Merry Christmas

Sorry this has been a quiet site (for the one or two of you that might be watching)

Here are some pictures of Roger and sandra on the boat





Additionally the standard 'family picture'



Been a difficult day today....started off with a few hours on the boat, some lunch then Joe and I disappeared to the beach for a few hours surfing /swimming/chilling.

We then went to the supermarket (6.30pm on the Saturday before Christmas)....no we are not mad, no queues in the car park, shop nice and quiet and straight to the checkout....another NZ beauty!

Have a happy Christmas.

Kia ora campers!! We have visitors.

Hey everyone....well coming into summer now which means high winds, torrential rain with bits of sunshine poking through....still managed to get a bit of a tan last weekend! Wind blew our huge sun shade through the patio window last night, a bit scary!

We have visitors in the shape of Roger and Sandra (Simon's paternal uncle)....they are the first visitors to our new house and they have just flown to Rarotonga today, they will arrive there yesterday!! (weird eh).



We went to Te Puna Quarry at the weekend (in between showers) and managed to show our rellies some of the awesome views. They have visited many of our local sites including Mount Maunganui (Maouo) where they sat and watched Joe having his school surfing lessons (yes he is in the surfing team and yes it is part of the curriculum and yes the teachers take them to the beach to have lessons).



Managed to get Roger and sandra to the local boat show and bored them silly. Since their arrival, our alcohol consumption (especially quality wine) has gone through the roof. Roger still impresses me with the amount that he cycles....he is wearing out my bike. When they return from their week in Rarotonga (Cook Islands) we will probably be heading to Napier on a wine trail!

Views from Papamoa Hills.....10 minute drive away

........and views from the house

more blogs at last!!

Here is our house....

Visitors, moving and Emma's 40th

After complaints from our public (well Ali), we have finally had time to add to our blog!

This posed pic is from the Coromandel where we went for the weekend to celebrate my (ahem) 40th. It's a beautiful peninsula with more hairpins in the road than Marge Simpson's 'do. Just as blue though. (The sea, that is.) We had a great time walking, eating, going on a weird train ride and to a hot water beach. Hire a spade and you can dig your own hot pool in the sand. It was a bizarre experience especially as there was no tepid water - the hot water really was scalding. You could stand on the beach with one foot freezing cold and the other so hot you couldn't keep still.

We were thrilled to have Tim and Phil visit us in April. We had been looking forward to it for so long. We ate out lots so put on loads of weight as we mistakenly tried to keep up with Tim's pudding consumption. Simon went with Tim and Phil to Rotorua and did all the tourist bits - couldn't get them to do the Haka though!. Also, Tim, Joe and Emma went to White Island (one of the many local active volcanos) by helicopter. This was an amazing experience - like something from a sci-fi film. We had to wear gas masks in case the smell of all the gases was too strong!



We introduced Tim and Phil to hot pools, locally in Omokoroa, then in Rotorua and they went to Hanmer Springs when they toured the South Island - in style. We expect them to be ordering their own spa for their back garden any day... We also walked up the Mount ( our local legendary mountain and beach) and enjoyed the views... (Er, pic to follow!)

In the last fortnight we have also moved house, as you will know. No pics of this yet as we haven't really been here much in day light. We'll add some when we can. We were sad to leave Omokoroa as the house was in a lovely location though the convenience of where we now are outweighs that......and our new place is really posh, with it's own guest wing, in case any of you were thinking of visiting.....

And as for the more mundane stuff. Simon is still enjoying working at CAMHS and now particularly works with children and adolescents with drug and alcohol problems. He's getting very good marks in his assignments for his Masters so far, an A last time. Emma is settled into her post at Child Youth and Family (though that should hardly be advertised as they have a worse reputation here than children's services in the UK) and gets very good feedback so must be doing something right. She'll even be doing some training for new care givers soon. Anna loves her course and it only takes her 3 minutes to drive in now. She has a new job in a designer clothes shop in town which she managed to get by personal recommendation from one of her tutors. Joe remains very happy at school and the rugby season has now started. He is playing lock and being lifted in the line outs. They won today, 34 -7, and Joe got player of the match. They play on Saturday mornings here and after the game, they just go home. Most strange!! And have we mentioned that we're going to see the All Blacks next weekend against France?? Just thrilled to bits about that.

