Bob (alas,
w/o Diane)
Bob will fly in from Dubai for the reunion weekend, then return to Turkmenistan afterwards. Although Petrofac does give Bob thirty days per year vacation, so much of that allowance is already committed for this year with two(!) weddings: for our son Colin & Stephania in Washington DC mid-May, daughter Meagan & John in Houston TX early October.
We can relate to Warren's loss of close family. Diane and Bob both lost all 4 parents over an 18-month period. But that did free us up to work overseas when the U.S. economy tanked.
Fri July 16: MY journey has started. Left Turkmenistan to be home for a few days, check in with the home office, then off! Laborious start with having to haul 30kg of soil samples on a flight from Ashgabat for geotechnical investigations, but they're now someone else's problem
Ivan &
Henny
Cruising with Viking Cruises on the Kirov from Moscow to St Petersburg departing 5 July. After St Petersburg we are catching the train to Helsinki where we'll stay for three nights. This is all we have confirmed and paid a deposit for to date. Our plan is to then fly in from Helsinki to Gothenburg or into Stockholm. We'll then have to make our way to Fiskebacskil.
Tues July 6: we caught up with Diane (in Dubai) who took us to a lovely restaurant where Ivan selected a pinot from NZ to have with the Vietnamese food. She also showed us where they live. Now we are in Moscow. Had a good walk so getting ready for breakfast and our tour this afternoon. Kirov is a beautiful cruise vessel. Tot ziens Henny
Wed July 14: Saturday we train to Helsinki from St Petersburg staying 3 nights. Overnight Ferry from there to Stockholm for 2 nights. Then train to Uddevalla for the reunion 23-28 July. Then express bus from Torp Terminalen to Oslo 4 nights catching up with Ivan's sister eta who is coming from Glasgow. 1 - 6 August Southern rail tour of Norway. Home 9 August.
Thurs July 15: Thank you Jim for your condolences re Holland's loss. I coming to terms with it.....slowly. Good on Spain though for their win. We've just docked in St Petersburg so now we'll get to see a lot of the places we've only managed to read about. There's lots of Vodka here for you Jim if you want. Change from beer. See you all in Fisket. Tot ziens, Henny
Jim &
Jennifer
Our plan for July 2010 is to spend most of the month in Sweden and Norway, we will run up to Trondheim if weather permits, please arrange a suitable summer Geoff and Anki, Klaus and Kirsten! Probably fly from London to Stockholm early July and pick up a rental car there, we do now have a zero degree sleeping bag to keep us alive in the tent at night.
Mon July 12: Arrived in London at 0603 on Brunei Air, very good flight in the new plane they now operate except NO BEER on this Islamic nations flag carrier. We actually got searched at the Malaysia/Brunei road border for alcohol (!) so that is 4 long days without a beer; and sorry Henny, we were in mid air approaching Bahrain for refueling during the soccer match so no TV. to let us cheer Holland on, tragic that our lack of support let the Spanish through. Couple of days here at Richmond by the River Ganges or whatever this creek here is called - lovely bike ride along the towpath this morning - staying with Micheal, Melanie and Maya Jobbins (M, M and m for short as Maya is just 14 months old!) then off to Calais to collect the car on Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing all next Friday. Cheers, Jim and Jennifer.
