Difficult Is Worth Doing

Weekend at the mountain

2010-07-26T06:08:00.001+07:00

First weekend down at the snow this winter. Turned in to 2 lads weekend as Jody had to work,unlucky for her! Perfect weather for us,needs a bit more snow though. Uploaded this from my mobile-int technology brilliant! James

Bangkok airport

2010-07-12T11:56:00.001+07:00

Like a spaceship?

The New House

2009-11-22T09:57:00.008+07:00

Yes, we know it's been a long time since we updated the blog. So what, we've been busy and lazy all at the same time. Anyway, we've bought a house over here - thought we might aswell, stop paying someone elses mortgage and get our own debt!

Here's some pics - it's all work in progress of course.

The washing line (wow!). Jody's replaced the line itself, which was a project which she was rightly proud to complete successfully

This is the location the veggie plot (before we attacked it with spades and forks and aggression)

The veggie plot all ready to be planted in.

The deck - it was a nice black colour when we moved in due to years of neglect. A water blasting and a fresh coat of deck protector has given it a new lease of life.

Strawberries!!

Other end of the deck

The kitchen - needs a complete overhall, but will do for now.

The living room - it's not actually cold, Jody's just got a fever which is likely to turn in to chicken pox!

Kitchen and dining room, and my mirror which has come with me to every house I've lived in since I was about 15.

Again, it's not that cold - poor Jody.

Our herb planters - ex wine barrels. I'm guessing this one stored red wine?

That's it for now, my mum gets here this Tuesday for just over two weeks. Really looking forward to seeing her and my Uncle Martin and Aunty Sandra. Kinda weird to think we haven't seen them for nearly 18months. Probably not so bad due to Skype being so good these days! Hopefully Jody doesn't develop chicken pox so she can come away with us all as I show my mum this beautiful country.

inabit ya'll.

James

First snow trip of the season

2009-07-12T14:09:00.006+07:00

So, been a while again since our last blog. Ah well, this one's interesting.

We took a couple of days off this week so we could spend a long weekend down at the snow, at Mt. Ruapehu (pronounced Roo-a-pay-hoo) (http://www.mtruapehu.com/). Had some brilliant weather for three days, blue skies, good snow, not too cold.

The last afternoon, after lunch, we'd decided we were going to hike up the mountain from the top of the highest lift to the volcanic crater. It's about a 400m vertical climb, estimated to take betwee 1.5 and 2 hours. The weather was pretty fine, so we went ahead and started climbing.

At our first stop, after about 30 mins, we discovered it was going to be harder than it looked. We were both feeling the burn already, and less than a third of the distance was covered. There were footholes from previous hikers that day, which made it a lot easier than what it would have been if it was an untracked route.

Rest number two was about two thirds the way up, again, feeling more burn in the legs! By now a weather front was moving in and the wind was picking up. The footholes were quickly being filled up by snow being blown in to them. We could still find and use them, but it was getting a little harder to ascend. The final quarter of the hike was the hardest. The wind was blowing hard now, meaning we were having to stop and crouch to avoid the snow being blown in to our faces and blowing us off balance (not helped by the snowboards on our backs acting like a sail!). It was also a little tougher to find the footholes, and we mostly had to make our own, digging our boots in to the 40degree slope.

We made it to the top eventually, I got there about 5minutes ahead of Jody. I celebrated my achievement by making some yellow snow, which I'd been holding for nearly 1.5hours. The top was the only spot where I was out of site for long enough!

The view was awesome, something we'll remember for a long time. It's our first experience of a volcanic crater, and to then snowboard down the side of the volcano, in nice powder made it all the more worth it!

We'll add some photo's up here when I find time, but for the time being, enjoy the videos.

Cheers

James

xx

A blog from Jody at last!!

2009-05-10T07:36:00.010+07:00

OK so first I have to say sorry, I have meant to write a blog for ages and just haven't got round to it. Maybe because I'm having too much fun or because I'm lazy - most likely a mixture of both.
So sorry.

News Flash!!! I'm in England 29th May until 18th June, so if you want to meet up book yourself in now. In case I don't blog again soon- Congrats to Lou and Darrel who will tie the knot on the 6th of June

Well I know James has updated you a little but he did miss out a major event in our New Zealand lives, and that is my Parents came to visit for a month, Yay!!! Hopefully I can persuade James to put up some photos so if there are photos, great, if not it's all James' fault. I put the photos in my self. Yay for me!

Hopefully Mum and Dad had a great time, I did, other than I was a little bit ill on one of our mini breaks. I'll give you a run down on the activities that we did together and you can see the fun you'll have if you visit us. We like to call ourselves 'Club JJ'

Well, when they first arrived I was working so I met them at the top of the drive where they were sitting outside a little cafe having a coffee in the sun. Me and the kids welcomed them and showed them round the house and facilities and caught up a little, before I left them so they could rest.

I have to say having anyone to stay is exciting and I was like a little kid cause it was my Mum and Dad.

That weekend we went to a bustling farmers market in a very pretty town north of Auckland, that is touristy, called Matakana. On the way we discovered Dad's secret obsession - he likes to take photos of sign posts, which over the holiday progressed to car number plates.

We had lunch there and mum and dad seem to be coping really well with the jet lag.

In the afternoon we drove a little further to a beautiful beach, Omaha, where they are currently building lots of Bachs (holiday homes) by the beach. James loves these buildings as no two are the same and some are very cool. My Dad on the other hand didn't like them at all, and called them boxes. It was an interesting conflict!

We sat on the beach and we all swam in the sea (well Dad didn't exactly swim more of a wade) Mum and me were convinced that if we just floated a while the waves would eventually bring us in. So that's what we did, the experiment back fired a little as when we decided to see how close we were and realised we further out and could no longer touch the bottom. It was a great day which ended in taking Dad the lobster home (burn burn burn)

Back to work for me but due to really cool bosses I was able to meet up with Mum and Dad in the week at the zoo with the kids in tow, and we even had a bbq in the evening with my bosses and their parents, plus they lent Mum and Dad their car. Mum and Dad did lots of exploring as well and went to lots of beaches and I think Mum managed to swim in the sea everyday and did lots of walking.

Now luckily while Mum and Dad were here there were two bank holidays and James and me took a few days off as well and we all decided to go somewhere new- the Bay of Islands. It is further north so everything should be even warmer and it was.

We did lots of things: we went Kayaking down a mangrove river to a waterfall with a guide which was beautiful (this is where I felt ill so James and me had a two person kayak and he did most of the paddling - I'm a lucky girl). We also went dolphin watching for a day on a sailing boat and swam from the boat to an island. Mum and me on another occasion decided when we were swimming at a beach (while Dad was snoozing and James was reading (Boring)) that it might be quite interesting to see if we could swim to an island so we set off . We realised half across that there was quite a current as we were aiming at various markers (boats and buoys) and getting dragged slightly around, but we made it safe and sound after a few incidents with sea weed (agh). The island was uninhabited so we explored a little (but with bare feet it wasn't ideal) and we found a little bird nest (can't remember what type - you'll have to ask Mum) just in amongst the rocks. On the swim back we noticed a figure on the rocks in the distance - James! apparently he was worried, and we shouldn't just swim off without telling anyone blah blah... I think he was just jealous that he didn't get to go on the adventure. Dad on the other hand said he had been worrying but as we found him exactly where we left him you have to wonder how worried he was and whether if James hadn't mentioned it he would have even noticed we had gone.

On the way home we stopped at Whangarei and went to a massive waterfall and along a tree top kauri tree walk (massive trees). It was a great break, fantastic to go somewhere new too.

Back to work for the JJ's. Mum and Dad continue to explore the north island and went to Hobbiton and glow worm caves. We met them on the weekend at Hamilton Gardens and introduced them to Kieran and Nic in Cambridge. We left them in Cambridge with a list of places they could visit and headed back to Auckland and work.

For the 2nd bank holiday we met them on the Coromandel peninsula (one of our favourite places in NZ) at Hahei. We had a lovely few days there going on walks, swimming in the sea - this time when Mum and me went on an adventure James was keeping an eye on us and as quick as a flash he was in the water with us. We all swam (minus Dad - snoozing on the beach) around an out crop of rocks to another bay and clambered up onto a rock island and jumped off (Mum couldn't climb up without losing her bikini top, it was quite funny). We also had fish and chips on the beach which just has to be done anywhere in the world.

Photos of us post chips We headed home in convoy and that was pretty much it for our month with Mum and Dad.

It was so great having them here. I'm so glad they came and now they know a bit about my life here, makes me feel more settled and I now have lovely memories of them in New Zealand. I know James will love the feeling of having his family here too when they come.

Oh it's the first holiday I have had with my Mum AND Dad since I was five which also made it super cool.

Bye

Jody

I canny wait pet!

