Airport Lodge Motel Mangere

... but still have piles of stuff to find homes for and of course all the pictures/paintings to go on the walls. However, we can cook, sleep and sit down in comfort now so we are happy :-)

It took a while to get sorted with Sky - we landed the worst installer possible who was meant to arrive in the morning and finally arrived at 7pm with the wrong box. He promised to be back with the right box by 8pm but never arrived! As you can imagine ...

... believe that the younger your children, the easier it is to move them to another country. Lucy and Daniel are taking it all in their stride, however, Lucy being that bit older, understands much more and listens rather than sleeps when she goes to bed. We have to be extremely careful what we discuss until we know that she is sound asleep! They also both remember Pine View very clearly and compare the houses that they see to their ...

... Whitianga, Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove: Whitianga was another sweet little beach side town, full of New Zealand Tourists on Spring School Holiday. (Someday I will get used to the season switch...)

Hot Water Beach - the thermals under the ground heat up the water and it boils to the surface at low tide, so you can dig a hole and sit in the hot water while the cold water laps in to cool you off. We didn't really do this, mostly ...

... and went back to bed. I do sort of regret going back to bed though, because I ended up sleeping through a lot of the day.
I really enjoy nights here at the dorm (IH). I live on the not-so-quite hall, but generally someone's room is always open for me to go and socialize in. A lot of the past few nights, we've gotten ice cream (it's never too cold for ice cream b.t.w.) from the nearby convenience store ...

... I didn't get the opportunity. INstead I availed of the live streaming of the entire new a-ha album - I know - such a nerd. But I didn't feel in the slightest bit guilty due to the weather. I needn't say how amazing it is - and you'll all be humming the single shortly - I guarantee ya.

Expressin'

Yesterday - 10 June - I spent the whole day in the bus from Wellington to Auckland. In fact given everything New Zealand has to offer and how extraordinary ...

... this was to work massively to our advantage as the ground crew looked over and burst into laughter at us, the Westerners of average height sticking out by miles above the throngs of Japanese - we arrived to check in and were told to our massive delight that economy was over-subscribed, the plane being full of Japanese, that we had been upgrade to first class! Amazing - out of nowhere one of my dreams had come true and two people who had ...

... as it was such a great day it seemed a shame to go by bus. The Underwater World is certainly not to be missed if you're in the area it's one of the best aquarium / underwater worlds I've visited. We were there in time for the feeding of the stingrays and the young female diver / assistant introduced herself and her younger male assistant who looked about 15 weighed around 8 stone and couldn't fit in the wetsuit, she informed us it was ...

... that is dedicated to love, the last thing people should be doing is running around smiling.  I haven't ever really liked Valentine's day even when I was a boy.  Being reminded that everyone SHOULD have someone special is never a good thought to those that don't.  I don't think I have ever spent a Valentine's day with a girl as far back as I can remember.  But enough about that, I hope all that are out there have ...

... in the morning, I'm flying back to Australia, but not back to Sydney. This time my flight's going to Melbourne, where I haven't been before, and where I'm gonna meet my Australian friend Ed (which I know from working in Austria - not Australia!). And I'm gonna spent christmas and the time after that with him, friends of him, and his family. So, at least, there's something to look forward to!

... all, instead we just kept face planting.


So
I took the opportunity to ditch Lu and try a go down the river stream,
but it was actually too shallow for me to go anywhere there either, as
I kept sinking. We were feeling pretty speed ...