (who is also in town) today or tomorrow. Magda has just moved back from Blenheim & we have arranged our first tennis game for Monday - yay!

I have been facilitating an on-line course for NMIT called "Positive Workplace Relationships" on the Front Line Management Certificate over December & January, which has three weeks left to run. I have just completed marking the first assessment, so feel quite virtuous. I have pretty much managed a break over the past two weeks, despite intending to work through. Very fortunate! I have also been prepping some materials for my first semester courses next year, while things are quiet, which has been quite nice. No pressure, and time to be able to do things properly.

Jan goes back to work on Monday, but he tells me that he feels like he hasn't had a holiday. I have not yet managed to get to the bottom of why he feels like that - I feel very rested!

Jan drove Jeremy, Tina & Otto to Picton today to drop them back at the ferry. Having been full of life for two months, now the house is very quiet. It will be interesting to see how the dogs react to the resumption of "normal service".

Right, that's it for now. Take care & alles liebe!

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – December 2008

Hi all,

Still busy - but today was a not so good day. One of my students - Freya Snadden-Wilson - was killed in a car crash last week & today I went to her funeral with a mini van full of NMIT students and a fellow tutor, Chris Turner. Freya was about to have her degree conferred on the 19th, so the loss of all that potential was particularly poignant. There would have been 3 or 4 hundred people at her funeral at St Arnaud (the wee township at Lake Rotoiti, an hour & a half away from Nelson); far too many people to fit into the tiny lakeside Chapel. So those of us who weren't Freya's closest friends & immediate family - probably 300 of us - stood outside. Soft rain fell throughout the service, the smell of peaty mulch and beech forest, the silence caused by soft rain and low cloud, and the haunting call of the Tui made it all very special. Freya's family has many military connections, and they read a military prayer ("They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them"). Very, very sad. As was driving back home to Nelson past the site of the crash.

On a happier note, Ana Silvia is busy, busy, busy too. She is trying to do as much as possible before she leaves on Boxing Day - for example, this past week she went out gliding, got a ride on a very fast motorbike (not Jan's!), went to two formal dinners, three parties and has had three friends over to stay! She loved the Milford track but unfortunately soaked her camera when there was a sudden deluge and the storm flap on her jacket pocket was tucked in instead of out :-(  But at least she has saved her memory stick.

We went to Golden Bay for our anniversary; it was fine for the first two days, then it chucked it down solidly for the remainder of the time we were there. When we left on Monday, apparently the Takaka Hill was closed for slips soon after we had gone over. However, we finally did the Farwell Spit tour, and had a wonderful day with a coach load of Dutch tourists and the most inane Kiwi tour guide you have ever heard in your life. Jan was nearly ready to strangle her - the dropped plurals and repetition was driving him mad - but I got the giggles and started mimicking. We spent the rest of the weekend finding the silliest plurals to un-plural that we could. We also caught up with Fleur & Neil and their brood (all well!) and had dinner with Merrill & Colin at their new place in Collingwood. We even managed to have lunch at the Mussel Inn.

We have also been to a few functions - we had a farewell for an old Manager and a welcome for a new at Founders Brewery, which was wonderful; went to the fundraiser quiz night for the Hospice at Monaco Resort; had our black tie Rotary Christmas dinner at Fairfield House, and a Nelson Pine supplier formal dinner at Monaco Resort. Lovely food & wine throughout.

On our way over to Golden Bay we called in to see Leigh, our plans man. We now have concept two of our plans, which we have accepted. Leigh will now be preparing working drawings from those. If you are interested in seeing concept #2, click here. On our way back from Golden Bay we called in to see Leigh again, and Nute, who is to be our excavator driver, to work out how much soil needs to be moved, and where it should be moved to.

Brigitte & John came to visit on the 29th of November. The weather was great and I think they enjoyed their time here; Brigitte did lots of Christmas shopping. We took them to the land and pegged out the building site to approximately where the house will sit, so they know how it is going to be. We dropped them off in Blenheim on Monday after driving through to Picton for John to see his Mum on her birthday.

While we were in Blenheim we caught up with Magda for lunch, and she is about to move back to Nelson. She has got a job starting at Nelson Hospital early in the new year, which will be fabulous. I will have my tennis partner back again!

We have started buying some low energy use appliances for the new house; we bought an Asko washing machine last week. We also have had a quote for the remainder of our kitchen appliances which is about what we expected for cost (ouch); all energy saver and all European. Apparently the prices are due for a major price hike in the new year, so we are in a quandary about whether we do buy everything now & store it, or wait to see if the price hike is a myth and vanishes like early morning mist.

Jan played in a concert yesterday at the School of Music, with the Greenhill Ensemble. It was great to go & listen to what they have been working on.

On Boxing Day at 9am, Ana leaves to head back to Brazil, and at lunchtime we hop in the car to head over to Picton, to pick up Otto, Jeremy & Tina.

Right, that's it for now. Take care & alles liebe!

Sam & Jan