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Would you believe it - our little girl is 2 years old today?!
Yesterday I asked her what cake she wanted. She said she wanted Pepa pig jumping in muddy muddles. I tried but she will get her ‘proper’ Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake at her Birthday party on 9 August - we decided to postpone it until her Nanna and Grandad are here.
We asked Sophie over dinner last night how old she would be on her Birthday and she said “four!” Bless her, Sophie loves counting and colours. She often counts things like toys or stairs she has to climb. She also has a go at colours and will look at things and say “red”, “purpo”, “geen”, “yello” or whichever colour she fancies! Everything used to be “colour red”, we were at a friend of mine one day and I was asking her what colour random things were, she kept on answering ‘red’ even when they weren’t. Later my friend had something that actually was red and asked Sophie was colour it was, Soph said “blue”!
We got up around 6am today and started opening the presents. Sophie just loved all of her lovely gifts.
…apparently they don’t want it!
Can I donate blood if I have lived in the UK?
If you lived in the UK, France or the Republic of Ireland for a total of six months or more between 1980 and 1996 then unfortunately you will be permanently deferred from donating blood in New Zealand.
Permanently banned! What, are we all mad cows or something?
We have arrived safe and sound, no problems at all so far. We are the well travelled Brownz don’t you know . . . 
We have just completed the first 2hr55mins of our journey and have a flight to Dubai ahead of us (about 14 hours). Then it’s Dubai to LHR so not long now until we are home. We wont be able to check mails our post a blog so I am afraid this is the last one.
Again, a huge thank you to our hosts in the South island and the North island. You have been terrific to us. Let’s hope we can repay the favour one day.
To everyone at home, thank you so much for all the comments and for actually reading this blog.
Ross and Sophie are off exploring Sydney airport and I am using a free internet service to write my blog. Shopping ? How motherhood has changed me
Lots of love kisses and hugs
CandiXXXXXXXXXXXXX
PS A huge thank you to Auntie Lou for looking after Tiggerwinkstinkery too. You’re the best!!!! Can’t wait to catch up and see your new pad
We woke up around 07:30 again with guess who right inbetween us. Yes, this seems to be the new routine. . .
As Joe had booked today off as holiday he kindly took us to the other side of Wellington to the Chocolate Fish Cafe in the Karaka Bay area for some breakfast (I could get used to this a bit tooo easily ).
The Chocolate Fish Cafe is in Scorching Bay (pretty apt name as today was boiling) which is on the other side of Wellington to Lower Hutt (and Korokoro where we are staying with the Schaff-Edes).
It is a beautiful area which reminds me Read the rest of this entry »
We woke up to the sound of rain coming down which to be honest, sounded rather lovely. We looked out the window only to find our beautiful mountains covered in mist. How beautiful . . . ?
Ross had an interview at 10.00 so Sophie, Susanne and I started to get all the bits ready for our road trip to the bach on the coast….aaah the coast
We finally left around 13:00 and drove for a while before stopping off in Raumati Beach for a lovely brunch. After a few scratch cards bought (with the pokie winnings) we ate, drank and then set off on the road again. We went on a scenic trip along the Kapiti coast that took us through a lovely town called Paraparaumu, which is still commutable to Wellington. What a wonderful 60 minute commute that would be hey ?!?
Anyhow, this is putting the Read the rest of this entry »
SKIVING….
Well, Ross and I were supposed to go to baby club today but Sophie fell asleep so we didn’t go. It will more than likely be the same as the one in Cholsey, except it is run by parents not the Parish.
When Sophie eventually woke up we went for a walk into Petone. It was about a 25 minute walk downhill and if you saw the gradient of the hill you will realise why it takes 25 minutes. The weather is still lovely here. It isn’t scorching hot, but around 20 degreees and sunny. We are still in jeans in the evening but it’s far from freezing.
I am starting to miss home now, it’s really lovely here but I can’t wait to see everyone and I am missing Cindi and Kei loads. I can’t quite start thinking about how I would feel should this be permanent.
I haven’t quite gotten around to seeing stuff about schools or anything but Joe works for the Ministry of Education so he is going to get me a paper from work tomorrow to take home (or at least the name of the TES equivalent).
