Day 19: Grandpa's House

All grandparents houses are the same, even in other countries. All grandpas are the same. They tell you about the war, give you random things they have lying around the house and seem to have stashes of sweets hidden all over. There is something very nice about knowing that Grandpas have this in common.
It was nice for Chris to share his Grandpa and Nana Peg with me and it was very nice to meet them.

Day 18: EARTHQUAKE!

So today started out uneventful. We drove to Chris's Aunt's in Hastings which is in the Hawke's Bay Region.
We had a nice dinner with his Aunt and Uncle Eric. Auntie Heather had to go babysit for her son and Chris, his mom, Uncle Eric and I were sitting around talking. The light in the lounge (living room) flickered. That prompted Eric to ask if we had earthquakes in Knoxville because it made him think of them. Then it happened!
It felt like the house was on jelly. Like being on a rocking boat. It was unreal. You can't imagine something as solid as the ground and house being so wobbly. It wasn't at all like what I expected. It felt like it last several minutes even though it was really twenty seconds. I was shocked and grabbed Chris. After it was over I almost wished it happened again so instead of being scared I could really take in what an Earthquake feels like.
They have said that CNN and the news channels made it sound worse than it really was. No one was hurt and there was mostly minor damage. Things falling off shelves and walls and breaking.
Use this link for a map.
It was a 6.8 50 km off the coast of Gisborne. We were down in Hastings.