tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16758252220825729812024-03-14T01:41:17.127-07:00Ben and Heather's TravelsBen Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-59708187581476563492012-05-23T20:02:00.000-07:002012-06-12T20:27:43.563-07:00Poppy's first six monthsUnfortunately the hormone high wore off after a couple of weeks, but fortunately it seemed a bit pointless to panic that I didn't know what I was doing by that point as I'd managed not to break the baby so far, so thought I'd better just carry on! As it turns out I absolutely love being a Mum. I still have that "this is what I was meant to be doing" feeling and am slightly disappointed that I didn't start ten years earlier, I could have five by now! I'm already thinking I want two more, I just have to convince Ben :0)<br />
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Family life is action-packed: Christmas was a bit of a disaster as we failed on the food front, Poppy was a bit off colour and I got puked all over, but a few cocktails cheered us up; Ben's mum came to visit in March and we all had a lovely holiday together in Northlands; having a baby is what it took to be accepted into the kiwi clique and we now get to attend gatherings where we are the only Brits; Erin and Rebecca continue to feature heavily and come over every week for pizza night; we also have tonnes of new friends who also have babies and see lots of Nancy, Lance and Eli. Ben's postcard business continues to grow and his IT job is going well. I'm half way through my maternity leave and don't know yet whether I'll be going back in November or not.<br />
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Poppy will be six months old in a few days. She's a wonderful age; she smiles and laughs and loves cuddles and playing, she sleeps well but she can't move around by herself yet, so there's only so much trouble she can get herself into! She's just learned to roll over and is lying on the floor practicing that skill as I write. She does a lot better when she has a disposable nappy on as the bulkier cloth ones act a bit like stabilisers! She's cooing and making lots of noise, but not really babbling yet (that's when they use consonant sounds like gaa gaa, maa maa, daa daa etc rather than just vowel sounds; aaaahhh, eeeehhh etc). She's showing signs of teething; she's dribbling lots and rubbing things on her gums, but she doesn't have any teeth yet.<br />
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She looks a lot like Ben now (only much prettier!). She's got very blond hair and still has the big blue eyes she was born with. Unfortunately she seems to be following the Gourley's on the average height and slightly tubby factors but who can tell how she'll end up. She has super chubby cheeks and a gorgeous big gummy smile and gets to wear incredibly cute outfits :0)<br />
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It seems the question that people are always asking is "Is she sleeping throughout the night yet?" and the answer is "no", but she is a good sleeper. She goes to bed at 6.30pm and often doesn't get up until after eight in the morning, so it's not surprising she usually needs a couple of feeds in that time (so do I!). As much as I'd rather not get up in the early hours of the morning, it only takes about ten minutes to feed her and then she goes straight back to sleep. So I don't mind too much and there is something quite magical about those sleepy night-time cuddles, as during the day she's usually too wriggly these days to get a good one!<br />
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She has been breast fed all the way through and still spends a lot of time on my boobs! She has repeatedly refused to take a bottle (even of expressed breast milk) so Ben has gotten away very lightly on the getting-up-at-night front and I really can't be away from her for more than a couple of hours. But it feels like a small price to pay for knowing that I'm giving her the best possible start in life. I've recently started giving her some solids but so far it just makes her gag and puke!<br />
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Poppy and I have quite a social life! I was a bit worried that I was going to go stir crazy being at home all the time, but as it is I have to try and make the effort to stay home some times. We go swimming and do a baby programme and meet up with friends and of course go on lots of dog walks. (Although Poppy seems to be on pushchair strike at the moment - that girl has far too many opinions for one so young - I can't think where she gets it from!). I thought it would be boring having only a baby for company but as it turns out she's far more fun to play with than other babies! ;0)<br />
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Here are some of her favourite things to do...<br />
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<li>lie in the hammock with me and watch the leaves blowing on the trees </li>
<li>play with her glow worm toy which lights up and plays a tune and is apparently the funniest thing ever! </li>
<li>watch Ben blow bubbles and try to pop them (often with Twpsyn's assistance!) </li>
<li>have me sing the same songs over and over again (she's the only one in the world to enjoy my singing!) </li>
<li>dance around the room and while her mum and dad leap around like lunatics! </li>
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Twpsyn loves Poppy. She's going to have a fabulous immune system because he regularly licks her in the face! He's incredibly gentle with her. In fact, we think that he thinks she is a "Gently", as that's what everyone shouts at him whenever he goes near her. I bet when he's out and about he tells the other dogs "We've got a Gently at home now, it's my job to look after her!". He often sleeps outside her room when she's napping and walks beautifully along side her buggy.<br />
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On the whole Poppy has been a pretty "easy" baby (so far). She gets grumpy when she's tired, won't take a bottle, can't keep her solids down, makes a fuss when she's in her pushchair and feeds ALL the time! But we've been really, really lucky; she's healthy, she's happy, she sleeps well, she eats well and she's a delight to be around (well most of the time) and she's brought something wonderful into our lives. It hasn't all been plain sailing. We had a rough patch when she was about three months old when her sleep went awry and I slightly lost the plot! But with the support of Judy (my midwife) and Nanna (Ben's Mum, Pauline, who was visiting at the time) we sorted it out and proved that even when things go wrong we can still manage.<br />
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Being a mum has certainly changed me, hopefully not beyond recognition, but I am definitely a lot softer now. I always used to cry at all the animal rescue programmes but now I cry about anything to do with babies too! I feel a lot more content and capable of coping with whatever life throws at me. I'm really excited about the future; What will Poppy turn out like? How much more will our family grow? What adventures will we all have together? When will I be a grandma?! But I'm also making the most of the present. Everything changes so fast and I don't want to miss a thing :0)<b style="font-weight: normal;">
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You can see more pictures by following <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150687822231759.386551.555246758&type=3&l=b202553429">this link</a></div>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-70023788385349464302011-12-03T13:10:00.001-08:002011-12-03T16:10:36.221-08:00Poppy's Arrival<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.1975544523447752" style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll start with the ending and then I'll tell the story of how we got here...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this is how it all happened...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My pregnancy progressed in a happily uneventful way, but by the last couple of days I was feeling pretty tired and of course enormous. I spoke to my Mum who revealed that I had been born 17 days late and decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. So there was drinking of raspberry -leaf tea, eating of pineapple, lots of walking, 'hot baths', 'hot sex' and on the evening of 27.11.11 Ben and I headed out with friends to an Indian restaurant for a much talked about labour-inducing 'hot curry'.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately I didn't get to eat the thali I'd been looking forward to because half way though the starter my waters broke. One minute I'm in a restaurant chatting and munching on an onion bhaji and the next I'm sitting in a puddle, with water running down my legs! There was much panic among our dining companions as they desperately wanted to call someone who would "know what to do". But we calmly informed then that we knew what to do and Ben even suggested we stay and eat our curries. Had I not been sitting in a pool of amniotic fluid I may have been tempted but the entirely unfazed "don't worry about it madam, it happens all the time" Indian waiter packed us up a take away and we headed home.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We called Judy, my midwife, only to discover she was already at the hospital with our friend Nancy, who later gave birth to little Eli Adolph (but that's her story to tell).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At about 1am my contractions started and very quickly they were lasting a long time and very close together. It was a hot night and we had all the windows open so I was a bit concerned that the neighbours might think that we were having very noisy sex, but once I vomited a few times I imagine that they realised that that wasn't the case after all! We called Judy again around 4.30am and having been home for an hour and a half's break after finishing a twenty-four hour stretch with Nancy she was straight back out (bless her) and arranged to meet us at the hospital.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the hospital I got into the birthing pool and the world became a much nicer place again. The water helped massively with the pain and my contractions slowed down to a much more manageable pace. I must admit I was a bit peeved when they started to get really sore and frequent again as I thought maybe I was going to be brave enough to push this baby out without any pain relief. However, it wasn't to be. My contractions were so close together I just couldn't get my breath back in between them and when I found out I was only 7cm dialted (you need to reach 10cm to give birth) I decided to opt for the epidural.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now in my mind once I decided that I was going to take the drugs then they would just give them to me and that would be that. But apparently that's not how it works. Unfortunately I had to get out of the pool so that I could be prodded and poked about on the bed and being out of the water made the pain much harder to manage. The baby's heart rate had to be monitored for twenty minutes, the anesthetist called, various needles and tubes inserted and that half an hour or so (they tell me that's how long it was) seemed a VERY long time. Fortunately by this time I was puffing away like mad on the gas and air and was completely off my head! I could hear what was going on around me but in my drugged up mind it meant all kinds of weird stuff and had nursery rhymes and computer game graphics from my childhood mixed in with it. Some of the time I was laughing away and at one point I thought we were back in our house. I then became convinced that the doctor was with-holding the drugs from me on purpose and true to form was swearing away at him. Ben tells me his favourite quote is when I shouted out "I'm not a statistic"!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was immediately apparent once the epidural finally did kick in as I was lying on the bed surrounded by doctors and nurses and I looked up, noticed the time and sent Ben off to call our mates to make sure they'd look after our dog for us! By now I was completely pain-free and after a little cry and apology to the midwife for "taking all the drugs" was feeling great. Unfortunately the doctors were becoming increasingly concerned by my raised temperature and the baby's erratic heart beat. There was some discussion as to what to do and finally the call was made that one way or the other the baby needed to come out now.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was given the option of trying to deliver naturally or opting for c section and said I wanted to try to push her out. Because the chance of needing an emergency caesar was so high if I couldn't push the baby out I was prepped for surgery and wheeled though the corridors into theatre. Once in there I seemed to be surrounded by a whole fleet of scrub-donned doctors, nurses and students and being naked with my legs up in the air I did wonder if the audience of about fifteen people was entirely necessary, but to be honest I had other things on my mind. (Ben was so impressed with the comment that someone made about him looking like George Clooney in his scrubs that he stole them and brought them home!) I think some of the doctors were pretty keen to go straight for a section but I'm eternally grateful for the fantastic support and encouragement of my midwife and the hospital midwife and their calls of "Let's get this baby out!" So with Ben counting me through my contractions, despite being able to feel very little of what was going on down there, I managed to push my little girl far enough down for her poor little head to be grasped by giant salad servers and Poppy was rudely dragged into the world.</span><br />
