Everybody's gone surfin'

I woke up this morning to another blue pair of sky and sea. 15 degrees or so, sun shining, and this is winter here? I decided to go and get some fresh air and as it had been a bit windy last night there was a decent swell. Shirley and Joanne had been for a walk earlier and seen loads of surfers down at the beach so I thought I'd go and check it out. It really is quite impressive to see these guys riding the waves. They make it look so simple. I remember standing and watching them all at Surfers' Paradise in Oz when we were there in 2005. I wonder if I'm too old to take it up.

One thing I'm not too old to take up is golf. Joanne had some work to do today and Shirley had some stuff to do around the house so this afternoon I took myself off to the driving range just outside Warkworth. I don't know if the air is thinner here or something but I was definitely hitting the ball further than I have done consistently before. Maybe I'm getting better. I think there's still a way to go before I'm ready for a course though. Maybe I'll get some lessons and make use of this unemployed period once we get down to Chch and Jo's working.

And speaking of work, I've still heard nothing from my ex-boss regarding that little spreadsheet project he had lined up for me. Last contact I had was when I emailed him with my weekly rate and an estimate of how long the project would take. Maybe he's busy. Or else I was too expensive. But I would have thought I would have heard something.

Tomorrow we travel back down to Auckland, to stay with Joanne's dad for a week. Tom is driving us on his way to the airport to fly down and see his son Tomo who unfortunately had an accident a week or two back. Sounded quite bad, but hopefully he's on the road to recovery. By all accounts it could take a while though.

Big trees

Today Joanne, Shirley and I headed up north a little to the Kauri Museum at Matakohe. It was really interesting. Kauris, in case you don't know, are an indigenous tree that can grow really quite big and can live to over a thousand years old. It was interesting learning about the trees, but the really interesting bit about the museum was learning about the early pioneers who logged these trees and how they lived and survived. It was good to learn a bit of history, at least regarding the European settlers, of the nation I now call home.

Speaking of which, I've been feeling really weird in the last couple of days. Not sure why, but I kind of feel cheated or something. To me, this move was huge, bold, pioneering even. And yet, everywhere I go I hear English accents. It's not a brave new frontier I'm exploring at all. Loads of people have already done what I'm doing. I feel like my emotions are a fraud.

This evening I cooked dinner, ably-assisted in the kitchen by the lovely Joanne. We cooked for Shirley and Tom, and Grant and Trina came over too. I decided I wanted to do something English so cooked toad in the hole, as I mentioned I was going to, with mash, beans and gravy. Totally northern. I followed up with banana, rum and walnut spiced crumble, my own invention. I think everyone enjoyed the grub. They certainly all put enough away and then moaned they were completely stuffed enough to suggest they enjoyed it. It does make me happy to cook for people and then have them not be able to move for an hour. It makes the effort so worthwhile.

And speaking of food, our trip to the supermarket for a few things with Shirley today surpassed all expectations. I discovered they sell English Marmite (although the call it 'Our Mate') and HP Brown Sauce. I could not be happier!

Oh, and the flat sale completed to top off a rather good day.

Reassuring

It is immensely reassuring to know that wherever we go in the world we can find brother and sisters in Christ. It is great to have physical family close, but it's also important to have spiritual family too, even if we only cross paths for a short time. Our trip to the local church in Leigh this morning brought us across warm and welcoming fellow Christians, and just like my time in New York, the world seems a little smaller when you meet Christian family thousands of miles away from home. I might have given a higher proportion of a talk on the John 9 passage we looked a today to the spiritual significance of the physical sign and a little less to physical healing in today's world but we got there eventually, and anyhow, that's not the main thing I'll remember about this morning.

Last night a big storm rolled in. It was pretty impressive - 12 hours of gales and driving rain (although the sun's trying to come out again now and the sea and sky have mostly returned to sapphire blue). I am told last night's storm doesn't compare to the three day storm that hit here a couple of weeks back. To be honest, I'm quite glad I missed it. I didn't sign up for rain. I can get that back in the UK!

The one that got away

Today I went fishing with Tom and Grant, Tom's mate, on Tom's boat. I caught my first fish, a trevally, after about 30 seconds and thought it was going to be a day with a bumper catch. Sadly, it wasn't, and after that I caught nothing else. We didn't quite get near the 14 snapper we caught last time we were here, back in 2005. The day's highlight, for me at least, was the octopus I snagged and nearly got up. Sadly it got free just as it neared the surface and shot off back to the depths. Not sure what we would have done with it had I landed it, mind.

Joanne and Shirley went to a farmers' market while we were off fishing and came back with lots of lovely food. I've volunteered to cook dinner one night while we're here, toad in the hole, a real taste of England, so they were on the hunt for sausages. Jo couldn't find any Lincolnshire sausages though so we'll have to make do with lamb and mint.

