Our Big NZ adventure

Kenneth and Holly

2007-11-12T21:39:00.000+13:00

Here's a piccy of Kenneth and his girlfriend, Holly. Now Holly is a really good figure skater on roller skates & she and her sister have recently qualified for the National Championships up in Auckland in December so we wish them all the best for that.
In fact, just over a month ago we were all invited along to the skating and liked it so much that the whole family now go along regularly on a Saturday afternoon. I even dusted off my old skates I had from training and didn't do too bad at all. However after my first attempt after over 20 years, I was aching in places I didn't know I had muscles!!
Never mind, we're all getting a lot fitter and it's a great family afternoon out.

Meet the natives.

2007-11-12T21:23:00.000+13:00

This is a Tuatara. They originate from the times of the dinosaur and are native to New Zealand. In fact you can only find them in New Zealand. They are much the same size as a rat and are a protected species.
We snapped this picture during a recent visit to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, a favourite of ours.

As old as they get.

2007-11-12T20:37:00.000+13:00

There was an old car rally in Upper Hutt the other weekend and I spotted this fine example. It really was as old as the number plate says!!
Notice how the driver and passenger were dressed up in period clothing for the drive.

It's been a while.

2007-10-06T17:24:00.000+13:00

Well folks, it's taken us a while to come out of hibernation but we're back.

It's funny how you get into a routine and we had done just that. Unfortunately, what seems to be routine for us might be quite interesting for all you people out there so we're back and will be updating again on a regular basis from now on.

The shot here is one from a recent visit by us to MarineWorld in Napier on the east coast. We haven't been to that area before so we decided to make a long weekend of it, especially as it was the middle of the 'tattie' holidays here and the kids were off school.

Can't remember if I've mentioned it in the past but my job is now permanent. Originally, I was on a 1 year contract covering for a woman on maternity leave. Well, she didn't come back and I was offered the job permanently so, as you can imagine, that was a great weight off my shoulders.
As a result of me staying on, I was eligible for a bonus so Kenneth got a new bed, Amy a new bike, me a new camera and Daphne hasn't decided on anything yet but I'm sure she will.
My new camera allowed me to get the great shot of the dolphin at MarineWord balancing a ball on its' snout. Brilliant eh?

Out of hibernation

2007-08-31T08:00:00.000+12:00

Hi folks,

We're out of Winter hibernation now so look for some new postings real soon.....

NZ Robin

2007-04-26T20:23:00.000+12:00

Recently we bought a family pass that allows us to visit the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington as many times as we like for a whole year! Well, we were there last weekend and came across this cheeky wee fella. It's a New Zealand Robin.

It's almost the same as the Robin you see in the UK but it doesn't have a red breast!

Kenneth scraped the ground quite near to it and it came right up to us looking for all the wee beasties that he had uncovered.
Absolutely brilliant.

Guess where we were today?

2007-04-09T19:44:00.000+12:00

Yep, you've guessed it, the Zoo. The hand in the picture belongs to Amy. There's a platform which overlooks the giraffes enclosure where you can view them. On this occasion, one of the Zoo staff was there telling us all about the giraffes and at the end, she had a pile of 'greens' for anyone who wanted to feed them. Just after this shot was taken the giraffe almost pulled Amy off the platform! Luckily there was a strong barrier to hold on to.

We also saw a one legged Kiwi called Tahi. Tahi means 'one' in Maori. The Kiwi had been accidentally caught in a possum trap and eventually had to have its leg amputated. The Zoo took him in and they made an artificial leg for him but he would only put up with it for a hour at a time. He now hops about quite well and doesn't seem too fazed about it all.
No pictures unfortunately as it was inside in a darkened enclosure as they are nocturnal creatures and there was no photography allowed.

More shots with my Mum and Dad

2007-04-09T19:19:00.000+12:00

Another place we visited was Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand. It's a fantastic place where we've been before but there's always something else to see. Entry to the museum and most of the exhibits are free but this time we went to see an exhibition called 'Egypt - Beyond the Tomb' which had a small charge. It was really good with lots of real artifacts from tombs in and around Egypt and even a real mummy, bandages and all! The displays were all well labeled, interesting and even the kids found it great too. All in all another good day out.

We also went out for a run one day when the kids were at school and, on the way back, stopped off at Staglands Wildlife Park for a picnic lunch. Well, no sooner had we got settled down than we had some pretty nosey visitors. Daphne had to eat up her lunch quick!!

No you can't have my sandwich!!!

They came, they saw and they didn't want to go home

2007-03-30T19:38:00.000+12:00

My Mum and Dad came across and visited us recently. It was really great to see them. They stayed for 5 weeks but it was all over too quickly. The picture is us in Christchurch before starting what is reckoned to be one of the Great Railway journeys in the World.
We flew down to Christchurch on a Friday and spent the rest of the day shopping and looking around. Then, on Saturday we were up early cos it was 'All aboard' the Tranz Alpine Express. It starts in Christchurch on the East coast of the South Island and winds its way West to Greymouth on the West Coast. In between it takes in some of the most spectacular scenery in the South Island.
The next piccy is at Arthurs Pass, approx half way on the journey and high up in the Southern Alps. On the way back the train stops here to add a further 3! engines on the front (making 5 overall) prior to a climb through what used to be the longest tunnel in the world at Otira. It's 8.5 kilometers long!! and on quite a steep gradient.
We spent a fair bit of time visiting various places and I'll post more pictures up soon.

