Party on

On March 4, two days after the big Geelong regatta, I headed off to Wellington for nine days of intense practise and rehearsing for three chamber music concerts with Steven Isserlis, Melvyn Tan, Michael Houstoun and Caroline Henbest. They were part of the International Arts Festival and were hugely challenging and rewarding. There wasn't a lot of spare time but still enough for some socialising. I met up with Julia Carr and Nigel Isaacs, two classmates from Normal Intermediate. Nigel had been at the January reunion but not Julia so it was great to see her again after many years and catch up on her work as a doctor and family life.

All the concerts featured Steven Isserlis (cellist) who was the star hired to put bums on seats and devise the programmes. The first concert was Brahms/Schumann in the Town Hall with Michael Houstoun and Caroline Henbest, an old friend of Steven's whom I knew from her freelance years in Melbourne when she often played as a fill-in Principal Viola with the MSO. She now lives in Sydney. Vicki, Gill and Donald were around post-concert.

There was breakfast with Rowan, Hamish, Iris, Freya, Paul Doornbusch of Melbourne, temporarily on staff at Victoria University and his well-travelled dog, Thomson, lunch with Jenny, Nat, Coco and Alex and dinner with Euan Murdoch (Chamber Music NZ boss) and family. There was also an opportunity watch Ollie learning to drive (taught by Mary) followed by dinner with them and NZSO buddies, Rebecca and Malcolm. It was after this dinner while being taken back to the hotel via Rebecca and Malcolm's newish place by Donald that I opened the door to Donald's car straight into my forehead with an resounding whack. Luckily we were outside R and M's house and went back in for icepack, arnica, rescue remedy and TLC. A couple of hours of icing the burgeoning bump kept it under control so I didn't have to appear on stage with an egghead.

The second and third concerts, a kids programme and an all-French programme, were with Melvyn Tan, piano. Melvyn, whom I hadn't met before, is famous for his fortepiano performances of classical period repertoire but is equally at home on the modern piano. We had a ball hanging out and working together. While we were preparing our last concert the illustrious French pianist, Jean Yves Thibaudet, known to all of us in various ways, was also in town to perform Ravel's concerto with the NZSO so we took the opportunity to all go out for dinner.

After our last concert we had supper with Barb and Dick, who were visiting for the day from Auckland, and Roger and Sally, NZSO cellists who had performed a 12-cello concert with Steven the previous week (with the help of a few others).

I got back from NZ on Jessye's birthday, in fact showing up at home not long before Will and Eleanor arrived for a pizza birthday dinner. I'm not sure why Jessye had a shower cap on for the beginning of proceedings. Her big prezzie from us was a drum-kit which the five kids carried upstairs and helped install in her room. So far Sophie and Rosie have "played" it more than Jessye has but that may change when school starts this week and she starts lessons again - she's been far too busy with her hectic social calendar during the holidays for practice.

On the following Sunday we had a lunch gathering with Simon Oswell and his family, David Berlin and his family and Miki Tsunoda. Simon, David and Miki were my partners in crime at the Mt Buller music school in January so it was something of a Mt Buller reunion and also a farewell to Miki who is leaving any minute to go to a job in Antwerp. She'll be living there for part of the year but will still keep her Melbourne base as well.

March 19 was the official end of the Lauriston rowing season, marked by a celebratory dinner for rowers and parents at the Kooyong Tennis Club just down the road from us. All the crews marched up to the rostrum one by one and made some sort of speech about their experience and thanked their coaches etc. Some crews were prepared with an Oscar-type thankyou speech and others just ad-libbed with raucous giggling and carrying on. Jessye's crew was in the latter category. Each girl was presented with a certificate and the brave souls who are in Year 12 now and have been rowing for four years got medals. I reckon the parents should get medals too. Much to Jessye's horror, I made her crew pose with Gary, their coach. Their "stroke", Alex, the front rower in the boat and, in Jessye's opinion, a real star, was away and couldn't come to the dinner so Jessye printed a photo of her from our collection and stuck it onto my favourite spatula so she would be represented. Unfortunately, she forgot to bring the spatula home. Grace was on crutches because she was recovering from some kind of foot operation which had been scheduled for after rowing was finished.

The following day was Alex's 50th birthday and Peter flew to Wellington for the 100th birthday party which was held at Alex and Jane's place to jointly celebrate their 50ths.

On Good Friday there was a follow up do at which Peter took some group photos.

Peter flew out of Christcurch so had a couple fo days there to catch up with Grant, Kirsty, Dave and the boys (Chris was in Auckland on a prearranged visit). While Peter was gone the girls and I observed Easter and the March 21 double birthday in suitable style or rather, sloth, and there are probably a few relevant photos but they're in the small #2 camera which I currently can't find so they'll have to wait for a future blog.

Victoria was shaken up by a decent storm last Wednesday which left lots of people without power for days, trees ripped out, boats sunk etc. While to hardy Wellington types it seemed like your average bluster, it was a record-setter over here. It happened to be the day the girls and I had arranged to go to Sandra's Portsea beachhouse for lunch. Sandra's parents, Eve and Trevor, were visiting from Auckland and it was lovely to catch up with them again. Henry, Sandra's youngest who's in Year 11 at Scotch College, was also there and horrified us all, especially his mother, when he decided to go for a "swim" as we valiantly battled with the gale-force winds and sand being whipped into our faces as we went for a "walk" along the pier. Eve and Trevor wisely threw in the towel and sat it out in the car. After lunch the four kids played Monopoly for hours and had to be dragged away at 5:00 pm so we could make it back to Melbourne for Rosie's and my Pilates appointments. Listening to the radio during the drive home it became apparent just how serious the storm had been. By this time the winds had abated but public transport had come to a standstill with people stranded all over the city in rush hour and news of one poor woman killed by a brick wall falling on her as she walked past. As it turned out, being in Sandra's beautiful Portsea haven all day was probably the best place to be. I imagine Fred and Barney must have been cuddled up together in their little doghouse outside all day.

A couple of days ago Greer and Joanna came over to hang out with Rosie and Sophie. Joanna had been in Melbourne for a term about five years ago when the girls were at Carlton Gardens Primary while her parents were here on sabatical and she's back again now for a semester for the same reason. Her mother sent me a contrasting picture from five years ago when I sent her the group shot from the other day. Hilarious!