Greenwich

29.05.01

Alvin’s update

Greenwich is not far from Kath’s base camp. Several months ago there was a program on TV 2 about the race to fine a method of recording longitude especially at sea. An old clock maker and his son developed several apparatus that where shown in the documentary, this was all in the time museum. The main reason for Greenwich is that when recordings were taken of the stars, there needs to be a calculation done to take into account the earth rotation. In the early day this had to be done manually, and somewhere had to be 00.00.00 which was designated Greenwich. I set my watch to the exact time according to the digital printout which took about five minutes to achieve only to find it was one hour out due to daylight saving.

Kath’s daughter who is a Police Constable here in London, she arranges her days off to coincide with her Mums. They are adventurous soles and travel to many and varied places both here in the UK and the Continent. The city of Bath was in there sights this day. Colleen is a professional driver, having driven VIP’s and other snobs about the city, prior to her Police training.

I took advantage of her driving skills to learn the ropes and rules for driving in the UK.

Early starts to avoid the traffic is the best plan of attack. Taking the M4 across towards Wales from London for an hour and 30, see you at Bristol and Bath.

Not far and the country side is in a picture of spring growth. Most of the paddocks are in Wheat or Oats with isolated paddocks of Rape seed. The Foot and Mouth epidemic has cleared the stock and a paddock of cows is a rare sight.

I have only seen one big flock of sheep in the whole trip. Its late spring at present and the Rhododendrons are almost finished. The rose buds especially the Hybrid trees, my favorite Loving Memory and the Old English Roses are about two weeks from exploding into full bloom.

What a sight as we cane into Bath. There are rows and rows of White Stone houses all joined together up over the hills and in the town it self. The lush trees and green areas make the white stone stand out even more dramatically. It was so good to look at after the concrete jungle of London. We brought a ticket on an Open Deck Bus and did the complete trip of the town and surrounding countryside twice as well as hopping on and off at places of interest all day.

My haggling skills were of use as well as I managed to get Colleen and myself student passes. The driver wouldn’t wear it when I suggested Kath would qualify as an Old Age Pensioner though, so she had to pay the full price of £.

The tour through the old Roman Baths was just amazing. We must of spent 2 hours in there taking it all in. on my inbound flight from the States, I flew over Ireland and could see the city of Cardiff, Bristol and was gob smacked when I looked down on the city that I found out later to be Bath.

For those of you who have been there it is a memorable place to visit.

We took the back roads home through beautiful countryside and found a White Horse, one of many in the Somerset countryside. (Not as good as the West Coast ah)

The Lions Rugby Team are in the process of preparing to travel overseas and as part of their build up arranged for a conglomerate team, called the Barbarians to play at Twickenham. This is the centre of English rugby.

Six Kiwis where playing, Robin Brook, Ian Jones, Jonah Lomu, pat Lamb, Craig Dowd and Joellie Valderi. It was a spectacular game with the Kiwis providing five of the tries to give the Baa Baas a win. It was great to let out a roar when the crowd around us where all Poms ( surprise surprise), when Lomu and co made great plays.

Monday the 28^th May is Bank Holiday over here.

Today is the finals of the London Rugby sevens. Kath is an avid rugby fan with all the regalia including a big top hat. It takes about 30 minutes out to Twickenham utilizing the Tube twice and then a rugby express train from Waterloo Station.

I’m getting used to the process and often correct Kath as to where to under ground.

The London Underground is easy to find your way around.

This is my first time watching Rugby Sevens. A short game with a lot of action going on around the grounds to keep the crowd entertained. As you all know the Kiwis came out on top. They had the biggest crowd support, I think of the 20000 crowd that half would have been Kiwi supporters.

I’m off down the South Coast to suss a Job prospect for the next few days

I wonder what will happen next..

CU

Dick Turpin

USA to UK

25.05.01

Alvin’s update

Thanks for the update Mohammad, I’m please the deal is nearly completed; I’ll forward you my recent update.

Sunday the 20^th May was my departure date from Miami Florida. Adie and Bill drove me the two hours through the everglades to Miami. A straight drive from one side of the Peninsular to the other. Miami Beach is the place to be in southern Florida.