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<a href="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/388942_10150992812285408_745795407_21448002_665190188_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/388942_10150992812285408_745795407_21448002_665190188_n.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ben tells me he was somewhat horrified by the tiny, bright blue, bug-eyed, slimy creature with a cone shaped head that was dumped on top of me and his first thought was that I'd given birth to an alien! She was whisked away as she wasn't breathing and Ben went and watched whilst she was encouraged to take her first breaths and then he cut her cord (he's still got the scissors).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that was how Poppy came into existence and she spent the first day of her life lying naked on my chest while I was stuck in bed waiting to be able to move my bottom half again. And that was five days ago. I stayed in hospital for three nights and apart from the to-be-expected crappy food have nothing but good things to say about the whole experience. The midwives were amazing and I honestly feel that I've learned more in the past few days than I have in the past few years. How to breast feed, how to bath a baby, what a hungry face looks like, how to hold a baby without breaking 'it' and most importantly of all, what it means to be a mother.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During one of my nights in hospital I had something of a profound experience. It was late at night, I hadn't had much sleep, I'd managed to settle Poppy and I was lying in bed trying to get some rest before the feeding cycle started again in just a couple of hours time. My body was relaxed and tired but my mind was filled with a deafening chatter, chatter, chatter as everything that I had just been though whizzed around and around my head. I took some deep breaths and tried to bring myself back to the breath, ground myself in the present and quieten down the all noise (all that good slightly hippy stuff!). I then experienced a feeling which was like I was being wrapped up tightly in a big, warm 'blanket of well-being'. I wondered to myself "was that just in my head?" Because it felt like a very physical sensation. A little later I felt my boobs filling with milk and as they did so all my insides tightened up and started to move back into place. It didn't hurt, it felt like a strong hug or maybe wearing some of those big 'Bridget Jones' pants. It's very normal to feel very emotional as your milk comes in as you get a big surge of hormones and it often makes people cry, hence the term "the baby blues". And here I was lying in bed crying my eyes out (quietly so the lady in the next bed didn't hear me) and all I could think was "I'm SSSSOOOOO happy, I'm SSSSSOOOOO blessed, this is what I was meant to be doing!" I know... it sounds pathetic and I'm at a loss to explain how I feel about my baby girl without resorting to the same old cliches. But "blessed" is not a word that is frequently used in my vocabluary and it's not being used lightly here. I truly feel blessed :0)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok, so enough with the gooey stuff. We're home now and already the whole labour experience is slipping from my mind, which is why I really thought I should get it out now. The same cannot yet be said for Ben though. He was incredible throughout the whole experience and having him and Judy there meant I felt completely safe the whole time. However it seems that witnessing the event was more traumatic than actually feeling it (and to be fair he did have a lot less drugs!), so with mention of "the next one" Ben's response was "You don't have to do it again Babe, we can just have puppies from now on".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the first moment he saw Poppy Ben has been smitten (well not counting the whole alien thing), he can't stop looking at her and is already well and truly in love with her. The poor thing has already had her picture taken a hundred times! My bond has been growing more gradually. About three days in I said to Ben "Is she getting cuter and less Gollum-like now or am I just more used to her?" He showed me a picture of her from her first day with her scabby misshapen head and forceps marks down her face, "she's definitely getting cuter".</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So does she look more like me or Ben? Who knows? She looks like a baby to me. Have a look at the photos and see what you think. Ben's Mum says she thought she looked like Ben as a baby, but then when she had a look at an old photo she realised that she doesn't at all! My Dad thinks she looks like me, but then I guess he would. She's got fair hair (it's too early to tell if it's ginger!) and big blue eyes, like Ben (but they might change colour yet), she's got the Smith long legs but not the big head. So I guess we'll have to wait and see. Of course we think she's the most beautiful baby in the world but I think we can blame instincts for that!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's lovely being at home. Twpsyn is coping with all the changes after getting over the initial disappointment that the baby wasn't actually a treat for him to play with! When he first saw me, or more to the point smelt me, he went a bit loopy licking and rubbing himself all over me. Even I can smell the breast milk so it's no wonder he can. I don't know whether he was trying to make me smell familiar again or lay a bit of a claim to me or what, but he's already completely settled down and lies watching me breast feed. I've got no doubt he's going to be a fantastic "big brother". The cat however, hmmm, maybe not. Poor neglected Dotti :0(</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ben has been amazing, running around after me as I spend hours confined to a chair with a baby on my boob and Erin has been fab too. Poppy, so far at least, is a very settled baby and is making it all seem pretty easy. Plus I'm still high on all the hormones! Last night I had another big hormone rush which was so strong it made me feel all 'blissed out' and giggly. And just to prove that it's not all in my head, despite the fact I didn't move or make any noise and was just lying in bed in the early hours of the morning, as it happend the dog completely uncharacteristically came running in from the next room, tail wagging, all excited and was all over me, no doubt joining in the hormone party! Now I don't know how long this stuff lasts for, or more to the point how to prolong it, but I'm definitely enjoying it whilst it's here. If this is the pay off for the bruised nipples then breast-feeding really is the best thing in the world and maybe I'll turn into one of those slightly disturbing women who has a five year old still attached to her tit!!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that just about brings you up to date with the happenings of the past five days. It's hard to believe it hasn't even been a week and now the whole world is a completley different place, or at least it seems to be. I know everyone tells you that having kids changes your life blah, blah. I knew all that. I knew there would be sleepless nights and dirty nappies. I knew I'd feel confused and overwhelmed. I just didn't get how much love I could feel. I was worried I wouldn't love the baby as much as I love the dog. But it turns out I still really love the dog I just have a whole heap more love in me than I knew about.</span><br />
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</div>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com9Tauranga, New Zealand-37.6877975 176.1651295-37.8888495 175.8492725 -37.486745500000005 176.4809865tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-57639509599873010392011-09-04T00:34:00.000-07:002011-09-04T00:58:26.131-07:00Tauranga 2011We've been particularly slack about keeping the blog up to date and it's been almost a year since I updated it. But then I guess that's real life rather than exciting travelling adventures. Mind you, that's not to say that life has been boring, or that we haven't had any adventures, they've just been the more stay-at-home sort of adventures!<br />
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Last Summer was a pretty hectic one. It started in November with Ben and I heading off on our first road trip for a while :0) We went down to the Taranaki region, which is the bit that sticks out on the west of the North Island, and really the last part of New Zealand that we haven't explored at all.<br />
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We started with a few days in New Plymouth, the highlight of which was doing some hiking on the mighty and picture perfect Mount Taranaki. Even in Summer the extinct volcano top is covered with snow and you can see the majestic peak for miles around. We camped in a gorgeous spot over-looking the sea and relaxed in the sun.<br />
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We then drove around the 'Surf Highway' exploring the wild, deserted coastline and ended up in the city of Whanganui. After that was the big adventure where we headed off on a three day canoeing trip through some of the most unspoilt rainforest in New Zealand. We hardly saw another soul the whole time and canoed by day and stayed in huts built by the side of the river by night. One night was spent alone in a Maori marae, in the middle of nowhere, which felt like a real privilege.<br />
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The whole trip was a fantastic experience, but I must admit we were pretty happy to see the guy who came to pick us up waiting on the side of the river on the end of the third day, and even happier to be driven back to civilisation for a hearty pub meal.<br />
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The next exciting even was the arrival of Ben's sister Zena, her husband, Ian and their kids; Freya and Charlie, to stay for Christmas. they had a fantastic time exploring the North Island in a campervan and we loved having them to stay. It was a fun, chaotic Christmas, with much laughter shared by all. The kids best bit seemed to be hanging out with Twpsyn (our dog). He followed them around the whole time and they all fell in love with each other :0) I think the kids loved body boarding on the beach nearly as much though!<br />
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Shortly afterwards my folks arrived and again the dog was centre of attention! It was lovely to have Mum and Dad see our new house and for us all to relax in the garden in the sunshine. One family outing was a trip to the local horse races, which is called "the trots". The horses pull their jockeys in little carts and are not allowed to run - only trot. We put on lots of one dollar bets and it seemed that Mum and Dad won every time, whilst the rest of us came away skint!<br />
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We're definitely more settled now and have made some wonderful friends. Erin and Rebecca are particularly close and have both come to live with us at various times, so we've all spent a lot of time together. Some of the fun stuff we've all been involved with include; a big music event, a trip to Auckland to visit Maree and an agricultural fair (they're a big deal over here!), where I fell in love with the piglets even though Ben wouldn't let me bring one home :0( We went to a particularly tragic festival, which despite our best efforts to have fun just couldn't live up to the 'Smoothie Summer'. Also we've taken the dog away camping a few times and have been on countless 'pack walks', with as many friends with dogs as we can muster!<br />
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Mind you, when it comes to Twp it hasn't been all fun and games. Unfortunately he's got problems with his joints (trust us to pick a defective pup!) and had to have an operation to put some pins in his knee to stop it dislocating. He may need to have the same op on his other back leg at some point, but hopefully not until we've had time to save up for it! He's still a happy, bouncy, not-so-little fella and we love him loads. He's grown into quite a handsome dog, although he does have a grumpy old man face :0)<br />
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Dotti the cat has got a bit braver and will at least occasionally walk past the dog, or will sit half way up the stairs and glare down at him whilst he whines at her. But despite Twp's best efforts they're a long way from being friends. Maybe in another year or so!<br />
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Unfortunately we received some very sad news at the beginning of the year that Ben's Dad was unwell. Ben was able to fly back to the UK for a few weeks to spend time with his Dad and the rest of his family, before Peter passed away. We are very sad to have lost him but grateful that Ben had the opportunity to say goodbye and to pass on our very happy news, which we know meant a lot to him.<br />
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Our happy news being... We're having a baby :0) So it's all change from here. She (yes, we know that "she" is a she!) is due on the 28th November 2011, which makes me six months pregnant and getting bigger by the day. We've been gradually acquiring everything we need including a bigger car so the dog has been demoted from backseat to boot travel and I've become a second-hand-baby-stuff bargain finder extraordinaire! But most importantly we've been getting used to the idea of becoming a family. Ben is very excited and now I seem to have passed through the denial and terrified stages, with the assistance of my happy hormones, am really looking forward to meeting our daughter too :0)<br />
