Well, I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 weeks since our last update to you all. Apologies for the radio silence but things have been fairly quiet as we put everything into finding work and somewhere to live - there really wasn’t much to update on! On those subjects, work and housing that is, we have had some success at last! Jo-Ann started work 2 weeks ago working for First New Zealand Capital - they’re stockbrokers/fund managers - on an initial 8 week contract. They’re testing the water to see if its viable to expand their team so if it works [View Full Entry]

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Angus here reporting on a sensational sporting weekend that I experienced in Wellington. On Saturday, Jo-Ann and I went to see the Hurricanes play the Bulls in rugby’s Super 12. It’s a league made up of 12 teams from the southern hemisphere - 5 from NZ, 4 from South Africa and 3 from Australia. Each team plays the other once and then the top 4 in the league contest the semi-finals, and then there’s final. The Hurricanes represent the Wellington region and the Bulls are based in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. The rugby is renowned for being high pace, [View Full Entry]

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It was another cracking day so we resolved that we had no option but to hit the beach. Simon stayed at home and worked on his music (making up mixes for a part-Maori, part-Indian wedding) and the rest of us, kids n'all, headed up the Kapiti Coast to Waikanae Beach. The drive was about an hour but it was worth it - there are beaches much closer to the city, even some in the city, but they get a bit busy. There were only a handful of people on this beach which made it easier to keep an eye on the [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Wellington at 7:30am on 3rd March and we were met at the airport by our friends, Simon & Liann who we will be staying with until we find our own digs....which will take a while! Angus used to play basketball (if that's what you call it!) with Simon when he and Liann were over in the UK for 2 years and we stayed with them when we came to New Zealand last year on our honeymoon. They are so amazingly hospitable and we have fun with their kids, Isabella who is 3 and Dominic who is 11 months. [View Full Entry]

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We arrived at about 5:30am after a long flight from LA with a stop for 1.5 hours in Tahiti which we didn't know about until we got on the flight. After a very short wait for our bags (it helps when only one flight comes in at a time!), our chariot awaited and took us directly to the Aroko Bungalows. It was pretty basic but just what we needed - afterall it had a big bed, a shower, a fridge for the beers and a deck to sit out on with views over the lagoon. What more could you ask for? [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to our first journal! We decided to have a stopover in LA on our way to Rarotonga as we only had 1.5 hours between our flight arriving and our next flight leaving - with the new immigration & security procedures in the states we expected a long wait to be allowed in and we didn't want to risk missing our onward flight as the next one was 2 days later! As it happens, our flight arrived an hour early (can you believe it?!) and we would easily have made the flight. Mind you, we had no regrets about stopping over [View Full Entry]

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