We have left Australia and are now in sunny but FREEZING Christchurch! We flew out super early in the morning and had cool emergency exit seats with lots of leg room. We had fun at immigration though as Carl was stopped again due to problems with his passport and his dodgy camoflague trousers he keeps wearing. He looks like a terrorist thats why they keep inviting him to the little private rooms for a "chat". This time though they said it was beacause another Hawkins, George, with the same date of birth had overstayed his welcome on a previous visit and they wanted to know if Carl had any other Alias' All fun and games. Also Geraints present meant we had to go through the funny stuff to declare line and his gift had to be bombarded with x rays to kill whatever may be on it!

Thank god we chose to wear most of our clothes to save on luggage as when we got to Christchurch it was sooooooo cold. We picked up our new camper van and it is longer and taller than our last one but it is a new model so drives a little better. the new car smell is still in it and it only has 16000km on the clock so we should be able to add a few thousand more!

Our plan today is to go exploring Christchurch on the tram system and go up to a nearby mountain on the gondala. It is very much like britain with all the trees and wind. Even got a river avon here. Unlike Britain though there are lots of penguins so we are off to the harbour to see those, Geraint I will try to steal you a fairy penguin they are very little and it might just work.

Take care everone and we will see you soon, if Carl makes it through passport control and I dont get stopped at customs!

Love Kat & Carl