The Black Letter

” The white man’s prosperity and capital are what is required and slowly but surely it will be acquired. “

pebs — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:55:14 +0000

The following article is an article that I got from the Sunday Tribune website in the UK. I also read in the Beeld this week about the new afrikaans song that was written by Sean Else and Johan Vorster. It is about Pretoria and to bring awareness to people regarding what is happening to the afrikaans heritage. One of them made a comment about how the time has come to strart writing songs about what is going on in South Africa and the political tension experienced in South Africa. I would appreciate your comments.

WELL it’s over, we bid adieu and thank goodness for that; it was the worst World Cup of six . . . even worse than the 1999 edition. The entertainment quotient and the quality of the rugby was very poor. Two, maybe three, games out of 48 got the pulse racing. Even the final moments of the competition grated.The presentation of the cup was a sporting travesty.Let’s look on the bright side first, at least Syd Millar wasn’t throwing the medals at players Mott the Hoople style like he did in ’03. Somebody had obviously had a word. But why was a grumpy old man handing out the spoils of war. Martin Johnson, the captain of the previous winners should have handed over the pot to the captain of the new champions.

I don’t like the IRB or anyone who aspires to be a board member. You really do have to question their motives.

So what did they do wrong?

Well I consider it inappropriate that political leaders of any kind be anywhere else other than the most comfortable seats in the house . . . why then were Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown and Thabo Mbeki in the middle of the pitch at the prize-giving ceremony. That prize-giving ceremony was a perverse presentation and an act which was repugnant to the spirit of the game of rugby union. I take exception to the very presence of any political leaders but I forcefully object to the image shown around the world on Sunday and Monday in all mediums.

The images of Thabo Mbeki being hoisted by ANC stateappointed officials with the William Webb Ellis Cup in his hands was a contravention of the very essence of the game.

What part had he played in the Springboks victory? What was he even doing on the podium? If England had won would the English squad have lifted Gordon Brown into the air in triumph? Not bloody likely. Nobody seems to consider this inappropriate . . . well I bloody do . . . political hi-jacking of sporting occasions an anathema to most peoples’ notions of sport. Why it was done with the tacit approval of the IRB is not beyond me though. They realised South Africa and South African rugby is going down the toilet and this pathetic gesture might do some good to assuage forces and opinion back there that this victory was for everyone in South Africa.

Jake White deserves immense credit for his single-minded bravery in attaining his objective. It was difficult enough to beat what was in front of his team (actually not really) but the team had to stay focused. What was even more difficult was to stay on course as he was put under huge political pressure to include a significantly higher proportion of black players than he had been up to and including the Tri Nations.

To howls of protest, White only picked six non-white players in his squad, the same as in 2003; they might have been the unwritten rules.

White kept his head and won in the end without having to carry players who were not up to the grade. Butana Komphela, a senior and powerful ANC member suggested that the Springboks should have their passports revoked by the government. White, after winning the World Cup, will not get a second term. Komphela has declared that the ANC will never support Jake White if he bids for a second term . . . the point being that he would rather see a losing multi-racial side based purely on political quotas, not merit, represent South Africa than see a predominately white team based on merit .

From the new season onwards the Springboks will by law have to have 10 black players in a squad of 22 irrespective of whether the 10 are of international quality or not.

How come a political party can dictate this? Surely it is an act which circumvents the fundamental principles of sport . . . pick your best team and compete to win. It is amongst other things an act of overt racism and an act where the ruling black ANC party would take huge satisfaction if not glee from diluting and destroying one of the last bastions and passions of the former white ruling class. The ANC recently passed another resolution that the Springbok title and emblem be scrapped. Another gentle kick in the nuts for 200 years of oppression.

Most right-thinking people found apartheid an unspeakable crime against humanity, the world re-acted to a certain extent with political pressure; sporting and economic boycotts played their parts in bringing it to an end in 1994. How much has changed in those 13 years it is hard to quantify but as it currently stands this country is no happy-clappy rainbow nation.

