Christmas Greetings

While it's still just about Christmas Day the Americas, we're well into Boxing Day here in NZ and enjoying being very lazy. So semi-belated Christmas Greetings to you all. In typical antipodean style, we celebrated our first southern hemisphere Christmas with a BBQ after having been to church in the morning.

Christmas could have been a difficult time, being so far from family and old friends. Indeed we have all felt fragile at times over the last week, but yesterday turned out to be fantastic. We'd been invited to join the Smith family from Woodford (who we'd stayed with when we first arrived in August) and their extended family and in-laws. Add in a family of Australian guests and there must have been about fifty of us at South Brigton Park for the afternoon. In a sheltered glade among the pines, the BBQ and tressle tables filled with food as everyone 'brought a plate', while the kids (of all ages!!) played. The sun shone!

We then spent the evening back at the Smith's opening presents, playing games and eating more food. The chocolate fountain proved a great hit with all ages, though I'm sure that chocolate covered crisps (chips) will ever have universal appeal. We eventually arrived home at 10.30pm, thirteen hours after having left home in the morning. A long but thouroughly enjoyable day, followed by a good night's sleep and a lie-in.

Unlike Mary and Joseph there was 'room for us at the inn' this Christmas as even though we were a long way from home the Smiths and Buxtons welcomed us into their family with open arms. It was a real honour to spend the day with them all and proved once again that the best present at Christmas is love, whether it be from person to person or from our Father in heaven.

And so with that thought, I wish you you all peace at this time and thank you for your thoughts and prayers during what has been an amazing year for the Laws.

Season's Greetings & the world's wackiest airport

I hear that it is Christmas in a couple of weeks time. It certainly seems strange to be preparing for the holiday as the days get longer and the tomatoes are flowering on the patio. Fortunately, Ali's organised and we manged to send our Christmas cards to the other three corners of the world in time. It's been great to receive cards and letters from family and friends. To all of you, we hope that you will know peace this Christmas wherever you are.

The weather has been unseasonal here today, with low cloud and a bit of rain in the air. How different from earlier in the week when I was on the North Island for three days. The sun shone down as I spent long days working on one of the rivers in the Bay of Plenty. Two days on a jet boat and yet we didn't get anywhere near any rapids, just lots of water quality monitoring in an estuary! Still, it beat being in the office and gave me a chance to top up the tan.

I flew home yesterday from what must be one of the most bizarre airport 'terminals' in the world. Yes, that really is Whakatane (fa-ka-ta-ne) airport building the picture below. I think this is time to start a little competition. Can anyone else propose a better candidate for the title of World's Wackiest Airport?

The flight to Auckland was on the smallest plane in Air New Zealands's fleet. It's the only time I've looked out of front window of a plane on a scheduled flight and been able to watch every move by the pilot.

While work's been busy for me, the rest of the family have also been incredibly busy. Both the boys have had end of year trips with school to outdoor swimming pools. And last Sunday was a busy day for cubs and scouts. Josh went sailing in Lyttleton Harbour while Matt cycled 23 km along the Little River rail trail.

Lots of people have asked us if we've been surprised by anything in New Zealand. The answer is nothing major, but there are a few little things that took a bit or working out or that we hadn't expected. So here are two of them:

• Traffic lights turn straight from red to green, with no amber to warn you that they are about to change.

• Department stores have 'Manchester' department, which sells bed linen, towels, etc.

With that next to useless information I will leave you to your Christmas preparations. Bye

The most beautiful view in the world...

... was not on show when I went to see it on Monday. I was extremely fortunate to have to go to Milford Sound with work, but unfortuantely it rained heavily all day and the cloud was low, so the famed view of Mitre Peak (http://tiny.cc/6Q73l) was nowhere to be seen. However the water streaming off the valley sides was spectacular in its own right and probably far more useful for me to see as a hydrologist! And I did get my first ever ride in a helicopter.

Maybe I'll have to go back again, but take Ali and the boys with me next time. I've been very lucky to see so much of the country with work, but it would be lovely to share the experience with the family. Under the current arrangement, I'm charged with having to bring back a badge each for the boys, which Ali then has to sew onto their blankets. She gets the rough end of this deal!

Two weeks ago, we had another long weekend to celebrate our regional Canterbury Day. Friday was a statutory day off work at the end of 'Cup and Show Week', so we planned to go to the Royal New Zealand Show, which is held about two miles from home. Unseasonal gales and wind put paid to our plans and so we had a lazy day at home.