Almost good as new

2007-01-14T20:22:00.000+13:00

We went along to the Queen Elizabeth Park recently and, amongst other things, spotted one of these.
I'm sure some of the readers of this blog will remember the Zephyr in her heyday but I'll bet they won't have seen one like this. It's the 'pick-up' version, or ute as they call them over here. On this one, everything has been restored to pristine condition and it really does show. A real classic I'm sure you'll agree.

Happy New Year everyone.

2007-01-14T20:11:00.000+13:00

Great Soil over here

Here's a couple of examples of what comes out of Daphne's garden.
It's not a big garden but what it produces certainly is!

It's almost Xmas.

2006-12-21T14:22:00.000+13:00

Hi folks,
Well, it's almost that time of year again but it's a bit strange for us!
We're over here in this wonderful country and I'm sure it should be getting colder. Well, that's what used to happen at this time of year! It's really weird cos the weather hasn't been too great but it is a lot warmer. Also, there's been no real rushing around at the last minute to get presents etc as we've kinda had to organise that in advance, especially the ones to send back to the UK.
However, I had to buy 2 lots of cards this year. I bought my first lot (for Daphne, Kenneth and Amy) in the middle of November and promptly put them away till they were needed. Well, I can't remember where I hid them!!! Hopefully I'll find them before next year! Must be getting old if my memory is failing!
A couple of weeks ago I managed to pick up a nail in one of the car tyres! Anyway, I didn't pull it out and the tyre was still staying up so at the weekend I took it into the local tyre place. I asked if they could fix it as I didn't fancy forking out on a new tyre as there was quite a bit of tread left on it. 10 mins later the guy had fixed, re-balanced it and fitted it to the car. As he was sticking a sticker to the rear window he commented "Not bad for free eh?" And I said, what, a free sticker as well? He said, no, the puncture repair is free..... Brilliant, I'll definitely come back here when I need tyres. "That's what we hope." he said. What a fantastic service. You'd just never get that at Kwik-Fit would you?.
Also, had to get another bit of work done on the car the other day. After the rear-end shunt back in May all was fixed up fine but it appears that the tailpipe of the exhaust has been sitting slightly further back than it used to. And, because it sits up close to the bumper, the exhaust gases were heating up the bumper a bit and beginning to melt the paintwork and plastic. The garage managed to fix it though, and cure a small leak into the bargain. It's sounding a little bit quieter now but to be honest, I never noticed the leak. Hopefully that's all the little problems ironed out now. It's actually running very well but I do look after it, even if I do say so myself.
We're all really looking forward to my Mum & Dad coming out next Feb. We've already planned a few things for when they come over (no, not bungie jumping) so hopefully they'll get a great impression of the country just like we did when we visited in 2000. The kids will just have started their first term at new schools by the time they come out so we'll be limited to weekends to get out and about but there's plenty to keep us occupied.
Amy starts at Avalon Intermediate (Kenneth's old school), and Kenneth moves up to Taita College. Both have uniforms and Kenneth gets to wear something he's been after for a long time..... A blazer...... He'll look really smart I'm sure.

More soon.....

Waterfront piccies

2006-11-15T22:11:00.000+13:00

Here's a couple of pictures taken recently on the waterfront.

Mandarin Duck

2006-11-07T20:56:00.000+13:00

We spotted this at Staglands Wildlife Reserve last weekend. The coulouring is great isn't it?

Aha, they're back!!

2006-10-25T21:00:00.000+13:00

Hi folks,
No, we haven't left the planet and sorry I haven't been updating the blog. I'm back up to speed now though so where do I start?
Well, for starters just before the 'tattie holidays' which was the end of term 3 at school here, the Year 6 students voted for Amy to win the 'Avalon Attitude' T-shirt. Basically, each term the students of that year vote for who they think has the right attitude at school. Her teacher said that the really cool thing was that she has only been at that school for 2 1/2 terms and she is already displaying the 'Avalon Attitude'.
Here are some of the reasons her classmates gave for voting her:

Amy is always happy to have her work shared by others.
She is a really good friend and fun to be around.
She helps people when they need it and does jobs for the teacher.
Amy doesn't make a fuss.
She doesn't swear.
She works with anyone in class.
Amy tries her best and takes her time to produce really good work.
She shares her things and has a pencil sharpener!