I had prepared for England and put on a singlet, long trousers and a thick shirt in anticipation of a long flight and cold arrival in London. Miami Beach was not a place to linger in those clothes. The temp was around 38 degrees c.

I reflected on my stay with my American family and really enjoyed meeting them all again. Paul was a great chauffer which saved me from having to learn to drive on the right and he was a great traveling companion. He done things with me that he would not usually have done and also extended my range of interests. Thanks to Bill for his help and advice. I enjoyed the pistol shooting at the indoor pistol range. It was great to renew your acquaintance. I loved spending time with my big sister Adie. She and I reminisced about old times and I found here so much like my other sisters, I appreciated that.

Niki and her children were a lot of fun. I am empress with the early education process that her children are engaged in. The two year old know the alphabet and I think they are well advanced of the expectations of children in New Zealand. Niki wanted me to say she had a wonderful personality and was the sweetest little thing. This has been achieved. Thanks for the time we had getting to know one another. I loved helping Angie with her swimming. A brave adventurous little girl.

Two and a half hours seen me in Washington then a further seven hours to Heathrow. I tried to sleep but to no avail. Probably two hours in total. Flying against the clock stuffed me. I was tired but wanting to explore. The time difference is five hours. Kath Harrison, a work mate and friend from Seaview has been in the UK for 18 months, met me at Heathrow. It was great to see her again and I have been staying with her until I get my ducks in order.

Kath is a Matron of a Elderly Mentally Infirm Nursing Center in New Cross, London. It is a new unit 5 years old and Kath has it ticking like a clock. I am impressed with the dedication and empathy with which she does her job. This area of SE London is near Greenwich and has a high North African, Nigerian, Kenyan, Zimbabwe, Indian and very few whites to make up the population. Kath is an ethnic minority here. On her staff there are only 10 white staff the balance of 120 staff are dark skinned (Black). In the local area security of the residents and shops is very high. Doors are double locked, shop windows have security screen externally. Kath pointed out that there are drug related murders in this neighbourhood. Five killings in six months all within ten minutes of here.

Eye contact between people is only brief and that is to see where the oncoming person is intending to walk. Yesterday while I was out walking to the Tube, I watched a bloke who had is alter his external mirrors on his van to get through a narrow spot. Being a friendly Kiwi I thought I may be able to assist and slowed down my pace to observe. When he alighted from the van he roared at me” have a good look you ignorant bastard” actually it was stronger language than that!!!. I moved on smiling. It does not take much to trigger road rage here.

I needed a hair cut and looked out for a Barber on Old Kent Road, and was waiting my turn listening to Reggae Music the like of which was very new to me. When it was my turn for a trim, I realized the Barber couldn’t speak English, but I could indicate that I wanted a number one on the sides and a number two on the top.

He hoed into the job and when I looked at the floor there was only a small amount of grey hair from me amoungst a huge pile of redundant Afro hair and dreads. I paraded my new hairdo to Kath who was pleased that I hadn’t asked for a shave as that would be to close to the Jugular!!

John Annan is working north of here, I will catch up with he and Sue next week. Kath was keen to orientate me to the City and we set off in the Tube.

We popped up in the city wandering about looking at whatever took our fancy. Kath lured me into Soho the Red Light District. The alleys became narrower and the doorman bigger and blacker so we made a retreat to Buckingham Palace. I think I seen Liz pulling here bedroom curtains. Couldn’t be sure as I was looking through a fence about 100 yards away and the Guard on duty was looking at me.

I have followed up on my UKCC Nursing Rego and that will be all done by next week. My HSBC Bank Account is now active. All that remains is to get my work permit.

I had a brew with Nikola Rooney, my neighbour’s daughter from Kaniere, at Waterloo Station. She is nannying over here and had some of my mail etc.

Kath is off for five days and she is a great hostess and calls her flat the South East London Marae for Itinerant ex Seaview Staff. Today we rode on the London Eye, A big Ferris Wheel, to assist me orientate. I have a fear of heights after my bloody Roller Coaster ride. I think my sweaty palms came back as we reached the top of the ride. I think my mind was expecting a sudden plunge into the Thames. It was well worth the £9.00 and being early we ere able to walk straight on without a queue.

