Christchurch has suffered. It has been an "annus horribilis" of a year.Everyone has their story of what they were doing when both the 4th September 2010 and the 22nd February 2011 major earthquakes struck. The stories are told, not in a vein of "poor me" but the truth simply stated, and almost all of the locals we have talked to, say "But we are so lucky to be alive - that's what matters".  Most locals knew someone well who died in the 2011 quake. In the ...

New Zealanders are so much like Aussies. If it wasn't for a few distinctly different pronunciations of words, we would swear we had found ourselves back in Australia. Six is somewhere between  "Sux" and "sex" and Fish is somewhere between “Fush” and "Fesh". I love listening to the slight differences in language. There is a marked like minded joviality and chattiness about Kiwis that puts us at immediate ease.Auckland is pretty and stylish with s...

We were several hours out of Sydney when the pilot came on the intercom asking if there was a doctor on board!! (I know sounds like the beginning of a joke). A few minutes later the request was repeated, then shortly after a new request for any one with medical experience. Following a short delay, the pilots next announcement was we were to make a brief landing in Auckland. The plane landed at Auckland, New Zealand and all passengers were asked to disembark and...