New Family, New Life

Is it really 9 months since I last posted here? So MUCH has happened since then...and my previous post to this one - on the doco film - seems like a lifetime ago. I guess that's because we've moved countries (twice!) and started a family by welcoming our darling little Kiwa Stratton Kemp to the world on 11 January 2010. Kiwa just turned 5 months old - which is also pretty startling, given the occasion of her birth was so Momentous and Memorable and just like Yesterday...I still haven't managed to write down Kiwa's Birth Story. By virtue of wanting to do her Story justice, since it is one of life's most utterly spectacular and beautiful happenings, I have been putting it off and saving it up for that elusive rainy day. In the end though, I should just scribble it out here in one frenzied typing session with a coffee in hand.

But, Life is Good Good Good. We are so blessed to be healthy and happy, to love and be loved. And to live in Peace. Whakamoenga Point, just out of Taupo, where we're currently living, offers the ultimate Peaceful Existence. It is a peaceful life to the nth degree, with its breathtaking vista of snowcapped mountains over the lake, green native forest filled with native birdlife, and the serene sounds of "silence" - of nature. Ahhh....

I pinch myself everyday to try and ensure that I never grow complacent or desensitised to the magical quality of where we are now. When our 4 month stay here draws to an end, I know I will always reminisce about the dreamlike beauty of this place --- one of those paradisical scenes you capture and store away in your head so that you can mentally escape to it during moments of craziness...which usually take place for me in the middle of a huge crowd of people on a train or plane, or if I'm stuck in an office behind a computer late on a Friday night etc.

I just read that New Zealand has been ranked #1 by the Global Peace Index, for the second year running. In other words, it's held up against 148 other countries on the basis of measuring 23 "peace indicators" and said to be the most peaceful in the world. These peace indicators include things such as: perceived criminality in society; access to weapons; military capability; respect for human rights etc. The full report is here.

So the stars have aligned for us, that we are fortunate enough to be bringing our precious little one up in what feels very much like, and what is objectively and officially said to be, the most peaceful place in the world. Aotearoa.