2009-03-30T16:38:00.003+07:00

Does this make anyone else wish they were 5 years young again? Mum, hope you haven't thrown my book out! Pretty sure I used to have nightmares about it though, hmmmm, maybe not so excited anymore........
Jimbob

Quick update

2009-03-22T05:05:00.007+07:00

Eh up everyone

Told you I probably wouldn't keep up with updating the blog regularly. Suppose it shows how well we've settled here that we don't rush to the computer to let everyone know what we did today. We're taking for granted the fact that we get to go surfing most weekends on amazing beaches, and that we're constantly surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Anyway, quick sumamry of what we've done over the last month:

-Surfing, getting better, but I've just got an ear infection from 'cleaning' my ear too much and not letting the wax protect my ear. Hurts like hell at the moment.

-Went to see Billy Connolly a couple of weeks ago at the Vector Arena. He was brilliant, as expected!

-Went to see 'La Clique' (http://www.lacliquelondon.com/)last friday, as part of the Auckland Festival. This was awesome, and highly recommended if any of you ever get the chance in your neck of the woods. It won awards at the Edinburgh Festival last year, and is now touring round worldwide festivals. It'd basically a variety of acts, in a small intimate tent, some burlesque, music, magic, trapeze, etc. Really fun atmosphere, only about 200 people in the audience, etc.

-Went across to Waiheke Island to see an outdoor sculpture exhibition dotted along its coast. Nice walk, new view of Auckland City from their, art descriptions doesn't impress me at all when artisit try to make their creations more than whet they are - just a lump of material that can sometimes look cool. Get a real job!!!

-Ran a relay round Lake Taupo in a team of 15 people, covered 160km between us. Our legs were at 4am and 5am, so running in the pitch black was strange indeed, like sensory depravation I suppose.

-Got rid of a huge spider in the bedroom, no poisonous spiders here, but all the same, BIG!

-Laughed a lot at these videos! Quite possibly one of the funniest thigs I've ever seen. Time to get a dog me thinks!!

So, that was something like the last month, maybe not in that order?!

Take care ya'll

James
xx

PS-oh yeah, there was Jody's birthday too - oops!

Is it warm in here or what?

2009-02-13T10:44:00.002+07:00

Bloomin nora, it's been pretty damn muggy over here recently. We've had the fan on pretty much all the time at home. We've been assurd this isn't totally normal conditions. The night of 22 degrees and 100% humidity wasn't much fun a few days ago!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10556519

To the beach again me thinks.

James
x

So, New Year.......(pics added!)

2009-02-05T10:00:00.010+07:00

This one will be a bit more brief, due to the fact I'm writing it at work, and that I've been putting it off cause I'm lazy. So, I might start posting more frequent, shorter blogs from now on. Or I might just keep doing the same, who knows - not me for sure.

So I&D came back from Oz, we stayed at ours for one night then set off to the Coromandel for the few days over new years. Stayed at a place called Cooks Beach on a campsite. The place was packed, loads of different ages milling around the place. Cooks Beach is a small residential place really, mostly holiday homes and a campsite and a small shop. The campsite atmosphere was really nice; the kids watched films projected on a sheet draped between the climbing frame, whilst the adults got merry around their tent villages.

Anyway, NYE afternoon we walked along a coastal path to two different beach coves. The first, Stingray Bay to do some snorkelling, the second, Cathedral Cove, to do some sun bathing and swimming. The snorkelling was quite surreal due to an airplane acrobatics team doing either a show or rehearsing in the sky above us. So, we' take a break from peering at the crayfish hiding under the rocks to watch planes doing loop the loops - sweet! We spent NYE night on the beach, drinking Summer Ale and sparkling Boysenberry wine, watching kids launching fireworks out of their hands in to the sea. Quite impressive, if not a little dangerous.

New Years Day we woke reasonably early, had a bacon butty, and went to the beach - had a swim, tried to lay in the sun but it was too hot, so sat in the tree shade. In the afternoon we drove to Hot Water Beach, which turned out to be packed!! At low tide you can dig a shallow pit near to a natural hot spring, then bake in the pool hoping for a bit of sea water to come along to cool it down. It was worth the journey though, as some dolphins (about 4 of them) turned up and mingled with the swimmers in the surf, and one of the dolphins surfed a wave in, which looked ace!

We drove back to Auckland on the 2nd, so I&D could get their flight back to blighty that night. Send off was fish and chips with a summer ale, followed by one last hot tub, before dropping them off for their short trip back home.

So that was New Years, uber brief version! Big thanks to Iain and Donna for coming out to spend the holiday season with us. Hopefully they've bigged up NZ to everyone else so we get more visitors (maybe some permanent?).

I'll try to 'blog' more often now, but I'm not promising owt!

James

xx

Visitors and our first NZ Christmas

2009-01-05T08:47:00.034+07:00

So, Christmas in the sun was weird, in a very unfamiliar way. We weren’t expecting to feel Christmassy at all, but when the day arrived and it felt like just any other day, then that was a bit strange. Playing tennis and going for a swim did little to change the surrealism.

The lead up to Christmas was great, travelling around with Iain and Donna who arrived from blighty on holiday on the 17th. We spent a few days showing them the local area, mountain biking and surfing before setting off on a mini camping expedition down the north island, en route to Wellington for them to catch their flight to Melbourne on Xmas eve. First stop was Rotorua, via a scheduled tea stop at Kieran and Nic’s in Cambridge. First on the itinerary in Roto-vegas (as the Kiwi’s like to call it) was luging. This involved riding a cable car to the top of a big hill overlooking the lake, and riding down it on a go-kart, powered only by gravity, over and over again. Speed was experienced, stinky helmets were worn, and much fun was had. We then made our way to the campsite to erect our tent for the first nights camping.

Priorities - straight into the hot tub, no messing about.

Suitably nerdy head gear for a couple of extreme nerds!

Iain, doing his thing

Now, for those of you who don’t know, Rotorua is a highly thermal area as the earths crust is relatively thin there. We therefore had the option of pitching our tent on a ‘warm’ section of the site, which we obviously did! We also partook in the complimentary hot pools on site, giving Iain the opportunity to parade his skimpy bathing trunks (which turned slightly transparent when wetted!). We walked in to town, passing on the way some thermal ponds which allowed for some cool photos to be taken with the setting sun as backdrop. The faint smell of sulphur is never far away in thermal areas such as these. So the temptation to ask 'have you farted' every few minutes never grows tiresome, well not for me and Iain anyway!

You can stick them 'Gorillas In The Mist' comments right up your jacksy!

"Have you farted?"

A steamy thermal pond in Rotorua, and the sun

Upon waking the next morning we realized our air bed had decided to lose most of its air, placing me and Jody on the hot ground, slowly baking us in our sleep. A pretty strange start to the day. So, it was onwards to Napier, via Taupo for breakfast by the lake, for the next stage. We’d arranged to do a cycling winery tour in Napier that afternoon, so were quite excited at the prospect of getting some free wine. On getting to the cycle hire place we were offered tandems, which we obviously accepted, again! The tour itself was brilliant, using a map provided by the hire place we navigated our way to three vineyards and one chocolate makers. We could have done more, but we’d arrived late and the vineyards closed at 5:30pm for tasting (booo!). The scenery and the wineries were amazing, like something out of Tuscany, and the wines we even better (we returned the next morning to buy several bottles from two of the vineyards).

Stopped off at Huka Falls (http://www.hukafalls.com/), just outside Taupo, for the view of the bottom of the falls (over my shoulder)

Leaving one winery, ready for the next one!

Extreme wine tasting!!

Another interesting fact for those not in the know, Napier was flatten by and earthquake and the resultant fires in 1931. The rebuilding of the city was undertaken during the international Art Deco movement, and many of the architects and town planners used this influence to design the new city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier,_New_Zealand). So, we spent the warm evening wandering around the centre, and eating burgers at an American surf style restaurant.

Walking from our campsite to Napier centre, in search of food and fine beverages, along the palm tree lined road

A fine example of the art deco buildings - is it better than the Wakefield Express Building? Only just!

A cool colourful, colour changing, fountain

The Church

Even the pharmacy got in on the act

The next day was the long leg to Wellington (about a 4 hour drive). The drive itself was very picturesque and we passed several sites where they filmed Lord of the Rings (Isenard, Rivendale, etc) (http://asni.net/lotr_map.html). Once we arrived in Wellington we pitched our tent, again, then caught the bus in to the city as we all fancied a drink. We’d been recommended a good bar called the ‘Tasting Room’ for good grub and beer. We weren’t disappointed. It was a Montieths (our new favourite brewers - http://www.monteiths.com/nz/siteFiles/index.html) establishment, and we sampled their ales to our delight. We also had one of the best starter platters any of us have ever had, followed up by good hearty food. The bar had a nice location in a vibrant yet relaxed area of town. Basically, if any of you find yourself in Wellington, get yourselves to this place. Afterwards we had a walk around the Wellington harbour front (which has some nice buildings and the national museum, Te Papa), and tried the climbing wall.