I recently read Martin Meredith’s The State of Africa, and it is a stunning read. It charts the history of every state in Africa since accession or independence.

It is also depressing as it charts literally the same dismal cycle of misgovernance, corruption, greed, death, tyrannical leadership etc.

But there is a recurring theme of racial hatred.

Sometimes we lose the real sense of what racism is about in our politically correct and appropriately sanitised society. Calling someone a sambo as they walk down O’Connell Street might now be considered a heinous crime here, but everything is a question of scale. Witness the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda . . . genocide on a grand scale . . . two million dead inside a year. The Biafran War, 1-2 million dead, Darfur . . . the list is endless. Black people hating black people and willing to kill wantonly . . . you talk of scale then this is point blank. But no matter how deep seated the indigenous people’s hate for each other is, it pales into insignificance for the dislike of the white man.

Read the book, you can’t blame them.

Already it has manifested itself in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe’s government decides this course of action on a daily basis, overtly racist, as evil as apartheid. So remind me why, when Ireland played Zimbabwe in the recent Cricket World Cup, that nobody said a dicky?

As in the ’60s and ’70s in the sporting protests/boycotts against South Africa, why weren’t there people flour-bombing the cricket crease from crop-dusters or rushing barbed wire fences or holding all day sit-ins outside the Zimbabwean hotel?

If I wanted to register my disgust at Ireland playing sport against such a racist regime how would I do so? I tried to ring the Irish antiapartheid movement but no such organisation exists anymore. Now that Kader Asmal is happily ensconced in power in South Africa, I haven’t heard him come back to Ireland and condemn Mugabe and his oppressive regime.

Thabo Mbeki and the ANC give encouragement, economic help and friendship to Mugabe and his regime . . . I find that objectionable.

Mbeki has serious issues to deal with in his country.

An Interpol report stated that the annual murder rate in South Africa is in fact twice the reported rate of 23,500 (47,000); 95 per cent of that is black killing black, only a matter of time before that changes. Hunger, inertia, political unrest and poverty are powerful catalysts for further change. The white man’s prosperity and capital are what are required and slowly but surely it will be acquired.

Quite possibly the first step is to take the white man’s rugby team away from him . . . that will really hurt.

It is my experience of South Africa that the black man plays soccer almost exclusively and the white man plays rugby. On one weekend in Johannesburg years ago I went to watch the Blue Bulls play in Ellis Park on a Saturday, the following Sunday the Kaiser Chiefs played a game of football. On Saturday there were no black faces in the audience, on Sunday my slightly pink visage and that of my companion were the only white people in attendance.

Out of a population of 48 million, 38 million are black and 4.3 million are white. The minority play a minority sport within that country . . . there is no bar at school, university, club, provincial or international except that you be good enough. The South African international soccer side has one white man in its squad;

there is no bar on participation. The composition of the team is overwhelmingly black yet there is no need for state mandated quotas. Why? If the black political class are serious about multi-racial rugby it should not start from the top down but from the bottom up.

The reason I was opposed to Thabo Mbeki appearing on the pitch in Paris is that he is the president of a party which has imposed sanctions on a sporting body, ones which I think are overtly racist. The spine of the Springbok side realise it and well before their time they are leaving and going to Europe. That is wrong too. It’s hard to gauge how weak South Africa will be in 4 years. It is a worrying trend for rugby and things in general in that country.

Have we lost sight of the real meaning of racism or are we afraid to say it. South Africa steps up in 2010 to host the soccer World Cup. If they win, will the white minority rejoice even though they have practically no representation?

Debatble. In the meantime will our moral guardians be as swift to act as they were in the 60′s and 70′s if there are further discriminatory shifts in sport policy. Should we call for a boycott in 2010 if things deteriorate more? Racism cuts both ways, don’t be afraid to sound your voice.