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I've only got 12 weeks (and counting) left in work and am taking a year off. In fact I may not go back at all as my only option may be to go back full-time. But that's a long way away yet so we'll see what happens. Nancy, a good friend from work is also pregnant and we'd like to go back on a job share, but who knows.<br />
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Ben's postcard business is going brilliantly and his images are for sale virtually all over the North Island now and soon to be expanding into the South Island too. He's worked incredibly hard and it looks like it's starting to pay off. Plus he's got some geek work for a local web development company, which is great as obviously my income is going to come to an end soon.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pikitia.co.nz/">Pikitia Postcards - New Zealand Postcards and Photography</a><br />
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We've got lots to look forward to, including another visit from Ceri for the Rugby World Cup next month, and we've all got tickets to go and see Wales play. Then of course we'll be caught up in the whirlwind of new parenthood, followed by the next round of visitors. So I'm sure 2012's blog updates will include plenty of photos of the little one (one of the advantages of having a photographer on hand!) and we look forward to sharing some of the highlights of the next chapter of our lives with you<br />
xxx<br />
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Photo can be found at the following links...<br />
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Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-66025506470466904152010-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:002010-10-09T18:40:15.997-07:00Going up in the WorldWe are residents of "The Hood" no longer and are now living in a much posher part of town. It's filled with old folk on mobility scooters, with their small, fluffy, white dogs! Our new house is lovely. It's sunny and open and has a big garden for the pup to happily cavort around in. We love living here and are really excited about the Summer to come when we can have loads of barbeque's and evenings sitting in the evening sun drinking wine :0)<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234634&id=555246758&l=39df634589"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs207.ash2/47031_437689661758_555246758_5659242_4448596_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JBZS1MhfAKg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JBZS1MhfAKg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="321"></embed></object><br /><br />It feels like it's been a long Winter, but I guess by UK standards it hasn't been all that bad. It was a lot less cold than last year and we've had plenty of sunny, fine days all the way through. The last month has been really rainy though and it's been dead stormy the last couple of weeks. It sounds like the roof's going to blow off and our lawn is covered in grapefruit that have blown off the tree. We can't even give them away fast enough to keep up. I know I should be making them into marmalade or something but I'm not quite that domesticated yet!!<br /> <br />Twpsyn is of course still the centre of our world's :0) He's seven and a half months old and a whopping 26kgs (nearly 4.5 stone) already. His feet are still too big for him so I guess he's still got some growing to do. He's entering adolescence and so has the odd moment of rebellion but is generally pretty good. One all of our favourite things is to go on "pack walks" with all our friends with their dogs. Ned is his favourite doggy-friend. He's the size of a pony and Twp follows him around adoringly. You can just tell he's thinking "I want to be like you when I grow up" :0) He's about to start "advanced" obedience classes but he's definitely still a "work in progress" and would rather run around with other dogs than do what we tell him to!!<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zvvbMjyy35E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zvvbMjyy35E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="321"></embed></object><br /><br />We had our first dog holiday, which was fab. We stayed in a little wooden cabin on a huge farm in Colville, North East Coromandel, and did loads of bush walking and exploring. We all loved it and have lots of dog-friendly camping adventures planned for when the sun comes out. We had a dog-less trip away too (Erin dog-sat for us) in Auckland, where we stayed in a flash hotel because we had vouchers to use up (we obviously wouldn't pay to say in a four star hotel!!). We made the most of being in the city and had lots of meals out and drinks in swanky bars and stuff. It was lovely but we both agreed that we enjoyed hanging out with the pup in a log cabin in the sticks more than hanging out with the swanky folk in suits in the big smoke. Mind you we made the most of the all-you-can-eat breakfast. In fact I had to have a lie down afterwards!!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234634&id=555246758&l=39df634589"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs316.ash2/59637_437626391758_555246758_5657468_210953_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /> <br />We've finally (after being here a year and a half) found some friends who like to party. We even went to a fancy dress 80s party recently. I can't believe how much I loved wearing purple leg warmers and pink ear muffs!! Ben looked like a member of GLC in his shiny shell suit :0) Erin even found a rara skirt. One of the many highlights of the evening was when she opened a bottle of champagne and then stuck her thumb in the top to try and stop it spilling. Of course, instead what she succeeded in doing was squirting it all over herself. Classy :0) The trouble is I've acclimatised so well to the kiwi-style early nights that the big nights out kill me now!<br /> <br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=479291&id=745795407&l=1b54087f32"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs181.ash2/44412_10150250856910408_745795407_14140493_2849619_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Another fun thing we did was go to see a Wales v All Blacks rugby game. I borrowed a Welsh rugby shirt and went clutching an inflatable daffodil! Surprisingly, the Kiwi rugby fans were all really quiet and seemed genuinely horrified by all the shouting and singing of the Welsh. I didn't let it deter me though! Other than that we've been making the most of our new abode and having lots of dinner parties. Now when I say dinner parties, what I actually mean is having people over two at a time because you can only fit four around our tiny dining room table!!<br /> <br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234634&id=555246758&l=39df634589"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs022.snc4/33449_437626186758_555246758_5657457_1602675_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Our other big news is... We have a cat now too :0) Dotti belongs to Bob and Jane who own the house we're in, so she was an added bonus! She's not your regular cat though. She spends about 20 hours a day in bed (our bed) and for most of the time is actually under the covers! She's a bit lardy, I presume bacause she doesn't move much! She hates the dog and avoids him like the plague. I'm sure he only wants to be friends, but admittedly his friendship might involve putting her in his mouth! Fortunately the cat spends her time upstairs and the dog downstairs, so she just has to run the gauntlet past him a couple of times a day!!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234634&id=555246758&l=39df634589"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs738.snc4/65874_437689641758_555246758_5659241_927979_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /> <br />So what else should I tell you about? I feel like it's been a quiet few months but then it has been Winter time and everyone 'round these parts goes into semi-hibernation! Work's fine, I won't bore you with the details. And we're still hopeful for Ben's postcard empire :0) He's keeping busy with photography and computing work and has moved his office home, so I'm jealous as he gets to stay home with the dog much more than I do!<br /> <br />We've got a holiday planned for a couple of months, have Ben's sister and her family coming for Christmas, then my folks are back again in January. But they all sound like future blog posts so I think I'll say goodbye for now. We miss you all but are still loving life in New Zealand :0)<br /><br />Photos can be found <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=463500&id=745795407&l=d6f551b9f5">here</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=479291&id=745795407&l=1b54087f32">here</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=234634&id=555246758&l=39df634589">here</a>!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-13609164981083636272010-06-07T01:14:00.000-07:002010-06-07T01:23:06.683-07:00Twpsyn the Wonder dogBen's residency finally did come though so, as promised, we went to the SPCA shelter and got ourselves a dog. We got what we were told is a black Labrador cross puppy, but he definitely has more than a little bit of staffie in him! Mum and Dad were still here when we got him and they decided that he is, in fact, a wonder dog and we would have to agree :0) It was hilarious seeing them with him being like proud grandparents and giving us a blow by blow account as to what he had been up to in our absence. Both Ben and I have totally turned into dog bores and very rarely talk to anyone about anything else! I've been reading loads of books about dog training and being the "pack leader" and we've been taking him to obedience classes too, so it really has completely taken over our lives. Our social lives now even revolve around going for "doggy dates" with friends who have dogs too!<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nB1cSgrvmj8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nB1cSgrvmj8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />He was about ten weeks old when we got him which makes him four months old now. We've called him Twpsyn, which for those of you who don't know, actually means "stupid" in Welsh. But I keep trying to explain to people that it's not quite as mean as it sounds because it's kind of a term of endearment. Anyway, no-one over here knows what it means so I've started just telling people it's a Welsh name! As I said we think he's the best dog in the world, but then we are a bit biased. It only took him a few days to get the house training thing sorted and he's always come when he's called and all that. We've taught him all the usual sit, lie down, stay stuff and we've even got him doing a few tricks like rolling over and "crawling". He's a bit too boisterous at times though and presumes that everyone is his best friend so goes bowling over to them. He's really strong already so we're working on getting him walking properly on a lead. It's amazing what you can achieve with the assistance of a few sausages! As you'll see from the little video he hasn't quite mastered fetch yet though :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs540.snc3/30594_10150187881495408_745795407_12329440_1201389_n.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs540.snc3/30594_10150187881495408_745795407_12329440_1201389_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />We're pretty strict with him and I think it's needed really as otherwise he would think he's the king of the world. He's mostly pretty good but had a mini rebellion the other day when he decided to sit on the sofa which he isn't allowed on. He kept defiantly getting back on it despite being shouted at and sent to his bed! At least he's over the weeing-on-everyone's-feet stage now! Apparently he's at the equivalent of the "terrible twos" in human terms so I'm really not looking forward to the teenage years :0/<br /><br />He's a very lucky dog as he hardly ever gets left home alone. We have a yard that we can shut him in when we need to but most days he goes to work with Ben and hangs out with him in his gallery. On the whole it works really well but Ben has been a bit grumpy about having to put up with Twpsyn's farts. I think it's just karma! I take him for a walk after work and because weather has been awful lately I've often been seen heading off down the road in a big rain coat and my purple flowery wellies!<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/57PDg9Ae-kQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/57PDg9Ae-kQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Because we live in "the hood" (i.e a fairly rough, by New Zealand standards, part of town) Twpsyn has gone down a storm with all the local pit bull owners! I don't like to tell them we were after a big soppy lab and weren't expecting the muscly little monster we ended up with! It's really funny, I now love rotties and staffies and dobermans and stuff whereas I would never have wanted one of those before. Our favourite TV programme is now "The Dog Whisperer" and I have a new dream to work in a dog rehabilitation centre and run around with a pack of savage-looking dogs!!