Pathetic attempts

Yes, I was the only one to reach the top, of course

I'm gonna touch it, just watch me!

She had to look didn't she?!

I liked this hotel on the harbour front, another art deco piece

The next day (Xmas eve) we woke to rain, the first time it had rained in about 10 days. We then remembered why camping in England is rubbish most of the time. Today was Iain and Donna’s flight to Melbourne, and also our 7 hour drive to Cambridge back to Kieran’s. So, we dropped I and D at Te Papa to pass the time before their flight to Melbourne, and set off on the 7 hour drive to Cambridge.

Jody's going to write the next bit, see if you can tell the difference!?

James

James

Ok it's up to me to take it from here.

James and and me have only ever had one Christmas together before- our first in the french Alps (due to our parents living so far apart and neither wanting to miss out being with our own parents when we were back in England) so this was to be a new experience together. Very kindly without ever meeting us, Nics family had asked us to join them for their family get together on Christmas day in Cambridge. So after our journey from Wellington we arrived at Ki and Nic's in the evening and went to the big house to meet Nic's family. We had a lovely evening, seafood and all.

We woke up on Christmas morning and exchanged presents together in bed, that was about as Christmassy as i felt all day. The weather was light, it just didn't feel right, and was very warm - and not in a 'cosy open fire and lots of cooking' kind of way. It felt quite alien, which was positive really as it felt so unchristmassy that I didn't feel many bangs of homesickness that I was worried I would feel at the time of year which I always spent with my family. As James said we played tennis (I played surprising well for me) and went swimming. Then we spent lunch and the rest of the day with Nic's family, which was very strange. They were very welcoming and friendly but it did feel weird to watch other people opening their presents and have no presents at all, just being an onlooker of someone else's Christmas.
The dinner was delicious - a proper turkey dinner with some wonderful desserts and though the whole day had been strange we did enjoy ourselves and met some real characters.

Two days after Christmas I skyped home, when Mum and Dad were holding a Birthday party for my Grandad and they all passed me round on the laptop and I got to speak to all my aunt's, uncle's and cousins as well as my parents and grandparents. Being passed around and seeing the open fire and the Christmas tree, and with the darkness in the windows outside, I felt more Christmas spirit than before, and had that warm feeling inside that had been missing up until then, and I spent a lovely few hours with them.

All I can say I'm really glad that I have skype. It has made a big difference, the distance seems so much smaller and I'm sure I'm talking to my parents more than when I lived in England and we're 'seeing' each other more regulary. So anyone who hasn't got it yet - go on and get it.

Jody

Those poor dogs, like they get to choose to look like that!

Iain and Donna's return to NZ and New Year to come..................

Google Streetview - amazing!!

2008-12-05T05:18:00.010+07:00

Hey all

Just to let you know, Google Streetview has now been completed for New Zealand. So you can now see the streets we pound on a daily basis.

Here’s the entrance to our house (97B, down that driveway), if you turn 180degrees you can see the fish shop!

View Larger Map

This is where we catch the ferry to the city

View Larger Map

This is where I work

View Larger Map

This is where Jody works

View Larger Map

View from the harbour bridge, crossed daily on my bus to/from work

View Larger Map

The Final Mo

2008-12-04T17:10:00.002+07:00

Was it all worth it? No! Look at that pathetic catepillar above my top lip. And none of you sponsored me!! I had to donate $10 myself, just so I didn't come last in the company! Still, can't wait for next year.....

28 days later (well, more like 30days, but I couldn't think of any refernce to that)

Say booyaaaah

The obligatory comedy Hitler cut (not that he was ever funny)

You wanna get cut?!

So, thanks again for all your support, hope you're all enjoying the british winter. Just a quick note, it's 24degrees over here. Definately no snow or ice in sight.

James

Australia

2008-11-30T11:39:00.010+07:00

Ok, James has told me it's up to me to write this one as I have not written a blog in ages. So here goes!

Well back in England way before we left James was getting giddy because he'd worked out we would be down-under by the time the rugby league world cup was on (the best sport to watch ever). So months in advance James had looked up when the matches would be on and with his old work colleague -Jamie, had arranged to meet at the England v New Zealand match in Australia on Saturday the 8th of Nov and go together. Jamie and his girlfriend Michelle are big Leeds rhino fans as well and since quite a few of the rhino's player are in the England squad and my favourite player ever Rob Burrow was playing, I was very keen to go.

Luckily due to great bosses we were able to take Friday off as well and pop over to Oz for a long weekend. (It is so weird thinking of popping over to Oz. I still think that it should be the other side of the world). We arrived on Friday morning and checked into the backpackers hostel - It was very good and clean! So far on our travels i have not found a hostel I didn't like. It was also very central in Sydney, which was fantastic as it meant everything was within walking distance (not so good for James, who after the marathon had found that he had badly sprained his foot and although the adrenaline had masked the pain on race day he was in masses of pain for 2-3 weeks and it was especially painful walking round Sydney for 3 days). We went and met Jamie and Michelle straight away and walked to the port and took photos of the bridge and opera house and then went to a bar and had a lovely lunch. We walked over the bridge and checked out the other side and just enjoyed catching up with friends (the first people we've seen from our life in England) and being tourists in a new city. It was hot and i managed to burn myself even though i was wearing sun tan lotion. That evening we went to a pub with live music which was very good and James in his cheerful state took loads of random pictures of the the band.

Saturday arrived and we did some more sightseeing and went to a market then we got on the coach to go to Newcastle to watch the match.

The match was good and I loved the build up and picking out some of the Leeds players. I had never been to international match in any sport and it was a great buzz. We were in the stands mixed together with the Kiwis and there was a friendly atmosphere and banter. There was a couple and the wife was a Kiwi and the husband was English and they bickered throughout the match and made everyone laugh.

England lost the match but I think James and me didn't find it too sad as what better team for them to lose to than our new home team, and they went onto thrash the Ozzie's in the final to take home the world cup, yay!!

We said our goodbyes to Jamie and Michelle after the match. They were moving on up the country to Cairns in the morning, so they would be in place to watch the next game on their world cup tour.

On Sunday James and me caught a ferry over to Manly and had fish and chips on the beach and probably burnt ourselves some more while watching people surf and skim board (James particularly like one lads skills and took some sneaky photos) before catching our plane home to New Zealand.

All in all a good weekend, but we're both in agreement we made the right choice moving to NZ instead of Oz and we're glad to be home!!

Met Jamie & Michelle in Sydney, stood by fountain, someone took picture

That be proof of where we were - Australia's Gay capital!

Jody jumps, James mistimes photo (Sydney Harbour Bridge, not Tyne Bridge!)

What a lovely seafood platter

Scary face pointing at a scary face!

Same bridge, different angle. Same Opera house, different......you know what I mean!

What's that, Jody's let herself go? I've tried to resist eating them pies, but they're so yummy!

Spot the odd one out. It's Jamie, he's wearing sunglasses!

In the stands in Newcastle for the Rugby. Nice sunset eh?

That bunch of losers! What a set of let down larry's!

Fush & Chups - aussie style (ie-on a beach, in the sun!)

James swears he was taking a picture of me and not the surf girl in the background

Manly, nice place

That be that bridge and opera house again

Can you guess what it is yet? It's just from a different angle, silly!

The evening sky on the flight home. Don't tell me I'm not good at taking photo's!

Take care all

Jody

Movember

2008-11-13T06:08:00.004+07:00

Now then, I’ve been meaning to write about this since the beginning of November/Movember, but I’ve been busy, lazy and distracted, etc. In any case, throughout November I’m growing, and grooming, a moustache for charity. Yes, a moustache! It’s an annual event down under, which I think is now taking off in the UK also? It’s basically a bit of fun and raises money for mens charity for mental health and cancer, etc. It’s also a chance to see what you’d look like with a ‘tache’ whilst having an excuse and not standing out too much as loads of other blokes are attempting the facial growth at the same time!

So, here’s the link to my donations page - https://www.movember.com/nz/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1690846&country=nz

Also, if I raise over $30 I get a free razor – so dig deep ladies and germs.

Week 1 - Freshly shaved (I had to remove my sub lip growth, boooo!)

End of Week 1 - Showing the beach how not make your 'tache' join up with your beard

Midway Movember Mo - it's annoying me now! (taken a cople of weeks ago)

(Pics of the final creation to come tomorrow - how exciting!)

Here’s some spiel about the charity, etc:

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men's health issues and donated to the Cancer Society of New Zealand and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. These two charities will use the money raised to fund research and increase support networks for those affected with prostate cancer and experiencing depression.
Did you know:
Depression affects 1 in 10 men....Most people who experience depression make a full recovery. The first step is seeking help.
Last year in New Zealand 2,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 600 died of prostate cancer - (that's nearly two each day).
For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the details at: [Fundraising Outcomes].

