Thursday 30 August 2007

It's all in the context

I know it's only my first week of work and everything, and that I shouldn't expect too much, but this new job is proving a bit of a challenge. Basically I've gone from heading up the cocoa and coffee research team for my previous company, having ten years experience and being the one people come to with questions knowing they will get answers, to the newbie, who can run a simple query or report but doesn't know if the data being extracted makes any sense at all. What is nitrophoska? What's it used for? Who are the merchants we sell it to? And what constitutes a significant quantity of it in terms of annual purchases? I don't know. Do you? The transition is proving tricky. I have a whole new industry to learn, and I'm not used to not understanding the context.

Joanne went over to look at the house tonight, the final check before we get the keys tomorrow, to make sure all the outstanding issues were resolved. It seems they are not. But it's not a problem. They have a thing here where we can withold a small proportion of the cash pending all the problems being fixed. The question is just how much to withold. We don't want to withold too much so that the builder and developer get annoyed with us, especially when they've still got stuff to finish, but on the other hand we don't want to withold too little and give them no incentive to finish the outstanding work.

We heard today that the vessel with our container on it has been delayed and now won't arrive for another too weeks. It was due to land today. That's a bit disappointing. It'll push back when we can realistically move into the house.

Oh, and we lost at footy tonight 9-8. The other team weren't better than us, just fitter, first to the ball, and with a better understanding of each other having played together for a while it seemed.

I've had better days.

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Rural adventures

Today I spent the day out with a field officer seeing what goes on at one of the distribution stores and out in the field as he visits farmers. The weather was terrible as I left Christchurch, but half an hour down the road it cleared and suddenly the mountains came into view. I really do not get sick of living so close to the stunning mountains.

The Canterbury plains, in some ways, remind me of home. Lincolnshire is equally flat and equally rural. But perhaps a little more populated. And Lincolnshire doesn't have the eagles you see in Canterbury. There are definite similarities.

It was good to spend the day out in the field today, to see another part of how the company fits together. The first call we made was to see one farmer who had arranged for some soil samples to be taken from three of his paddocks. The samples, once taken, get sent off to the lab to be analysed and then when the results come back the field officer will visit the farmer again to work out a fertilisation plan for him based on his plans for the paddocks and the demands those plans will place on the current nutrient and mineral levels. The second call we made was for the second part of this process. A week or so back a farmer had all of his paddocks sampled and this was the follow-up visit to run through his plans with him and what inputs he'd need to make and when and hopefully get him to place some orders.

One thing I'm struggling to get my head around with the new company is the co-operative structure. The shareholders, the farmers, are also the clients. In this way the aim is to make enough to survive but ultimately the company's aim is to best serve the farmers and help them to get better production results and yields and stuff. Any profit made that is not used in improving the company, its assets and product lines, is given back to the shareholders at the end of the year in the form of a rebate, part as cash and part as further shares in the co-operative. There seems an intrinsic struggle within the company model, as I see it in my misunderstanding, not knowing enough, only working there two days sort of a way. There's a demand for commercial success and out-performing our competitor(s), but also the need not to "take advantage" of our clients. It is completely different to my experiences in the commodity trading world where margin and volume and profit and bottom line are all important, where you aim to get away with as much as you can without annoying your client so much that he no longer wants to do business with you.

Last night I was assured by my boss that the car would be refueled. As I pulled out of the store in Ashburton I noticed the low-fuel indicator was on. No problem, I thought, I'll just stop and stick some petrol in it. Only I didn't know if it took petrol or diesel. It was at that point that I discovered my work mobile no longer makes calls, even though it worked last night, the point when I tried to call my boss's PA to find out what fuel the car takes. No problem, I thought, I'll find her number in the contacts list on the phone and then call from my personal mobile. I called and found out it was petrol, and that there was a BP account card in the glove compartment too. But not where the nearest BP station was. No problem, I thought, I'll call the guy I'd spent the day with. I called and found out the BP station in Ashburton was on the way out of town so carried on driving and stopped there and filled up before wandering in to pay with the company account card. Which it turns out needs a PIN, a PIN I didn't know anything about. I explained the situation to the girl behind the desk and rushed out to the car to call the PA. Again from my personal mobile as my work one won't work, as I mentioned. I got the PIN, ran back in, and paid for the fuel. All sorted. And it only took me half an hour to eventually set off for Christchurch.

I got an email from my dad this morning. He's booked his tickets for February. I can't wait to show him around. I'm going to postpone the hot air balloon trip I really want to do until he arrives and do it with him. Joanne's not a fan of heights, you see. Also he's here when the England cricket team at playing an ODI here so we might get to the game too. It all depends what coach tours he organises for himself.

Monday 27 August 2007

First impressions

Today flew by. Introductions, inductions, meetings with key staff to have their roles/departments explained. Before I knew it it was 5pm. It was all a bit of a blur. It seemed to go ok though. The people were all really friendly and welcoming, which was great. And a relief. The company seems in the middle of some exciting changes, with cultural changes, process changes, progressive changes. It's a company that seems to be going forward and looking to develop instead of standing still. It's going to be exciting to be part of it, I think, in this new role. I met so many people today it was overwhelming. I hope they're not insulted when I forget all their names by Wednesday. I say Wednesday as tomorrow I have a day out with one of the field officers (the salesmen out there meeting and dealing with the farmers). I have to drive to Ashburton to meet with the guy by 9am. I'm borrowing my boss's car too! That's a little daunting.

I learned a lot about the business today. As much as I could in one day at least. The first step on a long path. But at least I know what some of the business units do now, like Animal Health and AgChem and the marketing department (that I'm officially part of). Sadly I'm not sat with the rest of the marketing team at the moment though. Office space is at a bit of a premium and I think it took some major negotiation skills to get me a spot to call my own by the afternoon. Hopefully I won't be round there for too long though. There are re-furb plans afoot I've heard. Although I'm in the marketing department it sounds like I'm going to be working alongside lots of other departments. People in the past have all performed their little bits of analysis here and there but the aim is to try and pull some of that together into my role I gather.

In terms of house developments, I phoned Telecom today and arranged for an engineer to come out and set up our landline connection and also for our broadband to be set up. One more thing sorted for when we move in. Counting down the days until we get the keys now.

