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After driving in circles between the M25 and M4 we found our way to the long stay parking we had pre-booked at Heathrow, checked in a little late but with no worries, when Warwick decided to have a quick look in Dixons duty-free. Our flight was boarding and we were shopping! Warwick walked out of that shop and pretty much straight onto the plane with a new laptop computer. I always wondered who bought computers on their way out of the country, and now I know!

The 8-hour flight to Washington Dulles was dead easy, but they had not managed to get us our vege meals :-( We were hungry! We flew ahead of the sunrise, so we could watch it for ages, the colours on the clouds were beautiful. We flew over the snowy, remote reaches of Newfoundland, it all looked so clean and wild and faraway.

We touched down in Washington in rain and very low cloud - we didn't see the ground until we were almost upon it. It was already hard to imagine the bright sunshine we had left above the clouds - from the ground the thick cloud seemed to go up forever.

Arriving at Dulles was brilliant. We were transported from the plane to the terminal on a big, white brick of a vehicle, walked straight through the relatively empty airport, through passport control and customs, and were suddenly in America. We caught a shuttle to our hotel and SLEPT! Then it was time for Jon and Margaret's wedding rehearsal - and for us to figure out the buses. Warwick had come prepared with timetables and fare information downloaded from the internet, and we got to the rehearsal so quickly and easily we were early!

St Josephs Catholic Church in Old Town Alexandria was the venue for our rehearsal and for tomorrow's big day. It is a beautiful church with lovely opaque stained-glass windows and is painted in warm colours and gold. We met the party and the families, and everyone practised their part. FUN! Well, I got the easy job: appreciative audience.

From the rehearsal it was back to the Andrus family home for dinner - it was a fabulous party, with speeches and song in to boot. We finally faded about 10:30 and Kathy Andrus very kindly dropped us home. A long, full and fun first day in the States!

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We took another bus to the wedding, and were there in good time once more. It was a beautiful, beautiful ceremony. From the church a bus was chartered to take us to the reception at Mt Vernon, George Washington's former residence. It was a lovely place! I love these large wooden American buildings, their paint jobs and their wallpaper!

The reception was held at the restaurant in the Mt Vernon grounds. After dinner there were a few more speeches and dancing to a live band. Warwick joined the kiwi lads in a fabulous haka and then the whole kiwi continent gave a rendition of Pokarekare Ana. I thought I had forgotten the words but they came back to me as we sang :-)

Finally it was time to go - we threw rose petals to see the happy couple off, then the shuttle dropped us off at the bus station. Perfect timing - we waited only a few minutes for the next bus home.

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We didn't have a room but a suite in our hotel, with a living area, separate bathroom, a wee kitchenette - the whole thing was almost as big as our wee house in Farnborough! We even had two large-screen TVs! There are zillions of channels but it's mostly advertising as far as I can see. They hack their programmes up with adverts even more than we do in NZ, and that's quite a feat! We are used now to uninterrupted programmes on the BBC.

Today we decided to go into DC and see what we could see. I had been wishing for snow and when we took a look out the window that morning there it was, falling lightly, not staying on the ground but definitely falling! So we nipped out to be in it, before catching a shuttle to the metro station. We waited a wee while for a train (it was Sunday after all) but when it came the metro had us in town in no time.

First stop: Smithsonian. We were greeted above ground by a heavy snowstorm. It was COLD! And WET! And the snow was piling up. From the Smithsonian metro we could only barely make out the outline of the Washington Memorial and we couldn't really see the Capitol, that's how thick and heavy the snowfall was. We began to walk along the Mall but we got so cold so quickly that we decided to head straight for one of the museums. And so we arrived wet and covered in snow, fingers aching from the cold, at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Wow factor here is high: first plane ever flown (except perhaps for Richard Pearse's...?), first plane to reach the speed of sound, the Apollo 11 and Mercury space capsules, among much, much else. It was a really excellent museum and I learnt heaps! We ate in the foodcourt, and by the time we left the storm was in full flight. The snow was thick on the ground (and after our snowball fight it was also thick on my coat and shoes and hat!) We nipped across to the Museum of Natural History which had some BRILLIANT dinosaur skulls, including a diceratops. It also had some brilliant crystals, geodes, giant squids, beautiful gold, marvellous rocks, and some very expensive soft drinks.

We left at closing time, and it was getting dark. We took the metro back to King St, but the bus was going to be ages, so we walked through the freshly fallen snow to Wendys which was on the way home. What brilliant snow! Piled so high and still so clean and undisturbed. Wendys was as yummy as we remembered from NZ - nice to know our nearest one is only 8 hours flight away! We ate potatoes AND chips! Then with what was by now usual fabulous timing, we caught the bus home :-)

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We took a tour through the Capitol building itself, what a splendid place! The rooms we saw were beautiful, and the statuary which was once where the House of Representatives met has a brilliant flaw in its design: from a certain point in the room a normal voice will resound clearly to the other side.

We walked from the Capitol to the White House, stopping for a baked potato, chocolate mint biscuits, a lemon snap and the richest of richest of chocolate brownies from Dean & Deluca on the way. From the White House we walked to the Washington Memorial and from there to the Lincoln Memorial, which was my favourite. It was a beautiful, simple and sober memorial to a very wise man.

From here we stumbled upon one of the most haunting and beautiful war memorials I have ever seen - the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Statues of soldiers stand as though walking up the hill towards the American flag. Running alongside is a grey wall which is polished (marble?) so that it reflects the statues. The faces of servicepeople are also printed monochrome on the wall, so that the soldiers' reflections are superimposed on them. Hard to describe but it is simple and beautiful.

Eeks! By now we were losing the light and we hadn't done even HALF of what we wanted to! We saw the Jefferson Memorial from afar but decided to go on to Arlington Cemetery. We got there as it closed at 5pm :-( So we pressed on to the Pentagon, knowing we would not get a tour, but wanting to see the outside. We got there and walked around a little but again it was getting late, so we pressed on. We would also have liked to spend more time in Old Town Alexandria but it wasn't to be - we had another hotel to get to!

So we got back to the Washington Suites, picked up our luggage, got back on the bus, then the metro then an airport shuttle, heading for the Hyatt Dulles. From the airport we planned to take the free hotel shuttle and we were there in perfect time BUT... Warwick had left his gloves on the shuttle from West Falls Church! Aaagh! We waited for it to come back, luckily the gloves were still on the seat. Finally we caught the shuttle to the hotel.

When we checked in the man double-checked the name of our booking - War-wick - he said it as two separate words. People have done this all through our trip! As well as comment on how CUTE our accents are! Ours??!!! Warwick went for a swim to ease his poor shoulders - he had lugged that new laptop around on his back all day! I re-packed and read. Couldn't believe it was our last day.

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We got back to London to find it had snowed here as well. Not in Farnborough, but at Heathrow. The car was iced over and covered in snow - we could hear the ice crack as we opened the doors. So COLD! We got home and SLEPT.

A quick wee note now of all the extra things I noticed in America but haven't mentioned:
Proper-shaped Pizza Huts
Yellow school buses
Big cars
Brilliant customer service
Empty, relaxing shopping mall
Easy, friendly conversation among strangers (even on the metro!)
Motorway signs like ours in NZ
Street signs and lights hung above intersections
Lovely big wooden houses, large blocks and big lawns
Good wide roads
Cinnamon tictacs

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Oh oh oh! Today we are going to Europe somewhere - and I don't know where! Warwick has had this planned since before Christmas and he has managed to keep the secret. How exciting!

There was a brilliant busker at Bank station the other day, a solo singer with no music to accompany her, a choirboy-type voice singing a beautiful, simple song.

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GENOA! Birthplace of Chrisopher Columbus, in the (rugby-mad) north of Italy. We had a smooth trip to London Stansted, but right until check-in I had no idea of where we were going. Warwick had us join a queue for Venice and then Glasgow before we finally got in the right queue - Genoa. How exciting! I had never been to Genoa, and Warwick had never been to Italy full-stop. We had a small section to go on in the Western Europe Lonely Planet and thought we'd buy a more specific Italy guide book at the airport but couldn't really find one we liked. Oh well! We'll get a map when we arrive, we decided.

The flight out was great - we could see so much of England, France and the Alps. Little alpine towns in Switzerland were still deep in snow, they looked beautiful. One of the best things about flying is seeing the world from the air. Such a privilege!

