June 2nd

Hi, we are alive and well - thanks to those people who sent texts re our lack of blogging...it is good to know you have been checking!

Unfortunately we still have no internet connection at home...this week hopefully (these things take time!) However the good news is that we have a landline connection now so if you would like the number just text or email and I will get it to you.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet but Lionel has been busy chasing agencies and things are starting to happen now. On Thursday he has an interview for a job in Chineham - only 5 minutes from home so that would be amazing.

Our shipped stuff arrives tomorrow and so we are really looking forward to that - especially our bikes. Of course, the kids are looking forward to Maths and English resources arriving! School is going well and the kids computer skills are quite amazing as they explore different programmes - Josh has put together an amazing power point presentation on the James Bond cars and gadgets which we saw down at the Beaulieu Motor Museum and Rebecca has done a great guide book on Stonehenge.

We have had a second trip down to the Beaulieu Motor Museum when they had a Trucks & Troops Military Display. It was a fantastic day out with lots of military equipment (guns of all shapes and sizes) and vehicles. Josh got to sit in the commanders seat of a Leopard tank which he thought was pretty cool. Rebecca & Josh also got to dress up in camo gear and go out on patrol with some soldiers - they spent most of the day doing this. (Benjamin you would have loved this and Rebecca & Josh talked about you all day....they will write to you about it once we have the internet at home and send you some photos). We also got to see (and most importantly hear) a howitzer being fired - VERY loud.

It was really good to catch up with Steve last week - quite amazing seeing a friend from home, it really didn't feel like we were on the other side of the world! We are going down to Cornwall this weekend to spend some more time with him. While down in Cornwall we are going to visit The Eden Project and Polperro. There is a Smugglers museum at Polperro which the kids are quite intrigued by. I also hope to get them out walking along the cliffs on the South West Coast Path (hopefully the weather holds up.)

We have been to a couple of local churches and have meet some really nice people - some I am sure will become friends! I think we will probably make Christ Church, Chineham, our church family - not too different to what we have been used to at Balfour (just a bit bigger). Rebecca is right into the Youth Group which runs on a Sunday night - they have studies, worship times and party nights. It is run by a great couple and generally have about 30 young people aged 11-18.

I guess we have been doing more than I thought...we will get some photos up once we have the internet on at home.

Stonehenge

This week Amanda, Rebecca & Josh went to Stonehenge for a visit - I expected some expensive touristy site but actually it wasn't too bad and we enjoyed our afternoon. There weren't many people there - it certainly helps being able to go to these places during the week and out of 'tourist season'.
Josh is listening to the audio tour at Stonehenge

On a personal note: Lionel didn't come to Stonehenge with us because he had some interviews - no job as yet, so keep praying!
Rebecca has joined a swimming club - swimming 3x a week in Basingstoke, she really enjoyed getting back into the pool and is with a nice group of kids.
Rebecca also loved the youth group at church and is making some friends.
Josh is getting on well and we are waiting for the cricket season to get him involved in a club.
Amanda has started schooling the kids (going well but waiting for our shipped stuff to arrive).

Life here is going well and we are looking forward to seeing Steve sometime in the next couple of weeks!

Some photos so far...

Josh in the London Eye looking out over the Thames River



Rebecca & Josh looking over the Thames River towards the London Eye, from Waterloo Bridge




Lionel, Rebecca & Josh walking down a country road to our favourite little country pub this far - 'Watership Down Inn' in Freefolk, Hampshire

Basingstoke

It has been a week of getting ourselves sorted out for life in England - house hunting, car buying etc.
As you have already read we have found ourselves a house in Chineham, Basingstoke, and are looking forward to moving in on the 14th.
Finding accommodation for the week between leaving London and moving into the house was a bit more stressful - we spent many hours on the phone looking for something and finally ended up with a B&B out in the Hampshire countryside for 3nights and a hotel for 4nights. The B&B was great with huge lawns and a rural outlook. We made use of the lawns with some games of cricket and some fresh air. However it has been quite hot (and unusally humid) and so not too much running around was done!

Today (Saturday) we have been car hunting and have bought ourselves a Peugeot (I will have to wait until Josh is with me to give any more details than that!)

We are looking forward to moving into our house as that will give us some more stability and we will begin to feel more settled (we are a bit sick of living out of suitcases).

Josh has just told me that the car is a Peugeot 307 station wagon and Rebecca adds that it has a sun roof!