Auckland Marathon

2008-11-02T13:45:00.005+07:00

Well, the day of reckoning finally came around. Running a half marathon at 6:30am on a sunday morning, the complete opposite of a perfectly comfortable Sunday morning lie in. Why spoil it? I still don't know the answer to that!
I (James) finished in 1:54, under the 2hour mark I was aiming for so I was reasonably happy, considering the pain in my legs. Jody managed to complete in about 2:31, longer than she would have liked, but her knees were giving her some right 'jip'. Think she's worn them away for good, hobbling about the house at the moment.
Now we can say, "been there, done that, actually got the t-shirt" (as proof), etc. Not really tempted by another long distance slog, once is enough.
Pics below, will send a link later on to the official pics.

Arrive to the starting line about 10mins after the starting pistol, mainly due to long toilet queues and a cruise ship docking in the harbour which delayed our ferry crossing. Spent the first 2km overtaking loads of fatties!

Just before we went our seperate ways (not exactly, did the same course and all that). It was a bit of a hilly course, as you can make out.

Some nutters ran around in the flintstones mobile.
Not many marathons will take you past a beach.

On the harbour bridge (not normally any pedestrian access). Hazy view of the CBD.

Jody's long slog up the approach to the harbour bridge pinnacle (much easier in the car)

The finsh area, proof we made it. Also, it's pretty hard to take a photo in Auckland without getting the Skytower in the background.

But I managed it here!

The aftermath, Sunday afternoon in a hammock.

Official photo's: James - http://www4.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?job=Sports%2F2008+Sports%2FAuckland+Marathon&match=9649

Jody - http://www4.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?job=Sports%2F2008+Sports%2FAuckland+Marathon&match=9650

Evidence of some cheeky walking going on from Miss Page! Not sure why I've only got one photo, the others must have been a blur due to my shear speed!

Some recent photo's

2008-10-22T06:44:00.005+07:00

Hey all,
Just a few photo's from my camera phone from over the past few weeks, mostly of a walk we went on last Sunday down near Cambridge with Kieran and Nic. Just like the Yorkshire Dales, except for the tropical stuff and amazingly crystal clear river.
Enjoy

A Maori carving up in a place called Omaha. Huge designer houses line the beach up here, showoffs!

A fern ready to unravel - NZ is covered with these things.

We'll be back to swim in this one day.

On my ferry home last night, the NZ Americas Cup yaughts sailed past. They're pretty big, about 40m high!?

We're hoping to get some of the Thailand vids up here soon, been a bit lazy recently!

Until then,

James

Visitors

2008-10-05T14:54:00.002+07:00

Well it's not that exciting but we had our first visitors today, Ki and Nic. Since we don't know anyone here it was nice to have someone round and to show them the pad. We had a relaxed lunch and a play on the wii it was just fun to have friends round. Ki and Nic have to travel 2hrs to get here so it's not like they can pop round anytime so we loved that they made the effort.

It's a bit up in the air here about how much longer we'll be living in this property. We've been offered a lease to october next year but our desire to have a puppy is making us think of looking around, we love it here so ultimately i think we'll end up staying. It's so close to the transport links to James' work it's only 15mins from mine we're close to the sea and the bush, there are shops within walking distance and loads of cool relaxed cafe just opposite our drive it make you feel like you're living in a resort. It would have to be a dream property to encourage us to move!

Been speaking to lots of people in England this weekend which is cool and makes it seem like we're really not that far away.
Heard it's raining in England today. Hope it's not too depressing!!
(Really not missing the English climate i have to say)

Jody

Weezer are back!

2008-10-05T06:48:00.002+07:00

Not really relevant to our New Zealand experience, but I just think that everyone should see this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI

I couldn't actually embed the video in to the blog due to copyright stuff, but hope you can follow the link. Sorry if I'm behind the times with this, but I've only just heard this song over here and I'm going to go buy the album asap.

The mighty Weezer return!

James
x

PS-some Thailand videos to upload next week, ooooh yeah!

Hong Kong Videos

2008-09-30T06:11:00.003+07:00

Quite a shock landing in a typhoon, plenty of wind and rain, just like Yorkshire then!

We didn't quite eat the freshest food we that was available.

Epic show, can't believe they do this every night! And it goes on for about 20minutes. We watched it from Kowloon side, where the accompanying music is played.

The rain was so heavy it was actually exciting to experience. The Buddha was pretty good too, and big!

Work and Running

2008-09-25T14:52:00.002+07:00

Hi
Sorry it's been so long since i wrote a blog - i've started work and unlike James i can't pop on the blog willy nilly.

It's nice to see James has been keeping you up todate. I found a job one week after i started looking and it came with a car so that took a big finicial strain off us. It was my first interview as well so not too much mucking around. It is for three children two girls and a boy all under 5 years. I've nearly finished my third week and it's going really well.

Working closely with a family and other kiwi's i feel i finding so much about the culture and way of life-
-Children barely wear shoes (it's safe as it is clean)
-The Kindy's (pre schools) are fantastic loads of outside space i'll just have to take a picture but believe me these are the kind of places you want your children going to.
-The value are amazing too. Their curriculum has parts called 'Mana Whenua' Meaning belonging and about children learning, where there place is in society and connecting links with family and the outside world. Also 'Mana Tangata' Meaning Contribution where they are learn they are value as individuals and how they can contribute and make a difference. With these things being learnt from an early age you can see the children would be less likely to go off the rails later on as they would feel part of the community and hopefully respect it.

I could go on forever about my new job but it would bore you to pieces

I have notice James has forgotten to mention HE signed us up for a half marathon, (20ks) I would have happy attempted another 10k but 20 is way too far i think James thought for some misguided reason it would be good for us to run together to bond (he misses football and the football lads i think) unfortunately at 6am i'm not at my best (We've been training before work) and the whole way round our 4k route i'm silently cursing him for getting me into this. I don't even know when it is but i think it's in november -watch this space, Any way James said we're going to do 2 laps tomorrow which might kill me before work. I know your thinking hey that's not far but when you live 10 minute walk from the sea nothing is flat and the route we've been taking goes down to the sea though some bush and then back up again along the road and it's the UP part that is killing me.
But if you don't hear from me and James again it might be because i died on the second lap or kill James for getting me into this.

We've got our first confirmed visitors coming so we're really really looking forward to that (Hooray for the Richardsons) And i'm hopeful that Mum and Dad will find someone to Farm sit so they'll be coming soon too. Also i think they might be some other people in the the pipeline. Just let us know if you're are interested in a stay at Chez JJ.

I've loved reading all the comments you've been leaving us so keep it up. Missing you all but still loving it here.

Jody

Sunday at the beach

2008-09-23T07:40:00.008+07:00

So, it's early spring over here now, and the weekend forecast was for the first time since we got here absent of rain. We decided to visit a popular beach about an hour away, Piha, which could turn out to be our nearest surf beach (once I get a wetsuit and board!). The drive was really nice, seriously lacking in any real traffic (compared with UK seaside routes). The beach was relatively busy, by New Zealand standards, that is there were other people other than us there. This beach actually is quite notorious for dangerous rips, and has a dedicated life guard team with boats and quads, etc. There's actually a TV program called 'Piha Rescue' on over here, but it's hardly Baywatch action, just a few surfers getting too close to the rocks or swimmers getting beyond their depth, etc.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics and a video, yes, I've finally discovered how to upload videos via youtube! Expect more in the future posts. In the middle of the beach there's a huge rock called Lions Rock, which was just asking to be climbed. Actually, there was a path anyway, but I would've attempted it either way.

All in all the weather was great (about 20degrees).

inabit
James
xx

Looking North from Lions Rock

Looking South from Lions Rock (the surfing bay)

Bit of an in joke regarding the bag/packed lunch. When we came to NZ last year we had to leave a remote paradise like beach due to my incessant hunger, and it was a bit of a trek to get back to civilisation!

New Zealand is.........

2008-09-08T08:17:00.003+07:00

..........strangely brilliant.

ie: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4685250a11.html

Socially, everything is more relaxed over here. There's mild swearing on the radio, political correctness is no where near as bad as the UK, and people just seem to be able to speak there mind without the fear of getting sued.

The other week was 'Boobs on Bikes' in Auckland, where topless women are part of a parade down Queen St (like Londons Oxford St), as part of a promotion for a local erotica expo. There was some mild protests, but most people just enjoyed it for what it was. It was a Wednesday lunchtime, kids were around, people were on their lunchbreak and it was just a good laugh, nothing sleazy at all.

Now, can you imagine this happening in england? Busybodies in england have trouble allowing mothers to breast feed their babies in public!! Ooh, how disgusting. Get a life! Rant over....

In our first few days over here we caught their parliament TV, which was brilliant. MP's werebeing sarcastic, the 'speaker of the house' was cracking jokes, no one was asleep in the back seats. Kiwi's tend to be more intune with the politics of their country than us Brits, and I think this is one of the reasons. Their MP's are human.

