Christmas In July

Apia HASH 1475 “Christmas in July”

This is just a bit of a summary of the happenings of that evening, but first I must address some other matters. I am currently in Perth playing with the grandsons, had my Tea Leaves read in Brisbane and I can feel the faint vibrations of the orc army of Uruk-hai moving from Isengard in my direction (for the followers of Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers). While this was not the news we expected, we live in interesting times and my Bucket List is in formulation. I had blood and urine taken and lots of x-rays (I can now officially glow in the dark)!!!

"Christmas in July" HASH and three naming ceremonies.

As HASH has grown since I first started, more than one person is hosting except for the BYO on the first of the month. So Susanne, Kiwi and myself joined forces to host “Christmas in July” that is a quaint Aussie tradition. So we went the extra mile in the food preparation and the theme of the evening. I will let the pics tell the story of a jovial and happy time for all those who attended and helped "Float the Keg", more pics will eventually appear on the Apia Hash blog.
Reporting on the machinations of the South Pacific from Perth, Australia
On On
Slippery and F


Ready for the onslaught
50 liter Keg - Temprite - iced coconuts - flowers from my hospital stay - esky for the soda - mugs tackle box - bush knife - jug for pouring beer - rubbish bag


Plate of extras - cheese pineapple pieces biscuits and peanuts


M naming as "Strangler" He can't keep a tune and strangles the singing


Susanne's naming as Vampire (not sure of the exact title bestowed), for giving blood actually they thought she was taking blood at the uni.

H's naming as "The Mad Hatter", that was the last of our flour in the casscade, followed by such potions as tomato sauce, oil, egg, shredded paper and beer


Sassygirl trys her hand at poledancing after hard work at the naming ceremony


Godfather was Mr Music for the Christmas songs

Some Pacific Wanders were encouraged to come to a night they won't forget for a while, on their way from Florida back to AUS in a motor yacht.

F and Snake sing along

Check out the tonsils, lustily singing without a shave(I was flat out cleaning, buying the chicken and meat, preparing the chicken and cooking up a storm in the kitchen)

Hare and Host Down Down (F called for a whipping boy and Strangler obliged)

Hosts - ?? Vampire - Kiwi - Slippery

Last but not least the Dessert - Whisky Chocolate Cake - Icecream and Fang's custard

