March was a very busy month. The building work is now well under way following the completion of what proved to be major excavations and earth moving. The footings are in place and the block work has started so there will soon be a house shape to see.The picture on the left is what the house will look like and the one on the right is where it's at now. We'll leave the rest to your imagination!
Thanks for your message Sarah and, yes, we do have guest space. In fact, the council thought we were building a hotel as the plans had "Guest Suite 1", Guest Suite 2", and "Guest Suite 3" on them and we had to change the wording to "bedrooms" before we were given planning permission. So there is plenty of space for you all, including Rolo if he gets a passport. He may want to discuss the journey in the hold of the plane with the Furries before he embarks on it! We are hoping for lots of the many visits we have been promised by everyone and we look forward to showing people our little piece of Paradise here in the South Pacific Ocean.
We both continue to work hard, too hard perhaps, but have managed to fit some other things in. We did a tandem skydive from 10,000 feet a few weeks ago which was amazing (Lynn) and terrifying and amazing (Tom), with sensational views over Tauranga, the Mount and the Pacific Ocean.
A couple of weeks ago we swam with dolphins, which was a huge privilege. Actually, they swam with us as we were towed along at 5 knots by the boat as we held on to a swim bar. It was breathtaking (not easy when you are wearing a mask and snorkel!!) as they swam around us being very curious. They are beautiful to see. The sea was completely flat, and with clear blue sky overhead it was a wonderful day to experience nature at its very best. Tom tried his hand at sailing the boat and we negotiated the harbour entrance without mishap. Thankfully Butler, the captain, brought us into the marina!!
We have had glorious weather this summer and so far autumn is shaping up well despite Tom feeling the cold when it was 20 degrees this morning. What whimps we're becoming-it's doubtful if we could cope with snow ever again!
Lynn is doing a course in Maori Traditional Medicine and Tom continues to master the art of fly-fishing. We are off to Oz later in the year to see Maureen and Stuart, then to Tonga to swim with whales..............life is very good indeed!
More to follow soon...........................................................