What a country!

Chocolate fudge brownie Dairy Milk! Why didn't I move here years ago?

Busy morning

Three jobs applications submitted and it's only just 11:30. One with the University of Canterbury (Student Data and Reporting Analyst), one with an electricity company called Orion (Commerical Analyst), and one with the Inland Revenue (Analyst within the Risk and Intelligence Group). Fingers crossed, eh?

The first day of the rest of our lives

Joanne and I are having a bit of a slob-around-the-house day today. Which is nice. Especially after such a tiring last few weeks. Not that we've got nothing to do, mind. I've got a few job applications I need to submit, and Joanne has to do her daily time checking over CS emails and the like. Maybe later.

We've just got back from a walk around Leigh with Shirley. Enjoying the blue skies. It's winter here. And the weather's better than the UK summer we just left. The walk took us along the cliffs overlooking the bay. Round every corner was another beautiful view. It brings Romans 1:20 to mind.

One day down...

After 12 hours sleep I awoke to this sunrise. Nuff said.

All a bit of a blur

Nice view, eh? This is what I can see right now. I'm sat in Leigh, about an hour and a bit north of Auckland, at Tom and Shirley's place (Jo's mum and step-dad, just in case you don't know who I'm on about), a gorgeous house on a hill overlooking a beautiful blue bay with islands off in the distance. Yep.

It was so great to see smiling faces greeting us at Auckland airport. It's hard to leave my family back in the UK (the only time I've got a bit tearful about leaving was after speaking to my sister and Ellie on the way to the airport on Monday), but it's so great to see Joanne and her family reunited here in NZ.

The journey, once we'd got through the stress of checking the suitcases in and breathing a huge sigh of relief that none of them exceeded the maximum weight limit, was long, but pretty uneventful. I think the excitement and anticipation made it bearable. I guess it's the same as flights to a holiday being so much more bearable than flights back. And, to be honest, it still does feel like a holiday at the moment. I'm not sure when it will quite sink in that we're here to live. Maybe it will be when we get down to Chch on the 8th August, maybe when Jo starts work on the 20th, or when I start getting interviews (fingers crossed, eh?), or maybe not even until we move into a house of our own. I'm not really sure. The one thing I am sure of is that it's all a bit surreal. That, and the fact that I'm really rather tired.

The last couple of days have all been a bit of a blur but it was brilliant to have lots of time with church friends before we left. On Saturday I played indoor cricket (my team got a bit beaten) while Joanne cleaned the flat ( thank you, sweetheart!), and then on Sunday we had the Barge church family picnic and final Sunday evening service as I mentioned before.

Basically it meant a whole day spent with lots of dear, dear friends. It was time to catch up, time to enjoy, and time to say goodbye. It was quite hard leaving the barge on Sunday evening after the service. It was kind of a sad time, but a happy time too. Sad that we were leaving behind so many special friends, but also a happy time in that we have so many special friends who wanted to say goodbye to us. Does that make sense? We are going to miss so many people. It's going take a while to replace our Christian family at the barge. But I guess technology makes it easy to stay in touch nowadays, doesn't it?

Woohoo!

We exchanged on the flat. Two hours before we leave the country. While sat at the airport. But it's happened. Finally. Woohoo!

Oh, and all of our suitcases came in at or under 32kg (although one flashed between 32.0kg and 32.1kg). Such a relief. So much pressure off our shoulders.

Ooh, there's the flight announcement. See you in NZ!

Suitcase nightmares

Have you ever tried to get your life into four suitcases with the weight of each suitcase not to exceed 32kg? It's tricky, I can tell you. And stressful. And tiring. And not much fun. It's only when you start adding the other stuff, the stuff that's not clothes, that you realise what a mission it's going to be. I just really, really, really hope that the scales at the Air NZ check-in desk tomorrow agree with our bathroom scales here. We basically have less than a kilo per suitcase to play with, our hand-luggage exceeds the allowed 7kg, and it's time for bed.

I wanted to write about the weekend - the indoor cricket, the Barge church family picnic, our last Sunday evening service at the Barge - but the suitcase manipulation has taken all of my energy. Maybe I'll get on-line at the airport tomorrow once we've checked in. Fingers crossed we don't have to open our suitcases and chuck stuff away at the check-in desk, eh?

Yippee ki yay!

Firstly, can I just say "Die Hard 4.0, now that is how to make an action movie!"? Thank you. (My review: "Oh boy. At least as good as the rest. Sit back and lap it up.") As you might be able to guess, Joanne and I were at the cinema again today, and today's offering was the best of the lot. It quite honestly rocked. Clayton was right.

