Funky Welly

God, I love my kids, Miss R and Little Miss R. Their individual nature and innocent observations of the world about them amaze and delight Mrs R and me.

I love my wife too. Regular visitors to this Blog will know that she is a cool person with a great chunk of common sense and the person that keeps me sane.

I also love Wellington. It has to be the greatest little city on the planet filled with neat people, great cafes and soooo much to do. Despite the hellish last 3 years since we got here, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Anyone who has read our terrible story and who is put off from living here, you have misunderstood. There is nowhere else I would rather live, and nowhere else I would want to bring up my kids.

Disasters are not the result of one-off events; they are simply a collection of unrelated little cock-ups that when taken in isolation are irrelevant. Whether it be a car accident or shutting a door on your foot, there are usually 3 or so factors that conspire to bring about the catastrophe, each one leading into the next. With us, it was being in a Real Estate Office at the wrong time, meeting two guys we wish we'd never met, and the rest, as they say, is history. We only lost money, and there is more to life than that. We still have a family and are more fortunate than others.

Wellington is a city mostly packed full of great people and I have been fortunate to bump into more good ones than bad ones. Honest. Some are just nice people and some have achieved incredible things. It never ceases to amaze me how such a small country produces such talent that competes with the world in so many ways (although the upcoming Lions Tour might challenge that a bit!).

Take, for example, the diminutive Melissa Moon. You often see her floating above the pavement as she flys along the waterfront or up some ridiculous hill about town. She is an amazing athlete and has achieved so much yet is so straightforward and content. Another is a guy called Duane Kale who is a normal bloke but an inspiration to so many. I doubt many of you will have heard of him but he has 6 Olympic medals from the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, four of them gold and he is about as matter-of-fact as you could imagine. I am in awe of such people that lead and inspire.

Ordinary people, extraordinary achievements.
Ordinary Wellingtonians, extraordinary Kiwis.

I am hopeful that my girls will one day look upon the view below and say, "Wow, what a city. I am proud to be a Kiwi and proud to be a Wellingtonian".

Meanwhile, I am content to be a new Kiwi and still grappling with my team selection for June. By the next World Cup, I will have made the transition I am sure. If not, there could be some serious trouble in this house and I am outnumbered 3 to 1; even the great Jonah would want to avoid that battle.