LETTER from NEW ZEALAND 4*

*With apologies to Alistair Cooke

Kia Ora, Haere mai and greetings from Aotearoa. (Land of the long white cloud).Thought it was time for another go at feeding the monster, at this rate I’ll end up looking like Alistair Cooke. It would be worth it if I had his literary gift.

Well what has been happening? Firstly some more little snippets about NZ. An update to my earlier musings about the decommissioned frigate, Wellington: a storm has caused it to break into three bits and they appear to be wandering around the seabed, so a little care and maintenance is being done to secure them.

Another article I read the other day succinctly highlighted the problem NZ is having with getting a decent broadband service. Basically you walk into a bar and the barmaid hands you a tall cold glass of beer, you look at and take it in both hands, it’s a hot day, you’re thirsty and can’t wait to take a big drink, but the barmaid stops you. You have to drink the beer through a straw; she explains that there are a number of straws, all different sizes and prices. You select the straw you can most afford and get ready to drink. But wait, she stops you again, you can only drink a certain amount of beer; if you want any more you need to either use a smaller straw or pay for every extra mouthful…. That sums up the current state of broadband service in NZ. Things are beginning to look up as the government is starting to put pressure on the provider to loosen up the system and allow other operators a better chance of providing a decent service.

So, on to us.. What has been happening? Well, I mentioned previously that we’d been selected from the pool and invited to apply for permanent residency. It sounds easy, ha! We’ve managed to put all the paperwork together (thanks Sandy!) and the application is now with the immigration service, to administer. So here’s hoping all is well.

Liz and I had another session in front of the camera. This time it was al fresco, walking along the harbour front on a warm sunny evening like minor royalty. We had attracted a fair bit of attention and I couldn’t help it….I started making comments like, “Charles and Camilla would love it here.” and such like, causing a minor stir among the older blue rinse brigade. At one cheesy point we had to walk from Scotland to New Zealand (in our socks - across a giant map of the world, close-ups of my size 13’s marching across Africa). All in the name of (insert your own word here)

Things are slowly settling in the house, still got some problems. We’re getting a dehumidifying system installed within the next few weeks which apparently cuts down the condensation and improves the heating of the house. (It does get cold here, however not to the extent it does in Edinburgh - Liz would argue that moot point, when it comes to no central heating or double glazing). The deck furniture is now in place and a monster barbeque sits waiting for a warm evening for me to incinerate some previously good bits of meat in my first barbeque attempt. Much to Liz’s disgust, I’ve discovered Trash Palace… This is the local civic amenities dump - with a difference - where they sort and resell ‘stuff’. See Link http://www.trashpalace.co.nz/

I wanted a workbench type thing for the garage and this is what I got there. Guess how much..

$10… (Under 4 quid) I hope you are impressed Anton. (If you recognise any of your tools, it’s not my fault!)

Adam is still honing his skills in the graphic design world, applying for jobs as they emerge. Unfortunately, I think the colleges are pumping out graphic designers over here and the competition is tough, however his portfolio looks good and he should score soon.

I’m still enjoying my work. The good news is, I get a lift to work most mornings, the bad news is the guy picks me up at 6:00 a.m., however I don’t really mind as I’m home again for 4.30. This is my attempt at stitching some pictures I took from the floor that I work on. It gives you an idea of the view…(That's the WestPac Rugby Stadium in the middle)

We have Jim & Lorna from Edinburgh visiting this weekend, they are over for a wedding and are ‘popping’ (7 hour drive) down to see us. It will be good to catch up on what’s been going on back in Edinburgh.

We’ve had Sky TV installed - of course as soon as we get it, the b*&^dy SKY satellite breaks down and thousands of people had no TV for about 14 hours. This is known as ‘The Anderson Phenomenon’ and Babs knows all about it.

Well, that’s it for now folks. I’ll send an update if we hear anything from the immigration people.