Apia News and Hospital Holiday

Hospital Holiday and a 101 Course of Pain Management
Snorkeling Report
Have been snorkeling at Piula Lave Tubes in the cold fresh spring water, swam the swim-thru a few times and took some pics of an Aussie family who were visiting. Also swam the rope course off-shore. The following Wednesday I took some friends to Sa’moana Resort for more video and still action. Again the Black Clown Fish nest was a prime target.
Got some good shots of a turtle asleep wedged into the reef off Sinalei Reef Resort. He got quite a surprise as the flash went off in face, then it was mad fining to keep up and dive down for more shots. Had a lovely lunch and desert before leaving for home.
USNS Richard E Byrd
Apia has had the largest ship in port recently the USNS Richard E Byrd, I was able to take a tour over the Logistics Ship that was here on a goodwill and humanitarian visit.
Hash Activity
Hash has been a flurry of social occasions with Snakes 1000’th run and a dump truck trip up a mountain for 50 hashers and one stroller. There were two trails, the easy one back down the paved streets for the walkers and for the runners more climbing to the summit and a scramble back through scrub and taro patches on the west side followed by paved roads back to the Snake Pit for a double keg of joviality and friendship. Even F came along to the Snake Pit to support me home after a few downdowns.
Some excerpts from the Hash Blog-
The trail led up and up into the hills and a few energetic hashers were soon slowing down, particularly when one of Snake’s false trails had been “tampered with by local pickaninnies” according to Tallyho. Nevermind, the trail was re-acquired but many needed help up the next steep slope. Some of the greyer hashers even needed help from a hash mere! As the pack came out onto the top of the hill we were greeted by a delightful twilight, which was ruined by the fact that the next stage was a near-vertical drop down the slipperiest slope in Apia. The number of falls were immeasurable, but Mr. Whippy, Poumuli, Heather and others touched their mulis on the mud. Slippery fell so many times we were thinking of using him as a surfboard. SOTB simply sledded down the hill on his muli. It was slow going, mainly due to congestion at the trickiest spots, but we made it. It was on home down to Vaitele Street and back to the Snakepit.”
I was a bit knackered and called for a taxi and Godfather accompanied me –
“Tallyho had now recovered his wits and described with shock and horror how he had seen two seasoned hashers chariot riding on the way back. Slippery got no mercy, but Godfather asked for leniency, as it was his first such offence in 28 years of hashing. He got a small one as a result, but showed his usual good style in delivery (editor - the GM was merciless and handed both Godfather and Slippery double-downdowns).”
At the next Hash I complained that the reference to a surfboard was totally incorrect-
“The GM called for nominations. Slippery complained about the reference to surfboards in the last blog, as he has never owned a surfboard. To demonstrate, he showed the hash what he does have, namely a boogie board and something he described as a hand board. Tallyho denied his request for an award to Poumuli, as no respecting hashman would admit to needing a hand job to get up.”
And consequently I got the down down awarded against me.
Check out the blog for the full report and my photographic skills when a little under the weather –
http://www.apiahash.blogspot.com
Hospital Adventures
I somehow got an infected sinus in my left eye socket, we were attending a formal dinner but left early to make the Medcen Private hospital for a shot in the buttock. I was admitted the next day and spent 4 nights on a drip and buttocks resembling a pin cushion. Not a very rewarding experience as in typical Samoan style there was no hot water and cold showers make the 4 minute shower rule redundant, and you needed at least two a day to feel refreshed. The TV had no remote but this was compensated by the fact it would only tune to one station. The room did have aircon though, although it was a battle with the staff who like 19c and my 25c. So I finally passed my course in extreme Pain Management and was released on Sunday.
Monday is Hash and we are hosting –

Welcome to Apia HASH Run No 1475
5.30pm Monday 20 July 2009

It is the mid year and time for
Christmas in July.

You are invited to come along suitably attired in
Red and White or Yellow and Green.
Elves caps are essential.
There will be some singing of Christmas Songs by candlelight,
good food and much enjoyment of Hash fellowship.

This HASH is at Slippery and F’s residence.
(see map below)

The last (TOP) white house above the Main front gate of NUS
(turn up the hill off Vaivase Road).
Our house is opposite the Primary School.

This Hash is sponsored by Slippery, Susanne (Vampire) and Kiwi.
Come along and enjoy a Little Winter Wonderland.

On On, Slippery.

Piula Cave swim thru

Double down down for Chariot Riding

Esky Lid bag

Old tri shirt from the dim past

Surprised turtle

USNS Richard E Byrd

Pilot's Tee Shirt

Engine Room

Dinner Party

Dinner Party and BD Party
Last weekend we went to Vavau Beach for Saturday nite of constant rain - woke to morning to brilliant sunshine - swam, snorkeled, lots of U/W video (first dive – washing machine on full tide – second, fogged lens – third, cotton wool on the housing lens – YOU learn by your mistakes in LIFE), invited to 12th Birthday lunch - met lots of people(50) who are interconnected with people we know - excellent day on the beach, rained from 11.30am, no one cared it was still 30c, water 28c.
The week sped by and on Wednesday I hired a Tuson wagon and went to the south coast at Sinalei on the full moon/solstice low tide but with huge seas running. The pass was a turmoil of raging water coming from the lagoon to the ocean – NOT the place to snorkel. Where there should have been dry was a half meter of water going at 6 knots. So I packed up and went back to Apia and the Palolo Deep where the .16 meter low tide had the reef exposed on two sides. All the fish were in the deep and I had to separate them to snorkel and shot some excellent video – saw my first black tip shark albeit a 1 meter specimen – I don’t have to exaggerate as the video tells the story. Tried to push him into the wall but he had a keen sense of survival and exited stage right with a flick of his tail and is just a blur on the 40 inch LCD.

