After so many of you mentioned this blog when we came over to visit, we decided to give it another go! Sometimes it feels like you’re repeating yourself using email and facebook etc, but here goes anyway!!

The trip over was very cool, and we were so happy to see you all, but wish we had been able to stay for longer. There were lots of you we wish we could’ve seen more of, or even once would have been nice!!  Most of the places looked the same, only a few things were new, (buildings etc) what was most striking was how green and bushy all the trees were.  New Zealand is very green, but the trees are more like pines or ferns, and the English countryside definitely trumps it!

Obviously, the shopping was also excellent, and I have to admit I spent much more than anticipated…oh well at least Im stocked up until next time! Mark bought random new things like snowboarding boots ( which were interesting to pack in the hand luggage…) and about 60 pairs of socks.  I think he has missed M&S more than he admits!! 

The flight back was ok really, just long and boring.  Because we flew on Emirates we actually had loads of leg room and those little tv screens you can control, so we were entertained for the trip.  I watched half of about 8  films, falling asleep for the endings, but it passes the time I suppose!

Auckland was bright and sunny for our return, but has done nothing but rain ever since. It is pretty cold  as well, we are planning our next ski trip to Mt. Ruapehu in the next few weeks, seeing as the south is full of snow at the moment. We are slowly getting back into the work routine but have been falling asleep in front of the tv at 8.30 most nights ( how sad) Hopefully this week will see us a bit perkier, and doing something in the evenings. 

This weekend I was working on Saturday, so on Sunday we went to see the new exhibitions at the museum in the Domain and topped up our caffeine levels drinking NZ coffee ( very strong!) We also started looking at new places to live, as we are ready for a change now.  will keep you posted if we see something good! I will be spendin lots of productive time on the internet finding some nice houses!

Take care,

Gill & Mark x

hello everyone!

Just wanted to jump on and say hi – nothing really exciting happening here though. The weather has been improving lately and we have both been a bit sunburnt on the last two weekends when walking along the beach. It was even warm enough for icecream on Sunday so of course we had one!

Mark is still working down at the vaduct for his Croatian friend. They seem to be really busy and he comes home having learnt something new about boats everyday! Our living room floor currently has about 8 books about boats, an engine filter and some wood and tools things strewn around, like a boat shed. O well.

But I have to say he has been busy making us some mosquito blinds for the windows at home. Last summer we got eaten alive by them and sandflies ( the bites of these nasty things make me swell up and and scar – like very small ordinary flies that bite. horrid) So this summer we are prepared! Its too hot to sleep with the windows closed and we don’t have air conditioning here so these will hopefully work, fingers crossed.

My work is still fine, there are many less bald men in Auckland now, and yes it does work before you ask! Anyone fancies a cheap deal for some hair let me know!!

We went to an indoor rock climbing place a couple of weeks ago with my boss and a girl that used to work here, Mark and my boss were really good at it, and tried the really hard walls, except I was a scaredy pants and only went up the easy ones and not quite to the top! I still enjoyed it though! I think we will probably go there again soon. It s really cheap ( 8 pounds) for as long as you like.

This weekend is a bank holiday here ( Labour Day) to celebrate the 40 hour working week being introduced to New Zealand – funny how we all still seem to work more than that though hmmm…..so we are both off on Monday, but got no plans as yet. The rain is supposed to be coming over from Sydney ( thanks Australia!!) and saoking us on Monday so I bet we will spend it in a pub or two. this time last year we were here… crikey thats gone fast.

Anyway what have you all been upto?
love from us xx

Well, blogger locked me out of my account for awhile then, as my old email address at the hosital was the account holder, and the NHS must have finally deleted my email after I left there um… 18 months ago!

Anyway, we are both well, I think I have caught up with most of you on Facebook, but for those of you not addicted to facebooking madness, we have had a fairly busy few weeks.