Sunday 26 August 2007

Time to sit down

It feels like the weekend has been a non-stop whirr of action and perpetual movement. Yesterday was spent at the house finalising furniture choices and ideas and positions before rushing to the shops to look at what we've chosen again. Still nothing ordered though, other than our bedroom suite, of course. And then today, after church, we went to the white-goods/electronics shop to buy a fridge, TV, washing machine etc. It cost a lot, but we needed it all. And it didn't feel so bad seeing that we got 20% off the store price on everything. It just shows what the mark-up is if they can give us 20% off without even blinking.

In a way it felt like such a waste, spending all weekend inside. The weather has been fantastic all yesterday and today. Blue skies and temperatures about 18 degrees or so. This is winter, remember! We should have been doing stuff, visiting places, looking at the view. But I guess we needed to get stuff sorted for the house.

Work tomorrow...

Friday 24 August 2007

Almost there

We went unconditional on the house today. In UK terms that's equivalent to exchanging contracts. We settle next week, the NZ equivalent of completing in the UK. I still can't believe how smoothly it's all been. It's not like the solicitors and council and everyone have had less to do than for a UK sale, they just do it faster and more efficiently. We arrived in Chch on the 8th and will take possession of a house on the 31st. When did a property purchase in the UK ever happen in three weeks?

I'm getting a bit nervous about work on Monday now. It's silly, I know, but I've only ever worked for one company, doing cocoa (on the whole) that whole time. It's going to be strange meeting new colleagues, being the new boy, not knowing quite what to expect. I hope my first week goes as smoothly as Joanne's. She's settled in brilliantly it seems, is developing a good relationship with her boss, and seems to have a really friendly, welcoming team around her.

I spent some time today writing a newsletter for our Christian family in the UK and elsewhere, updating everyone on what's been happening with us during the past month, and have just emailed it out, blanket coverage scattergun style. Please do let me know if you would like a copy but haven't received one (although to be honest, if you're reading this on a daily basis you won't read anything new) as my email address book may well be out of date. Barge people, I've not emailed you. I mailed it to Marcus and he says he'll print copies for you to pick up. Thank you, Marcus :)

He shoots, he scores

The footy seemed to go well yesterday. It was great just to have a kick about really. And we won 10-9 too, which was a good way to start the league. They asked me to come back next week so I guess I didn't play too badly.

This morning I had my first golf lesson at the QEII golf park. The instructor, Craig, videoed my swing. Gees, it was ugly. He drew lines and circles and squares all over the screen to show where my swing was wrong. There were lots of lines and circles and squares by the end. I have room for improvement, let's put it that way.

Thursday 23 August 2007

I never get sick of the view

I decided I was going to make the most of today and get out and do something. I woke to another clear blue sky so, after walking down to hand in all my pre-employment forms, I took the car out towards the Port Hills, the northern rim of an ancient volcano cone. I'd heard that the gondola is one of the must-do things in Christchurch, and given the clear day, I thought I'd go and check it out.

I wasn't disappointed. The view was stunning, providing a 360 degree panorama of Christchurch, the Canterbury Plains and Lyttelton Harbour. As I've mentioned before, I love views, I never get sick of landscapes and views, and the one from the summit of the gondola was right up there. I love the way you can see both the sea and the snow-capped mountains at the same time.

There are several walking tracks from the gondola station. Given I had nothing else planned and the weather so beautiful I thought I'd take in a bit of nature. It really was just stunning. My vocabularly is nowhere near sufficient to fully explain how I felt up there. I can see me getting a gondola season ticket, to be honest, and getting to know all those walking tracks a lot better.

Along the length of the crest of the Port Hills runs the Summit Road. It was created after a long financial and political campaign by a bloke called Henry George Ell who wanted to share and preserve the natural beauty of the Banks Peninsula. After I came back down the gondola I wasn't ready to return to town so I decided to drive a bit along Summit Road. In the end, I drove the whole length of it. Around every corner was another amazing view and each road down back into town seemed too early to take. I can't wait to take Joanne up there and show her.

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Ouch!

The photo there is of a sign just down the road from our apartment. I know it really shouldn't be funny, but it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Everything with the house seems to be progressing well, which is great. Hopefully we should go unconditional by the end of the week, now all our cash has been transferred from the UK, and we're still on schedule for taking possession next Friday. It's so exciting. All being well, we're going shopping for furniture this weekend, to order all the stuff we've been looking at over the past week or so. Setting up a home completely from scratch is a great thing to be able to do, but it's also so daunting. It's a completely blank canvas and the choice of shops and furniture in each shop is really quite overwhelming. We've done our research though and, with a little help from Wendy, weeded out the wheat from the chaff in terms of quality. We're fairly close to being done in terms of choosing what we would like to buy.

The sky was blue again today and cloudless. I've been told it's a good winter so far. I can stand winter like this, I can tell you. This afternoon I went for a walk into the city, and by a roundabout route found myself in Hagley Park. After wandering round that for a while, and being amazed at the numbers of people jogging after work, I headed back to the apartment and decided to take a shortcut through the Botanic Gardens. That was both a good decision and simultaneously a mistake. It's a lovely place, away from the traffic (or what there is of it) of the city, full of nature, and very beautiful in the late afternoon sun. However, it is full of winding paths meandering around the place, and with the sun heading down below the treeline it was really quite difficult to work out which way I was headed. I'm sure I passed the same tree at least three times. Luckily Google Mobile Maps and GPS came to my aid and I was home in time for tea.

Tomorrow I'm intending to head over to the Ravensdown office to hand over all the forms they needed me to fill in before I begin work on Monday. I thought I might as well take a walk down there, rather than posting the forms. The exercise is good for me. And speaking of exercise, football starts tomorrow night. Al from church has entered a team into an indoor 5-a-side league and it all kicks off tomorrow. I'm a bit out of shape though. And I'm not sure of the standard of the rest of the team, or the teams we'll be playing against. But it's all good fun.

Like a pig's tail

I got my formal offer of employment yesterday, along with the hundreds of forms I have to fill before I start with Ravensdown. One thing in there I approve of is confirmation of my contracted hours ending each day at 5pm. One thing I'm not so happy with is the 8am start. 8am! That's a bit unsociable, eh?

Monday 20 August 2007

A kept man

Shirley and Tom arrived on Saturday evening and are with us until tomorrow night. On Sunday while Shirley, Joanne and I went to church, Tom went over to the (hopefully) new house giving it the once over, noting everything that needs a final adjustment or finishing touch before we complete on it. The list was small, which was a relief.

After church we went back to the house, to pick Tom up, and for Shirley to have a proper look at the place. They liked it. It's good to have their input on things (and approval). Not that it would have made a difference but it's good to have a reasoned, impartial view alongside our romantic idealism.