Before that we went bowling at Surrey Quays one last time. To be honest, we were both a bit off our game, but in our defence we haven't bowled for a while. Joanne failed to break 100 (although she did get two strikes in a row in one game), while I broke 100 in all three games, but failed to get over 130. It's quite frustrating, you know. That 209 game from a few years back will live long in the memory.

Maybe it was something I ate at lunch. Yes, I'll blame that. My poor bowling was due to a dodgy chicken breast. I hope Al's afternoon was not similarly affected, although it is true he had no plans to bowl.

Finally, and it's good news, it seems that we may be exchanging contracts on the flat sale on Monday (Tuesday at the latest) with the completion date set for the Monday after, the 30th. It's still longer away than we'd hoped, but at least now the sale will go through before the next mortgage payment.

With only three more nights left in this country, the nerves are increasing. Do we have everything ready to emmigrate?

Always look on the bright side of life and may the force be with you

After the good news of Jo's job and the bad news of incompetent solicitors, our afternoon and evening out was splendid, starting with a little walk along the Thames to County Hall. Once there, and after paying the entrance fee, it was time to explore the Star Wars exhibition.

What is it about Star Wars that appeals to both the big kid and the nerd in us at the same time? This was a great two hours. From the forest moon of Endor to the frozen wastelands of Hoth, from the droids to the vehicles, there was something here to keep most people happy. Joanne enjoyed it too, although admittedly her favourite bit were Amidala's dresses. There were models, life size vehicles, actual costumes, and latex masks, as well as lots of info about the things you were seeing. One of the most interesting things were the original story boards and the original concept drawings. It was interesting to see how they both related to the scenes and characters that made it on to the screen.

If you're a Star Wars geek in London, go. It's not cheap but it's well worth it, and you won't regret it.

Following this, and a trip to Leicester Square for some Ben & Jerry's (I don't think it's made it to NZ yet!), it was time for Spamalot. I was a little anxious about seeing this. Joanne is not the biggest Monty Python fan ever, and after my Lion King show disappointment (all the jokes in the show were exactly the same as in the film so I knew what punchline was coming before it did) I was unsure quite how the evening would pan out. As it turned out, I needn't have worried. Although the story and script and jokes centred around the film there was enough original stuff there to keep even the biggest Holy Grail fans happy. Another stop on the Holt goodbye tour of the UK receives two big thumbs up and a hearty recommendation.

You have to laugh, or else you'd cry

Ooh, you're gonna love this one, we have news regarding the flat sale. The buyer's solicitor has told our solicitor she's aiming to complete on 3rd August! The estate agent has spoken to the buyer and he wants to be in on Thursday at the latest. It's comical. What is the buyer's solicitor doing? Is she going on holiday for a week or something?

I do hope it's easier to buy a property in NZ.

Sat around doing nothing, for an hour

It's nice to have a reasonably relaxing morning today, with not a lot on, other than packing suitcases, I guess. It makes a change. The last few days have been busy busy busy.

So, news updates first, starting with Jo's job situation. Well, it's all finally been resolved, which is such a relief, for both of us. She's decided to take "the boiler job". I think it sounds like it could be an interesting role, and will definitely broaden her experience adding something in the manufacturing industry. Regarding the hand-over thing with her old company, she's come to an agreement regarding being available for the next few months on and off to ensure everything is handed over properly, for a reasonable fee. I think it was the right thing to do. In a way, it basically came down to weighing up whether a permanent role was a better idea than carrying on trying to make a temporary one with incomplete technological solutions work. I think this way, everyone seems happy. She has the time for a proper hand-over, the old company get that hand-over, and she's got the security of a permanent job in Chch. Everyone's a winner.

Even I got some good news yesterday. My old boss called, from his hedge fund ivory tower, and told me he got the go ahead on this joint project thing with another company. They need this spreadsheet developing and it seems that everyone's happy for me to do it. He asked that I send an email detailing how long I think the task will take and what it will cost to do it, which I did this morning, so now I'm just waiting for him to come back to me with confirmation that my fee has been approved. Speaking to Jo she seems to think the fee is reasonable, and as it is a fee based on my UK salary, it will go a long way in NZ and take the pressure off finding a job immediately, which is nice. The three weeks' work, that I reckon it will be, will cover me for about 2 or 2.5 months, I reckon. I definitely appreciate my old boss thinking of me for this. It does seem to work out well for everyone.

God seems to be providing. Thank you for all your prayers.

One thing yet to be resolved, and not appearing to get any closer, is the flat sale. We've still not exchanged, so there's no way we'll complete before we leave the country now. The buyer's solicitor has now come back with another couple of queries. What is she playing at? It seems she is not capable of dealing with more than one task at a time. Why on earth has this stuff waited until now? I'm at my wits' end.