Coming into Genoa involved a bit of circling over the seas - fantastic, as the view was gorgeous. Genoa is a long, thin port town sandwiched between the mountains and the mediteranean coast. We flew in about 5:30, just as the evening sun was casting a warm, gold and pink glow over the buildings and the mountains. We had mad bad turbulence on the way down, but landed safely. We found our way to the tourist information kiosk, got a free map and directions to the bus which would get us to within a couple of blocks of our hotel. YEEHA! It all felt so dreamlike to me, waking up in England with no idea I'd be in Italy by evening :-) What fun!

We walked to our hotel, which was really nice and comfy, watched some news on TV in Italian (gathering that something awful had happened on the London Underground that day but not knowing quite what :-/ - it turned out to be the Chancery Lane crash) then went out in search of dinner. We walked down to the main street, all lit up and people walking everywhere, and not too cold for the time of night and of year! We walked and walked, past large fountains, down little narrow passages into little squares, emerging by a cool black and white cathedral which we decided to visit in the morning, finally finding a fabulous, friendly wee place for food.

Our waiter was really funny, he couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak much Italian so the whole conversation was a kind of parody of foreigners trying to communicate in two different languages with a bit of French thrown in. We were all laughing! Genoa is the home of pesto genovese and focaccia, YUM! Warwick had a mixed plate of vegetables to start and I had farinata, a kind of chickpea flour torte thing. We both had lasagne genovese as a main washed down with house red, and what a delicious meal that made! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

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This morning we had a basic breakfast and checked out. Our baggage was small enough to carry with us through the day. We stepped out into a gorgeous, golden morning, took a right and headed up the hill, in search of a funicular to take us to the top for the view. We walked and walked, up and up, catching occasional glimpses of the sea farther and farther below us. Stopping to photograph a tower Warwick lost his lens cap! Oh no! (This he found a month later, very deep in his deepest coat pocket).

And as we climbed, the wind grew stronger and stronger. We found the top of one funicular but we were aiming for a higher one anyway. (This is city is built upwards, and has three funiculars for local use, and some buildings apparently have doorway in the ceilings!) Well we got high enough to find the funicular we were looking for but could not see it anywhere. We had a good view by now anyway, but it was a bit hazy so rather than carry on upwards we headed back down into town. What a walk that had been! Great :-)

We got back into town and were seemingly plunged into a network of maze-like streets, very narrow, only a scrap of sky could be seen between the tops of the tall buildings. It was dark in town, compare with the bright morning sun on the hill suburbs. We walked around and around, not too worried about where we were because lots of people were walking about.

Finally we popped out into a large square, and there we were faced with the cathedral (Cattedrale di San Lorenzo) we had seen the night before. It is of black and white marble, really beautiful. We looked for more landmarks, finding a little black and white church not far from the cathedral, finding the fountains again, finding the Palazzo Ducale where we rested after all our walking. The Palazzo Ducale courtyard was large, white and airy. We kept walking, now along Via Garibaldi which is lined with palaces, including the Palazzo Bianco and the Palazzo Rosso (the latter unfortunately undergoing restoration at that point). And still the whole experience had a dreamlike quality for me, I just couldn't believe where I was!

Getting really hungry, we walked down towards the port in search of food. We found a nice wee place and had almost the same meal that we had had the night before - although the food last night was better. I managed to transact everything in Italian this time, a few words had crawled out of the dark, dim chambers of my memory... I was very proud of myself!

We walked along the port to see what we could see... in the airport direction, past a large, fairytale-style pirate boat built for Roman Polanskis's film Pirates, was a large boardwalk-sort-of-thing, where we sat in the sun on a bench and watch a large group of scouts playing different games up and down the waterfront.

We turned back to the town end of the port, and found an ice-skating rink built out on the ocean, held up by a large spider-like construction which also held an enclosed, circular viewing platform which lifted you up high above the town, spinning very slowly as it did so you got a panoramic view. Lovely! The colours of the buildings here are all so warm, lovely yellows and ochres and oranges, and the harbour and sky so blue. And all day it had felt as warm as could be, as though we had escaped winter for a while.

All too soon it was time to find the bus and get back to the airport. We walked past the Palazzo dei Principe to get to the bus station. I was very sad indeed to leave, but what a fabulous two days! I felt like I had been on holiday for a week :-)

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It took me three hours to make the 1 hour 20 min journey home on Thursday, and I can't complain because some people slept overnight in their cars on the motorway, they couldn't move for 22 hours! And all for two inches of snow.

With the Chancery Lane crash in January, the Central and Waterloo & City lines were out, and with the weather parts of the Jubilee and Northern lines were out and there were severe delays on the Circle line. All the lines I might possibly use as Plans A, B and C!

So I walked (with many, many others) through the falling snow, from station to station, managing a long wait on the Jubilee Line platform at London Bridge before giving up and forcing my way back through the crowds onto the streets, only to get lost straightaway (I can't do London Bridge above ground, don't ask me why because it can't be that hard, can it?) and finally ending up back at Bank. Bank is ten minutes walk from my work, and after an hour and a quarter there I was, just about back at square one. I was home very late indeed :-(

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A sunny Sunday, and Warwick and I decide to head to Hexton, where mum's ancestors lived for a couple of hundred years between their old homeland of France and new homeland of New Zealand. Hexton is a tiny wee village not far from Luton, northwest of London.

We drove up through the countryside, realising once more that the minute we leave Farnborough we drive into cloud and rain (sunny days are the days to STAY IN Farnborough, not to leave it, and especially not to leave it in the direction of north!)

We arrived at Hexton as the first drops of rain were falling, and sat in our car outside St Faith's church to eat what picnic we had brought with us and read the Sunday paper. Fed and happy we ventured out, starting with a walk around the churchyard. The church sits on very waterlogged land beside a pretty brook (actually I guess snowmelt is responsible for the soggy ground) and the ruins of the collapsed tower are still on view. We didn't go inside - maybe next time mum? ;-) A new stone church was dedicated here in 1114, and replaced an old timber church.

We drove through the village (doesn't take long!) out into the countryside, and back in by the pub (the Raven Inn, a very nice looking pub - rats, and we'd brought a picnic lunch!), stopping to photograph some of the old buildings. We didn't find Hexton House (next time mum?) - didn't really look as we had no map - but found two of the old farms.

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For three Tuesdays in a row my work has taken me to Cambridge. Aaaah, sigh, Cambridge! What a lovely place. Always colder than I expect, always as lovely as I remember. On the way up on the first Tuesday in February there was still snow on the ground, in broad stripes where the hedges keep the ground in shadow. Actually we noticed that on the way to Hexton too: long, broad stripes of snow marking out the fields.

We are enjoying a tropical (almost balmy!) 10-11 degress celsius, the light takes much longer to leave us in the evening, and the first crocus has emerged in the neighbour's garden - spring is on the way! And around the same time as spring (in two weeks, six days and 19 hours!) Nikki and Garry will be here. Yeeha!

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A quiet, early morning... I left Warwick sleeping and sat reading quietly in the lounge. I had forgotten it was my birthday. All was still - then suddenly with great a leap Warwick had bounced into the room! Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Presents and smiles :-)

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Up early to pick up Nikki and Garry. Have had a full week of bright sunshine, crocuses, daffodils, primroses and violets along Rectory Road. The bare, stick-y bush outside or door is bright yellow with new leaf. Today cloud but no rain.

We arrived five minutes late and they were there already, with customary Thai orchid, in excellent spirits. They were in better shape than than us! Garry does great British accents already.

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After a very heavy week at work, including 12-hour days and far too much stress, we are leaving for NZ. I've been at work too much :-( Nikki and Garry have been fab, looking after us all week. Lovely dinners and breakfasts and lunches. Also sunshine non-stop – no rain for ages. Bought a sunflower on the way home from work a while ago and it is a gorgeous bright yellow in the sun.

Packing until the last minute but would really rather lie on a beach instead!

Nikki and Garry got up early and travelled with us as far as Woking. What lovely people :-) Really ready for breakfast but found nothing at the airport - still frantically finishing and posting documents for work while waiting for our boarding call!

Singapore

A few people were wearing masks for SARS but airport and airline staff weren't, and we didn't feel worried. Caught six hours of blissful, deep and much-needed sleep at the transit hotel.