Hash on Monday night saw me in a tizz as I couldn’t find my old faithful runners, so the new (2yrs old) New Balance had to be worn and the pic tells the whole story.
Comments from my Facebook page follow :

Nice shoe ...... hope you took out the inner sole .....

Sorry R-- it is against the rules to remove the inner sole - toe jam and all you drink the Vailima, just one full shoe. I have misplaced my old scungy runners and so wore my New Balance - a tasty choice with just a hint of foot odour.
I was a bit worried about the S of O match - it's 5.21am and I just checked the score - Maroons AGAIN !!!!!! Roosters in full crow - they start at the bottom of the valley and then they all crow together - dozens of them. Beautiful morning - windy and 27c - waiting for dawn. Myself and an engineering officer from the US Navy at hash. excellent night.
Facebook comments:
wheres your tan ????

I do look a bit pale against the CPO, local palangi's avoid the sun here, only tourists have tans. Anyway it's been raining for weeks, dry wet and a damp dry - typical. Ran out of water last night as I don't fill the tank in heavy rain because of the muddy water in the pipes.
HASH was a sendoff for Crown of Thorns our wonderful Whale Researcher, so it was a bit special with lots of competitions (I didn’t qualify for the kissing comp) and give-away’s – I got pink fur lined handcuffs (anyone into bondage) apparently for some in digression in the dimm past.

Away from Hash - Another FB entry :
Yummy Flame Snapper for dinner tonight, cooked in the Webber with string beans and avocado dressing. Went to the Fish Market at 6am and waited till 6.45am for a right size fish. Think I over-paid at 30 tala, home cleaned and scaled it, cooked in lime slices wrapped in foil. Such is life in the tropics.

THE Dinner Party
We had our first dinner party on Friday evening with 7 guests – I cooked my FIRST quiche and it was vegetarian, found our nine plates and one platter for cheese biscuits peanuts and pineapple– went to Giodarnos for 3 Pizzas and 3 Tropical salads, 10 Roti breads from the Curry House, some prawn rolls(From a friend) and Dinner was served. Washed down with a couple of wine packs (they were left over’s from a sendoff), some Vailima and for desert friends brought a cheese cake and someone else - homemade chocolate icecream. WAS IT GOOD !!!!!!! YUMBO
Unfortunately I tried to show my prowess at a Balance test on the Wii Fit program – failed dismally ( I was 8 years older and my previous was 18 years younger) and blamed it on the wine and SC.
The Wii got a workout and a 14 year old got to the end of Quantum of Solace with ammunition to spare - all on his first try – I go down in the first garden.
On Saturday evening there was a triple Birthday Party and we took over a whole restaurant for an excellent evening. Unfortunately F was not feeling well so I sallied forth alone for a great evening.
From the Pacific and Samoa
R&F

Sorry for the jumbled list - blogger is having some problems and I can't see the pics only code.
With USN Ensign at Hash

My rendition of the blowholes on Savaii ( F in pink - Matai in blue)

Beaked Leatherjacket rendition

Shoe drinking - mild toejam aroma

With Ring Ring at Hash

Mr Whippy on the trail

COT and Godfather (winner of the over 40's hair competition)

Masi Masi on the cutting board

Flame Snapper in the market

Flame Snapper in the kitchen

R and R(her birthday)

At the jibe mark

At the jibe mark last Saturday

The meaning of Life - Part 2

Back from AUS – Life is run at a hectic pace.