I’m out…

Pebs

Botanical Gardens; Ed & Landi; Liza’s Pregnancy update; Happy B-day!

pebs — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:10:15 +0000

Yesterday we hit the road to the Wellington Botanical gardens where we saw some pretty awesome Flowers and plants. It just goes beyond my wildest thoughts that there are so many different species of orchids in the world. They are awesome and we spent the better part of 2 hours just walking though the green house and admiring the beautiful colors. Louis folks were dumb founded at the neat grounds and just the friendliness of everybody here in Wellington. Since being here we have always said that everybody in NZ is so friendly but when you are here you actually realize it. They believe us now!!!

It has been great having Louis parents around. The girls have just absolutely eaten up that motherly goodness and they have also taken down heaps of baking recipes and good old fashioned womanly advice on how to raise children and their husbands of course. The boys have mainly been chatting about sport, fishing and the great out doors. You can’t keep the adventure away.

This week is a great exciting week for us as we have new import coming into NZ. Yup that is right. Tonight we will be picking up Eduan and Landi. I can’t wait to see them. I spoke to Ed’s dad this morning and I could hear the sadness in his voice. We know all about that and all I can say to everyone there in SA… They will be just fine! We have made their beds and we have provided some good food and drink for them when they land. We will also not push them too hard for the first couple of days as we know that the jetlag can be really bad. So come this weekend, they should be fine and then the party will start. We have lined up heaps of activities so we will share them as we go on.

Liza have really been going well with her pregnancy. We are now in week 11 and it is great. She is slowly starting to show and I am so excited. I just can not wait for that scan next week. I am looking so forward to it.

Liza’s pregnancy update:

Hello almal…

Die week was een woeste besige week gewees. John het twee onderhoude by ‘n ander bank gehad en hy het elke dag oortyd gewerk. Daarby het hy nog elke dag kursus ook gehad. Met my by die werk gaan dit baie goed. Net baie besig. Volgende week begin ons met ‘n nuwe produk werk. Joyce Blok. “n NZ made produk. Gaan vir my lekker wees, want dit is baie soos Annique. Die week het regtig gevlieg…

My liggaam: Die naargeid het teen die spoed van witlig verbeter. Ek is so bly daaroor. Voel net in die oggend vroeg bietjie naar, maar dit is dit. My vel het nog nie verbeter nie, en in die aande het ek baie erg lae rug pyn ( dankie John vir die rug vryfies in die aande ). Weet nie hoe ek sonder my man sou oorleef nie. Die week het ek geen erge cravings gehad nie. Was net baie lus vir pasta met baie sous. Ek kom ook agter hoe my spoeg vermeerder. Toe ek dit agterkom het ek eers gedink ek is koekoes, maar dit is glo normaal. Ek kry ook abdominale pyne wat ‘n teken is dat my uterus mooi besig is om te rek, en baba is besig om mooi te groei.

Baba: Die week is baba die grootte van ‘n fui. Hy/sy is nou ten volle ontwikkel, en gaan nou net groei. Sy/haar koppie is steeds te groot vir die res van die lyfie. Die velletjie is steeds deurskynend, en die bloedvesels kan gesien word. Die vingers en tone het heeltemal ontwikkel, en lyk nou normaal. Baba beweeg nou glo baie rond, skop, en strek, en kan selfs hik, maar ek sal die beweging eers oor ‘n maand of so kan voel. ( Kan nie wag nie ) Hoop dit gaan goed met almal van julle. Lief vir julle baie…

Kia Ora vanuit NZ:

Annelize en Baba.

I would like to thank everybody who has kept in touch through the blog and email. It has been great hearing from all of you. I would also like to congratulate Renier and Rene who is 9 weeks pregnant. Renier and I have a long history and I would have never thought that we would become dads in the same time.I would also like to congratulate Corne and Tanya on their pregnancy. Happy days guys. Tanya will be giving birth in Feb 2008 so they are a couple of weeks ahead of Liza and I.