Otherwise, we are all well. Sophie has started waving her right arm around and also splashes loads in the bath. She smiles even more when her face gets soaked.
She still doesn’t take too well to strangers and prefers to be in either her Mom or Dads arms although she has warmed to both Joe and Susanne and also Graham really well.
Well not much to report really just a quick note to say hi and that we are all well. Hope all is well with all of you.
Lots of love
CandiXXXXXXXX
We all got up around 8am this morning. Sophie slept well in our bed, Mum didn’t sleep so good - in a little ball in the left hand corner of the bed. Kids hey?!
After having breakfast together looking out over the hillside we went for a lovely walk up the hills in Korokoro (where we met some donkeys along the way). I must admit having Sophie asleep in her new sling didn’t help. I was wheezing all the better the whole way up. When we got to the top there was a 360 degree view of Lower Hutt, Petone, over to Upper Hutt and even Wellington. The views were breathtaking… or was that just from carrying dear princess Sophie? The weather here is pretty overcast now. I am sat here in Read the rest of this entry »
Today we set off around 10:30 and drove to Eastbourne which is about 30 minutes drive along the coast from Lower Hutt. We had a lovely breakfast of eggs benedict and a flat white before highlighting a few houses in the property pages to view today. In NZ, some homes become open to the public to view at pre-arranged times, usually at the weekend. So, we set about choosing which ones we could see, then Joe and Susanne very kindly drove us around to the different ones, stopping in between to get an ice-cream and drink from a local dairy (corner shop).
So, for around $330,000 - $350,000 you can get a 2/3 bedroom house on quite a small section (a plot of land, a “plot” here means burial plot so the word isn’t used in the same way as it is in the UK). The ones that were really lovely and had annexes or granny flats were about $400,000 and basically just about perfect and you could move in with no real need to do much. But, we could never afford $400,000 unless we earned loads of money and could get a huge mortgage. The way open houses work is that people go around to these houses, sign in on a piece of paper and then have a look around. The estate agent is there to answer any questions and we did see quite a few faces we had seen at other houses so I am sure Read the rest of this entry »
Picture taken during a walk we had this morning
Well today it wasn’t as warm as it has been (about 22 degrees) so Ross, Sophie and I all put our jeans on and headed out with Joe and Susanne for a lovely brunch at Denny’s (very reasonable place for breakfast, about $12 for the works : eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown and toast). The verdict, yummo!!! We then went for a lovely walk along the coast which was Read the rest of this entry »
Hi All
Well today Ross had a 10am interview with one of the biggest recruitment agencies in NZ and the feedback is very positive. They have about 4 jobs which Ross seems perfect for and they will be sending his CV off to these companies. One of which had about 100 holiday houses you can rent out for $30 a week if you are an employee and the guy said this would be a fab way of seeing NZ. Too jolly right! All the feedback so far seems positive. They are all very interested in Ross and it seems that it’s been the best move for him to see them face 2 face rather than just be an anonymous CV on a piece of paper.
While all that was going on, Susanne, Sophie and I went shopping instead. We drove from Wellington city centre to Read the rest of this entry »
Well we woke up around 8am after a 5am wake up call from Sophie who eventually had it her way and slept in bed with her Daddy.
After a lovely breakfast of O.J. and croissants followed by a cuppa tea we did our final pack (and left a black binliner of stuff behind surplus to requirements) and headed to Christchurch Airport. Graham ensured that we were taken on the most scenic route to the airport to ensure the most biased view possible of Christchurch, I think it might have worked!
We got through passport and security no probs and then went up the escalator twice only to find we were in the wrong area doh! We then found our boarding gate, literally right were the security check was and proceeded to spill blue antifreeze looking juice all over the chair I was going to sit on, great! What would go wrong this time…
Well, the long and the short of it…nothing at all. But, we did have to sit around for 20 minutes whilst they sorted out a technical fault. Mmmm that doesn’t make me feel very confident about the plane to start with. Then we went to board it and it looked like it had hairdryer motors as engines. I said a few prayers and hoped for the best. Only for the captain to say sorry about the delay and then something about a problem with the wheel but now it was fixed. Well the 45 minutes to find out if he was telling the truth went pretty fast. Sophie screamed from take off until after the tea and coffee was wheeled around. It seems kids scream in unison as one little boy would set Sophie off then she would take her turn to set him off. Kids hey….?
