Food Glorious Food

Meeting Paul and Sue has been one of the special things to happen to us since our arrival in Auckland. They have been very supportive and being with them is great especially for the kids who all get on so well. They have the honour of being the first visitors to share a meal in our new home.

George picking a lemon for the tree in the garden. Show off!



Two families together again for a Boxing Day meal. You can't see the lemon, but it's there hiding amongst the fish.

Beachside on Boxing Day

Boxing Day on the beach - now that can't be bad! With their friends Tuan and Yen, the kids had a fab time on Kohi beach riding the shallow waves and building sandcastles while the big kids sat about soaking up the afternoon sun. All this after a hectic morning shopping in the post Christmas sales. We haven't seen so many kiwi's gathered together in one place, it was like a scrum at the checkouts and it put the Oxford Street January sale to shame.



What can you say - sun, beach and beautiful views.



Roger looking mean and moody - more moody than mean though.



George looking every so glam and sporty.



Theo and Tuan having completed their submarine which they later enjoyed destroying.

Christmas Dinner

We had a wonderful traditional Christmas Day meal with Hanafiah and Matthew. There were thirteen around the table and we ate and drank with much laughter and merriment followed by some sleepy eyed relaxation. It was really good for us to have our first Christmas in NZ surrounded by such generous family. It was also good to meet Simon's family (before Simon & Hosannah's wedding next year), but the star of the show as always were the children Max, Yasmin and Theo - Christmas is such a special time for children.



Hassanah & George prepare the Christmas pudding for burning as Lesley looks on.




Everyone is busy opening or waiting for their Christmas present to be delivered from under the tree.




Hassanah looking particularly festive with the tree behind her.

Christmas Day - surf dudes

Santa was very busy and started his work delivering present in NZ before making his way across the rest of the world. Yasmin & Theo have been very fortunate in getting some fantastic gifts and below you can see who some of them have already been put to good use.




'Look what Santa has given us. Now we need to try them out.'




'Bring on the waves...'



Even a three inch wave can to topple the best.



'I'm getting the hang of this now.'



'Now we look like professionals. Even the grown ups admire our skill.'

Christmas Carol Singing

Christmas Eve just wouldn't be Christmas Eve without some traditional carol singing. We used to gather on Southgrove Road, but now we having to establish something new. So, we accepted an invitation from Paul and Sue to attend the children's service at the Auckland Cathedral in Parnell. It was a lovely event complete with nativity and carols. Just what we were looking for.



Here we are together in the Cathedral for carol singing.



The nativity was invaded by little helpers who were allowed to roam freely wherever they wanted, Kiwi style. There was a real baby form the play who performed without fear or tears.



At the end of our new road some of the local children decided to perform some carols for the neighbours and raise a bit of money too. It was the first chance we've had to meet some of the other families who live nearby.

Christmas Eve Playing

Playing in the park on Christmas Eve is not the kind of thing you would do in the UK. When you're on the other side of the world in the midst of an summer you have to embrace a different apporach. We too the opportunity to have a little play in the late evening sun around 7.30 pm in Newmarket park not far from home. It's just another way our experience of Christmas is so different to our lives in Sheffield.




George looking lovely swinging about in Theo's Santa hat.



What a great way to spend Christmas Eve on a roundabout in the park.



You could almost imagine this being a Christmas tree and the children being little angels fighting for top spot.



Paul and Roger get into the swing of things.

Our New House!

We've finally moved into our new house, five days before Christmas. It's a relief and a pleasure to know we don't have to move house again for a few years. We can finally unpack our boxes and surround ourselves with our things. The kids can have their toys to play with (who needs presents?), we can cook using our own utensils, we can sleep in our own bed using our own sheets, we can sit in our own chairs and look at our pictures and photos from the UK. There's still plenty to do, but at least we can focus on making this house our home.





This will be the study. Roger made it a priority to get the internet connection up and running so we could get the blog published.



Now the job of unpacking can begin. We've already started to throw out things from the UK. If we haven't needed it for the last four months, why bother now.

First visitors from the UK

Our first visitors for the UK have arrived. Clare, Martin and their children Ben and Sam touched down after a 37 hour door to door flight from Stafford to Auckland. They looked remarkably well and in very good shape considering their long haul. They are in NZ for three weeks over the Christmas period. We will be joining them in Rotorua for New Year before they return to the UK. It's lovely to see them and share our experiences over a few drinks. They are a wonderful family and great friends who always manage to make us laugh. They flew off to Nelson after a couple of nights with us and will tour the south part of the North Island before returing to Auckland on 1st Jan.

Sam flanked by the children shortly after coming out of the airport.