Windsor Castle is an hour out of London by train. Liz had invited Kath and I for a cucumber sandwich and a cuppa. The castle is massive and set on a site of about fifteen acres. It is really over the top with the grandeur. I could get into the history and the way the building is put together. That was fascinating to a country bumpkin. An open topped Double Decker bus tour of the environs was excellent. It incorporated Liz’s farm and nearby Elton College. By the way it would cost NZ $5000.00 to send your son to Eton each year he was there (I’m pleased I didn’t have boys).

Well enough of this tapping. I’m still a bit Jet lagged even after 3 days so I’ll get to sleep.

I wonder what will happen next.

Bye for now

Alvin

Fishin, Horsin and Swimmin

18.05.01

This area around Ft Meyers, Cape Coral is situated on a large river estuary. The water area that I can see from this house, which fronts directly onto the waterway would cover an area about the size of Lake Kaniere. As you cam imagine a lot pf Canals have been built and each house has a Jetty and on the Jetties are a large variety of private watercraft. The commercial operators are closer to the open sea. Prawn fishing boats fish in the shallow gulf waters and ferry companies operate daily carters down the Quays and outpost of Key West.

I planned to go down there scuba diving. It takes a four hour boat ride one way, leaving early in the morning and returning at 10.30 pm.

Bill and Paul where keen on an evening shark fishing trip and Adie was persuaded that this was not a boys thing and joined in also. The boat could take up to 40 fisherpersons. This trip had a 25 paying customers on board, so there was plenty of room. I made sure we had the back of the boat and had first dibbs on the big rods with larger hooks and bait for the big ones. The deck hand built up the anticipation by saying that large hammerheads had been recently caught and released. Going shark fishing does not take a lot of skill. The deck hand chopped up CHUM, a mixture of sardines and fish oil. Once at anchor about five miles off the Ft Meyer Beach, where unsuspecting tourists swim, and the brew is sprinkled into the tide. Most of the people on board have never fished for anything let alone a shark and the deck hand was busy untangling and baiting rods for the novices. I assisted Adie to get going with her rod and developed a birds nest with her reel. I quickly handed it to Adie and called the deck hand.

I was the first to land a fish, cat fish. As the foot long fish swung on board I reached out to grab it to get it under control. A spike along its dorsal fin pierced the palm of my left hand. The pain generated was similar to standing on a four inch rusty nail, a dull graunching throb.

It bleed like a stuck pig and wanting to be seen as a sook I kept on fishing and manipulating the wound to encourage the bleeding. When the thing had settled I asked the deck hand my prognosis. He thought I had about three hours to live which shocked me.

After about an hour fishing, multiple small fish had been landed but nothing big. After dark things changed. The two large rods at the back of the boat were set as far back from the boat as could be casted. The tension on the drum was negative and the ratchet was set on the on position. When a shark struck the bait the reels would scream out a warning and the deck hand would rush over and ensure the shark was hooked. It was then the turn of a member of the fishing party to have a go at fighting the shark as it endeavored to swim free. Several four foot lemon shark came onto the deck at regular intervals, photos were taken and the hapless sharks where thrown back over. It was only towards the end of the evening that two of the larger lemon shark where thumped to death with a baseball bat and gutted as food for those who wanted to take home a fillet or two.

Bill did get to fight a big shark which gave him a thrill. We all thought the fish may have been up to eight feet long. (No Exaggeration)

The trace used was only heavy nylon as opposed to a steel trace that I would have used and of course the big one got away.

It was lovely out in the bay after dark. You could see the coastline by the array of Condominiums right down to Naples. Adie cooked the fillets on the BBQ grill with some seasoning and lemon, very tasty morsels.

Niki works with a woman who has a interest in American Quarter Horses and had offered Niki the opportunity for her to take Uncle out to their ranch horse riding. A I mentioned I have been an avid fan of Roy Rogers and rather fancied myself abreast a well trained quarter horse experiencing the comfort of a big Mexican Saddle. Here was my chance. Adie looked after the kids and Niki and I set of for the range. Jennifer has a miniature horse stud along with a menagerie of other animals, ranging from Lama’s to Pigs. I was not interested in riding lamas or pigs but focused on the quarter horses that a couple of kids were riding. We arrived as a big horse float was entering the yard. I watched as a quarter horse mare was let out of the float. She had just been on a date with a champion stallion. Unfortunately I did not get to see him but the mare looked very happy and had a large smile on her face as she feverishly chomped grass.