In terms of the grand week of touristy fun, yesterday saw us at the Tower Bridge Exhibition. You go up one tower, watch a film about the bridge's history, walk across the top a bit, watch another film, go down the other tower and then go have a look in the engine rooms. It was a really good couple of hours actually. Victorian engineering continues to astound me. Plus the weather was good so we got some excellent photos.


Yesterday evening I headed over to Vitor's with Derek and Davin, while the girls from our fellowship group (Phong, Maria and Keira - Pei couldn't make it) came over here with Joanne. They watched The Pursuit of Happiness, had dinner (and maybe even painted their nails?), while we had a Chinese before breaking out PES6 on the PS2. Why is it we waited until the week before I leave to finally get around to organising this? Hmm, I wonder what we would need to play that over Net Play...

So much chocolate, so little time

The week of touristy stuff continued on day two with a mad dash up the M1 (and M6) and back to Cadbury World in Birmingham in a bit of a bumped and battered hire car. Joanne's always wanted to go (although not in that car, I'm sure), and in some ways I feel it kind of completes my life in cocoa. Sort of. Perhaps.

It's a good few hours, in case anyone's interested in going, with a good account of the history of cocoa and the story of chocolate in this country and Cadbury in particular (unsurprisingly). Plus there's a little tour of the factory to see some of the less commercially sensitive areas. Plus they give you bars of chocolate as you go round as well as a cup full of 'liquid' chocolate. And then there's the shop at the end of the tour. They employ full time janitors to go round mopping up the drool. Wow. I am still disappointed that they've stopped making Fuses though. But I guess I'll forgive them, after just one more mini egg.

While we were driving up to Brum I got a call from Andy in the office. My old MD wanted to speak to me, could I call him. I wasn't going to delay Cadbury World, not for anyone, so I arranged to call him back after we'd finished. I wondered what it could possibly be about and was quite intrigued. The result was not at all like anything I had imagined. It seems that the person highly fancied and favoured to take over my role will not be doing after all. Tax issues make him just too expensive. So the net is being cast wider. It seems though, that it has been decided that the role deserves a higher salary than I was earning. 30 to 40% higher. He basically just wanted to speak to me to let me know that this was the case, should, on an off-chance a head-hunter contact me, or should I hear from someone else somehow. I was quite pleasantly surprised, I have to say. I really appreciated the call. He didn't have to care about my feelings but was genuinely thoughtful about the matter. A big thumbs up from me for that.

Updating other issues:

• The buyer's solicitor had the day off today so no progress was made on the flat sale. It's enough to make you want to scream. The buyer did go in to their office though, to sign all the documents, so, fingers crossed for exchange of contracts tomorrow. We still could complete on Friday. Maybe.
• I got a call at 6:55am today from a recruitment consultant about a market analyst role I applied for a little while back. I refuse to answer the phone at that time, so returned his call about half an hour ago. He was not in so left a message for him to call me back. He just has done and we've had a little informal chat. The bottom line is that he's interviewed everyone he's going to for the role and the client is quite keen to get a move on regarding recruiting. This may count against me, with me not being in Chch until 8th August. But I've got to send him an email when I get to NZ and am over the jetlag to see where things stand and whether he wants to arrange a telephone interview for me. Fingers crossed, eh?
• On the way back down the M1 I received a call from my old boss, Steve. (Why does everyone insist on calling me when I'm unable to answer the phone?) He wants to chat sometime. I emailed him half an hour ago saying I was free now. I'm waiting for him to call back.
• Regarding the Stats NZ role, they usually request to see at least three academic papers demonstrating a candidates analytical skills. The employment agent is negotiating on my behalf, given all my experience is commerical, rather than existing in the sphere of academia.
• And finally, regarding Joanne continuing doing what she's doing, but from home in NZ, the IT department can't even source her a router now. It's just problem after problem, obstacle after obstacle. She has done everything she can to make this work, but seems to be fighting a losing battle. She knows I think it's time to call it a day and move on to something else. Tomorrow is D-day though, as I mentioned. She's expecting an email from Singapore first thing.

So, this time next week, we'll be in NZ. Is this really happening?

The final countdown

So in one week's time we'll be on our way. I guess in exactly one week we'll be somewhere over the mid-west of the US. That's kind of scary. Every day that passes it seems more and more real that we're actually going. But it still seems such an abstract concept, moving to New Zealand, so far from anything I've ever experienced. New Zealand! 12,000 miles. To a city we don't know. Without jobs lined up (although for more on that, keep reading). To join a church we only know a few people at. I guess a lot of our friends think we're a little bit mad. Sometimes I do too. But then I remember why we're going and it doesn't seem quite so mad. What better way to live than by trusting completely in God and knowing he will provide as we seek to serve Him.