Also a big shout-out to Haig becoming 30 last week!!!! Booya brother! We love you and we can’t wait to see you guys in January.Sinead, we would also like to say happy-happy for your B-Day today. We hope that this year the best year you have ever had and the worst year for those to come!!! We can’t wait to see you guys tonight.

Ok…Now I have taken some photos for everyone to enjoy. I will check in soon. Keep your eyes out for more posts… Next week I will report on the WRC New Zealand.

Over skedover

Louis dad reaing the gate plaque

Don’t these folks just look at home here in NZ. We think they should move

Pretty

Momma Liza

C ya!

Pebs

Time Flies; Liza gets her word; Coming up?

pebs — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:02:20 +0000

Who would have thought? Today is the 8^th month of this year and I can only tell you that this year has passed at an incredible pace. I can not believe that just the other day we were still visiting in SA or that we celebrated Liza’s B-day. Well, tonight is a typical windy night in Wellington night. Liza is sitting on the couch watching friends. It is still surreal to think that she is carrying a little baby in that tummy of hers. Who would have thought that I would be a dad in March 2008? It took me by a huge surprise the morning we found out that she was pregnant. I am so happy and I can not wait for our little baby to be here. The next big thing to happen is Ed and Landi will finally be here in a week’s time. They will be landing on the night of the 20^th. Hopefully the Wellington weather will be kind to them and will allow them to land without any adrenalin pumping landing. We will be picking them up from the airport and we will bring them to our place. Louis will help us with the luggage as we will need two cars to carry it all. Louis parents have joined us in Wellington for the next two weeks. They have spent two weeks north of Auckland and have fallen in love with our new found country. Hopefully they won’t take too long to get their business in order in SA to make the move to NZ. I see the crime picking up in SA and I worry everyday that my family is in danger. Anyway, let me not focus on the negative to night. Every week I will include Liza’s pregnancy update. I have tried to keep in touch on everything by reading everything I possibly can to help out. I want to sound knowledgeable you know?

Liza’s pregnancy update:

‘Die week het letterlik verby gevlieg. As jy daaraan dink is ‘n kwart van my swangerskap reeds verby. En elke dag raak ons net meer en meer opgewonde. Oor drie weekies het ons weer ‘n scan. Ons kan nie meer wag nie. Met die scan kyk hulle wat die kans is vir down sindroom. John is reeds besig om alles op te lees daaroor wat hy in die hande kan kry.

My liggaam: Die week het dit weer sleg gegaan met die slaapery. Ek word meer as een maal in die aand wakker met lae rugpyn wat net nie wil wyk nie. Soos my pa se, dit is seker omdat ek nou elke dag iemand binne in my rondabba. Naar is beter. Party dae is daar nog erg dae, maar meestal van die tyd is dit nie so erg nie. Ek sukkel net vreeslik om vrugte te eet. Die tekstuur daarvan maak my naar. My vel het ook die week erg uitgeslaan. Ek lyk soos ‘n tiener dogter… Ek lag maar daaroor. Aan die een kant laat dit my nogal ekstra jonk voel. Die energie vlakke is ook stadig maar seker om bietjie te styg. Oor die algemeen voel ek goed.

Baba: Die afgelope week het baba sommer baie gegroei, en is nou tussen 3cm en 4cm lank. Ons is nou amper oor die ergste ontwikkelingstydperk. Daarmee bedoel ek dat die organe ontwikkel is, alles moet nou net mooi groei. Die longe, hartjie, senuweestelsel en brein is nou alles in die regte plekke, en begin reeds nou funksioneer. Vingers en tone is nie meer geweb nie, en lyk nou normaal. Ons is lief vir julle almal. Pas julle mooi op!!!!

Kia Ora vanuit New Zealand

Annelize en Baba’

Ok, so what is coming up? Well as I said earlier. Ed and Landi are landing soon. We will make them rest for at least a week. THEN… We will be off to Hamilton to go and watch the annual New Zealand WRC rally. I cannot wait. We will take heaps of pictures and will compile some clips. Watch this space. We will also spend some time on the ski slopes.