See you soon.

The Lowes

Happy New 2007

Thought it was about time we added a 'proper' photo of us. This was taken on Christmas Eve before heading out for a BBQ.

The biggest news of the year so far is that we were very pleased to welcome our first visitors. M (Graggy) and Tony have arrived in New Zealand. They came to stay with us for a few nights last week before embarking on their 6 week tour of the country. Rumour has it they may pop in now and then for laundry purposes! They were very polite guests, said all the right things and ate everything we put in front of them. (M also brought over a whole copy of The Guardian - was ridiculously happy!) We took them around some of the local sights, esp the Mount.....



.... and the Luge at Rotorua....



Anna and I also went to Waitomo with them to see the famous glow worms. Simon and Joe have been away for a few days to Wanganui for a national cricket tournament and will be home shortly.

I have finally found a job and start work as a caregivers social worker ( foster care) on 12th Feb. My holiday will definitely be over - the hours are 8 - 5! It will be a very steep learning curve for me but am very pleased to have the chance to meet some more people, and to do something constructive, while also earning money. I will have my own desk, my own computer... but no parking, and everything is recorded both electronically and on paper - so some things are the same everywhere!

Happy belated New Year

Emma

City Life

Emma here.

Last week, Anna and I ventured to Auckland for the day and were glad to find that even though it is 2.5 hours drive each way, it is perfectly possible to manage in a day. With Anna's iPod loaded with classic songs, we sang all the way there and back! We headed first for Wagamama for some therapeutically familiar noodles. Smaller portions from the UK, but thankfully they still did the old favourite ginger and white chocolate cheesecake. Navigating is always tricky in a strange city and we did get lost a couple of times but after shopping in the main city centre, we also found a shopping 'village' on the outskirts. There were lots of familiar names there, like Nando's, Starbucks, the Flight Centre (but maybe more about that later....!)

My most long serving, fantastic friend, Karen, has been in Christchurch in the south island visiting family, and she got in touch on Monday. Her family have planned a tight schedule for her but she had one day she could come up and see us, which was Thursday. Somehow, just a few days before Christmas, she managed to get a flight to Wellington. Anna and I couldn't get any flights so we drove down, thinking it would only be about 4 hours each way. I had forgotten about Kiwi roads! The journey was 8 hours each way, so we booked into a motel for 2 nights. The drive was incredible though - some views take your breath away....





Meeting Karen from Wellington airport seemed the most natural thing in the world. We walked around the city all day, visiting Te PaPa museum and lots of shops and eating places until our legs and jaws ached from too much walking and talking. There are far too many incriminating photos of Karen and me in the 80's so this one will can only begin to balance that....






Back in Tauranga now and it's only 2 days till Christmas. The weather has been a bit wet recently - though not as bad as that in the UK by the sound of things ( yes, UK weather makes the NZ news!). The sun is out again. We aim to spend Christmas day on the beach and have a traditional meal in the evening. I have another interview in January, so hope things on that front will begin to pick up then.

Joe Lowe doing the Haka.....never!!

Below you might be able to pick out our Lowie doing the College Haka to prize winners (click on the photo to enlarge)....one of the prize winners???? Yep, Joe Carter (For those of you who know him).

Outdoor assemblies in mid december, who would have thought it? Nice sunshine...

So Joe doing the Haka for Joe, what would they say at Camelot? ....which by the way (as a fantastic link), might be the name Phil and I give to our new 20 foot Yacht...any other suggestions would be gratefully received....