We called William, the taxi driver who had shown Warwick around last time, for a two-hour tour. FABULOUS! Beautiful plants and flowers, those in the shade had not all opened, and some fabulous trees! The road we drove on doubled as an emergency fighter jet runway - there are two, one facing Indonesia and one facing Malaysia! It took only five years to build up the reclaimed land from the city to the airport.

Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965 and was a British colony until 1971. The country had no rubber, no rice, nothing. There are lots of new buildings, including Swissôtel, the tallest hotel in the world, and Suntec City which has the biggest water fountain in the world. The road near the business area is closed every day at 6pm for the food market. There is a real mix of old, solid British buildings and new Singaporean ones.

Passed a beautiful park by the seaside. Heaps of people there as Sunday is a family day. This park has the only free parking in Singapore, it is a local place, with no tourists.

According to William, Singaporeans live in small flats with small dogs, while foreigners live in bungalows and have big dogs to protect their houses.

I keep having to resist chewing gum! I nearly forget that it's forbidden here! I love the light, the foliage, the SMILES, and the lack of hard-sell :-) The city is really clean and beautiful.

William pointed out a hotel built with ball-bearing structure to protect against earthquakes. We drove through Little India (what a brilliant and colourful place, full of people, mostly men, and mostly all sitting on the ground, we saw only the occasional tourist), Little Thailand, Chinatown and Little Phillipines. Apparently Sunday is the day to be here - everyone is relaxing and there is no traffic congestion. The colours of the buildings in Little India, especially in the evening light, were something awesome.

Love Singapore!

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Arrived in NZ! Ron and Kay met us, and we went back to the Warwick's parents for lunch. We left Warwick there as Anne wasn't well, and mum and I went to Morrinsville via dad's work for a quick coffee. So nice to be home again! Brilliant sunshine. Days still fairly long and very, very, very warm (we left the UK before British Summer Time came in, but after NZ Daylight Savings had finished! Not clever!)

Clem was at home and Grandad turned up as well :-) And the dogs recognised me! Cat-cushion Basil was there, and of course the fish. No Misty. Houses going up all along Kuranui Road! What is this?!

And aaaah... NZ skies :-)

I was in bed by 7pm.

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Woke up at 1:30am! Cadbury peppermint chocolate, the Listener, internet... later the morning news came on and Clem got up at 6ish, Grandad up and heading for a run about 6:30 in dark fog, and dad just home from his run then! A hive of activity at such an early hour!

Impressions: smell of grass in the sunshine, drowning in cicadas, monarch butterflies, the hum of insects. Warmth.

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Chatted to Grandad over breakfast (mum and dad were in Auckland by now). Grandad was born in Opotiki ("in a tent"!) Well, not born in a tent but lived in one. He went to a large school - 45-50 children per class! It was quite unusual then as now. Fenton was always top in the class. They then moved to Marumaru, where there were only 15 children in the whole school. And my nan Rae Shaw topped the class there, beating uncle Fenton.

Grandad also talked about the war and his time in Italy. (He is taking Italian night classes). He was billeted for 2 - 3 weeks in Fabriano and learned some Italian there. He had good rations of food so could share with the locals and became very popular!

He told me about coming across some youths piling stone up on the side of road. The youths pointed to the pile of stones they had made and said "Mamma morte".

They were still using the old ways of farming then in Italy, still using animals to plough the field, there was no current technology. Consequently, after the war, there was no real evolution of technology in Italy, they went from ploughing with animals to combine harvesters!

When Grandad left I deadheaded some roses and penstamens, then visited Rosemarie (Mrs Stanley) who was looking really well. We had another lovely long chat. She was (as usual) listening to dad on Radio Pacific.

Tried to buy dinner for Clem that night but he ended up paying for me!

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Warwick came down today, and we carried on to Hamilton for lunch with Jan and Rex. It was our first time ever at Valentines!

We went on to Jean's for afternoon tea, lots of talk about deaf history and current access laws in NZ and the UK.

Finally we had dinner at Goana (formerly Montana) in Victoria St... Andrew, Sarah, Rose, Robbie, Carl, Shelley, Jean, Warwick and I. Yummy food and lots of nice chat. Nice to be back.

04 April

Still so tired! Went to Hamilton with mum and Warwick. I had my colours done (I'm a summer) while Warwick shopped. Got some Chiefs flags from the Warehouse. Home for lunch - hummus and bean sprouts :-) Mmmm...! Then to Auckland for dinner at Exmouth Rd.

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Another big social day!

9:30am breakfast at Cafe Paysanne in Dominion Rd, FAB FOOD! recommended by Nikki (she had taken mum and I there before, and when we were discussing our plans with her before coming out to NZ she informed us that each of the places we had thought of going to had either closed down or changed hands and gone downhill! Our knowledge of Auckland cafes is becoming an historical snapshot!). Karl, Roxanne, Jean, Carl, Shelley, Ossian, Liz, Rochelle, Rachel D and Adam were there. As numbers diminished after breakfast we wandered through Geoffs Emporium for old times' sake then headed for Shore City where Rachel, Adam, Warwick and I shopped around before lunch.

Wendys Takapuna 1pm - surprise! A Morrinsville College reunion of sorts! We were joined by Helen, Dianne, Trudy, Debbie and Nicole, as well as Rachel D, Adam, Julie, Richard, Jean, Carl and Shelley. Looked through old photos, walked along Takapuna beach (very windy - lots of kite-surfing going on), looked out at Rangitoto. Headed on to Starbucks where we were joined by James who had been looking unsuccessfully for us on the beach and somehow found us in Starbucks where we had not actually planned on being!

On again to bowling... Adam, Julie, Richard, Rachel D, Warwick and I. The boys were fabulous and Rachel did well on behalf of the girls! Nathan turned up and was added to the game. Air hockey and pool, then Dennys - Ossian and Sarah W arrived and Rachel and Richard left.

9:30pm - finished after a 12-hour rolling-social day!

06 April

Hung out, didn't do much, sleepy day and solid, straight down, soaking rain. Made our way to Jenni's for hot chocolate and to see her new lounge suite :-) Lovely evening.

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Convoluted journey to pick up our rental car... bus to Fanshawe St, Caltex for junkfood and for a phonebook to check the address we wanted, and a lovely long walk in yummy sunshine to Stanley St! Picked up a rental car (white Toyota Starlet! $32 per day and unlimited kms! A2B Rentals). Took SH2 to Katikati and saw Joy's cafe briefly, carried on along SH2 to Tauranga for tea with Des, then the three of us went into town for a falafel lunch. Tauranga is always so sunny and beautiful!

We carried on to Rotorua on SH2 to the Cleveland motel where we watched Family Ties (!) and Cheers (!) - funny how different TV is here. Then out to dinner at Ciccio - excellent food. Gwynne, Linda, Jim, Kay, Deane and Cherry all came along. It was a really funny night, all giggles and wordplay and fickling (verb: to decide absolutely definitely to do one thing and then do another) and rich dessert and chocolate fish cake and black Sambuca and a red heart lolly :-) YUM!

08 April

Up early and shopping in Rotorua. Breakfast at Ciccio - bagels, crumpets, berries, bananas, hot chocolate and mango juice! Drove round the lake and through Ngongotaha to Katikati and BarCode. Evan turned up with a friend and we had coffee :-) A lovely stop. On via Miranda (so scenic!) and Orere Point to Auckland for dinner at Exmouth Rd.

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Up to Warkworth via Puhoi - I really enjoy Northland. Lunched with Warwick's workmates - Michelle, Vicky, Barbara, Linda and Ben. Another fun conversation, involving Bentley the miniature horse (so named for his bent nose). Warwick and I climbed Mt Manaia, which was just beautiful. Nice to be back in the NZ bush, and to climb for such lovely views.

Thu 10 April

I have no notes for this day! Must have relaxed :-)

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A slow day, beautiful and hot, Warwick and Ron fixed the clothesline while Anne and I went to Savemart (Anne found a pair of pretty pumps that didn't hurt her toes) and we got photos developed.

Food memories from NZ so far: feijoas, passionfruit, frujus, crispy egg noodles, watermelon, pumpkin.

In the evening we met Jenni at a work party then met up again at Burger Wisconsin in Mt Eden which is the same as ever. Then we met Anne and Ron at St Paul's multi-lingual service where they sang a song Ron had written, then home (through the rain) to bed.

