Hot Christmas - Hot Springs

Christmas day was lovely - as appropriate for our first Christmas Down Under! Annie and Malc hosted the mayhem and as promised we all headed to the beach after lunch. All the kids had received wetsuits and body boards from 'Father Christmas', so they HAD to be christened. Despite the sun, the Pacific was cold, so only the foolhardy (the children, the men and Nana) braved the surf.

On the 30th we headed off to a local hotspot, Hanmer Springs (about 1.5 hours from Chch).
We spent the day wallowing in pools of varying temperatures and mineral content and playing in the kiddy pool of course. We can't wait to try it out again, maybe in the cold or snow!

Also saw our first lenticular clouds!

Meri Kirihimete

Meri Kirihimete to all. This is Christmas Eve and we've had a busy week. Matt's office had their Christmas Party on Friday afternoon and the kids received presents. A minor mix up - Ben got put down as 18 - not 18 months! Luckily his present of an over-sized frisbee (as big as he is) will still be well used! Matt now has 2 weeks off so we started exploring early and had a day out at Akaroa on Saturday.

The picture shows the view of Akaroa Harbour as approached from Christchurch and YES it is stunningly beautiful. We had a lovely day and the highlight of it all was a boat trip out into the bay. We saw pods of Hector's Dolphins, Fur seals, seabirds, blue penguins and much more. The boys loved the boat too and Joe was thrilled when we finally took off for home at high speed. No photos I'm afraid as the camera batteries died. (The dolphins were so quick anyway - we may have video footage if we're really really lucky).

Today was filled with lots of last minute jobs, but after dinner we popped down to the beach for 45 minutes before the boys went to bed to dream of Father Christmas. The boys stripped off and took to the surf. Ben runs away before the waves reach him and only just outpaces them toddling as fast as he can.

Well, they are tucked up now and I'm sure we are in for an early start tomorrow! Off for a swim (brrrrrr) before lunch! Not a new tradition that I'm quite ready to embrace. Thinking of all our family and friends. Happy Christmas!

Disneyland and fame

As we were leaving Disney HK, we were accosted (sorry interviewed) by some of the Disney press office. The kids got some gifts and we thought nothing more of it. However, here we are on the Disney HK site. http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/html/Christmas2007/en_US/index.html?share and goto page 7 (23rd Nov). The narrative is not strictly what we said (or anything like) but the sentiment is right.

Not the best photo of us, but my excuse is we were tired after 2 days of blasting Zurg and chasing Mickey and friends.

Houses and houses

Its been a busy week or so on the property front. First we find that the buyers for Groton have pulled out after dropping their offer by ANOTHER 10%, obviously we said no! Pretty devastating as it all feels so complicated to remarket from this distance. Still, the estate agent has started over and a viewing is lined up for next week. Fingers crossed!
Then, found a house here that we really like! Nice neighbourhood, minutes from the beach, family feel, ticking all the boxes. We've decided to stay in Christchurch in the short term, until we find our feet and know what our long term plans are going to be. Anyway saw the house, liked it and Bank of Mum has agreed a mortgage plan so we made an offer! The realtor came out to see us 4 times over the day until a settlement was reached. We now have 10 days to get the deposit paid and do the searches, survey etc, then its binding! Very different to England!!!!!!
Here's the link so you can take a slideshow
http://www.rwstalbans.co.nz/show?rd=1&qs=Y&ref=SBZ10233
Everything being OK we hope to be in by mid February.
All very speedy too. The surveyor was booked yesterday and is surveying 8.30am today. We should have the report by Thursday for some nice weekend reading.
On a lighter note we made it out of the city on Sunday and headed a few minutes south to some beautiful bays. Picture is the view en-route. Corsair Bay was pretty and the family picnicked on the beach. The kids (and men) braved the chilly waters and even swam out to the pontoon.
Today was an adventure at the skate park down the road. Joe bombed around on his scooter and a ride-on motorbike. Only one scraped elbow! Ben sat in the mud and turned himself into a sculpture.

Arrival NZ

We breathed a sigh of relief when we finally arrived at Christchurch airport and were met by Annie (& Olive), Carol, and all the Jacobs! A few hiccoughs at Auckland and a tiring flight from Hong Kong (Ben didn't sleep well), but we'd made it!
The broken trip meant that we adjusted quickly to NZ time. We had a few nights in a motel then escaped to a rental property - much better! Matt bought a car on day 2, so being mobile made things much easier. This beast has been named ED and Joe loves it! Honestly it doesn't look out of place here!
Ben experienced NZ health care on our first day - the broken nights in Hong Kong and on the flight were the result of ear infections - we'd spotted the conjunctivitis but missed the ears. A course of antibiotics and eye drops sorted him out pretty quickly.
The new house is a 70's throwback - down to the carpets, furniture and artwork. BUT it is clean and bigger than the motel! We have a small garden and are close to the local precinct. Best of all we are just 2 minutes walk from the beach. The boys love it and we pay a visit most days - even in the wind! We're also ideally located for a lovely playground next to the pier. It has an outdoor paddling pool and all the usual equipment. Further afield are great playgrounds with death slides and a skate park too.
We've tried out the QEII sports complex - the leisure pool is a hit - with rapids, waves and whirlpools. Ben lies back in his inflatable ring and spins and spins!
So enjoying the outdoor life - long may the sunshine last!

A start - at last

Finally a few moments to get this thing started.
We finally left the UK on 23rd November. Our last week was frantic, filled with goodbyes, packing, cleaning and more goodbyes. The removers were ruthlessly efficient and packed everything that wasn't bolted down. We camped in an empty house and then stayed with very kind and patient friends!
After our final (and very emotional) farewells the taxi delivered us and our mountain of luggage to Heathrow. 13 pieces in all including 2 car seats + two small excited children of course. We struggled through the pouring rain, check-in, security and departures until we finally made it to the lounge. Calm reigned for a couple of hours and we ate and showered before the flight.... aaahhhhh.
Joe loved the plane and was made up with his own individual TV! Ben fell asleep on take-off and slept for the next 9 hours!!! Joe also slept well and was woken for breakfast before landing in Hong Kong - all in all a great flight!
Hong Kong airport was chaos. We queued for ages to pass through immigration - not fun with the 2 fidgets in-tow! Eventually we arrived at the Disney hotel early evening (local time). Then the fun of keeping the boys up until midnight/1am with very little do. Lots of walking in the darkened gardens and playing on climbing frames in the dark! Luckily Goofy and the chipmunks visited the hotel and this filled a good chunk.

Disneyland

What can we say? The boys adored it! We spent a day and a half covering the whole site and were able to do most rides more than once. No queues!! Joe's favourite ride was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters - experienced at least 15 times! Ben loved Winnie the Pooh and meeting all the characters.
The boys were a bit of an attraction themselves. They were constantly being photographed and some people even tried to prise Ben from our arms. Most were really nice and asked of course!