Clare and George in the playing fields of St. Thomas's school a few hours after arriving in Auckland. Doesn't she look well!



Clare getting instructions on how to conduct herself in a foreign country as Ben, Martin George and Sam offer advice during our trip on the Broadway in Auckland city.



Ben was very brave diving into a cold pool. It took him a few minutes to get used to it before performing several dives for the camera. Shame none of them came out very well. Never mind, it was fun watching him shiver.

Pre-School Party

It was really good that Theo was invited to his pre-school party because he was only there for about a month before starting real school. Apparently he went back 'due to popular demand' as a special request from other children. There was a bouncy castle, train rides, but Dad forgot to bring the party food so they had to share with some new friends. A very friendly crowd!



How cool is this!. Santa arrives on a Harley motorbike. He took everyone by surprise including many astonished parents who couldn't help applauding his cool new look.



The children can't believe Santa has arrived. The was so much excitement around you could almost feel it.



Each child was given a present from Santa. He looked very tired at the end of the party.

School Sports Day

Sports day at St. Thomas's school is very competitive. All children have to run in heats to see if they can make it to the sprint final on sports day itself. Theo came forth in his heat so missed the chance to run in the final. Yasmin won her heat and made her way to the final with ease. There were a number of events from long jump and discus through to the traditional sack race and sprints. It was really good to see the children doing their best and having a fun time even when they didn't win. Everyone is rewarded for their efforts, but the winners get a certificate. A great day!

Yasmin learns the correct stance for throwing the discus which is actually a frisby in this case.



Theo is ready to do his best as Miss Harrison (Yasmin's class 19 teacher) looks on.



Theo runs his heart out during the relay.



Yasmin looking very relaxed having won her sprint final. She is now the fastest six year old in the school. Congratulations and well done!!!

Camping Part 1

We went camping in Waiwera with Paul, Sue and their children Tuan and Yen. It waas our first experience of camping since school and proved a testing time with lots of rain to cope with and the usual challenge of having to put up a new tent in pouring rain as darkness falls. It was a fun and we do plan to do it all again soon - the Kiwi madness is beginning to sink in!



Roger takes a break leaving George and Paul to work out the arrangement of pole as the rain soaks through.



Somewhere over the rainbow is a campsite bathed in sunshine and we have to admit that it seemed appropraite that it was us considering the heavy rain we experienced during our first night in the tent.

Camping at Waiwera

Part 2.
We ceratinly got a lot out of camping...



Roger taking an early morning walk on an empty beach.






Here Tuan, Yaz, Yen and Theo standing ourside the hot springs.



Camping wouldn't be camping without the rain for company.



What else would you do witha cricket bat and a few stumps - form a band?





Performance was the order of the day - Yaz is joined by Yen, Mia and her little brother.




Roger and Paul get to grips with the preparation of a dried cooked breakfast - that dind't go down well at all.





The first of may accidents - Theo managed to trip with a metal pole in his hand and land in the tent.

Our New House

Well we finally managed to find somewhere to live. It's a four bedroom cedar house in Kohimarama. It's about two minutes from Kohi beach, a short walk to the park and just a around the corner from the St. Thomas's so the kids don't have to worry about changing schools.

We bought the house at auction on Tuesday 6th December, settlement (completion) will be on Thursday 14th December and we move in on Wednesday 20th. Buying a house in NZ couldn't more simpler. Obviously there's plenty to do between now and our moving date, but we're happy to take up the challange of moving five days before Christmas. This will be our forth move this year so we'regetting the hang of it now, but we wish we could close our eyes and get there without having to deal with the many issues that come with this kind of move.



This is the patio. For those who knew our home in Sheffield, this house has a small garden, but comes with a wrap around deck.





Entrance hall.



Here's the deck with the bush setting.




The family room which looks out onto two decks and is linked to the open plan kitchen area.



The kitchen.




The lounge.

I want to ride my Bicycle...

Well, the adventure continues with the recent purchase of a couple of bicycles for George and Roger. It's something we wanted to do in Sheffield, but we waited until our arrivial in Auckland. So, after a trip to the shop we emerged with a couple of sparkling bikes. All we have to do now is negotiate the Auckland traffic. Should bring many years of joy!



Roger and the kids get ready to sample the delights of Tamaki Drive.



George looking good with the beach on one side and the cycle path on the other.



And this is the view as you cycle along the famous Tamaki Drive. Not bad! The sea was full of windsurfers and with Rangitoto forming the backdrop, the ride was beautiful.



This is the newly created St Helier's beach and as you can see the view is stunning.



All done and packed away in 'Bess' (the kids have named her) the Previa.