The good thing about Christchurch's variable weather is that the rest of the weekend had good weather. So on the Saturday we took the foot ferry across Lyttleton Harbour to Diamond Harbour and had a good day with friends walking and playing games. Then on Sunday we popped over the hill to our local beach at Corsair Bay. It's a lovely sheltered cove with a gentle slopeing beach and places to jump into deeper water further round. The perfect spot for a Sunday teatime.

That Saturday night also saw me and the boys cheering on the 'All Whites' from the comfort of the sofa as they won through to next year's football World Cup. Suddenly, this rugby mad country was talking about football. Normal service resumed last weekend as the All Blacks took on England at Twickenham and won. It would be telling to say who was cheering for who as we watched the replay during breakfast on Sunday.

Ali has continued to pick up some supply/relief teaching work at the boys' school, which is giving her some good experience. She enjoys being back in the classroom and the challenge of adapting her British resources for the Kiwi curriculem. Talking of school, Matthew brought home a lovely Maori-design fish hook that he'd carved from soap. He was able to tell us the meaning behind the different symbols he'd carved.

I joined Josh and the rest of his cub pack on Saturday for an afternoon's climbing up at Rapaki Rock on the Port Hills. A warm wind blew and the sun shone on a great afternoon where all the boys had a go at some quite tricky climbs. I spent the afternoon on the other end of a rope, belaying the intrepid boys. Josh gave it a good go, even trusting me to belay him on one climb! We then walked back down into the city down a valley that could easily have been in the Pennines. At the bottom of the vally, we were met by the unmistakably smells of that Kiwi institution - a sausage sizzle - that Ali and Matthew had helped set up.



We were all out with cubs again last night as parent helpers on a cycle ride to one of the local parks. It was like herding cats!

So that's an update of the last two weeks. It's been busy but fun. And thank you for those that have been asking for an update. It's nice to know that I'm not just writing for myself. Bye.

Hubble Bubble & Fireworks

It's been a busy couple of weeks. In the week after we got back from Tekapo, we all felt a bit down. Was it homesickness for the UK or just one of those lulls in the vibrancy of life. Something we've learnt is to take stock and find the real reason if things seem bad. It's so easy to jump to the conclusion that it's because we're in NZ and it's easy to forget that we all had bad days in the UK. But I'd be lying if I said that there weren't days when we miss people, places and things.

One thing that we certainly haven't missed has been Halloween. I always found it a dark period and hated the piles of tacky evil merchandise in the stores. Fortunately, Halloween was very low key here in Christchurch. There was hardly anything in the shops, a bit of a debate on its growing influence in the paper and (Hallelujah!) no 'trick or treaters'.

On Thursday, I was up in Rotorua on the North Island. Fortunately, the timing of my flight home gave me chance to have a quick look at the thermal pools in the city centre park. While the video clips will give you and idea of the sights, you are fortunate that 'smellyvision' isn't yet available. The eggy sulpherous smell around the park and at various other places in the city certainly leaves an impression. The only other time I've smelt anything similar was near a chemical works in Rotherham!



Bonfire night is celebrated here and we missed no opportunity to share the news that old Guido Fawkes was a son of York and had been baptised at St Mike's. Oh, why do we celebrate proximity to notoriety? Ali and the boys picked me up from the airport and we whizzed round to the beach suburb of New Brighton along with half of Christchurch to watch the City Council's firework display on the pier. It seemed strange to be walking along the beach to watch fireworks. The other difference is that we had to wait until 9pm for it to be dark enough for the fireworks as we are now in southern hemisphere summer.


Having settled me and the boys into work and school respectively, Ali got the chance to return to the classroom for paid employment this week. Having volunteered two days per week at the boy's school for the last few weeks, she applied to go on the supply teacher list and almost immediately was asked to cover Wednesday afternoon. A phonecall at 7.30 on Wednesday morning saw her teaching all of Wednesday and then again on Friday. Class and teacher survived!

Anyway, it's Saturday morning and there's a lawn that needs cutting, so I'll bid you farewell and look forward to hearing from you with your news.

Tekapo Time

Our first 'bank holiday' weekend and we headed south to Lake Tekapo. The journey took about three hours in a car laden down by four bikes. We were staying in a 'bach' (or holiday home) with another Christchurch family and their two boys. Tekapo is famous for one of the views of the South Island. On the edge of the village and at the southern end of the lake stands the diminutive church of the Good Shepherd. There's no need for stained glass in this church as the panoramic window takes in the full glory of creation
.

