Well the beginning of last week started pretty similar to the week before with no money, hardly any clothes, bloody awful weather and a lock out by management of the bus drivers so no buses going anywhere ... I can honestly say I was starting to get really fed up!

But all was rescued when I got a free trip in a helicopter courtesy of Howard's boss who was taking some Tongan friends round to look at the 3 waterways projects they are working on. So at 9.30am on Friday morning we rose out of Leigh's back garden (the helicopter is kept in the garage ... as you do) in the 6 seater helicopter and just popped in to pick up some fuel (450 litres, it burns 180 litres an hour when cruising) and gthen we headed north to Marsden Cove near Whangeri over some of the most spectacular scenery and oh my god are the beaches long here.

After about 40 mins we arrived at Marsden Cove and landed right next to the harbour before having a wander round to look at the development, the amazing NZ$2 million show home where you can sit in the bath and look out over the harbour, the beach, the sea, the mountains ... yep it was mind blowing.

Cup of tea later and we were back on board and after Leigh had told us to get our life jackets out (this did not instill confidence) we headed out to sea until we were high above the ocean and watching schools of fish and looking out to the Barrier Islands with Poor Knights off to the left. Once back over land Leigh decided that he had flown long and straight for too long and some ariel acrobatics were called for ... a couple of 360 degree loops later my stomach was in my mouth and the Tongan boys were all whooping with joy!

We finally landed on the smallest piece of land ever next to the waterways in Whitianga (in the Coromandel) where again we looked round the development and then went into town to have lunch next to the esturary at a squid restaurant, yum!

Finally full of squid and beer (Speights) we headed back and set off for my last part of the journey to Pauanui but again not before we had dived in the helicopter over a blow hole and flown past the breathtaking Cathedral Cove.

Sadly this is where I left the guys, they were great fun and we all had a great day. Leigh dropped me at Jeanne and Howard's bach where I made myself at home and Jeanne and Howard arrived about 9pm.

Saturday J&H took me to the Hot Water Beach where I nearly scalded my feet in the pools, I really didn't think it would be THAT hot! The idea is you take a spade and dig a hole in the sand at a particular place in the sand and up comes hot water and you sit in the puddle and give yourself a spa ... how anyone could sit in that with burning there bum is beyond me.

We then drove over the Hahei where we stopped in at the Lunar cafe for a muffin and tea before heading off to walk to Cathedral Cove, unfortunately the weather turned at this point and it got a bit drizzly so the pictures aren't as great as they could have been. Its a 25-30 min walk down to the cove through all sorts of landscape from rainforest to what could easily be a field in the UK with gorse and foxgloves growing.

Next we headed to the look out over Cooks Beach which is the first place that Captain Cook landed in 1769 and you'll also be interested to know is now the tsunami evaculation point for the area. We then went down and caught the ferry to Whitianga, when I say ferry its hardly a Stena but it did the job.

We stopped in at the Blacksmiths pub for a pint of Monteith's and then a walk around town finished off with an ice cream as we strolled along the beach ... what a great lunch ;-) Back over on the ferry and we headed for home via Tairua and drove up Paku which gives a great view over Pauanui or at least it would have if the fog hadn't descended at that point, oh well.

Home we went to freshly caught fish, Jeanne's son had been fishing and left us some fish which Jeanne set about smoking and making a fish curry for tea. After dinner we headed to the beach to walk Rosie before crashing in front of the TV. About 9pm an air raid siren went off which very nearly had me running for the hills but I was calmed by J&H who said it was to call the volunteer firebrigade in ... phew!!

Sunday was sunny and started with a fry up before Jeanne and I headed out to walk Rosie as Howard had a business meeting, that's commitment for you!! Once we all got back we went for a drive round Pauanui which is lovely little seaside town but nothing like the ones in the UK. Almost all the houses and garden are imaculately kept with plenty of space between each unique building, the beach is beautiful with no litter and the roads are wide and easily navigated. We then stopped to pick our own avocados from the trees in the fields where kiwi fruit were being grown.

The weather was rain and showers by now so we had some lunch and decided to pack up and head back to Whangaparoa which took about 2.5 hours to get back and we went over the Thames River which has one major difference there is only has one tiny bridge over it but like our lovely River Thames its very murky and uninviting.

After a fish and chip super I fell into bed tired but really please to have finally seem a bit of this amazing country.

Monday this week saw the arrival of my debit card so most of this week has been taken up with lengthy bus trips (1hr 45m to Auckland, 1hr 30 m to Takapuna and 1hr to Albany all one way) but on the plus side I have managed to replace almost all the vital stuff that I lost.