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Dad picked us up from Exmouth Rd, the day bright and clear for the Sky Tower Vertical Challenge. Getting a little nervous! Parked in Sky City park, met Clem at registration. He is looking so fit and well! It was to be an inspiring day.

Big screen outside, free Powerade, watched waves of runners and the elite winners' bunjy! Jenni met us there. Soon it was time to go to the line, stretch, get ready and go! On the dot of 12:10. Waved to Warwick and Jenni and was already working hard by the time I reached the steps 200m later!

Noticed the 7th floor sign first, the crowd thinned and I lost sight of dad. Began to recognise the faces of people stopping at various levels, all of us suffering from similar levels of exhaustion and "leap-frogging" each other all the way up! The 30s were the doldrums, then suddenly we were in the 40s and then after a short, flat run we were just as suddenly finished!

Free water was given at the end, and St John's ambulance were stationed all the way up the stairs. Walked around up top to cool down, a fabulous day and a fabulous view. Our times: Clem 7:35, Dad: 9:46, me 16:50. Took the lift down to meet Jenni and Warwick and drove to Whitecliffe for mum's exhibition. Cool! Drove by Clem and Stevie on the way out, headed to Bombay Caltex for such nourishment as can be found at a petrol station and to meet Rachel for the drive to Morrinsville. Dad and I were in one car, Warwick and Rachel followed in the other. Got to Morrinsville for showers and on to the rugby...

Had a drink at the Harlequins bar and then headed to our seats where Clem was seated already (dad went to his season seat). The Chiefs lost when they should have won! Chainsaw guy in cherry picker, mere, mascot. Fun to be there, new stadium nice but not full to capacity. Food in refs lounge then home for Chinese. Slept very well! A big day! (Found out later that my cousin Angus was also in the Sky Tower race - he came 3rd!)

Sunday 13 April

Woke up feeling a million dollars :-) Relax day, do nothing. Nice.

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To Manukau via EA for flight to Christchurch! Booked on the internet and Qantas was the cheapest! Paid $4 for bottled water at the airport!!! Shock!!! Leg room for dad on flight, nice views of alps, not much snow, braided rivers cutting through the plains, touch down. We were met by Alexander and went home to meet Luke at the McDs' new place.

Luke, Warwick, dad and I went into town to visit Nana and bring her back for dinner. Peter, Judy, Ben and Olivia also came - yummy dinner and lots of chat! Warwick and I danced ceroc and Olivia did an Irish jig, played horses and psycho puppies and transformers...! Went through old photos as well.

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Exercise! 2.4 km run. Luke, dad, Warwick and I went into town to get sports shoes for dad - I like wandering Rebel Sports! We visited Nana and took her to Peter and Judy's where Alexander was babysitting Ben and Olivia. Lunch there then Peter, dad, Warwick, Alexander and Luke all went to Wigram while I stayed with Ben and Olivia and Nana. Outside we played puppy school (got to train these psycho puppies!) and played in the hut Ben and Olivia had built. We ordered in pizza for tea when everyone was home and Catherine joined us.

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Went to Nana's house in the morning, where we found one of her old photo albums. Went on into town to the bookshops and to get photos developed, and dad and I went to see Nana for a chat which was really nice. Back into town to pick up Warwick who had of course bought BOOKS! Warwick and I went to meet David on the Bridge of Rememberance. He turned up in his motorcycle leathers! Had yummy nachos and spirulina at The Coffee House not far away.

When we left David we shopped in the Arts Centre (oh and saw the new Art Gallery which is really cool, all in glass) and shopped again in Cathedral Square. Met dad, went to Peter and Judy's again, then dad went on to Riccarton to meet friends while we headed to the Antigua Boatsheds to go punting.

Fabulous sunset and autumn colours for punting, lots of ducks because of the shooting season. Ben was our "adventure punter" - part-time art teacher and part-time punter. He pointed out and named trees for us, including a nice sequoia spotted by Warwick. It was a fun, chatty ride and a nice way to travel. Lots of waves and greetings from people on the bank.

Home to a vege lasagne at McDs, and a long chat around the table after dinner. We talked about CeeCee's life, the war and card-playing days, and his death. We watched videos: Luke's christening, Peter and Judy's wedding, Catherine and Brad's wedding. Such lovely memories and sunny days at Whincops Rd! Old Halswell Church of Ss Peter and Paul (now a lovely new church building there). A hot, hot day for Peter and Judy's wedding. WHAT A LATE NIGHT WATCHING VIDEOS!

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Dad and Catherine into town early. RAIN! Warwick, Alex and I picked dad up from town and visited Nana in the lounge in Ellerslie (budgie, booties) then said our goodbyes and headed for the airport.

Dad took a later flight and all too soon Warwick and I were on the plane... however we were delayed and arrived in Auckland only 5 mins before dad! Said goodbye to Warwick at the airport and dad and I went home to Morrinsville ahead of the Easter traffic. Mum and Clem were also home that night.

Fri 18 April

Good Friday - up to exercise, 3km. Day off! Relax. George Cox visited for tea and blueberry muffins.

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Clem off to golf for an 8:07 tee-off. Mum and I visited Grandad in Tauranga (saw his trophy for Waikato Veteran Athlete of the Year 2002!) Talked about Italian and language learning - lovely azalea in garden and also creeping flower ground cover.

Lunch at Bells, saw James as well. On to Katikati to see cafe, had stick tea and lolly log. Caught up with Evan and Brad, Jack and Daff, picked up Kane (who bought us each a Creme Egg!) and went home via the supermarket - Easter tomorrow and we had no eggs to give away! Paeroa, Waihi Gorge, Te Aroha pretty but RAINY. Yummy roast dinner, helped mum sort her wardrobe.

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Oh no, only one more day! :-(

SARS apparently getting worse.

Juggling with Kane, watched The Silent One. Enjoyed the slow day. Mum's wardrobe, hot cross buns, changed fish tank water, Kane did some watercolour paintings. Went to Hamilton to see the house-shifting place and got lots of info from a man with a dog named Blue - the dog very quickly made friends with Kane! Got home and ready to pack while mum dropped Kane home.

Clem home from a good game of golf. He picked up Stevie and we all had a late night talking old films and music. FUN! I didn't start packing until nearly 1am though and wrote half of this trip diary up after that! Sleep now. Tomorrow will come too soon. Can't wait though to see Warwick. RAIN!!!

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Woke up feeling tired for the first time since recovering from jet lag. Hug from Clem, farewelled dogs, cat and fish (never did see Misty) and drove with dad to Auckland. On the way we planned next year's travel in Europe. Fun, messy NZ skies, sunny, blue, and mixed-up white cloud.

Stopped in on Bryan and Helen in Pukekohe, and saw Mark, Maureen, Caitlin, Bryan Jr and Erin. Lovely time.

Airport - dad and I waited for the others. Mum turned up with litres and litres of life-saving water! Then the whole of Warwick's clan turned up as well. We checked in then went for morning tea - all too suddenly it was time to go. Real sad, emotions very close to the surface. I missed NZ and these people more while I was there than when I am in the UK, if that is possible.

Onto our Singapore flight, it felt long and it was nice to get to Changi airport. We window-shopped, had dinner (hot and spicy Mee Siam - yum!) and emailed home. Got some sleep at the Transit Hotel.

Tue 22 April

Breakfast was yummy white toast with fried scrambled egg. Airport was busy today, lots of travellers, many more in masks this time around - actually, lots of westerners in masks this time around. Airline and airport staff still not wearing them though.

From the plane: I will never forget the shiny water, the sunlight on the water and small fluffy clouds casting their shadows on the sea surface. FABULOUS!

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Wed 23 April - Monday 12 May

On Thu 24 April (NZT) our beautiful mum and mum-in-law Anne died suddenly. We found flights back immediately and were back in NZ by Saturday. On 1 May Rosemarie Stanley also passed away.

We know that our time with them in April was a beautiful gift, and I am really going to miss these these two very special people.

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May

While back home for the second time, we went to see dad in his studio at Radio Pacific, and sat in on the show.

Dad had also decided to run the Fletcher Challenge marathon so mum and I went along as support crew (and I also as videographer). Dianne and Rod were there too, and it was a really nice thing to be a part of.

When we got back to the UK again, Nikki and Garry, who had been such a help to us when Anne died, had moved to Scotland. We had already booked flights to go back there on a couple of weekends in June so we planned a visit.

