Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

After the final relaxing day of the long weekend with Easter Monday, it was back to the normal routine. Nicky had a goodly amount of work on this week, only being at home on Friday. Claire has done her usual hours at Whitcoulls with the addition of Sunday evening stock taking, and I have been at Ubertec. The new edition of the Auckland Yellow Pages has hit to door steps this week, complete with my MacOnSite advertisement. It hasn't lead to any business as yet, but we have had three enquiries. My sister has been very busy keeping us informed and doing the arrangements for my fathers funeral. It is going to be on Thursday the 3rd at 11.15. I have decided not to return to the UK to attend and my sister, bless her, has been very understanding. On Saturday I crunched Lilly, our car, while reversing in a car park. I misjudged the location of one of those steel posts that they put in the ground low enough to prevent them being seen our of the back window - and drove into it. The damage ap

The Easter weekend has been a very welcome break for all of us, though tainted with the news of my fathers death (see previous entry). We get very little chance to do things together these days due to our work schedules, so we decided that we should have a family on day on Good Friday. The weather has been gorgeous all weekend apart from today - it is a bit cloudy but still in the low 20's, and now the sun is coming out as I write! On Good Friday we didn't have an early start what with having a lie-in and then Nicky needed me to massage her back as she has pulled something painful. So, by lunchtime we were armed with picnic and ready for our first family attempt at One Tree Hill. This is situated in Cornwall Park, about 25 mins drive due East of us. We parked, and then had a lovely couple of hours strolling up the hill, having our picnic and a snooze, and then coming down the hill via the "alternative" route which happened to pass the ice cream kiosk. Testing of said

Late on Thursday (21st) evening UK time my father died. He had been taken into hospital on Monday with an infection which turned out to be septicaemia. After about 48 hours he stopped responding to the antibiotics and started going down hill. By Thursday night he was very weak and slipped away. My sister and her family are being brilliant at keeping us informed. It hasn't really hits us yet. Rick

This morning I roused myself at 6.15, made tea for Nicky and porridge for me, and ambled off to the railway station to catch the first train of the day into town, at 7.41. The vast majority of people who got on the train, at New Lynn and all the other stops, were also heading for the Round the Bays Fun Run. This is an annual charity event, this year with around 47,000 participants paying $15 each. There seemed to be far more walkers than runners in my view, and quite a few people who were a bit of both. The 8.4km route takes the coast road out of town to the Mission Bay area. This presents some great views across the Wiatemata Harbour, and easy walking along the road with only one minor incline. Most walkers were in groups from companies or other organisations, or in family or friends groups, so there was great atmosphere. Towards the end of the route those who had already finishing were setting up barbecues on the beach, and the residents on the route were providing verbal support and

Well, as of yesterday, Friday the 14th, we have been here six months. I wasn't viewing it as a particularly significant anniversary until Friday actually arrived. We had discussed marking the date in some way (and have decided on cheesecake from the Cheesecake shop for tonight), but it wasn't until Friday arrived that I thought - "well there you go, six months". I felt a sense of "being here now". We can tick all the major boxes, we have a home, transport, we all have work and we had a really good time getting to NZ. However, I think it is also true to say that our life in NZ is still very much a work in progress. We are renting not buying our home. I would like a car which is more fun to drive. Nicky would like full-time permanent hours. I would like to be earning more. Claires' job is a job, not a career. But we have made a start. I never set any time scale on achieving things, but six months seems an appropriate point to look back at what we have achi

...is weird, but at least I am not alone. I have been reading a book by an Englishman who came to New Zealand in the early 1980's, and his experiences are very similar, which is not surprising, but reassuring. I think for me there are three things: 1. Roots - you don't feel you have any. Home is not quite here but also not far away either. For me, I have felt like this for a long time because I always felt like an incomer in Loughborough, even after living there for 25 years. Home, as my wife says, is where the heart is, and she is right. Geography is far less important than people. Interestingly, when people ask what do I think of when I think of home in England, it isn't anywhere I have lived, just somewhere that I am very fond of - Kinder Scout. Home to me from that perspective is sitting on Kinder looking out over the Edale valley. 2. Familiarity. Any one who has moved house more than a few miles will know it takes time to get used to a new place. Moving country is some