Naturally enough, every tour bus between Queenstown and Christchurch disgorges its load who swarm around the church. So early morning and evening were the times to visit and wallow in the splendour of the setting. Close to the church is a bronze statue of a collie dog, honouring those tireless workers whose help was essential in opening up the MacKenzie region during the 1800's.

We climbed to the top of neighbouring Mt St John on Saturday and had a drink at the summit cafe, which is part of the University of Canterbury Observatory which sits atop the mountain and makes best use of the crystal clear night skies. An unsuccessful attempt to catch a couple of trout finished off a fantastic day. Sunday was a lazier day, spent partly at MacGregor Lake (below) and partly at the hot outdoor pools by Lake Tekapo.


A cycle ride past the hydro-electric scheme (busman's holiday?) on Monday was followed by lunch and packing the car. We left as the first drops of rain started to fall. It rained continuously until we were back in Christchurch, but at least that saved me from having to cut the grass once we were home (so it wasn't all bad!).

Sorry, folks but you've got a piccy of me to finish with, this time.

Time passes quickly and our first 'road trip'

Is it really over two weeks since I posted an update?

The boys have been on holdiay from school for the last two weeks, so Ali's been busy arranging days out and meeting up with friends. The boys had a sleep over last weekend and we then went to the Christchurch model railway exhibition, which was brilliant and included slot car dragster racing, which Matt won (Josh having taken the honours in the Scalextric racing.

On the middle Sunday of the holiday we revisited Ilam Baptist Church and are keen to get involved there. It's very friendly and reminds us of G2 (our church in York that was part of St Michael-le-Belfrey) in many ways.

I had a couple of days in Auckland last week with work, which gave me chance to explore the 'big city' in the evening. In typical fashion, I escaped the bright lights and took a ferry out to Waiheke Island in the gulf for the evening.

This weekend we headed up to Nelson at the top of the South Island to visit friends, Jo and Andrew. We'd planned to go there via Lewis Pass (894m), but with snow forecast down to 200m we took the coast road via Kaikora and Blenheim. The weather was atrocious as we drove through alternating snow and lashing rain. But at least it gave us chance to see the seals just north of Kaikora as we huddled in the car eating our pies (a great NZ institution).



Fortunately the weather on Saturday and Sunday was brilliant and so we spent Saturday morning at the arts & crafts market in Nelson and the afternoon on the beach at Rabbit Island. A leisurely Sunday morning at the 'hands on' aquarium in Mapua was followed by a stunning drive home that included a quick snow ball fight at the summit of Lewis Pass.

The Flying Fox of Spencer Park

A fairly quiet week and the good weather finally broke. Maybe it was with good timing that I'd planted a few vegetables in the garden as we got a bit of rain. Fortunately, we missed the remnants of the Australian dust storms that had engulfed Sydney and Brisbane. They affected Auckland and the North Island a bit. The boys have broken up for school for two weeks and we've had a busy week socially. Someone had a birthday during the week, but as the video shows, she's not acting her age!!



We discovered Spencer Park reserve yesterday to the north of the city. It had great climbing frames (as seems typical of Christchurch playgrounds), but also three long 'flying foxes' or aerial runways that we all had a go on. A five minute walk through the forest and we were on the beach with the surf crashing in. As per usual, someone had to go for a paddle.


Today was a good day, in that we might have found a church that suits us all and is relatively near. Only time will tell. It's also been good to entertain guests and be invited out by friends this week. It's the relationships that will really help us settle. We feel blessed.

And finally, another pretty picture of the valley just up from home. A less pretty picture yesterday afternoon was my panting face as I tackled the steep climb to the right of the picture on my bike for the first time. Dodgy gears and a lack of fitness dashed my hopes for next year's mountain stages of the Tour de France. Still, the challenge has been laid down and my goal is to climb Worsley Road (check it out on Street View, it's steep!)

Until next time, Bye

A few of our favourite things...

To celebrate 50 days in New Zealand, we thought it was time to let you know:

• Five things we like
• Five things we don't like or miss (You can probably guess that missing family and friends is top for all of us)
  
• The best day so far

So here goes...