Our first week in London

Our first week in London was amazing. It took us a few days to get over the tiredness and we were pleased when we finally stopped waking in the early hours of the morning.
Lionel has had initial interviews with some employment agencies and some were more helpful than others, but he had a couple of really positive ones.
Lionel had a big day on Tuesday with interviews and so the kids and I did a bit more sight seeing. We went to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard where we had a view from the side but not very interesting for the kids and the squash of crowds was a bit overwhelming for them. Much better was seeing the horse guards and trying to make the guard smile (no he still hasn't!)
We then headed through St James Park where we sat down and enjoyed our lunch in the sun - we were sitting on the nice sun chairs until we realised you had to pay for the privilege! Next we went to the Aquarium which was great and we really enjoyed seeing the varieties of fish from around the world.

The day before we had all done the real tourist thing with a trip around the city on an open topped double decker bus, a river cruise and a trip on the London Eye. We loved the London Eye trip and the view over the city, the bus trip gave us a good overall view of all the tourist sites and the river cruise was great - we will come in to London again and take a boat down the river to Greenwich.

We took a trip out to Basingstoke last Saturday to have a look at some houses to rent and God has really gone before us in the hunt for a house - we move into a 4 bedroom house on 14th May in Chineham, Basingstoke. The section is your typical postage stamp size but having a 4th bedroom is a bonus and we also have a living room and separate dining room (so plenty of room for visitors!!!)
Once we move in and get our own internet connection we will be emailing more often.

London

We have arrived!

After a great time in Western Australia with Richard, Suzen, Katie & James we made the very long flight to London. During the qantas flight we had some sleep, some food and lots of movies to watch and games to play. We were very tired when we arrived in London at 5.30am on April 30th but we managed to get the tube from Heathrow to our apartment in Barons Court with no problems.

We are enjoying the space of a 3 bedroom apartment and it is only 1minute to walk to the tube station. We are on the Picadilly Line which is very handy for everything we want to do and we are getting very good at getting through the ticket barriers and making it onto the right train (just one wee whoops today when I took us in the wrong direction).

Thursday we ventured into the Science museum - what an amazing place! We spent about 2 1/2 hours there but need to go back many more times to see everything! Josh's favourite area was the ships where they had lots of huge models of ships through the years.

Friday (today) we are having a quiet day while Lionel heads into central London for his first two interviews with agents. (He looked very smart in his suit!)

We are getting used to being on the other side of the world to our friends and family, but miss them all!

On our way...Bunbury, Western Australia

Our adventure has well and truely begun - we left Invercargill airport on Saturday 19 April and had a long trip to Perth via Christchurch and Sydney. It was good to catch up with friends at Christchurch airport and fill in some time and then a very short turn around time in Sydney meant it was a rushed time with my sister (sorry Susan!)
We arrived in Perth at 8.30pm (WA time - minus 4hours from NZ). About 8.10pm as the pilot announced he was beginning the descent into Perth we suddenly felt very excited to be on our way and it was so good to see Richard, Suzen, Katie & James at the airport. It was then about 2 hours car trip down to Bunbury and so we were very tired but pleased to be here.
We spent Sunday relaxing and then Monday we have had a big walk round to the dolphin encounter beach (no dolphins today...) then after lunch Katie & Rebecca had to look in some shops before hitting the beach. They had a great time in the waves but I have to say it wasn't tropical!


Rebecca & Katie checking out the surf at Yallingup

Added some time later...

We had an awesome time with Richard, Suzen, Katie & James and enjoyed a couple of days camping at Yallingup, in the Margaret River area. The kids (& Richard) spent many hours in the surf and Rebecca is very much at home in this part of the world!

We went to some sand dunes at Moses Rock and had a great time using the body boards to surf down the dunes.

Sand dunes

For lunch one day we visited an olive oil place and we all enjoyed tasting the various oils and dippings, this ended up with many choruses of 'Olio Bello' as we continued our drive!

Lunch continued at a chocolate factory with a yummy chocolate fondue and this was followed by a visit to the Yahava Coffee factory...not a bad way to lunch!

Chocolate Factory

On our final day at Yallingup we drove down to Prevally Beach which had HUGE waves but the kids (& Richard) didn't mind getting out into the surf! Our drive back to Bunbury took us past a venison factory so, of course, we had to stop in there for a tasting...then it was home for a swim and fish & chips on the beach.

Taking a break at Prevally Beach

Another day we visited Busselton Jetty and we walked out to the end of the 2km jetty and then a fast walk back again as it started to rain - a great spot...pity about the weather.

Busselton Jetty - the girls refuse to have their photo taken!

We had a great time with the Arthur's and it has been great to renew the relationship between Katie & Rebecca, James & Josh and, of course the adults! It's amazing how much the kids have in common...water, lego, star wars

Wearing sumo suits in Bunbury