I slept the whole of the morning and some of the afternoon waking up at 2pm. It was definitly needed and as Jan and Steve had to work was the only thing I could really do! I chilled out in my PJs watching re-runs of preseason NFL matches and doing some work for my Dad. I got dressed at 4 and headed for a walk around the town but it was soo bloody hot and at least 40 degrees centigrate. I grabbed a smoothis from a juice bar and sat on a bench in the shade watching the kids, just out of school running around, causing havoc and shouting "Oh My God!"...the youth of today! I went home just as Steve was arriving so we went out to get a phone for me that would work ... read more

Up at 3am, after only 4hrs sleep..., to pack and catch the 3.30am shuttle so I could get my 6am flight! When I arrived at the airport and dropped my bags security hadnt opened yet so I got some pre-breakfast. My first flight took my to Sydney where I arrived at 8am local time and had to wait for 2 hrs for my connection to LA. The plane to LA wasnt amazing and even though I thought I had chosen my seats I was sat somewhere completely different!! At least i had no one behind so I could incline the chair as the guy infront was a right arsehole and had it all the way down! I watched some flims but when it was time to sleep I simply couldnt sleep for very long and only ... read more

I got up early again so I could pack before heading up the coast to Mount Maunganui to meet Lauren Wade for lunch and stay with her parents that evening. The weather today was glorious which always seems to be the case when I am driving, luckily this time it was only just over an hour away! Before I left Terry had a call from the dog pound saying Oz had been picked up the night before so we went and got him and then i was on my way. On the route up the coast I passed a very long train carrying lots of wood, a sign of the massive foresting industry I had seen two days previous. When I arrived at the town I was 30 min early for lunch so went for a ... read more

Today I drove up through the wooded valleys of the North Island, past Lake Taupo, up to Whakatane in the Bay of Islands. Wood is a massive export of New Zealand so as I was driving up through the forests I noticed how there were large swathes of area with trees at different stages of growth. Some area was totally barren, having recently been harvested, but the rest ranged from a sampling up to fully grown pine trees. I arrived at Kathy, my grandad's 3rd cousin, and Terry Jones' house in the early afternoon and met Kathy's grandchildren; Lucy, who is 3, and Madie, who is 2. At first they didnt really wanna talk with me as they were shy but after we took them to the park and gave them a push on the swings ... read more

I had a nice lie in today and then we headed out for lunch with my grandads 2nd cousin Babara and her husband Jon (Kim's aunt and uncle). We went down to Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) where Emma Druitt, another cousin, and Renee study. Emma is studying to be a chef and at EIT there is a Scholars Kitchen where you can have great food cooked for you by the trainee chefs for great value. Georgia was with us as she is off school at the moment and Annie and Renee joined us for lunch. I had a great butter chicken curry and a smoothie. Emma brought out a chocolate dessert she had just been making and we all got a try! It was truely scrumptious! I had a lemon dessert and then Emma brought ... read more

I woke up this morning and put on my new Chinese tailored suit and tie from the BJ silk market. I was lacking a pair of black shoes so had to wear my timberlands, hoping no one would notice! I headed off to Petone on the north side of the Wellington harbour bay for my first meeting with William Tonkin at SSS Ltd. This was set up by Stuart after our dinner in HK. Bill had then set up my later meeting at the NZ Electricity Authority (get my title now....). Bill and I had a chat about the work his company did, the current state of the electricity market in NZ and then about his family history. My great aunt Nannette married a Tonkin and she is very interested in geneaology. Therefore I got as ... read more