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Earlier in the year we had booked a trip to Amsterdam which we now didn't much feel like, but we took it anyway. Anne had also traveled to Amsterdam and while we were in NZ in April had shown me some of her photos and postcards from her overseas travel. At home after she died we also found a lovely wee figurine which she had bought in Amsterdam. She was on our minds for the whole weekend.

Worked late on Friday night with all possible deadlines upon me, but up early on Saturday with the now traditional mango smoothie before the drive to Heathrow. Mmmm... duty free... mmm... nice seats on KLM... mmm... only 45 mins in the air! Cabin staff addressed me in Dutch (as did several people over the weekend). I understand maybe one word in seventy of Dutch, if I'm lucky!

Train to hotel in Zaandam, learnt our first word at the train station, the placename "Sloterdijk" (sounds like "slow today"!) After a rest and a supermarket lunch we took another train to Amsterdam Central. It was very rainy. Walked to Anne Frank's house (buying a brolly on the way). The queue to the house was very long, around the corner of the street, so we walked around and photographed the canals, then gave up and joined the queue anyway. The house was very moving, easy and hard at the same time to imagine such fear and occupation. It made Anne Frank's story even more real to me. It was a small place with steep, narrow steps, and the lovely pictures Anne had glued on the walls for decoration were still there, including one of the baby Princess Elizabeth of York. Such a sad, sad story.

Observations: smooth, efficient trains. NO-ONE takes Visa (including the Italian restaurant which we chose to eat at because of its Visa sign). Streets like a bit of Brugges mixed with a smidgen of Paris but the language is very difficult! I still really only know my placenames.

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Walking, walking, sun had come out, walking, walking... through town again, to the Bloemenmarkt and the van Gogh museum which was BRILLIANT. It was amazing to be so close to those great works of art, and to learn a bit more about their contexts. We had homemade supermarket sandwiches for lunch in the square near the museum.

We had read that you can see the flowers in stripes of colour across the fields from the train between Haarlem and Leiden where they grow. It was right at the end of the season so we took the risk in case it wasn't all harvested yet and jumped on a train (or two). Travelling through the countryside was lovely - the land was flat as far as the eye could see, as it was all reclaimed from the sea hundred of years ago. Pretty windmills were dotted around the place and wee canals defined some of the fields.

We had missed the flowers by about a week, there were some stripes of colour but not many. Walked around Leiden which was pretty, then had a picnic of falafel for dinner beside a windmill. We sat alongside the canal where it was particularly pretty and watched the sun on the water. Beautiful :-)

Observations: the great sense of humour of the people who served us! Especially the women at the ticketing offices.

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Aha - some European train systems DO have their problems! Felt right at home when engineering works closed our train line to the airport, and people were queueing for replacement buses in their hundreds. Our only option was to take a train in a long slow circle AWAY from our destination, through Haarlem again! So we did that, with me as stressed as could be, we ended up running to the check-in area and being checked in with seconds to spare, and only made it because we had no hold luggage. Phew!

Late May/early June

Sometime in late May or early June we travelled up to London to see the Tower of London, and also to see the British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2003 exhibition at the Natural History Museum, both well worth the visit.

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Rugby 7s at Twickenham! The South African team's jerseys were stolen by a security guard right in front of us – but only sharp-eyed Megan noticed at first. Had a great day in hot, direct sunlight – so much so that I had to nip down to the souvenir shop for peaked caps for Warwick and I.

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We had Liz to stay during the week, then headed up to Glasgow to see Nikki and Garry. We arrived at Glasgow Prestwick, which for all its proximity to Glasgow might as well be named Glasgow Ben Lomond or even Glasgow Edinburgh! It was a VERY long and leisurely bus ride into the city. Just as well Scotland is so very beautiful! Lots of elderly people took that bus and they were all lovely to us, welcoming us to Scotland (carrying lots of Nikki and Garry's gear we looked like backpackers again!) One lady even said "It's nice to have you here!"

Nikki and Garry's place is large, light and airy, well connected to town and newly done up. We found Garry at home and went out for pizza (Nikki was working). We ate so much pizza that to Nikki's disgust we didn't much want dinner when she got home! But we did a supermarket run, and Nikki and Garry put together such lovely burgers, that we fed our faces anyway. Yum! That set the mood for the weekend, which was to be one of fabulous eating.

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In the morning we feasted on croissants (mmmmmmmm...) and when Nikki went to work, Warwick and I bussed out to Newton Mearns to see cousins David and Marsha, Jean and Annie. We went out to Broom church where David and Marsha's son Bryson was preaching (he was back home for Israel for a short while), then walked up the hill towards Newton Mearns with Annie until David picked us up. Annie told us about the time before any houses were built on the hill, and they would go walking there. We went back to David and Marsha's for lunch with the family - a gorgeous spread as usual! - then headed back into town to catch up with Nikki and Garry.

The four of us went out for a vegetarian meal where we ate far too much of yet more gorgeous food (once we had found the restaurant, we did do a bit of walking before realising we were somewhere else entirely and catching a cab!) From the restaurant we went straight to the station and caught a train (quicker and cheaper than the bus) to Prestwick. Oh! Don't want to go!

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On this day in New Zealand our lovely aunty Helen passed away. I had been really blessed to spend time with her twice while back home, once in April and once in May. Although she was very ill she was always her beautiful self, inside and out.

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After watching some fabulous tennis (Hantuchova/Asagoe) on TV earlier in the week, we planned to meet up after work at Wimbledon today to buy cheap grounds tickets (they are only £5 after 5pm) and to see what we could see of the tournament. The queues for tickets were so long (about 600m) we nearly turned around and went home in despair. But actually it was the fastest moving queue either of us had ever been in, we were moving almost the whole time, walking past those people setting up camp on the pavement for the night to be first in line for good tickets the next day, and we were inside in 20 minutes.

The Wimbledon complex is absolutely beautiful, and everything is on a much smaller scale than I had imagined. We peeked over fences and roses bushes into courts, managing to see part of the doubles match involving Hantuchova and Rubin, before sitting on "Henman Hill" to watch the Williams sisters play Morariu and Stubbs in their first-round doubles match.

Someone sitting near us was leaving and gave us their tickets to get into Court Number 1 and see the game from there - yeeha! So we did, until falling light stopped play at around 9pm. It was brilliant, quite something to be there and watch it live, to see just how powerful and talented these players really are.

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A fortnight after leaving Scotland, we were back again. We had booked ourselves a much-awaited trip to the Isle of Iona. We picked up a rental car from the airport and drove up to Oban where we had a yummy toasted sandwich lunch and climbed the tower there. We took a ferry to the Isle of Mull (seagulls coasting along behind us on the air the ferry churned up) and we drove along that beautiful isle among sweeping mountains to the ferry terminal on the other side. There we left the car, browsed for books at the RNLI second-hand bookstall (these things follow us, I swear!) then caught the ferry to Iona.

We stayed at a lovely wee B&B, looking out onto wide fields full of wildflowers. We took a walk in the evening, revelling in the wide, clear skies and bright sunlight. The island is very beautiful indeed. We waked through the ruined nunnery and down to the abbey. (Iona was where St Columbo brought Christianity to Scotland - there has been an abbey on the site for many hundreds of years). The community on Iona is very small, I loved it.

We had read that Iona is popular with daytrippers who stay on Mull, so we planned carefully, arriving in the evening to take advantage of the long summer night and early sun in the morning, staying the night in between on the island itself. We had a lovely long walk then went home to bed - it was like midday sun until after 10pm! It seemed a shame to go to bed with such glorious daylight outside but we were both so exhausted - and Warwick especially so - that we did. It was a perfect, peaceful night's sleep. True silence!

In the morning we went down to the abbey where we discovered that we had free entry because of our Scottish Heritage membership. Yay! Walked around, listened to the singing but didn't attend the service. We then walked back past jetty until the road turned and we were walking towards the ocean on the western side. It was another glorious sunny day, sparkles on the clear, turquoise water, white sands.

All too soon it was time to head back to the jetty to get the ferry back to Mull. Imagine our surprise leaving this sleepy, peaceful little island to see the packed ferry full of hundreds of daytrippers arriving at the jetty! And there were more queueing up on the other side, and it was only 9am! Thank you, Lonely Planet.

