Moving to New Zealand

It seems that NZ does fireworks far better than the UK. On the 5th we went to New Brighton (aka Eign Gate by the sea for Hereford fans) and watched the fireworks from the beach. Wow! They came off the pier and were amazing.... no photos of that but another recent "event" was Halloween and we did go to a Halloween party.... both events not quite suited to NZ summer - Although it was nice not to freeze to death while watching fireworks.

The baby's room is now pretty much done - Other than a few more basics like a fully sealed bin/type thing for the smelly nappy liners (nice) we are good to go. As requested by some here are a few shots which do not give away the gender of the baby! Just in case we had any pink or blue clothes on the shelving they I have taken the picture in black and white!! ha ha!!! Also a picture of the growing bump. Please ignore the fact I am puffy. One day I hope to return to a normal size.

Hope the baby appreciates the view

awwww cute

Mobile - I made it

Yes... I am wonderful to have made it I know .... anyway....

Bits and bobs

Ahhh bringing a nice bit of British to New Zealand... a nice cuppa and a home baked vanilla slice(s) on the balcony. Nice. Lemon meringue in the oven. I am too domesticated.

Things have been super busy for a self employed/part timer. Nathan has now left work and we are putting the cogs in motion for his new venture - what has taken up a lot of time is the setting up of his internet site - I have now educated myself in web building and make this website. I am pretty pleased with it - click on the picture to see it in all its glory!

click here for website

Hard at work in our kitchen

Baby business is going well. This week I had my yummy model photo shoot with 5 other women from Christchurch. It took about 6 hours and I must have modelled about 30 pieces but it was all good fun. The stylist was Angela Stone who I understand is kind of a stylist to the stars (well, at least Woman's Weekly) and that was quite amusing (she is the non pregnant one in this photo). The pictures will be used in the company's catalogue on line so I'll pop a link to that up here when the photos are ready.

The baby's room is now all set up with the cot, pushchair and all that. All we need now is a car seat and I think we should be set. 5 weeks to go - yikes!

Very exciting and time consuming was the arrival of the boxes from the UK. All very simple in the end. Pack and Send on Victoria St, Bristol appear to have done a good job.... At one point looking at the progress of the boat on "boat spotters.com" (or something like that) it looked like the boxes were heading back to the UK but it turned out they had been put on a different boat and were actually waiting for me in Christchurch. Phew.

Only a few broken things. Clearly someone thought it would be funny to put a sledge hammer into a box marked fragile as various items were smashed. Even a metal champagne bucket was dented. Most annoying was the broken Pimms jug. OK so I didn't buy that product, I think I "acquired" it - possibly on my mum's hen do, but still annoying. Come to think of it I think the champagne bucket came from my step brother's wedding too so perhaps someoine was trying to tell me something!!!

Unfortunately, being pregnant I now have the co-ordination of the English rugby team (ahem - ahd to get the rugby in here somewhere!) and while I was celebrating the fact I still had a full set of champagne glasses I managed to send one flying!! i no longer have a full set...

Seeing my old clothes almost gave me a nervous breakdown - how the hell did I ever fit into those?! They look like they were made for a 4 year old! Maybe (or not) one day they will be useful again..... Anyway, we managed to find a space for the stuff and now our house is rather full to say the least - looking good though. Hopefully family, friends you are saving for a visit!!

Now unpacked - the arrival was daunting!!

No earthquake activity recently - we had a big one during the world cup All Blacks game, I think against Argentina - a 5.5. That is the biggest I have felt so far. I held onto the TV and the game played on. We haven't had one for a while though and I'm not sure about that. If the little ones keep coming it is far better than one big one.

OOooh yes, we have a new car. It is a 4WD. Stop laughing. It is necessary. Really.... Nathan wanted something to go skiing with and in the winter we might get snowed in again which isn't so great with a baby. Poor suzuki alto still remains a firm favourite though. The 4WD seems massive at the moment and also I am having to remember how to use a manual gear box again!!

Finally, from the makers of the world's largest cabbage (see earlier post) I can now proudly introduce the world's largest leek (tomato for scale purposes only!)