I was given instructions on how to ride where to have my feet in the stirrups etc and climbed aboard. It felt real comfortable and I had assessed the horse as being used to different riders and safe as I had seen kids riding it. I noticed it was a bit foot sore and encouraged it to move off the park area in front of the stables where there was gravel. He was foot sore and slowly moved over to the sandy part of the paddock. I was wondering if he had another gear so pressed my heels into his guts only to find myself in a fast canter in a flash. He missed a gear. The kids around me were in a bit of a panic and two of them on another horse were soon by my side “You OK Mister” they said with popped eyes. I responded in the affirmative and soon found a harmony with this wonderful horse. The girl riding the other horse asked me about my riding skills and corrected me when I used the wrong term i.e. canter = loop, gallop = run. I found this horse up there was the best I had ever ridden, responsive, sure footed, attentive and rearing to go. I was aware the horse had been saddled up for several hours and the temp was bout 30 degrees even in the late evening. I reluctantly climbed off and gave the horse back. That was fun.

The beaches along the coast are often murky and have mangroves along their banks due to the river and estuary. About an hour drive north there is a popular swimming beach. Adie was keen to go there because not only is it good for swimming but you can screen sand and find fossilized sharks teeth.

Niki four year old Angie, Paul, Adie and I filled the cooler with drinks and set off.

There are not many people swimming there yet. They all thinks its too cold and are sunbathing in the hundreds on the beach. As we know the sea temp in NZ is about 13 or 14 degrees and is tolerable. Over here 20 degrees is too cold. There were several scuba divers off the shore trailing buoys behind them. I swam out about 50 meters to be above them and watching their progress. I had my mask and snorkel. One bloke came up to get his bearings and got a hell of a shock to see me there. “Where did you come from” he asked. “New Zealand” I think he was even more confused as he went back under. We collected about a half dozen fossilized sharks teeth. They are black and are deposited on the Venice Beach as part of the Gulf Stream current. I was careful not to get sun burnt when I was on land, but my hour or so in the water gave me a hot glow across my back and neck. I didn’t need any blankets that night.

I’ve been sussing “Thing Psychiatric” here this week and will be attending a recruitment fair being held by a Mental Health Provider this Saturday.

They are looking to set up level three community home and services similar to the TACT service. The Crisis Team here is advertising for staff and the money for experience MH state registered nurses in a clinical capacity is about US $20.00 and hour.

I’m off to the UK next weekend

I wonder what will happen next.

Bye for now

George Dubys

Disney/ NASA Florida

Disney and NASA
18^th May 2001

Paul, Adie and I drove up the state to Orlando. Disney world has a big complex there which covers as area of approximately 20 miles long by 10 miles wide. Within this area are five distinct theme parks, Magic Kingdom,Epcot, Disney MGM Studios and Disney Animal Kingdom. My choice was the later as I had seen a presentation on TV about the park.

Some of you would of heard of the “Tree of Life”. This tree with 325 animals depicted in its trunk stands 14 stories tall. Old Walt was a clever old bugger and designed the parks with themes within themes. Africa, Asia, Dinoland etc, each one takes up to an hour to see all the exhibits plus take in a show. The Kilimanjaro Safari entailed about 40 people riding on the back of an open truck and driving through the Savannah. Elephants, lions, giraffes, Hippos<>

By 4.30 we were Disneyed out and set off for the Atlantic Coast to find accommodation for the night. My headache was starting at 3 pm and I attributed it to lack of fluids in the heat. 2 Panadol helped for a while but my unwellness came back with vengeance. At about 6 pm I had nausea, diarrhea and vomiting for a couple of hours with a high temp. I haven’t been so crook in years. I blamed Adie for poisoning me but she reckoned we all ate the same tucker all day, I’m not sure what went wrong.

