Alexander the Great

I know those of you who know both me & my sister, will think that I've just followed her lead and put something up about our Grandfather, who past away last week (Thursday, 1st May 2008) however, I had actually thought about doing it myself, before I saw her entry. I guess you can say great minds think alike, or that he obviously had a deep impact on our lives, enough for us to both write about it.

Anyhow, the below has been extracted from my speech, that I did at his funeral.

One of my earliest and fondest memories of Popa is going for walks with him. From about the time I could walk he used to take me walking, around Huntly when we visited, or when we used to stay together at Mt Maunganui we would often walk around the mountain together. In fact the first time I ever climbed Mt Maunganui after having a heart operation as a kid, was with Popa, Dad and Uncle Bruce. When we visited them in Huntly walks around the block were common. These walks lead to my interest in exploring and investigating new places.

Popa of course was a keen sportsperson, and he taught me about several sports, like golf, cricket, pool and darts. He encouraged my own sporting endeavours, and also was a loyal attendee of our school prizegivings, and keen reader of our school reports.

I loved the fact he spent such quality time with me. This also included taking me for drives to wherever he was going at the time, to the wreckers, to the Golf Club, etc.

During these times he of course imparted his experiences, and wise words to me, such things as Never do drugs, Look after your sister, work hard, if you ever need help, ask a police officer, and the fact that if you need to find the address of someone look in the phonebook. He also told me that I should sell sheep manure, which when I did actually made me a decent amount of money, helped by his good marketing within Huntly.

Of course as I got older his knowledge and advice came in handy in regard to cars too, when I got my first car he took me down to Repco and bought me a spare fan belt, which eventually came in handy when mine broke one day between Hamilton and Huntly.

I guess there is probably no better way to sum up Popa, other than saying he was the best Grandfather one could have, spending time quality time with his Grandchildren, imparting his knowledge and experience, and living a life that provided a good example for his descendents. I love you Popa, thank you for your input in my life, and I hope that I can live a life that you would be proud of.

To read Suzanne's entry click here.
Note other recent blog entries are below this one.

Finally an entry about a girl- and 1 wedding & a funeral.

Sorry its been a long time coming, but I've been a mixture of too busy, or tired or down to write. Looking at the date of the last entry, this is kind of obvious. Anyhow, lets start at the following weekend, which would've been the weekend of the 14th,15th, 16th. I can't remember what I did on the Friday night, but on the Saturday night I went to a BBQ for my friends farewell, as she was heading off to Perth. I couldn't stay there too long (ie I had to leave before the food came out) as I was going to the St Patrick's Day street Party in Whangarei. Now the reason I was going to this was because it was a second date... Anyway when I got down there I found her, and we hung out, had some drinks (mainly water) talked etc. and after some Jamie moves- we kissed. So yeah, we've been going out/seeing each other since then. The next weekend was Easter Weekend. From my last entry you will read that I had found out that I had to move. So I spent Good Friday packing/tidying up/doing housework, and headed down to Whangarei, via State Highway 10, as I wanted to have a bit of a snorkel. Funny thing was, where I was snorkelling was some topless sunbathers on the rocks, not that I got a good look though. So anyhow, after that I went to Whangarei, put my stuff in the Backpackers, and met up with Nikki (the above mentioned girl) and her friends. The following day I headed down to Auckland for a childhood friend's wedding. The day's weather was really hot & fine. I met up with Mum & Dad in Howick, where we had lunch. From there we went to the Wedding, which was cool. After the wedding we went home to Hamilton. I spent Sunday at home, and then decided that I should go head north again, (to spend some time with Nikki.) I got as far back as Waiwera, before it got really dark, and I lost motivation/was too tired to carry on, so I decided to camp somewhere. Anyway, just past Waiwera I discovered a place called Mahurangi Regional Park. I found the phone and talked to the ranger. Apparently all the campsites near where I was were full, but up the road there was a place - Mita Bay (part of the same park). I still wasn't clear on the instructions how to get there so I flagged down a car going past, and asked them where to go, and they gave me a ride to the track that lead down to it. So I had to wander for about 10 minutes in the dark in the bush, with only my cellphone for light. Anyhow, once I got down to the campsite, it was really nice, in a secluded bay. There was only two or three other tents there. I was helped by 3 South African people to put up my tent, which was cool. After setting myself up I went and had a swim in the dark. The water was nice and warm.

The next day I woke up, and really saw how nice it was. I had an early snorkel, and then packed up and made my way back up the track. Once I got back to the road I discovered how far up the road it really was. Lucky for me, once I was about half-way back someone in a Nissan Patrol (or similar vehicle) stopped and offered me a ride - but they didn't have any spare seats, so I stood on the kick-bar at the back, and held onto the roof rack.

Once I got back to my car I headed for Whangarei, and meet up with Nikki. We went out to Tutukaka, and around a bit further to another nice beach. I had a swim, and then we had dinner at another beach - fish and chips. Nikki helped me pitch my tent at Tutukaka, and then we went and had a hot chocolate, before Nikki went home.

The next day was Tuesday, Nikki had work, but I had the day off, so I went and met her for lunch.

The following weekend was non-eventful I believe.

The weekend after that I went back down to Whangarei for Nikki's birthday.

The Next weekend my parents came up to help me shift (as per previous entry). I am now currently residing at the Main Street Lodge. We successfully moved my stuff, and then Nikki came up from Whangarei and so we all went out for dinner (Dad's birthday present from me). That Sunday Nikki & I went up to Cape Reinga.

The following weekend I stayed up here, I had planned to go to Hamilton and see the V8 racing, but figured it was too far, and the V8s will be there for 7 more years anyway. The other reason I was keen to go down was for my Grandfather's 80th Birthday. As it turned out he was in hospital for it.

The following weekend was Anzac weekend, and at that point I was told that my Grandfather's time was limited, so I went home. During the following week (on the Thursday) he died. And so I went home again the following weekend for the funeral on Monday (just been). It was blur of a weekend, but good family time. The funeral was sad, but a good tribute to him. The church was on a hill above the Huntly Lake, which was a very nice view. Then I headed back up to Kaitaia, via Lunch with Nana, and Tea with Nikki. It was a sombre journey, more real than the trip down, having been to the Funeral, and experienced it.