Mark was supposed to be starting a job working on the fire engines for the council, but days before he was due to start they called to say they had a budget cut and they coudn’t start him. Needless to say we were a bit mad because they hadn’t exchanged contracts yet, so we couldn’t do a thing. Poor Marky was gutted, seeing as work is quite hard to come by at the moment. He managed to get some work in a warehouse for a few weeks but it was back-breaking and boring, and as I keep reminding him, he isn’t 18 anymore. I was still working so it wasnt a big deal money-wise, we didnt have to live on beans all week!!

We were then looking at moving to a place called Whangerei, about 3 hours north of here, where there were a couple of possible jobs for him. We have been there before ( where the photos of the waterfall were taken) but I didnt really fancy living there to be honest. It was quite a small town and miles from the beaches so we were hoping something would come along. Lucky for us a job came up in Auckland 2 days before we had to decide whether to go! So we are still in sunny Auckland at the moment. He seems to like it so far, fingers crossed they keep getting work through. Everywhere seems to be struggling at the moment, probably due to this mini recession we are having. Good job for me there will always be baldy men!!

Otherwise we have been enjoying some excellent weather, getting down to the beach for walks and even an icecream or two! It is still too cold to swim yet, but it shouldn’t be too long until we can. It is shark season soon, so I will be trying to avoid being eaten as well.

I don’t know if you saw on the news about the ‘whale vomit’ thing they found on the beach here, everyone has been going mad about it, as it is a valuable ingredient of some perfumes and things. It looks horrible, like a big lump of fat! People were sneaking down in the night to steal a chunk off it, and now it has all gone! We see some random things on the beach all the time tho – last week we found either a horse or cow skeleton (hard to tell) but it was enormous. I overheard a mum and her children talking about it later, and the mum was arguing and saying it is fish bones, and the kid was like “some big fish mum” made me laugh for ages!!

There were even a few coconuts floating around on the beach at the end of our street the other day when I was on my way home, I bet they had come from somewhere nice and tropical like Fiji or Tonga! I love how you can go to the beach and find all sorts of things. I think I would miss the sea if we moved away now. you can smell it all the time and hear it at night (when the cicadas finally shutup!) It’s lovely!!

I have a long weekend off this weekend, as I worked my day off last week, and will spend it cleaning the flat – how exciting!! Spring cleaning time though – the sun is showing up how dirty everything is and its bugging me!! how sad I have become…

Hope you are all well, lots of love to Auntie Beryl and Uncle Jim. I hope you got our card and email and hope to hear from you soon.

Love from the kiwis xox

We are both fine, still working away with the baldy men, Mark is going to be starting work at a place that makes fire engines in a couple of weeks. It seems that the boat fixing is very seasonal, so it is probably for the best that he gets work on land type vehicles. Hopefully he will enjoy it but I will let you know.

The weather has been lovely the last few days, quite chilly in the morning ( 2- 3 degrees) with a bit of frost on the road, but then sunny all day. We managed to get down to the beach at St Heliers yesterday to enjoy a coffee and a stroll up the sand. It was very nice to catch a bit of sun again, seeing as we are all pasty and white again!!

We have actually been here for a year on the 21st, so Im sure we will have a little celebration – we will be having a christmas in winter celebration on 24th, so will probably tie it into that. I am planning christmas pudding and a roast dinner, and can borrow xmas decorations from work, so it will feel like a proper xmas, not like it did in December!! My australian friend thinks we are bonkers, but still wants to join in the roast dinner of course.

Mark has just taken his driving test here too, our British ones are not valid after 12 months, so I still need to do mine, but am scared to after the last time I took my test aged 17…all 5 times that is!! Im sure I will pass, but they do have some different road rules here to do with who has right of way…will keep you posted!!

I have been looking at flights over to australia for August/September to get a little weekend break in Brisbane/Sydney and hopefully bump in to Mark’s Auntie Nellie and cousins Belinda and Garry who will be visiting there at that time. I am hoping it will be a bit warmer there too so the shorts can come out!

anyway I better get back to work, hope you are all well xoxo

hi peeps its the other one here ,appology for spelling and grammer are bad. not grand mar’s ( grand mothers they ok ).

speaking of grammer,bumped into a dislexik gangster  t’other day , he made me AN OFFER I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND. cue laughter.