Anyway, back to work for me.

James
x

PS-If anyone has an Xbox 360 and play's online, I'll be available soon. Just need to sort out my modem thingy. I'll put my 'gamer tag' in ablog when I get it.
inabit

Was it all worth it......?

2008-09-03T07:39:00.003+07:00

........Yes! The ability to drive to the slopes on the weekend is an awesome feeling. The drive itself was beautiful; clear blue skies, the rolling green NZ landscape, and the slowly growing view on the horizon of the snow covered volcanoes.

The drive up the mountain was a new experience entirely. We're used to the jagged steep approach roads of the european alps, but this was practically one gradual ascent. The surroundings were different too, travelling through a lush forest for the first half of the ascent before emerging in to a volcanic moonscape for the remainder.

The resort itself wasn't what we're used to either - this was just a place to park your car and get on the lifts, any accomodation is found at the base of the mountains over here. I suppose it's not practical to live on a volcano?! The conditions were really good, a bit icy in places, but generally good snow. The base is up to 470cm, which is about 270cm more than european resorts normally get. It is a record covering over here, and we should be able to still hit the slopes around Christmas time - which is the middle of summer!! One thing instantly realisable is the ratio of skiers to snowboarders. It's at least 50/50 over here, whereas in the european alps borders are still in the minority, probably about 70/30 at most (depending on the resort). Another reason to come to NZ then!

The drive back to Auckland was a bit of a hike, but definatley worth it. I'm sure we'll trim a few minutes off the journey with a bit more practice.

Jody liked it that much that she's gone back there today (wednesday) with Kieran's girlfriend Nic. Jody starts her new job next Monday, so is making the most of her free time, especially now that our gear has arrived!! We'll write some more about that once we've got round to unpacking all the boxes - it's like Christmas, as we can't remember exactly what we packed.

Anyway, lunch is over, time to get back to work.
I'm out for dinner with work tonight.......more free food!! "I'll have the steak please". Need I say more?

James/Knighty
xx

One of the snow covered cones

That's Mt Ruapehu

View from the top

If those clouds had cleared you can see the coast!

L-R: Nic, Kieran, Jules, Jody (all borders!)

Get out of my shot, skier!!

Our pad

2008-08-29T11:51:00.003+07:00

Here's some pictures of our current residence in Auckland, which I know a few of you have been asking for.

We're not sure if we'll be here for long though, as the landlord may be putting it up for sale soon, which means we could be moving in late November time (all depends on the property market, etc). Hopefully we can stay here for a while cause it's pretty nice, and will be a good place to house all those people who said they'd be coming to visit us!!!!

Open plan living - cooking and watching TV simutaneously, brilliant!

Dining area, waiting for its baptism as yet.

Yes, that's Jody's mess all over the floor. How did you guess?

We've got a wrap around deck (yet to be used also -damn rain!)

View of the bush from the deck - good eh?

The hot tub (again, yet to be used)

Anywho, it's the end of my first month at work - so I'm off to get a little battered at the company's end of month party (free booze and food!). I could get used to this, in fact, I think I already have!

Love to all

James

Messin about.....

2008-08-27T08:19:00.003+07:00

.....is what I do during my lunchbreaks. Hence the appearance of some new stuff over there (to the right). I've added an all important world clock for the international mega centres of Wakefield and Auckland, just so you know when we're in bed, and vice-versa. I'm also playing around with the voting thingy - whether this stays or not is down to if I like the results!!!

Anyway, back to work for me, whilst you lot remain in slumberland.

James
x

Ko Tao - Scuba Diving

2008-08-15T05:59:00.006+07:00

James and me travelled for a whole day (Starting at 6.30am) on 2 buses and a ferry and still did not make it in time to catch the ferry to Ko Tao (An island off the east coast of Thailand). We ended up on Ko Pang Nang -the Island where the full moon party is held on. It was the afternoon after the party and everyone was lolling around looking slightly worse for wear. Not wanting to hang around here, we booked our ticket for the ferry for the next morning.

Ko Tao is beautiful. When we arrived we knew we wanted to do the PADI course (Scuba diving) and with guide book in hand we headed to the one it recommended - Easy Diver. It was just off the pier so we walked straight in expecting to be ambushed by people trying to sell us their course, instead it was really relaxed they sat us down, offered us water and a friendly English woman gave us a run down on the courses and accomodation which came included as well as some food vouchers. James and me planned to walk around and compare prices so we could get the best deal. When we mentioned the plan they kindly offered to look after our backpacks to make it easier for us. After weeks of the hard sell and people pushing their products, we found this so refreshing that instead of leaving we signed up there and then. It was 9000 Bahts each (which is around 138 pounds) for 4 night accomdation 4 days scuba training and 6 dives and food vouchers, which looking around afterwards was very good and slightly unique.

The course started that afternoon with some theory in the classroom and a video. We were in a group of 6, an irish couple Beven and Phil, a English girl Emily and a Danish girl Kate. Our instructor was Elliott. We had more theory the next morning and then we were out in the sea in the afternoon.

We got a boat to a small island near Ko Tao. Elliott had us jump in the water from the boat fully kitted out, then snorkelling towards a beach where the water was shallower.

Some photos added by James!

After we'd swum to some shallower water we practised breathing with the equipment and taking our masks off and on and clearing them under the water, also we did exercises swapping mouth pieces. I was James' buddy, I was worried we might argue but we were fine.
Then we swam back to the boat under the water going down to about 5m. There were so many fish in all the different colours and shapes.Really tropical, it was amazing!

Over the next few days we did more theory and dives guadually getting deeper. I think we went as deep as 20m.

Being super fit like James doesn't pay off in scuba diving. On one dive James with his massive lungs ran out of air, so as his buddy i had to share mine with him. He was like a big leech trying to suck all my air that i'd been gradually using. Least we know now though that we can share, and that my shallowing breathing can save us both if need be.

On the last day of the course we were woken up at 4am by a massive storm wind and rain. We wondered if our early morning dive would be called off but it wasn't and we were out on the choppy sea by 8am.
I felt alright and thought it was quite a laugh being tossed around in the boat, but about 5 minutes from the dive site when were kitting up for the dive, it stopped being funny and i just felt sick. We all jumped in the water and when the first wave hit me i was sick! YUCK but least i wasn't under the water with the mouthpiece in. Elliott was adamant that i would feel better once I was under the water and not being bobbed around by the waves so we dived down.
It was a hundred percent better under the sea! I was surprised.

We had 2 great dives that morning and we were filmed by Fran another diver. It was so relaxed, we all knew what we were doing and we just enjoyed the expereince without worrying about the fact we were 20m down while a storm was going on above us.

The the whole course was amazing and Elliott was a fantastic instructor and put my mind totally at ease. I'd recommend the course to anyone and you don't get seasick under the water even if you normally do on the surface (I know!)

Even if you're not bothered about diving Ko Tao is a great island and well worth a visit.

Jody

This picture was taken in Bangkok on our last night in Thailand. Already pointing to our new home in New Zealand.

The second stay in Bangkok was much better than the first. We had got use to the tuk tuk people and could ignore them easily and weren't so naive. We stayed in better area and travelled using trains to get around. It was a much better expereince and meant we could leave Thailand thinking of it in a positive light.

New Zealand- The house hunt

2008-08-12T10:54:00.003+07:00

Ok i know i promised you tales from Ko Tao and the scuba diving, but that will just have to wait!!

We've been NZ now for nearly 2 weeks and i have to say it been pretty manic.
We arrived on a wednesday and James was to start work the next monday so we spend the first few days searching for work clothes for him and shoes. We hired a car and drove around getting a feel for the city and before we knew it it was monday and i was left all alone for the first time in 2 months ish. Unfotunately i didn't have time to wallow in the abandoment as i had one small job - to set up our lives New Zealand.
My priorties were finding a house, aquiring money from our English bank accounts (withdrawing the maxium limit daily $800) and paying it into our accounts here, finding a job of my own and half hearted looking for a car.

I have been to a job interview for an agency and they were very positive that i will get work but they can not proceeed without my IRD number which is like the English national insurance number. So that's on hold as they can not issue that without a permanant address and then it takes 10 working days to come once you've applied. So i've got at least 2 more weeks off 'official work' the kind you get paid for.

Car hunting- James needs to be there. I'm not being girlie but it's the first time we'll be sharing a car and i don't want to be held accountable if James doesn't like it.

Believe me finding a place to live has kept me busy and i dare say i've put in as many hours as James has. (Mum - I'm not a lady of leisure! YET)
We had a deadline. We had two weeks from when we landed pre paid on the hotel we're staying in and after that it would cost us $135 a night a price we just can't afford to pay at the moment. So tomorrow is the deadline!!