We think it's a fantastic achievement considering the time she has been in the school. What makes it all the more worthwhile is the fact it's the students who vote, not the teachers. We're really proud of her.
Kenneth isn't lagging behind either. He's a young leader at his school which means he also has the right attitude and is a mentor for others. He was also presented with a certificate of achievement for what he's done during term 3. They both really like going to school. In fact, Amy, who's normally not a morning person, was up at 6:30am today!!! She has a rehearsal for a 'Jump Jam' at school starting at 8:15 so she asked if I would waken her after I got up! More on the 'Jump Jam' in a later post once I find out what it is!!!
Since my last post I've managed to break and repair the Spa pool. The underwater light unit needed the bulb replacing but the housing cracked when I removed it. Luckily I had drained the pool first! Anyway, I had to construct a new unit cos I could not obtain a replacement as the company which made them were no longer in business etc. Cutting a long story short, we're now back in business and enjoying the soak after a long day at work/school.
We ordered some outdoor furniture a couple of weeks ago and it was delivered yesterday. It'll fit just fine on the patio area beside the spa pool. We now need some fine weather to make use of it. The last week has been rain, drizzle and winds. Not exactly summer yet!!!

More soon, TTFN.

House pictures.

2006-08-14T22:05:00.000+12:00

Here's the view out the dining room window. There's a patio behind and level with the top of the logs. To the left and just out of camera shot is a spa pool which we'll be making full use of when the temperature gets up a bit.

We've got plenty of heat in this new place, compared to the old. And what a heat this fire produces!!

Fantastic kitchen.

Dining room.

Plink plink plink.

2006-08-14T22:00:00.000+12:00

Kenneth and Amy were really chuffed when we discovered this. The previous owners didn't want to move it so we gained it.
I guess it was too heavy for the removals guys and would have cost more to move.

The foot pump on the seat and isn't part of it though. ;-)))

Here we go again.

2006-08-14T21:59:00.000+12:00

Oh well, at least we hadn't unpacked them from our rental.

New house

2006-08-14T21:51:00.000+12:00

Here's the first good picture of our new house. Looks great doesn't it?

Move Day

2006-08-14T21:42:00.000+12:00

It was such a great day on the day that we moved, the removals guys put all of our possessions out on the lawn. It made it a lot easier to pack the truck cos you could see where it would all fit.

Daphne giving a helping hand.

Back Catalogues

2006-08-14T21:36:00.000+12:00

I'm a big Pink Floyd fan so it was quite a surprise to get this picture on my birthday recently.
It's called Back Catalogues, and has the album covers painted on the back of the women. The picture is directly printed on the wood and is very effective.
I will get it hung up on the wall in the new house soon :-)

Waterfront pictures

2006-07-23T11:52:00.000+12:00

Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa) in the background.
It's on 6 levels and entry is free! You could easily spend a day on each level. A fantastic place for kids and adults alike.

Te Papa again

This is a pub/club on the top level and storage on the ground level. On nice days each morning I sometimes see rowers in an 8-man boat practicing. They'll row out into the harbour and back again. As long as it's not too rough!! :-)

Nice view

2006-07-23T11:35:00.000+12:00

We went for a drive a little while back and eventually came out at a terriffic viewpoint. It's called Paikakariki hill.
This is looking North with the west coast of New Zealand on your left. The town below is called Paraparaumu and as you can see, the view is incredible.
The road to get to this point was quite hairy in places!! Over here, they don't seem to have discovered solid barriers to stop your car dropping off the edge of a sheer drop!! Just a small flimsy wire fence if your lucky so you really have to be careful. It certainly encourages you to be careful but the view is worth it.

Sunrise on Wellington Harbour

2006-07-23T11:28:00.000+12:00

How's this for a sunrise?
This is what I see some days as I walk along the waterfront from the railway station to my work each morning. (If it's not raining!!)

It's been a while

2006-06-27T20:01:00.000+12:00

Hi folks,
Well, it has been a while since I've updated the blog. I suppose you must be wondering what's been happening since my last post.
Mmm, let me think........ Ok, first of all we've bought a house!!!
Well, as you may know we've been looking for some time now and just over a week ago we found one that we really liked. So, we put an offer in, negotiated a wee bit and then the price was settled on. We had already set a few conditions (quite usual over here to do that) like subject to a builders report, Title search and check of the council records.
The builder was very thorough, he went through the house from top to bottom and even underneath. He even opened every door, window and drawer to check that they all worked correctly. He came down from checking the attic covered in little bits of fluff and his comments were 'there's plenty of insulation up there!'
The title search was OK and the check of the council records showed nothing of note. Brilliant. We now have a moving in date of 4th Aug.
I'll post some pictures when I get a chance but it's a 3 bed house with integral garage, rumpus room (4th bedroom) modern kitchen, new shower/bathroom and is in a fantastic condition. The current owners are what you might call meticulous. It's even got a spa bath in one secluded corner of the rear garden (under cover) and quite a bit of land. As you can imagine we're all over the moon and can't wait to move in.
Work for me has been wide and varied and I'm getting on really well. I'm being given bigger projects to work on now too.
Kenneth got his school report back from school last week. Well, what else can we say but well done. He is consistently performing above average and is really enjoying the work. I think it's rubbing off on Amy cos she also is performing well above average in her studies. We're really proud of both of them.
Had a phonecall from our friends Marcus and Natalie on Monday night. They have now arrived in New Zealand and are looking at moving down from Auckland to Palmerston North sometime this week. It was great to hear that they had arrived OK and it'll be great to catch up with them again.
Daphne has been getting a bit fed up at home this week. She hasn't had any calls to work and so is feeling a wee bit fed up. It's quite hard cos it's wintertime here and it's not exactly been the weather recently for her other love (gardening). I hope that she gets some more placements soon.
The kids are off school from Friday for 2 weeks holidays so that'll be a challenge to keep them occupied. There is pelnty of things to do and visit though so hopefully she won't be driven round the bend. I'm saving up my leave for later cos I'm not sure at this stage how much time I could get off at once.

