The Albatross Connection

We have been busy and not attending to our blog. Lots to catch up on.

First of all, I would like to congratulate our daughter, Jill, on winning the Kiwi Trivia Contest. She had 7 correct answers. Her accomplishment is not diminished by the fact that she was the only entry. You may have noted that there was no fine print about relatives not being eligible. Her brother, Tyler, had the best shot, as he just spent 3 weeks with us and more or less had all the answers spoon-fed to him. But he who hesitates... Jill's handcrafted NZ gift will be waiting for her when she gets home from Europe in mid June. (For those curious folks, answers will be posted)

Sometimes events happen when you are traveling that suddenly make being on the other side of the world not the best place to be. One of those unfortunate events occurred the second week in February. Sandi's Dad, Aaron, had been in the hospital with lung and heart problems for a week, when we left Waimate for a weekend trip to Dunedin on 2/16. Her brother, Rob from Sisters, OR, had arrived in Austin on 2/15. Aaron and Marge had lots of support from Sandi's sister, Debbie and brother, Aaron, along with 2 grandchildren in Austin.

Dunedin, Gaelic for Edinburgh, reflects its Scottish heritage. We started with a tour of the old train station and adjacent Saturday Market to stock up on veggies, spices and preserves. We then toured the Octagon in the center of Dunedin. A large statue of Robert Burns is strategically placed in the middle of the Octagon. From there we went straight to Speights (rhymes with streets) Brewery for lunch and samplers of their 6 varieties of brew. Sufficiently fortified, we followed the bay road out on the Otago Peninsula to McAndrews Bay to have a lovely dinner with Lea and Craig Werner, friends of friends who immigrated from Spokane 5 yrs ago. We got lessons in Kiwi English with an American accent and tips on all the best places in the S. Is. to visit.

Our host at Porterhouse B & B sent his wife off to stay with relatives and gave us their suite to make room for us. The whole town was booked with returning University of Otago students and their parents. Off the next morning to the tip of the Peninsula, spectacular scenery all the way, along the edge ridges with bay on one side and ocean on the other. We reached our destination – The Royal Albatross Center - in 30 mph winds, but that is just what the Albatross ordered. They need the wind to get their glider designed bodies with 9 foot wing spans off the cliffs. The adults circumnavigate the southern Hemisphere for a year and meet their lifelong mates back here and spend another year raising one chick. The teenagers (up to age 4-6yrs) come home to play and, with the wind that day, the party was on. From our observatory we had a 360-degree view as they soared all around us. We maxed out the memory on our digital camera and they were just getting warmed up. Both Sandi and I were thinking about her dad.

We arrived back at our B&B at 8 PM to find that Tyler had called. He had gone through a long list of Dunedin B&Bs before he got through to ours. Our host had gotten word 4 hours before that Sandi’s dad had a stroke and was on life support. By the time Sandi got through to her sister in Austin, he had already passed.

Aaron had a long life and a good one until the last year. He had been short of breath and too weak to make his barn wood furniture. He had served in the first infantry wave in both Leyte and Okinawa. He came home on a hospital ship. Very few of those he stood with him came back at all. He was a respected manager, proud father, a skilled golfer and a friend that inspired loyalty. He raised 5 kids and had 9 grandkids that were all proud to call him their Papa – all on what he considered borrowed time. He had a flag on his coffin to honor the Purple Heart and Bronze Star that he earned with his quiet strength in the Pacific.

Sandi, Jill and I had a good visit with him over Thanksgiving. Sandi’s family encouraged her to stay in NZ. Tyler flew from Seattle and stood in for us at the funeral. Sandi will spend some time with her mom in Austin in June.