After seeing the house we nipped to the bistro at the Coffee Club, the muffin place, for lunch. The bistro, for good home-cooked food, was very nice. The meal ended with a muffin, strawberry and white chocolate today. It would have been rude not to.

The sermon was great again yesterday. Very challenging. It was the first in a series on Deuteronomy and was an overview of the book. In the sermon Wally challenged us as Christians asking if we personally and corporately are moving on, trusting God as we move towards the promised land or whether we are remaining at our Mount Sinaii. It's amazing that the book of Deuteronomy is so relevant to us now with Israel back then being expected to live different and holy lives apart from the secular society surrounding them as a witness and in response to their covenant with God. In one sense, thousands of years on, nothing has changed for God's people. We are still called to be witnesses for him in a world that rejects and ignores him.

Today Joanne started work. It seemed to go well, I think. She's not said she's regretting taking the job, so that's always a good sign.

I'm still enjoying my life of leisure. Today Tom, Shirley and I drove out to New Brighton, took a walk along the pier, headed down to Sumner for lunch, and then went to a driving range to try out my new clubs. I'm getting better but need some lessons. Joanne arrived home to find I'd made a lasagne which was all ready to stick in the oven. Let's hope she doesn't get used to this sort of service this week, as it won't last. Once I'm working too, starting next week, she might have to wait for dinner.

Saturday 18 August 2007

Glycyrrhiza glabra

One marvellous tasty treat that seems very common in Nuzziland, but never crossed my path in the UK, is chocolate-covered licorice, or alternatively, liquorice-covered chocolate. You'd think it wouldn't work, but it does, and remarkably so. According to the RJ's website it has health benefits too. The licorice that is. We all know about chocolate's well-publicised health benefits.

Friday 17 August 2007

Memreeeeeees

I just spent a while transfering 197 photos from my laptop to the digital photo frame Sarah and Ellie gave us as a leaving gift. What a truly great present.

It's going to be strange starting work a week on Monday. I finished at the cocoa place on 13th July. I will have had five weeks with no work, no office, no routine. It's going to be a little weird having all that in place again but at least I don't have to go through any more interviews.

Not easy

I just phoned up the person at Orion who I would have been working under to let him know that I appreciated the offer and his time but unfortunately I would not be able to accept his job offer. He was very good about it, saying that he understands I have to choose the role that's best for me, but it still wasn't an easy thing to have to do. Not since my year out from Uni have I had to phone people to turn down job offers.

So, yes, as you may have guessed, I've accepted the role with Ravensdown. I am, starting on the 27th August, going to be a market analyst "helping to drive the success of Ravensdown through the provision of accurate, timely and good quality business analysis and interpretation". Or at least, that's what the job spec says. Sounds posh, eh? Who can give me an insider's guide to fertiliser?

Among the other things we've done today was a quick trip out to Akaroa this morning, a little place where French settlers landed in August 1840. The town still has a gallic feel to it now, complete with the tricolore blowing in the wind. It was a little cloudy and grey and we got the impression the view was good behind the clouds as we came up over the hills, but it was a nice run out in the country nonetheless, complete with sheep. On the way back we came round a bend, noticed someone flagging us down so slowed down, and then realised 200 sheep were careering towards us being driven by a dog and a bloke in a ute. We stopped, the sheep went round us, and everything continued as before. A perfectly every day occurrence in NZ then.

Today also involved some more furniture shopping. We think we have a bed for the spare room, desks for the office, and garden furniture sussed now.

Oh, and before I forget, and especially for Clayton really, the cafe in Akaroa we stopped at didn't seem to have muffins so I went for carrot cake instead. Perfectly moist and a huge great slab. It perfectly complimented the mince and cheese pie it followed.

Thursday 16 August 2007

Success

In so many ways today has been a success. It started with the Ravensdown interview. It seemed to go ok, but I thought other interviews I've had recently had gone better. The job sounds really interesting and I think it would be a good challenge and something to get my teeth into. But on top of that it seems they hold firm to the cliched work-life balance thing. The marketing manager interviewing me made it clear he kicks people out of the office at a quarter to six, and the HR lass told me she has some busy times and is sometimes in the office until half past five. I tried to stifle a laugh.

After that I nipped over to Orion to speak to the senior analyst I would be reporting to if I accepted that job to flesh out their job offer. The package we talked about was a pleasant surprise.

On the way home I stopped in at a Nike shop I noticed and found, much to my absolute glee, that they stocked one model of football trainers. And they were in stock. In my size! I snapped them up, needless to say.

Next Joanne and I went for a drive to photo fences. We've agreed with the builder of the house we're looking to buy that he'll build some sort of fence across the side of the house to give the garden some privacy. So we needed to get ideas. It was a research trip. And seeing we were at the house, round the corner from the coffee shop with the awesome muffins we stopped in for a coffee. And another muffin. Today's offerings were chocolate and caramel. And again, were rather awesome. I cannot recommend the cafe and their muffins highly enough. I've eaten my fair share of muffins, and these beat anything. Ever. Oh, and we spotted the perfect fence and gate we want reproducing. And some garden ideas too.

On the way back we stopped at the Hyundai garage to check out a Santa Fe. Seeing that we're going to be in our house, fingers crossed, sooner than we had initially expected we need to check out the second car. That's the thing about Christchurch, it's a two car (each) town. They have one in stock. The perfect one. We're taking it for a test drive tomorrow morning.

And then the final bit of success today came when we got home. The flashing light told us there was a message. It was the consultant dealing with the Ravensdown role. They want to offer me their job too! It's nice to be in demand, eh? I just have to decide now. Energy or fertiliser? But I guess "where there's muck, there's brass".

Wednesday 15 August 2007

Connected

I forgot to say, we finally got mobile phones approved and sorted yesterday too. It's good to talk, I heard.

Good as gold

The interivew at the Uni seemed to go ok, I think. A bit of a different environment, being for a role in an academic administrative department, rather than a commercial role, I'd say. It seems a lot more relaxed. "It's pretty cruisey here" said the manager of the department who was interviewing me. I also felt over-dressed in a suit and tie compared to their jeans. Supposedly I'll hear about a second interview on Monday if I'm successful.

However, I might not need to wait that long. There's the Ravensdown interview tomorrow morning that I mentioned earlier. And I just got home to receive a call from Orion. They want to offer me the job and want me to call in to see them tomorrow to discuss the package. No messing, eh? They move fast. You have to approve of that.