On my way to work each morning I walk from the railway station along the waterfront in Wellington and today the sunrise looked really good. It just so happened that I had my camera with me so, as soon as I get home and get the pictures uploaded I'll update the blog with them

Till the next update.

Long way from home....

2006-06-01T21:14:00.000+12:00

It's amazing what you see when you're out and about..
I spotted this in the car park beside our local shopping mall.

I wonder where the owner comes from? Maybe the registration holds a few clues!

He/she are a long way from home perhaps?

Kaitoke Scenic Reserve

2006-06-01T21:08:00.000+12:00

I wonder where this goes???

My new job and things.

2006-06-01T20:17:00.000+12:00

Hi folks,
Well, I've now been just over a week in my new job and it's absolutely brilliant. I am really enjoying being back to work and the people I'm working with are great. I couldn't ask for a better place to work.
I also really enjoy travelling to and from work on the train! It's only about 20km away to work but the main route into Wellington is very busy at peak times. It's good to sit on the train and look out at all the traffic getting stuck on the way to work and on the way home. I arrive at work refreshed and awake and I arrive home the same. And there's no stress from the drive there or back!
I calculated the cost of running the car against taking the train and it's 1/4 the cost to take the train. I have about a 10 minute walk to the station and then 15 minute walk from the station to my work. The trains are quite regular and often busy. When I get on in the morning I can always get a seat but, if I get there in time for the 5:15pm to go back home, I have to stand. If I miss that one I'll get the 5:35 which I'll get a seat on. Today on the way home I was just getting on the train when the doors closed and almost caught my rucksack!!

We've looked at a few houses now with a view to buy and have a fairly good idea of what we want. Back in Scotland you could get rows and rows of houses which all looked the same! Over here every house is different and it's unusual to go down a street with houses that look similar.
Open plan living is common in houses over here with quite a big living and dining room
Buying a house over here is a lot simpler too. Basically, if you see a house you'd like you put an offer in. Once negotiations start no-one else can offer until negotiations have finished (after a set time). So it pays to get a look early so you can decide. Once the final price is agreed you pay a deposit, a settlement date is then set when you pay the remainder and get the keys. Apparently it is not uncommon for this whole process to take 1-2 weeks!

Last weekend we went to Kaitoke Scenic Reserve just a short drive N of here where there are quite a few walks through the bush. We had to go across a 'swing bridge' which the kids loved but Daphne wasn't too sure of. It certainly swung a bit!! You'll see some of the pictures in my next post.
The kids are continuing to do well at the school too. In fact, Kenneth tried Water Polo for the first time this week and found it good. He was quite tired after it, but he's raring to go back next week. We're trying to find out more about after school activities so that the kids (and us) can get more involved in the local community.

OK, that's it for another update. Keep watching for more updates.

More Congratulations

2006-05-14T11:51:00.000+12:00

Yes, more congratulations are in order.
This time they go out to Marcus, Natalie and their 2 kids, Owen and Corin.
They have successfully gaining Permanent Residency and will be heading over here near the end of June.
They are good friends of ours and it will be really great to catch up with them again.

We wish them a safe journey over and trust that they find New Zealand every bit as good as we've found it.

Well done folks.

Great news, I've got a job.

2006-05-14T11:06:00.000+12:00

Hi folks,
Well, I've now managed to bag myself a job. I start next Mon (22nd) and am really looking forward to it. It's with the Greater Wellington Regional Council as a full-time Network manager/analyst. Quite similar to part of what I was doing when I worked at Kinloss except supporting a lot more users. Around 300 I think!
It's a fixed term contract till Jul 2007 to cover a woman who is going on maternity leave. Over here, they have to keep a job open for 12 months. However, if she decides not to come back, it'll be permenant for me. :-)
It's a start anyway. At least it allows me to get my foot in the IT door over here and get a reasonable wage coming back in.

Daphne will have to give up part of her work but she is hopeful of getting agency placements during school hours. Otherwise she'll go mad staying at home all the time!!

The kids are continuing to do well at school too. Kenneth is really coming along with his drawings. He's drawn ones of the family and ones of Granny and Granda that are fantastic. There's definately a talent in there.

Over the past few days the weather has decided to turn colder. We're definately seeing the start of winter here. No snow but just quite a bit of drizzle. The Wellington region doesn't get snow but it does get 5-6 frosts a year, brrrr. However, when the sun does come out it's still quite warm.