Matt
Five things I like are:

1. School activities like the range of things to do, including sport. The work is more challenging
   
2. The atmosphere and landscape
   
3. Everyone is friendly (well most are)
   
4. Weather
   
5. Ice cream choices like 'hokey pokey'

Five things I don't like or miss are:

1. Missing friends and family
   
2. TV channels are rubbish
   
3. Boys shoes are bad
   
4. Ketchup
   
5. Grapes

The best day so far was the first that I played in a touch rugby match at school

Josh
Five things I like are:

1. People in New Zealand are friendly
   
2. New flavours of ice cream such as Orange Choc Chip
   
3. Doing a lot more sport at school, like rugby, football and cricket
   
4. The toy shops are good
   
5. Family outdoor activities
   

Five things I don't like or miss are:

1. Missing family and friends
2. Shoes
   
3. TV channels
4. Missing English pronunciation
   
5. No theme parks
   

The best day so far was biking at McLeans Island (which isn't an island)

Ali
Five things I like are:

1. The close proximity of a range of different sceneries; beach, the 'Lakes' (aka Port Hills), 'Switzerland' (aka Mount Hutt), 'France' (aka Akaroa), Christchurch centre and shops.
   
2. Having met the Payne family at Singaport airport; Chris has become a good friend - just what I needed! Also having the Smiths nearby (older and younger) - always a delight to see familiar, friendly faces.
   
3. The 'can do' attitude of New Zealanders; they are eager to give a good service and please.
   
4. Children can be children and enjoy their childhood for longer; there doesn't seem to be the pressure to grow up too quickly.
   
5. Range and choice of restaurants and really good value; huge yummy icecreams for the equivalent of 60p!!
   

Five things I don't like or miss are:

1. Miss family and friends and don't like having to remember what time it is in the UK when we phone/skype.
   
2. The poor choice of good quality shoes - Sorry to Mum & Dad for having to post out shoes for Matthew from the UK!
   
3. The NZ 'Marmite' - yes, it may be called the same name but is not a patch on the real thing! Oh and ready to serve custard - when I asked at the supermarket they thought I was barmy!
   
4. The English National Curriculum - it would be great if I could just get a job using what I know already, without having to get my head around a different curriculum.
5. Still seeking the right church near us in Christchurch; will be great to be part of a Christian family again soon.
   

The best day so far was cycling at Mclean's Forest - beautiful sunny day, fun cycle track around the forest and great company with my three boys!

Mike
Five things I like are:

1. The landscape and scenery; from the Southern Alps to the beaches, forests and Port Hills. It's stunning and accessible.
   
2. Work is interesting and challenging. It's also given me the chance to travel to the North Island.
   
3. The welcome we've received, whether it be at work or from friends (new and old).
   
4. NZ pies and ice cream, though not at the same time!
   
5. The NZ 'get up and go' attitude to life.
   

Five things I don't like or miss are:

1. Missing Mum & Dad and others, though we've spent more time on the phone and Skype than ever before.
   
2. We haven't found a good church in our part of Christchurch...yet!
   
3. I'm missing 'The Guardian' and the butcher's shop in Tadcaster.
   
4. I've less free time than I had in the UK
   
5. I miss similies being completed! Kiwis describe things as "Sweet as" or "Big as" or "Good as", but never complete the phrase (see the blog link to the 'beached whale' for some fine examples.
   

The best day so far was going skiing at Mt Hutt. Good snow and less than two hours from home.

Our little kiwi and a trip over Mt Doom

It's the end of our first full week at No.186 and it's starting to feel more like home. I guess that whenever you move house, it seems strange at first. It's as though you are on holiday but never go home and at that point the new house begins to be home. Maybe having moved so far, the feeling is exaggerated.

I left the 'Mainland' (South Island) for the first time last week, heading up to the Bay of Plenty for a couple of site visits with work. It was great to get out and see a bit more of the country, even if it did mean an early start and four flights in one day! The views from the plane were amazing as we went from Wellington to Tauranga, during which we flew right over the snow-capped crater of Mt Ngauruhoe (better known as Mt Doom in the Lord Of the Rings films). The picture of the top is where I had lunch on my day 'oop north'. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!

Fortunately, my flights were with those capable but not too serious people at Air New Zealand. The cabin crew treat their customers as people, with friendly informality... On which other airline would the stewardess refuse to serve my snack of chips (crisps!) until I had pronounced it in a kiwi accent so that it sounds like 'choups'? And the safety video is worth a second look. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Mq9HAE62Y. Brilliant

We've had a busy weekend. Yesterday, we were cycling at McLeans Island on the banks of the Waimakariri. Our bikes are well and truly 'christened' with NZ dust after 15km through the forest on a track that included lots of humps and fast banked corners. Today we were 'church hunting' again and then had friends round for our first NZ Sunday roast dinner. The Yorkshire Puddings rose!