Today was the first day of our grand tourist week, doing things we want to do because we want to do them. So often, living in London, we're too busy, or put something off, because we can "do it next week". But now that there is no next week we decided to polish off a few things we've been meaning to do.

We started with lunch by the river, after a bit of admin-type stuff at the Post office (mail redirection setup and paying in the cheque for the car) before meeting Ruth at the cinema to watch the new Harry Potter film (my review: "Dark. Good action climax. Go see."). A ten minute breather for some fresh air and a call to our solicitor about the flat (more later on that) and we were back in the cinema for the second film in our double bill, Shrek the Third (my review: "More of the same. Lacking much of a plot. See it if you've seen the first two to complete the set.").

This evening saw my final attendance at a Barge fortnightly footy game. I am going to miss that every other week. It's been really a great thing to get going, and we get maybe 50/50 Barge folk and friends or colleagues now, which is exciting. I feel I achieved a degree of closure tonight. I scored a hatrick in a 5-3 win. Finally I have a good game. Truth be told, I should have scored more and only didn't due to some disappointing finishing. That's more like me. I'm quite looking forward to playing football in Chch actually. I might be quite good, comparatively. Oh, and the evening ended with a few of us from footy heading across to the Gaylord for a curry. Nice.

OK, so the other news I promised you, starting with the flat sale. First off today was a conversation with our solicitor that resulted in us finding out that the buyer wanted us to pay the £300-400 for the indemnity policy regarding the result of the environmental search ("potentially contaminated land" etc etc). We told her to go back to the buyer's solicitor refusing to pay the cost. The delays on their side have cost us another month's mortgage payment so we didn't see why we should pay. We then contacted the estate agent to pass this on. He advised that it is usual for the seller to pay this fee but would see what he could do. Really, we were half-tempted to agree to pay it, just to get it all over and done with, but thought we'd negotiate a bit first. After we got out from Shrek we phoned the estate agent again and it seems that when he spoke to the buyer the buyer was really embarassed by the whole thing, is fuming that his solicitor has failed to do things that the estate agent told her six weeks ago needed to be done, and so has agreed to pick up the cost for the policy. Result. Also, this means that we could exchange contracts tomorrow, and so completing on Friday is not out of the question. The estate agent suggested Monday but we would really rather do it Friday if we can. It would make it a lot easier for us if we weren't completing as we head off to the airport. One downside though, of completing on Friday, is that we won't have Sky to watch the concluding and deciding game in this year's Tri-Nations - the All Blacks vs the Wallabies. With the All Blacks wanting to avenge their loss to the Aussies from a few weeks back.

The other news I need to include is regarding jobs. Joanne has been offered the Financial Controller job she interviewed for last week. Such great news. It would be such a good opportunity, we think. And it sounds like a company going places. But the issue still remains of her working from home (at least for three months) for her current company. We would greatly appreciate prayer for wisdom in this matter, asking God to show us where she can best serve Him. Wednesday is make or break day with her current job when the final yay or nay is given about whether this could happen. She's told the employment agent that she will let them know her answer later in the week, once she's heard from CS. My personal feeling is for the clean break, a fresh start, and not working from home. Joanne is sorely tempted by that, but feels a degree of guilt for leaving her company in the lurch. She knows this isn't a reason to do something that's not right in the long run though, but it's still a hard feeling to overcome. I know, I felt the same leaving my job, where I'd been for so long, with no successor lined up. The bottom line though, is that the company won't fold without her. She, and we, need to make the right decision, and for the right reasons.

Tomorrow Cadbury World!

Mood lighting

I carried on taking shots of Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs this afternoon. I really want to have some pictures to remember our time here by. It's been a really muggy day and towards mid-afternoon there was a big storm. This made for some excellent natural lighting effects in the shots I managed to take. I've also been experimenting with some shots taken at a bit of angle. I'm not quite sure if I've overdone it or not.

Tonight was the penultimate Sunday service we'll go to at the Barge. Reality kicked in a little more as we were leaving. A few people won't be around next week, so this will be the last time we'll see them before we go. I almost got a bit emotional. I think as each goodbye happens it adds a little more pressure to the emotional dam. At this rate I'm going to be a right mess next Sunday.