So I took Jeanne and Howard out for dinner last night to thank them for putting up with me as long as they have now that I knew my card was working ... WRONG!! How embarrassed was I when Howard had to pay for the meal because my card wouldn't work, J&H thought it was hilarious especially as we had been joking on the way there about it, I am never going to live it down ... money has been repaid and its all a mystery as my card has been working fine today.

This weekend I am off to Hahei again with Sarah and Amy (Becky is in Oz with her school at the mo and is then heading back to the UK for a few weeks) as its Labour Day Weekend here so Monday is a holiday. Not sure of my plans for next week yet as I'm due in the Cook Islands 2 weeks on Tuesday so don't want to venture too far from Auckland. Jeanne's side of the family have invited me to Taranaki for the weekend the following weekend as its Jeanne's brother (Julia's Dad's) 50th birthday and it would be a great opportunity for me to see that part of New Zealand and meet the rest of the clan.

So I am fully embracing the more spontaneous Helen you'll all be pleased to hear, but need to stop embracing Jeanne's homemade baked goods otherwise I'll be rolling aorund New Zealand ;-)

Take care everyone and will update again as soon as I can.

Hx

New Zealand a little earlier than planned

My first 9 days in New Zealand have been a bit a of a blur trying to sort things out and the British hig Commission in Wellington are to be given a very big pat on the back for turing my passport around in 2 days and HSBC (thanks to some hlep from Jenny) were falling over themselves to make sure I had some money to survive on until my cards arrived ... but its not all been boring paper work.



I am staying in a place called Whangaparoa (said Fongaparoa) about 40 mins North of Auckland. Jeanne and Howard's house is amazing and over looks the sea with a fabulous view of the Auckland skyline and Rangitoto (an extinct volcano) ... well that's when its not raining and you can actually see the view. The weather has not been great since I got here infact I think we've had 3 good days so I feel very at home, every Kiwi I have met has told me this is unseasonal but I'm starting to think they are telling me porkies;-)



I have been to Orewa a little further north from where I am staying where Jeanne and Howard both work but it was a fleating visit to get passport photos (can't believe I am stuck with that photo for the next 10 years) and some basic toiletries. On the way back we stopped at Silverdale so I could pick up some new smalls.



Jules (Jeanne and Howard's niece) gave me a facial last week which was lovely apart from the fact that Rosie (dog) and Rabbit (cat) tried to lick the facepack off my face ... NICE!






There was a bus strike here last week and now management have locked the workers out which is proving very frustrating as I am rely on everyone to drive me around. Anyway Sarah and Amy cam and picked me up on Sat and we had tea and a scone in Mount Eden where they live before driving up to the top of One Tree Hill which is a dormant vocano cone and once was the site of the largest prehistoric Maori settlement in the region. The views of Auckland from up here are amazing 360 degrees and really gives you a feel for the different areas and how much water there is around Auckland.



After this we took a trip to Pak N' Save (I seem to have spent a lot of time in this supermarket which is a cross between Lidol, ASDA and B&Q) and then in the evening we went for a really lovely Italina meal at a place called Sage in Mission Bay.



Sunday was a beautiful day weather wise and after a sushi lunch we headed out to Piha of "Piha Rescue" fame (TV show that shows swimmers and surfers being rescued). Its on the west coast of Auckland and is well known for its strong currents and swiftly changing conditions and is a black sand beach. The waves were incredibly high, you certainly wouldn't have caught me swimming in it. We sat on the beach for a while before walking along and climbing up to the overlook from which the view was amazing ... hopefully will get back there when I have a camera so can show you all some pictures.



Then it was time to head back to Jeanne and Howards for a typical sunday roast which was greatly appreciated and I tried my first Kumara a form of sweet potato which is yummy.

What Now

Can't believe it has almost been a week since the tsunami hit it doesn't quite feel real.

Anyway lots of you have been asking what my plans are so I thought I would jot down a few lines about what my thoughts are at the mo.

Jeanne and Howard are looking after me wonderfully and if Howard keeps giving me chocolate biscuits I am going to be rolling out of here ;-) and bless them they have said I can use them as a base whilst I am here, again I am so grateful.