Until the next update.

Pebs

Liza goes on to 25!

pebs — Wed, 09 May 2007 04:13:00 +0000

For two weeks before the 30^th of April, I woke up to see these two beautiful green eyes of Liza looking at me to tell me that soon it will be my turn to spoil her rotten. Yes it was that time of the year. Liza turned 25 on the 30^th of April. As all of you know Liza is pedantic when it comes to her birthday. Everybody has to know and EVERYBODY has to remember! I do not need to tell you what happens if you forget, because if I tell you I will have to relive those moments which I DON’T!

This year fortunately and unfortunately her birthday fell on a Monday. Fortunately because she had the day off…Whoop whoop! Unfortunately because no one else had the day off and she ended up baking the Malva pudding. Yes you heard right, good old South African Malva pudding with vanilla custard and ice cream.

Now Melanie was kind enough to bake the lasagne for everybody that was coming to happy happy to the birth day girl! If you have not yet figured out what I am talking about, we held Liza a B-day party. The party was not big but we had most of our NZ friends over for the evening. We had a fantastic time and we spent it laughing at the jokes and stories that were told.

We did take some pictures of the evening. We wish all of you could have been there as it would have made it even more special. We miss you all!

The Sisters being supervised by the Beer!

Yes it was a bit frisky on the day…

Very happy about the Malva!

Nice Flowers!

The Memories of the past few years…

The table is set!

Just Checking on the Malva!

Graham and Karen are some of the greatest people we have ever met.

Louis and Graham enjoying the finer things in Life!

Everybody just loves Ben and Shinead. (Damn they are funny…Their favorite saying, “ag man”!!!)

Sersant van der Vyfer. Tree aan!

Thanks for the grub Melanie. Kos was lekker!

What a pair they make!

This is Liza being 25!

I hope this gave all of you an idea of what the party was like. We wish all of you were there.

I’m out!

Pebs

Crayfish – South Coast Style!

pebs — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:10:05 +0000

Well. Last time I wrote to you about the outing I had with Ben Row and Jason Brown. It was an awesome time and we had good fun. I have one photo just to prove that we had a great dinner that night. By the way. The crays were not the only thing we caught. We speared fish (Butter fish, Moeke) and got some good Pauwa.

Well here is the pic. Note that in the background you can see the South Island of New Zealand!

We miss you all!

Pebs

To South-Africa and Back…

pebs — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:07:17 +0000

Yes-Yes I know. It has been a while! Welcome everybody to the BlackLetter. I trust that the first 2 and half months of 2007 have treated you well. I trust also that the next 9 months will prove to be the best of your lives. Yes we are back in Wellington after an incredible holiday which Liza and I decided to spend back in SA. Good old SA. As we got to JHB (O.R Thambo – The pilot did not even know it was called that) we were welcomed by what SA has become renowned for… Breaking and entering! Yes I know. We fly halfway around the world without anyone trying funny stuff but as soon as we touched down our suit case was broken into. Luckily for them nothing was stolen for I would not have known what Liza would have done because she was seeing red and breathing fire like a bull from down under!!! No pun intended…J