Any way weather was crazy last night ,just found out we had two typhoon thing’s ,the house was shacking,felt like we were in the eye of the storm.

No pictures for a while, gill’s put our camera in a really safe place, so safe we can’t access it either. I’d say it was lost but , then i might be in trouble. ;-p

just checked this is really short so          just         thought                 of             a               trick                i   used                                       to                                                               do                                             on  my                english              homework   the              reaction       was       something    like       IN RED  ( cant use red pens now its abuse or something)                 ” Mark five words per line is streeeecchhing it abit , started off well but rambled off at the end C+”       ,        buts that’s my best feature rambling off at the end, ask anyone in the corner of my local who thinks i can’t see them hiding in the corner;     that teachers grammer was rubbish and streching was spelt wrong! even i no that.

well thats it for now, thinking of you all-even the stangers (friends you’ve yet to meet) reading this .

Hello everyone, hope you are all well. We are both fine, still working away in our jobs.

We have had some really nice weather the last few days, it is still really cold but the sun has been shining this week, which is lovely, and have been able to go for long walks on the beach wrapped up in our scarves and hats! There has been a lot of snow further south, and we are expecting the closest ski field to open in 2 weeks, so will book some time off work then.

I think we are going to go to the indoor ski place this weekend and get some practice in, provided Mark’s old knees are up to it! We always end up being rubbish for the first couple of days when we are out of practice!!

Last weekend we went to another free rugby match from work, this time it was Auckland versus another local team from Hamilton ( about an hour south of here), it was quite an important match for Auckland which they won, so it was a lovely atmosphere. We even treated ourselves to a few pints in the Irish pub afterwards! The buses are free when you have a match ticket so we could get around easily afterwards.

This afternoon we are off to lunch in town ( Mark always meets me on saturday afternoons after work) then probably a bit of a rest back home. Not much excitement today. I got an $11.74 refund ( about 4 pounds!) today which is about as exciting as it gets this week! Let me know what you have all been up to!

love from the kiwis
xoxo

when it rains it pours…

Finally pictures of our little house and other random Auckland pictures please click *here* !!

Hallo again,

Just loaded a few more piccies on here if you fancy a nosy. Mostly baby pics, as my mum has sent us some more photos ( yes she does love photos!!) also I have put on a picture of my new blonde hair.

Decided one rainy Sunday afternoon to bleach it! Was not much fun and had to have orange/green hair for two weeks to rest it until the hairdresser would do it properly! And no I will never learn before you ask! Still a bit orange at the front but that will come out the next time I get it done.

Auntie Beryl – new job is good thanks, I am still enjoying it. They have given me some training here, still no word as to when they will send me to Sydney. I am starting to think that was something they told me at interview just to make me start!
Mark starts at 6 but finishes at 4pm, so is usually fast asleep on the sofa when I get home at 7.30pm!! I do get Fridays off as well as Saturday afternoon and Sunday so I don’t mind really.

The house on the pictures is the backpackers where we were staying. I have taken pictures of our new house but someone (ahem ..Mark) has lost the cable to connect it to the pc, so at the moment I can’t load them. Hopefully I will get to put them on a disk soon.

The weather is now really cold, we have had some snow in the North island, and lots of snow in the South island, and we are itching for a ski soon, just waiting for the snow to really build up and then we will be off!

We are going to a comedy festival tonight and then there is a sausage festival in Aotea square, so hopefully will get a few sausages for tea!! Tomorrow I am meeting up with friends from my last job for lunch, then Mark and I will be off to the cinema I think. We are on an alcohol detox this month and are trying really hard not to have anything, as it feels like that is all we have done for the past 9 months!!