Following the Uni interview we went furniture shopping and I think we've got a load of what we need chosen now, which is exciting. It's lots of fun setting up home, you know, but a little stressful.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the title of the post, it's what every kiwi in Christchurch says to mean "nice one". Where in the UK we might say "good stuff" or "cool" or "excellent", they say "good as gold".

Moving forward

The personality profiling and ability testing for the Orion job first thing this morning seemed to go ok. They were loads easier than the tests I did on Monday. Also the testing took place on the 11th floor of an office block and the room I was in had awesome views of the mist over Christchurch with the Alps in the background sparkling in the sun, contrasted against the sapphire blue sky. Stunning. I didn't have my camera though, sadly. Strangely I had not expected to need it at a personality and ability testing session.

The Ravensdown interview has been confirmed for tomorrow morning. I need to do some fertiliser research, I think.

The final bit of good news is that we just got a call to say the mortgage is all approved. Excellent. Can't stop smiling.

Tuesday 14 August 2007

Not so grumpy now

I was grumpy earlier. I am trying to find some football trainers (something suitable for indoor and astroturf) but am having no luck whatsoever. They just don't exist in this country, it seems. Nowhere has any. In the UK they're coming out of your ears. But here, nothing. I had a pair back home. Two pairs in fact. But they were a bit battered so they were cut when we were weighing suitcases. I assumed I'd pick some up here. But no. It appears it's going to be harder to source some than I thought.

Luckily other things made up for the lack in availability of some football trainers, of all things. Firstly I got a call this morning from Orion saying that they want to proceed with my application and I should arrange for some psychometric and ability testing with a consultant. They gave me the details and that's arranged for 8:30am tomorrow. It's encouraging that they didn't take long to decide to move to the next step.

Next good news was the consultant dealing with the Ravensdown role called me back and told me my assessment results from last week and Monday are back and were fine for Ravensdown to want to see me for interview. They wanted to see me tomorrow afternoon. This is, of course, after postponing an interview scheduled for tomorrow morning with me because they were "unavailable". Unfortunately I have the University of Canterbury interview tomorrow afternoon so I told the consultant I was unavailable and why. He said he'll get back to me. I guess it's no bad thing that they know I'm in demand.

And then today Joanne and I had a very positive time looking round a few furniture shops and have seen some stuff we like. Which is a good start. Still plenty more shops to check though.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget the mortgage appointment. It took about half an hour only as we had everything we needed prepared and with us. We're still waiting for firm approval, but the very friendly bank guy seemed to think the amount we need would be no problem, even with me not yet working. Another tick in the box for the house purchase.

Finally tonight, I saw mum was on-line on Skype so had a quick chat with her and my niece, Ellie, which was lovely. The internet really does make the world a smaller place.

Monday 13 August 2007

All ahead go!

We've appointed a solicitor for the house purchase, got an appointment to see someone about a mortgage tomorrow morning, and have sorted for Tom to come and check the house out at the weekend (Shirley's coming too!). And hopefully we'll have NZ mobile phones finally tomorrow. Then we can get our UK ones turned off.

Just need to get me a job sorted now. And speaking of which, the numerical/verbal assessment seemed to go ok this morning, although some of it was a bit tricky. I'm meant to get feedback about my performance in a week or so. Just to remind you, that was for the Ravensdown role, the fertiliser one. Still awaiting an interview date for that though, since the Wednesday morning slot was postponed. And then the interview this afternoon with Orion seemed to go ok too, I think. It was a very relaxed, chatty sort of interview, I thought, and I seemed to answer things to their satisfaction but you can never quite tell. I'll find out in due course.

I'm down to the last two with both of these roles. If it came down to it, I'm not sure which I'd choose. The Ravensdown one seems more immediately senior, but I think the Orion one has scope to develop. I seemed to get on well with the people interviewing me today at Orion, they seemed nice, but I've not met anyone at Ravensdown yet so I can't compare that. I would imagine the salary would be a touch higher with Ravensdown, but that's not a major priority. The Orion office is literally next door to where Jo will be in her new job which is handy, whereas Ravensdown in on the other side of the central city. There's pros and cons for both. But anway, let's not count our chickens, eh? A lot can and will happen before I'm possibly in a position to be choosing between roles. Carts before houses and all that. Plus there's still the Meridian role in process, the University of Canterbury interview on Wednesday, and another couple of roles I could see me applying for. I am confident there's something there for me, and know God will put me where he wants me to be.

Sunday 12 August 2007

House-bound

Woh! It's been quite some day. Firstly we woke up to beautiful blue skies, sunshine and the mountains way off in the distance. Next we called the estate agent to make an offer on the house we really liked, the one on William Brittan Avenue. She said she'd get back to us later and leave a message on our answering machine if we were still back at church.

Next up was our first visit back at St John's, the main reason we're in Christchurch. It was a bit daunting turning up, not knowing quite what to expect, knowing we'd decided where to live on the other side of the world based on a Christian family we are yet to meet, pretty much. But we needn't have worried. Sarah, the women's worker, and a friend of Caroline and John's back in London, happened to be on the door and spotted us as newcomers as we approached. It didn't take too long to work out that we were us and she was she. The joy of email allowing us to make contact and say hi before we arrived.

What first struck me as we walked in was the age range of the people there. I'm looking forward to being part of a family congregation with such a diverse richness of experience in the Christian life.

Wally's sermon was very challenging, looking at Mark 3:7-19. It was thematic, rather than expository, and looked at how the disciples were called to follow Jesus, and what different sorts of people they were, especially looking at Peter, Andrew and James, and how Jesus used them all in different ways. The challenge to us was to see that Jesus uses us in similar ways, whatever type of person we are, should we heed the call and want to serve him. It really spoke to me, given our situation of not knowing where Christ will use us at St John's. It was massive reassurance to hear that he will use us here, so long as we continue to follow him, giving up our lives in service of him.

After the service a few people came over to introduce themselves and welcome us (there had been a bit in the service where new people had to speak up and say if they were just visiting etc). There were a lovely couple from Nottinghamshire, Nick and Wendy (I think!), who have been here seven years and also an older guy, Arthur, who was lovely too. He apologised for not being able to have us over for lunch as his wife was ill ("The flu bugs are barking in our house!"), which was so welcoming and encouraging.