Due to the lack of passport I am 'stuck' in New Zealand for the time being so Fiji is off the list as I'm not ready to be back on a small island just yet and also I have nothing to my name other than some underwear, toiletries and a pair of sunglasses (Howard thought these were an essential ... he's keeping my spirits up).

in terms of travelling I'm leaving my Cook Islands flight where it is for the time being as its not until 10th November and quite frankly if the weather doesn't improve here (it was 8 degrees yesterday and its barely stopped raining since I got here, they've even had snow!!!) I will probably be in need of some beach time. I was then due in New Zealand on 10th Dec anyway so will then be here until 3rd Feb when I will be back on my itinerary and will carry on as planned, natural disaster prevailing ;-)

I know some of you had hoped I would come back to the UK for al ittle while but most of you saw the state I was in saying good bye to you all the first time, if i come back to the UK I don't think I'll leave again and it would be a shame to give up on my trip there's still so much to do and see.

Today I'm off to the consulate with Becky (the lady on the news with me) to try and sort out or passports and hopefully get a few other bits of clothing.

But I'm all good and please try not to worry about me, writing the blog of what happened really helped me piece together some of the gaps I had and other than feeling tired quite a lot of the time I am fine and dandy.

Sending you all big hugs and massive amounts of love and thank you so much for all the well wishes and offers of help, some of us who survived the tsunami are starting to think about fund raising for Samoa so if you're still up for helping then once its sorted that is the best way you can help me ... will keep you posted.

Hxxxx

Lalomanu and beyond

For me the nightmare of the tsunami in Samoa is over but for so many it will go on for years, the last few days have been the most terrifying and the most humbling days of my life, I can't tell you how grateful I am to be alive.

I woke up at 6.25am on Tuesday 29th September in my beach front fale (hut on stilts) in Lalomanu on the South East tip of the Island of Upolu, listening to the waves lapping the shore and after washing my face and doing my teeth I decided to get packed up as I was heading off to Savaii (the other isalnd in Western Samoa) with 3 girls I had met a couple of days before - Amy and Sarah both Kiwis and Becky a Brit living in NZ - in Buttercup their bright yellow little hire car.

I'm a little unsure of what time it was but it was nearing 7am I think when suddenly the fale started to shake and I heard rumbling, my inital thought was it was a truck going past but then it went on too long and my fale was actually quite far from the road, so I went out and few other people were coming out of their fales looking confused. I asked the lady in the fale next to me what it was and she said it was an earthquake. Everything was shaking and the sand was moving side to side but it was strangely quiet and I remember watching a bottle of water shaking on the table of someones fale. It went on for what seemed like such a long time but was probably only about 30 to 40 seconds (I have since been told it was 2 minutes). As soon as it stopped we all turned to look at the sea and started talking about whether a tsunami would come or not but I thought don't be silly and went back into the fale to finish off packing as we had to be away early to get Amy to the airport.

Again I'm unsure of the exact timing but I think it was about 10 minutes later I was leaving my fale with my flip flops and bottle of water and a tea bag to make a cuppa and as i did i was aware of lots of people standing looking out to sea and seconds later the lady who owns Taufua Beach Fales started shouting for everyone to get out and to run. I immediately thought of the girls and so ran up to the road truned right and ran up the road to the fales where they were staying about 100 yards away, I hammered on their door but there was no one there and at that point I realised I could hear the wave coming, I turned and ran to the hill behind and started to run up/climb the 45 degree slope in my bare feet clutching my flip flops and the bottle of water all the time. I have never been so terrified in all my life I honestly thought I was going to die. Underfoot it was broken palms that kept slipping but luckily there were roots to grab hold of and somehow I managed to climb just high enough by the time the first wave came in, the water was just below my feet. I looked up and saw Becky and we shouted to each other and then I saw Sarah and then Amy who were all about 10ft or more above me, I was so relieved to see them I had thought they wre on the beach up until that point. I could hear a woman screaming hystercially, lots of children crying and someone shouting to find a family member.

I vaguely remember looking back at this point and it was like everything had been disappeared and I was stood at the shore line of the sea. I could see the tops of trees but I don't remember being able to see any power lines, there was debris floating and swirling around in what someone later described as 'the soup'. At this point I heard someone scream that a second wave was coming and that terror took over me again and I started climbing higher and thank god I did as the second wave swept away where I had been stood. After that I didn't look back I carried on climbing helping others up along the way its amazing the strength you suddenly have when adrenaline kicks in and it didn't even dawn on me that I was virtually mountain climbing in bare feet.


Photo 1: Top of the 'hill' we climbed looking back to the beach as tsunami is happening.