I want my hammock hung from two trees and just to relax, watch the day go by at a leisurely pace.
But life is not like that – life has been a race the last few weeks. First it was getting everything ready to go to AUS, people to farewell who were leaving permanently, things to buy from the closing down sale, lists to compile for shopping back in AUS, lists for friends, cleaning and running the fridge/freezer down in case of major calamity (friends had their refrigerator turned off by tradesmen and came back to mould hell after several weeks away).
We survived the OFF island experience and caught up with lots of friends and relies. I was able to complete most of my “to do” lists. The body has had a complete overhaul and has been prodded and poked and I even caught a couple of waves before the “Low” weather pattern decided to turn the surf into a foam zone and flood bits of S-E QLD and northern NSW. We are grateful that we decided to not go up to Fraser Island for the second week, instead we stayed at Coolum, had a day at Australia Zoo (aka Crikey – Crocodile Hunter) and had a night up the range at Toowoomba before the last weekend in Brisbane.
It was good to catch up with my swim group the “79ers” at Coolum Beach.
We flew back with suitcases overweight, duty free bags hanging off out arms and backpacks bulging to a bedroom of mould. I dumped the bedding and stripped the spare for a better nights sleep. So it has been washing everything in sight and cleaning mould in the kitchen, and it was only 18 days away. Apparently it was a wet 18 days in Samoa.
This weekend is Independence Day celebrations with lots happening and Fautasi races on Monday (Rowed longboats).
That was as far as I got by Thursday evening when F gave the “Mr C” email from my doctor. SEE previous post.
It was a gut wrenching time back in Aus – the waiting was the worst. The end result is that I’m going back the end of July for a specialist appointment. Most probably have Monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) which is the precurser to MM. Chances of moving to MM vary, statistics include lots of old people who die of some thing else and skew the results, so that they look good, as low as one percent per year, others quote as high as 10%. At least it explains all the illness I have experienced lately – the immune system is non-existent and will never repair even minor scrapes. I just have to extremely vigilant around sick people.
On a lighter note I got to go to the American Impression and Realism exhibition and the Caravan and Camping Show. I enjoyed both – the art was not “ball tearing” but I picked the best of each room and then started again – the best of the best. Two hours to the exit. I didn’t buy any posters which is unusual, the full catalogue was too heavy. After finally trying to get in to see my selected specialist on his last day for a month, I found a net connection and bought a ticket home and made the check-in with 5 minutes to spare. Bne-Syd-Apia. Got a row to myself and a lap extension for a 2 hour sleep. F was waiting for me at arrivals and somehow I was first thru customs after being the last off the plane. I had a lot of bags and bundles to juggle – typical Samoan.
I got Art Group organised, did loads of washing and washed the floors for the children tomorrow. Now have 7 framed digital canvas prints to hang – YAHOO.
That’s about it from the Pacific – weather 25c Still – beautiful night
R&F
If the pics appear(they are text at the moment) - the old hag is called "The Visitation" and was the door keeper in the old Art Gallery. As a child we went the gallery so the older boys could check out the nudes, but this old girl frightened the "little Richard" of the group. She gave me the willies !!! This was about 1959 and I was 7. The museum was next door and we played in the old WWI German tank, it was a lot more fun, I was't interested in nude women - until later in life.

Life's Meaning

Sorry that I haven't posted in the last month. We had two weeks at Coolum Beach though F worked the first week and we veged the second, returned to Samoa loaded with things, lots of chocolate to a house of mould and crashing laptop. Lots of washing and cleaning, bought a USB keyboard to get it running. Had a great week(sang and danced to the Blues Brothers DVD at Art Group)until Thursday evening and the email you never want from your doctor. The following is from my Facebook post -

The question at the top of the text box is " What's on your mind?" In the last week I have gone through a rollacoaster of emotions and feelings after being told that my latest blood and urine tests showed some abnormalities, makes you pretty small in the scheme of things and you ask the question WHY ME?

You can also ask the question why not ME!!!

After finally talking to my AUS GP I flew back to AUS at 6 hours notice for a bone marrow biopsy followed by a Nuclear bone scan, preliminary results are encouraging - "I am NOT in denial". I may have Multiple Myeloma or a hopefully a precursor to it, I'll take the precursor. More results from the bone marrow will come in over the next 3 weeks. I'll post results as they become available. May the Force be with you. Ri

I have just checked the HASH blog (www.apiahash.blogspot.com), one of our GM's daughter's died this week from a vehicle accident, what a lovely beautiful girl taken from us in Samoa,

rest in peace Desirable.

I am still in AUS waiting, hope to be home by next weekend.