Well we arrived at Wellington Airport to be greated by wonderful 28 degree sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind in the air. Result! Susanne then picked us all up 5 million bags and all and told us that there were shops in NZ too you know hehehe. We then took a very scenic drive along the coast to Lower Hutt it is about 40 minutes from the airport and you can actually see it at the end of the harbour as you drive from the airport. It is also a hill, just like Cashmere were Graham lives and has beautiful views of the bay and also beautiful tree covered hills.
Read the rest of this entry »
Well Sophie was very well behaved last night and slept almost right through. Ross and I were up quite early though to ensure we packed everything and didn’t leave anything behind this time.
We left the bach around 10:45 to take some photos of the river and the breathtaking views and were on the road again around 11:30.
As yesterday was Waitangi day (a public holiday) the roads were quite quiet so we just ambled along stopping to take pictures and toilet stops for our dear little Sophie who decided we all needed to stop and stretch our legs a bit more often than we would have!
We then stopped for lunch just after Arthur’s Pass at a lovely hotel/diner. We ate Read the rest of this entry »
zzzzz 05:15, Sophie is awake and screaming……08:30 Sophie is still awake and playing with her Dad, neither of whom have had any sleep since 05:15. 09:00 both are asleep and snoring!
Well, we set off on our mission to buy nappies, shoes for Ross and a few bits and bobs for me at Warehouse (’Warehouse, warehouse were everyone gets a baaargin’) at around 10:30. I picked up some mascara, shorts, a t-shirt, undies and a bikini all came to $65. Admitidly the bikini looks rank on, but it will do.
We then decided to go and hunt down some green stone (Jade – Nephrite, Greenstone or Pounamu has been worked by the Maori of New Zealand from as early as the 12th Century. Jade has been used for tools, weapons, ornaments, items of trade and a symbol of authoriy and ceremony. It is regarded a taonga or prized possession and considered an honour to receive).
The place to buy it is apparently Hokitika as other places might not sell the real deal but Read the rest of this entry »
Well we left Christchurch at about 16:40 with everything we needed to our 2 night stay at the ‘bach’ (pronounced batch) packed. We had stocked up at New World (Tesco type shop) with everything we needed for our adventure.
It was a lovely 2 hour drive with scenery like you have never seen before. HUGE mountains, hills with trees upon trees growing on them. Flat farm land with more sheep than you could count on them and then. Single lane bridges going over little streams that meandered through the mountains or Alps as they are called with the occasional waterful added in for the wow factor. Some of the townes we went through, now just hills would be ski resorts in winter. How cool, Sophie could be a ski bunny. We travelled through Sheffield, Springfield, Castle Hill Village, Cass, Arthurs Pass, Otira, Jacksons. All these town were quite tiny I would guess only around 30 people living these the nit was onwards towards our final destination Lake Brunner which is situated very near to Otira-Kopara Forest Conservation Area. How beautiful? Honestly, you would be hard pushed to find somewhere as beautiful. And, it certainly wouldn’t be in the U.K.
Well the journey was fine, Sophie slept the whole way which was lovely and was full of smiles for her Dad when we arrived. She stayed up way past her bedtime though, which I think had something to do with the long sleep in the car. I then started to unpack everyones bits and pieces only to find, Candi Brown’s bag wasn’t packed. Doh! Hence as I type I am sitting in a dress with Ross’ boxers on. Nice, not quite what I had in mind. Lord have mercy! When will the Brownz actually sort themselves out. I blame it on jet lag hehehe.
Well we then forgot about the wardrobe and drank gingerbeers and Speights beers and had a lovely bbq of steaks pork sausages and pork strips and salad (you see I am still being healthy). It was divine.
Then it was off to bed for us all at around 22:30.