Other than that I havent got much news I afraid, we are both quite homesick still, and I like to read the bbc website every week to keep me up to date! If anyone fancies sending us some teabags again I would be grateful!! I will pay for them!! ( 33 Richmond Avenue, Northcote, Auckland, NZ)

***Perhaps not you Laura, as you nearly gave yourself a heat attack last time, naughty smuggler that she is wrote ’soft toy’ on the envelope when it was tea bags in, then got worried about being arrested as a drug dealer when the xray the bag hehe!!***

Hope you all ok, lots of love from team kiwi!

have a click on these pics, only a couple of days old and world famous already!

 New Baby

xox

(not ours!!! before you all panic!)

My brother and Donna have just had their first baby – Harry James, who was born on Saturday 26th April, so congratulations to both of them!!

 AsI have only heard in an email from my mum, I will hopefully get to see some pics soon, which I can put on here.

I know it has been a long journey for you both, but I hope everything goes well for your new little family! We are both gutted not to be there and to meet little Harry

Kia Ora!

Well all that gloating about going to the beach and getting sunburn has come back to haunt me, as this week it has turned absolutely freezing! Almost as soon as the clocks went back, we have gone from lovely sunshine to cold winds, rain, rain and more rain and a drop of about 15 degrees! Mark is so cold leaving the house at 6.00 am in the dark and driving to work in the van, and it isn’t much fun going to work in the rain on the bus either. Apparently this is a normal change to Autumn for New Zealand, you just get a cold snap as the wind direction changes and comes from Antarctica instead of Australia.

So its bye-bye bikini and hello bobble hats! We have been wrapped up in the house this weekend planning a skiing trip back down to Queenstown in the South Island. We are hoping to pick up a cheap flight rather than drive down in the van, the ski season starts in May/June so that is something to look forward to.

On Saturday night my new work gave us some free VIP rugby tickets along with a meal and ‘all you can drink’ pass to the sponsors lounge, so we had a great time getting bottle after bottle of wine from the bar! The match was a bit slow but the atmosphere made up for it. It was a rather interesting meal – cheese soup, cheese burgers and cheese cake followed by cheese and biscuits (no joke) so we were all cheesed out by the time we went home! A few people from my company were there and one guy from London, so we were chatting away all night. It was a really nice event actually, and my boss has said that they happen quite often, so we might get to go again.

Ashley and Martin (company I work for) do a lot of sponsoring for the Auckland Blues rugby team, and they do loads of advertising at matches and things, and one of my responsibilities at work is to go to the promotional nights at the club (Sounds more exciting than it is) I give out flyers and stand next to an Ashley and Martin sign with a big smile for 2 hours, it beats sitting in the office I suppose! I am enjoying the job, it is really hard work learning all the procedures and things, but I am getting the hang of head massage and steam treatments now, so next time we come over to England I might treat you to one!

Mark is still working in Henderson for Salthouse. It is very hard work and he comes home pretty exhausted, but we are just getting our heads down for the next year or so, and then seeing what we want to do then. The house market still hasn’t balanced out yet, and we don’t want to risk losing a lot of money, so staying in the flat seems a good idea at the moment.

Not much going on really, our new freezer has just broken (L) so we are having to eat everything in there …mmm icecream…until they come and fix it, but that’s about as exciting as it gets on a Monday afternoon!

Hope you are all well, let me know what you have been up to

Lots of love from us

xoxo

Which is good news!!  It is working for a clinic in the city centre that do laser hair treatments for bald men! A bit strange I know, but it seems like a really good company.

I work Monday to Thursday ( quite long hours tho) and will be doing some admin work and some treatments! They are sending me to Sydney of all places to do a week’s training using the laser machines and the steam treatments and other things. There are loads of other clinics in Australia where I can do a job swap for 6 months, which could be something interesting for the futute. I managed to negotiate a really good wage with them as well, which is more than I was earning at home, so I’m happy! I start work on Monday, just learning the admin side, and then hopefully off to Sydney in a couple of weeks time. Just thought I would let you all know! Mark is still doing well at his job, but I think he works hard! He’s fast asleep by 9 oclock!