Almost at the top we all stopped, everyone was shaking and most people were crying. At this point I looked down and couldn't believe how high up we were. The sea had completely receeded and at the bottom were broken up cars, remains of the fales, bags, trees and so on it looked like a rubbish tip and I could see a couple of guys walking around trying to see if they could find anyone. After a short while a Kiwi guy in a turquoise t-shirt came through and said we should keep moving up to the top and congregate there as he believe there was a church we could shelter in a bit further on. Once at the top we realised that along with the water I had that Sarah had managed to lug 4 litres of water up with her as well which was a god send and this became my responsibility to ration out to those that needed it. Sarah and Maurice then wnet off to scout out the route to the church while we waited for the last people to come up the hill. At this point I saw a guy with not a stich of clothing on that had obviously been in the water and it looked like someone had attacked him with a fork as he had scratch marks all over his body going in every direction and someone gave him a Lavalava (sarong) to cover himself with, there were others with really bad head injuries, deep cuts in their legs and arms there was blood everywhere, I looked at myself to see if I had any injuries but other than a few minor cuts I was fine as were the other 3 girls I was with.


Photo 2: Flooding casued by tsunami beach, road and all housing has disappeared below the water.


Not sure how long we waited but it didn't seem long but we realised that Becky had a phone with her and she started ringing home to let people know what had happened and that she was ok and she offered it to others to ring or text home. She asked me but I couldn't remember a single number of anyone and at that point I started to cry but realising there were lots of young children around who needed us to be strong I got a grip and along with Becky and Amy started talking to them and making sure that they knew where their parents were and if they needed water.



Photo 3: Water resceeds leaving a virtually clean beach where fales and people's homes had been


Sarah and Maurice were back then and had found a way through so we started to follow them firstly through the forest and then over a fence and into a field growing taro (local potato like vegetable with upside down heart shaped leaves) where there was a shelter at the other side of and then someone shouted there was a van so once we were all there a Samoan guy, Jo who the girls (Amy, Sarah and Becky) has met the day before I arrived told us there was a meidcal centre up the road so a decision was made to put all the injured into the van as there was a medical centre up the road. Some people had managed to save their bags with clothes in so those that had escaped with very little clothing were give t-shirt, shorts, etc from the bags. Jo then got a couple of bottle of water from the house near by and it was at this moment I managed to come out with one of the classic comments for the day as someone came over and asked for some water and I said "of course but I'm sorry its not cold" ... the last of our worries.




Photo 4: From the back of the garden of the place we spent the day, shows how high up we were and also the extent of the wash back into the sea.

We walked out on to the road, turned left and slowly walked up to the medical centre where the enormity of the loss that people had suffered hit me the looks of devastation on peoples faces, the sounds of people in agony, the number of bodies being brought in on the backs of trucks, the blood, the crying but throughout no one was hystercial. We sat in the shade at the side of the meidcal centre there must have been about 20 or so of us sharing a bottle of coca cola for sugar, cleaning up scratches as best we could and trying to come to terms with what had happened. At this point I finally remembered a phone number in the UK for Aunty Pat and asked Becky if I could make a really quick call which of course she let me do. Poor Aunty Pat god only know what she must have thought as I had to be so quick to spare the battery for others but I very quickly said what had happened and asked her to ring Dad tell him I was ok and ask him to email Lulu as from there I thought they could contact everyone. I felt so much better for having let someone know.

At this point another Samoan guy whose name I don't know told us we should move up the hill where there was somewhere we could shelter and that they would provide us with food later, so we started walking up the road again, we had to go slowly as Amy had no shoes and also it was very hot as it was about 11am by this time. Eventually we reached where we were headed and it was a house that was in the middle of being built luckily a big house on the left hand side and if you walked to the back of the garden area you could look over the hill and see down to the beach .... I couldn't believe it everything was goen even the concrete buildings, the beach once covered in fales was completely clear and behing the beach road it was like a swamp.

Back at the house there a couple of drums with water in the the Samoan guy tried a bit of each and told us that the one in the white plastic drum was rain water that we could drink and for probably the next 20 minutes we watched people arrive wondering how much of the island had been affected, how long we would be there, how were we going to survive! We started getting a bit of information coming back from Wendy's husband, Wendy had used Becky's phone and had only shown her husband how to use caller ID the week before but he worked it out and managed to get information back to us and Becky even ended up live on New Zealand radio at one point.

Our third angel then arrived in the form of a Samoan rasta called Mika (Mikaele Maiava) who had heard what had happened and had driven from Apia (45 minute drive on a good day) and who had had UN distater training somewhere in SE Asia and he took control and started organising us, he brought more news and was in constant contact with the UN. He got us to clear the water out of the house, move piles of wood, lay plaster board down with rattan covers on top, made make shift beds for the worst injured, got the guys to nails tarp to parts of the roof that hadn't been finished, errected a temproary toilet until the long drop was completed and the rest of us collected fire wood.