Our house hunting process has gone like this -
1. Go on the internet (cafe) find a property you like- price, location, commutor links, rooms and pictures.
2. Phone (hotel) agents and check it is still availible.
3. Drive to the property and view it from the outside (Agents like to check your not wasting their time and that you actually like the location)
4. Phone (hotel) agents and confirm you would like to view it and arrange a time. (i've left a lot of messages that were never returned)
5. View the property taking photos and videos.
6. Talk James through each property using maps videos and photos as well as driving by in the the dark and peering through windows so he can get a feel of the places too.

I must have viewed 20 or so properties so by the end they were all merging in my mind.
My favourite property was one in St Heliers near the beach 2 bedrooms, unfunished, pets allowed (we really want a dog) and with an open fireplace in the bedroom. I dragged james along friday evening to look at it and he loved it too. The only problem was there was still tenants living there and they weren't sure when they were going to leave (really soon they assured us) We had 4 properties to view the next morning. After those viewings, we had another contender a fully furnished property on the north shore near a ferry port (James' commutor route) With 3 bedrooms, all the white goods plus extras like a cutlery, plates pots, pans, TV and a hot tub. Only problem was the landlord umming and ahhing about whether to put it up for sale in November (dependant on the property market) so we could quite easily have to search for another house on 4 months time. This property made a lot of sense as it would give us time to save up for washing machines and fridges but we weren't sure about location.

Monday morning i decided to walk around the area and get a feel for it. I was pleasantly suprized. The sun was out so i was waliking around in a t-shirt. the ferry was only 10 mins away and the sea 5 mins there were some bush tracks. I was texting James to tell him i'd decided which was my favourite when (if this isn't a sign from God i don't know what is) my phone rings in my hand, with the agent at St Heliers telling me that the other property was off the market as they weren't sure whether when the tenants would be moving out. Descion made!!
James and me are moving in to the property on the North Shore tomorrow (Wednesday). Dead on time!!

Jody
Sorry if there are lots of mistakes only James isn't here to spell check.

khok Sok

2008-08-03T15:52:00.009+07:00

After Ko Phi Phi we caught a ferry to Krabi ((lets just say the journey was uncomforable due to a tiny bit of sunburn) - You should have seen James (lobster))
We met a nice Austrailian couple though on the ferry and shared a taxi with them and an evening meal and drinks. It was a nice change from talking to each other. The next day we went to a beautiful beach on a longtail boat but couldn't risk getting more sun on our burn so took it easy. Krabi is beautiful!

Khok Sok is a national park and Fay had given us indepth instruction to go there! She'd told us where to stay and what treks to do with which guides. So with what we thought we knew we tried to jump in a bus, but a man enquired where we were planning to stay. Looking at the information Fay had had armed us with i said 'Green Mountain View guest house'. I think they sensed the weakness and proceeded to tell me they weren't sure it exsisted and if it did it would surley be closed for the low season. 'Luckily' they knew somewhere 'cheap' and it was definately open, convenietly run by their cousin. Ah ha, I smell tuk tuks in Bangkok again and flately refused to entertain the idea at all (James is always incredibly polite and very english playing the game very well i'm always nervous that he is going to say yes, but afterwards he tells me he never was- it's a strange game but it works. We're like good cop/ bad cop only i'm not entirely sure it's nessary)

When we get there we shout at anyone that will listen we want to go to 'Green Mountain view' run by Tawee with a guide called Bob Marley and any other slightly ridiculous information I thought I'd grasped from Fay. I think at this point all the people thought we were deranged, but someone out there seemed to understand because we were hussled into a car and low and behold the drivers name was 'Tawee' and he drove us to Green Mountain View, which was just beautiful!

Raised huts with a deck with an inside a fan and a double bed under a massive Mossie net, the height of luxury to my eyes. We had lunch with Tawee cooked by his beautiful wife with their kids playing around with cats (pretending they were baby dolls and putting them in prams) and his dog lying under our chairs. It was lovely! We booked the trek and Tawee drove us around showing us the local area that he was so proud of. He took us to view points, waterfalls and some monkeys at a temple (all free of charge) and took photos of us together. Tawee is a great man!!

The trek started early in the morning. We went to a market and I bought some more hiking boots as my last ones had disappeared between Ko phi phi and Krabi. We met our guide 'Me' and the rest of the group- a couple from Switzerland and a couple from Belguim.

We travelled to the raft houses by Long tail and the scenery was amazing, just mountains popping out of the water all lush and green. The water was warm and clear and i had the feeling it was incredably deep. When we got to the floating houses we were told to have a relax and swim until the late afternoon. The water was fab although at first the thought of how deep it was did scare me (I mean when it is so clear and you still can't see the bottom i find it a little uncomfortable)

We went kakaying and enjoyed our water living. We went to visit a cave in the evening but it wasn't that great, but the one they normally show people around was close because TOO many people had die in it recently. We did a night trek back in the dark and saw a few animals but mostly birds.

We had tea and the lads bonded over football from three different nations and they were all discussing how great Leeds used to be. Ah times like these i sometimes feel i should take an interested in football as it is obviously an international language but alas i still have no interest i can't seem to force it.

The next day we trekked for a couple of hours it was a bit of a let down as the track was so wide and clear we didn't really feel like we were in the jungle. When we got back James and me went tubing which was fab as we floating down the river (Which was freezing compared to the Lake and Sea) with monkeys in the trees above our heads, rapids and rope swings along the way a definate highlight!

We got back to our homestead with a dog to watch us while we snoozed in our hammock life doesn't really get much better.
As always we have to move on. The next day was a mega travel day which i'll blog about later- The Tales of Ko Tao!

Love Jody

We've made it!

2008-07-31T05:38:00.003+07:00

Finally, we're in Auckland, New Zealand!

We landed in the midst of a storm late in the afternoon, but have woken to blue skies this morning. It's supposed to be winter, but we're walking around in just jumpers - it does feel weird having to wear socks and shoes again though.

I can't believe I have to start work in 4 days, though it will be nice to start using my brain properly again (All I've had to do recently is remember how to say 'thankyou' in Thai!).

We've got loads of photo's to still to upload, and once we get our own computer from the shipping we'll upload some of the videos we took whilst travelling.

Hope all is well in blighty. Heard that the weather's been pretty good recently (I don't believe it, it's nearly August!)

inabit

James
x

Wow, it's only some more bloomin pictures!

2008-07-25T13:42:00.001+07:00

I know, I'm spoiling you all now. We've just finished our scuba diving course (PADI Open Water) on Ko Tao. It took 4 days, and we're now spending our last day here chilling out/on the internet.

Here's some photo's from the last couple of weeks, from Ko Phi Phi, to Krabi, then Kao Sok National Park (trekking and staying in the floating huts):

Ko Phi Phi - our beach hut was at the end of the beach behind Jody (near the big cliff)

Some fire dancing on Ko Phi Phi

Our beach hut (8 quid a night!)

Our view from the beach hut

Monkeys on monkey beach - Ko Phi Phi

Kayaking back to the main beach on Ko Phi Phi - it was raining (heavy) but we still got burnt!

This is how jody burnt her belly!

Ko Phi Phi from the viewpoint - worth the 20minute, near vertical climb!

Goat

Sunset from the viewpoint - Ko Phi Phi

Minutes of perseverance allowed me to capture the lightening!

Big limestone rock - Krabi

On a longtail boat - Krabi

In our jungle hut, with our new hammock and adopted dog - Kao Sok national park

Ditto

Monkeys at a nearby Temple - Kao Sok

Ditto

Big spider!!

Kao Sok

On the way to the raft huts on a huge resevoir - Kao Sok

The raft huts

Ditto

Some sort of reptile clinging to some sort of vegetation

Big stick insect

A flying chameleon

Ditto

Right, time for a beer me thinks.

Laters

James

Cambodia pics!

2008-07-20T16:58:00.008+07:00

We've finally got around to uploading a few pictures from our hop over the border in to Cambodia. The main reason was to visit the temples of Angkor of course, hence the bulk of photos are from there.

Enjoy.....

The Stoupa at the killing fields in Phnom Penh, a monument filled with the skulls of Cambodians murdered during Pol Pots reign (Kymer Rouge).

The Grand Palace in Phnom Penh

Angkor Wat

Bayon Temple

The one where Tomb Raider was filmed!

Sunset at the temples - You can see Angkor Wat over our shoulder.

James

Down to the islands!

2008-07-16T12:50:00.004+07:00

After leaving Cambodia behind following the bus journey from hell, we've now made it down to the thai islands. We flew from Bangkok to Phuket, stayed one night there in Patong (like Benidorm on steroids). We then got the ferry over to Ko Phi Phi. This was the island which you'd all have seen on the news when the tsunami hit in 2004. The narrow bit of sand between the two rocky islands only gets to about 2m above sea level. they didn't stand much of a chance when the 6m wave came.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Phi_Phi

The island is now back to it's former glory, and is really beautiful. The sea is proper warm and calm, and there are no cars on the island, so it's relatively quiet (except for the occasional fishing boat motor!). We stayed here for two nights in a beach hut about 20m from the beach on a quiet stretch of the island (away from the backpackers accomdations which are crammed in). The final day before the ferry to Krabi we hired a sea kayak to go snorkling around the island. We went to a beach called Monkey Beach, which surprisingly had a colony of monkeys living on it. One tried to rob our stuff off the kayak, so i tried to scare it off, which prompted it to bear its teeth. I filled my pants at the prospect of being attacked and contracting rabies, but the little bugger just ran off. I'd learnt my lesson, I think.