Of course it's Mothers Day over here today!! We discovered this some time ago when we went into a local shop to get cards to send back for Mothers Day in the UK in March. The lady in the shop says that they weren't out yet. When we quizzed her as to when they would be out cos this was now 2 weeks before UK Mothers Day she said that it probably wouldn't be for a month yet!! We mentiond that we wanted to send them to the UK and that was when the penny dropped. Anyway, I think we'll buy ones for next year in advance. As long as in 9 months time we can remember where we kept them!!

OK, that's it for now folks.

TTFN

Flying Fox

2006-05-09T16:13:00.000+12:00

Yee haa, we found a Flying Fox in the park too!!

And even Daphne managed to have a go.
Daphne is quite scared of heights so this was quite a challenge for her. But, after overcoming her initial fear (and me offering a 99 Ice Cream cone on completion) she did it :-)

Then after her 1st go we couldn't get her off!!!

Sunday Outing

2006-05-09T16:02:00.000+12:00

Here's a few pictures from the Queen Elizabeth park we went to on Sunday. it's in Masterton which is around 70km from Wellington.

They get everywhere!!!

2006-05-08T21:23:00.000+12:00

These bags get everywhere!!

Don't panic, there no Eastside stores here, yet!

What's in our garage?

2006-05-08T21:07:00.000+12:00

It's amazing what you can find in our garage!

We found this little beastie when we were doing some unpacking of the boxes in our garage.

Kenneth was fascinated with it. It's the first time any of us have seen one so close.

We eventually moved it to the garden and we still occasionally spot it to this day.

Amazing.

Congratulations.

2006-04-24T10:39:00.000+12:00

I've just heard today that congratulations are in order for Neil and Valerie on the birth of their baby girl on Thu 20th April.

They have named her Erin and she weighed in at a healthy 8lb 14oz.

All the best to the three of you and we hope that you don't have too many sleepless nights :-)

I'll have a wee dram in celebration.

2006-04-23T19:27:00.000+12:00

It's back and they're here.

Yep, we've finally got the car back. Fantastic. The repair that they've carried out on it is really good too. Even after knowing what's been fixed I was hard pushed to tell that it had been repaired. The courtesy car was OK but there's nothing beats your own car.

And the news get better, on Wednesday our possessions arrived as planned so we've been really busy of late unpacking and finding things since then. We've unpacked a reasonable amount of them so far but, as this rental is only temporary until I get a job and we buy a house, we haven't unpacked everything, otherwise we'd just have to pack them again!
And boy am I glad we've got a double garage!! It's now 1/4 full of unpacked boxes!

And it's amazing the simple things you miss! This rental was unfurnished so we rented the essential items like a sofa, double bed and fridge/freezer until our stuff arrived but now, we can sit at a table to have our meals rather than sit the plates on our laps! And to have our own beds is just great.

I went for an informal interview on Wednesday too. It's for a Network Engineer with the Greater Wellington Regional Council so we'll see how it goes. It's actually a 12-13 month contract to replace a woman who's going on maternity leave but, if she doesn't decide to come back it'll be mine permanently. I'm reasonably hopeful about getting it anyway.
I've also got applications in for 4 other jobs and I'll keep applying till I get one. There's plenty out there and one of the agencies I'm with have been really good recently. They'll now phone me when there's an opening that matches my skill set and give me the lowdown on the job, then they'll offer to put my Cv forward etc. At least they're doing all the running around for me.

Amy had a really great time on her 'Urban Safari' too. On one of the days they went busking in the middle of Wellington playing their ukuleles as planned and they managed to make $205 in 1/2hr!! I think I'll send her out full-time and not bother with the job if she does that well!! OK, maybe not then.

OK, more updates soon and maybe some more pictures too.

TTFN.

P.S. Ice Age 2 is really funny. If you haven't gone to see it we recommend it.

2006-04-10T11:57:00.000+12:00

Here's one of Amy with her ukulele.

2006-04-10T11:27:00.000+12:00

Urban Safari.
Amy is off to school today to take part in an 'Urban Safari'. Since the start of the term, her class has been planning this trip into Wellington for 4 days and have planned visiting all the tourist attractions. It seems like a great idea, getting the kids to plan every aspect of it including the catering arrangements. They have been given a budget and have had to plan accordingly (within guidelines of course). They have even been practicing playing the ukulele so that they san spend some time busking on the street! Her teacher jokingly said it's so that they can pay for a snack in the afternoon. :-)
She was really looking forward to it and I'm sure it'll be great.

We've now got a courtesy car and have a bit more mobility. The Subaru will be finished by this Thursday so I can't wait. I've been to see how the repairs are going and it's looking really good so far. Although the public transport system is very good here, it's amazing how much you miss the independence and freedom of being able to go where you want when you want!

