Bex I flew down the motorway yesterday... not as much fun as flying through the air no doubt!John - how could you possibly have got the sum wrong? If you run out of fingers to count, take your shoes and socks off and use your toes too! Gethin got a bit worried the other day when I had to use my fingers to calculate the sum of 1 and 1! I did later tell him that I was joking!!!Life in Wokingham wouldn't make for interesting reading, but Nick still goes on adventures outside the lovely (lively?!) town... I'm sure that'd still be of some interest! I recon we should start a petition!!! xxxx

john I got the sum wrong yesterday...Is there a teacher in the house?! I also sky dived (from my bed to the shower) sailed over to work, and flew through my emails...

Rachel Good idea, I rather miss the updates on here too... although life in Wokingham might not make such interesting reading!

john We could just carry on...

Big Sis Love having you home bro... but I'm missing checking on here for updates!!! xxxx

john Great pics! I remember looking out of the head of the statue of liberty - very small! - and going up the Empire State. For some reason i didn't fancy going up the Twin Towers...! Wld love to go back, perhaps not in Feb!! Enjoy the rest of the trip!

YLM So Nick is in New York, where it is very snowy and very cold. Nick was very sensible and bought himself a nice warm fleece before leaving New Zealand to keep him warm in New York. Unfortunately, Nick is now in New York and his fleece is in Los Angeles where he left it! Discuss.

Big Sis Uh-oh, Mum's turning into a student - she used the phrase 'to be fair'... It's downhill from here Mother dearest!!!I continue to be envious of your photos - the dolphins must've been amazing, along with everything else you have seen on your travels! Now you're in a 4* hotel for free?! That must feel like luxury after hostelling it for all these months! I'm not sure I'd recommend doing the Ross thing from friends (taking all the free things!) - you don't want any 'major shampoo explosions' on your return journey!I can't believe you are so close to the end of your trip... The first two months seemed to drag for me (I've missed you lots...), but this last month seems to have wizzed by! We'll definitely set a date for when you can take me back with you... I'll start saving!!!As for Mum's comment on all the other things to do on holiday - you only live once, so why not take a couple of risks?!Nan - it wasn't just a chocolate cake... It was a caterpillar cake - much better! At least there was a little bit going spare for Gethin - not sure there would've been had a certain nearly 10 year old been there! Sorry we didn't save you any Nick, but I shall buy you cake (or make you brownies) upon your return!Have you been able to watch any of the Winter Olympics? I've been watching it every evening, enjoying it mostly when people crash out on the downhill skiing!I've got my cricket coaching assessment on Saturday, so I can qualify as a Level 1 cricket coach... It should be good! I'm tempted to have a trial run of my task tomorrow with a select number of my kids, but it'll probably rain! I've got it sorted in my head anyway (I think!).Counting down the days, but I've got them muddled with the days until the Easter hols... 25 teaching days left! However this also means that we've only got 39 teaching days left until SATs... Hmmmmm!Safe onward journey, hope you get to see NYC eventually!Love and miss you muchly xxxxxxxx

YLM Hello Nicholas! We got your sky-diving postcard today - you stupid boy! The corners of the postcard are a bit chewed, not sure if that happened in the post or you did it! There are other things to do on holiday like digging sandcastles, flying kites etc. There is really no need to go jumping out of planes. They are filming the new Harry Potter film at the Lookout - lots of marquees and horseboxes etc there at the moment. Can't remember iif I told you this already, but you know us old people, we like repeating ourselves! Love YLM xxxxxxxxxxx

Nan & Grandpa Dear Nick, Thank-you for the beautiful flowers. I was feeling so poorly when they arrived.Grandpa was in the garden feeding the birds. I sat at the bottom of the stairs and sobbed .Rebecca and your Mum and Dad came to see me last night. We didn't save you any chocolate cake provided by Rebecca.I wish I had been with you to see the Art Deco.Quite envious. My birthday card arrived this morning by the way. Enjoy NY.Can't wait for your return. Lots of Love Nan and Grandpa

YLM Cool photos. 400 dolphins - well to be fair I only counted 398! Sounds like you had a good boat trip there. Your Art Deco Nan will be very impressed with the Art Deco town, and she will love the statue. It's a pity she has a bad back because there is a Henry Moore exhibition at the Tate, and we all know how much she loves Henry Moore's sculpture at Wisley! Not! Glad you've enjoyed NZ! Lots of love YLM xxxxx

Bec n Gethin Oh no Matthew, it seems all things orange coloured are out to chase you!!! It also appears that the orange things are getting bigger!!! Make sure you keep an eye out for pumpkins, carrots and butternut squash!!!Freddie's currently up to mischief, he's been making noises all morning and keeps coming up for cuddles... I'm not sure if there's more hair on him, or on me and my laptop at the moment! Willow's up to mischief too... she hides under the bed, but works hard to push anything that's under there out - messy cat!Cricket course yesterday was good... had a challenge of hitting 6 stumps by throwing over arm... It then went down to 3... then 1... There were 6 of us trying to hit the stumps... 5 cocky men, who took the mickey out of each other when they couldn't hit the single stump... When it came to my turn, I got a direct hit, and they were all amazed! I didn't miss a shot at any of the stumps... My response was 'women can play cricket too!' Good times!!!xzc (from Freddie).I hope you are making the most of your time in NZ... These last few weeks will come around all too quickly! Can't wait to see you in person again - it's just not the same on webcam!Big hugs from all of us xxxxxxxx