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-788808681920446262010-04-02T01:15:00.000-07:002010-04-09T01:26:40.293-07:00The Badgers come to Town!It's Easter and the clocks go back this weekend so I keep expecting the Summer to end. It's starting to get darker in the evenings and it's a little bit cooler than it has been, but I just spent the day walking on the beach in my shorts and jandals (flip flops)! The Summer has gone on forever :0) I can't believe it, it's been sunny here pretty much the whole time for the last six months... six months... How amazing is that? I'm not looking forward to the Winter and will no doubt do loads of moaning about the fact that our house might as well be made of cardboard for all the warmth it keeps in, but will try to remind myself that it's only going to last a couple of months and then I'll get another fabulous Summer. Whoop whoop :0)<br /> <br />The Badgers (aka my parents) have been with us in New Zealand for a couple of months now and I think that they're learning to love it as much as we do. We've been away on loads of adventures together including a weekend in Whangamata chilling out on the beach and involved in lots of lake themed activities... We've been camping on Lake Tarawera, spent a few days on the Lake edge in Taupo and have done a four day tramp (hike) around Lake Waikeremoana. That's the first really long hike that Ben and I have done and it was good to have Mum around to organise us all and do all the cooking and Dad to carry the heavy stuff :0) It's pretty amazing being so far into the wilderness that it's a couple of days walk out. We had a bit of rain but it was clear on the day we got the best views so we didn't mind too much. The rain didn't stop us swimming in the lake either, even though it was freezing, but seeing as that was the only way to wash it seemed like the right thing to do. Ben was pretty unpopular with a stroppy South African lady who was one of the others sleeping in the huts with us, as he kept her awake with his snoring! I must be immune these days as I slept like a baby :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="hhttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166807&id=555246758&l=2b08276917"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs494.ash1/27014_382297476758_555246758_4289669_7936401_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /> <br />We had a big barbecue so that Mum and Dad could meet some of our friends and because we don't actually have a barbecue our friends, Colum and Claire, with a very plush house had it at their place instead! Loads of people were there and it's lovely to think that we've made so many good friends even though we've been here less than a year. I, of course, lowered the tone by getting really drunk and loud and ended the evening puking in the neighbours garden! Fortunately I made it back to our house and puked in our neighbours garden rather than theirs. That sort of behaviour is far better tolerated in the rough street we live in than their posh one!!<br /> <br />So what else have the last couple of months involved for us? Well... I made sure that Saint David's Day didn't pass unmarked and made some coconut ice welsh flags, which believe it or not were completely eaten. I am, after all, a baking queen these days. I've even mastered Ceri's carrot cake recipe. Ben had a birthday too and I got him a beach volleyball because we've both been playing in a team all Summer. Now admittedly we haven't won a single game, but we are definitely a lot better at it than we were to start with. I was terrified of the ball for the fist few games and ended up covered in bruises but now I actually enjoy it :0) Anyway, how else would you want to spend your Tuesday evenings but jumping around on the beach in the evening sun?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166807&id=555246758&l=2b08276917"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs514.snc3/27014_382297426758_555246758_4289661_6335188_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /> <br />Other significant events include Erin's party to celebrate her gaining her residency, which couldn't have been more Kiwi as it involved drinking, a barbecue and men in gum boots (wellies) shooting at things! Also... Michelle and Phil are due to have a baby any day now, Ben is off photographing the Jazz festival as we speak and we're heading up to Auckland for a few days next week. Mum and Dad are off doing their own thing on their bikes for a while and will be heading back for my birthday at the end of the month before going home.<br /> <br />Finally the big news is... we're going to get a dog! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself :0) Our landlady has agreed to let us get one and now I can hardly think of anything else! The problem is we need to wait for Ben's residency to be confirmed before we get one and we just don't know when that's going to happen. It could be any day now or not for another few months. It's so frustrating I could scream! But I guess as long as they actually say yes in the end then that's the main thing. But as soon as we get that all important passport stamp we will be headed to the local pound and getting ourselves the biggest, mangiest, three-legged, one-eyed, smelly, old dog we can find :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs519.snc3/27233_10150160134495408_745795407_11632736_1735047_n.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; " src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs519.snc3/27233_10150160134495408_745795407_11632736_1735047_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-83337984171163372562010-01-30T19:21:00.000-08:002010-01-30T21:56:21.815-08:00Adventures with Bethan and CeriThe day after Ben's folks left us Bethan and Ceri (friends from Cardiff) arrived, so it's been one-in-one-out 'round here! It was fantastic to have them here. Fancy travelling to the other side of the planet to come and see us. I love them! We all went away together "Road trip - HONK, HONK!", so it was a holiday for all of us . Beth and Ceri were a but disappointment by my inability to stay up all night drinking, but even they embraced the early-to-bed-early-to-rise Kiwi way (with the assistance of jet lag!) and I'm sure the trip made of for it in other ways.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; " src="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs160.snc3/18739_280532861758_555246758_3864509_4606145_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Our first stop was Tutukaka where we did some scuba diving on the Poor Knights Islands. The water has warmed up loads since Ben and I did our training so it was a much more pleasant experience. There was loads to see and apparently I don't breath very much, so I got to stay down underwater twenty minutes longer than everyone else! We saw sting rays and all kinds of other fish that I can't be bothered to learn the names of! The whole thing was made even more entertaining by the frequent puking into paper bags of Bethan. Bless her. Fair play though she still struggled into all the gear and joined in. I would have sat miserably in the corner if it were me but then I think she'd have done anything to get off the rolling boat!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIfxdodbDIg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIfxdodbDIg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Next we headed up to Pahia and explored the Bay of Islands by sailing boat and sea kayak. Look at us go with all our sporting activities! I can assure you that there was more than enough beer drinking and pie eating to balance out any healthy activity though :0) Whilst we were there we stayed in this quite plush (by my standards!) place with a pool and stuff (only because they'd messed up our booking so we got upgraded!) so then when we arrived at our next stop in Hihi Beach the hideousness of the shack that awaited us was intensified. The highlight for me was watching Ceri sweep the dead flies out of his bed!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; " src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs160.snc3/18739_280531526758_555246758_3864478_3552763_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />We then drove all the way to cape Reinga, the most northern tip of New Zealand. Beth thought we were taking the piss when we told her that we were planning on driving all day to go and see a lighthouse. But she soon found out that we weren't! We also found a beautiful deserted little beach for our picnic lunch and trekked over some massive sand dunes. The idea is that you rent boogie boards and slided down them, but when we got there the lady with the boards said we were too late, so we just had to run about on them instead. Beth turned into the abominable sand monster when the sunblock she had covered herself in turned to glue and caked her from head to toe in sand!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; " src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs140.snc3/18739_280532886758_555246758_3864511_474588_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Hokianga Harbour was lovely and the Treehouse, where we stayed, my favourite. Ben and I decided that we want to live in a tree house :0) It was a gorgeous place to chill out among the rainforest. The scenery on the west coast is pretty different to the east, much more wild and rugged, with hardly anyone about. Until, that is we stumbled upon some sort of mini festival on the beautiful Kai Iwi Lakes. Definitely a spot that's on my "must go back" list.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; " src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs140.snc3/18739_280534071758_555246758_3864546_1731506_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />The final stop on our little road trip (HONK, HONK!!) was at Goat Island (where there are no goats and never were?!) at a lovely little campsite, that I immediately fell in love with (partly because dogs are allowed and although we don't actually have a dog yet I am still fairly obsessed with the idea of getting one!). However it did lose something of it's shine when we were kept awake half the night by an accordion playing Frenchman (he may as well have been wearing a blue and white striped jumper and a string of onions!).<br /><br />So after nine days of adventuring we headed back home to Tauranga. Ben and I went back to work and Beth and Ceri headed off for a few days by themselves and immediately checked into a four star hotel. Anyone would think that not everyone wants to stay on campsites with flies in the beds and accordion playing Frenchmen!! They came back to be sent off in style by a meal out with all our "new" friends and a drunken night out (yep I even stayed up past 9.30 for the occasion!!)<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; " src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs140.snc3/18739_280534911758_555246758_3864564_4260254_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />View more photos <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151028&id=555246758&l=88af83e598">here</a>!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-3814135863690152492010-01-11T01:18:00.000-08:002010-01-11T01:31:37.921-08:00Christmas on the beachIt seems that all anyone in the UK can talk about is all the snow and here we are in the middle of a glorious Summer. We're really enjoying it with weekends away exploring and feel incredibly lucky to be in such an amazing country and to have the sunshine to enjoy it. We've taken the opportunity to road-test our new tent. Yep, Marge has gone off on new adventures and we have a boring car (although Ben thinks it's a "sports car"!) and a fantastic huge tent! Check it out with this little video (fortunately the first take didn't work which I was pretty pleased about because all that bouncing around on the airbed made my boobs fall out! )....<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DyLSo3uXaio&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DyLSo3uXaio&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Ben's folks flew out to join us for a Christmas barbecue on the beach. It was all a bit surreal, especially when one family arrived with a Christmas tree, put on Santa outfits and built a sandman! It didn't really feel like Christmas in lots of ways but I'm pretty happy with the trade off for a long, hot, sunny Summer. New Year's outdoor Black Seeds gig was pretty cool too :0)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cs1o-MJMyRU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cs1o-MJMyRU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Peter and Pauline seem to love the place as much as we do too, which is always good to hear and are already making plans for their next visit. It's been lovely having them here and without them we may never have visited a volcanic island in hard-hats and gas-masks! Mind you, Ben's Dad's obsession with bird watching has had us all bored to tears at times and I'm pretty sure that as much as we'll miss them I'll probably survive without his regular rant about the evil sparrow!!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146860&id=555246758&l=248ae935e9"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; " src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs199.snc3/20639_247969451758_555246758_3746606_7332482_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />There are more photos <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146860&id=555246758&l=248ae935e9">here</a>!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-36558960158396156132009-10-30T00:29:00.000-07:002009-11-03T00:44:29.981-08:00Parties and other fun stuff!The social lives have certainly stepped up a notch. It's been party central over these last few weeks. It seems that the Kiwis have come out of hibernation and are living it large, just as I've become accustomed to going to bed at 9.30 every night too! We had a 'P Party' which saw us scooting about town dressed as pirates, a huge 'do' at Julie's farm where Ben spent most of the evening in the hot tub (and most of the next day being sick) and a 50th birthday bash. When did I get old enough to have 50 year old friends?!! The hospital ball was a big success but was pretty embarrassing for me as my face appeared far more frequently than most in the official photographs (it's who you know!).