More visitors :-) and January so far..........

We celebrated New Year's Eve at Louise and Brent's house with a barbeque and a lovely warm evening. A couple of days later Matt's Uncle Michael, Jeanette, Elizabeth and Catherine arrived in Christchurch as part of their NZ holiday. We met them at their swish hotel in the pouring rain (- our visitors must surely bring this with them as we had had been basking in sunshine the previous day!) We took the tram around the city centre and made a dash for the Art's Centre coffee shop as the hail pounded down. Matt had Ben tucked under his arm like a rugby ball and we all sprinted for shelter. The boys loved watching the flooding!
The next day was much more clement and we all took the cable car ride up the Port Hills for stunning views of the harbour and the city. Then we drove the short hop to Governor's Bay and had a wander down to the shore. By this time it was warming up nicely and we headed to the pub for lunch - as you do!
All too soon it was time for Matt to take them to the airport. The next morning Joe announced that he was really going to miss Uncle Michael and could they come and stay again..... yes please! We hope you had a lovely holiday and the trip back wasn't too awful.

January has been really busy. The boys have met up with their friends a lot..... we have had play dates at home and away, picnics in various parks, a trip to the Air Force Museum, fun at the beach, barbeques and still there is more to come.

Of course the highlight to date has been Matt's big birthday! It fell on the Monday so we had a party an the previous Saturday. The lucky boy has had more cards and gifts than in many years (must be a significant birthday or something?) including a table football/foosball game, DVDs, CDs, Whisky and Super soaker water guns X 3 ( a selfless gift from his sons).

We are off on our mini South Island adventure next week. We are all really looking forward to it - updates when we get back!

Love to all! Best Wishes for a fabulous 2009!

Merry Christmas

December has been a very busy month. Lots of activities going on at school, playgroups etc. We have seen Father Christmas more times than I can remember. He arrived on a surf boat for the New Brighton parade, on a vintage fire engine at our neighbourhood party, and on a Harley at the Parklands party. We also watched the big Smith's City parade in town and he attended parties at playgroup, preschool, Matt's work and playcentre!!!! What a very busy man!
Joe's school sang carols at the cathedral which was lovely - didn't see much of Joe as he disappeared behind some taller children. We then took 200 children to Hagley Park and they ran themselves ragged until it was time to catch the bus back. More than one of them (my son included) managed to get soaked in the pool (in their uniforms) so were a little damp on the way home. We had sports day and a final assembly to attend too. Joe had a visit to his new classroom and teacher. He will go up into a mixed year 1 and 2 class and is a little sad to be leaving some friends.

Sandrine and Daren came to stay with us for a few days and it was fantastic to have them here. They didn't see Christchurch at its best as it chose that weekend to pour down! We did the tram ride through town, but didn't get off at any of the stops because it was raining so hard :( We did manage to squeeze in some activities including a show at the theatre and a fantastic meal out. They borrowed our truck for the day and saw Akaroa on a nicer day, and we fitted in the Antarctic Centre on the morning of their departure. We'll miss them - come again soon! As you can see from the pictures the boys formed a real attachment. Joe insisted that Daren sat next to him at all times! and even did the bedtime routine!
We had a little get together at our house for Ben's friends - secret Santa included! The children gathered round our tree (decorated by Joe and Ben).

Christmas was the usual busy affair. Father Christmas got it just right with the boy's toys (Transformers, Bionicles, Hot Wheels track, Lightning McQueen, Mack, Clone Wars DVD, Skateboard gear .......) so they were very happy. We then scooted up to Katherine's place for a houseful! We decamped to Woodend Beach in the afternoon and braved the sea for a boogie boarding session. Great fun.

Matt has a few days off between Christmas and New Year so we are staying busy. We headed to the skate park yesterday and today met up with the Ralph clan for another few hours at the beach boogie boarding. Much nicer today as it has been a balmy 25 C and the sea was blue! The ocean didn't seem so cold somehow! Then we are off to the thermal springs at Hanmer. Forecast is hot hot hot so we shall probably stick to the cooler pools!

So although we are not quite used to a summer Christmas, we did feel a little bit better prepared this year. The festive spirit was easier to assimilate because of all the kid's activities and the community parties. Still miss the Christmas lights! (The picture below was taken at Ben's preschool party, outside at about 8.30pm!)

Happy Christmas to all!

Milestone

We have been here a year!

We can't quite believe what we've crammed into the last 12 months, yet we are firmly settled into our everyday routines of work, school etc. We celebrated this milestone by throwing a barbecue for family and friends. (Apparently we have passed the Kiwi barbecue test).

Of course we really miss all our friends and family in the UK. We REALLY miss you and think of you, (and talk about you) often!

Kaikoura - Where the mountains meet the sea.

We have just got back from a glorious weekend away in Kaikoura. A couple of hours drive north from Christchurch and a totally different landscape. We stayed in a house that we shared with the Ralph family! Close to the beach (and the railway line) but handy for all the fab things to do in and around Kaikoura.
There were different highlights for each of us. Matt and Joe headed off whale watching for the afternoon (Ben was too small to make the trip). We had all got up at 6.30 am as the trip was due to leave at 7.15. However, the fog was thick and they were re-scheduled at 1.15pm (by which time it was blazing hot with a nice calm sea - perfect.



Matt took hundreds of photos (and a little video)
of the 3 sperm whales that they encountered. As well as seeing the whales, Joe was thrilled to be given a seat next to the Captain of the boat. He spent an hour there chatting to her and even got to 'drive' the boat!

Meanwhile Ben and I headed up the coast to explore some of the other coves and bays. It really is stunning!

We saw lots of New Zealand fur seals in the colonies that live along that stretch of coast. A really special experience was seeing 3 young seals that make their way up a rocky river to a waterfall and plunge pool. They rolled around and played in the water for ages - it was gorgeous. The new pups will be born in the next couple of months and their mothers take them up to this waterfall - perhaps we shall have to go back in the new year?

We also visited limestone caves, had some lovely meals out including the locally caught crayfish (Kaikoura means 'to eat (or eating) crayfish') and had a good time catching up. As a bonus, Matt and Chris amazed Anna and I by their thorough knowledge of ABBA lyrics as we watched Mamma Mia one evening!!

On our way home we all stopped for a few hours at Gore Bay. We had a picnic, basked in the sunshine and braved the chilly water. We are sorry it's Monday tomorrow!

Arrest Shock!

Photographed as it occurred -
3 boys arrested at New Brighton Fire Service anniversary parade.
After setting off the police car sirens and stealing a policeman's hat!


And just for those that like that sort of thing.....

Halloween

Bizarre! Halloween festivities in the sunshine and 'trick or treaters' in the light! (they were all really polite too!).
Ben spent the 2 days in the run up to Halloween dressed in a frog hat - lots of laughs from passers by. It was apt on the morning of the 31st because we had a 'green day' at playgroup.

The early evening was taken up by the twilight fair at Joe's school and then home for our first daylight Halloween!
Next stop - a late night Guy Fawkes ! A light show at the pier in New Brighton, followed by fireworks, which we plan on watching from our local beach.

Dolphins

Wow- we headed to Akaroa on Labour Day. Blazing hot and beautiful calm waters and got our best views of Hector's Dolphins yet!. (the world's smallest and rarest oceanic dolphin) It was just gorgeous!!!!! Both boys had a fab time running around the boat and were excited by the wildlife spotting. Just a few pics follow XXXXXXXX