It was a quiet, but interesting week off camping. We couldn't have picked a better week for the weather - it was the first week for months that had no rain at all. It also rained just before and after, thus I didn't need to worry about the garden or the trees. Haven't checked them all, but the ones I saw seemed to be fine.

It was a crowded campsite and each group had a different style. One man arrived on a bicycle with the smallest tent I had ever seen. It was little bigger than a body bag. Another group set up a huge marquee, under which they fitted two cars, a sun bed, a table and four huge garden chairs. Another group comprised 17 Koreans. They didn't appear to know a lot about camping, and tried bashing tent pegs in with a pole.

There was a river next door, and one spot was deep enough to dive into, with a rope hanging from a tree. So there was always someone down there swinging off the rope. Seems to be the thing in New Zealand, along with juping off wharves.

Unfortunately Bronwyn had to go to a dentist, so we spent a day back in South Auckland. It took an hour to remove the tooth, and she had to go back to our dentists here to get it checked and cleaned. Thus Bronwyn spent a lot of time resting in the tent, while I took the girls out to various beaches. But I also got the chance to wander down the river and sit and think, which is something I don't get a lot of time for otherwise.

This week is getting full already. Parachute is in two weeks, so I'm doing a coffeemaking refresher course tomorrow, and there's a general meeting on Sunday. The band has the national contest in April, so we started rehearsing this week as well. Plus the dental visit and a hair cut. And Rachael is getting swimming lessons every day for two weeks. So it's been busy.

Rachael is terrified of putting her head under water. I remember my first time. I had no choice - some other boy pushed me under! After that, I realised it wasn't so bad after all...

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