We haven’t really done much this week, I have been hoping to hear from this company, and went in to do 4 hours with them on Thursday, which was a bit difficult as there was so much to learn, and I think she thought I could learn it all then! I am hoping to go out tonight for a drink, and just have a nice easy day tomorrow. Thanks for all the birthday cards and presents, which I am looking forward to opening tomorrow! I feel very old now, but not as old as Mark hehe. It is not long til his fortieth bday, which I keep reminding him of, and hes is looking a bit greyer these days, might have to get the hairdye on him!

I have been taking some pictures lately, of where we live, and I will try to get some b’day snaps tomorrow, and get them on a disk to put on here so you can see we are still alive! I am hoping for a birthday cake and candles but I might have to get it myself, as you know what Mark is like!

Anyway I hope you all have a good weekend,

Lots of love from us

xoxo

Hello, hope you are all well. We have just had another burst of lovely weather, which for once fell on the Bank Holidays! We are both now a little bit sunburnt ( Surprise) but enjoyed swimming and cycling around Takapuna beach http://www.tourismnorthshore.org.nz/id/9/top10/and the north shore where we are now living.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me a card, I promise I haven’t opened any of them yet, but Laura, that parcel gets a sqeeze everyday!! Mark has taken off the label so I cant see what it is!

Mark is taking me out for Dinner on Saturday, and I get to choose, which means we are having Thai ( which he doesn’t like haha)  I bet we will be off for drinks after too!

In other news I have left my job at the shop. It wasn’t really what I wanted to do, and the pay wasnt so good, so it was time for a change. I have had an interview today so fingers crossed I will have some more news for you later this week. Mark is still slogging away on his boats, now working for a good company in a town called Henderson, about half an hour away.

We are still enjoying our little flat in Northcote. It is so lovely to stroll over to the beach and have coffe by the sea. We need some visitors now so get saving !!

Sorry its only a quick one today but I am getting a lift home in 5 mins so I hope to update soon, lots of love from me xoxo

Well apartment really, but its lovely! We started looking around at houses and although we don’t want to buy yet cos of the dodgy house market, we saw this really nice one for rental, at LESS than we were paying for the hostel! All the other ones we looked at were so horrible, with broken windows and in really rough neighbourhoods, so when we saw this we snapped it up!

It is still in Auckland but over the bridge in a town called Northcote. The Address is 33 Richmond Avenue, Northcote, Auckland, if you want to google earth us, I believe you get quite a good view of the roof! ( Which is green!) We are on the ground floor of a 3 storey house, but the couple above live on both the second and third floor. We have a lovely garden with orange trees and a little deck that gets the sunshine. It is just a 1 bed place but it is enough for us to manage for now. I have taken some pictures but seem to have lost the wire that connects my camera to the pc…so who knows!

Last weekend poor Mark got dragged around NZ equivalent of IKEA, as well as a few other places so we could buy our furniture. He was not as excited as me about how much we had to buy ( surprise surprise) but we managed to get some nice sofas and I’ve even managed to borrow some stuff from people at work. All we need now is a fridge ( we are only borrowing one for now) and a tv, so any donations to the fund would be helpful

As we have spent about a million dollars this last two weeks we have done absolutely nothing else, except sit in our little house and walk to the beach ( 5 mins away) I am having to work this weekend to get some extra money together as well so it looks like no dancing or drinking for us this weekend either! Jill, I am as bad with my savings as you at the moment, I have to give it to Mark so theres no chance of him giving it back!

 Still both working at the same place, and nothing much of excitement to tell you. The weather has turned a bit rubbish, quite chilly and rainy, but it supposed to be summer til the end of March so we’ll see. I saw a new piece last night about the starlings in Scotland, and it looks a bit chilly there brrr.

 Hope you all well, I will try to stay in touch more, work have let me have free access to the internet so I will pop in a lunchtimes to say hi! Take care

love from Us

hello again! Not much to report Im afraid, just checking in to say hello!

