Kia Ora

Thursday 15th January 2009

Last night we had been struggling for ideas on what to do today and the only one I had involved spending money on clothes,which is both Mel's and also my least favourite thing to do.But with little option left available and my shorts looking so shabby and worn we took the ferry to the City on the hunt for shorts and also worktops for Mel.When I say worktops I mean clothes and not something for the kitchen!!

Both of us are pretty impatient when it comes to shopping and it makes my head spin thinking I will have to trawl from store to store looking for what I want.Our first stop was Rip Curl and within a minute of walking in the shop I had found 2 pairs that I liked and was also surrounded by 3 shop assistants all wanting to point me in the direction of the changing rooms.After trying the shorts on several times and looking at them from all angles a pair was chosen,which was a relief to us and probably to the sales guy who had been yelling "are you OK in there" at me several times!!!

The next mission was finding Mel some new work clothes which could have proved really difficult (anyone who has shopped with her will tell you she is not a good shopper) but it only took visits to 2 shops and she found something she liked too, which wasn't black!!!

I had opted on leaving my hat at home so I was ducking in and out of the sunshine all the way back to the ferry building to avoid ending up looking like a giant beetroot.because of the huge amounts of tourists the ferry was still running late but we happily sat and waited for it to arrive.

The weather had cooled off by early evening so we went for a walk along Cheltenham beach and into town where we stopped for a couple of drinks before heading back for dinner.Mel and I spent a while discussing motorbikes and whether we should splash out now on a Harley or stick with a 250cc for now,but I still had to call LTNZ and ask if it was viable to re-take my test here on the Harley which would have to wait until tomorrow.

Friday 16th January 2009

Phone call made and it is possible to do the NZ test on a bigger bike due to me having a full license for the UK,which was good news.After checking our email things dropped into place as we had received an email from the emigration people wanting some extra documentation so that meant a trip out to their offices for the morning.

Having that facility to hand has been really helpful for us.After our discussion on the motorbikes last night we dropped into the HD shop for a look around as it is only a minute's drive from the offices we were at and we were glad we did.The new batch of bikes weren't due in until April but the guy had a trade in due in the next 4-6 weeks that was only a year old which was spooky.He also had a 1200 custom that only had 300km on it,a guy had bought it then fallen off and broke his ankle when he stopped and put his foot in a pothole,which was a shame becaues the bike was gorgeous but outside our budget unfortunately.

The second hand bike was in our budget and we left our details with them and left feeling happy with ourselves.As we walked around the supermarket we both looked at each other and said that we were hungry,it was only when I looked at my watch and realised it was nearly 2pm that we had missed lunch.

Saturday 17th January 2009

The day started cloudy and we had some stationary to pick up for our mini office as we are getting a collection of paperwork now and need somewhere to put it all.This made Mel really happy as she loves stationary and was in her element back at the house filing things away in little plastic pouches!!!

We took the bus into Takapuna (the next town up which is bigger than Devonport) as we had been meaning to venture up here to check out the restaurants and bars for a while now.It was early evening but the place was quiet which surprised us both but we had a nice few hours trying out several bars and perusing the restaurant menus before taking the bus back home.

Sunday 18th January 2009

For the last 7-8 days I have been waking up not feeling a 100% which is strange (and before you start it's not alcohol related!!) but by around mid morning I feel fine.I boiled up some nice fresh free range eggs for breakfast,the yolks were golden and they were delicious.

The plan today was a simple one. Visit the library,dvd shop and the supermarket before dropping the car at home and heading for the beach.I filled up the esxy with an assortment of drinks and Mel put together our beach bag (hats,sunscreen,puzzle book and tin to keep my hearing aids safe when we are swimming!!)

About a week ago Mel worked out that high tide shifted about 30 minutes each day and has kept me informed accordingly so we haven't missed one since and sure enough today when we arrived the sea was right there waiting for us to dive in.The whole afternoon passed quickly,it was really relaxing and good fun.Everytime we go to Cheltenham Beach we sit and pick which house we would buy if we could afford it,but I think a lottery win would be needed to do it!!!!

Lots of Love

M & M

xx