So we held our heads up high and walked out to meet the welcome committee. It was great seeing the people we love and to see their smiling faces was just awesome. As we were driving to our home for the next month I remember myself thinking that this is exactly how I remember it. Hot, Beautiful and not a taxi to spare. Nothing has changed except the increased number of taxis. We it was good and we enjoyed every single moment of the break. At this point I must indeed ask forgiveness from those friends of ours that we did not manage to get around to. Four weeks was just not enough. We spent most of our time with the family and when we saw the chance went out to see the friends. I must say I was not entirely satisfied with the quota of golf we played but hey, I believe that we will soon play again and that we will rip up those tees.While we were there we were fortunate to spend some great times with Ed and Landi. We went to the coast with them for a couple of days and it proved awesome. The days were great and the evenings even better. We spent hours on the beach and spent some good night drinking sundowners at the KEG in true South-African fashion. It was a pity it was only four days. Ed and I played some golf at the Margate country club. Who won you might ask? Well to be honest, this huge croc came from nowhere and just grabbed our scorecard from our golf cart. It was really scary as ED and I was close to scratch game. It was fun!!! The girls went full on shopping for Togs (swimwear) and other shiny accessories. Eventually getting back home we enjoyed the fabulous company of the family and friends. There was never a dull moment. We had early breakfasts and late lunches. We also spent a large amount of our time doing what most South-Africans do… BRAAI!!! ‘n braai en ‘n slaai en ‘n lekker tamaai! This was one of the things I enjoyed the most. Combine that with the awesome company of the families and of course the wonderfully refreshing splash pool of flying ace Frik “Land that Sesna” Conradie. WOW!! We spent some good few hours in that tub just wasting. It was great. It was an incredible four weeks and one I would always remember as the best holiday of my life.

It was time to leave and we said our goodbye and yes the tears were flowing again. This time it was easier though. But alas we did not leave alone. NO! Christo “bruin monster” de Beer was set for his first big trip abroad. Flying alone on a Quantas flight we met him at Auckland Int. after he had to wait for us for 12 hours. Yes 12 hours. Liza and I had an 18 hour stop over inKuala Lumpur. Finally we touched down in Wellington Where Ian and Annalie picked us up and to our surprise with their new cabby. A Mazda Familia 1500 16 valve love machine!!! We were glad to see them and Christo has been amazed everyday by the wonderful sights of NZ. Mind you, I think NZ will never be same after Christo touched down. The whole
Wellington knows him already and he gets invited to some of the best gigs in town. The guy is a genius! Before I go I should just tell you that I went spear fishing the other day. It was mint conditions for a dive and I enjoyed it immensely! I speared my first butter fish. Ben “Look at my kingy” Roe was the fisher man of the day when he pulled out the biggest Crayfish you have ever seen from the water. IT WAS HUGE and I have pictures to prove it. Hopefully we will get to soon again.

Well I hope you had enjoyed the update. I look forward to hearing from you all. Everybody wants to be like Haig!

Ed,… How is the meat boet? Hey man, waar is my bier? Ek knak jou sommer soos ‘n treinspoor!?

OP soos ‘n Checkers Tjop!

The Ladies that keep us sane!

Liza and Endre having a great time and loads of Wine.

TWINS!!! Renier and me. Where is the Black Label

We owe it to the guy that invented earbuds!

Coeka and Liza. What a pair!

Me and Flying ace Conradie

Best Mates!

Oooooo…Sassy. My foxy lady!

So who is the jinga champion?

The Guy

Pay attention young ones,… Just look at that perfect warmup!

What I would like to think is that i put this ball next to the flag…;)

Liza having a ball of a time at Lobster Inn

Glenn the bass master of Stock-X-change sharing a drink at the Keg in Margate.

A final toast with the perfect drink.

