Hello all!

No exciting news to report really, except that it's very nice to stay in one place for a while! Our working holiday visas came through super-quick once all sent off praise the Lord! So now we're all legal. We've done some work in a vineyard called Ransoms with an exceptionally talktative chap called Rob, we've de-flowered little fijoa trees to improve next year's crop (we have yet to find out what a fijoa fruit is like though!) and more recently our days have been filled with plucking hundreds of little round green unripe mandarins off trees - thinning them so there will be a better quality crop when they are ripe in May time. The people we are working with are lots of fun, most in their retirement and full of stories of all the places they've been and seen. We are the youngest by about 30 years and perhaps as a result we finish the work about twice as fast as most! Bless. It's not rocket science but we work together so can talk, and it's all good for the sun tans! The weather is really hotting up. Plus we are getting to be quite the agricultural experts now!

We are on the lookout for better paid jobs as mandarins and co are minimum wage (roughly 3.25 an hour in pounds) but until then shall continue to work in the fields like the peasants we were born to be!

Outside of work we've had lots of fun and frolics. Matt has take on the challenge of playing Jono at tennis every now and then, Cal has re-discovered her love of making fattening cakes and puddings. Guess who's in better shape?! We've done a bit of fishing and have both caught smallish ones - the big boy is out there though and we'll get him one day!

We had a trip out to Tawharanui (pronounced something like tarfra-anooey - good old Maori) with Jono and Amie, and Africa had a little dip in the rock pools and loved it! Sadly Cal's photographic skills meant she missed her happy smile in the photo. We've been to Goat Island marine reserve and seen some HUGE colourful fish just swimming around in the shallows. The sea was a bit rough and stormy so it was hard to see but once it calmed down later we realised we had been frolicking (well, been smashed around in the powerful waves) with all these fish and the most ENORMOUS sting ray without knowing it! Eek!

We had a lovely family evening at Waiwera hot pools half an hour down the road before Cal's Mum and Dad left for the south island, some of the pools (all naturally heated from thermal water) were up to 48 degrees C, one very red and sweaty man looked as though he was being boiled alive! The more adventurous ones (Dave Regan and Matty boy) took on the water slides as well...some colourful words echoed loudly out of the slide to those in the pool at the bottom as the three shrieked down!

We've had some lovely strolls on the nearest beach, Snell's Beach, watched a lot of movies and TV thanks to Dave and Regan's collection, and had the pleasure of being close enough to babysit Africa every now and then. The closest town, Warkworth is on a river and quite nice to stroll round (we're actually about an hour from Auckland despite what the map says!). Another joy is a big cheapo shop near where we live called the Warehouse which sells everything you could ever imagine wanting - many a happy hour in there, "where everyone gets a bargain!".

Love to all and don't worry, spring is on the way for you too!