For the last part of May and the first week of June, Jonathan and Kay travelled
to the USA. For Jonathan this was a chance to talk university-Agilent business
with people followed by a visit to IMS, MTT's annual and ARFTG's 6-monthly symposia.
For Kay this was a chance to break the drudgery of domestication and
an opportunity to hit the town with her American pack.
For both of us it was a wonderful chance to
catch up with all our American friends that we miss so much.
For the kids, it was a chance to be left at home. They did not like the look of this, and it was only handled with the assistance of the internet, but all turned out well in the end as you will see. We were blown away by the number of Kiwis who were willing to have the kids stay for part or all of the 17 days. This made us feel very good about this country, and was personally rather flattering too. Most of the the time both kids stayed with our friends and neighbours John and Anna. The kids had a great time.
Anyway, we arrived just in time to help Mathias and Delia move into their new house. Actually, we did not do much actual helping, but a lot of conversing.
We spent a lot of time in the wonderful garden of West Hill Manor...
...enjoying the company of Marion and Kent.
We caught up with people "right, left and center", though in New Zealand it
would be "left, right, and centRE" instead.
Jake Low had grown long hair...
...and Mary short.
Geekery abounded, for example wireless in the garden... so Californian, and so good.
Do we bring out the party animal in our friends? Hope so.
In that beautiful Sonoma-Summer landscape. Kay went walking with Marion...
...and with Lisa.
Kay spent a lot of time on the town with the girls, various combinations of
the Charter-school brat-pack. Ultratherapy.
We realised when we got back that there was no picture of Ronda at all, and no picture Jen would like to see of herself on the web. Sorry about that, ladies.
We kept in regular contact via Skype with the kids, who were staying
with Anna and John. They would visit home, feed the cats, and touch base
with us.
This turned out to be very important. They had sleepovers with friends for the
first few days, then they stayed with Anna and John. The first couple of nights
there they missed us badly and we had tears on Skype (when Edwin
could tear himself away from making faces in the video-feedback).
Then things got better, as you will see later.
We got to catch up with a lot of Agilent people---the Friday lunch group especially---but fewer than we wanted, or all too briefly. Eric and Debbie had got married since we left, finding after five years of corridor smiles that they each harboured the same secret lusts... so sweet!
A coffee shop had opened in Larkfield, so I pressed Kent into bringing the
rickshaw out, and we greened our way there.
The name "Bad Ass Coffee" caused a stir.
Words like "narrow-minded" and "self-righteous" spring to mind. They
employed a guy in an Ass costume to cavort on the sidewalk outside,
presumably to reinforce the defence that they only mean ass in the sense
of donkey. As Ronnie Barker used to say, the best thing about a joke
with a double meaning is that it can only mean one thing.
Best coffee in Santa Rosa, though.
I seem to have to leave places a lot in my life. I guess it shows that you "have really been somewhere". The time of leaving came again, and Marion arranged this photo. I remembered how June had latched onto my saying "I know we will meet again".
Then came Honolulu. Charlotte came with us to do the sights and go snorkeling, riding, hiking, etc., with Kay. Hey, it's tough work but someone had to do it. This picture shows Charlotte and I walking Waikiki, being chased by Dylan and Kate, trying to attract my attention.
We did Chinatown, and Charlotte ate things she had never eaten before,
got chopstick training,
and watched us eat things she was not going to eat (chicken's feet).
We walked the Honolulu botanic gardens.
Herewith a boabab tree, presumably exotic to Americans but not unknown
to Aussies. This one is quite large, however. Kay said why did I not get the
whole trunk in the photo. Because the camera did not have a wide enough angle,
that is why.
We liked the cannonball tree, too. Note the trunk appendages. The trunks really are covered with seed pods like cannon balls, and there are signs that warn you to look out for descendent examples.
Kay and Charlotte went horse riding in the hills...
...and on a waterfall hike.
If Kay manages to get the disposable underwater camera pictures developed, you
may be treated to pictures of tropical fish.
Otherwise you will have to make do with watching Jonathan's new chef
pants, picked up while buying another pair of tomato pants for our
tomato-farmer friend here in Hamilton.
Jonathan's impression of Honolulu was "picturesque but just a touristy bit of America that does not have anything that Cairns and Port Douglas don't have".
When we returned, we discovered two kids who had become much more
self-reliant. They had built up a great relationship with Anna and John.
They also got intimate with their Alpacas ("the pakies") one of whom
gave birth just as we returned.
Edwin seems no longer to be afraid of the dark.
They also learnt to "eat all forms of potato".