I’m out!Pebs

Goodbye 2006

pebs — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:12:53 +0000

Well I guess it is my turn to say hi and let you all know that we have reached the final stretch of 2006. It has been one crazy year and we have indeed been blessed. We have been through so much and yet here we stand at the end of 2006 and we look back to find the difficult times part of our past. It is not part of our future yet so we can do nothing except for looking forward to the good times that lie and wait for us around every second that passes. We have had tears and we have had laughter. We have had busy times and we have had our sad silences. Loved ones have left us in this year but we will see them again. I know we will see them again. So reflect on this year and smile for our faces are not cold and we have not been beaten. How do I know this,… Because I know tomorrow brings new light. In two weeks time Ian and Annalie will be joining us here in NZ and I cannot wait to see their faces when they touch down here. It is going to be awesome. We already have their first couple of days planned out for them and we will start them off with the Friday habit of after work drinks on the harbour front. I can only look back and smile for they are experiencing what we experienced when we set off on this journey. They have to say good bye to so many people and their will be lots of tears the day they stand in the airport just before they enter the departure gates. It will be exciting and very painful all at once. We have also received really excellent news that our cousin Christo de Beer will be flying to NZ on the 8^th of February to join the Davidson’s here in Wellington. I cannot wait to have him here. I think he will thrive in this beautiful country. So for all of you wanting to come and have a look at this beautiful place, let us know, because we will happily take you in for a good holiday. Liza and I will be travelling to South-Africa on the 11^th of January. We will touch down @ the O.R Thambo (Xhosa for JAN SMUTS,… hahahaha) airport on the 12^th. We will be in SA for a whole month and will fly back to NZ on the 8^th of February. So all I want to say is that it will be one crazy month because we will be visiting and partying with everyone. Oh and don’t forget about shopping and playing Golf. Hahahaha. I don’t think I will be writing anytime soon again so I hope you guys enjoy the rest of 2006. Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family and everyone else reading this blog. May you be overwhelmed by your loved ones and may you cherish the times you are together. As for New Year, may 2007 be a year of excitement and blessing for all of you. May you make the right decisions and may you embrace life. May Jesus lead you in your quests and journeys this year. May you experience him everyday. I am sure to update the site once we are back from SA. As for 2006 I will bid you farewell for the year in the words of Jim Carry in the Truman Show …

Before I do that, enjoy the pictures I have included in the article.

Liza and Pebs on 16 November 2006 (married for 3 years,…whooooo)

The View from our flat

OOOOOOOO la la

Mountains on the South Island

Daisy for you daisy for me!

This is 22:15 in the evening. Sleep tight!

Now for the farewell…

Good morning, and in case I don’t see you, Good afternoon and Good night

Pebs OUT!

Masterton

pebs — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 23:35:26 +0000

Hi all. Well it has been a while since I have put my thoughts to words but here I am. It has been an awesome couple of months and we have started rooting ourselves into the NZ way of life. Work has been good for both Liza and I and we cannot ask for more. Anyway, enough of this! Let me get into the tale for the day.There is this little town when you drive north from
Wellington over the Wairarapa mountain range and it is called Masterton. It is an hour’s drive to the little town and I must tell you, it is one of the most scenic routes I have seen. Our tale is about the weekend we spent in Masterton and the friends that we shared the experience with.Liza and I received an invitation from Ben and Sinead Roe to join them for a visit to Ben’s folks place in Masterton. Ben grew up in Masterton and until recently has been a chef. Ben served in the NZ army for 7 years as a chef and I must tell you I have already learned so much from him regarding the preparation of food. He actually got me to eat nuts. NOOO!!! I have learned how to make my own stock so. LOL He works for Nestlé now. In actual fact, it was his first week on the job this week. HOO-HOOO!!! Sinead is Irish and it is great just listening to her speak. Her accent is so cool. She speaks four languages (Spanish, French, English and Irish). She did her degree in
Spain. Sometimes you just feel stupid in her presence but hey,…they are awesome people and good friends at that.So there we went. We left on the Friday evening and when we got there we were straight into a poker game. I had no chance of winning cause Liza was sitting behind me and making all these facial and verbal expressions that just gave my hand away. I lost. Terribly quickly. No Ben has a huge family. The house we stayed was a 10 bedroom house. Yes 10. Ben has a huge family. Ben is the only child that moved out. Everybody else is in the house. It was great. The atmosphere was great and we enjoyed the company. We ended the night with a game of Buzz. It was tight but eventually yours truly and Liza walked away with the honours,…Why? Cause it was the music version. I must say. Ben and Sinead ended a close second. Finally we went to bed but not before Liza visited the bathroom at least 5 times. Every time I had to get up and walk through this dark house to switch the lights on for her to see. As you all know it was fun and we could hardly contain the laughter.Saturday morning we went for a drive and ended up in the mountains and enjoying the mountain streams and fantastic views. This is what I live for. I will enjoy summer because we will be in those streams swimming and tubing and catching trout. I can’t wait. So for those of you wondering if you wanna come, get your butts over here! We then went and drove around the country side and eventually ended up at a bird park where for the first time Liza and I spotted the infamous Kiwi bird. What strange little birds they are and indeed very fascinating. That was most of Saturday. We left on the Sunday and we took the train back to
Wellington. It was a great weekend.This weekend I will be playing my first club cricket game and I will update you on the progress of it. I am playing for Eastern suburbs 2 team. Hopefully one day I’ll make the first team. Hahaha