We drove back across Mull, where we stopped for photos of beautiful spots and nearly detoured to a castle before looking at our watches and deciding time was against us. We ate yummy potato cakes waiting for the ferry, got back to Oban then drove back to Prestwick. A lot of travel but most of it breathtakingly scenic and all of it well worth it.

When we came home I found a letter for me from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate – I have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. Yay! Otherwise they'd have kicked me out in two weeks' time!

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Headed down to Brighton to spend the afternoon with Georgia. A gorgeous sunny day, we wandered around the town, spent time on the beach, and walked past a stage show of teeny little kids who were producing some surprisingly good rock music. They had the sound, the looks, and one of them very nearly had the voice! None would have been more than ten years old but they were fascinating and had us transfixed! We sat in the park, reminding ourselves that we must get to summer Shakespeare sometime.

We also nipped to Grantchester one hot weekend in July, it was just so hot and although we have shade of our own, we wanted the apple juice and clotted cream and jam on scones and deckchairs that go with Grantchester. We took a sentimental tour of all Warwick's old haunts and I actually got really homesick for Cambridge, I was so sad! And surprised at myself actually.

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We celebrated Cathy's 21st at the Quays on the 17th, then on the 18th were joined by Denise and Arron on almost the last leg of their epic travels. We talked lots about travel and played some 500 simply because no-one plays that over here and we knew they could! Might be our last chance to play again before we go home!

The next day (Saturday) we headed out early to Stonehenge, because it's only an hour away and anyone who ever visits England really ought to see Stonehenge. Scottish Heritage came to our rescue again, to our surprise, and got us in half price!

From there we headed up to our London "local", the Elusive Camel at Victoria, to see the ABs play South Africa. It was so hot! And inside the pub it was WORSE! Still the game was fabulous, a real demolition win for us and a great pub atmosphere. Both sides sang their national anthems at the start, and when they played Don't Dream it's Over for us at the end of the game half the pub started singing :-)

The next week, when we went up for the NZ-Oz game the atmosphere was really different. Maybe because it was a breakfast crowd? Nice atmosphere but much less singing. Lots of good-humoured hassling though, especially because the Aussies there were so very vocal at the start! They got quite quiet quite quickly. After the rugby, Michael, Alba, Cathy and Mark came around for what Cathy called "a proper British barbecue" (in that we held it in spite of threatening weather, and got rained out not long before we had planned to finish). Ate lots of yummy food though.

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HEATWAVE! It's brilliant! I love it! We topped all national records (they go back 130 years) here yesterday, with 31.8 C (101 F) in Kent, 31.9 near us at Heathrow. It is so hot that the breeze comes in from outside and warms us up even more! Great if you can lie around and do nothing - not so good if you were on the beleaguered South West Trains service that took 9 hours to make the 66 min journey between Brighton and Waterloo. I am avoiding trains. And our non-airconditioned office.

A week ago Warwick mowed the lawn and I brought out our large cushions and my exercise mat to make a lounger in the shade of the school tree. Bliss :-)

On Wednesday 6 August we went down to the Squirrel with Mark and Cathy to see who was around. It was a beautiful summery evening, no-one else was there so we went down to the chippy for Mark's dinner. We ended up trying two famous British dishes...

... Pea fritters are so very gross I cannot put it into words. Warwick managed to eat the whole thing but what can I say, yukky-green deep-fried mushy peas (mushy peas are a thing apart from garden peas) are not for me.

... Deep fried Mars bars are also incredibly difficult to eat! Warwick managed a very game bite, I managed only a bit off a corner, and luckily we had Cathy around who actually enjoys them.

Now it's back to lying across our comfy sofa with the ranch slider wide open, listening to the birds and letting the warm breeze tickle my toes. Aaaah, summer!

PS Recently Tesco (a supermarket chain) have started importing all types of TimTams plus Hubbards Berry Berry Nice and Oranges of St Clements cereals. Yaaay! We have been to Tesco quite a lot lately...

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In NZ at the beginning of this year, we caught up with my old friend Helen for the first time in something like seven years! On 14 August she arrived here from the Cook Islands and Canada, en route to Norway, and stayed with us for a few days. We travelled down south to Emsworth to see Robyn, another ex-Morrinsvillite, and had lunch at her local pub. When we left Helen and Robyn, we came home past Sir Peter Blake's grave, which is not far from Emsworth. There were lots of NZ tributes there, it was very poignant.

Mars came to visit this August, we were able to see it clearly for about 6 weeks or more. Unfortunately we didn't ever get to an observatory for a closer view, but it was nice seeing the red planet so close on clear evenings.

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After a few months of training the date of the Budapest half-marathon arrived! We left early on Saturday morning (4am!) to join huge queues at Heathrow (learnt how to use self check-in that day) and flew via Frankfurt to Budapest, where the first thing we did was sleep. We stayed at the Carlton Hotel in Apor Péter Utca. In the evening we got up and walked over the Chain Bridge, along Boulevard Andrássy and to the park where the half-marathon was to begin and end the next day. The metro is very old fashioned and clean :-)

We discovered the best icecream I have ever eaten, at a cafe on Boulevard Andrássy (these are the words I copied from the window to remind myself, but I have forgotten what they meant! Cukászada Kávézo, Olasz-Magyar szendvicsek, Fagylaltozó). The best flavours were watermelon, peach and strawberry, mmmmm...

We had dinner on the terrace at a restaurant next to our hotel, Warwick's new best-meal-ever: spinach pie, potatoes and rice. It was lovely sitting under the awning with heavy rain falling in the street beside us.

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The day of the race! On the way to the race we saw a group of motorcyclists riding along on their back wheels, impressive but probably illegal stunts in the midst of the traffic! The atmosphere at the start was brilliant. We looked at the race lists and there was one other kiwi doing the run, although I was listed under Great Britain. Then it was time to line up and go.

The race was great, especially the first 10 km. I kept a good pace and Warwick popped up from time to time on the sideline to take photos. It got harder at 10km, but the same few people were around me for the whole race so there was a real sense of cameraderie. People on the sidelines were also really encouraging and the people on the drinks stands were fabulous! They would jump up and down, sing, clap and cheer us on. There were also percussionists playing ten-gallon drums at various stages.

By 14 and 15km I was beginning to wonder why I had embarked on this, but the great scenery helped to keep my mind off the way I was feeling, then it was 18 then 19km, and then suddenly I was at the end and Warwick was there to greet me! It was a fabulous feeling! Warwick's support and encouragement had been invaluable to my training and to the race.

I was incredibly happy and exhausted when I made my way to the showers and to the Széchenyi Baths, which were free for runners on the day. I had a quick soak in the warm pools then met Warwick again in the park. Somehow my legs kept going and we explored the Castle District.

Same dinner again in the restaurant because it was yummy – and because it was close so my aching legs didn't have far to go to the hotel! I finally collapsed in front of Hungarian TV (which was being translated into Hungarian Sign Language).

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Warwick set his alarm for early the next morning, so he could walk around the rest of the city. I did not even dare to hope I would be up at that hour! But I was up early anyway, still well after Warwick had gone, and I coaxed my poor legs into taking me for my own walk around the Castle Hill behind our hotel. It was a crisp, clear, sunny morning and almost no-one was about. Beautiful! We met for breakfast, and headed back home that afternoon.

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I was in the kitchen when all of a sudden something small and remarkably similar in colour and pattern to our brown and cream 1960's lino hopped from a small nook where our washing powder is kept onto the floor. It hopped! I was sure it was a frog, not a mouse or anything else, so, like any normal human being, I squealed and ran out, slamming the door. Aaaaagh! Warwick took ages to get home and when he did he didn't believe me. A frog? Hahahahahaha! Never! He looked in the kitchen, there was nothing there.

The story continues in a few days...

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A not-so-early morning this morning (Saturday 6 September), we have a new policy of not getting up before 6am to travel! And a good thing too as we both had the beginnings of a cold :-(

We had booked a weekend break to Girona, a city not far north of Barcelona. We walked from the station to our hotel through a lifeless city, but when we went out about 6pm the place was much more active. We got icecream at a street stand (all transacted in very basic Spanish) and walked along the river Onyar, which was very low indeed. Town was a hive of activity with groups of students celebrating something, all in costume, and a wedding going on as well. We walked along the medieval wall in the old part of town, all arches and narrow streets.

Only tapas served until 8pm so we sat on a wall and watched the people, including a very well-dressed matador handing out lollipops.

