Last year we did this...

Hi Guys

First things first, we wish you a happy new year! We have now been in Auckland for about 10 months and things are getting easier. We have had our first Christmas in NZ, and we had my sister and Rob over for Lunch. We had a nice roast meal with a traditional NZ pav (pavlova) for dessert! 

Both Leon and I are employed and we are making money to live, so that is good. I work in the city and Leon works in the next suburb from where we live. We have been walking to the train station together, until recently and then I managed to find a bike I liked on Auction for a grand total of $21.  I have been biking around Ellerslie (where we live) and it proves to be a bit faster than walking which means we can wake up later and sleep in a bit before work. 

We have been busy, almost every week, so if we have been scarce, it's because we alway have something to do, whether its cleaning, drinking, climbing, shopping, adventuring, scubadiving or snorkelling at Goat Island. 

During the Christmas holidays we spent a lot of time at home and we would go on day trips outside Auckland. We went Climbing for 3 days with our friends, Johnmen and Birdy and by the 3rd day, my body said no. We went snorkelling at Goat Island Marine Reserve and we swam to the island, and then snorkelled around it, collecting sea-urchins from the bottom, opening them up and watching schools of snapper attacking the meat. There were so many fish, it was really great. Leon, Shane and Hannes all saw a stingray, but I was already on my way back to shore. We stopped in Puhoi for Scones in NZ's oldest tea house and came back exhausted. 

We have been back at work for a week now, things are not too bad, but waking up in the morning has been very difficult and has needed some serious pushing and prodding and some strong coffee to get us up. Since we have been back at work for a week, we ended the week off with a beer at The Occidental Bar with the rest of the crew from New Kiwis ( a group of people who are new to Auckland and looking for stuff to do and people to meet). After a couple of beers, we were off to Hannes' place for dinner and we ended up only getting the train at midnight.  After the train, we went to Leon's office, picked up our bikes and biked the rest of the way and arrived home at 1 am. Next morning bright and early, we got up to make sandwiches and catch the bus to the ferry terminal to go to Rangitoto (Auckland's biggest Volcano)  for the day. We climbed and struggle to get to the summit and eventually arrived there and the view was worth it. You could see the whole of Auckland and the North Shore from the top. We then weny to the Lava caves and crawled through there, and then came down and took a swim in the sea before the ferry arrived to pick us up.

My friend, Collette came over for dinner and finally saw our new place, which we moved into in October. We no longer live in a Shoebox! Our new place has 2 bedrooms, a big lounge, bathroom with a shower and an open plan kitchem. It also has a bit of a garden which we really enjoy on the weekends. We usually lie in the shade on a blanket and read books which is just what the weekend asks for. 

This year is a full year, it is our 2 year anniversary (can you believe it) so we are going to South Island for 4 days to celebrate. We'll be seeing Christchurch, Hanmer Spings ( Hot spas and treatements) and going to Hokitika for a bit of greenstone (NZ jade) carving. It is going to be special. We managed to get really cheap plane tickets there and back and so we are really going to have a fun time.

Then, my sister and Robert are finally going to get married ( after 10 years of dating) in March, so my parents will be over here and we are off to the Bay of Islands for a couple of days over Easter. That will be an adventure since we haven't been up that way before. Apparently the scuba diving is excellent up there as there are sub-tropical fish there. 

After that we'll be coming round the mountain to SA.

Now for the other information you have all been waiting for. We will be in Sunny Sa from the 28 May - 16 June, to mostly visit family (Leon's oupa is turning 100) and to see all of our friends. It is a very tight schedule and so we are not able to spend very much time with you all but we are going to have a single day where we will meet up with everyone to see you all again. I really can't wait to see everyone, especially the littlies that have probably grown quite a bit since we left. 

We look forward to seeing everyone. We will be going scuba diving in Sodwana on one of the weekends, so if you are keen to scuba with us then book accomodation once we give you the dates. I will also give you information closer to the time on when and where we'll meet up with everyone.

If ever you are wondering what we are upto or how we are doing, please feel free to drop us an email and give us an update. There are plenty of people in our lives that mean the world to us (all of you) but we cannot possibly write to you all and keep you all updated on a weekly basis. So please send us an email. 

Ok, gotta go now, we love you all to pieces and hope that you'll be writing to us more often, have a fab new year and let us know what you are keeping yourselves busy with and any exciting news that may come your way. And send pictures! 

Love
Niki and Leon