Last night, I sat and watched the rugby on TV with the boys. As the Springboks increased their lead over the All Blacks, Josh turned to me and uttered the telling words "I don't think we are going to win this". Maybe, he'll be trading his England rugby shirt in for one with the silver fern on it!

As I've written this, the sun has set and the view (below) from the office has faded for another day. So farewell for now and thanks to all of you that contacted me at the end of last week. Your thoughts were much appreciated.

Home sweet home

We are in own place at last. Thank you to Howard & Jill and Ian & Julie for their fantastic hospitatility over the last three weeks. You have been so generous.

With nice timing, our container arrived on the 1st September, exactly a month after we arrived in the country. I took the morning off work to help with the unloading, then left Ali to 'nest'. She also had to await a visit from the MAF Inspector, who needed to check our bikes, tents, boots, etc for creepy crawlies, seeds and other bio-contraband. We got off quite lightly, with only one pair of boots and some Christmas decorations requiring fumigation, so they've been take away.

It's lovely to have all of our own things again and the house is now starting to look like home, thanks to Ali's hard work. I've still to find out where everything is, especially in the kitchen. We've rediscovered things we'd forgotten that we had and it's joy to have more of a choice of what to wear.

The lounge is still looking a bit bare, as we await the delivery of a new lounge suite, but otherwise we are just about 'ship shape' and ready to receive guests!

We've also got the phone and internet installed, so we are officially linked to the outside world. Get in touch.

Another wintry day

We hear that there is something of a heatwave in Britain at the moment. Spring also seems to have come early to NZ, with the locals blaming El Nino. Though it's still August, we had 19oC (68oF) today, so the shorts and t-shirts were out.

We had a lovely day, driving 50 miles out to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. Akaroa was established as a French whaling station and still hangs onto the French influence. The sun shone and the boys had a swim in the harbour (sea loch?) shown in the picture above. We decided to save a trip out to see the dolphins and penguins until another day.

This time next week, we should be in our own house. The container arrived in Christchurch on Wednesday, but it won't be delivered to our's until Tuesday 1st, exactly a month after we arrived. Though it's been lovely staying with people whose generosity knows no bounds, it will be lovely to be in our own place at last.

The big event of the last week was the boys starting school. They have settled in remarkable well, though we had our 'ups and downs' in the evenings as emotional and physical tiredness took their toll. But in hindsight it has been a good week and we are all happy.

Another week... another home

It's sunday evening and we've moved again. After a lovely week staying with Howard & Jill in north Christchurch, we've moved to friends on the south side of the city close to our rental home and school.

The boys' holiday finishes tomorrow as they start at their new school, which is ten minutes walk away. They are fully kitted out with their uniforms and ready to go. The only issue seems to be confusion over which school year they should be entering. Despite conflicting advice from schools, friends and colleagues, all will be revealed tomorrow.

The boys and Ali had a busy week. As you'll see the boys have new bikes, but we've had to borrow helmets as their's are in the the container, which is due to arrive on Wednesday though we won't get our stuff until it has cleared Customs/ MAF and that could be a few days. On Tuesday the boys were climbing at the fantastic Clip'n'Climb centre, while they've also been swimming in the sea at Sumner (remember that it is still winter here!).

We've had quite a sporty week, with all of us going ten-pin bowling with the Beca social club on Tuesday and me (Mike) playing football on Saturday. With immaculate timing, I made my debut for South City Utd Firsts in the championship decider for the Christcurch Christian League. A 6-4 victory delivered the cup... and a few aching limbs.

We get the keys to our house tomorrow, though we're not moving in until the furniture arrives. However, we did have a big spending day yesterday, buying a fridge, freezer, washing machine and TV. That was a shock to the bank account, but the boys (all three!) are looking forward to the three month subscription to Sky Sports that came with the TV.

And finally... Ali had an interview on Friday for a teaching job, which was good experience but she didn't get the post, which was probably a blessing in terms of giving her time to settle the boys into school and sort out the house.

So as we settle into more of a routine here in Christchurch we're starting to feel at home and count our blessings, though we do miss family and friends from in the UK.

