Snow!

Well, the morning after my last post we woke up to find it had snowed overnight. It was really pretty, but unfortunately, because I had stayed the night at Will's, it did mean clearing an inch or so off my car before I was able to drive the 10 minutes or so back to school... Will took a couple of photos, from the warmth & comfort of the bedroom I must add! The kids before school & at breaktime had great fun with some snowball fights, but it had mostly disappeared by lunch & we haven't had anymore since...

It has been a busy week in terms of school, lots of late nights getting on top of marking etc... On Thursday nights Will & I have started playing squash at the University which is great fun. Will can beat me at the moment, but I'm working on it... We've played twice now & already the games are getting a bit closer. Oh well, at least I can still kick his butt at badminton!!!

It has been a really nice relaxing exeat weekend, & I got my sleep-ins I was hanging out for on both days. Last night we went out for dinner at a pub in Windsor as a birthday get-together for one of Will's friends. It was a nice meal, but the coolest thing was, the windows looked directly out onto the walls of Windsor Castle. It was quite literally a stones throw away.

Not much more news really... Quite a few kids have expressed interest in the Summer 2008 Borneo trip, so it is looking more & more likely that it will be going ahead. Next weekend I'm on duty in the boarding house, so won't be up to too much. It's quite nice though, I get all my housework done & usually catch up on a few DVD's etc. I don't actually have to do much on duty, apart from having to be in my flat for the weekend. The Super 14 rugby starts next weekend & Sky are showing quite a few matches, so I'll look forward to catching some of those. Only 2 weeks till half-term!!!

Winter has arrived...

Gidday,

It's been freezing the last couple of days, really cold & bitter. We haven't had any snow this far south yet, but it is being forecast over the next couple of days. They have been getting huge dumps up north. Had crazy weather last Thursday, a huge storm ripped the corrugated iron roof off one of the school sheds, & also felled several trees, some of which were over 100 years old. One of the PE staff was driving a minibus full of kids & had a big branch fall down & smash the windscreen as she drove down the drive.

It's been another very busy week at school, but it's exeat this weekend which means all the kids have to go home Friday night & we don't have to do our Saturday morning sport. I'm looking forward to a nice long sleep-in!!! I don't have a rugby match on Sunday either, so it really is a rare weekend off...

This weekend was good, if busy. I had my boys rugby Saturday morning, then Claire drove her & I over to Woldingham to catch up with our friend Nic who I hadn't seen since before Christmas. She is also teaching at a boarding school set in lovely countryside so we went for a nice walk, had a late lunch, & exchanged some Christmas pressies. It was a really nice afternoon. My rugby team had another good win on Sunday, 15-0 against Harlow away. I had another week of good training, so am gradually getting back to full fitness... Sunday night I also caught up with my mate Rog for a couple of hours. He lives in London but had been visiting friends in Southampton for the weekend, so dropped in on his way back home.

Not much other news... As I have said before, my blog really isn't that exciting when I'm not travelling! Speaking of travelling, I really need to start getting my Summer travel plans in place. I'm thinking of spending 4 weeks or so in South America, concentrating on Bolivia, Chile & Peru. The main aim is to trek the Inca Trail. Unfortunately this trip isn't going to happen unless I actually start doing some research & planning pretty soon! Summer 2008 is also starting to work itself out... The other Kiwi maths teacher at school is organising a World Challenge expedition to Borneo for 4 weeks & he asked me if I'm interested in going as a female member of staff. Too right I am!!! Nothing is definite yet, but it is looking like we might have the numbers for the trip to go ahead... Fingers crossed...

The Weekend

Gidday,

I don't actually have a huge amount to report, but thought I'd write a post anyway... I'm trying to subscribe to the 'little & often' school of thought... No pictures I'm afraid, I know with some of you it's all you're interested in!

