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my cousin!!Posted on Sun 13 January 2008 at 05:29The Picnic in Porirua meet-up turned out to be really good. It was a bit overcast and windy here in the morning but come midday it had brightened considerably and by the time I drove up there (which took closer to 25 minutes, not 15), the wind had dropped too. Melissa was a bit put out there were no kids of her own age and that Jac & Adie hadn’t taken their dogs but got into the spirit of it eventually. There must have been about 20 of us including the kids. Queen Elizabeth Park has a decent picnic area right by the shore so we ensconced ourselves there for the afternoon. And did I say I probably wouldn’t be going in the water? Well, that’s what I thought when I left the house!! Melissa didn’t bring a swimming suit, as she had no intention of going in, so neither did I. But having paddled and got myself pretty wet anyway, I threw caution to the winds, handed my sunglasses and watch to simonmarkellis and took the plunge wearing all my clothes. As that consisted mainly of a short skirt and t-shirt, it didn’t hamper the swimming much at all. In fact, it was so good; I went back up to the picnic area and got Melissa to come in fully clothed as well. It wasn’t too cold and we had a good romp. Then it was decided we would all go to the Fisherman’s Table for a meal afterwards. That involved me charging back down to Whitby so both of us could get changed and charging back up again. We got there just after everyone else had ordered and they caught us up pretty quick. I was impressed with the service and the meal was OK. But Kiwis just don’t seem to grasp the concept of ‘blue’ steak. It came medium rare rather than blue. If the plate isn’t swimming in blood. It can’t be blue can it? Still. It tasted OK, so I wasn’t going to complain. It seems that a good time was had by all who went, so hopefully, we will do it all again at some point. Thanks to Jac & Adie for organising that one. Just met up with my cousin Lilaine for the first time in 20+ years. She left the village and moved to Ashburton, New Zealand. She has been back there a few times but I had left and never managed to make it when she was there. In fact missed her by a day the last time I went home. But it was indescribable (me: lost for words!). Just to meet her again: someone who has known me most of my life, who loves me unconditionally; who understands the whole ‘being on the opposite side of the world’ business; thank you so much for the 90 minutes we managed to put in today. Sweetheart, it was SO good to see you again! She’s not a member of BE but I know she reads my blog. She is going to try to make it here for the ‘celebrating Shane’ party I intend to have once No 1 son is here. I packed her off with a copy of Shane’s CD, hope she likes it!! Since then, i have heard from my estate agent: there has finally been an offer made on my house! Way, way under what I need, but any offer is good news. I just want to be able to walk away from the whole sorry scenario and write it all off. Watch this space!!
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