Until next time, bye.

Moving on

Sorry, but no photos this time.

It's Saturday night and we've moved out from the apartment in the city centre. It was a great location being close to work and all the central amenities, but we were starting to get a bit of 'cabin fever'. Our rental property at the foot of the Port Hills isn't available until the 24th and our container won't arrive before then anyway, so we have moved in with friends in Parklands on the north-eastern edge of the city. We're looking forward to going to their church tomorrow.

Mike finished his first week at work. It was a relatively gentle introduction and quite a change being back in a big organisation after ten years with Weetwood. Fortunately, there's a good social scene at work, which came into evidence this week with breakfast on Friday at a local restaurant.

Friday nigth saw Ali 'out with the girls' for a drink. The girls in question being friends a lovely lady (Julie) who has been a constant source of information and support over the phone since we were put in contact with her via Beca (Mike's firm) at Christmas. With Ali heading out, Mike and the boys went to the AMI Stadium to see Canterbury thrash Waikato in the Air NZ Cup, the rugby union regional representative competition. The game included a number of All Blacks, including Dan Carter, the local hero.

We now have our own car, having picked up the car on Thursday. This was despite Barclay's best efforts to stop us using our own money! Why do UK banks still insist that it takes 3-5 working days to transfer money, when our NZ bank does it instantly?

The boys have a week left of holiday before they start school on the 24th August. It will be the middle of the third term, so they'll get a two week break in September/October before the final term through to Christmas.

And finally, the weather has broken. After 12 days of glorious winter weather, winter is back with rain and overcast skies. But don't feel too sorry for us as we've been blessed in so many ways since we arrived.

Bye.

Back to work

OK, the fun had to come to an end, so I started work today. The commute is a bit tiring (not) as it takes at least three minutes to walk across the park to the office from our hotel. I was made to feel very welcome, but it was a busy day filling in forms, meeting people and even getting started on a couple of projects. I didn't have time to explore the swimming pool in the office basement!

After skiing on Friday, we had a more local weekend, visiting the beaches at New Brighton (Saturday) and Sumner (Sunday). It was chilly on Saturday, but very pleasant yesterday, so we sat on the beach and had fish and chips for lunch. Matthew even managed a paddle in the Pacific!

We tried our hand at 'sand art' at New Brighton, viewing our efforts from the pier. Our effort doesn't compare to the work of famous local artist Peter Donnelly (http://www.donnellygallery.co.nz/sandart/) whose work was featured on Billy Connolly's tour of NZ

The boys are visiting their new school tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to start in a week or so.

If anyone wants to Skype us, then for the next week we will only be online from 9am - 11am UK time due to the cost of internet access in the hotel.

Bye for now.

A busy couple of days

It's been a busy but good couple of days. We've signed up for a house and car. Having thought we'd go for an estate car again, we've ended up buying a Mitsubishi 4x4!! But it's definitely not a 'Chelsea Tractor'. Having taken the smart new hire car up 15km of dirt track to get to Mt Hutt ski area today, I'm glad we've gone for the 4x4 option.

I met my new colleagues at Beca on Thursday morning. They seem a good bunch and a team breakfast is planned for next Friday. The office is just round the corner from the hotel, so I won't have too early a start. It looks as though I'll get to do some travelling in the first few weeks, though it's likely to be limited to the North Island and nowhere more exotic.

We were out for dinner again last night, this time to a lovely couple who we met at church on Sunday. We've been overwhelmed by people's hospitatility and openess. It's so refreshing to be greeted with smiles and enthusiasm in shops and everywhere else. I even liked the car salesmen, as they are friendly but not too pushy. Amazingly, I was sold the car by a former pupil of Copmanthorpe Primary School in York!

Having sorted our jobs out and it being my last day of leave we treated ourselves to a day's skiing. Though the ski area wasn't big by Alping standards, the snow was excellent and we had a great day out less than two hours from home. And as we came of the slopes we were greeted to the sight of five keas (alpine parrots) clearing up the leftovers of someone's lunch.

Life is good.

A sunny place

It's Wednesday evening and the last couple of days have been good. We saw three more houses on Tuesday. One was 'too swanky' (as Matthew described it), while another was OK but not in the right school catchment. The third was a 'Neighbours' style bungalow at the bottom of the hill. Subject to references being OK, we're going for the bungalow, so I won't get my view of the mountains when I wake up! It's a good base for the next 8-12 months until we find that perfect place 'on the hill'.