We have been out househunting this weekend, I think we are just going to get a rental for the next few months until we see the house we want to buy. I am getting really fed up with the backpackers and ready for a change.  Unfortunately the van failed it’s MOT the other day so it has gone in for some work and we have had no wheels. Its not much fun walking a round Auckland in this heat looking at houses! We have seen some really shocking ones today, they look as if no-one has lived there for years!

We have an appointment to view an apartment in Northcote, over the harbour bridge tomorrow night, so keep your fingers crossed for us! Mark has already decided which house he wants but we can’t get hold of the estate agent yet. The nice houses get snapped up so fast we have to get in there quickly! 

Work is still the same, Mark is really enjoying his job, but if we do move across the other side of the harbour I might be looking for something else when my contract ends. I  dont fancy a ferry then a bus ride to work and back every day.

The weather is still hot.It is really humid at the moment, you just feel so tired and sweaty its horrible. I would swap it for a chilly night in Oldham  so I would get some decent sleep! (Maybe just a couple of nights tho!) Last week was Waitangi day on the wednesday which meant we got a day off work (hooray!) Its the anniversary of the peace agreement between the English and the Moaris, so we went off to try out the biggest shopping mall in NZ, and spent the afternoon on the beach.

We tried out a few new bars on Saturday night, and had a good time with a couple of other backpackers that came along ( South African called Tom and an English girl called Nikki) We know all the good pubs now for when Laura and Julie get here in 2010!!

Well thats about as exciting as it gets this week Im afraid. Hope you are all well, I am trying to post some letters out, when I get around to writing them! So keep your eye on the post box!

love from us

xox

Hello yes we are still alive! Im sorry we keep being lazy and not coming up to the internet cafe to say hi. Must try to be a bit better…Sorry!! After working long hours and dragging ourselves to the gym it is easy just to lie on the sofa and not move ’til bedtime.

Well, since we last spoke we had some bad news about the boat. It turns out that the seller did something to the engines between us having the survey in December until the sea trial in early January, as there was some serious damage in there that they had to get repaired. Don’t ask me for the specifics, mechanical talk is all a noise to me, something to do with a cracked head (?!?) sounds painful anyways…We had to come to a difficult decision to either go for the boat and face the consequences of replacing engines at some point in the future  ( think 40,000+ english pounds of engine) or not taking the boat at all. As you might have guessed we are in the backpackers still! This weekend we spent some time looking at houses to buy in an area called Sandringham in Auckland, and are just thinking a few things over about that, so I will keep you posted.

We were both really gutted and miserable for a few weeks, so that was part of our internet silence I suppose. No worries tho, we are ok now and getting excited about a house instead. Mark would still like a boat, but maybe we should settle for a 10 foot fishing boat instead

We have been off on a couple of weekend trips to places we missed on the big trip. It was a bank holiday weekend last weekend and we went to a place called Goat Island, about an hour north of here. It was really beautiful, with a long beach and clear sea, which Mark took advantage off and did some snorkelling. I keep getting the willies about being eaten by sharks, as every night on the news they have ‘Shark Watch ‘ on tv and they show where the latest attack was! Each time a bit of seaweed touched my leg I was terrified.

I did manage to console myself, however, by lying on the beach and getting sunburnt…AGAIN! Im so cross, Im telling you I put factor 30 all over and fell asleep, somehow my bikini went for a walk and I burnt some delicate bits – not my bum thankyou anyone thinking that (Jill, Anna, Suzie, Vicki, or Laura, ahem)  so I’m a bit sore today. It is about 7,0000 degrees everyday and we are not getting used to it at all! The air conditioning at work is rubbish and you just have to drink gallons of water everyday to stay ok. I could even murder an ice lolly now (or a fruju as the kiwis call it) and its half nine at night!!

Mark has got another job, I can’t remember if I said. He loves it there, they seem like really nice people, I think they are Slovakian ( maybe Slovenian) but the get him beers every night after work and they pay a lot more than before so he seems happy! his ‘office’ is about 5 metres from the sea as well, jammy thing. If I stand on a box in the kitchen at work I can see the building he works in, and keep an eye on him Its nice that we are both close to work, we dont have to use too many buses.

