I know that my musical bones are aching to stretch themselves. A few weeks ago I went to my cousin Matt’s place in Oratia Valley, Auckland to celebrate our wives’ birthdays. His wife Catherine, and my wife Kate, share April 7th, just a ‘few’ years apart, and just so I don’t forget, it is also Tax Filing day in New Zealand !! Anyway, Matt is a gifted musician who is guitarist and singer in 3 bands (as well as a PhD in Biochemistry) but his main band is called   Leonard, and to celebrate and as a surprise (pleasant I hope) we sang a duet for my wife, a Beatles’ number, “I Saw Her Standing There” . Matt on his lead guitar, the guy on the bass, who looked for all the world like Elvis Costello, another mate also called Matt on the second lead, and the drummer who looked like the actor Colin Farrell. I felt like I was in a celebrity band ). Anyway we belted out this song, and apparently it sounded all right – too loud to tell probably, but it felt good, and I really envied the ‘boys’, well they’re in their early 30s, so old boys, but a lot younger than yours truly. I really wanted to hold one of those guitars and make the music while I sang the song. What a creative rush it must be. When you get up and sing and strum, something liberating happens – it’s good for the soul !!

 I’m not alone in this urge – there is a huge move to ukeleles and guitars as people rediscover the fun of making their own fun, instead of watching others entertain them. This weekend is New Zealand Music Month Guitar Record Challenge, and there will be somewhere around 2000 people with their guitars, singing a Kiwi classic by Jordan Luck, called “Why Does Love Do This To Me”. Check out this video, check out the Kiwi accents ), check out the Harmony. One player is a pro, one is a beginner, spot the difference, although this beginner is also a rising tennis star. Enjoy )

PS Next time I’ll be trying out this Guitar course – subscribe to my blog and see me make a very cheap music video ), and other stuff.

As a New Zealander, I feel quiet pride in the achievements of Sir Edmund Hillary, who along with Sherpa Tensing, conquered Mt Everest for the first time in history 29 may1953. When Sir Ed died in Jan 2008, by coincidence our family was holidaying at Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, where Sir Ed kept a holiday home right on the beach. We went down to see where we might have met the Great Man in days gone by, and were touched by the sight of flowers placed on an old bench seat which he undoubtedly would have sat upon, at the edge of the unfenced lawn giving straight on to the beautiful ocean beach.

As I watched my two youngest daughters play happily on the beach, blissfully unaware of a real feeling of mourning gripping New Zealanders, my mind went back to two personal memories of meeting Sir Ed in the flesh. Even in a relatively small nation such as New Zealand, Joe Kiwi rarely bumps into a World Famous Person such as Sir Ed. The fact that he owned a bach (crib) near to my father’s small home town of Waihi, was a talking point in itself :o)

 I have always remembered the first sighting of  the Great Man (6ft5in) when I was boy. He must have been touring the country after the Everest expedition, and my father took me and my little brother Conal (good Irish name) to a tree planting in our local parish of Ranui. We came home with a photograph, and an autograph on a piece of paper, which survived for many years.

Fast forward to about 2005. Sir Edmund had lived an adventurous life, first man to the South Pole since Scott, Himalayan and Ganges-to-Sky expeditions, Himalayan Trust for building schools and hospitals in Nepal, family tragedy, missing the Erebus Crash, High Commissioner to India. I was on a plane to Dunedin to attend a Veterinary Conference, when I noticed the rear view of a distinctive head of bouffant grey hair a few seats up the aisle. I have a memory that never forgets a face, and in this case a hair-do ) I just knew it was Sir Ed. He was now well into his eighties, travelling economy on a small commercial flight, and when I saw him leaving the terminal, frail and slow with his wife at his side, my urge to say hello, and perhaps ask for another autograph, gave way to a feeling of respect for his privacy. It was enough to have seen him in the flesh, and remember the occasion to retell my children. 

Of course Sir Ed was always a humble hero, and called himself an ordinary man who had an extra-ordinary life – “You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.       Sir Ed also alluded to the fact that as a youth he was told that he would never be any good at sport because of his build :o) - that was his motivation !!