Also Al came over, the youth worker, who we knew a little bit before and who I met for lunch the Friday before we left the UK. He and his wife, Naomi, invited us for lunch. Unfortunately we had to turn him down as we'd just accepted an invitation from Sarah. It really meant a lot that practically fresh off the boat our new Christian family were inviting us into their homes. It sounds something so simple, but it felt really warm and welcoming for us, they're family already showing us Christian fellowship. Definitely what we needed. If we'd walked in to church and out again today without anyone saying a word to us it would have made us question our decision to be here. Instead, we were intercepted, welcomed and invited. The Lord provided just what we needed.

After staying around and chatting for a while we rushed back home to check the answer machine. No flashing green light though, so we headed off to Sarah's place, feeling a little anxious.

Lunch was great. The food was very tasty, but that wasn't the important thing. That was fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters, being invited into Sarah's home (who incidentally lives with Anne who were know back from St Helen's and KFC, the prayer group that first introduced us to Christchurch and St John's), and sharing a meal and time together. There was us two, Sarah and Anne, a Kiwi couple called Dan and Katherine/Katharine/Kathryn/Catherine/Catharine/Cathryn, and Sophie, a Northern Irish lass who Sarah knew from her time at Cambridge Uni and who is spending the (UK) summer in NZ. We really appreciated the time sat chatting, getting to know people a bit, discussing stuff, before spending a little time praying for one another before we left.

Once again I was brought to realise how special and different Christian fellowship is. Just like when we came over to Chch in February 2005, and when I lived in New York in 2004, the love of brothers and sisters in Christ spoke loudly. Wherever you are in the world, as a Christian, you have family. If you're a Christian reading this I hoping you've experienced this and are nodding in agreement.

By 4pm, Jo's nerves got the better of her and we made our excuses and left. She wanted to check the answer machine for messages. I think everyone understood. We saw that the indicator light was flashing as we came through the door and rushed over to press the button. A message. From the real estate agent. Jo picked up the phone to call her back. It was time for her to come over to draft up the formal offer.

By the time she arrived it was about 5:30. We got the contract drawn up, placed in all our contingencies and clauses we wanted. She then headed off to meet her colleague, the one who listed the property, to meet the seller, the bloke who built the house. (Bear in mind this is a Sunday evening. Could you see estate agents in the UK doing this?) An hour or so later they both came back. All clauses etc had been agreed but the price we'd offered was too low. We thought this might have been the case, but he didn't really move much in his counter-offer. Lots of chatting in another room followed, and consulting with Shirley and Tom. We rejected his counter and offered another figure, despite the estate agents telling us he wasn't flexible any further.

So the two real estate agents headed off again. We waited. We had dinner. We waited some more. Then the phone rang. Our hearts jumped into our mouths as Joanne answered it. It was the estate agent. "The seller's accepted!" Chocolate all round!

So, subject to getting a mortgage agreed, a solicitor okaying the contract, and a building inspection not showing up anything dodgy, we should take possession of the house on the 7th September. Yes, you read that right, all you property owners in the UK, that did say September. How fast is that? It really makes the British system seem quite archaic. Also, we cannot be gazzumped. Kiwi law does not allow it. Short of any of the contract terms failing to be reached in the alloted time-period, the house is ours!

Everything really is coming together now. Jo starts work next week, I've got interviews lined up this week, and am hopeful something will work out somewhere quite soon, and now we've practically got a house. And of course, we had a church all lined up beforehand. God really does provide, you know. Please give thanks if you're the praying sort.

I've just been chatting to my dad on-line, discussing the house and car and jobs and everything. It's so great to be able to tell him that in a few weeks we'll be able to confirm his trip for February. It'll be really nice to have him here and to be able to show him our new home.

We also discussed the Grimsby match. They drew 1-1. Better than losing the first game of the season, eh?

Saturday 11 August 2007

A second look

This morning we went shopping but that's pretty incidental compared with the rest of the day. We bought some stuff, we had some lunch, I drank pearl tea, we filled in forms to get mobile phone sim cards, we bought some more stuff. Nothing exciting.

But then the great property hunt continued. We went out this afternoon to have a look at an open house in Halswell, near the house we saw yesterday that we liked so much. It was nice. Jo was particularly taken with it. But then we went for a second look at the other place. And to be honest, there's no comparison. There's a price difference between the two and you get what you pay for. Today's one is nice, but smaller, with a kitchen that's not quite as special, a bit smaller garden, ...etc, but it's cheaper. The other one is pretty lovely.

We were torn. Basically it was a toss up between no mortgage and a very nice almost new house, or a bit of a mortgage and a lovely, brand new house. We went drove round the area a bit more, to see if there were any hidden sewage works, and then went for a coffee, just the two of us, for a chat. We drew up a list of the pro and cons of each place, enjoyed a truly magnificent banana, chocolate and boysenberry muffin each, and still were no closer to a decision. There was a third option, of course, that we think three days in a city is not long enough to make an informed decision about a house, but we decided to ignore that one. We've done our homework, we've looked around a bit, we've seen the area and liked it, and Christchurch is not Auckland or London. It doesn't take forever to learn the city. (Not that I'm saying we totally know Chch after less than a week, of course.)

We decided to take another drive round the area, past each place once again, and then headed back to the flat. Joanne had promised to phone her mum. In fact Shirley called almost the instant we walked through the door. Talking it through together, and with Shirley, it became clear. For a small mortgage it wasn't worth giving up a house we both really loved. So we're decided. Short of multiple tuts of dismay and negative comments about the area when we mention Halswell tomorrow at church, we intend to make a formal offer for the house, subject to stuff, before the open house being held there at 3:30pm. We know there are another couple going back for a second look tomorrow so it would be nice to get something accepted before they see it again, ideally. We shall see where our opening gambit gets us, eh?

Incidentally, the house is on William Brittan Avenue. I was intrigued about who William Brittan was to have an avenue named after him. Turns out that he was an English bloke, Chairman of the Society of Canterbury Colonists, who lived from 1809 to 1876. He arrived here in 1850. His headstone reads "One of the founders of Canterbury". Interesting, eh? I thank you, Mr Internet.

Looking forward to church tomorrow. It's going to be good to finally meet our new Christian family.

Ooh, and the footy season kicks off in the next couple of hours. Up the Mariners, eh?

It's surely not that easy. Is it?

Today was mostly spent looking at houses. Wendy, our relocation consultant, had arranged some viewings for us and all together I think we saw six places. Some were a little older than we are looking for, but were useful to see just to try and get an idea of that side of the market, whereas others were right up our street.

