Are you having a laugh?

There's always time to have a laugh and it's even better when you catch people off guard. Here's a few that brought a smile to my face.

Now, that hat makes me sick!



Steve reminding me that Spurs were knocked out of the FA Cup losing to Chelsea 2-1



'You spin me right 'round baby...'



Roger doing his ironing. Such a domestic queen!!!

Streets in the UK

The UK has many cities under constant change. Yet, many places seem to remain the same because we're so used to seeing the images in the media. Can you guess where these pictures where taken?



Difficulty... you haven't got a prayer.



A new feature on an industrial landscape.



A popular shopping street in the West End.



This place is now described as 'Little India'.



Who am I? Where do I live?

Little Women

A trip up north gave me the chance to see how Dave and Mandy and the children are getting on. All the kids are growing so quickly. It didn't take long for us to get down to some fun and games which was a welcome bit of rest and relaxation.

The fabulous Becca who was so kind during my stay. She even made me breakfast! Top girl!



Nadine is certainly finding her voice and was happy to spend much of her time saying, 'hello Roger'.



Abbie looking wild, but then I did tease her a bit.



Sian recently turned 15 years and some of her friends stayed for a sleep over. There was much giggling so I kept a very low profile.



Mandy did a great job in assiting me sort out my return flights by checking me in online. This enabled me to cut out a number of long queues, get some good window seats and avoid the angst of arriving late. Cheers!!



Despite being surrounded by five women, Dave still manages to get his own way... sometimes.

Catching Up

It was good to catch up with a few poeple who are based in the South East of the country. The support from everyone during my time in the UK was welcome and valued.

Ian is a skilled photographer (still waiting for my first lesson), with a keen eye for detail. If anyone has any photographic evidence of Ian on a dance floor, please let me know - There's a huge reward for the best image!



Ryan is a top lad. Always a pleasure to be around and a dab hand at PS2.



It was my first opportunity to see Stacie and Simon beautiful little girl Coco. Such a cutie.




Sarah and Karen from Soundhouse Media were in London to launch a 'Living with Kidney Disease' DVD. Good to see them looking so fabulous.

Familiar faces from Sheffield

I had a very brief trip to Sheffield to catch up with some old friends. My apologies if I failed to meet up. As I'm sure you can imagine time was limited. However, it was great to see the familiar faces from the 'recent' past. It felt like I'd never been away. In fact, it felt like I was having a very strange dream.

Gabriella - she was a little sad that Theo didn't make the trip.



Menai taking the lead with the other children.



Wyn, Luis and Alex searching for the children.



The kids hiding behind a wall



Luis looking rather windswept.



Nav with young Charlie looking so sweet.



Jane and Nav looking so sweet.

Steve and some of his mates

Steve has always had an open house and during my time in London there were many visitors who dropped in on Steve. Here are a few who managed to get their face in front on the camera.



Paul with his defiant sulute - perhaps this was also a hint of his true feelings for anyone linked to the notorious British paparazzi.



Steve (Bertie) showing us the man of the moment.



Simon (the music man) later had his smile replace with a grimace following the 4 - 3 Spurs victory over his team West Ham.



Another Steve (Biko) with his sulute.

Steve in London

Roger's recent trip to London was made to give his brother Steve a timely boost as he undergoes his next phase of treatment. It didn't take long for the two of them to get back to their old ways talking football, life in the eastend and of course their rather large extended family.

Gorgeous Rita and Steve out shopping.



Steve and Dad sharing a joke.



Steve looking significantly younger that Roger, but that's not difficult!

Back in Auckland

Roger arrived back in Auckland after his long journey from London. Keep a look out for post and pictures from London as well as new updates from NZ.

Roger In London

Roger is back in London to visit his brother Steve who is not well at the moment. As a result, the blog will not be updated for a couple of weeks, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of stories to share when he returns.

Mission Bay Jazz

Each year there is a jazz festival at Mission Bay. This was our first opportunity to sample a flavour of the free festival scene in Auckland and it proved most enjoyable.



Here's Katie (one of Yasmin's friends from school), Lee and Mel whom we met recently.



Couldn't tell you who was playing, but the kids loved it.



The kids contemplate having a dance.



As the sun set, we continued to make the most of the night's festivities.

On the beach... again

These days going to the beach is a bit like our trips to the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. It's a short walk and when you get there it's heaven.



The now familiar view of Ranigitoto from Kohimarama beach.



Whist having a picnic on the beach a wedding group arrived to have their photos taken. I couldn't help joining in too.

Queen Mary 2

On Saturday we had the pleasure of having the Queen Mary 2 arrive in Auckland. It was a big event here with people travelling miles to see this huge 'ocean stretch limo'. It's length is a massive 41 double decker buses, has five swimming pools, eight jacuzzi tubs and the the main restuarant can seat 1347 people. The 23 storey high liner can hold over 4,000 passengers and crew. So, it was a sight to behold.



However, this is as close as we could get.



The kids making their way across town.



This is the main train station. We've not had a reason to travel by train so can't comment on it.



A reflection of us in the station fountain.

Sleeping Beauty

What do you do when your son creeps off at bedtime, seeks a safe secure hiding place and promtly falls asleep? This is typical of Theo and his bedtime antics. On hearing it was all too quiet in their rooms I went in search to discover what mischief they'd been up to. Yasmin was sound asleep, but Theo was nowhere to be found. Not in his bedroom, not under our double bed, not in the cuboards (he's been found alseep in these before). Tried the garden and beginning to panic now. Until I hear a faint wheeze coming from Yasmin's toy box and behold, beneath pillows and blankets lies a sweaty little boy. In the morning he can't remember a thing. So, here's one for the best man speech.

Picnic in Wenderholm

Summer wouldn't be summer without a few picnics in the park. We went to Wenderholm Regional Park with Simon, Hassanah and Max to play games, catch up and chill out. As always, you can't beat good food and good company to ensure a fine day out.



Tartan blankets on tour...



This is reminiscent of the views to get in Derbyshire.



'Pile on!' We won't be doing this in ten years.



Climbing trees is still part of the adventure whenever we find a new park...



And taking a well earned break is the best way to end the day.

Jon's last day in NZ

It was great to have Jon over for his month long visit. He is like a real brother and the kids treat him like a true uncle. During his time in NZ he became a integral part of our family and we miss him already. We hope it's not too long before we see him again - who knows, he might stay for good next time.



The departure at Auckland airport.



This is the best picture we could get of Jon who is notoriously camera shy. We took him to Waiheke island for his final day in NZ.



This is the Gun Pit at Fort Stoney Batter on Waiheke. Built in 1941 to defend Auckland from any future enemy attacks during WWII.



Later, we put on our togs (swimming gear) and swam in the warm sea. A great memory for Jon to take back to cold, grey snowy Sheffield.