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.