ANZAC DAY Courage Endurance Mateship Sacrifice

ANZAC DAY – COURAGE – ENDURANCE - MATESHIP - SACRIFICE

On the preceding Friday there was an inaugural Twenty20 cricket match between the High Commision’s elevens. Check out the aussie team tee shirts (the words are from the Kokoda Trail Memorial). It was an excellent afternoon with the Kiwis short by 11 runs, although they were awarded the catch of the match with their team member literally losing a leg in the chase(he went down in fall, lost a leg and promptly repositioned his sock on his stump crawled to his leg and put it back on, stood up and returned the ball).
That evening we returned to the Blue Marlin so I could again check out the lobster and watch the sun set. YUM
Saturday it was off to the airport at 3.30am, the ANZAC Dawn Service at 5.50am as F got the students their accommodation, breakfast and Yacht Club for the start of a Laser checkout course for me from 8 to 11.30. Lots of go fast stuff to set up and drills to master.
This was actually my first dawn service( I have done a couple of day services) with a Police Contingent and Band, about a dozen wreath layers, lots of Samoan dignitaries with a short march from the main Great War Memorial(Clock Tower) to the Samoan Mother’s Memorial opposite the ANZ Bank. I was interviewed by TV3 afterwards as I waited for a lift home, no one I know saw the TV3 News and it may well have ended up on the cutting room floor.
There was am Official Reception and Flag Lowering Ceremony at the HC residence in the evening. The food was prepared and served by Tourism and Hospitality students from APTC. The flag was lowered by the daughters of the HC’er and the Ode read by the daughter of a RAN officer. Very moving and an excellent evening with the 2up school in full flight as we said our goodbyes and departed.
On Sunday, we took some friends to Sa’moana Resort for lunch and a swim in the pool, a very relaxing day. The Hash run on Monday had some problems with rain at the beginning of the run and finding the flour markers that were washing away. All was well in the end with some wading involved for those who actually stuck to the trail. The food was again exceptional with a pig, fish, chicken, sausages, salads and spag bol with cake for desert. Absolute feast !!!! I counted 56 in the circle and the keg was floating early with a large contingent going on to party at HQ (Alais - Cocktails on the Rocks). I have become the defacto photographer for Hash with lots of pics posted at www.apiahash.blogspot.com

Sorry that I didn’t post the above but the weeks have been hectic and the net was down all last weekend for an upgrade, still waiting for the fibre optic to kick in as it’s been connected to the island for a couple of weeks. I have completed a 10 hour course on sailing a Laser at the Yacht Club, is my body sore from ducking a raging boom that was trying to break my skull, a inherently unstable boat that capsizes at the shift of my weight and trying to compete with 12 to 14 year olds that are half my weight and have the flexibility of youth, my only advantage is I can just hold the center board on a capsize and up the boat came and I had lots of practice at that as ropes got tangles, jibes happened that I did not initiate while clearing the rudder of weed( a very tricky maneuver) – but it was fun and I was the only old guy.
My other project this week was doing a mapping and sounding survey for a friend. The GPS and software got a BIG workout and I was in the water for three hours on Sunday morning on the low tide driving stakes, running 30 meter lines and taking water depth measurements. It covered an area of 4500 sqmtrs with about 30 waypoints.

Cinco de Mayo Run - Hash Run 1464
I just have to mention Hash again as it was a Mexican Tequila night(lick the salt, shot of tequila, suck the lime, followed by the Valimia beer down down) with a sax playing. An absolutely fantastic evening, I took 180 pics and kept 132. I counted 46 in the circle and the run was up a mountain with climbing skills required, I missed a tree root and had a big slide, living up to my “Slippery” title and got to check out the tequila and beer combination.
Weather wise the “wet” this season was a “dry” and we are enjoying lovely tropical days and cooler nights (sometimes you need a tee shirt to stay warm).
All our best from the tropics
R&F

Lewinski POD HASH
Manager of BOC Gas reveals that he has been in Samoa for over 12 months and not attended HASH - He looks worried - he had reason to be worried.

The tucker

ANZAC Day

Lowering of the flag at dusk and the Last Post

2up school in action

The HiComm Cricket Match Friday 23APR09

Cinco de Mayo Run - Hash Run 1464

Lick the salt - down the Tequila - suck the lime - drink the Valiama

They went the wrong way - "On Back" was the call