The first installment from NZ

Hello, it's us again...

So, we've been in New Zealand now for just over two months, guess it's time for an update!

We escaped the bright lights of Auckland fairly swiftly and headed on down to Wellington, our new hometown, on the train...very scenic, if a bit slow! but what better way to travel than relaxing and looking at the scenery down the whole length of the North Island?!

Very good first impressions of Welly, as you can see from the photos, its beautiful here and there's always something going on... dragon boat racing, jet ski tournaments, free jazz concerts to name but a few of the ways we passed time in the sun. Also been exploring the coastline around the city, it's really accessible, but remarkably pretty, being quite rugged and home to fur seals...only one while we were there...have to go back in season to see the whole colony. Went to watch a bit of the NZ vs India Test Match a few weekends ago, another good excuse for a day sat around drinking in the sun! Been on a few good walks in the hills around the city and plenty more to keep us entertained until we can get our own transport and travel further afield.


Ben started his job not long after arriving here, going really well so far, poor Kerry had to sit around and wait a fair bit longer, but she's now been gainfully employed for the past two weeks (gets paid soon yey!) as a science geek...following in her Dad's footsteps with mass spectrometers. Seems the mass spec world is pretty small, he knew she had the job well before she told him, as she's working for his old colleague.

Over Easter we hired a car and headed up to the Central North Island for a bit of walking (or tramping as it's called here). Had a beautiful weekend of weather, with the first snow of the season the day before we arrived, making it freezing at night in our new tent, but never mind, got used to that in Nepal!

Did a 2 day walk, the first up a ridgeline with views of active volcanoes across the valley (yes still geologists!) before dropping down into the head of a valley for some wild camping. The second day was walking down a river, literally! Did try to keep our boots dry at first by rock-hopping, but soon resorted to wading, apart from Kerry who tried swimming...accidently!



























So, its been good so far, living in a one-bed apartment in the centre of town, who'd have guessed we'd be doing that?! But working really well and enjoying every minute of it!

We'll update you again once we've done anything more exciting.

Bye for now x