One in particular stood out for us. It's a new-build in an area called Halswell, got the bedroom space, living space, garage etc that we're looking for. It's lovely inside, done to a high spec, and most importantly it's got a big kitchen island with a gas hob! ;) Also we liked the flow of the house. Being English I am mostly use to a house with an upstairs and a downstairs, with the living area apart from the sleeping area. This house, although being on one level, seems to have that flow. Jo was a little worried about the garden being a bit small, but I think it's a little deceptive, not being landscaped like some of the others we saw, and will be plenty big enough for us. It's got a council-owned reserve across the road from it so won't have a building obstructing the view of the mountains. Yep. You read that right. You can see the mountains. Anyone who knows my love of landscapes and views will know this is a plus point.

But surely it can't be that easy. It can't, can it? It was the first house we looked at after the two exploratory ones near the Beach at Sumner. Are we rushing into things to be considering making an offer on the place when we've only been here two or three days? Half of me says yes, the sensible side of me, the cautious side of me. But half of me says don't miss the chance of a lovely property that I know Joanne and I could really make into a family home. That's the romantic, impulsive side of me. A dream home on the first day. Does it really happen? Can you walk into a house and just know? Or do we need to learn the city and the market better first? Will we regret it if we don't act?

And I still can't get over the way the Kiwi property system works, or rather the way the UK system works after seeing the system here. It is perfectly feasible to expect to be in a new house here only a month after having an offer accepted, and Wendy told me that she's known the turn-around to be only seven days!

One thing we definitely found good was being able to tour around Chch a little today. It's been great having Wendy with us, showing us round, just giving us useful advice about the city and houses and certain areas and schools etc. Plus she's got contacts she'd recommend. I know some people would be unsure, thinking she's getting a kick-back from everyone she recommends or whatever, but the impression we get (and what she's told us) is that this isn't the case. We've no reason to doubt her. She's only been brilliant so far. I must admit, I was a little unsure when Joanne suggested a relocation agent, and I did wonder what we'd be getting for our money, but to be honest, I am so glad Jo talked me into it. It's great to get advice from someone who lives here. From someone who lives here after moving away for a while and then came back too.

After the house-viewing we picked up the car. It's lovely, it really is. And is perfect for nipping round the city, but with a bit of poke for journeys further afield. And despite being a small car, it's still got a reasonable boot. Which is good, as I went shopping this evening, and given it was our first real one and there were some store-cupboard ingredient stuff we needed, I got to use the boot to it's full capacity.

The supermarket was a bit daunting though, especially being there on my own. I just wandered round in a bit of a daze for ages. New brands everywhere. New labels I don't recognise. After being so familiar with products back home it's quite a shock. I have a lot to learn. I found out I'm an easy sell though. If the packaging on a product looks similar to something I recognise from the UK, I'll buy it. The good news is that I am now in possession of HP Brown Sauce, English Marmite (branded Our Mate), and the bonus item, to complete the trio, a tin of Bachelor's Mushy Peas. What's that you say? You can take the Englishman out of the north...?

Back to the house, we're going back to see the one we liked tomorrow afternoon, after a wander round the town centre to pick up some stuff in the morning. We're also going to look at another close by in Halswell. I'm really torn about the house. We've got some further questions to ask, given to us by Shirley and Tom, so we'll see what happens. They've made Jo promise to call them after we view it. It's good to know they're looking after our interests.

By the way, I'm sticking some photos on here, but there's a whole load more of Christchurch here and the collection will only be growing. You shouldn't have to join Facebook to view them.

Finally, if it's appropriate for you, please pray for Jo's health. We've got all this touring and house viewing and organising and stuff to be doing, and she's still trying to fit in working for her old UK company, until the end of the month, on top. I don't know what it will be like once she starts work on the 20th. She's always been susceptible to getting ill when she's run down and overdoes it and doesn't get enough rest (says he who can't sleep at 2:45am) so please pray for strength for her, and also that she knows when to say enough is enough and to take some rest, and that I'd be continuing to make sure I insist she does rest enough.

Time for bed, I think.

Thursday 9 August 2007

Wheels!

The errands didn't really happen. The car buying did. The Mazda 3 and the Honda Jazz we'd seen on-line both were still available so we gave them both a quick test-drive. The Mazda 3 was nice, but in terms of a little city run-around, and given it was about $6k less, we both gave the thumbs up to the Honda Jazz. Davin was right. And Derek. And Matt and Kazumi. So, assuming it passes the AA fitness test thing we pick it up either tomorrow or Saturday. Photos will be posted, I promise. Oh, and it's red. And buying a red car was a difficult thing for Joanne to do. She hates the 'blonde driving a red car' stereotype, she says.

Latest job news is that the on-line psych tests for the Ravensdown role have been completed. I'm intrigued to find out what they reveal about my character. Supposedly I am allowed verbal feedback on the results which will be interesting. What will tell me I don't know, I wonder. The interview with them has been postponed, however. They cannot make Wednesday morning now.

The Orion interview has been confirmed for 4pm on Monday. I'm not sure whether I should press ahead with the two new roles that came up today, the windfarm one and the analyst for the manufacturing company, or if I should wait to see what comes of the irons I've currently got in the fire. I feel like I'm unsure which interview is for which role as it is, without throwing another two balls in the air and attempting to keep those plates spinning. Or something.

Tomorrow our relocation consultant is coming to give us an orientation tour of the city, and also she's got us scheduled to view about five houses. Another busy, busy day. I'm looking forward to the weekend and a bit of a breather to be honest. Although I think Saturday's been earmarked for shopping.

It's a good job I'm organised

The recruitment consultant dealing with the Ravensdown role just called me to say that they want to interview me on Wednesday morning regarding the role, subject to suitable psychometric and numerical/verbal skills testing results. Hectic is not the word...

Another busy morning

So far I have:

  • Been to see the recruitment consultant regarding the Meridian role - it was a very informal chat, she doesn't have the full position description yet, but thinks I'd be a good fit and will send on the full PD when she has it
  • Phoned the Orion HR guy regarding firming up a time for my interview on Monday afternoon - he was in a meeting so I left a message
  • Phoned Canterbury University to confirm my interview for Wednesday afternoon
  • Arranged with the assessment people a slot on Monday morning for my in-house numercal/verbal testing regarding the Ravensdown role
  • Phoned about more information on an analyst role with NZ Windfarms Ltd - a role that will encase finding new wind farm sites, evaluating wind resources at indentified sites and then designing turbine layouts
  • Phoned about more information on a business analyst role in a manufacturing environment that seems to focus on production and sales forecasting - the recruitment consultant was in a meeting
  • Got the internet sorted out with our proper username and password
This afternoon we've got some errands to run (including swapping the router for a modem router - doh!) and checking out some cars.