Dinner was the funnest ever! We had a weird cold rosat merlot wine, which was pink and chilled but tasted like a red wine that ought to be at room temperature. Pesto linguine, alio e olio spaghetti, sorbet, apple pie and great conversation. The atmosphere in town was wonderful, and we got lost walking home which was fun too :-)

Had a fabulous sleep, will remember Hotel Melia! Walked into town again, along the top of the wall this time, stopping at lookout points when the rain came over, then lightning then thunder! It was very wet but we kept walking along the wall, which was beautifully restored. There were great views over the city and into the beautiful local gardens.

Warwick's fabulous sense of navigation got us back into town for tapas (courgette omelette) and a lemon drink, then we explored some more around the Església de Sant Feliu. We crossed the river to look back at the beautiful coloured houses and bridges, then via another icecream cafe made our way back to the station and the airport. Sad to leave, but very glad of this fun, short break.

Hoppy the Mystery Frog Part II: The following evening we were watching TV, Warwick sitting on the floor, when all of a sudden something small and remarkably similar in colour and pattern to our brown and cream 1960's carpet hopped along beside Warwick. “It's a frog!” he cried (or as Warwick tells it: "It's a frog," he vaguely mentioned). I was simultaneously pleased and horrified that I had been right, and very pleased to be sitting on the couch. This cute tiny little stranger was hopping along our carpet, and had somehow survived the weekend indoors. He seemed very glad indeed when Warwick opened the door, and with one almighty, gleeful leap, was gone.

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Warwick's birthday was on Saturday the 13th, so we celebrated with Nikki, Mark and Cathy, Julianne, Megan, Michael and Alba, Julia and Matt, Zane, and Liz at a Pizza Express in south London. Nikki was able to make it as a surprise :-) and Julianne had arrived fresh from Kurgistan!

The next morning, Nikki, Julianne, Warwick and I jumped in the car and headed through the mist to a sunny day in Cardiff, a three-hour drive from our place. Why? The KRUF Cardiff 10K run. I was the only one who had entered beforehand; Nikki and Warwick had to run 2km from our car park to the race centre to register, and were the last two to do so before it closed, then almost straight away they had another 10km to run! Well, they were probably the best-warmed-up entrants in the race! Julianne, being wise, wandered the castle while the three of us ran.

Warwick and I have been to Cardiff lots before, sometimes as tourists but mostly for the rugby, and we felt we knew the city quite well. However this well-designed race took us past the castle, through Bute Park which we had never been into, and along the River Taff, showing us a really beautiful side of Cardiff that we hadn't seen before. Our final 300m was most of a lap inside the Millennium Stadium... coming last of the three of us I had a cheering squad as well! A great race. We filled up quickly on some well-earned Subway sandwiches, then...

... headed home via Tintern Abbey. Tintern is a beautiful ruin, that Warwick had discovered by accident on his way home from work in Wales earlier in the year. We parked nearby then crossed the river (beautiful boats farther down) and found a bushwalk signposted behind the abbey. Somehow oblivious of the fact that we had just run 10km (and some of us had really run 12km!) we headed towards the interesting-sounding Devil's Pulpit. We soldiered on even as the track changed and became very steep, following signs until they ran out, then popped out onto a road where we encountered some equally lost walkers with a map which they didn't really understand. So we gave up and went back the way we came, needing more food!

After slow service at the tea rooms we finally walked across to the ruins themselves, and wandered around them for ages. They are some of the most beautiful ruins I have ever seen. The atmosphere was really beautiful, the grass a deep green, the sky wide and very blue. Having just read a novel on the construction of a cathedral set at around the time this abbey was built, I really appreciated the structure itself (Ken Follet, The Pillars of the Earth). The abbey was home to Cistercian monks until Henry VIII disbanded them, causing the abandonment and ruin of the abbey as he had with every ruined monastry or abbey we have ever visited. Throughout the ruins lay clues to how the monks had lived, and it was easy to imagine them 1,000 years ago, as close in time to the time of Christ as we are to them.

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Yay! Clem arrived today! Warwick had to work but dropped Nikki and I off at Heathrow to meet him. He turned up fresh from America, raining little bits of green sticker which had been used to label his luggage, and we caught the bus and train home via Woking. He told us all about his travels on the way. Clem stayed a week or so with us, gradually getting over his jet lag, but Nikki had to go home to work.

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On Saturday 20 September we left Clem in sunny England, and headed for rainy Norway. Got a nice view of the English coast from the plane. We flew into rain and very low cloud, over some beautiful rocks and skidded to a halt at Haugesund airport. All the rock around reminded me of Sweden. We walked around town in light rain to find our hotel. We window-shopped (mmm, lovely clothes!) and admired the wooden houses in all different fabulous shapes and colours.

We had hoped to get out of town but our flight had been so delayed that we didn't have time to get away. We found we could decode some of the Norwegian when we read it, but could not understand even a single syllable when it was spoken! Had a GIANT nachos pizza (note: nachos are great on pizza) and two light beers for dinner.

We woke on Sunday to patchy cloud alternating with bright sunshine. We walked around the docks and the town, the sun on the water was beautiful. We walked over very high bridges and through town to a park with a great swing and marbly rocks and a view over the city. The earth was mushroomy, licheny, mossy and spongy. Haugesund was not touristy, but it was quiet and sleepy (Sunday so shops were shut) and felt like the kind of place I'd like to move to. We have decided that continental and Scandinavian Europeans have it sorted: siesta, no work on Sundays, nice homes, lots of wood around and backyards, nice local parks... It seems to be a low-stress set-up, or is it just that I don't work here?

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Clem was back from travels around Scotland and Northern Ireland so we had a mini birthday celebration for him, with Merrydale chocolate cake. He spent the week with us, playing risk, setting up a chin-up bar in the garage (which I do intend to try out some day) and playing with prime numbers based on ideas in a book about Paul Erdös. On the 16th he and I spent a very sunny autumn day at Salisbury and Stonehenge. Clem believes we make up all sorts of lies about the English weather to keep everyone else away. Not true! It really is grey and rainy here! Just not when my family ever visit, that's all :-) To add to the glorious sunshine, we have had the most beautiful autumn I have ever seen, apparently due to the long, dry summer. The colours are truly sensational.

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Clem's flight to Australia was scheduled for the same weekend as ours to Trieste, from where we were to take the train to Ljubljana in Slovenia. We said our goodbyes on Saturday morning :-( and Warwick and I headed to our now-familiar stomping ground, Stansted Airport.

Trieste is in the north-east of Italy, and we had time to walk around and see the town a bit before working out how to get to Ljubljana. The wind was strong and bitterly cold, and Warwick wasn't that well, so it was a miserable walk around a pretty town square and harbour! To get to the border town of Opicina we had to take a tram through the suburbs up a steep mountainway. When we got off at the top we got directions in Italian from the conductor, which took us to a tiny little strain station (via another icecream shop, how do we find them?) On the train our passports were checked and we had long stops on either side of the border. When we left Italy the sun had gone down, by the time we were a little way into Slovenia it was pitch-black outside. We found our hotel in the dark! Dinner: soup in bread cases, and for Warwick a traditional dessert: a huge layered fruit pastry thing.

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The next day we walked around Ljubljana, through their markets which were selling all kinds of old antiques, admiring the colourful buildings and the stunning reflections on the Ljubljanica river.

We walked up steep and narrow streets (church bells ringing, seemingly endlessly, for 12 o'clock) to the castle above the town, where families were playing in the refurbished square, and you could walk around the ramparts for the view. We paid to climb to the very top tower where the view was magnificent, and we saw a film on the history of Slovenia which was really interesting.

We then caught a train to Bled, an alpine resort in the north. The train journey was beautiful, although others in Slovenia are supposed to be even more scenic. We travelled along a clear and icy-blue river, seeing mountains, flat countryside dotted by hayracks, and beautiful autumn colours in the trees.

We waited ages at Lesce-Bled station for a bus, then gave up and got a taxi to Hotel Krim. We walked around the lake a bit to get our bearings, but the cloud was coming in and it was starting to rain. There is a castle 100-odd metres above the lake in Bled, and a church on a tiny island on the lake itself. It was really picturesque.