Today we went exploring the hills and coast of Christchurch. We set off around 10:30 and the sun was already beating down. We headed off up into the hills through a beautiful park called Victoria Park and then up into the hills where we saw loads of people running, walking their dogs and mountain biking (crazy people ;)…
It was a lovely drive with beautiful views on both sides of the road, on one side the coast line of Christchurch, and the other side the beautiful inlet called Lyttelton Harbour. Absolutely breathtaking apparently the people there are really laid-back hippy types. My kind of place!
We then went down the mountain to Sumner a beautiful seaside suburb of Christchurch and had brunch at a seaside restaurant. We all ate eggs benedict, how yummy was that ?!?
Sophie then put her feet on sand for the first time and absolutely loved it. She seems to be in a very good mood now we are here. She’s sleeping like an angel (all be it with Mommy after about 3am until waking up time, anything for a quiet life;). She’s also eating like a champion, sometimes having lunch and dessert, what a good little girl. She still gets lots of smiles from everyone she comes into contact with.
The Kiwi’s are super friendly and I am in love with this place. We are off to Graham’s parents ‘bach’ (holiday home) for two nights so wont be able to upload my blog so watch this space for more info on our trip in two days time.
Thanks for all your comments. I will try and reply when we get back, can’t seem to find the time now days. Just too much to do.
Lots of love
CandiXXX
Well today we needed to pick up a few odds and ends from the shops so we headed into Christchurch for about 10:30. The roads were really quiet and the sun was just about out. It wasn’t super hot but it was still really bright.
Christchurch is beautiful. It’s very clean and picturesque. We went to a lovely restaurant called Coyote and all had burgers which were divine. Mine was a 300g beef burger and Ross had a Cajun lamb burger and the best bit was the price $15 (NZD). Christchurch reminds me a lot of S.A. in so many ways. There is a lot of space and even though we were in the city centre. It was still quiet. A bit like shopping back in S.A. were not every shop is open on a Sunday. Parking near the city centre was $2.50 an hour. We walked along a little canal which was beautiful lots of of ducks and also other people with babies just wondering round with their babies in pushchairs.
We have met so many lovely people so far. The Kiwis seem to have a lot of time for you. And, the shops are pretty much the same as the U.K. but it will just take some time to understand which shop is like Argos and which on is like Tesco etc. And, most importantly, I am keen to find out which one is like TK Maxx, if nothing, it might be a deal breaker hehehe.
Hope everyone is well, it was lovely speaking to you today Mom, Dad and Cinz. I feel a little jaded at the moment as Ross’ clock on the computer says 01:37 zzzzz
Well I will sign off now, remember to keep the comments coming as it’s lovely to hear from you.
Lots of love
Candi XXXXX
Well, where to start . . .?!
So we decided to get to Heathrow really early for our 22:00 flight, thank goodness we did!
We arrived at the airport at around 18:00 and only got through past the “put all your liquids in a plastic bag and X-ray your hand luggage” checkpoint at 19:30. What a bleeding palarva . . . I packed 6 cartons of ready made baby milk for Sophie but alas it seems this can be viewed as a suspect substance by some Read the rest of this entry »
Hi all!
Well we are here at last 1 February 2007. How quickly hasn’t this date come since we first decided in November to book our tickets to NZ.
We are all ready and packed. Our handluggage is under weight and our main luggage is exactly on the mark (or so our home scales say). Sophie is at present chewing on the bagged Mozzie net Cindi gave to us. I have spoken to Graham and he said no Mozzies only sandflies and that he has spray for this as they don’t use and we wont need the net phew! One less thing to pack and one more pair of shoes in it’s place Shhh, Ross is off to the Doctors at the moment, his finger looks a bit purple and is sore so I sent him off there as I don’t want us to take any chances.
It’s seems quite weird to be going away for nearly a whole month . I must admit that having Lou look after Tigger and the how I am remarkably calm (must be all the booze I had for breakfast, only kidding).
Anyhow, Sophie is starting to perform so must dash.
Lots of love to you all and watch this space and remember we would love to hear from you all, to comment to will need to register though.
Ta ta for now
CandiXXXXXXXXXXX
