First Installment

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The Flight
We've survived the rather tedious and at times gruelling journey. Lucy fared the best, Catherine came off the worst. We had thought that an evening flight would mean we all slept initially, but when you are served a hot meal of lamb at 11.30pm it is hard to sleep afterwards. Having got to Hong Kong I thought this isn't too bad, I can manage this, but the second part seemed to drag more as we all got more and more tired. But that seems a distant memory now as we are now settled into Dean and Sue's place, and discovering the delights of the country.

It seems a good idea to record your first impressions of a new place soon after you arrive, otherwise what strikes you as different initialy vcery soon becomes familiar. Having travelled to some other places where everything was different, like India, coming to New Zealand is less demandingly different. What I felt at first was the kindsness and openness of people here. from the momoent we got to Auckland Airport it seemed people were chatting and interested in us.

We had a bit of a rude awakening about New Zealand's policy of the environment. They are very strict about biosecurity, which means all shoes, boots etc have to be spotless or else checked before you are permitted entry. This meant that we had to unload wellies, and walking boots which may have brought unwanted particles into the country, and since they weren't clean enough they had to be taken away and washed. They are also very hot on not bringing in any food stuffs, and when you travel with children you invariably have snacks tucked away. A sniffer dog found an unclaimed apple in our hand luggage; mildly embarrassing for Jon who had to open everything to locate it. I was tucked away in a corner feeding Lucy at the time, and only joined the rest of the family after it had all happened. But it could have been worse, we could have been fined on the spot!

Having travelled on the largest of all planes to get to Auckland we then travelled on in the smallest to reach Whakatane. It's a good intoduction to the countryside to have an aerial view. It looked so green and pleasant, not dissimilar to some English countryside.

The place we are staying is incredibly beautiful. We have stunning views of the Bay of Plenty, and with the ever changing light and the variations in the tides, there is much to enjoy and soak in. We have explored a little of the local towns of Oportiki and Whakatane, and have found people welcoming and friendly. Some men going fishing invited Jon to go with them for a couple of hours sea fishing, he accepted and came back with about 9 red snappers! Not every day you have such an offer or such an experience.

We are just planning our first trip further afield this weekend. It is a holiday weekend for the Queen's birthday, not a festival much celebrated in England!

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Photos

Bio-security
Our offending wellies ('gumboots') returned from quarantine after bio-cleansing

Our view
Always changing, and one of the things we miss most now we're back in England