Photo 5: Looking from the back garden again later in the day as traffic started to get through.

Food started arriving in the truck load at this point form the village up above us - bags of rice, eggs, tinned sardines, whole tunas, taro, water, spagetti hoops, corned beef, crackers and the first thing we were given to eat which did raise a few smiles was weetabix we were all so thirsty and I don't know if you've ever treid to eat a weetabix dry when you're thirsty but its not easy, but we needed to eat to keep our strength up. A bit later I was given the most enormous carrot to eat which again raised a few laughs.

All along stories of peoples loss kept coming out the couple who had twin boys who had lost their little girl the father was beside himself with grief, the English couple who had lost their 2 year old son who sat in the corner away from the rest of us, Andy whose wife Mary-Ann was killed who Amy and I had chatted to at dinner the night before and the brazilian girl that Amy had talked to as well the night before ... heart wrenching and we all felt so helpless.

Time took on a very strange momentum throughout the day sometimes 3 hours would disappear and then you would be looking at your watch every ten minutes. Medical staff arrived just before lunch and started doing their best to treat the injured with the limited supplies that they had, getting drips sorted for those that needed them. In our group there was a doctor and 2 nurses who helped out looking after people.

Lunch was much appreciated I don't think a boiled egg has ever tasted so good. Not long after that Malik said that vehicles were on there way to start moving people back to Apia but the injured and those with young children would be in the first vehicles but that we would all be out by the end of the day and we wouldn't be spending the night there, we were so happy as we had thought we may be there for a few days.

The rest of the day was people coming and going, making sure people were fed and watered getting people on to the vehicles and then finally just before 5pm "our man in Samoa" turned up who was as much use as a chocolate tea pot, he did a lot of bumbling, told us it wasn't his normal job and told Becky and I that it would take 2 weeks for us to get documents to get out of Samoa, not what we needed to hear!!

Shortly after this hundreds of vehicles came bombing back up the hill saying there was another warning that a tsunami was coming and we needed to get higher but we were so high up we couldn't believe the waves could get to where we were so we decided to stay with the UN but unfortunately the atmosphere at our little camp changed and we very much felt like we needed to get out as it no longer felt safe from a personal safety perspective for us to stay there as there were lots of gangs of teenage boys hanging around so we got on the first UN vehicle we could and Becky and I sat in the back with Mike or to us he was loving called Captain Underpants as he had spent all day in his pants making lists.

As the sun was setting we drove down the hill and along the east coast road through the devastation, it was unbelieveable everything flattened, on a wall I saw R.I.P and the name of some one followed by the words "life goes on" ... we were all in tears for what the Samoans had lost but also for how lucky we had been.

After an hour and half we arrived in convoy in Apia where you would never have known that anything had happened not even a plant pot was out of place it was very strange. The convoy took us straight to the pharmacy for people to get asthma medication and paracetamol, they let us use the loos and then the very sweet owner brought out a case of Vailima (local beer) and we have all never been so grateful we toasted each other and those that were lost before getting back in the vans and heading to Sebrina's Lodge where we were all staying.

After all this the following days became a blur of waiting around, lack of sleep, fear and frustration and tears as we desperately tried to get the paper work we needed to get out and get on flights out of Samoa and I can't thank my Dad, Marica and Lulu enough for sorting me out and everyone else for their offers of help and as for Jeannie and Howard who I am staying with they are fabulous and looking after me so well I may never leave ... just kidding guys ;-)

My final words have to be to Samoa ... when I left yesterday it was very emotional with mixed emotions of relief to be getting away from the place that reminded me so much of the terror I had been through but also sadness and devastation of those I was leaving behind who still had such a long emotional journey to go through. The Samoan people were amazing throughout the whole experience almost everyone I spoke to on the day it happened had lost at least 4 family members but still they were more concerned that I was ok as "you have lost everything", I had lost a bunch of very replaceable stuff, they had lost people they loved, their homes, their livelihoods and so much more. Samoa is a beautiful island and I have been truly humbled by the generosity, serenity and humanity of the Samoan people, I can't thank them enough or even begin to think how I can repay them for what they did for me and all the other tourists, other than through the disaster funds, it doesn't seem enough, but I look forward to going back and seeing them all again, they will always have a special place in my heart. I have also made 3 very dear amazing friends through this experience who have been my rocks and are still continuing to look out for me - Amy, Becky and Sarah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmjM733tQuM