Other than that its the same old, same old everyday really, I can’t believe it is 6 months since we left, it seems to have flown by. Really enjoying being here, going out for coffees in the morning before work and just enjoying the little things more. Missing everyone loads tho, it would be cool to just be able to fly in for a weekend every now and then!

Anyway I hope you are all well, I will try and update properly soon,

Lots of Love from us kiwis

( I’m off fro a fruju mmm, speaking of funny lolly names, they call a cornetto a jelly tip trumpet!! how silly is that? I laugh everytime the advert comes on, crazy kiwis!)

xoxox

hello to everyone,

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. As planned we went out for a picnic on the beach on xmas day, but unfortunately it rained so we had to eat our xmas dinner in the van We did get to go to the hot springs in the afternoon, however. Lying around in the thermal pools made up for not having a sunny day like we hoped. Christmas eve was a good night, we did a German style xmas eve ( as lots of the residents are German) which was a big beef dinner with black forest gateaux after. Mmmm

New Years Eve can be an expensive night in Auckland, you have to get tickets for everywhere and the taxis are crazy prices so we all decided to get some food together and have a bbq and lots of wine, which ended being a really nice night. We could see the fireworks on the tower from the back garden, pictures here. It looks like it is exploding, but they were fantastic. Unfortunately one of the housemates had a bit too much fun, and we spent the new year cleaning up sick in the bathroom before the landlady could see it…

Have been in and out of work this last two weeks, but back to normal from tomorrow. Mark has finished at his job now so will be looking for something else this week too. No news about the boat as yet, we think it will be a couple of weeks til we get sorted, but I will keep you all posted.

No real news other than that I’m afraid. Weather is really good, we have been able to go to the beach most weekends, and we had our 1st proper swim in the sea last weekend, it was still cold tho!

Hope you are all well, speak soon

Love from Gill and Mark

xox

I’m so sorry we haven’t put a post up for ages, we have both been working so much and are so tired afterwards that we just fall asleep on the sofa!

They really know how to get their money’s worth out of you over here, and I end up working 43-45 hours a week which I’m not used to, and they are quite strict about us not sitting down so I’m on my feet all day (ouch). Mark is struggling more than I am, as he hasn’t done a proper days’ work since April. He has been doing more mechanical things than normal so is having to learn a lot as he goes along. It is only a temporary contract for him so we can get through Christmas ok, then hopefully he can get a more electrical job.

Yes it is a very posh shop Auntie Beryl, Im terrified of breaking things every time I turn around. Why they employed someone as clumsy as me Ill never know. I managed to do a $3,400 sale yesterday so I was employee of the week and got a gingerbread man as a prize!!

Still at the hostel for the next few weeks as there are loads of things going on over xmas. We are hoping to go for a bbq on the local beach with other residents on xmas day and my work is taking us both out for a meal and drinks in an area called Port Chevalier on 21st. After xmas we are going to be living somewhere a bit different, so long as everything goes to plan as we have bought a boat!!

 Yes I know it sounds mad, andI still can’t believe it myself yet, but we have bought a 55 foot (big!) luxury fishing boat which has 3 cabins and 2 bathrooms. I think we will keep hold of it until April and then see if we can sell it up in the Northern hemisphere’s summer for a bit of profit. You all know what Mark is like with his investment opportunities…

So that will be rather interesting to live on seeing as I get horrible seasickness! Mark has gone off today with our friend Bernie who is a marine engineer  to do a full check of the boat. They will be taking it out of the water in a sling to check the hull and engines etc and then in a week or so we will have a sea trial with the owner to make sure it runs ok. I don’t know when we will finalise and actually have the keys but I will keep you posted!!  It is not unusual in New Zealand to have a boat, 3/4 of the population have a boat here, but it is still cool to us! It is currently called Pastis, (which is a french aniseed liqueur!) but we want to change the name so any suggestions welcome… It looks a bit like this but a bigger version.

