Every two years, the big quarry in Drury, South Auckland, opens its doors for a family fun day. After seeing the ad in the local paper which promised rides in big trucks, a giant sandpit and (mostly importantly) free ice-cream! Now there was an offer we simply couldn't pass up. The event began at 1.30pm and we rocked up a littler later at around 1.45pm. I hadn't been expecting it to be very popular - I mean it's just a day at a quarry - but there were hundreds of people already! We parked up and made our way to the [View Full Entry]

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Some of you may remember that back in November last yeat and over Christmas, we were visited by my long lost school friend, Mia and her Canadian boyfriend, Isaac. That was when they first arrived in New Zealand about to embark on a year of travel and work. Incredibly, that year has now passed and Mia and Isaac are back with us to stay for a couple of weeks before heading back briefly to the UK and then on to Canada. As most of their time with us so far has been spent trying to sell their campervan and pack/unpack/repack a [View Full Entry]

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A few weeks back, Glynn and I enjoyed a brilliant day out at the Armgeddon Expo and I thought you might like to see some photos! Armageddon is basically a big event full of everything a geek could possibly ever want. For anyone into sci-fi, video gaming, graphic novels, cult TV and movies, Manga and cosplay, this was without doubt THE place to be! The expo ran over 3 days and we opted to go on Day 2 when we knew Seth Green, of Robot Chicken, Family Guy and Austin Powers fame, would be there to sign autographs. It was a [View Full Entry]

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The last couple of weeks have seen a sudden onset of cold, wet weather just when we were starting to think spring was finally on its way. Then suddenly this morning the sun came out to play! Not wanting to waste the opportunity, we jumped in the car and headed south to Hamilton, about 1.5 hours from Auckland. Hamilton is one of NZ's major cities but with a population of around 130,000 it is small enough to explore on foot. We started our walkabout with a quick pitstop to Subway to buy our lunch and then made our way to Lake [View Full Entry]

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One of the things I love most about living in New Zealand is having so much great scenery right on our doorstep. Even now after living here for almost 2 years, we are still finding new nooks and crannies to explore. Today we took a drive to pretty Clark's Beach, a small beach-side community made up primarily of baches (holiday homes), just a 30-minute drive away from home. It's been a long while since we were out exploring properly as winter, although not as harsh as back in the UK, has been pretty damn cold this year. Now that spring has [View Full Entry]

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With a head stuffed full of cold and a nose that refused to stop running, I had pretty much decided to not bother going out today, even though it's my last day in Sydney. Then, at around 11.00 am, my nan and Jeanie announced they were going for a walk from Manly to Shelley Beach and I was surprised to find I was actually starting to feel a little better by now and said I would join them. I popped on my trainers and headed out into the bright winter sunshine. My uncle Kev had said that if I was back [View Full Entry]

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At the tail end of yesterday, I was starting to come down with a cold and was dreading the fact that I might have swine flu - not because I'm scared of the virus but more the fact that I might not be allowed back into New Zealand! By this morning I was confident it was only a bad head cold but it really couldn't have come at a worse time as today we were heading off to the Blue Mountains. I made sure I packed an entire toilet roll to keep my runny nose at bay and set out determined [View Full Entry]

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Halfway through my stay in Sydney, I felt the urge to finally get out and into Sydney's central districts. My nan and her friend Jeanie had originally intended to tag along but the long Bondi to Coogee walk yesterday had left them wanting to rest up back in the Manly apartment instead. My uncle Kev kindly drove me into the city, right into the heart of Chinatown where I was on a mission from Glynn (not God) to track down a particular electronics store and pick up some goodies that are hard to come by and much more expensive in New [View Full Entry]

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Another day, another bright ray of sunshine to greet us. Last night we all stayed in Sharmilla's apartment in Bondi with the intention of walking the Bondi to Coogee coastal path. Sharmilla had stayed with my cousin Danny overnight and was die to meet us around 10.30am. I slept surprisingly well considering the grown-ups got the bedrooms and I was relegated to the couch and I was really looking forward to stretching my legs. Sharmilla rang to say whe would be a little late but that she was going to being her mum, Lydia, along which was a bonus and would [View Full Entry]

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Where the bloody hell am I? Oh yeah, Sydney. Australia. On my own with no Glynn and a Jish in my pocket and a whole week off work! In case you're thinking I'm the world's worst wife for abandoning my husband, allow me explain. My nan, Betty, who is 82 has flown over to Sydney from the UK to for a holiday. She's staying with my aunt and uncle who are seasoned house-exchangers and have landed themselves a pad in the beachy suburb of Manly. I haven't seen my nan since we left England 1.5 years ago so I jumped at [View Full Entry]

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