That all makes the decision sound easy. It wasn't, as we all disagreed about which house we should take. The boys have been gracious in accepting our decision!

I've referred to the hill, which are the slopes of the Port Hills that skirt the southern edge of the city. They are fantastic, with the summit road running along the top of the ridge and criss-crossed by mountain biking and walking trail. Imagine the best Lakeland pass being five minutes from your suburban front door and you'll get the idea.

I went to the airport this morning to collect our parcel of excess baggage. As I drove there, my heart was lifted by the sight of the snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps in the distance. It's the same feeling that I used to get with the first glimpse of Alps when going skiing. I can have that tonic every day!

We have been incredibly lucky with the weather. It's been sunny and clear every day, there's been no wind and the temperature has been pleasant. Imagine the perfect March day in the UK. If the weather holds, we hope to go skiing on Friday to Mt Hutt.

I've been car hunting this afternoon. I think I've found one, so we'll take it for a test drive tomorrow. Being totally unoriginal, I'm going for the same make and model of car as I had in the UK!

And finally to our 'lost and found'... Chester the teddy bear is safely back in the Law household after his adventures with Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately, the iPod is lost. The airline had found another MP3 player near my seat, but it wasn't ours. If we had to get one thing back, I'm glad it was Chester.

Bed of Roses

If life in New Zealand is meant to be a bed of roses, then yesterday we hit the thorns. Emotionally we were very up and down, which can be put down to a number of factors, not least disturbed sleep patterns as we were still recovering from jet lag. I write this post at 10.46am having finally had a good nights sleep and the boys are still well away, so maybe we have finally adjusted to the 11 hour time shift.

Our spirits yesterday were further dampenned by unsuccessful house hunting. We visited three properties. One was OK, but the other two left a lot to be desired. We're visiting more today, so hopefully we'll find somewhere nice.

Our spirits were raised at teatime with a call from Singapore Airlines to say that they had found the iPod that I (and I take full responsibility) had left on the plane following our flight frlom London. Even better news was that they had also found 'Chester', a green and puple teddy bear who's a member of the family and had gone missing on the flight into Christchurch. According to the email from the airline, Chester had been found eating honey sandwiches in the plane's galley!

Today we are going back to the airport to pick up the lost property and also collect our parcel of 'excess baggage' that we sent by air freight. We're also going out for dinner tonight with friends, so it will be good to see familiar faces.

So, here's to a better day. We knew there would be good days and bad, but the sun always follows the rain (eventually). And if the house hunting goes well today, we could be skiing tomorrow!

We're Here

It's Saturday teatime and I write this from our apartment having made it to Christchurch. Unfortunately, jet lag has caught up with us and the boys have given in and gone to bed (we all dozed most of the afternoon). The journey has been long but interesting and remarkably easy from an admin point of view. We cleared NZ immigration and customs very quickly and were delighted to see Howard & Jill Smith (who Ali knew from Woodford) waiting for us in the arrivals hall at the airport. It was a lovely surprise to be greeted.

However, we did have to decline an offer of Sunday lunch from the Smiths, having already accepted an offer from a family that we met at Singapore Airport and then chatted to on the plane. What was the chance of me randomly getting into conversation with someone who's got two sons (aged 8 & 11) that go to one of the schools that we are thinking of for the boys?

Ali's been the star behind the wheel as she's got to grips with driving an automatic for the first time. I always get out of having to drive first in new places on the grounds that I navigate. Having left our bags at the apartment, we went in search of a supermarket to do the shopping. Then while the boys dozed in the car we went for a drive out to the coast at Sumner and through the suburb of Mt Pleasant, from where the attached photograph was taken. I really could wake up to that view every day!

It's been a lovely clear winter's day here, with some high cloud. This meant that we have a great view of the Southern Alps and Canterbury Plains as we flew in this morning on the overnight flight from Singapore. The boys have been fantastic on the flights. The flights were 21.5 hours in total, of which Josh slept for the last hour of the flight into Singapore. Otherwise he dozed for about an hour and watch films and played computer games for the rest! Glancing at the row behind, Ali and Matthew seemed to accumulate a good few hours in the 'land of nod'. I can't sleep on planes, so had Josh for company.

