Where are our belongings?

Tom's car arrived in NZ on 16 February and our belongings arrived on 19 March and none of them have reached us yet! Everything is checked, scrubbed and decontaminated to ensure the biosecurity of NZ. As autumn starts to make its presence felt we are hopeful that some warmer clothes will arrive soon. Mind you, it's still over 21 degrees each day but with some rain and overcast skies.

Tom passed his college course last week and is now busy setting up his new business and learning Kiwi business-speak. "Sweet as" and "awesome" will simply not be enough!

We did a bit more touring of the area yesterday and discovered Wairere Falls in the Kaimai Hills. We intend to follow the footpath to the top, four hours round trip, if the weather is good next weekend and if our belongings arrive with our walking shoes etc.

The house isn't the same without Billy around and we all miss him so much. Pimms often looks for him in the bedroom he made his own and clearly doesn't understand why she can't find her friend. The dynamics between the 3 girl Furries have definitely changed and Pimms and Megan often rub noses. Perhaps Megan realises that Pimms needs to be comforted?

More to follow soon..............................................................

Billy

Billy, the oldest of The Furries, died yesterday at the age of 13 after a short illness. He had spent almost 3 months in New Zealand and he was happy here, stretched out purring in the warmth and sunshine.

He was a gorgeous cat, handsome according to Tom, with huge furry pugs, distinguished hairy ears, great big long whiskers, huge beaming eyes, and bushy tail that complimented his shaggy, shiny coat. His purr was extremely loud, as was his meow, and his presence always majestic and graceful.

We are grateful to everyone at Vet Care Tauranga and especially to Kathleen, the very kind and caring vet, who treated Billy with the compassion and dignity he deserved during his illness and at the time of his death. We will never forget the support given to us at such a heartbreaking time.

So now we are 5 and we all miss him terribly. Megan, Domino and Pimms clearly know something is wrong and that he is no longer with us and we are all having extra cuddles and tickles to help us through this extremely sad time.

Billy will stay in our hearts forever. We feel privileged that he shared his furry purry life with us. We have great memories of him- the bites he delivered to those who invaded his personal space, cat flap banging in the middle of the night, his loud demands for food, his love for Pimms, and his passion for catnip chocolates are just a few.

We also have some fab pics of him and the other Furries and we hope you enjoy the ones here.

Thank you Billy!

The Strand

Part of the fun of starting a new life in another country is making new friends. Yesterday we spent the afternoon on the Strand in the fun company of Tina and Ollie, two doctors who certainly know how to enjoy life.
The Strand? It's in downtown Tauranga next to the water and has a row of restaurant bars with outdoor tables and parasols. What better way to spend Saturday afternoon than in the sun at the Horny Bull Cafe, enjoying great conversation, eating fries and wedges, enjoying a glass of SB, learning more about Tauranga and NZ and sharing experiences of overseas travel.

Next weekend (Easter) sees Tauranga hosting a jazz festival and on both Saturday and Sundayafternoon there will be open air jazz on the Strand.

Monday is St Patrick's Day and the Emerald Isle people among you will be pleased to learn that St Patrick is not forgotten in NZ- among the many events is a best dressed leprechaun contest. Frank C, we will be thinking of you- have a great day and a hangover to be proud of!!

Despite it being early Autumn the weather remains hot and sunny- clear blue skies and 28 degrees.

Tom starts a 2 week college course tomorrow in preparation for setting up a business of his own. We still have only one car as the customs people have yet to release Tom's car for a spin on the open road.

More to follow soon..............................

Boogie Boarding

This is us riding the Mount Maunganui surf on our boogie boards earlier today! Wow! Ok.......you're right........it's not us, but it soon could be.

Despite it being early Autumn here the weather is still blue skies and 23-24 degrees every day. This afternoon we went to buy our boogie boards. Tom decided that like every budding surfer he may want to stand up so a bumper board, with 3 fins and an ankle strap, was for him rather than a boogie board. Did he stand up on it?.......NO!!! Did Lynn manage to ride the waves spreadeagled on her bright yellow (chosen as a contrast to the chilli red mini) boogie board?.....NO!!! Despite that, it was fantastic fun- the sea was like a warm bath, the surf was ideal for beginners, and as we were dunked and thrown about we understood yet again why we chose to move to this fabulous place.

We looked the part in our trendy board shorts bought for us by the Swiftshore crowd. The beach is vast and we certainly weren't the oldest people in the water. The best bit is that nobody laughs as they are all struggling to look super dooper cool too.

We arrived home exhausted and with grazed knees. We enjoyed the rush hour drive home with the boards sticking out of the mini. People were clearly surprised to see the two of us and not two trendy, bronzed and beautiful babes!

All that exercise left us starving hungry so Tom's prawn and scallop pasta dinner, washed down by yet another fab Sauvignon Blanc, was just what the doctor (Lynn) ordered.

An awesome day indeed........................sweet as!

More to follow soon................................................................................