Merv
& Julie
Our tentative plans (dates are flexible unless otherwise indicated)
|
30 June 2010 2 July - 8 July 9 July 10 & 11 July 12 July 15 - 21 July 22 & 23 July 24 & 25 July 26 & 27 July 28 July 29 July-1 Aug 2 August 3 - 6 August |
Fly to Europe (probably London) Fly to Prague a few days there then up to St Petersburg Travel St Petersburg to Oslo Oslo, Norway Oslo to Bergen (incl. Flam Railway) Baltic cruise (Bergen to Kirkenes) Travel Kirkenes to Fiskebäckskil in Sweden Reunion in Fiskebäckskil (the only “fixed” dates) Possibly around Fiskebäckskil or elsewhere on west coast Travel from Sweden to Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark Get back to London (if that’s where we started) Fly home, preferably with stopover in Singapore |
|
Tues July
6: Been away from home for nearly a week, and apart from travel
we've been in Prague the whole time. This is one of the most
beautiful cities I have ever spent time in. We thought a week here
might be too long, but no way. It's also been a heat wave here, most
days are peaking over 30C. Our daughter Amanda flew in from London a
few days ago and a couple of Kiwi friends from Wellington are also
staying here with us. Great times. |
|
Arthur
& Sandie
|
Jul 7 Jul 14 July 19 July 21 July 23-25 July 29 Aug 1 Aug 16 |
Depart AKL for London via Hong Kong Depart London for Mykonos, Greece Arrive Athens - meet Murray & Vicki Arrive Gothenburg with M & V, stay o/night Party time Fisket Depart Gothenburg for Prague Vienna for 2 weeks cruising Danube Depart Vienna for AKL via Singapore |
|
DETAILS:
Sandie and Arthur - along with Murray and Vicki -
arrive in Gothenburg on the Wednesday night 21st, make way up to
Fisket on Thursday. Sandie and Arthur then don’t depart for
Prague until Thursday 29th, so will be doing a bit of local sight
seeing. |
|
Klaus &
Kirsten
We plan to start our summer holidays by sailing down
to Fiskebäckskil to meet you all. After our gathering we'll sail
on down to Southern Denmark where our youngest daughter Kate will be
getting married to her Frank on 7 August. They will then borrow
"Aorangi" for ~ ten days for their "honeymoon" (if one can call it
that these days). After that we'll be trying to get the boat back home
to Halden
before starting work again on 23 August or thereabouts. We don't know
what we'll be doing while the young people are honeymooning, but we may
well be painting our summer house in Denmark - if it's ready for that (be under construction then)
Tues July 13:
Our holidays start tomorrow. We
have an unusual challenge this year in that we have a whole week to sail
from Halden to Fiskebäckskil - a distance that we could comfortably
cover in a day. So we'll just have to find some secluded anchorages / buoys /
harbours in fjords and bays off the beaten track, and just simply stay
put and relax!
Murray
& Vicki
| UPDATE: Arrive Fisket Thursday July 22, tentatively depart 28th. Will stay in Tegg's house | |
| 3 May - 16 May | Barcelona/Pyrenees & surrounding district (Eurolease Peugeot 308 SW) |
| 16 May - 9 June | Provence/French Alps and Paris |
| 12 June - 2 July | Sweden and Norway (probably up to Trondheim) with our son Tim and his partner Fiona. Tim is studying for all this year on exchange at Lund University (1st year of Master of Architecture) in Sweden |
| 3 July - 20 July | Sailing in the Ionian Sea (west coast Greece ) with Vicki's brother, his wife and two other couples, followed by a few days in Athens |
| 21 July ~ 28 July | Reunion in Fisket |
| 28 July - 20 Aug | Open time-table Sweden / Denmark / Holland or whatever suits |
| 20 August | Leave for New Zealand from Amsterdam, Holland |
Open to suggestions and tips (must sees & do's ) for travelling by car in Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Klaus you have some good ideas, look forward to discussing further.
Fri July 9: We are stern to in a small port/village on the island of Keffallonia in the Ionian Sea off Greece Sea temperature 25 deg. Clear sunny hot days. Lots of swimming & eating. The food in the waterfront Tavernas has been great.
Geoff
& Anki
Anki
and Geoff will be in Fiskebäckskil on and off from mid-June and
will certainly be in place for at least a week prior to our reunion
weekend, so those who would like to arrive a few days before – not a
problem! It is an amazing coincidence but our eldest son David is
marrying the same day as Kirsten and Klaus’s Kate, so Anki and Geoff need to
be in Rio on Aug 7! In reality we'll probably need to leave
Fiskebäckskil around July 28, the Wednesday after. However those that
would want to stay longer are welcome to use the house.