Singapore was excellent. I'm not a fan of big cities but I love Singapore. It's so clean, alive and ordered. We grabbed a cheap and tasty meal at a hawkers market on Thursday evening and grabbed breakfast on the way to Sentosa Island on Friday. In between, the hotel was the plushest that the boys have experienced and located next to Raffles. We all had our photo taken in front of Raffles, to echo the photo that Ali and I have from 1996. Two has become four! The boys particularly enjoyed swimming in the open air pool at the hotel at 9pm on Thursday night.

We spent most of Friday at Sentosa Island, Singapore's holiday resort. Goes on a 600m long luge track and 4D cinema experiences sandwiched and hour on the beach swimming in a luke warm sea with palm trees fringing the sand.

We thank you for your prayers and best wishes for our journey. It seems strange that we are so far away and at the moment it feels like being on holiday, but I'm sure that it will hit us that we are a long way from the UK sometime in the future. But for the moment, we are glad to have arrived safely and are all longing for a good night's sleep and a lie in. God Bless

1 day to go

It's been a very busy couple of days. On Sunday we moved out of our house and are now house-sitting at a friends house while they are on holiday. We've enjoyed feeding the chickens and the rabbit, though the rabbit is in the 'dog-house' [not literally!!] having made an audacious escape yesterday evening, only for his absence to be quickly noted. He was apprehended tucking into some foliage in the garden. Sorry Liz and Kevin.

Being in a fully equipped house, we were able to weigh our suitcases finally. We got a shock to find that we were way over our weight limit, which has lead to a frantic attempt to send a box separately by air freight to arrive in Christchurch next week. As I write, I'm waiting for the courier to arrive and pick up the (very heavy) box. It's the usual "anytime between 9am & 5pm" story.

Yesterday, we went over to Beverley to say good bye to Mum & Dad. As expected, that was very difficult, but it was lovely to spend a bit more time with them. We are so fortunate to have such fantastic parents and family. We will really miss seeing both the Mabbitt and Law sides of the family on a regular basis.

Though saying good byes over the last few weeks has been difficult at times and tears have been shed, it has also been brilliant in so many ways. We've caught up with so many people and realised how strong friendships and family ties are. It's been a real blessing. We tried to take a 'yes' attitude, accepting every invitation and opportunity.

Our lives have been busy with relationships, rather than with TV, radio, Facebook or even blogging! Funnily enough, the talk at church on Sunday was about not filling our lives with meaningless stuff but about living instead. Hopefully we'll take the same attitude into the next stage of our lives.

So tonight is our last night in the UK for some time. Please pray that we will have a safe journey and enjoyable time in Singapore before arriving in Christchurch on 1 August.

4 days to go

As we make final arrangements to leave our house, we've enjoyed another week of catching up with friends before heading off to Christchurch on Wednesday.

We had four nights in the Lakes with Mike's parents, which was fantastic and included those essentials of any visit to the Lakes, namely a decent walk (Coniston Old Man) and time in Ambleside's 'gear shops'!

In some ways it hasn't yet sunk in that this time next week we will be on the other side of the world in a country that we haven't visited before, but it's exciting and we're really looking forward to our stopover in Singapore on the way.

Ah well, back to varnishing windows and packing the house!

10 days to go

Wow! Where have the last ten days gone? In fact it's been brilliant but incredibly busy as we've taken the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, including visits to Leamington Spa last Saturday and to the Yorkshire Show on Wednesday. This round of farewells had started a month ago with a family picnic in York for friends from far and wide and continued with a lovely weekend with Ali's family two weeks ago.

It was the boys last week at school, including Matthew spending two nights on stage in a Yr6 production of Twelfth Night. Though the heavens opened on Friday, the last day at school was still fun with a Leavers' Assembly and limousine waiting for them at the end of the day. Josh's class presented him with a lovely book of best wishes from his classmates.

Preparations for leaving the house and settling in to Christchurch are moving on. The only big thing that we haven't done here yet is sell Ali's car. Any offers?

We all went skiing at Xscape in Castleford yesterday. We were using up our Tesco vouchers! It was good preparation for going into a southern hemisphere winter.

The last week has shown us what fantastic family and friends we have and we will miss you all dearly. But once we've mastered the mysteries of Skype, etc there's no excuse not to keep in touch. Relationships will evolve not end.

20 Days to go

It's only 20 days until we head south to New Zealand on our big adventure.

The container with all our household goods is already on its way, having reached Valencia in Spain. You can track the ship (MSC Carina) on www.marinetraffic.com It's due in Christchurch mid-late August.