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Just before Christmas Ian 's clarinet group also played at a concert for the homeless - - turned out it was not an audience of vagabonds but local worthies raising funds for a homeless shelter . By a strange twist of fate a partner in our doctor 's practice , a family friend , was at Great Barrier Island on her own family 's boat , and Ian was tested on arrival , diagnosed not with plain old seasickness but with a grumbling appendix , and put to bed on the hospital ship ( the doctor 's boat ) following a preliminary radio call to the marine emergency centre in case a helicopter had to be summoned during the night . And this situation was excellent : the boys taught her to cook , and she taught them to clean - - with mixed success on both sides . Pam also undertook some not very subtle brainwashing of the new Principal ( a self-proclaimed jock who was of the opinion that music was just fun and not as essential a part of the school curriculum as , say , rugby ) , and choice phrases like " whole-brain learning , " " life-long hobby " and " performance confidence " spiced up many a staff-room conversation . Nikki , given the choice between cruising around the Island with her parents or painting 50 m of picket fence along our front boundary , chose the latter . There were fourteen people in a three bedroom house with a Bedford van parked outside ( they took turns to sleep in the van ) .