We've had an update on our container as well. It's now cleared Customs and will be delivered to us next Wed so it'll be box city from then. However, we also discovered that it's grown in size!! We were quoted on, and paid for, a 20ft sole-use container. Whilst chatting to the agents at this end the other day they mentioned that there are some other boxes in with ours which will have to be offloaded first from the 40ft container! Whilst this does not cause much problems, my concern was that we had not been informed of the change. It's a good job we have an itemised list of the boxes and box numbers. We'll be counting them through the door :-)
The weather has taken a turn for the worst. Lat night we had torrential rain and thunder and lightning and a bit of hail as well! In fact, for the past few days it's been getting worse. It hasn't got too much colder, just a lot more wind and rain. Never mind, when the sun does come up it get's quite warm again.

Being as Kenneth is missing out a bit with Amy going away this week we'll probably take in more of the cinema this week. Ice Age 2 is on and the trailers for it look good.

Did I mention that I've passed my Kiwi driving test? As I already had a UK licence, all I had to do was sit a theory test. I bought a copy of the Official Road Users Guide and after studying the differences between here and the UK, I sat my test. There aren't too many differences really.
The test was 35 randomnly drawn questions and you had to get 32 out of 35 right. On the test paper you scratch off the correct answer, just like a lotto card. I managed to get 34 right so I'm quite chuffed. Daphne will be taking hers as soon as she has the time. At the minute she's doing a lot more work than me so has a lot less spare time.

Anyway, till the next one.

TTFN

2006-03-31T14:12:00.000+12:00

New TV stand...

2006-03-31T14:11:00.000+12:00

Old TV Stand!!!!

2006-03-31T14:09:00.000+12:00

Kenneth looking proud in his school uniform

2006-03-31T13:43:00.000+12:00

Jobs, jobs and more jobs..

Ah well, another busy week in our little bit of paradise.
Daphne's been busy this week. She signed up with a chilcare placement agency a week or so ago and on Monday breakfast time she had a phonecall asking if she could start then. Talk about panic, we had to look up the maps and bus timetable to see where she had to go but she made it. After she got home she was quite tired but thoroughly enjoyed getting back to work.
Tuesday she had work at a different place but Wednesday she was back at the first. It'll be good for her to get back into a routine again. On Thusday she could have had work but politely said no as we had a parents interview with Kenneth's teacher.
We went along and met his teacher for the first time cos when we enrolled him, there was a stand-in teacher for his class. Anyway, she showed us some of his work so far and he's doing really well. Bear in mind that this is only his third week! Additionally, she said that after some recent tests he's in the top 3 of his class and if he continued as he's doing she'll 'have to brush up on her extensions'. I guess that means learing how to push him a bit further. We are really happy with the fantastic start he's made and am sure that it will continue. It's like he's turned over a fresh leaf.
Amy is also doing very well at school and is going on a trip with her class for 4 days into Wellington starting the 10th April. They will be staying in Wellington and have lots of things planned. The class get involved with doing most of the planning so I'm sure they'll have a hectic week visiting all sights of Wellington.

The repairs on the car have finally got the go-ahead. The insurers got off to a great start after the accident but have been waiting for an accurate estimate for the repair before giving the go-ahead. The repairer had to use a different system to find out quotes for spare parts and, after getting a quote, found that the local Subaru dealer was cheaper by a significant margin.!! No only that, the original quote to him was for second-hand parts, the Subaru dealer was quoting on new parts! Apparently it's quite common to repair a car with second hand parts over here but I'll be getting new so that's even better.
There was a significant amount of crush damage to the rear of the car so it'll be about 2 weeks work to fix it. Never mind, it could have been a lot worse. And the other car is a write off!!! It was quite an old car so must've been too much to repair. Can't wait to get the car back. I'd only had it 2 weeks. Never mind, it'll be as good as new when they're finished.

I've now applied for 5 jobs over the past week. I've been knocked back on one cos I don't have the relevant skills that the employer is looking for (but no indication as to what skills were required!). I've had a phone interview for one and will be invited to the formal interview in a couple of weeks, and I haven't heard back on the remaining 3 (apart from confirmation that I'd applied). So here's hoping. As I've mentioned before there are plenty of jobs being advertised, I just need to get my foot in the door.

Ive just noticed, our container is due to arrive in Wellington next Tue!!! Shouldn't be long after that that we'll see it. Brilliant. Then it'll be like Xmas again, lots of boxes to open. :-)

OK, signing off for now.

TTFN

Lawrence, Daphne, Kenneth & Amy.

2006-03-23T20:59:00.000+12:00

My shiny new Subaru Legacy before it had it's back end re-arranged!!

2006-03-23T20:58:00.000+12:00

Our house

2006-03-23T20:57:00.000+12:00

Coming down the lane to our house

2006-03-22T15:06:00.000+12:00

What a week!

Well, we've managed to settle down in the rental OK. We've also got a washing machine and telly but no telly stand so it's sitting on it's cardboard box at the minute. However the washing machine is a godsend. It does a good job too.
We went out for a picnic by the Hutt river at the weekend and it was brilliant. It was a beautiful sunny day and we never saw a sole. It was deserted so we literally had the river all to ourselves.
Afterwards we had a drive up the Hutt valley just for a nosey. It's a beautiful area.

