I had finally arrived in Auckland; so close yet so very far away from my destination and my home. It was probably the most awkward and annoying flight I have ever been on. I got about an hour of sleep; no amount of Gravol helped me to calm down. One of the most frustrating things about Auckland is that their currency is different than Australia so I was hesitant to buy anything. I ended up finding a quiet corner of the airport where I lay down and finished off th...

I arrived on January 8 to very warm, dry weather. I met some really nice people on the plane and was very grateful that Geoff, Ben's dad was there to pick me up from the airport to take me to the car for my first drive (on the right-hand side) out to Clare, our home for the year. After unpacking and madly cleaning and inspecting the house for critters, I headed to bed after not really sleeping for almost 30 hours.

It was a busy morning getting everything all packed into the car and making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. After a tough breakfast with mom I tool Layla to school for the morning and Leanne and I got everything squared away. We picked Layla up at noon and drove in the cold to the airport. It was really hard to say good bye to my girls as I knew I was going to miss them so very much. I shed a few tears after waving to them before security at the airport and was...