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131015&id=555246758&l=7838500d45"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs001.snc3/10831_172327366758_555246758_3326146_1074236_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Talking of photography, Ben and Phil have launched their postcards, so have a look at their website and click on 'products' for a preview, they're amazing...<br /><br />http://www.pikitia.co.nz/<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131015&id=555246758&l=7838500d45"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px;" src="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs021.snc3/10831_172330881758_555246758_3326233_1481724_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Next come the posters. It's fab to see them finally on sale after all their hard work. They tell me that for each card sold they make 5 cents though, so I won't give up my job quite yet!! Ben has been charging about the place taking photos for a competition he's entering too. He came up with the theme "Dream Land New Zealand" and has as a result been taking photos of Phil pretending to be asleep in a bed, in various iconic Kiwi settings. I think he owes Phil a fair few pints after he lay shivering semi-naked in the rain surrounded by sheep in a field and caused more than a few weird looks doing the same by the main road!!<br /><br />More big news is that I've been granted residency. I'm allowed to stay - whoop, whoop! But it'll be a few more months until we know if Ben can too. There's a very good chance he'll get it, so we're pretty optimistic that we'll be able to stay for good. When we first planned to visit New Zealand we said we'd give it a couple of years before we made a decision about living here permanently, but we already know we love it and want to stay if we can :0)<br /><br />So... If Ben gets his residency too and we've decided we're going to stay, do you know what that means? It means we can get a dog! I am very excited. I've become totally preoccupied with the idea and started "torturing myself" (as Ben calls it!) by looking at the dogs on the local animal rescue web sites. We can't get one until after the Summer as we're going away and have a full house with all our visitors, but come March then maybe we can. But, and it's a pretty big BUT, we need to get our landlady to agree first and that may be a major spanner in the works. I made the mistake of sharing my dog excitement with my Dad who is now even more obsessed with the idea than me and didn't take the wait-and-see-what-the-landlady-says news well at all. Sorry Dad, I'll work on it I promise!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131015&id=555246758&l=7838500d45"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs001.snc3/10831_172330581758_555246758_3326179_8129395_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The other thing that has been playing on my mind (in a way that it has been suggested may be less than healthy) is planning for a natural disaster. OK I know that sounds ridiculous, and Ben and Erin have both been a little concerned for my sanity, but let me explain before you imagine me digging a bunker in the garden or something! So what happened was, I went to the New Zealand Occupational Therapy Conference (which was very dull but that's another story) and one of the workshops was about natural disaster response and talked about the role of health professionals following some sort of disaster, like a tsunami, earthquake, storm or whatever. Everyone was discussing their "Emergency Response Plans" and I was like "Erm... Sorry... What?!" and that's when I found out! In this part of the world, you're supposed to have everything that you need to survive for three days if services are cut off in the event of a disaster. And the really scary thing is that Kiwis all know this and my very unscientific research suggests that most of them have planned for it! In schools they even have earthquake drills where they all hide under their desks whilst the teachers shake them!! The Civil Defence have this whole promotion called "Be Prepared - Get Through"<br /><br />http://www.getthru.govt.nz/web/GetThru.nsf/web/BOWN-7GY2MF?opendocument<br /><br />and there are adverts on the TV and everything! So you see I'm not totally mental. I'm not like those crazy Americans who have safe-houses filled with supplies and guns ready for the end of the world, it's actually normal here. They do have disasters in New Zealand, there are earthquakes all the time and we are over-due for a volcanic eruption. Only a couple of weeks ago they evacuated the coastal areas for fear of a tsunami! So you see, despite Ben's ridicule of me putting together our "DOOM BOX" (as he calls it) it's not that weird to have some drinking water, tinned food, candles and batteries in a safe place just in case now is it? Is it?!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131015&id=555246758&l=7838500d45"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs021.snc3/10831_172330846758_555246758_3326226_2414059_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />OK, so apart from obsessing about disasters and dogs, what else have we been up to?! Well Marge is still with us and we've been away on a couple more adventures. We went around the beautifully desolate East Cape. We even travelled 20km each way along unsealed roads to the most easterly point of New Zealand and climbed the 750+ steps to reach the lighthouse there. There was a worrying moment when we got back in Marge and she didn't want to start. I don't think the AA would have been too impressed! But, as always, she came good in the end :0) It's real Maori country round those parts and you can drive for hours without even being able to buy petrol. It's truly like stepping back in time and you see people (when you see them at all) getting around on horseback. It's amazing.<br /><br />There's been loads of other fun stuff too; the sailing season started this week and we got to sail around the harbour at sunset with dolphins jumping around the boat - amazing! We also had our first unexpectently energetic hula dancing class and played with animals at a little wildlife park. I've been to the theatre, done lots more baking, signed up for a silver jewellery making workshop and walked with 5000 women dressed in pink for breast cancer awareness. Molly's coming to stay again before heading off to Canada with her sexy fireman boyfriend (who can blame her?!). Ben's been photographing the local salsa festival, there's been much hanging out on the beach in the sun, and at our first BBQ we made use of the free gas BBQs by the sea and fortunately had a Kiwi man with us to show us how they work! Next weekend we might learn how to do dragon boat racing - whatever the hell that is! Never a dull moment these days and it's not even Summer yet! It won't be long 'til our visitors arrive too. Can't wait :0)<br /><br />View the photos on facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131015&id=555246758&l=7838500d45">here</a>.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-34926061168486196512009-09-14T14:51:00.000-07:002009-09-15T15:47:27.322-07:00A year on...In a couple of weeks time it'll be a year since we left the UK, which feels kind of weird. It's been such an action packed year. I've just had a little read over some of the old blog entries and we've done so much. It's a great way to reminisce and I hope one day we'll be able to show it to our kids. In some ways the time seems to have flown by but then in other ways thinking back to living in Cardiff seems like another life, which of course it was.<br /><br />It seems a bit different keeping the blog updated now that we've been settled in Tauranga for a while. I don't suppose it's all that interesting to hear that it's Monday night, which is squash night for Ben, that my bum aches after my circuits class or that I've only got a week left of my veggie cookery course. Knowing that we've spent a few evenings at the recent film festival, bought my first piece of art and hung out in the local hot-pools (a favourite Kiwi past time) a few times doesn't make for the most exciting read. You may be amused to know however that I went to "Heather Fest" an event attended by fifty-one Heathers. Freaky! But it is still a good way to let you all know what's going on with us and I like to think that you can picture us pottering on in our new lives so you don't forget about us :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120081&id=555246758&l=e141c67812"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs257.snc1/10435_138427861758_555246758_3026003_569631_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Spring has officially sprung here now and for the first week it was absolutely gorgeous. I was wearing flip-flops to work and it seemed like Summer was well on it's way. However not liking to be taken for granted the New Zealand weather had other plans and then chucked a load of rain at us. Having said that, on the whole, it's pretty sunny now and the clocks change soon so it'll be lighter in the evenings which will make a big difference. The sunshine has inspired us to get some more weekends away in Marge, whilst we still can, because we think we're going to sell her :0( It just doesn't make much sense to have a camper-van as our only means of transport and we just don't use her enough to make it worth while. I think she needs some new owners who will take her off adventuring again. It's like Puff the Magic Dragon (that was a toy in a song who was really sad because he didn't get played with any more - for those of you that have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about) I think sitting on our driveway instead of being out there doing what she was made for may be making her sad. So it looks as if we'll be back to good old fashioned camping again soon.<br /><br />In a huge step towards becoming a fully fledged Kiwi woman - no I haven't been given residency - apparently they need nine months to make that decision. Nine months! What the hell do they do for nine months?! Sorry I digress... so my significant step towards becoming a Kiwi woman is... I baked! They're all at it here. Not just the posh middle-aged ones like at home (?!) ALL of them. I've been fighting it for a while but then I just thought "why not?". So I tried to do something relatively healthy and made some flapjack cereal bar type things and some cranberry scones. Now there was a point in the middle where disaster seemed inevitable. The cereal bars didn't look like they were going to stick so I thought I was just going to end up with cereal! And the scone mix was just a gigantic pile of glue, which was all over me!! But some how I sort of pulled it all together at the end. Well I did need to cut the burnt bits off the bottom of the scones, but they still tasted good. Ben was particularly delighted even though he got left with all the burnt bits to eat whilst the best ones went to work with me! It's only a matter of time until I'm making jams and chutneys :0) <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120081&id=555246758&l=e141c67812"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs257.snc1/10435_138427846758_555246758_3026000_5473864_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The other significant change to have occurred recently is the entry of Erin into our lives. She's an American social worker that I work with and she too likes to get drunk and go to music gigs. Hallelujah!! We're so happy that we've found someone to play with :0) We do love the Kiwis but every now and again you don't want to go to bed at 9pm (have I told you they all go to be ridiculously early?!). The three of us have had a couple of good old fashioned nights out, with all the usual terrible dancing and late night revelry, followed by hideous hangovers. She's great, we love her lots even having her turn up on our doorstep unexpectantly one evening and demand a load of cash as she'd just filled up her car with petrol only to realise she'd lost her wallet wasn't enough to put us off. Fortunately having me mercilessly rip the piss out of her and her nation of origin hasn't totally scared her away either. So it's all good.<br /><br />We had a weekend away to Taupo recently. We weren't in Marge, the hospital (that I work for) owns batches (holiday homes) around New Zealand which we can rent really cheaply. So we headed off with Phil and Michelle (previously featured Brummies) to one of the houses. Phil, another photographer, is now officially Ben's business partner (I'll get to that in a minute) so Michelle and I were pretty happy they had each other to play with as they got up stupidly early to take sunrise photos and stuff whilst we got to stay in bed :0) Taupo is on a huge lake with the mountains, where the skiing antics of a few weeks ago occurred, as a dramatic backdrop. Lovely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7132"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7142&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />So yeah... Ben has a business partner. I was hoping that he would write something about what he's been up to but he hasn't, so here goes!... He and Phil are in the process of setting up a business selling posters and postcards to tourists. We've got some of his posters framed on our walls and they look fantastic. You can take a look at them if you like at<br /><br /><a href="http://www.gloopics.com/">www.gloopics.com - Benjamin Albert Smith Photography</a> <br /><br />Both Ben and Phil have also been doing some tutoring at the local photography school. Ben is hopefully going to have an exhibition in the centre of town during the peak holiday season, which also coincides with when his folks are visiting, so that's amazing news. He's doing some web design work for other photographers too. So it's all starting to come together and hopefully all his hard work will pay off. He's not making much money yet, which he finds a bit frustrating, but we can manage for a while so it's OK.