I met up with Chris, Jason and Ed for the last ever boys' reading group before church (Ian sadly couldn't make it - so we used a handy draught-excluder dog as a proxy for a photo). It was not to discuss a book this time but just to pray together one final time. It really has been such an encouragement to grow in Christian brotherhood with these guys over the past couple of years. I've never really been a part of a group like this before, focussed on support and encouragement and accountability, pushing each other on to serve the Lord in every part of our lives. I cannot urge those of you out there for whom this would be appropriate to get together with a few friends, pick a book to read a few chapters of a month, and then meet up once a month to discuss the book, how it applies to your lives and presents challenges to you personally and as a group. And then pray together. God has given us our Christian family for a reason, you know. Use it. And be used by it.

Finally tonight, after a long day packing, taking photos, meeting the boys, going to church and saying some more goodbyes, Vitor came over to watch the Copa America final. Brazil v Argentina. A big, big rivalry. Vitor left happy following a surprise 3-0 win for Brazil. I was glad I could watch a Brazil game with him. It kind of completed the circle after taking him up to Blundell Park to watch Grimsby back in April.

A day in the pub

Yesterday was our final official Holt goodybe party. After various trips around Europe, various dinners, various drinks things, yesterday was the final party. The one for our London friends. It started at 3pm and by 3:30 we, and the bar staff, were beginning to think that hiring a room was a little ambitious. But we needn't have worried, people started arriving and soon the room was full.

It was so lovely to catch up with some many friends. We really are blessed to have so many dear friends. Joanne and I felt a bit bad that some we didn't even get to see some people, mainly Barge friends. But as we'll see them at church tonight and next week and the Barge church family picnic next Sunday and some of them at various points in between we knew they'd understand why we needed to focus our time on those people who we wouldn't get the chance to see again.

One of the best things about yesterday, for me, was that so many of our friends got to catch up with each other. It was really great that Richard and Jenny got to see old Barge friends after their year at Oak Hill, for example, and that Rendani got to see everyone again after two years back in Jo'burg. There seemed to be stories like that all over the room for the whole time we were there. That made the day even more precious.

Joanne and I are certainly going to miss all of our friends in London. As I said already, we truly are blessed.

Also yesterday, as I wandered up to Canary Wharf, I decided to take some photos of the Isle of Dogs. It's such a unique place to leave, so diverse and abstract. I wanted to have something to be able to look back on. I need to get some more this afternoon on the way to church. There are some bits I missed yesterday. The digital photo frame my little sis bought us as a leaving present will certainly be well used once we get down to Chch.

Unemployed

I'm jobless. It's a strange feeling. Walking out of the office for the last time. A strange feeling too. Every Friday, week after week, month after month, year after year, I've left saying "goodbye" to my colleagues, my friends, the people I spent the majority of my waking life with. "Have a good weekend." "See you Monday." But not tonight. An hour ago (at the time of writing, rather than typing) I left, desk cleared, security pass handed back. "Goodbye" was the same. But "Have a good life" followed, rather than platitudes about the weekend. And definitely no "See you on Monday".

The job wasn't bad. I enjoyed it, on the whole. I was good at it, had just been promoted, but that's not what I'll miss. It's the people. The people made it. The reason I stayed there for over ten years, I think, was the people. All the best wishes they gave me, all the thanks, the encouragement, the support. Sometimes I've wondered whether I'd be missed when I went, on a personal level rather than a professional one. It was easier to imagine I wouldn't be somehow. It makes it harder to think I might be.

Last night was my leaving drinks and I was struck by the turnout. So many people wanted to come and wish me well. It was a special night for me. The FD gave a touching speech and I was presented some gifts. It was all quite overwhelming. The company bought me a lovely, warm, waterproof Barbour jacket. Perfect for the winter I'll be facing in a few weeks. A whipround by my colleagues bought a really nice leather wallet (it's by quite a well-known designer supposedly) and the guys in my department bought me a book on the hidden rules of English behaviour and a Union flag keyring. As I say, overwhelming. They're all so lovely.

So, drinks by the river at the Horniman was enhanced by a balmy summer's evening and perfected by a curry to finish. I am going to miss those guys. I do hope that those that have threatened to come and visit make good on that.

It's been quite a week for goodbyes already, with the day-long pubathon to follow tomorrow too. This week saw our last fellowship group. Jo and I have really enjoyed getting to know all of the group better over the past ten months as we're studied God's Word together and supported one another in prayer and encouragement. I'm going to miss those guys too. They had arranged for a collage of photos of the Barge to be taken and all signed the back for us. I had forgotten how moving reading the comments, thoughts and best wishes from our guests at our wedding had been in the book Cath made for us had been until reading the card and comments on the photo on Wednesday. Everyone is so lovely.

