Football Stars

Do you think Ronaldo and Messi’s parents had to endure a football being kicked all round the house, upending everything in its path while they mastered their fancy footwork? If so, I will try and turn a blind eye – it could just be worth it in the long run.

I mean with the money they could make off such a career, at least they might replace some of my prized possessions they’ve destroyed in the process.

Speaking of long-term payback, Miss Seven has it all worked out for when she’s a grown-up and I’m a little old lady. She outlined her plan to me the other day:

“I will live in this house mum but you will live in a small flat house ‘cos you won’t be able to go up and down the stairs. Or you could live downstairs, if you like, and I will deliver your meals.”

Sorted then.

But back to the football. This season is the twin’s first at soccer, having switched over from rugby. Big bro still plays rugby for a different club and on the other side of town, which makes Saturday mornings challenging and, thereby an extended family effort.

Master Seven is an all-rounder, good at nearly everything he does and was doing well at the rugby. However, many lunchtimes playing soccer on the field with his school friends ignited a passion for football, of which he seems to be a natural.

Miss Seven, who I’m mighty proud of for giving everything a go, lasted one season of rugby, where she mostly danced around the outskirts picking daisies. So, while I signed her brother up for the season, I put her name down as a pay-as-you-go.

However, I was to be surprised. Unlike her mother, who at her age, would’ve been stoked to simply touch the ball, she got stuck in there. It is a joy to watch her tackling her brother when their large team is split into groups. One day early in the season, the family were up for school holidays and all turned out to watch. Earlier that morning, she had voiced her desire to me about wanting to score her first goal.

Well she did. And the look of incredulity on her face was priceless. Of course, like all young players, she then quickly glanced to see if we had witnessed her prowess, which we duly had. God forbid, should we be looking the other way! She then went on to score another two goals that day and hasn’t looked back since.

Her brother, well in amongst scoring goals, he’s busy performing his fancy moves all over the field so, one day, I had the bright idea to Google a few top players for him to watch and learn new tricks from.

There he sat, transfixed, to the screen, drinking it all in, before emerging with an array of new skills. And he’s been cutting, bending, rolling, scissoring and dragging all over the field – and the house - ever since.

So, for now I will suck it up and endure more disarray and balls to the head (although I can’t speak for the cat), bearing in mind that when stardom comes, I can safely sit back in front of the tv screen in my orderly granny flat and enjoy from afar.

Caving

After a summer of playing tourists in our own town, I think we have now ticked off everything there is to do. Therefore, these last holidays, we ventured a little further afield.

And so it was that we found ourselves in a cloud of dust on a loose metal road in the depths of the boondocks with no idea if we were heading in the right direction.

Destination Waipu Caves. But were we actually pointed towards there? I had no idea. I put my faith in the lady at the service station back in the civilization of State Highway and continued, despite the kids’ protests that we were lost. We had fuel, we had water and food and we had good sounds. All was well.

Finally we reached some signage and, hallelujah, we were on track. We turned into a paddock with several campervans and tourists roaming about and donned our caving shoes and torches.

We found the cave opening and were soon engulfed within its murky depths. Everyone fell silent, gaping in awe at its hollow beauty. Unlike the directions, I’d researched the caves and their level of ease or danger. The rocks could get quite slippery and you will emerge rather wet and muddy, was one tourist’s feedback, so wear your togs. Being autumn, we hadn’t but I had come prepared with towels and wasn’t expecting the kids to be game enough to venture too far in anyway.

As we stood there adjusting to the dim, a tourist stepped into a water-filled hole and screamed as she lost her footing. Its echo rang all around us, turning heads in unison. However, the kids were surprisingly undeterred and charged ahead across the slippery stepping stones to the other side. Further and further we walked into its depths, twisting and turning around large boulders and stepping over strategically-placed stones leading across streams, every now and then switching off our torches to gaze at the glow worms twinkling above.

We were like the Famous Five, minus Timmy the dog, on our adventure that day, albeit with no baddies in sight.

Strong torches are a must for it is DARK! Headlamps would be better for hands-free. There is a fair amount of scrambling involved and, yes you do get a tad muddy. Shoes stay relatively dry if one doesn’t slip off the stepping stones or fall into a hole. We emerged back into the light and further explored the beautiful scenic bush before hopping in the car and heading back into the cloud of dust.

Knowing you are heading in the right direction makes a trip seem way quicker.