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7132"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7139&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />My work is still going well. I'm moving teams again, I won't bore you with the details but the important thing to know is that the Mount (aka the beach) will be my patch again, just in time for Summer :0) I really like the people that I work with and am still enjoying what I'm doing. I'm hoping that my residency will be sorted out by the end of the year because there is a years postgraduate course (in CBT for those in the know) that I'd love to do next year. If my residency is finalised my employers will fund the whole thing and give me the study leave etc I need, so fingers crossed. By the time that's over hopefully Ben will have residency too and be making a decent living so maybe, I said MAYBE, then we can think about having babies!!!!! (I just hope our old bodies will be up to the job!) <br /><br />We're very, very excited about the Summer now. It looks as if it's going to be one in on out at our place as we've got a continuous stream of friends and family visiting from November through to May! Can't wait. We're officially licensed scuba divers now too, so we'll be doing some more of that and I'm definitely up for some sailing. Other weird and wonderful things we have planned include an eight week course in Polynesian Hula dancing that I've somehow managed to persuade six of the girls in work to do with me! The hospital ball which I will be attending clad in the biggest pants in the world so that I can fit into my dress, whilst Ben will be one of the official photographers. A jewellery making workshop, New Zealand theatre, loads of walking and camping, tonnes of gigs, numerous BBQs and much wine drinking :0) Bring it on!!!<br /><br />Facebook photos <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120081&id=555246758&l=e141c67812">here</a>.<br />Bens photos <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7132">here</a>.<br />Also check out the following websites that Ben has been involved in<br /><a href="http://www.captureitnz.co.nz">Capture-it NZ - Tauranga School of Photography</a><br /><a href="http://www.gatephotography.co.nz">GATE Photography</a>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-51230454534829428482009-08-10T19:04:00.000-07:002009-08-14T19:13:39.141-07:00Ski Torture<span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather:</span><br />Skiing, as it turns out, is not for me. Now given the fact that the nearest thing I have to phobia is a somewhat irrational fear of slipping, it was never going to be easy. I've never been able to ice skate, even as a kid I couldn't roller skate and seeing one of those wet-floor warning signs causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. But we live three hours away from the snow field where our friend Molly (a regularly featured blog character) is living, so we thought we'd head on down for a weekend and give it a go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112234&id=555246758&l=69f6715acc"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs170.snc1/6368_122443791758_555246758_2812883_67342_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The setting was stunning. I've never been right into snow covered mountains before, so that part of the experience was great. However, the actual skiing part was another matter... I don't actually have the words to describe how much I hated it. Ben thinks I got some kind of karmic payback for when I used to laugh at Karen who was scared of heights and jump up and down on the bridge we had to cross every day on our way home from school, whilst she cried and took baby steps across it. I was genuinely terrified. Even standing still on the flat made me want to cry! It wasn't the falling over that scared me - in fact the only time I felt safe was once I had fallen over! No it was the actual skiing part that scared the living daylights out of me! I lasted about half an hour before I gave up and swore that I will never be doing it again! Don't even think about giving me any of that "if you just give it a bit longer I'll learn to love it" bollocks because I will seriously never EVER be doing it again!<br /><br />Ben is very keen at this point for me to mention that fact that, in his words, he was a "pro". His shield of optimism again served him well. He faced the challenge with completely unfounded confidence in his abilities to ski brilliantly, never having done it before and, I'm reluctant to admit, was brilliant! He will of course have to find himself another ski partner, because I will never (just to make it completely clear) be doing it again. As I had plenty of time to hang out watching everyone else ski I managed to get some video footage of him in action, check it out.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d45EIeno6Z4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d45EIeno6Z4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Despite my instant hatred of the whole skiing fiasco it was still a fab weekend. It was brilliantly sunny, so I had the brand new experience of sitting in a pile of snow in a t shirt repeatedly applying sun block. I loved watching everyone else skiing and snowboarding and the chair-lift concept is one I can get in to :0) We did a bit of hiking too and it was amazing to see the same mountains that we walked among in the Summer now totally covered with snow. Also, of course, it waslovely to see Molly and to get drunk after the whole ordeal was over!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7115"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7125&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Ben:<br />My photos from the journey back to Tauranga can be found <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7115">here</a>.<br />Heather's photos on facebook can be seen <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112234&id=555246758&l=69f6715acc">here</a>.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-14023962450392762122009-07-13T03:24:00.000-07:002009-07-19T03:37:56.864-07:00Rarotonga<span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather:</span><br />What a fantastic place! It really is a little paradise. It's a small island, thirty-two kilometres in circumference, surrounded by golden, palm-fringed beaches and a crystal clear lagoon, with a mountainous interior covered in rainforest. It's hardly built up at all, everyone just scoots about on little motorbikes and the locals are really friendly and welcoming. We stayed in a little hut with a bedroom, on-suite bathroom, little kitchen, with patio doors straight on to the beach. Could you ask for more? How about glorious sunshine, a hammock and cheap cocktails?! Perfect :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4973"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5088&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />There was an awful lot of lying around in the sun drinking pina-coladas but we weren't horizontal the whole time! We hiked from one side of the island to the other. It was bloody steep but definitely worth the effort as when we reached the top we could see the sea in both directions. It only took four hours but was definitely the most active thing we did in the whole ten days!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4973"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5049&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />We didn't get to do any diving as we were still a bit bunged up (you can't dive with blocked sinuses) but we did do plenty of snorkeling. It was a considerably more enjoyable experience chasing the fish about in the warm, calm waters of the lagoon wearing only our swimmers, than it was flailing about in all that gear in the freezing waters of New Zealand! We saw all kinds of brightly coloured tropical fish and sea cucumbers and lots of other underwater life that I should probably know the names of.<br /><br />We even went to church on Sunday, as the Cook Islanders are known for their gospel singing. It was quite an experience, made even more enjoyable by the arrival of a bus load of gorgeous Australian rugby league players! After the service we all got invited into a hall where we got fed loads of fantastic local food and cakes made by the ladies from the church. We (in this instance "we" being me and some of the other girls from the backpackers) got to do some more drooling later in the week when we went to watch the Ozzies play the local rugby league team!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4973"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5031&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Of course we experienced a bit of the traditional local culture too. We went to the weekly market and a show which involved lots of drumming and energetic dancing (to Ben's delight) by girls in coconut bras! We ate at some gorgeous little beach-front restaurants and saw lots of picture-perfect sunsets. There was even loads of friendly dogs and cats (of the non-mangy variety) to play with - vital to make it my perfect holiday. Plus, did I mention the cocktails?!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4973"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5019&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Whilst we were in Rarotonga some of our friends were at the Glastonbury festival back in the UK and to be honest we were pretty gutted about not being there too. But I have to say the fabulous setting, combined with all those cocktails, was a fairly effective method of numbing the pain! Maybe we should go back every year :0)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ben:</span><br />There are more photos <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4973">here</a> and some photos on facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106215&id=555246758&l=70557d1124">here</a>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-11489400823262815422009-06-12T22:44:00.000-07:002009-06-12T22:53:27.729-07:00Practically LocalsI reckon Ben and I are well on our way to being Kiwis. Last weekend we went scuba diving, stacked our first fire wood delivery, went to a bbq and frolicked on the beach at the Mount with Maree - a genuine Kiwi (there hard to come by 'round these parts!). Surely that combination of activities makes us more or less locals!!<br /><br />The scuba diving was predictably FREEZING! We spent ages bobbing about on the surface trying to get all our gear sorted out and swallowing what felt like litres of salt water, but did eventually gain enough control to explore the underwater world. Swimming through the kelp jungle on the sea-bed and was quite an experience and there were loads ofcolourful fish. But even the hefty wetsuits we were wearing weren't much match for the ten degrees centigrade water! You'll all be pleased to hear that I mastered the whole mask-clearing thing in the end - phew and Ben's got some contacts so he can actually see too :0) We were supposed to be going diving again this weekend but I have to say I'm pretty relieved that it's been cancelled because of bad weather as we've both been sneezing and snivelling ever since. I'm sat next to a mountain of snotty tissues with a rug over my lap like an old lady!<br /><br />The fire wood delivery caused us quite a lot of amusement as we had absolutely no idea how much we had ordered. Apparently $160 buys a giant pile's worth as a truck pulled up outside and emptied it's entire contents on our drive! It was quite a mission to get it all stacked up in the garage. But we're pretty happy now that we're toasty warm :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99072&id=555246758&l=0918910fff"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs116.snc1/4970_97081971758_555246758_2418886_6695243_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />We've got fairly hectic social lives now, which seem to involve a lot of wine and food - so that's all good :0) There's also a seemingly never ending supply of reasons in work of why we have to have cake. There's all theusual, you know birthdays and special occasions and stuff, but who the hell ever heard of a "it's a week until I go on holidays cake"? Oh well, Ben's pretty happy with the situation as I always sneak him home a piece too :0)<br /><br />Ben's photography stuff is still going well and he's started to do a bit of computing stuff for the photography folk and has been asked totutor a course too, but really he should be the one telling you about that, so I'll write it on his list of jobs and maybe he'll get round to it sometime!!<br /><br />It's only a couple of weeks until we go on holiday, which seems kind of ridiculous, but I'm not complaining because I don't think we'll be going anywhere else for a long time. When we arrived in NZ I needed an onward flight as I didn't have a work visa when we first got here. So months and months ago we booked flights to the Cook Islands and when I started work they agreed to let me have the time off because the tickets were already booked. So very soon we'll be heading off for ten days on a tropical island in the sun (hopefully). I'm really excited because I went there when I was travelling ten years ago and I've always wanted to go back. We're hopeful we'll be able to do some scuba diving when we're there and I'm really looking forward to seeing the sun again :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99072&id=555246758&l=0918910fff"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs116.snc1/4970_97082031758_555246758_2418897_2145339_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I've been mucking about with the camera so don't blame Ben for the poor quality of the photos, but at least you might actually see some pics of the local area! