Awesome New Zealand is Sweet As.

After almost a month we have no regrets at all about our move to NZ and Tauranga! We were looking for a lifestyle change and it's "awesome" to have found it.

"Awesome" is a much used word here and seems to apply to just about anything. "I'm sorry to tell you you've broken a bone" is met with "Awesome", as is "Thank you", "Hello" and any comment about the weather, NZ and Tauranga.

Another favourite is "Sweet as", which seems to be a substitute for "Awesome" as well as having it's own uses. "Is that ok?", "Are you ok?", "I'll see you later" are all met with "Sweet as".

We still haven't mastered the accent and understanding people on the phone is difficult at times- the letters "a" and "e" sound like "i" so the cats are kits, the place KatiKati (just up the road from here) sounds like KittyKitty, and we'll leave you to imagine what pest sounds like!

Earlier this week we had 2 days of torrential rain as Tropical Cyclone Funa hit the country. It was very humid and hot (>25 degrees) and we lost our fabulous view as our heads were in the clouds.

When the rain left we were back to clear blue skies- "Sweet as"! The full moon has been spectacular over the ocean and when it rises it provides a flame red backdrop to Tauranga- "Awesome"! We are looking forward to a partial eclipse in about 10 days.

Thanks for all your emails and other communications- we love hearing from you all as well as seeing a few of you on Skype.

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

The Police in Wellington

Thank goodness we are middle-aged rockers and recognised the importance of the reunion of The Police and their worldwide tour. Even more thanks to Elaine and the gang for getting tickets not far from the stage with a perfect view of the whole performance.
What a concert!! The passion of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland for their music shone through which added to our enjoyment. Their brilliance as musicians was beyond question, even after all these years. As ever, Sting's magnificent voice had everyone singing along and dedododo dedadada and yyyyeho were the order of the night. Champagne moments were many and included Walking on the Moon, Roxanne and especially Every Breath You Take.


We bopped until we dropped, sang until we were hoarse and were proud to know the words of every single song. So... middle aged? yes! but we have still got all our marbles.
We decided to fly from Tauranga to Wellington and enjoyed a really scenic flight from which we saw Lake Taupo and Mount Ruapehu, which still has snow on top of it despit NZ temperatures of at least 25 at the moment. Wellington, the windy city, was just that.....windy!!! We hired a car and drove back overnight and managed the 520Km in 7 hours. We were too exhausted to play our air guitars when we got back but we will jump around on Pride Rock and play them this evening as the sun goes down. Hakuna Matata!!
Talking of guitars, Sting's guitar must have been his original Police one as it was so worn and had almost no varnish left on it.
Sting has the brightest blue eyes in case you girls out there haven't noticed (an observation by Lynn and not Tom!) Gaynor..........we know you said you might never speak to us again if we went to see The Police but please do so that we can tell you more about the concert and Lynn can discuss his Fab blue eyes with you. The tour is almost over but perhaps you have time to get tickets for Tokyo? Is Tokyo far from Hong Kong?!
More to follow soon.............................................yyyyeho.

Skype

What a pleasure it has been to communicate with people on Skype.
Our first contact was with the Swiftshore crowd in Gorran Haven. Little Tom.......what funny faces you pull! Little Sarah.......we weren't surprised that your face kept popping up in front of everyone else! It's such a chore being gorgeously fabulous isn't it?
Today, Tom's mum was successful in getting up and running with Skype. Her patience and tenacity are remarkable indeed and it was great to share her excitement and that of Tom Snr in our first video contact with them.
So, get Skyping all of you as we'd love to see you all.
More to follow soon.........................................................................we are off to see The Police in Wellington tonight.

Sun, Sand and Surf

It's been a beautiful day with clear blue skies and a temperature of around 28. We went for a long walk on the beach and enjoyed the surf and white sands.
We have decided to buy body boards and wet suits as the body boarding looked so much fun. Wetsuits? we hear you say- well, despite the outside air temperature the Pacific Ocean was cold even to paddle in and don't forget that we are middle aged, though young at heart. Let's not forget either that we are not complete whimps as we did brave the English Channel on Boxing Day, all in the name of charity!! (if you don't believe us please watch the video clip on the earlier blog for evidence).
On Thursday we are going to Wellington to see The Police...........thank you Elaine and all at Swiftshore!
Rod the mod Stewart is appearing in Auckland in February and as some of you know Lynn thinks he is definitely sexy so tickets are being sought.
The Barron Knights are appearing in Tauranga at the end of February- another must in view of the association of band member Peter with Woburn Golf Club.
More to follow soon...........................................

Paradise Found

After almost 2 weeks we are still sitting on Pride Rock each day and taking in the fantastic views. We really feel that we have found paradise, a word we have heard used many times to describe NZ and, more recently, Tauranga. Definitely Hakuna Matata is the order of the day here!!!!!!
It's been a busy week. Lynn started work last Monday and is really enjoying the job. The Emergency Department is very friendly and welcoming and working without mention of government targets and NHS politics is a great pleasure.
We spent 2 very enjoyable evenings earlier in the week with Andrew and Rosemary- we are trying to persaude them to buy the plot of land next to the one we have bought. Hopefully the UK weather on their return from NZ yesterday will persaude them to think seriously about coming back to NZ!
We now have Broadband and a home phone number and you should have received our new contact details. We are also on Skype so please let us know if you are too- it will be fun to see you as well as talk to you. We have received so many messages wishing us well and we are very grateful to you all for keeping in touch with us. David.......when that lone pigeon and the pond life get too much for you, why not try the ED in Tauranga for a change?!
More to follow soon.........................................................

Pride Rock

We have now been in New Zealand for almost a week and our dream has come true! We feel very comfortable and at home here and have no regrets about our decision.
The past week has been very busy and interesting and we have enjoyed glorious weather since we arrived.
We spent our final couple of hours in the UK in the Virgin Club Lounge at Heathrow, as guests of Julie and Chris who we met last year on safari in South Africa . By pure coincidence they were flying to Dehli at just about the same time as our flight to NZ. Drinking bubbles with them and sharing travel experiences and plans with people who have a similar outlook to life and travel was the perfect end to our time in the UK.

Our Air NZ flights came up to expectations although we had a bit of a shock when we checked in and were told that our baggage was 71 Kg overweight- at 33 UK Pounds per Kg that meant we faced a bill of over 2000 pounds. Ugh!!! We managed to sort out the cases and sent the 71Kg with another company and at 250 UK Pounds it was cheap!
We were met at Auckland Airport by a fab Chilli red convertible mini- wow!

The Furries arrived 24 hours later and thankfully seemed none the worse for their journey- Airpets Oceanic (Willowslea Kennels near Heathrow) were fantastic and we are grateful to them for the care they gave not only to the Furries, but also to the anxious owner. They seem to love their new home and within 24 hours were exploring the garden and establishing their territory.

There is a huge flat rock in our garden and it provides a great vantage point from which to take in the amazing view from our new home, across Tauranga and the Mount and out to the Pacific Ocean. The six of us have spent some time sitting on the rock and taking in the view. So, we have called it Pride Rock- you will recall that we enjoyed The Lion King very much!

We are proud to be here and proud of the decision we made to experience life in NZ.
More to follow soon....................................................