Middle Aged Mumsters Big Day Out - Pre ANZAC Day

 Today was a glorious day in the capital city.  The sun was shining and it was warm for late autumn.  Lovely!  There was an ANZAC day parade through the centre of town.  Traffic was stopped and the streets were crowded with people.  There were horses with riders.

 A big collection of world war one vechiles owned by Peter Jackson, bought into town specially.

 One broke down near us and had to be pushed to the side, but got started later.

 There were a variety of marching bands and soldiers marching, cheered on by the crowd.

 There were even double decker trucks filled with soldiers in replica uniforms.

 Peter Jackson marched at the back and got big cheers from the crowd.  This is is home town, and from what the mumster can gather, has put a lot of his own money into supporting the ANZAC celebrations.  Mum then went down to the other end of town to meet her lovely nephew Bud, who has travelled down for a little holiday with his aunty.

 We saw the Weta Workshop designed show The Scale of Our War at Te Papa which was amazing.  It was an hours wait in a long long line to get in, and while we were waiting we had a rather large 6.2 earthquake, which was a bit scary.  The Te Papa museum is one of the safest buildings to be in, as it is quite new with good technology built in that make the building absorb the shakes.  The displays were amazing, each depicting a real New Zealander and 2.4 times actual size, with incredible detail.

 This one, particularly moving was of war nurse Lottie, on a hospital boat, who finds out that her brother had been killed four months previously at Gallipoli, and only finds out when his letters are returned to her.  Each envelope is marked that it is returned as he is dead.  So sad.

 Tomorrow is ANZAC day in New Zealand and Australia and marks the 100 year anniversary since our troops landed in that small bay in Turkey.  Boys and men who travelled around the world to invade a country they knew little about.  The above pictures illustrates that 93% of New Zealand boys who went were either wounded or killed, more than any other force in that 8 months.  Another note at the display said in one of the battles 850 of our men were killed.  Only 8 of those were ever identified, the rest never found or in unmarked graves.  2 of those 8 were the youngest - just 17.  The age of my nephew.

 We then went for a light sushi train dinner which was nice, and wandered up to the National War Memorial which is on the way home.  They are practising for some displays tomorrow and there is a light show on the Cenotaph, which was moving.  We think of Great great uncle Pat, who served in France in WWI, Uncle Frank and Uncle Jack who served in WWII.  Our Uncles and cousins who served in the Army and cousins in the Navy.  We thank you.

So tonight, we are off to bed early.  We are up at 4am to go to dawn parade.

Great Shakes

Today was a lovely day, all the better cos mum got to spend it with me.  She also realised that she got a solid 7 hours sleep, possibly the first time she has slept that long in about two months.  Also she had a good hair day - every little thing helps she says.

She was about to unload the washing machine this morning, when she felt a bit of a rumble and a roll as a 5.1 earthquake shook us about.  Luckily it was not very strong and was quiet short.  Turns out there was one a few minutes earlier but mum never felt it.  It was good too that there was no reported damage or any injuries.  Miss Belle said that the Auckland students at Uni all shrieked and had to call their parents as apparently they were a bit freaked out.  Miss Belle is sensible and felt earthquakes before so she was fine.  Mum has also talked to her about what to do if there is a really big one - she is to try to come to our house or to meet mum at the hospital.

We were lucky as sister in law is in town, so mum took her and Miss Belle to dinner and she enjoyed catching up with them.  Apparently we are to get a visitor tomorrow - I wonder who that would be?

Foot Hugger

Mum was chuffed last night that she got some photos of me napping on her foot.  Normally I do something cute, she looks, grabs the camera and I runs away.  Last night I was a good girl and stayed there while she managed to get three snaps.

Last night, mum was tired and managed to get to bed at 9.30pm and off to sleep just after 10pm.  Me and her were snoozing away on the bed, when the room was a shaking with another earthquake.  It only lasted 20 seconds, and I was brave and just sat with mum.  Another earthquake, but there weren't many afterwards, so we were ok.

So hopefully we get a better nights rest tonight - fingers crossed.

All Shook Up

Thanks for checking up on us shaky folks.  Mum had to work night shift at the hospital last night.  The hospital building mum works in is very new and has the latest earthquake building techniques built in.  So there were lots of aftershocks last night, but mum only felt a few of the bigger shakes.

So she got to finish at 7am, and go to the supermarket for toilet paper and some cat biscuits - nom nom.  Then she had a snack with me and thought she would just lie down for a nap.  She managed to sleep til 2pm, and miss a big quake, but that's ok with her.

So the rest of the day has been lazing on the couch watching tv.

Our city is ok, only a few minor injuries and a few damaged roads and buildings.    Nothing like the Christchurch earthquakes that occured in the past two years, or indeed one in China today with 47 people died.  NZ has lots and lots of quakes, thousands each year, and most of us are prepared for them.  We have emergency supplies at home, including lots of food and bottled water, just in case.

Mum is looking forward to her days off to rest and relax with me.

Shaky Night

Last night it was a bit shaky here in our city.  There was a big size 7 earthquake shook our city and lots of towns around NZ.  Luckily it was very deep and off the coast, so there were no known injuries or damage, but everybody was rocking and rolling.  Even I got a bit scairty and jumped off mums bed where I was napping, and runned out past my mum and outside.

Mum didn't get much sleep last night, but feels much better today.

Summery

We have had two days here of almost perfect summer weather.  Mum entertained some friends for lunch, and they had to put the sun umbrella up to enjoy their watermelon, salads, strawberries and cake.

Then mum went out tonight to see Roller Derby, which she said was fun.   Except for the earthquake half way through, not fun.  Everybody was ok, but at 5.7 it was the biggest shake mum has ever felt.  She was in a huge building, that has been earthquake protected, but had lots of heavy things hanging from the ceiling.  Mum says she might make sure she sleeps with some clothes on tonight, just in case the shakes come back.

Earthquake - We're ok

Another big earthquake a couple of hours ago in Christchurch. It is some way away from us, but there appear to be at least 65 deaths and lots of injuries. We are thinking of all of our friends and families that live there.

Earthquake

Last night there was a BIG earthquake in New Zealand. It was the biggest we have had in 78 years and was 7.8 on the richter scale, which is HUGE. But, it was in a very isolated area a long ways from where we live. So this is what I was doing while it was happening. Mum was at work and didn't feel a thing, although some folks in our city said they felt it.


See it is down the bottom of the south Island in New Zealand, and we live at the bottom of the north Island (very imaginative names for our country: North and South Islands).

Our earthquake was as big as one in China that killed 68,000 people!! However there have been no reported injuries here, as that part of New Zealand is pretty uninhabited.

Our news tonight, said that we have 14,000 earthquakes a year in New Zealand, most of which we don't feel, so we are used to them.

You can go here to read about it : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8151530.stm or here :http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/15/new.zealand.earthquake/index.html .

Thanks though for thinking of us, and we are happy to report that we are safe and sound.

Earthquake - but we is ok

Mum says don't worry. The earthquake was a wee way away from us. Our friends and fambly is safe. Gisborne has lost its electricity, but day has lots of candles. So we hopes everyone is safe and warm.

Poppy Q