BAD NEWS
We were travelling through Wellington to visit some friends on the other side of the city and had just entered the Terrace Tunnel when I had to brake quite hard for stationary traffic. Literally 1 or 2 seconds later the guy following behind me didn't manage to brake as well and so ended up rearranging the rear of the Subaru. And I'd just washed and polished it earlier that day as well.
We were all a wee bit shaken but OK.
GOOD NEWS
The insurance company have been good though, within 24hrs the Subaru was already in the bodyshop being assessed and having the parts ordered. It'll probably be a week or so so before it's repaired and there's no courtesy car with my insurance so we'll just have to use the bus or the train. That's another good thing around here, the public transport system is quite good and cheap as well.

More good news: I've now got broadband so I'll be uploading a few pictures when I get the chance. Keep watching.

Till the next update.........
Lawrence, Daphne, Kenneth & Amy

2006-03-14T09:05:00.000+13:00

We've got a rental

Fantastic. After looking around at lots of properties in varying places and varying condition! we've got a house for at least the next six months. Its quite sizeable with a huge (by UK standards anyway) open plan dining and living area, 3 bedrooms, good garden and double garage.
However, it's unfurnished so we had to go out and buy duvets, air beds and the like to get by until our stuff arrives by boat.
We've also got the kids enrolled in their new schools. Amy has went up a year into year 6 (Primary 6) at a school literally 300 yds walk from the house and Kenneth has went into year 8 at one about 700 yds away. They were both itching to get back to school so they're now happy to be able to make new friends etc. I guess they were getting a wee bit bored with all the driving around looking at house after house.
Had to go out and hire some stuff the other day though. We've hired a Fridge/freezer and a sofa for not a lot of money. We had to hire a bed too though. The air bed we bought for Daphne and I is OK but we just couldn't get a good nights sleep on it. We tried pumping it up a bit etc but it didn't make much difference. Last night we had a lot better sleep, bliss.

Finalised the deal on the car as well. It's a Subaru Legacy B4, low mileage, excellent condition and generally a very good car which should do us a fair while. A lot of the cars here are imported from Japan with low mileage on them. The Subaru I have is almost 6 years old but it looks like it's about 2! Under the bonnet is relly clean and the paintwork is immaculate.
Still on good old dial-up for the internet access but at least at this house it's a more respectable 53.2k connection. I've ordered broadband so that will be connected in about 10 days. Can't wait as I've lots of pictures to upload.

OK, off to look for a washing machine and telly today. TTFN

Lawrence.

2006-03-05T19:46:00.000+13:00

Hectic Wellington schedule!!

Well, talk about hectic. We arrived in Wellington to our motel last Fri. It's not too bad, huge living area inc kitchen, seperate bedroom for the kids and a bathroom/toilet, TV with Sky etc. The decor and fittings are a bit dated but hey, it's only for a week or two.
No broadband internet access like the last place though, only dial up and even that seems sporadic. When it does manage to connect it's consistent at ...... 31.2k :-(
S L O W or what? Still, it's OK for emails.

We have been really busy looking for a rental property. There's plenty within our budget but they do vary widely in quality, even for the same price!!
We went to one that was about 25kM North of Wellington city, in the middle of nowhere, on top of a hill with fantastic views and the house was really good, double gaage, plenty of space and well presented etc. But, after much deliberation we decided against it cos it was just too isolated. I would have been OK if we were in the UK with a good support network but out here we don't know many people yet!! Perhaps in a year or two when we are more settled.
Another of note was in an area called Lower Hutt and again was pretty sizeable, big garden and lots of living space but the kitchen was original 1950's! We just felt that we would have to do a few things to itr to make it liveable in for us for the next 6-12 months.
In between looking for proprties we've managed to visit a couple who moved here about 4 weeks prior to us so it's good to get some tips etc. We've also managed to get to the Zoo, suss out the local swimming pools and just generally orientate ourselves.

Also been looking at buying a car as the hire car has to go back next Monday (or before). We've almost finalised a deal for a nice nearly new low mileage Subaru Legacy. You really do get a lot more car for your money here. Petrol is cheaper and insurance is too!

Kids are doing fine but getting a bit fed up now. They both cannot wait to start school and once we get our rental they'll get there.

Wellington was hit by a bit of a storm on Friday evening. Wow, it's coming to the end of summer here and it went from a nice warm and sunny 20 deg C to 130km/h winds and lashing rain in the space of half a day!! Mmmm, global warming??

Anyway, off to scan the local paper for more properties to see.