The snorkling itself was amazing, with corals and tropical fish everywhere. There were areas of desolate sea bed where the tsunami had destroyed the corals. It will take hundreds if not thousands of years for them to grow back. Although it was cloudy and even rained on our way back to the main beach, we both got quite burnt. Will I never learn?? The aftersun was in the fridge last night! The locals are fascinated by the colour of my shins, hence i wore trousers last night for dinner.

We're now in Krabi, back on the mainland. It too has some amazing beaches and sea kayaking opportunities, which we're going to explore today. After staying here for another night I think we're going to Khao Sok national park to do some more trekking (maybe a nightime one?).

Hope you're all doing fine. Missing you all loads, why don't you all come to Thailand, then to NZ???!!!

James
x

Trekking - The report, finally!

2008-07-13T22:11:00.000+07:00

We arrived in Chiang Mai early morning after getting the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok (14 hours). We booked the well recommended 3 day trek through the well recommended Royal Guest House. The next day we were picked up at 9:30am by our guide, along with the 7 other guests from the guest house. These were two Irish guys, a family of four from Holland (two children) and one Bristolian.

The trek was only 1500 baht, which is about 23quid, and included all food, two night’s accommodation and all travel (pretty much everything except for drinks – the huts had cool boxes with beer and water, etc!). The travel was to be in the form of truck to the national park, bit of an elephant through the jungle, a bamboo raft down the river before the truck back to our guest house. We walked the bits in-between, hence, ‘trek’ (about 9 hours in total).

So, first stop was a waterfall. Normally we could have swum in the pool but there hasn’t been much rain so far this year, so it turned in to a wade/paddle. The waterfall was very impressive though, like one you’d see in an Indiana Jones film. It also rained like hell whilst we were there, so there was no chance of getting/staying dry afterwards. After a lunch stop it was time to start walking. Almost immediately we started climbing a steep slope which continued for about 20 minutes. The unfit ones of the group weren’t very talkative at the first rest stop, but they were rather sweaty! The rest of the walk was fairly steady, with our guide ‘Sunshine’ stopping from time to time to point out edible plants, fruits, (and encouraged us to eat them) bugs, and to remove the odd leach which had attached itself to his flip flopped feet (everyone else was wearing trainers or boots!). Everyone did seem to get at least one leach (except me!), although they didn't hurt, just left a bloody stain in your socks.

The first village we stayed at was quite small (about 50 locals?). The hut/lodge was a cool timber building raised above the ground on stilts. They did this for hygeine reasons, and it also stops the animals (domestic and wild) getting in to them. Our sleeping quarters amounted to a dozen or so padded matts and mosquito nets. We all slpet like babies though, until the cockrels woke us up at about 5:30am!!! Nearly forgot the frog hunting before we went to bed. One of the guides mentioned earlier in the day to me that he liked eating frogs (but not the heads!), but I thought he was just winding me up. But at about they midnight they took the other 3 lads out in the pitch black to catch some frogs. Me and Jody watched from our elevated dining room as they dissapeared towards the paddy fields with torches and knifes (to deter the snakes and lynx'). They returned about 20 mintues later with a 2 litre water bottle about half full of live frogs. We all went to bed after this surreal evening. We woke, early, to find fried forgs for breakfast. I tried some, it didn't taste bad, but the fact they hadn't disguised the fact it was still a whole frog was a little offputting.

Anyway, the second days trekking was scheduled to take about 5 hours, and it was lashing it down, so rucksacks we're wrapped in plastic bags, etc. The trek itslef was quite cool, but not very eventful. The more surreal stuff started when we got to the next village. First off was an elephant ride, weird enough. But then we we're asked if we wanted to have fresh pig for dinner. We had to buy it of course, about 200baht each (3quid), and then they asked if one of us wanted to kill it too. One of the Irish guys, Cormac, jumped at the chance, claiming it was on his 'to do list' in life. So five of us and the guide (we left the kids, and Jody, at the lodge) walked to the other side of the village to get the hog. Basically the pig was tied up underneath someones house, and was led to the front of the house. Cormac was given a heavy piece of timber and told to hit the pig on the back of its head/neck hard, but precise. I thought we were about to witness the bloodiest slaughter ever seen in this peaceful tribe, but Cormac did a pretty good job (I'll upload the video one day). The pig did seem to cotton on to what was about to happen, and began running around like, like a wild animal, so Cormac had to chase it for a while before landing the carniverous blows. We carried the pig back to our loadge just like you've seen in the films, legs tied together, hung on a stick and carried by two people on their shoulders. In the end, it tasted delicious (you might have realised I'm getting bored and wanted to hurry the story up abit now!)

That night we got quite drunk on the beer and rice whisky which the tribe makes itself (legally?). So, in the morning, feeling a little bit hungover we walked down to the river to begin the bamboo rafting. The journey down river was planned to take about 4 hours. It was pretty cool, and it felt a bit like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, expecting an ambush from the river banks any minute. Some bits of the river were fast flowing, but we only had one problem. This was when we we're a bit late deciding if we were to go left or right around a big rock (Jody and Pat we're steering at the back, and the guide, Sunshine at the front - not paying much attention). We ended up sideways pressed against the rock, with the river threatening to snap the raft in two and send our belongings in to the murky water. Pat wasn't helping as he tried to push us out, but was instead pushing the raft further on to the rock! We all jumped in the river and pushed the raft off the rock, saving our blushes and dry clothes.

Not long after we got to the end, and had fried noodles for our reward. The journey back in the truck was pretty quiet as everyone tried to catch 40 winks of some much needed sleep.
All in all it was brilliant trip with numerous 'once in a lifetime experiences', and we'd recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in this part of the world.

James
x

Cambodia

2008-07-13T21:12:00.003+07:00

Cambodia was a shock to my system! I don't know what i was expecting but i wasn't prepared for it.

When we arrived it bombarded our senses, the foul smells and the dirt evcrywhere and i felt so out of place - like it was so obvious that i didn't belong. I'm sure all they see is $$$ floating above our heads. That was my first impression anyway of phnom penh. We stopped in a hotel but it was so dirty and there were mossies in the room - not good, but no window (where were they coming from?) the towels definately hadn't been washed and we were concerned about the cleanliness of the sheets. There was also something dripping from the ceiling onto our pillows.

Things did take a turn for the better when we went out for dinner. Although i felt upset seeing young girls begging for money with babies, we went to an uplifting restaurant that was run for ophans to raise funds for the kids and they did a traditional dance for us while we ate, so we had hope that someone was doing something for these people. After one night in the hell hotel we checked ourselves into a beautiful hotel with a pool and super clean rooms. (Are we snobs??)

We went to the killing fields which was harrowing! To think something so horrible had happened so recentantly in history, it made us wonder about what might be going on in other countries now, without us fully understanding!???

We moved onto Seim Reap, which is near the Angkor temples and found it much better. The people were so happy and you felt as though you weren't constantly being ripped off (unlike Thailand) and they were wonderfully helpful. Both tuk tuk drivers we had while we were visiting the Temple at Ankor were good and i couldn't complain. The street were much nicer at night and full of energy with the crazy japanese singing along with the live bands. All round a good atmosphere in Seim Reap.

The Temples were amazing such detail and vastness. It is hard to believe they built such amazing structures so long ago that have pretty much survived until today with out the use of cranes and other heavy machinery although a local guy tried to explain how they used elephants and bamboo but i still don't know how they got the amazingly tall temples up with or without elephants.

The bus ride out was another matter though. When we booked it, they said it would take 10 hours to cross the border and reach Bangkok. We double checked and booked some flights to Phuket for 14 hours after we set off. 4 hours for things to go wrong, was fair i think. Anyway, the whole think was just laughable. There was no space on the bus for bags or people (i'll get James to put up a pic) The driver just put bags in the aisle 3 high and 3 people had to sit on plastic garden chairs in the aisle at the front and 1 guy had to stand it was ridiculas and highly dangerous. But hey 'when in rome' (well Cambo anyway). There was no aircon so everyone had their windows open which let tons of dust in. I got quite freaked by this as i had dust on my teeth - a weird feeling and my white top was a red sandy colour (eek) my skin wasn't much better.
When we reached the border we were told we would have to wait a couple of hours for the Thailand bus, meaning we could only just make it to the airport in time and that's without any problems on route, taking us very close to missing our plane. We took no chances and took a taxi - worth it just for lack of stress and aircon. Needless to stay we made the plane, Yay!!!!