Have had a nice, if busy weekend. Friday night we went to a pub in town to meet up with quite a few of Will's friends, mostly from the University. I was good & didn't drink... I've been trying to have bit of a detox after the excesses of our NZ trip! Saturday morning I had my boys' rugby at school. This term I'm involved with the young guys, under 12's & under 13's. They are great! They're still at the age when they are unbelievably enthusiastic & keen. When you send them for a warm-up run they don't whinge & moan & actually try & beat each other in, whereas with some of the older kids it's hard work trying to get them not to walk!

In the afternoon Will & I went into Reading. We took the ring in for resizing. It's going to take a couple of weeks, & already I miss not having it on my finger... It needed doing though, it was far too big & I spent the last couple of weeks paranoid about it falling off. It did come off once when I was wrapping some pressies, I looked down on my finger & it just wasn't there... I had a minor panic, but luckily I found it without having to unwrap all the things I'd just wrapped!

I survived my first rugby game back today, it was a good 21-5 victory over Portsmouth & I played the whole match. I had had a good week of training -3 gym sessions plus the rugby training, so that helped my fitness a lot. I don't even feel too sore at the moment, but I'm sure it will be a different story tomorrow!

Have a good week, I'm afraid you are going to have to put up with rather mundane posts like this until my next travels... The good news is, only 4 weeks till half-term!!!

Back to work...

Gidday,

I've just realised that this is my third posting in a row starting with 'Back'... I really should try & be a bit more creative!

Have had 2 full days back at school & everything has started off smoothly, touch wood... I was actually back in on monday, but it was a teacher only day, & I didn't start until 1:30pm so I guess it doesn't really count! The good news is that this is a stupidly short term, something like 10 weeks. Half-term is only 4 weeks away!!!

Last night I went to my first ever UK football match, & it was a Reading game to boot. For those not up with the play regarding UK football (ie. probably most of you following this blog) Reading are my local team, & this year they were promoted to the Premiership where they have been doing really well (again, touch wood!). The game we saw was a 3rd round FA cup match against Burnley, which Reading won 3-2. The ground was only half-full since it was a weeknight (the game was postponed due to a flooded pitch on Saturday) but there was still a lot of atmosphere. It really was an eye-opener, lots of 'effing & blinding', totally different from a rugby match. Some of the chanting & songs that were being sung were outrageous. You can't drink inside the stadium like at a rugby game, & they go to great lengths to keep the home supporters totally separate from the away supporters. They have to sit in different parts of the stadium. I managed a rather flukey picture of a Burnley player scoring their second goal, you can see the ball in the net by the X-BOX logo. I would love to see a Premiership match between Reading & one of the big-guns like Arsenal or Man U, but you just can't get your hands on the tickets. Not much other news really, My postings are never as interesting when I'm back at work... I've got my first rugby game back on Sunday, Portsmouth away. We drew 5-all with them in the first round, so hopefully we'll go one better this time. Tonight I survived my first training back. I was still hurting from my gym session on Monday!

Back in the UK

We were up at 4am on Wednesday, ready to be picked up at 5 for the fishing. It was a glorious morning, although the sea was a bit choppy. It was too rough to launch at the ramp that Colin normally uses so we went a bit further around the coast where it was more sheltered. Unfortunately the fishing was rather poor, Will & dad caught some under-size snapper that we had to throw back, & dad also managed to haul in a small shark. The highlight of the day was a large pod of dolphins who turned up for bit of a play. It really was magical, they were darting all around the boat, ducking in & out of the wake. They are beautiful creatures. Unfortunately the fish were just starting to bite when we had to call it a day. A small matter of having a plane back to the UK to catch! The flight back went well, all 24 hours of it... We slept a lot more on the way back than we did on the trip over, so that was good. Leaving at 11pm helped, not to mention the fact we had been up since 4am! I really enjoy flying Air New Zealand, it was a very comfortable flight with excellent food & good service. We had a fantastic holiday, I can't quite believe the amount we managed to pack into our time there. It was lovely to catch up with everybody that I did see, & big apologies to those that I didn't... It was always going to be impossible seeing everyone that I wanted to.