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99072&id=555246758&l=0918910fff">Here</a> are some more.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-85470058695768133402009-06-01T03:01:00.000-07:002009-06-01T03:16:20.086-07:00God Save the Queen!<span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather:</span><br />I've never been a royalist but over here we get a day off for the Queen's birthday - so from now on I'm her number one fan! We've made the most of the long weekend and been exploring up the coast. It's cold but beautifully clear and sunny so it's been lovely messing about on the beach and stuff. We had our first night in Marge since we moved into the house and we realised that we've missed her a little bit. It felt like we were home :0) She's pretty cosy too with our little heater. We've discovered that living in a wooden house isn't quite so toasty! Fortunately we have a wood burning fire to cuddle up in front of but first thing in a morning we can see our breath! The weather forcast has come on the TV as I write this and it's all about the snow. TROPICAL they told us. The big fat liars! OK it hasn't actually snowed here but there has been a few hail storms!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4617"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4671&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />We're on the scrounge for furniture because the stuff in the house at the moment (in the video) is due to go in the next week or two. We've had a few offers of freebies so who knows what kind of tatty second-hand stuff we'll end up with. Ben thinks we're going to spend the money we have got on a huge flat-screen LCD television - I don't think so!!!<br /><br />The scuba diving torture sessions, I'm sorry, I meant lessons (?!) are well under way. I've done a bit before and I really don't remember it being so bloody difficult. Even just in a pool wrapped up in all the clobber I just cannot make my body do what I want it to! We have to do this horrible thing where you take your mask off under water and then put it back on and blow all the water out by blowing hard out through your nose. I just cannot get it right. They actually sent me home with a mask to practise with IN THE BATH! And... the worst thing is, when I had a go I still just ended up coughing and spluttering everywhere. How the hell am I going to do it in the sea? We're due to go on our first proper out at sea dive on the weekend and I'm actually really scared. It's bloody freezing. It wasn't like this when I did it on a Florida beach!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4617"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4656&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />I am feeling a little bit smug too though as I did that a 10km run around the Mount yesterday and I didn't even find it hard :0) I may be eating like a horse and not losing anymore weight but at least I'm fit. Which reminds me I had a health check at work. I had to have blood tests and stuff and to jog up and down a step for a few minutes, have my blood pressure taken, answer lots of questions blah blah. With all the results they calculated my body's physical age as apposed to my actual age and.... I'm 29 apparently which is a bit of a bonus seeing as I am 33 :0)<br /><br />Our social lives are definitely improving. We were even invited to an eighteenth birthday party and I have to say I wasn't entirely happy being on the "adults" table. They were the best behaved teenagers I have ever encountered and they "don't drink alcohol". The teenage years without alcohol? Can you imagine it? No thank you!! We were wondering if all Kiwi teenagers are the same and then discovered that they most definitely are not when we went to a gig (Katchafire, they're a Kiwi Reggie band and are surprisingly good so look out for them) and everyone was completely bolloxed!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4617"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4644&g2_serialNumber=1" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />We had Michelle and Phil, a couple of Brummies who moved here a few months ago, over for curry and lots of wine. We've got plenty in common as Phil's into photography too so Michelle and I can compare stories as to the lengths our other halves are prepared to go to to get the perfect shot. Ben has recently had me hanging about in the cold and dark dressed in hoodie impersonating a graffiti artist whilst Michelle has been forced to pursue old folk in mobility buggies. I keep nagging Ben for photos of the local area so you can actually see what it's like here but apparently it's more important that he takes photos of his guitar or a hammer on my dressing gown (?!) Ben and Phil are both doing photography courses and it's "homework" apparently!<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4617"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4683&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />The whole hoodie thing was another experience that highlights the differences in the way people treat each other over here as compared to the UK. Instead of calling the police, as you might expect the law-abiding owners of the shop Ben and I were suspiciously hanging about behind pretending to be vandals, they came out to see what we were up to and offered to hold the flash! Kiwis, you gotta love 'em :0)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ben:</span><br />There are more photos <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4617">here</a>. Most are homework from my course. The photos named "one spot" were some of ten totally different photos that were all taken from one spot. The guitar photos are from a series of ten different photos of my new guitar.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-39618127708503680942009-05-23T23:50:00.000-07:002009-05-23T23:51:18.573-07:00House in TaurangaHere's the long awaited video of the house. :)<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9tWGivxhD2Q&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9tWGivxhD2Q&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-41162400297817962692009-05-10T15:53:00.000-07:002009-05-23T16:03:10.336-07:00New Zealand - Autumnal TreesBen:<br />Heathers been nagging me to take some photos of the local area. So I took my camera to a local park to capture some of the amazing autumnal colours. You can see some of the results <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4578">here</a>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4578"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4587&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-72053882632375779682009-05-07T23:06:00.000-07:002009-05-22T23:07:58.160-07:00New Zealand - Settling inI've had nearly two weeks in work now. I'm working as an Occupational Therapist - Case Manager in a Community Mental Health Team. The office base is in the grounds of Tauranga Hsopital but we mostly visit clients out in the community. We cover a massive area, about an hour north and an hour south of Tauranaga city. My patch is no longer the Mount (a long and not particularly interesting story) but instead is the city and up the north coast. It's early days but I think I'm going to like it, the people are really friendly, which is the main thing and it seems like a pretty supportive work environment. The client group is more varied than I'm used to and the role seems pretty flexible so hopefully I'm going to enjoy the post.<br /><br />There was more than a little action on Monday though when a client turned up at the office with a gun! We were evacuated from the building and the Armed Offender Unit came out. They had all the gear, full-on black outfits with balaclavas, bullet-proof vests and the biggest guns I've ever seen! They shut down all the roads and we were made to wait for hours out in the cold behind one of the nearby shops. No one seemed very traumatised by the incident, we were mostly just pissed off with being kept late and not being able to go home! Fortunately no one was hurt and of course it made front page news as it's the most interesting thing to happen here for years!!<br /><br />During my first week of work we were still living in Marge but last weekend we finally moved into our house. There's so much SPACE! We were literally dancing around the day we moved in :0) After living in a small van we're not quite sure what to do with ourselves, we don't have anything to put on the shelves or in the cupboards. In fact one room has absolutely nothing in it!! It doesn't quite feel like home yet but I'm sure it won't be long until we're settled in. We've been eating lots of food that needs to be cooked in the oven, as we haven't had one for so long, and are going to do a big shop on Saturday to fill up the enormous fridge! I'm pretty happy that it's just around the corner from work too. I can wander over in five minutes. It's bliss after my last OT job where I had nearly an hour commute each way every day.<br /><br />Ben's been a bit of a house slave seeing as I've been going out to work and he hasn't. Each day I've left him with a list of jobs to be completed that day! He's been doing all the cooking and washing too - bless. It's kept him busy for most of the week but he's getting a bit bored now. I dare say it won't be long until he's driven into employment :0) He's started organising things so that he can make a go of his photography but is pretty frustrated about the fact that out phone line and Internet connection haven't been sorted yet. He must check the phone about fifty times a day! I'm sure once he has full access to his geek technology he'll be able to entertain himself a bit better!<br /><br />Obviously we don't know anyone here, so our social lives aren't the most happening that they have ever been, but we're starting to make friends. We've latched on to a few people to go for dinner and drinks with. I've even joined a book club! It seems to involve lots of women sitting around chatting and drinking wine, so I think I'll fit in OK :0) Ben's gone off to photography club this evening and next week we start our scuba diving classes. I've also joined the gym and have been doing lots of running in anticipation of a 10km run around the Mount at the end of the month. Whilst Ben's finally bought himself a guitar and is meeting some potential music buddies next week (we have a suspicion that they may turn out to be fifteen though!) So we're definitely keeping busy.<br /><br />It's pretty strange that it's May and we're heading into Winter. I think that's going to take lot of getting used to. After all that torrential rain we had when we went for our little jaunt up the Coromandel the weather has been pretty good. It's cold in the evenings and early morning but during the day it's sunny and clear, although not particularly warm. It's certainly a lot nicer than October in the UK, which is the equivalent time of year. It starting to get dark earlier and earlier though, which is a bit sad when I know that Summer is on the way at home. Still you can't have it all and I'm sure next Summer will more than make up for it :0)<br /><br />So that's kind of it for now. We're back to the 'real world' as it were. It's a bit different from our old lives and we're excited to see how it all works out. But it's a bit sad too now that the holiday is finally over and of course we miss everyone more than ever now that we're developing something of a routine. It's been a really long time since I had a proper girls night out or we all went to a music gig or everyone came over for wine and a take away :0( But we are very excited that some of you are coming over to see us next Summer (Yey for Bethan and Ceri!!!!!) and are really happy to be here. I keep nagging Ben to take some photos of the place and we're going to do a little video of the house so look out for those. In the mean time... remember we love you x.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-58058575614459097382009-04-22T23:04:00.000-07:002009-05-22T23:05:00.417-07:00New Zealand - The CoromandelThe Coromandel Peninsular juts out of New Zealand's eastern coastline only about an hour north of Tauranaga. It's a relatively undeveloped place, with a few small beach towns, but mostly consists of mountainous rainforest and deserted beaches. The more remote roads are unsealed, which makes for pretty nerve-wracking driving in a campervan. We're slightly worried that Marge might just have a tantrum and refuse to go on if we push her too much! The scenery, as you have come to expect by now, is beautiful and the beaches gorgeous.<br /><br />Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the weather! It is pouring down :0( We've done our best during the periods of slightly less torrential rain and done a bit of 'bush tramping', which involved a fair bit of wading through streams and clambering up river banks. We've also been on a cute little narrow-gauge railway journey through the wilderness. But on the whole we've been taking note of how lovely a lot of places will be when we come back again in the sunshine!