 The street we are living on ( Franklin Road) is quite famous in NZ, as they go mad with the christmas lights on their houses. The street has been full of people with their children walking up and down and having icecreams and coffees for the last two weeks, and the other night a convoy of classic american cars parked outside our house ! Its like the NZ version of the Blackpool illuminations.  

Other than that I don’t have much gossip. I found out 10 minutes ago that my brother and his wife are having a boy, which is good news for them. I believe my lovely brother will be releived as he said he would sell a girl on ebay!

I am going to the post box today so apologies to anyone who has sent a card to us, I haven’t had 5 minutes to get there for the last few weeks, but I will get back to you honest!

 Nice to hear form you Andrew and Janice! Yes I think GPs are on the skills shortage list over here, It would be nice to see a familiar face. It is very different from Oz according to an Australian couple I spoke to last week. It is very much like England in some ways but a lot warmer. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of people or towns, there are some really tiny places here!! We have struggled a bit with the humidity the last few days, I am finding it hard to sleep cos I get so sweaty. I bet you would probably be ok after being in Australia!

Nice to hear from you Claire,Lee and Nathan. Yes we are feeling much more settled, although I’m ready for my own space. Sharing a kitchen with 12 Americans this week has been testing my patience!! God they are so loud!

Hi Anna! I laughed thinking of you scampering around with the sheepies! Bet it was a bit wetter there than here! It doesnt feel like xmas at all, even thought I have to listen to Cliff Richard’s christmas album about 18 times a day at work. I keep eating mince pies in the hope it might make me feel xmassy. It not happening this year! Missing youse all loads tho, I’m dying fora Lindeboom in Jacksons!

Hi Jay, hope you and Lisa and the puppies are ok, Mark will never work too hard you should know that by now!

 If I don’t speak to you all at christmas, have a lovely time, and I hope you have a good new year. Missing everyone terribly and wish it was a wee bit closer!

Lots of love from Gill and Mark

xoxo

Lots of Love to Garry, Paula and Family for Christmas,

hello!

Sorry for the short blog holiday, we have both finally got jobs and our bodies are so shocked at getting up so early we fall asleep at 8pm every night!

Mark has got a job down at the viaduct in Auckland for a company called Marine Tech who repair boats. He seems to quite like it now, although the first day we worked he would’nt/couldn’ t speak to me all night! It is only 15 mins walk away too which is good, as Auckland traffic can be bad. It is more of a shock for him than me, as he has been such a skivver!

I have got a job in a nice little gift shop in Ponsonby which is a really posh  area, and everyone is really rich. Last week I had to take a chandelier ( yes we sell them in a gift shop…) to a house on the waterfront. It turned out to be a millioniares house, she owns a NZ clothing company called Line 7 which is famous over here. She had me standing over the table holding the chandelier up! I was so scared of dropping it and breaking her vases and things! Work is only 10 mins walk form the house so thats good too. I am not used to standing up all day so my poor feet are suffering. Im hoping that Santa sends me a footspa this year…thats a hint Mark!

We are still living at the backpackers, I think it will probably be after Christmas before we move somewhere else. We want to be sure that our jobs are ok and this is where we want to live. Its only like having flatmates here cos most of the people are semi -permanant anyway. It is a year ago next week that we moved form Broadfield Street, I am so looking forward to having a house of our own again.

This weekend we spent a bit of time up at Takapuna beach and then the Auckland zoo. The weather is improving every day and we have to be careful not to get sunburnt ( which I did yesterday ) . It still feels very strange to see the xmas decorations everywhere, I don’t think I will get used to it for a while. Other than that we have just been getting into the kiwi way of eating (ie bbq every day!) and trying all the local noodle places. Japanese and Chinese food is great here and cheap. You can get a massive meal for two and drinks for about $20 which is only 8 pounds!

I hope you are all ok, I’m off to try and get some tax back from the inland revenue, wish me luck!

love from Gill ( and Mark!)

xoxo