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Home, James - Welcome to Christchurch

Last night was our last night in Auckland and to celebrate our trip and end the holiday in style, as I may have mentioned once or twice, we planned a trip to a Brazilian barbecue place - a churrascaria. All you can eat meat. Gluttony-tastic. Well, I'm pleased to report that it lived up to expectations. The food was lovely, very tasty indeed. The rodizio style did not let us down and it was all so tender and tasty. A good evening was had by all and I hope Len and Val were pleased with our recommendation.

Vitor, and other churrascaria afficiandos, will be disappointed that there was no picanha, no cupim, no beans, no pou de queijo, no feijouada, no guarana, and no mousse de maracuja. But it didn't spoil the evening. It was a churrascaria with a Kiwi twist. And it worked.

And today we're in Christchurch, the place we now call home. It's so good to finally be here. We've got a lot to sort and it's all a bit daunting, but at least we're here. I can now start interviews in person, we can get a car, and we can get unpacked. We can stop living out of a suitcase. It will be nice.

Wendy, our relocation expert, met us at the airport and brought us to the apartment. Christchurch traffic is a little different to Auckland traffic, that's the first thing I noticed. Oh, and the sun was shining. We arrived to beautiful blue skies. Flying in with the snow-capped southern alps glistening just outside the window was certainly a great welcome.

The apartment is all we could have hoped for. Clean, smart, modern, and everything here we'll need for the next three months. It's only three months, but it's long enough to settle in. I keep thinking it's hardly worth unpacking but then I remember it was three months I was in New York for and that was long enough for it to feel like home.

This afternoon we nipped out to the city centre, which is only five or ten minutes walk away. We needed to get some food and basic groceries, and also we wanted to buy a new printer as well as a wireless router modem. Groceries - tick; printer - tick; router modem - oops! Turns out I picked up a wireless router, not a wireless router modem. What a mistake to make. Hopefully they'll swap it tomorrow though. Setting up the broadband wasn't quite as easy here as it should have been either. It seems the username and password we were given hasn't been set up by the account holder at all. Luckily the guy at the Xtra help centre was able to guide me through setting up a temporary username that we can use for a week or so, until it's set up properly. Which was good. We're connected, and that's all that we need for now.

I got email today from someone at Canterbury University. They want to see me for an interview regarding the Student Data And Reporting Analyst role I applied for a week or so back. I'd almost forgot about that one. That's next Wednesday, although I need to phone them to confirm. So I've got a meeting with the recruitment consultant about Meridian tomorrow, I have to do online psychometric tests and arrange in-house numerical/verbal testing for the Ravensdown role, I've had an email saying that the HR Manager at Orion wants to see me on Monday afternoon, and now Canterbury University want to see me next Wednesday. It's manic, eh? Better than not having any potential jobs though, for sure. We really do need to get a car sorted though.

Right, time to go unpack, and then prepare for the interview tomorrow.

Yawn

Not sleeping well at the moment. Just got so much going round my head.

A full match report from 'Wildfire' will follow, once we arrive in Christchurch. The flight's in a couple of hours.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Coming out my ears!

I got an email this afternoon from the HR Manager at Orion, another energy company, regarding the Commercial Analyst role I applied for the other week. He wants me to call him to arrange an interview. Exciting, eh?

Monday 6 August 2007

The next step

Len was on the phone at 5pm tonight, so I didn't get the call, but the guy from the recruitment agency I spoke to earlier today about Ravensdown, the fertiliser company, left a message to let me know that they want to proceed with my application so the next step is the psychometric tests. Someone from the company that deal with it should be in touch with me tomorrow, I am led to believe. Good news, eh?

Oh, and I forgot to mention, yesterday when we were in the city I found a place that sold pearl tea. I love this country!

Making dynamite

This morning I had a 55 minute call from the recruitment agent dealing with the Ravensdown job, as I mentioned the other day. It seemed to go well, I think. I do hate those competency-based questions though. "Can you guide me through step by step what you did during a project that you started, progressed and then saw through to the finish?" "Can you describe to me a time when you weren't able to source some information you required?" Pfff.

The guy gave me more info on the job too and it all sounds rather interesting. Basically, in a nutshell, it seems that the company are keen to develop their sales and marketing teams so that they're more commercially aware and focussed. One way they see that happening is through the development of a 'standardised suite of core business analysis to support the sales and marketing teams and drive improvements in business productivity and profitability'. The role will mean getting down and dirty with analysis and data sourcing and working with IT on the information exchange and transfer systems as well as being involved on the Sales and Marketing Management Committee aiding in the decision-making process. I think I'm quite keen on the role, actually. It does seem like a good fit, and being a new role, should provide a great opportunity and an interesting challenge.

In terms of the company, they're an old-fashioned, family-type company (they still provide morning tea for the head office staff each and every day!) with an active social programme. All in all it sounds like a winner. All I have to do now is wait to see if I've been shortlisted. The next step are some psyc tests followed by an interview with the general managers of the sales and marketing departments, if I make it that far.

Regarding other irons in the fire, on the job front, the recruitment consultant dealing with the Meridian role likes the look of my CV and wants to see me on Thursday morning at 10am at her office. Can do.

So, only a couple of days left in Auckland now. It's been so nice and relaxing, but in a different way to Leigh. Yesterday Len, Val, Joanne and I went out for brunch before taking a drive along the harbour front (the one day I forgot to take my camera!) and then in the evening I knocked together another banana crumble for dessert. Tonight I think Joanne's two step-sisters, Emma-Jane and Becky, are over for dinner, and then tomorrow is something I am really looking forward to. It turns out that there's a churrascaria here in Auckland. Can't wait to see how it compares to Rodizio Rico or Fogo de Chao.

Saturday 4 August 2007

Impatient

As lovely as it is to see Len and Val and spend some time with them, and I know Joanne is enjoying seeing her dad, I think I'm ready to head down to Christchurch now. I just wanted to get things moving. I feel like I'm in limbo and just want to get settled.

Friday 3 August 2007

Yum!

A couple of hours today were spent wandering round the Food Show. We didn't need any lunch. From Turkish bread to Cadbury's chocolate, from biltong to gingerbread icecream, from beetroot chutney to raspberry and apple juice, there was a very wide range of foods and drinks to try. So we did. Just sampling a bit of New Zealand culture and heritage, I reckon. It was all in the name of assimilation and no gluttony or self-indulgence at all, oh no.

