It's been a month now, since we arrived in Auckland. A month full of flat hunting, job searching, socialising, sightseeing and family time. It's been great! And busy. When we first arrived, we were picked up by Neil, Ash's uncle. Ash's Nannan had been in Australia for Christmas with her family, and had flown over to New Zealand to spend a bit of time with Neil, Susan, Jess and Cameron (her son and his family). We booked our flights to Auckland not knowing she wa...

On Sunday 13th October, we caught the bus from Queenstown to Cromwell. Cromwell was to be our new home, for the next few months at least. Sitting on the bus, it felt like we were being sent away, like evacuees. Neither of us knew what lay in store! Jaye, our new employer (and the 'Mother', as described in the job advertisement) picked us up from the bus station in Cromwell and drove us the short distance back to their house. As we drove up the driveway, the fir...

Kia Ora! (A New Zealand greeting, wishing good health). We'd arrived! Let the adventures begin! Sunday 22nd September After a mammoth queue to get through border control (we were convinced we wouldn't get through!) and having our bags searched and x-rayed (normal protocol for people coming into NZ with 'outdoorsy' type luggage), we were in! We were being picked up by Colin and Sue, relatives of Cesca who live in Auckland. We were staying with them for one ...