I'm going to speak to my mum this weekend hopefully. Let's see if we can get Skype working. I'm only now beginning to realise how our decision to move to Nuzziland will affect my family too. I'd been oblivious before. For Joanne and I, it's our choice, it's us making the decision. It's not easy to emmigrate like this but it's our decision. My family are the ones who are still here. I wish I'd considered them sooner. I don't know what I would have done differently. I just wish I'd thought how it affects them. The change is being thrust upon them. They don't know when they're going to see us next either.

In other news, it seems out stuff is going to be shipped next week sometime. And six weeks later it will arrive in NZ. Add to that customs-clearing and by mid-September we may be able to get to our possessions, finally.

Oh, on the flat sale the buyer's solicitor has finally got the environmental report. So, fingers crossed, all being well, God willing, assuming it's the final objection and no other issues are raised we'll exchange contracts early next week and could complete before we go after all. Maybe. Whatever happens Clayton and Mel have said we're welcome at theirs anytime. See, everyone is lovely!

Hodeessyo Heeko

Last night I went out for dinner to Rodizio Rico, a Brazilian churrascaria de rodizio. For those that have either never been to Brazil or can't be bothered clicking on the wiki-links, it's a kind of a barbecue rotisserie sort of place where lots of different sorts of meat is cooked on skewers and then brought and served to you at your table basically constantly throughout the meal. In Brazil, customers in this style of restaurant are traditionally given some sort of red/green traffic light mechanism to indicate whether they need another slice of steak or another chunk of lamb leg or another 'coracao de frango' (you can look that one up yourself) or whatever. At the one we went to here in London they just come and ask you if you want more. The meat is then served alongside a buffet of rice, beans, potatoes, salad, banana fritters etc. It's 'eat all you want' so you they continue serving you until either you say no or you explode. Death by meat. Not a bad way to go, I guess. Although if that happens you don't get to enjoy the fabulous 'mousse de maracuja' (passion fruit mousse for those who can't list fruits in Portuguese). Sublime.

The dinner was basically a farewell dinner for my department at work (or the London members of it, at least) and a couple of extras who sit close to my department. It was a really great evening. I haven't laughed so much in ages. Joanne made it along too, which was nice. It was good she could get to meet the people I spend every day with. I'm going to miss all those guys, you know. We have a good department. The right balance of seriousness (when it's needed) and banter. It's going to be weird on Friday evening leaving here for the last time. I guess it will only really sink in then that I no longer work here. It's the only company I've ever worked for!

Today's news on the flat sale is that our solicitor has managed to speak to the environmental health bod responsible for our case. He says that as soon as he receives confirmation that the fee will be paid he will supply the relevant information within 24 hours. Our estate agent has been speaking to the buyer's solicitor as well. It appears that she had no idea the fee was due. Sheesh! If we were paying peanuts I wouldn't mind employing monkeys. So, the bottom line, if, and it's a big if, this £68 gets paid the buyer's solicitor can have the information she needs by tomorrow. Then we can exchange on Friday and complete sometime next week. There is still a chance we can get it all sorted before we leave. Which would be nice.

Location, location, location

We got an email today from the woman at the West Fitzroy apartments. We have an apartment number. For the three months from 8th August we have an address. That feels like a big step forward.

As we suspected, Joanne seems emminently more employable than me. Job possibilities are coming for her thick and fast, and she even has a video conference interview on Thursday. Add to that the fact that slowly, ever so slowly, her current bosses are trying to sort out the logistics for her to continue with that work from home plan, and it does seem like things are looking up for her. Which is good news.

No progress on the flat sale environmental health department thing today. Which is not good news.

Runaraaaaaaaaand!

The only developments with the flat sale seem to be that there have been no developments. Our solicitor contacted the buyer's solicitor at the tail end of last week and was advised that she is continuing to chase the borough council but has had no response yet. When we asked our solicitor if we could try the council ourselves she said that if the buyer's side had made no progress she would chase the council herself. When the buyer's solicitor called our solicitor back she was told that the council keeping promising to send something out but as yet it has not been received. So our solicitor called the Environmental Health department and left a message as the person dealing with the matter is on a training course today. (Being trained to do his job in a timely manner I would hope!) The person our solicitor spoke to told her though that she could tell from the system that it is being dealt with as a matter of urgency. (If this is urgent I hate to think what speed they dawdle at.) Our solicitor is going to contact them again tomorrow.

The lasts (and the firsts)

This weekend was quite some weekend for lasts.

• Friday night was the last time Joanne and I will go over to Davin and Irene's for dinner (and so may be the last time I read to Tahlia). It happened to be the first time too. And the first time I've played mahjong.
  
• Saturday was the last time Ian, Chris and I will get together on a Saturday morning to head to the driving range. That was actually a first too, despite trying to arrange it for months and months.
  
• Saturday was also the last time we'll meet Jo's rellies, June and Ron and her Uncle John for lunch. Hmmm, Harvester salad cart.
  