Another couple of hours were spent trying to get to the bottom of quite what bank accounts and credit cards we're going to sort out for ourselves. It's a right con here, you know. The banks charge you for having accounts and credit cards with them. As if they don't make enough off you by earning interest off the cash they hold for you or by charging you interest on money they lend you, they then charge you for the priviledge. How does that make sense, eh?

Emma-Jane, Val's eldest daughter and Joanne's step-sister, nipped round to see us this afternoon, which was nice. She's hopefully going to come round on Sunday for dinner with her sister Becky to give them and Joanne a better chance to catch up. It's weird to think of Joanne having all this family (four sisters and one brother if you count the three step-sisters and one step-brother). For most of the time I've known her it's just been easy to forget that she has all this family back here. Does that make sense?

And speaking of family, Joanne phoned her sister, Rissy, on the Gold Coast, yesterday evening, but she was out. She still managed to chat to all of her nieces and nephews though, from Leon on to Xavier to Renee to Sarah to Koby (who's only two and a bit, I think). Not sure when we're going to head over to Oz to see them all, but hopefully sometime before Christmas, although that of course depends on work.

And speaking of work, there's some news regarding the job hunt for me. The employment agent dealing with the Ravensdown analyst role got back in touch with me and we've arranged an initial phone call for Monday morning at 9:15. Ravensdown is the largest supplier of fertiliser in Nuzziland.

Also I noticed a role on the Seek website for a data analyst last night tha I seemed to have the skills for. I got in touch today with the recruitment agent dealing with the role and found that it's with Meridian Energy who are the largest state-owned electricity generator in New Zealand. Interestingly, they operate nine hydro-electrical power stations and a wind turbine and wind farms too. They only generate using renewable sources and are the only energy provider with certified carbon neutral electricity, which is nice. And they're a shareholder in Whisper Tech, the company Joanne's going to be working for. Small world, eh? I'm in the process of arranging a meeting with the recruitment consultant. She wants to see me next week so hopefully we can sort something out for Thursday morning, once we're down in Christchurch. Fingers crossed, eh? It'd be nice to get something sorted. Everyone keeps telling me not to stress and to enjoy the time off, but I don't like the idea of Joanne going out to work and me sitting at home. I'd rather be working too, I think. I'd kind of feel guilty otherwise.

Thursday 2 August 2007

Happy Birthday, Mum!

First off, happy birthday, Mum. I hope you have a great day! The card is in the mail, I'm just not sure how long it will take to arrive from here.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad we decided against moving to Auckland. The traffic is mental. At just after 4pm this afternoon as we got the bus home from the city centre the traffic was already queued up all over the place. Having to spend an hour a day each day each way in traffic for work would get too much for me quite fast, I think. Sure the tube in London is hot and sweaty and packed but it works (most of the time) and means you don't have to endure traffic jams. Traffic would get tiresome rather fast.

So yeah, we went to town today and spent hours traipsing round one bank after another tracking down all of Joanne's many and scattered bank accounts changing the name on the account to her married name. But at least it's done now. We just have to decide which bank to use for our current account once we start getting paid. And who to use for savings accounts. And who for credit cards...

We also went in to the AA building and got forms for me for converting my UK driving licence, got Joanne's expired driving licence renewed, joined me as an associate member to Joanne's AA membership and also bought me 'The Road Code', the Kiwi version of the UK's Highway Code, so that I can swot up before my driving theory test that I have to pass to get an NZ driving licence.

We also had coffee, muffins and lamb shawarmas.

We nipped into Vodafone to check out mobile phone packages while we were passing too. And then Telecom. We thought they were the only two options. As Telecom don't do sim-cards it means there is actually only one option. Talk about a monopoly. So, if we want to get NZ sim-cards to go in our phones we have to go with Vodafone. And, as you might be able to guess, no competition means it's not cheap. Also it seems the guy in the shop reckons Vodafone has just got rid of their bottom three tiers of gprs data access packages, meaning the minimum level is 200MB a month, way more than I'd use. The Vodafone website would beg to differ, however. It's most confusing.

Being out and about Joanne and I also took the chance to check out cars as they drove past. We were thinking of a Mini for the city run-around, but we now realise they only do 2-door models. And we remember when we had the Hyundai Accent what a pain it was at times only have a 2-door car. So the Mini idea is perhaps out of the window. Discussing it last night we thought about maybe a new-model VW Beetle, or perhaps a Ford Ka. However, it seems, judging by today's empirical observations, that both of those only come in 2-door flavours too. Pants, eh? So now the current thinking includes a VW Golf, a Mazda 3 or a Honda Jazz (following in the footsteps of Matt & Kazumi, Derek & Phong and Davin & Irene!) We'll have a look around once we get to Chch though, and take a few for a test drive or something.

One thing that amazed me today, being out and about in down-town Auckland, was what a high percentage of people there were of Chinese decent. It seemed every second person, especially of those under 35, were either Malaysian, Singaporean or Chinese. I had heard all the stories about the number of young people from these countries coming over here, but it still surprised me to see it today. I don't know why, but I always imagined the NZ population to be mainly Maori and European in origin. In Auckland, at least, there's more to the jigsaw than two pieces.

Finally today, there's bad news on the work front for me. I had gotten impatient waiting for my ex-boss to get back to me regarding that spreadsheet project he had said he'd put my way so I emailed him last night. I got up this morning to find an email from him saying that his partner in the project has discovered that there may well be interal expertise capable of building the spreadsheet model they need after all. Oh well. It was a nice idea, I guess.

Wednesday 1 August 2007

City living

So, we're back in Auckland now, at Jo's dad's place. We arrived at about 9-ish and it's been a pretty relaxing day not doing a lot, which is nice. I'm having to use Len (my father-in-law)'s computer while I'm here as he doesn't have a wireless router I can tag on to. Unfortunately that may limit how much I get to write on here.

We don't have an awful lot planned for our week here, other than spending time with Len and Val. Tomorrow we may take a bus in the centre of town and have a wander around and do a few admin-y things like getting me added on to Joanne's AA membership. And then Friday Len, Joanne and I are probably going to check out The Food Show. As the website says "this event is huge and it showcases the products of nearly 300 exhibitors spread over a whopping 10,000 square metres of space". I thought it might be a good way to sample a few Kiwi food brands. I think the first time we go grocery shopping down in Chch may well be a time-consuming experience.

And while we're thinking about food, another Cadbury's bar in the 'Dairy Milk Desserts' range is Banoffee Pie. It's probably even nicer than the Fudge Brownie stuff.