Packing to move on was not easy! We seemed to have "acquired" things along the way! We noticed that one side of the big case was bursting apart when we got to the airport and during the "repack" manoeuvre realised that one of the catches had "given up"! That should make the next eight flights more interesting. When the check-in lady sternly announced that our case was "over the permitted weight limit - but luckily for you we round down" we knew we had to have...

The sun shone brightly as we went back into Auckland, on Wednesday, where we met up with Merv and Jennifer Reeves for a delightful lunch at McHugh's on Cheltenham beach - literally. Apologies for the quality of the photo but the waitress who took it was in a hurry and there was too much light behind! When it was adjusted it so that friends like Gary and Gail and Sigi could see how well Merv and Jennifer look....we lost the background! Then off across the city ...

Our trip to Oliver, Lisa and their FIVE children has been a great time. They had their first day of temperatures BELOW 30°C for 100 days!! Lovely sun and dry bright days, no humidity - Paradise, complete with brightly coloured parrots in the fruit trees at the back of the property on the edge of town. We all ate at the Corowa RSL (Returned Serviceman's League) last night. Juicy steaks for $18 (about £7.50!!) and a REAL Vampire Jet fighter outside the door...