we're here 1.

First few days in NZ were spent calling JetStar who were less than helpful but managed to convey enough "don't worry" that we tried not to worry. The bottle of Chivas went down rather quickly.

Nana drove us around and we managed to get a few items of clothing from the place where "everyone gets a bargain".

JetStar eventually delivered our luggage right to our motel room door 2 days late. I don't think it's possible to describe just how grateful we were.

Malc (Kate's sister's husband) lent us his 'ute and in a fit of glee we bought a similar truck. Yes a 4 wheel drive monstrosity of the type that I absolutely loath. Incredibly (if you're from the UK) the salesman let us drive it away the same afternoon.

Thanks again to Malc and Annie for extending to us the kind of hand that is most definitely welcome and is never forgotten. We spend several afternoons at their lovely home, just recuperating and using the telecoms facilities.

A couple of days later and we rented a glamorous old lady of a place right by the beach; south New Brighton. This was to be our home for the next month or two. I managed to get the Internet setup after a week of phone calls and spent a week getting up at 4am catching up with work.

There followed several weeks of house hunting and sleeplessness as we watched the exchange rate got from bad to worse.

We watched some very, very, nice houses slide out of view as the exchange rate collapsed.

Then suddenly, we're making an offer on a really nice place and guess what.. it ours! yeah! It takes less than a day to make the offer and sign the contracts, UK agents/solicitors take note.

Roy.