• Today was the last time I'll lead a service at the Barge.
  
• This afternoon was the last time I'll prepare a study for our Barge fellowship group.
  
• This evening was the last time we'll go round to Chris and Ros's for a meal.
  
• Also this evening will be the last time I have to change a tyre on the PT Cruiser. Another first as well. (What a day to find it flat with a screw sticking out of it though, the day before Marvin was supposedly meant to be coming to collect it.)
  

It's a small world after all

Some days London feels like such a big place. Hundreds and thousands of unknown faces passing in front of me never in focus. And then other days are like today. Today it felt smaller, more known. On the journeys to and from the office today I saw Tara, Liz, Connor and Chris. I'm looking forward to Christchurch feeling smaller more days than it feels big.

Last time home

One last time. One last time on the A12, M11, A14, A1, A46 route. One last time seeing my family. One last time in Grimsby. It was always going to be a difficult weekend, an emotional weekend, a weekend where I'm not quite sure what I'm feeling. And so it turned out. It all felt kind of unreal. The time with the family, the eating, the hugs, the goodbyes. Nothing different to any other trip up north. Only this time when I drove away, I didn't know when I'd see them all again.

It was only when I got a text from my little sis yesterday saying that she'd miss me and that there had been some tears when I left my mum's on Sunday that it really hit home. I really don't know when I am going to see them again. I don't know when I'm going to be in Grimsby next, when I'm going to walk along the sea front at Cleethorpes next, when I'm going to cheer on the Mighty Mariners at Blundell Park next, when I'm going to be with my family next. That's quite hard. Especially the last one. I guess it hadn't really sunk in before. It's highly likely that only some sad news will bring me home in the next couple of years at least. Hopefully they'll all come out to see Joanne and I, Dad's practically booked his tickets for February already, but there's still the uncertainty. There always was the uncertainty before I guess, but I'd know there'd be Christmas, Ellie's birthday in August and a few other trips during the year. But not any more. Still, there's email, Skype, webcams. And when I do see them it will be for more time that a snatched weekend here and there. Quality time. I guess it's a sacrifice I have chosen to make.

Saturday was spent at my dad's. Sarah and Ellie came over, as well as Pamela, Rob and the kids. Dad did a barbecue, and true to form, in what has been be the wettest June on record, it rained. It is a lasting memory of my youth, Dad barbecuing in the rain, under an umbrella, so it was only right that my last memory of his house before we leave was the same. The circle of life. Elton John had it wrong. It's not about lions, it's about burgers.

On Saturday morning I drove past the two houses I grew up in in Grimsby and took a couple of photos. Dunno why, but I just had an urge to grab a snap of each. Be nice to show the kids one day maybe?

On Sunday we were at my mum's. Again Sarah and Ellie, Pam and Rob, Jon, Caitlin and Charles joined us. More over-eating yummy food and lush desserts followed. Lasagne with apple and peanut salad, followed by black forest trifle. It really was an awesome weekend of food. And so great to see my family before we leave. A special weekend.

What is less special is that we are still waiting for the flat sale to go through. Why does it matter that the ground on which the flat stands might be contaminated from a previous industrial use? It's a fifth floor flat! Any possible contaminates have got four other floors to get through first. Someone would notice something way before it ever got up here. But rules are rules, I guess, and until the correct bloke at the borough council sends the correct fax to our buyer's solicitor we keep on hanging on. Time is running on the short side now, and I'm getting anxious.

On the job front there have been some developments. Regarding Joanne, the good news we had late last week has been overtaken by some less good news. Some HR bod has got involved and basically poured cold water all over the idea of Joanne working remotely in NZ out of the Singapore office. Too many employment law borders to cross it seems. Red tape, eh? There's still the option of her effectively working as a contractor for them, but it's not as ideal as she'll lose all the employee benefits she's built up over the past eight years. Also there's only eight working days to get it all finalised now. Once again, time is running short.

On the job front for me, something came up on the Seek website that I've applied for. It's with a company called Sungard and it's a commodities analyst role. I know! I was shocked too. It's actually not too similar to my current role, as it's more using a knowledge of commodity markets and exchanges to aid software developers working on a "commodities risk management solution" but my experience and knowledge-base could prove beneficial. The role said experience in energy or metals markets preferred, but hopefully my softs experience will help my application. We'll see. I also have contacted Telecom directly regarding the Customer Information Analyst role I applied for back in April. It seems they're still looking for someone to fill the role. And I'm still waiting to hear back from Statistics New Zealand. So, there's a few irons in the fire now.

If it's what you do, please pray that our job situations would be sorted out sooner, rather than later. I do find it difficult living with uncertainty.