Jody

24 Hours In Bangkok

2008-07-08T23:34:00.004+07:00

We arrived in Bangkok and straight away we were bombarded with taxi and limo people fighting for our custom. Luckily we had our trusty Thailand book (Thanks Fay) and we knew there was a bus from the airport to the city, so we politely turned them down and got the bus.

Bangkok Bangkok Bangkok.. What can I say? It’s insane!!

People selling passports on the street, with police standing chatting to them. Pubs selling "Strong beer and we don't ask for ID"

Tuk Tuk drivers constantly asking and asking whether you need taking somewhere, and when you say no, they suggest places we should want to go.
James and I fell into one of these traps on the second day. We were merrily walking to the Grand Palace which we could see from the hotel and had already turned down millions of Tuk Tuks, when a friendly looking local ask where we were going (there was no tuk tuk in sight so we thought we were safe) We said we were headed to the Grand Palace and he most helpfully told us not to bother, that it was closed for lunch and would not be open for another 2 hours and we were unlikely to be allowed in anyway because my sleeves weren’t long enough and James was wearing shorts. He then got a map out and started circling places which were open and free to get in to - a sitting budda, a laying budda and a giant standing budda. He said if we went to all of these we would be back in time for the Grand Palace re-opening. To this day I don’t how but we ended up in a tuk tuk, (which the helpful man had made appear out of nowhere.) On our way to the sitting Budda for a price of 20 Bahts for the next 2 hours (30p), what a bargain we thought as we zoomed through the city. The Budda was ok and we met a nice guy that didn’t sell us anything.
Back on the Tuk tuk things started to go wrong, instead of seeing another budda we ended up being dropped off at a factory that sold suits, (not cheap ones but English prices) We were polite and looked around and left without buying anything.
Tuk Tuk again! This time he was ranting about tourist not knowing anything and how we NEEDED to see a tourist office, so he drop us off at one- the lady in there proceeded to plan the whole month of our holiday and trying to book flights and treks and hotels. I felt sick for a minute- James was nodding along in agreement with her- I felt trapped. James snapped out of it though and we realized it was a scam a little too late as we had booked one flight to Cambodia but that was a relatively small mistake compared to the bigger ones we could have made. Fed up with tuk tuk man now but with no idea where we were, we got back on. Here goes the scam bit (as if the rest wasn’t) He said he needed a fuel ticket and he could get one if we just looked around a jewelry factory and it would be double if we bought something which would make him very happy, James and me looked at each other both realizing that this had been what the trip had all been about, but as polite well brought up English folk we agreed to go. We marched around bought a packet of crisps and left thinking finally we could carry on the sight seeing. Alas no, we had not bought JEWELRY, so he had not got his ticket and he would have to take us to another factory.
Another suit factory infact, where we did not buy anything but realized time and that we had been on the Tuk tuk ride from hell for 4 +hours and we were in danger of missing the train for Chiang Mai. We demanded to be taken back to the hotel and he obliged, so we assumed he’d got his fuel ticket. I don’t know if James was joking but he said we should pay him more as we’d had him for nearly 5 hrs, but I paid him the 20 Bahts as arranged (I think he should have had less as we only got to see one Budda and not the Grand Palace at all!!)
Since this experience we have met lots of Tourist who have had the same scam put on them, So beaware in Bangkok is all I’m saying!!

Jody xx

Chiang Mai Trekking Pictures

2008-07-06T17:50:00.022+07:00

Full story to follow, but for now, here's some pictures from our trek through the mountains of North Thailand.

In order:
Jody in the waterfall
View over a villages orchard/fields (we picked some fruit for dinner)
Paddy fields of the village we stayed at the first night
The dinner table of the first night's hut
Local preparing our dinner (Thai Green chicken curry)
Fresh frogs (live) caught in the night.
Deep fried frogs for breakfast!
A bridge (totally safe!)
Elephant beetles (found inside a dead bamboo trunk) (x2)
Praying mantis
Nice view (misty)
Dinner table at our second night's hut
Local sat on an elephants head
Us lot on the elephant trek (x2)
Freshly killed pig (not by me!)
Freshest meat we'll ever eat (and all the crackling you could ever want!)

Here's some Hong Kong photos (we've found an internet cafe!)

2008-07-01T14:59:00.000+07:00

First impressions of Hong Kong - not looking it's best (we landed in a force 8 typhoon!)

Spent the first couple of days looking for umbrellas.

Whilst waiting for our hotel room to be ready we waited under this handy pagoda in a nearby park. The Koi Carp were huge!

We were generally knackered and disoriented at this point, and for the next two days really....

Are you feeling a bit jetlagged Jody, or was it the small crab you found in your rice, cause you look a bit weird?!

That is about an 50 storey building, with only bamboo scaffolding for it's full height! I'm not sure if it would be ok to british standards, but it withstood the typhoon.

My favourite building in Hong Kong, the HSBC building (for all you structural engineers out there!)

We'll put some more pictures up very soon, but internet connection has got really slow at moment so can't be bothered!

We've just got back from a 3 day trek in the mountains in the north of Thailand, so expect a big post soon!

James

On to phase 2

2008-06-29T09:17:00.000+07:00

Hong Kong what can i say- it's been "Wet"

We went to see the big budda yeasterday and it poured so we didn't hang around too long before we thought of out stomachs (you know james) so we headed of for a place called the 'tea gardens' which was recommended in the guide books, We walked about 5 minutes in the rain along a track through some trees expecting to find a traditonal garden, but to our surprise it was just a run down leanto, i loved it!! there were huge dogs just laying there out of the rain a massive snail just next to my chair and we sat on old plastic garden furniture! We ordered our food and the woman had to run through the rain to an actual building, it's sole function - kitchen. Then when it was ready her and another woman walked back (-one carrying an umbrella) with our food. The food was the best i've had here and the setting of a junk yard made the whole experience for me.
We then paddled back along the path barefooted (the water had risen that much) to the cable car!!

Sums up Hong Kong- Good but Quirky

Jody

Hong Kong

2008-06-26T11:37:00.000+07:00

We're in Hong Kong

It's really wet and hot here. Apparently it's typhoon season.

We haven't really done much except slept, so i haven't much to say only that it smells here and the foods nothing like english chinese food. no chicken fried rice although i did find a small whole crab in some rice yesterday- it put me right off!

Jody. xx

Nothing to add from me, except that yesterday was the longest and weirdest day of my life. I spent the day spotting asian look alikes of all you lot back in the UK!

James. x

PS-Although every man and his dog (which he'll probably eat soon!) has an umbrella, we can't find anywhere to actually buy one!

PPS-Haven't found an internet cafe where we can upload some photo's yet - the hunt continues.

The difficult Goodbyes

2008-06-24T02:55:00.000+07:00

The last few days have been some of the hardest in my life.

Thursday night we had a fantastic party and we're so happy that we had such a good turn out. It means so much to us. So thanks if you manage to get there, even if for a just a short time.
It was so hard leaving the venue for me, as i knew i wouldn't be seeing all of those people for at least a year and many of them i would never have the same relationship with again.

James and me have both been spending individual time with our families.
I travelled south to mum and dad's spent a night there, then travelled in convoy to sunny hunny to spend the remainding 2 days with Fay, parents, grandparents and a aunt and uncle. The constant feel of dread of the inpending farewells really hung over me. Although i had a great couple of days i was constantly on the brink of tears.

I have my final farewell tomorrow which i'm dreading. Then it's all go.

This move is definately not for the faint hearted.

Jody

The Day has come.......

2008-06-18T14:05:00.000+07:00

......to ship our stuff to the other side of the world!

After several days of frantic packing, late nights and early mornings, (and short tempers!) the shipping company are turning up today to collect our belongings. It will hit home once they've taken our stuff that yes, we're definately moving to New Zealand.

Anyway, a pretty short post from me because it's 8am, I've already been out of bed for 1.5 hours and I haven't eaten anything yet!! Breakfast beckons.

Bye bye computer (from now on we'll be logging on remotely - how modern of us!)

inabit

James
x

2008-06-12T15:38:00.000+07:00

With less than a week to go until the shipping company arrives and we need to have finished packing up our lives, i find i'm messing about on the internet not doing any packing. I use this method of distracting myself a lot but it means i then have a last minute mad packing rush. The more stress i'm under the less i actually achieve. (Poor James)
Today i've got to:
-Ring rental company about our house that we haven't sold and see if we can rent it out instead.
- Ring Party venue to see if babies our allowed
- Ring Finacial advisor about what we can do about the mortgage when the fix rate runs out.
- Pack Pack Pack EVERYTHING!
- Oh and the HIPS man has just been by. It's so uncomfortable when the house looks like a bomb hit it, to have a man looking round.
On top of that my mum and James' mum are coming over tonight for tea.
All in all there is absolutely NO time for me to be on here writing this!
Jody x