It was quite hard returning to the UK weather. The biggest thing we are missing is the light. We've been back a couple of days now, but have been suffering a bit with jet-lag, myself more so than Will. Today was a really nice day, we went to Will's parents place for lunch, then also called in on his brother & his family, as they live quite close to his parents.

I'm back at school on Monday, but only for a teacher-only day, then it's business as usual from Tuesday. I was meant to be playing a rugby match Sunday, but luckily it has been postponed a few weeks. Partly because the weather is atrocious at the moment, & partly because I'm horrendously unfit after nearly 4 weeks of not training, & eating & drinking my way around NZ!!! I have a game next Sunday, but at least I'll be able to fit in a few gym sessions before then...

Below is a couple of pics of the ring, as several of you have requested.

Back up North

After a very smooth ferry crossing, we arrived back in Wellington on Friday & stayed the night with my newly wed sister & her husband. Of course we felt obliged to help clean up some of the left-over wedding wine... On Saturday it was a big trip all the way back to Hamilton, via Napier to meet up with Trudy, a friend of mine from primary school. She & her husband have a very cute 17 month old & I was even persuaded to hold him for a bit! Never the less, it was a relief to hand him back to mum... A very pleasant New Year's Eve was held at my uncle & auntie's place down the road from mum & dad's. My very cool cousin Andrea was also there, so it was good to catch up as we haven't seen much of each other over the last 5 years.

It was a rather memorable start to the year as earlier in the evening Will proposed... & I of course said yes... He asked me in the Hamilton gardens, which is one of my favourite places in Hamilton. He got down on one knee in the English flower garden, which was quite appropriate, & rather romantic really... He even managed to time it for when lots of white doves were hanging around! We managed a pretty passable self-timer portrait to mark the occasion.New Year's Day was spent catching up with friends in the Tauranga/Mt Maunganui area. It really was lovely to see people, & of course show off the ring... It was an excellent day. Today was also all about catching up with people, it was pretty much a steady stream of people through the house. Apologies to those who I didn't manage to see, it was always going to be impossible catching up with everyone. I can't quite believe we are flying back to the UK tomorrow. Luckily we are flying late in the evening, & to make sure we make the most of every minute over here, we've arranged to go fishing at 5am! For those that know Wayne, I still keep in touch with his family, & his dad Colin has a boat & is taking us fishing in the Firth of Thames. Will is pretty excited about it, so hopefully we'll catch lots of snapper. Last time I went out with Colin we caught our quota of 9 each in 2 hours!

Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas day with Mat & Ro & their 4 children. Cheers guys if you happen to be reading this! Along with Rich & Rach & their 2 kids, plus Mat's mum & dad, it definitely was a 'real' family Christmas. The Taieri River runs through their farm so early evening we went down for a spot of fishing. We didn't catch anything, but it was still good fun. Rich was determined not to miss any of the action, gammy ankle & all!

On Boxing day we drove to Christchurch, via a stop at the Moeraki boulders. Christchurch was cool, I caught up with my friend Rose who I used to play rugby with at Reading. Her & her husband have immigrated to NZ & have been here a couple of years now. Will & I had a lovely fish & chip meal on Sumner Beach. Christchurch appeals as a destination when I eventually return to NZ. I love the idea of the beach 15 minutes or so away, & mountains also close by.

On the 27th we drove to Kaikoura for the night. This was memorable for a very very nice meal of huge NZ mussels washed down by a lovely Marlborough Sauv Blanc.

If we thought that meal was impressive, it wasn't a patch on Nelson the following night. We ordered an incredible seafood platter which had fish bites, mussels, scallops, calamari, king prawns, smoked salmon, cheeses, an antipasto selection, & a loaf of warm Ciabatta. We basically stuffed ourselves silly for less then the price of an ordinary pub meal in the UK!

The following day it was back over the Cook Strait & back to the North Island...