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.