20 and 21 October

On Monday 20, we walked up to the castle, a steep walk but a good one. The view from the top was lovely, and we learned more about the older history of Slovenia and pre-historic finds there. We decided not to go out to the island as it was rainy, but we could see tourist boats and kayakers making their ways there. We had dinner not far from the hotel, a vege mixed platter and gnocchi. We left on Tuesday, spending a short time in Klagenfurt in Austria (which is much better connected to Slovenia than Trieste is). Only four days holiday but so relaxing, it felt like we had been away for a week!

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Michael and Warwick ran the Mortimer 10K today – I wasn't feeling so well so I was official photographer. A fun day out in a pretty setting :-)

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We headed to Lewes for bonfire night. The parades down the high street were spectacular, beautiful costumes, fire everywhere, even burning blocks lining the street (these were picked up by the last members of each group that paraded). It was loud! The crowd where we were at the top of the street was quite thin and really nice, the crowd at the bottom was uncomfortable, squashed in and short-tempered. The history of the parades in Lewes is not so nice, it is rooted in burnings at the stake (the word bonfire comes from the words bone fire).

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Barcelona! We have been meaning to visit here for ages! We finally arrived on Saturday, 15 November, and took a long walk through the city to our hotel. We went out in the evening for food, which we found in a restaurant off a lively square, near where we stayed. All transacted in Spanish – some of it is coming back to me! I also noticed the Catalan language a lot here in Barcelona, as I did in Girona. Many signs are bilingual.

Have I skipped something? Yes. The NZ – Australia game, our last appearance at the Rugby World Cup. We had booked our holiday on this date by accident, and were trying to find the game on radio, even looked at buying a portable radio with a greater range of frequencies in the duty free shops, but found a pub showing the game instead. What a shock to walk in and see the Aussies ahead! It was a disappointing half hour spent watching, waiting for our flight to be called, and running back and forwards from the queue at the gates for the very latest updates.

We switched on our phones when we landed, to receive running updates in chronological order from Nikki, and some unhappy appraisals of the game from a few other friends. Sigh. Happy accident then that we were in Barcelona and not in a pub full of Australians :-)

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On Sunday 16 we walked (via a supermarket that sold us German Domino Steine, yummy chocolate marzipan cake thingees) to Gaudí's La Sagrada Família, the unfinished modern cathedral. Spectacular! We were interviewed outside the gates by two little boys doing a school project, they were studying English. We decided to go into the cathedral later when the weather might be better, and found our way into town. We walked along La Rambla, past some very talented street performers, past a pub in a side street that was showing the England – France game. We nipped in to ask the outcome – England! So much for our NZ – France final!

We walked further around the medieval quarter, then consoled ourselves with falafel in the Plaça Reial. We took the metro and then walked a wee way to Gaudí's Parc Güell, which was as beautiful as it is in pictures. Not so peaceful though, being Sunday there were a lot of people there. Great views over the city.

We headed back from there to the cathedral, quite remarkable walking through something unfinished but with a definite style and vision. The front was particularly beautiful I felt, with bible verses and scenes in stone or metal on the facade. Bits of mosaic and carving lay strewn about the site indoors, and the stained glass already in was gorgeous, with the sun shining through it looked like fire. A Spanish version of Pizza Express was just across the road (how do I find them?) so we called that dinner and headed home.

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On Monday 17 we stocked up on more Domino Steine, and walked back into town. We returned to the places we had seen along La Rambla the day before, and eventually ended up at the port which is all refurbished and really nice. We could see large schools of fish just under the water, which was clean and clear. There were tall rigged ships and small kayaks, and a beautiful sea breeze. Relaxing :-)

We kept on through the city, unfortunately the Picasso museum was shut, so we carried on to the Parc de la Ciutadella where we relaxed and watched the people, then walked back past the Cascada (fountain) to the Arc de Triomphe, to catch our bus to the airport. Very sad to leave and want to come back!

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Today Michael, Warwick and I ran the Maylarch 10K at Eynsham, near Oxford. It was fun, and my first 10K non-stop. A personal best for Warwick and I too. We ran two loops through this pretty, rural town, and rewarded ourselves with a huge lunch (all courses served at once!) at our favourite Oxford pub, Head of the River.

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Glasgow! We love Glasgow! We took the weekend to visit Nikki and Garry, although by the time we got to the plane I could feel a cold coming on. We met Nikki (who has longer hair now and great new glasses frames) at the station, and walked to our hotel by the Armadillo (Exhibition Centre). We walked around town together, visited Garry briefly while he was at work, and shopped for Christmas crackers to take out to the family in Newton Mearns, where we spent a really fun evening.

On Sunday Warwick and I walked around the Armadillo and across the bridge there, then navigated the buses to Nikki's place, where we took a walk in the lovely park nearby, spotting elusive squirrels. Nikki gave us hot Ribena and soup (wonderful for my cold) and we sat around talking until we could leave it no later to get back to town. We walked though the suburbs towards the cathedral and St Mungo's, where Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross is kept among other religious artworks. What a fantastic painting! It transfixes you as you walk in. St Mungo (St Kentigern) is the patron saint of Glasgow.

With darkness falling we headed to a vege cafe for dinner, then all too quickly it was time to catch the train.

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On 12 December we went to Lindau, our favourite little town on Lake Constance. We stayed at the guesthouse where we had been before, they were very friendly and looked after us really well :-) We had arrived just in time for the Christmas markets, and that evening the market opened with a Glockenspiel in the square. After visiting our favourite falafel shop for dinner, we had pancakes with Grand Marnier, and mulled wine (Gluhwein), and wandered around enjoying the atmosphere.

13 December: we took trains and a post bus through Austria to Liechtenstein, where we met our friend Karin in Vaduz. She drove us around Liechtenstein (160km²) and into Switzerland, where we visited the Heidi village near where Johanna Spyri stayed, and had a fabulous lunch of garlic soup and Späzle (a baked noodle dish with apple sauce), washed down with local wine. We could look out over the valley as we ate. Back in Liechtenstein we visited a ski resort, Malbun, above Karin's town of Triesen, where they are still waiting for a real snowfall to open the season. We drove on to another town where we saw a display of nativity figures, beautifully made, and then it was time to head back to Lindau. A fabulous day!

14 December: we took the train to Friedrichshafen, where we wandered the Christmas markets, drank Gluhwein and ate waffles. We found a good bakery for our lunch and then headed for the airport.

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New Zealand Barbarians versus England at Twickenham. After a mad scramble for tickets (we got two of the ten we were hoping for) we headed to Twickenham, for a game that could really have been much more than it was. Two under-strength sides do not make an exhibition match! The English celebration at the end was fabulous however, and the William Web Ellis Cup was paraded around the stadium by the World Cup team, amid showers of red and white paper. We met Wendy and Mark after the match for a quick chat.

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Christmas! We had hoped to spend this Christmas in New Zealand, so planned in top secret to surprise our families if we could. We gave ourselves until Monday, 22 December to find a cheap enough flight but the best we could get was around £1063 each and would only have given us about 5 days there. Sorry folks! Would have loved to have called on Christmas Day from Auckland airport!

Our next plan was to somehow or other meet up with Nikki and Garry in Glasgow but flights were limited and expensive. We were offered a single journey from Glasgow to London, via Amsterdam on Air Kenya, for £1035! Of course, it wasn't the cheapest or most direct flight we found, but there were none cheap or direct enough.

On Christmas Eve we rang home (yay!), got terrifically homesick, and opened most of our NZ pressies. On Christmas Day we picked Mark up from Aldershot and went to church, then came home for more presents and a vege lunch followed by Christmas pudding, which we managed briefly to flame. On Boxing Day we had mulled wine and freshly made shortbread at the Walkers', so it has turned out to be a social Christmas after all :-)

We have come through a very difficult year, with strength in God, and with the support of our family and of our friends.

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A quick note on our local menagerie... we have a large tree just over our back fence, in the school property. This tree is home to a family of truly mad and playful squirrels who keep us entertained quite regularly through the year. I love the way they hug the tree as they run up or down (headfirst), and run and jump right to the end of some very tiny branches, which sag ominously under their weight. The tree also attracts some local birds, including a large flock of what we think were jackdaws, who arrived after Christmas and spent an entire morning squawking at the tops of their voices.

Before Christmas a young fox who had visited us before turned up again. He came to our garden a couple of times that day, right up to our ranch slider, totally oblivious to us!

We were woken at midnight on the 31st by fireworks, it seemed Farnborough's residents had saved all their partying for the dot of midnight and then came out in force!