<br /><br />Digging a hole in the sand and wallowing in hot springs at Hot Water Beach, having a go at the Department of Conservation's snorkeling course in Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve and seeing a 1200 year old, 41m tall and 9m wide kauri tree will, I'm afraid, have to wait. Still never mind, it's not far away and we've got plenty time to come again :0)Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-66489352619437102762009-04-18T23:02:00.000-07:002009-05-22T23:03:24.680-07:00New Zealand - A New HomeWe've seen quite a mixture of houses. The first was down the longest, bumpiest, steepest driveway I've ever seen. There was no way we would have got Marge down it, or more to the point, back up it again, so that was a no go. Another looked like sheltered accommodation for old folk from the outside and a student house from the inside - no thanks. We were very tempted by a gorgeous little flat we saw though, it only had one bedroom and we nearly went with our sod-all-the-visitors instinct when we heard it had water views and a hot tub! But you were saved by the fact it wasn't completely self-contained and the idea of the owners', who live upstairs, grand-kids coming tearing through whenever they felt like it, was enough to put me off.<br /><br />The winning house does not, unfortunately, boast sea views or a hot tub, but is; absolutely lovely, has lots of character, is really sunny, less than five minutes walk from my work, has three bedrooms (so loads of space for visitors) and has a garden for Ben to grow us some veggies, a yard for BBQs, and a big lawn for my Dad to pitch his tent on (don't ask!) :0) We're very excited, but can't move in for a couple of weeks yet. The girl who owns the house is even going to leave her furniture with us for a month or two, until she's ready for it in her new place, which works out well for all of us. (I'm going to make sure we do a video to show you the place whilst her nice furniture is still there rather than wait for it to be filled with whatever second-hand stuff we can scrounge!)<br /><br />So with that all sorted and still a week before I start work we're heading off for one last trip before it's all over.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-37289344937124678242009-04-16T21:47:00.000-07:002009-05-10T22:22:38.402-07:00New Zealand - On our way homeUnfortunately our travelling time is pretty much over. We headed back to Picton to get the ferry back to the North Island but called into Blenheim again on route to buy some of our favourite wines from it's wineries (I won't be drinking any of it of course, as I'm sworn off the booze!) We also called in on Ben's second cousin Naomi and husband Mark who live there. They fed lots of delicious home made veggie food, then made us earn our keep by playing a torturous board game with their kids!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4557"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4566&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Back on the North Island we stopped off to say hi to Molly and check out her set up in the ski fields. Then it was back to Hamilton (yet again) for sorting final paperwork and grovelling at the Immigration Service. We even managed to call in on Monia in Cambridge (Molly's boyfriend - Jaco's sister. Following? One of the people in our losing pub quiz team. Ringing any bells?) before finally heading back to Tauranga.<br /><br />So now we're 'home' and all we need to do is find somewhere to live, so wish us luck! It's only just over a week until I start work and we're sort of looking forward to settling a bit. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love travelling in Marge (now we've got to know her a bit better she's called 'Marge' rather than 'Margery'), but it will be nice to get to know people and have some of the comforts that being in an actual house provides, like cupboards that don't empty their contents at you when you open them and a toilet that can be accessed without a run through the rain!<br /><br />In the mean time, the big news is... we finally bought a heater after we found ourselves cuddled up, pajama clad, in bed at 7.30 the other evening. We just couldn't take it any more, and as it turns out it only cost us NZ$10 (about £3.30) so we should have got one ages ago! Ben has excitedly put it on even though it's not that cold yet, so Marge feels a bit like a sauna!<br /> <br />And finally.... I'm being forced to allow Ben to re-instate his junk food eating habits as all this exercise is causing him to completely lose his bum. He has taken up the mantra "A pie a day stops me wasting away"! So while I struggle on with my dieting efforts he gets to scoff lots of goodies (don't you hate boys and their metabolisms?!)Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-28053237180571164102009-04-10T21:42:00.000-07:002009-05-10T21:45:39.616-07:00New Zealand - West CoastThe West Coast is pretty remote.There are even less people here than in the other parts of New Zealand, and that's saying something because a lot of it's pretty deserted! Most of the land is designated Scenic Reserve seperated by areas of farmland. It's too wet to grow much but there's cows, sheep, deer and apparently a roaring trade in cannabis! The coastline is gorgeous - completely untouched. Mile upon mile of beach with nothing but driftwood on it, and strange rock formations. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4513"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4528&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />With the coast on one side, the mountains on the other are again those that we have already visited. We can see Mount Cook again, but this time from the other side, complete with a new covering of snow. Having failed to get the usual photo of Mount Cook reflected in Lake Mathison as we got hailed on in the attempt, Ben resorted to clambering over fences and through mud into a cow field to photograph it reflected in a puddle!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-91060159623572959692009-04-09T20:26:00.000-07:002009-05-10T21:41:51.942-07:00New Zealand - Fox Glacier<span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather:</span><br />We hiked on a glacier!! It was fab :0) It's called Fox Glacier, but apparently has nothing to do with the mints! The hardest bit was getting on to the glacier in the first place. We walked up the valley floor until we reached the foot of the glacier, then had to climb through the bush next to it so we could get on it from the side. There were over seven hundred dug-out steps to climb and we were wearing huge hob-nail boots, so it was like having feet of lead! There's recently been some rockfalls brought on by all the rain, so our safety briefing included being told "If I say run... Then RUN". Hmmm, not very reassuring.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93233&id=555246758&l=49008e88c6"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; " src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v3784/155/83/555246758/n555246758_2262581_648816.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />It was worth it though. The weather was glorious, finally some sun :0) Once we got to the glacier we were given crampons to strap to our boots and our guide led the way. She was only little but seeing her swing that axe around you wouldn't want to mess with her!! We had to stomp our feet like teenagers having a strop to make sure we didn't slip and at times there were chains fixed to the ice to haul ourselves up with.<br /><br />The ice looks clear, white and even blue in parts and it's really not possible to comprehend the scale of it. It looked massive but we could only see a tiny proportion of it. It's shape changes all the time and there were all kinds of formations and tunnels to explore. I nearly disappeared down a hole when I was hiding behind a rock having a wee and nearly slipped in the stream I created! It was a pretty fantastic feeling to be on top of a huge lump of ice, with rainforest to each side and a view out to sea. Nature is an incredible thing.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4513"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4546&g2_serialNumber=2" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ben:</span><br />Heathers photos are <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93233&id=555246758&l=49008e88c6">here</a> and mine are <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4513">here</a>Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-75359431566319037562009-04-07T19:58:00.000-07:002009-05-10T20:21:52.027-07:00New Zealand - Wanaka<span style="font-weight:bold;">Heather:</span><br />It really is Autumn here. The trees are beautiful. They're all starting to change colour. Everywhere I look the leaves are yellow, red, brown and purple. The weather's still pretty ropey but it almost seemed worthwhile when we emerged from the van this morning to find ourselves in the clouds. As it began to clear we saw that we'd had the first of the year's snowfall. It was bloody cold but looked fantastic!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4502"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4508&g2_serialNumber=2<br />" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Whilst here Ben insisted that we visit 'Puzzling World'. He excitedly dragged me around a maze, then we had to walk through these "illusion rooms", which were kind of all wonky and made me feel a bit sick (the hangover still hasn't completely gone), then we got to look at holograms from the 1980s. I tried to fake enthusiasm but there really is no getting away from the fact that it was a bit crap! The only good thing about it all is that they had this strange display of a roman style toilet and Ben found someone weeing in it thinking it was the real toilet :0)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93228&id=555246758&l=6e6ae6f578"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; " src="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v3784/155/83/555246758/n555246758_2262400_198040.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ben:</span><br />Heathers photos can be found <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93228&id=555246758&l=6e6ae6f578">here</a> and the few I took can be found <a href="http://www.gloopics.com/main.php?g2_itemId=4502">here</a>.Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-69677652326032939152009-04-06T19:54:00.000-07:002009-05-10T19:57:37.111-07:00New Zealand - QueenstownHaving taken the tramping knock-back rather badly the obvious thing to do was to drink wine! Unfortunately because my tolerance is so low I accidentally got really drunk. I'm not entirely sure what happened, one minute I was fine and the next minute Ben was forced to take me home as I got us chucked out of the pub. He was in the loo at the time, and I can't remember, so we have no idea what I did! As if that wasn't bad enough I shouted and cried for no apparent reason and then woke Ben up in the middle of the night being sick on him!! The next day he had to wash all the bedding, including our duvet, whilst I couldn't keep my head out of a bucket. He was even sympathetic and made me cheese on toast when I finally could eat something. I know, I know, I'm a cow and he's lovely and I don't deserve him :0( Needless to say, I will never be drinking again!<br /><br />Our time in Queenstown hasn't got much better either because that forecast horrible weather has hit us. We're pretty glad we didn't go ahead with the tramp after all, as it really is awful. We stood in the rain and watched a few brave / foolish people throw themselves off a bridge with elastic around their ankles, but haven't been able to do any of the exploring or walking we'd planned, you just can't see anything - boo!Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675825222082572981.post-1368204116984793472009-04-05T17:25:00.000-07:002009-04-14T17:26:36.008-07:00New Zealand - 'Tramping''Tramping' (a.k.a hiking) is a popular pursuit in New Zealand and the country is crisscrossed by thousands of kilometres of walking tracks. Eight of the best tramps have been classified as 'Great Walks'. They're all between three and five days long and follow well-worn paths through unspoiled wilderness. You either camp or stay in simple huts with bunk beds and gas burners (but no bedding, pots and pans, food etc) so you need to carry a pack and quite a lot of kit.<br /><br />The whole system is organised by the Department of Conservation (DOC), who maintain the facilities and keep records of who is using the tracks etc. You need to sign an Intention Form and nominate a "panic day" on which they will alert the emergency services that you are missing, if you haven't returned. Oh yeah, they take it all very seriously. It's proper wilderness out here - unpredictable weather, tracks which are days and days walk from the nearest settlement, no mobile phone coverage etc.<br /><br />One of the reasons we have been doing so much hiking (apart, of course, from the fact we love it) is because we've been building ourselves up to undertaking the Kepler Track. It's one of the 'Great Walks', it's three days long and follows a loop through the Kepler Mountains, along an exposed sub-alpine ridge, and through virgin beech forest. We've mentally and physically prepared for it, bought a supply of disgusting dehydrated food, tested out our new waterproof coats and got ourselves quite excited!<br /><br />But when we arrived at the DOC centre at it's start, we found that the MET office had issued a Severe Weather Warning. Bollocks!! They forecast torrential rain, strong winds, hail and the track is likely to be up to half a metre deep in water. That doesn't sound like much fun! The weather isn't likely to clear for a few days and we just don't have the time to sit and wait it out. So we're not going to do it but are really disappointed :0( Well actually, I'm really disappointed but I think Ben's a bit relieved as he's just come down with a serious case of man-flu (yes, yes he's fine - don't encourage him!!).<br /><br />We're hoping to come back and do it another time, so if any of you fancy doing it with us when you visit, then let us know (I am aware that most of you would rather boil your head in fat, but that goes without saying!)Ben Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12267431951802597112noreply@blogger.com0