TTFN

2006-02-21T16:40:00.000+13:00

1st Day Here

Well, we've finally arrived in Auckland, NZ. After spending 3 nights with my Mum & Dad in Keith we set off on Thursday (16th) for Aberdeen.
I'm glad we hired the 8-seater VW Caravelle. With the amount of luggage we had we wouldn't have fitted it all in a standard 7-seater MPV. Okay for the people but no room for the luggage.
The Caravelle, by contrast, swallowed up all we had and looked decidedly empty and still we travelled in comfort. We had to hire something with enough seats as there were 6 of us to travel to Aberdeen, my folks wanted to see us off.
Aberdeen to Manchester was uneventful and it was made easier for us at Manchester as at Aberdeen they checked us in for the Kuala Lumpur flight and gave us our boarding passes too. All we had to do when we got to Manchester was wander around the airport for 4 hrs. Mmmm. There's only so much you can do in 4 hrs.

Anyway, Kuala Lumpur was good as well. We had previously booked into the Grand Plaza Park Royal hotel (4 star). It was very good and for the three nights we had there it did us just nicely. The Air-con in the room was a welcome break from the 33 deg heat and the high humidity of KL.
KL is a vast city with lots to see and do. We had arranged 2 tours when we booked in the UK to give us something to do whilst we were there.
One was the Batu Caves tour where we were taken to, some caves strangely enough. After climbing the 270 odd steps to the entrance we were shown around these massive caves and told about some of the history and also about the Muslim shrine there.
The second tour was of the city of KL both old and new. It tour was a lot more rushed than the one the previous day but we did get to see a lot of the attractions: Petronas Towers, KL Tower (went to the top and took some piccies), Old Railway station, Chinatown etc.
Our third day in KL was our own to do as we wished so we went out and did a wee spot of shoppping. We couldn't get too much though as we were already struggling with our luggage space.

The flight to Auckland was again uneventful and overnight which allowed us to get some rest and sleep.

Auckland is like any big city, busy, but not as much as we expected. It seems to be reasonably well laid out and not all scrunched up into a small area.

Anyway, we're off to our final destination of Wellington tomorrow and will update the blog as soon as we get onnected there.

C'Ya later.

2006-02-13T09:00:00.000+13:00

Livingston.

We've came down to visit Daphne's Sister, brother in law and daughter for 3 days.
Went out for a fantastic meal with them last night at a place called Frankie and Bennys. I don't think we'll need to eat for a week. The waitress was really good with the kids so we gave her a bigger tip. She was well chuffed.

Also visited the Falkirk Wheel today. That's another brilliant day out and, although the weather was a bit 'dreich', we had a good time. Apparently it's the worlds first and only rotating boat lift which lifts (and lowers) boats from the Forth & Clyde canal to/from the Union canal. A height of some 150 feet.
The system is fantastic and so precisely counterbalanced that it only takes the energy of an electric kettle to do the operation!! Amazing.

Check out http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk for a lot more details.

Off back up to my Mum & Dad' house in Keith to spend 3 nights there before we fly out on Thursday.

Boy the time's passing quick now!!!

2006-02-10T03:05:00.000+13:00

Removals Day 2

Sorry about the lack of updates but the broadband router was packed!!!
Oops. Never mind.
The removals seemed to go very smoothly indeed. It got slightly hectic about 3pm as the final last items were packed and then..... the house was empty.

WOW. It's really wierd. The last time the house was like this was when we moved in almost 9 years ago. Ah well, time to move on.

Off the the local Travel Inn to check in.

2006-02-07T09:17:00.000+13:00

Removals day 1.

Talk about a busy day, it started off slowly with Whites turning up at 0930 but then we all got involved with the packing of all our worldly possessions. Every room in the house has Whites boxes in it now. It's like an assault course :-)
They'll be back tomorrow to finish some packing then load the van.
Then it's about 6-8 weeks before we'll see them again :-( Let's hope we've remembered all the important things for our luggage we fly with!!

Last night in the house tonight too. It still hasn't sunk in fully but I'm sure it will after it's empty and the van drives off tomorrow.

Good news: Talk about close timing, I'd ordered the NZ maps for my Navman GPS (after waiting from Dec last year for them to become available!) and thankfully the DHL man turned up with them today. They should make life a bit easier when we're across there. Especially when looking for rental properties and the like. The level of detail is incredible, right down to street level with lots of things you can select like Post Offices, cashpoints, garages etc.

2006-02-04T06:16:00.000+13:00

Minor panic over.
We've booked into the local Travelodge. It's actually worked out cheaper too!! Including B&B.

I'm off out tonight for a few beers with my mates. It's funny, it'll be the last time I'll see them for some time.
Still feeling very excited about the move.

2006-02-02T23:15:00.000+13:00

First post.

Hi folks,
Here's the first of hopefully many posts as we embark on what is likely to be the biggest adventure of our lives.

It's a decision we haven't taken lightly but we've done lots and lots of planning to try and make the move as smooth as possible.

The removals guys will be here on Monday and we're getting pretty excited now. There's boxes appearing everywhere! Now where did I put the........?

However, even with careful planning the B&B we'd booked into locally have cancelled our booking!!
We booked weeks and weeks ago and I got a phonecall out of the blue earlier today saying basically that she's had a party of workmen turned up wanting to book the whole house for 8 months!
I suppose I'd have considered it too in her position.
At least we still have a little time to find another. Well until Monday actually, we'd better get our skates on!!!