Well that is me for the today. Enjoy the photos and enjoy the weekend. By the way,… It is Labour weekend here in NZ this weekend so it will be a long one. YEAH!!!!

The Wairarapa Ben in his Suzuki Vitara Natures CanopySky tower was nothing. Liza demonstrates that the raging river below this swinging brige does not stand a chance against her sence of adventure.

Ben the magnificent (WHAT RIVER?)

Ben And Sinead Roe. (Good friends Indeed)… Should I through in an Irish joke here?

The KAKA. A beautiful sociable parrot that will bite of your finger off if you get too close. Very comicle!

Hope you guys enjoyed.

L8r

Pebs

These are the days of our lives.

pebs — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:11:25 +0000

So guys. Here we are and I want to show you the type of view we have here in wellington and the type of stuff the a person would do on his day off.

Enjoy

Look at him go!!!!!

Up up and a away we go!

3.5l V6 Holden Commadore

Paraparamau

There he is again,….PULL UP!!!

Kapiti Islands.

Well guy. This is what we have around us.

L8r

Pebs

Yes we are still alive!!!!

pebs — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 07:09:07 +0000

Well it has been some time since I have posted and I must apologize for this as this was not the intention. Just to give you an idea on what has been happening.Liza has been working like there is no tomorrow and the salon that she works for has been really great for her. Louis check die girls soos altyd J I have released my first business case to the bank. It relates to the address changing within the bank and the penalties that could occur when it is not done properly. Pretty intense hey? We also went to theCity
Church camp a couple of weeks ago and I will tell you this, GOD is moving in NZ and I tell you this that a revival will occur here and my wish is that we all be part of it. We have now settled into
Wellington and we love every moment of it. And guess what (this is for the guys). The
Wellington rugby team is called the Lions. So do you hear that? It is the sound of inevitability. The sound of destiny if you like. So to the Bulls and the Sharks fans (you knew this was coming) I AM YOUR DADDY!!!! Hahahaha Enough of this. JLiza and I have been exploring on the days which was so kind to grant us blue skies and wonderful scenery. Here are some pics that you might like.

Look! the Railway station What a day!So this is the way we will look when we long back home. WEST SIDE!

So this is what we enjoy. Public transport. CLEAN and working. Just to tell you. I left my bag on this train and they found it and dropped it off at the station where I was waiting. :0

So who would like to guess what color the kitchen appliences are going to be?

As you all know, we have now moved into a furnished apartment in the city of
Wellington where we share with Louis. So far it has been quite an experience but it has been great. The place is about 50 squares so it is not that big but it is livable. Here are some pics that I would like to share with you on the flat where we stay.

Lisa and I spend our time reading in this room…LOL!

Jy in jou klein hoekie en ek in myn! Louis room!

The living COT…Room.

Another angle.

The kitchen! With a dishwasher. hahaha

Liza enjoying the comforts.

If you could turn in that shower you need to get more food in that body of yours.

The boys games!

And that concludes it for this time around. Let us know what you think. Also,…

Can’t wait till you are here. By the way. Soppies and tink have started their journey and they will join us on the 28th of December here in NZ. Can’t wait guys.

L8r

Pebs