Slept for eight hours and felt good again next morning. A safe fart and burp on the beach cleared my thoughts and bowel before breakfast. The sea turtles are in egg laying season at present. One was washed up on the high tide mark, dead. She had recently died and when I flipped here over on to her wheels the cause of death was instantly revealed. The back half of her shell was ripped away most probably caused by coming into contact with a boat propeller.

The Kennedy Space Center is located about half way up the Atlantic Coast of Florida. The Federal Government has acquired the entire Cape over the last 40 years and have set it up as the launch site for its space program. No expense has been spared over the years. The roads are top class duel carriage ways. I’m starting to get used to this now, and most of the old launch pads have been retained as a living museum. Paul and I went on a “then and now tour” which took us to the sites and control rooms of the Mercury Flights which sent John Glenn into space. To stand in the control room and sit in the chair of the controller was something special. All analogue controls and dials. A commentary was given by an astronaut who knew his stuff, he gave mind boggling overview of the space center. You need to imagine this center is spread out over 25 miles long and 10 miles deep. It is surrounded by sea and connected to the mainland by a three mile causeway. As launch sites become redundant, new sites are developed to meet the advances being made in the size and shape of the rockets. Try to imagine along the coast between Hokitika and Greymouth, towers about thirty stories high, spaced about five miles apart, (without mountains behind them), it is very hard to gauge there size. On this tour you are able to walk underneath and see the burn marks on the grounds where the big birds departed. Rockets that will be departing for outer space require different launch sites that the Shuttle. They are trying to make these launch sites multi purpose to accommodate the vast array of rockets being launched. I think one of the new sites can accommodate ten different rocket types.

The Shuttle program is something else. Massive is too small a word to describe it. The main Vehicle Assembly Building is the biggest building on the Cape and can be seen for miles. It is in the top ten biggest buildings in the world. Until you are underneath the enormous structure it is very difficult to judge its size, nothing close to compare. On the side of the building they have painted a US flag. The dimensions of one of the stars on the painted flag is eight feet from apex to apex. The big roller doors to allow the Shuttle to enter upright, takes 45 minutes to open.

About a month before launch of the Shuttle it is connected to the Rockets that power her and the whole unit is transported out to the Launch Pad on a massive crawler trolley which travels at 1 mph. Each cleat of the carriage weights one tonne, and there are several hundred of those alone. You can tell by my rambling that I was impressed. I’ll cut this short and rabbit on a bit about the presentation on the moon landing with the Apollo Rockets.

Fantastic display.

The size of the Apollo Rocket would reach across Cass Square no trouble. The tiny capsule which sustained life from here to the moon and return is so small, about the size of our Conservatory in Kaniere.The y were crammed in there with all that instrumentation. The movie depicted how close the first moon landing was to being aborted.
Computer failure and too fast. The Yanks are very proud of their achievements and are not afraid to blow their own trumpets.

We spent six hours at Kennedy Space Center and were spaced out after that. There was a hell of a lot more to be seen but another time ah. It’s great what you talk about in the car while traveling. Paul was handing around breath fresheners and I declined because they reminded me of the taste liniment or deep heat.

I had told Paul about my misadventure on my honey moon a with a burn that incapacitated me. Paul’s story goes like this. Over here you can get Squirrel resistant bird seed that the squirrels will leave alone. The ingredient in the bird seed is Hot Chili Pepper seed. Apparently birds cant taste hot seeds while squirrels are very discerning and will reject seeds put out with any hint of hot peppers, like Jalapeno. Paul feeds the birds by grabbing a handful of seeds and placing it in the outside bird feeder.

Shortly after he needed to relieve himself and was startled that the hot peppers had transferred from his hands to hi pee pee. In his exasperation to relive the pain he jumped into the shower only to find the hot water and soap made the situation much worse. He was living with his granny at the time and could not ask for assistance. He said that he could only breathe in and that the pain was excruciating. I feel very sorry for him but accidents like this must run in the family.

Instead of returning the way we came, we traveled down the Atlantic Coast towards Miami. If you have a map you can see a big lake called Okeechobee, a man made lake which irrigates the central plains, sugar cane, corn and citrus orchards everywhere.

This trip amounted to about 600 mile. We need to rest for a day before going deep sea fishing and then horse riding.

I wonder what will happen next.

Alvin