26 APRIL: We are now back after 12 days in Spain and Portugal,
on the Algarve and Costa del Sol. It was a great
trip with an interesting and fun mix of visiting friends, playing golf,
sightseeing the historic cities of Andalusia and last but not least lots of
tastings of the local food and wine. La vita e bella!
Sun July 11: Sounds like you are all benefitting from the extraordinary
summer weather we are experiencing in the whole of Europe. Anki and I have
every door and window open in our Stockholm apartment and are still having
problems sleeping because it is so hot - had over 30 deg yesterday. At the
same time we are praying that the high pressure stays for another 2 weeks so
that you can all enjoy the Sweden at its best. We had the funeral for Anki's
Dad Friday and will be heading back to the West Coast tomorrow. Stay safe,
Geoff & Anki
T: +64 7 959 4441, M: +64 21 226 8441, F: +64 7 959 4431 rmcdonald @ hortresearch.co.nz
(may not make it)
One of the issues that I have been grappling with is where to live. Although Sue and I bought our waterside retirement home at Onerahi about 5 years ago we had never lived here. We used it as a beach house for a couple of years. I nominally retired in early 2007 and that was followed by three months overseas ( including going to Valencia for Americas Cup). Unfortunately Sue died between us coming home to N.Z. but before we got back to Whangarei. Then I spent the next 18 months spending half my time in Auckland with a combination of part time work and a relationship. That was completely unsettling of course for any finding new roots in Whangarei. For this year my part time work is in Whangarei and that combined with a local girlfriend (Jill) is very good for the settling down process. The harbour has been very productive this year and I can get fish any day I want with either the boat off the beach ( where it sits) or putting out a set line. The boat (a small aluminium 4m dingy ) is on permanent loan from Mike Allen's garden where it sat for a few years. I can swim most days too, all of which is quite therapeutic. All I need to find is time to play golf.
We took our yacht to Fiji last year and I managed to last for over three months cruising around the various islands. Quite enjoyed the experience, only managed to hit one reef. I don't enjoy the blue water bits quite so much ( I still get sea sick) but am quite comfortable out of the sight of land.
We have decided to keep the boat in NZ this year. Unlike Jim we tend to return our boat each trip and therefore have to get (and keep) it up to Cat 1 standard. This along with needing some new sails decided us to defer any overseas jaunts this year. Just plan to use cruising locally. I still enjoy scuba diving and fishing and the boat is a great platform for those activities.
I am writing this over several days. Since I last wrote some words I have gone though the death of my mother. She was 87 and died of a stroke last week. Thankfully she did not suffer and since the whole process only took a few days was a merciful process. While she did not have any pain those remaining behind are left to share it round. I was fortunate that my girls stepped up & were of great assistance. Family becomes a valuable commodity under these circumstances.
I've taken on a part time job as a Construction Manager. Building a waste water treatment plant for the local Fonterra Dairy Factory. Not sure if it was the wisest thing to do but enjoying being back in the saddle again. Working locally beats the commuting to Auckland that I was doing last year. The trick will be to keep the job to three part days per week.
Michael
& Marian
(will not make it)
Updated 23 June: Marian and I would like to add our condolences on the death of your father Anki. A massive stroke is not always nice for the nearest relatives but it is some consolation to know that it can be very quick. My father had a series of strokes before he died and I am now on medication to reduce the risk.
One solution we have found for the roamer overcharge mentioned by Merv is to use Skype. We have face-to-face conversations with friends and rellies almost on a daily basis. I am also keeping in touch with the Ozzie Team Project Leader in Tbilisi using Skype. We were there last month to work on the SIDA funded cattle-feed project in Kakheti District up close to Azerbaijan. It looks as if Marian and I will be returning there in September because the local consultants want me to commission the feed-mill I designed! Could be a worry . . . . . . much of the gear is left-over Soviet stuff!
Currently we are in Malta and we should be in residence in Tuscany next week. However, with all those friends and rellies coming to stay with us in Lucca, we are not going get to the 40th reunion.
So . . . . . . Please give everyone our very best wishes, and have a very good time! Michael & Marian
